25 Years of Hellbilly Deluxe

Recently I had occasion to see Rob Zombie in concert, and he was talking about the 25th anniversary of his album “Hellbilly Deluxe” and it got me to thinking: what is it about that album? It still resonates after so many years without fading.  Certainly it’s surrounded by contemporary albums of similar or even greater success (some of the works of Marilyn Manson come to mind.) Rammstein, Korn, a few others that were contemporaries of Rob Zombie at that time all had their moment or moments.  But it’s interesting that most of them have faded, or been forgotten, and even Rob to some degree isn’t at the apex that he used to be.  It should be noted for context, it’s easy to forget that at the time of the release of “Hellbilly Deluxe,” there was a brief moment for the next two or three years where Rob Zombie was on an even playing field with names like Metallica.  Now, Metallica was at the nadir of their mainstream popularity at that moment. Even so, Rob Zombie was in the same sentence as the mighty Met, and a large part of that was due to the release of “Hellbilly Deluxe,” which, of course was possessed of such superior singles as “Superbeast” and the omnipresent “Dragula” and “Living Dead Girl.”

There’s a certain gray area within “Hellbilly Deluxe” that obfuscates, albeit unintentionally, the transmutation of White Zombie into Rob Zombie.  After all, the transition into Rob Zombie as a solo artist seemed then, and seems now perhaps, like a lateral move whose motives even 25 years on remain somewhat unclear.

Well, the differences between “Hellbilly Deluxe,” and say, the hearty crust punk of “La Sexorcisto” are apparent, but much less evident to the undiscerning music fan would be the subtle variances between “Hellbilly Deluxe” and “Astrocreep 2000.” It’s entirely possible that there is little to no difference between those latter two albums, excepting the fact that there’s a different name on the cover, and that Zombie’s solo effort certainly stays more true to a single theme

Nevertheless, the fact remains that when one thinks of Rob Zombie, with the exception of the superlative single “More Human Than Human” and maybe, maybe for learned fans “Thunderkiss 65,” all of Rob Zombie‘s most memorable moments come from “Hellbilly Deluxe.“

Fine, I will allow that there is a case that “Feel So Numb” belongs on the list of Rob‘s most memorable musical moments, but even that fails to gain the popularity of even White Zombie’s pinnacle hits.  (And boy, “Feel So Numb” has a great video, but man, it is a product of the precise moment when it made.)

With that said, then, what is it about hillbilly deluxe that makes us remember it as a separate paragon of the Zombie catalog?  What establishes it as being just as vital and unique as it was then?  Contemporaries that we’ve already mentioned notwithstanding, no one had ever really heard an album like this in 1998 and yet it seems to be the apex of what it was that Rob was building from his early days slugging it out in dirty punk clubs in New York City.   Even with that, so much of the metal from the late ‘90s hasn’t aged particularly well (looking at you, Fred Durst,) and has to some degree become the subject of satire, while “Hellbilly Deluxe” sounds just as nouveau now, and remains in a class entirely unto itself.

One of the things that Rob Zombie has always been so adroit at is the ability to make his music discernible by more than its riff.  “More Human Than Human” is the classic example of this, a radio-ready metal banger known for its beat, but that momentum carries forward into all of the greatest moments of the album we’re talking about.  And with the exception of “Superbeast,” known so well for the screaming held notes that fly over the top of the proceedings from jump, that really remains the case for all of Rob‘s first solo effort especially when you get into the lesser known tracks like “Demonoid Phenomenon” or “Meet the Creeper.” Yes, it’s true, the riffs are part and parcel to the beat in many ways,  but it’s not the rift that creates the idiomatic chug, the rift merely emboldens it.

And there were, as we mentioned, plenty of artists who were experimenting with the same basic principle at the same time, and this was even before djent became a popular and much debated topic. But what makes “Hellbilly Deluxe” stand out from all those albums around it, and I think what makes it withstand the test of time is not just the majesty of unusual sampling and indecipherably absurd lyrics about demons and wizards and possession, is that there’s a sense of joy here.  Whether or not you agree that this is Rob Zombie‘s best musical album (even I personally don’t believe it. I prefer “Astrocreep 2000” as a top to bottom effort,) it’s undeniable that what we see showcased here is Rob Zombie exhibiting alpha Rob Zombie.  That’s really how we got here, if we’re being honest.  Rob’s spirit lends the album a character that none of those contemporary albums had, and that even Rob Zombie would never be able to replicate fully.  Nothing else from that time has that same sense of pure bliss coming from the mind of the creator.

And it seems insane to suggest that it could be something as indefinable as that which gilds this album around its edges, and prevents it from rusting, rotting, or decaying with the passage of a quarter century.  Yet I can find no other tangible explanation for why “Hellbilly Deluxe” should feel this way. 

With all that said, perhaps I’ve taken all of this time and valuable column space to say nothing.  Reading this back, it feels like there’s not really a central theme to my argument other than I enjoy this album, and a lot of other people do as well, and maybe that’s the purpose of this essay if I dare call it one.  “Hellbilly Deluxe,” with whatever formaldehyde seems to pump through its veins preventing its dissipation into the background void of music from days gone by, is simply a fun album that has few if any peers and is the pristine example of a sound that many others try to imitate, but nobody ever really found.  Certainly it makes one pine, however cynically, for the days when Rob’s music career was at the forefront of his mind. In the meantime, if you haven’t listened to “Hellbilly Deluxe” recently, go back and listen to it again you’ll be surprised how good it still sounds.