Rob Zombie - Hellbilly Deluxe II [2010]

First track has quite a bit of punch and power. It may take me a little time to get used to the new style, but it feels more like the first hellbilly. "Jesus Frankenstein" has some cool acoustic stuff to it and the main riff feels A LOT like old-school White Zombie. "Sick Bubblegum" feels just way too stock, predictable, and repetitive. "What" makes me say the same thing.... "What?" "Theme for an Angry Red Planet" is all well and good, but it doesn't fit the mood of the album at all. "Mars Needs Women" really makes me think that Rob has completely stopped trying to write decent lyrics. It feels very contrived and stock despite the well-layered guitars. Damnit... this album started off promising, but now it all has gone far far away from the darkness, heaviness, industrial, and evil mood of the first RZ album. 90% rockabilly, 10% metal. "The Man Who Laughs" is much more like it... so sad that it's only one of two songs that are good.

Rating: 5.5

http://www.robzombie.com/

All ratings are out of 10. Rating may not be a whole number.

Rob Zombie - Educated Horses [2006]

Cool intro track. The middle riffs of "American Witch" are much better than the rest of the song, and that's not much of an accomplishment. It's a fairly stock one-dimensional song. "Foxy, Foxy" follows in the same vein... boring, repetitive, not catchy. It's only been 40 seconds since I listened to "17 Year Locust" and I can't remember anything about the song. "The Scorpion Sleeps" is way too much like a happy version of Manson. This really feels stripped out and more like a pop-metal album than what I would expect from RZ. It's missing nearly ALL of the darkness I loved from the first album. The songs aren't really that catchy at all. And, while the production is fairly heavy, the riffs feel too damn light and happy. "Let it all Bleed Out" and "Death of it All" are probably the only good tracks on the album. Very few layers overall. On the odd occasion that Zombie decides to flex his creative wings, the result is wonderful.

Rating: 5

http://www.robzombie.com/

All ratings are out of 10. Rating may not be a whole number.

Rob Zombie - The Sinister Urge [2001]

Kicking off with a very energetic, heavy, and catchy track that fully utilizes Rob's new penchant for supporting orchestral arrangements... and it's quite well-done. "Dead Girl Superstar" brings up the tempo quite a bit. "Never Gonna Stop" takes on a more quirky and whimsical feel to it and gives the distinct impression that this is a step towards a more experimental Zombie. "Iron Head" brings things back to straight evil with a hint of turntable. It's certainly a departure from the very focused Hillbilly Deluxe. At times, this one feels a bit more poppy, but that feeling is always immediately tempered by more experimentation with other styles and instruments. On one hand, I miss the very acutely dark, gothic, and heavy style of HD, but I do like the experimentation for the most part. The album can't be called "light," either. There are a few songs that don't really work as well, though (i.e. "California" and "Never Gonna Stop"). I just can't bare to give it the same rating as HD... I really respect the creativity, but it's lost a fair amount of the bleak atmosphere in the process.

Rating: 8.25

http://www.robzombie.com/

All ratings are out of 10. Rating may not be a whole number.

Rob Zombie - Hellbilly Deluxe

"Superbeast", man, what a song. Simple, but with just enough layers to give it depth. Catchy, but with a dark as fuck feel. Powerful, in a word. This whole album is pretty much great. There's only really one or two songs that lag behind a bit, but they're so different from the rest of the material that they are welcomed as a nice break. There's enough catchiness here that it'll be coming out your ears. Most of it is powerful and certainly has a wonderfully dark and menacing quality that is rarely heard these days. There's not much variation through the album, but there doesn't need to be. I didn't feel tired by the end at all. Great album. I can objectively say that it's better than anything White Zombie did... SUCK ON THAT, FAGGOTS.

Rating: 8.5

http://www.robzombie.com/

All ratings are out of 10. Rating may not be a whole number.