Hellbilly Deluxe 2 Cd Review

Hellbilly Deluxe 2 marks the fourth solo album by Rob Zombie, the front man for 90s shock rock pioneers, White Zombie, and the long awaited continuation of his extremely impressive career. The genius of Rob Zombie, and in fact the reason behind his ongoing success, is his uncanny ability to find the perfect hook every time...

be it in the vocal phrasing around one of guitar lines, or simply to come up with a chorus that will never escape your sub conscience. Whilst some would be as callous as to suggest that his music is predictable and formulaic, Zombie richly deserves the recognition as one who has perfected the underrated art of making the formula work and producing along the way, some of the most memorable tunes in alternative rock’s recent history. His songs are instantly and unerringly catchy, as well as being beautifully bombastic, an extreme rarity in the current mundane meanderings of home pc produced drivel.

As with much of his preceding material, the tracks on this album are a delicious aural representation of Zombie’s fixation with B-movie schlock horror imagery. This is also the first time he has collaborated fully with his working band, as opposed to having written and recorded the entire album on his own, as he has been doing up to now. The result is a disc full of monster-munch masterpieces that will have you stomping your feet, banging your head and singing along, even in the most inappropriate surroundings. And you won’t care.

The opening track on the album, “Jesus Frankenstein”, is a rip roaring anthem sure to make its mark on alternative dance floors around the globe, giving way to the teeth-clenching, eye-popping manic madness of “Sick Bubble-gum”. The first single off the album, “What”, follows hot on its heels – coming at you at break neck speed in its smoke-belching, super spooky hotrod.

After a rather perplexing intro sequence of Bluesy acoustic guitar that has nothing to do with the eventual song, the insistent stomp of “Mars Needs Women” comes next and burrows into your brain and synchronizes your heartbeat for good measure. And now that Rob Zombie has your full and undivided attention he continues to manipulate your psyche with song after song of intelligently crafted and devilishly delivered slices of sublime (and subliminal) undead style.

Hellbilly Deluxe 2 is most definitely an album to own – in its original cd format – as it is touted to be the last tangible piece of work produced by Rob Zombie, who believes that the cd format is virtually extinct. It is a grandiose and epic slab of granitic gargoyle-rock, wrapped up in its own – dare I say it – particular brand of pop sensibility, and that’s a good thing.

Reviewed by Malcolm Burger

Hellbilly Deluxe 2 Tracklist

01. Jesus Frankenstein
02. Sick Bubble-gum
03. What
04. Mars Needs Women
05. Werewolf, Baby
06. Virgin Witch
07. Dream Factory
08. Burn
09. Cease To Exist
10. Werewolf Women Of The SS
11. The Man Who Laughs

Rob Zombie Line-up

Rob Zombie – Vocals
John 5 – Guitar
Piggy D – Bass
Tommy Clufetos – Drums
Tyler Bates – String Arrangement
Chris Baseford – Keyboards & Programming

Recording & Other:

Produced by Rob Zombie
Recorded & Mixed by Chris Baseford
Recorded & Mixed at The Chop Shop, Hollywood CA
Mastered by Tom Baker
Managed by Andy Gould (for Spectacle Ent. Group)
Booking - John Dittmar
Legal - Jeffery Light (for Myman, Abell, Fineman, Fox, Greenspan & Light)
Business - Scott Adair (London & Co.)

Art & Design:

Dan Brereton – artwork
Alex Horley – artwork
David Hartman – artwork
Sam Shearon – artwork
Piggy D. – Photography (Including Cover)
Rob Zombie – Photography, Art Direction, Package Design
Wayne Toth - Makeup & Photography
Bart Mixon - Makeup

Rob Zombie Weblinks

Buy/Downloads