A Hellbilly Real Time Review

I haven't done a real time review for a while and I can't think of a better victim then Rob Zombie's Hellbilly Deluxe 2 Noble Jackals,Penny Dreadfuls, and the Dehumnanization of Cool. Holy crap that's a mouthful. I'm going to keep my expectations low because not only was Educated Horses my least favorite album but it seemed that Rob Zombie kept hinting he wanted to get away from this aspect of his career. I hope it's not a half assed endeavor. Alright let's do this.

1.Jesus Frankenstein: Well already the song titles are back to form. If I were a Christian I'd take offense I think. Spooky intro. Wow this is a bass heavy intro. Ack! Rob Zombie just yelled "All Hail!". Scary. Lot's of buildup in this song.It better be good. Oh yeah this is the Rob Zombie I remember. "All Hail Jesus Frankenstein!". This song has some groove. I like it. 8 of 10.

2.Sick Bubblegum: I'd seen the video for this. Best acting job by Shari Moon Zombie imo. This one has the first of the soundbyte intros and the anthemic "Rock Motherfucker Rock!". You know I've hardly ever caught on to any of the sound byte references. I guess I don't watch enough shitty horror flicks. This song has a good groove as well. And as usual the lyrics make no damn sense but if you care about lyrical meaning with Rob Zombie you're in for disappointment. 8 of 10.

3.What?: As if on queue this song title sums it up with all of Rob Zombie's vocals.
Old timey keyboard intro.Buzzsaw guitars and a voicebox vocals. This song is catchy as hell. The kind of song that will probably stick in my head the rest of the day and aggravate the shit out of me.Uh huh Uh huh Uh huh. 7 of 10 just for that fact.

4.Mars Needs Women: There was a freestyle group in the 80's with a song of this title. Oh lord I hope this isn't the same thing. Nope. It's got a bluesy acoustic intro. Interesting. Am I listening to Rob Zombie? Oh hello Rob there you are. Apparently Mars Needs Women , angry red women in fact. I don't know how he knows that but oh well. No doubt this song is an homage to the crappy 50's sci flick of the same name about a Amazon like tribe of women on Mars. Song is pretty repetitive.I actually think I liked the intro better then the meat of the song. Oooo....sounds like a Martian woman is getting laid in that soundbyte. Still not enough to save the song. Sounds like filler from earlier albums. 6 of 10.

5.Werewolf,Baby!:Another soundbyte intro. Apparently they can sense the rythmn of my blood. Whoever they are. Maybe it's werewolves.I R smart.Slide guitar intro. Oh it's a song about Rob Zombie turning into a werewolf and looking to mate. Fantastic.Stay away from my leg. A bit better then the previous track. 7 of 10.

6.Virgin Witch: Hope she's hotter then American Witch. Church Bells ring in the intro.Slow Doomy intro.Ooooh I like this riff. Reminds me of Corrosion of Comformity.Pretty heavy song. Not as catchy as American Witch but alot heavier. I'm noticing the electronica is not as prevalent on here. Sounds like John 5 is getting alot of free reign to actual play the guitar here. I'm digging this track . 8 of 10.

7. Death And Destiny Inside The Dream Factory: No soundbytes in here it just goes straight to the rockin.That voicebox is back on this track and with the pace of this song it's like an annoying buzz throughout. So far the least favorite track for me. Next! 5 of 10.

8. Burn: A one word song title? That's rare.Soundbyte intro. Sounds like a cult leader speaking. Groove laden intro. This song reminds me of Ironhead from the Sinister Urge. No Ozzy in sight though. Pappa omm mow mow? Somebodies been listening to golden oldies. Songs interesting and has a good groove. 7 of 10.

9. Cease to Exist: Soundbyte intro again from a faux newscast mixed with something else. Heavy intro. Pretty slow paced for a Rob Zombie song. Catchy riff though.It's an ok song. 7 of 10.

10. Werewolf Women of the SS: I know this reference! I was just reading an interview with the actress that played in this movie years ago on (shameless blog plug)Retrocrush.com. Sorry, back to the song. Soundbyte is the trailer for this film.Riff is like a demented Pipeline. 60's surf film vibe.Go Go dancers are being envisioned. "Howl baby Howl". I like this track. It's a fun tune. 8 of 10.

11.The Man Who Laughs. A secret agent song? Sounds like it with the strings mimicing a secret agent flick. Whoa, crushing riff in the midst of a symphonic song by Rob Zombie? Trippy. Groove laden riff. This song is bad ass so far. Holy crap the track is almost 10 minutes long.Halfway through it's a drum solo like you'd hear at a live show. Hope it doesn't go the rest of the way.Or have dead air like he's done in the past. Still going with the drums.It's like watching a parody comedy and waiting for something to happen when the credits roll. Still drumming. Ah there we go back to the main riff.Cool way to close out the album. This might be my favorite track. 9 of 10.

Overall that was a pretty fun listen and a nice return to form by Rob Zombie. If you've liked any White Zombie or any solo stuff previous to Educated Horses you should get this. If you're tired of the schticks probably not so much. Don't get me wrong about Horses I did like it...eventually. It just took a few listens because it was so different.
If you want to hear some of this stuff for yourself go to their Myspace page and check out What? and here is the video for Sick Bubblegum.Enjoy.