But what if I'd tell you those two are one of the better cuts here? "What?" and "Sick Bubblegum" may not be the best songs on Hellbilly Deulxe 2 musically, but they sure are the most memorable ones. Many people criticized the pre-released songs "What?" and "Sick Bubblegum" for being too weak and over distorted. But I’m afraid that’s where the really good news end.
original Hellbilly Deluxe and The Sinister Urge). Yes, Hellbilly Deluxe 2 sounds, while more polished than ever before, once again like classic Rob Zombie (e.g.
I can say right away that Hellbilly Deluxe 2 possesses a valuable plus - Rob Zombie has got his trademark industrial spiced hard rock sound back, which should most definitely please the fans ( Educated Horses was just your run-of-the-mill hard rock album without an industrial influence). But now that Hellbilly Deluxe 2 is out, a question arises: Is it any good? After postponing the album in late 2009, Februfinally became the final release date. Naming his new album Hellbilly Deluxe 2 was an ambitious move on Zombie’s part, and the title definitely created some buzz. So in 2009, three years after creating the pinnacle of mediocrity, it seemed Rob Zombie was ready to release something great once more. I’m serious, that album could be used in literature, or even in textbooks for school, as a description for something overly average. It's not bad, it's not good, it's nothing but average really. For those who are unfamiliar with the album, Educated Horses is a contender for the most mediocre record in the world. Things were seemingly looking good after that, but then Educated Horses happened. The Sinister Urge didn’t have such huge songs like the aforementioned "Dragula" and "Superbeast", but as an album which flows well from start to finish, Zombie is yet to match it. Not that good of a score, aye? After the disappointing, yet critically acclaimed Hellbilly Deluxe, Zombie released The Sinister Urge, his best work to date. The good tracks on Hellbilly Deluxe include "Dragula", "Superbeast", "Demonoid Phenomenon" and maybe even "Living Dead Girl", but that’s about it - the rest sounds like filler. I just can’t understand how it’s regarded as a shock rock classic by some. I never got the appeal of Rob Zombie’s infamous debut album, Hellbilly Deluxe. Still, at this point in his career, his best move is to take these types of risks, and when he does so on the ten-minute closer, “The Man Who Laughs,” with its underlying orchestral score by Tyler Bates (composer for the Halloween remakes The Devil’s Rejects and The Watchmen), the results are compelling and unnerving in a good way.Review Summary: Hellbilly Deluxe 2 is most definitely better than the snoozefest that was Educated Horses, but is that really saying much? It’s as if Rob Zombie’s trying to be something else, but still coming up totally Zombie. Influenced by ‘60s garage rock, the vocals are run through a maximal amount of midrange distortion and accented by tambourine clinks and organ riffs behind the usual crunch, but where bands like the Horrors make raw revival work for them, “What” is too calculated and processed to actually sound raw. Chris Baseford’s production is thick throughout, notwithstanding the single “What,” a song Zombie and company wrote and recorded in only a few hours.
His trademark “yeah” and monotone hoedown growl are still front and center, the B-horror movie references are still plentiful (Frankenstein, martians, witches, and two songs about werewolves), and the chugging guitars and dark, sleek beats are still trashy enough to be strip club staples. “Jesus Frankenstein,” “Sick Bubblegum,” and “Mars Needs Women” are the same schlocky grooves that made up his five previous solo records and six White Zombie records. This could be because it was his first outing to include help from his bandmates (longtime touring comrades guitarist John 5, bassist Piggy D, and drummer Tommy C), but it’s probably more attributable to the fact that making this type of song is old hat by now. Returning with his first album since 2006’s Educated Horses after several delays following the record’s completion in 2008 - due to his work on Halloween 2, time spent shopping for a new label after 18 years of recording for Geffen, and, perhaps, a lack of public interest - Zombie has since gone on to say that the songs on Hellbilly Deluxe, Vol. Love him or hate him as a director or as a musician, Rob Zombie shows no signs of closing the door on either of his creative endeavors anytime soon.