ROB ZOMBIE
Hellbilly Deluxe (Geffen)
Rating: 5 out of 7
By Rob O’Connor

   Yeah, this guy needs a solo album...especially one that's subtitled 13 Tales Of Cadaverous Cavorting Inside The Spookshow International. 
   Apparently, it was time for Rob Zombie to break out from the confines of his regular White Zombie line-up and use some different musicians to flesh out a backlog of new material he'd been sitting on. The result is Hellbilly Deluxe, an excessively heavy (the best kind), meticulously produced piece of parodic gore-flick metal: the kind of stuff that would be proud to call itself crap with a capital C. (Speaking of which, one of Hellbilly's guest musicians is Motley Crue drummer Tommy Lee, who has, on occasion, mistaken his wife Pamela Anderson for a drum.) 
   "Demonoid Phenomenon," "Superbeast," and "Return Of The Phantom Stranger" suggest Mr. Zombie holds a joint account somewhere with old Lucifer, himself. And while there are times when this sort of B-movie shtick seems positively old-fashioned (Black Sabbath 1970, Misfits 1982, my friend), the mega-production in which dive-bomb rhythms are king refreshes things enough for those looking to keep the faith. Me? I think I hear the "MacNeil-Lehrer Report" calling. Have fun, kids!