Photo: Sterling Munksgard / Shutterstock.com
Our top ten Rob Zombie songs looks at the solo career of the former vocalist of White Zombie who is now also a successful film director. Zombie began work on his first solo album in 1997 whilst his former band were still in existence. Titled Hellbilly Deluxe: 13 Tales Of Cadaverous Cavorting Inside The Spookshow International, it was commercially successful, reaching the high position of number five on the Billboard 200 when it was released in 1998. It sold more than any of the albums he recorded with White Zombie and to this day is his biggest selling album.
After investing in a couple of ventures such as forming his own label and composing music for the game Twisted Metal 3, Zombie released his second album The Sinister Urge in 2001. The album outsold his debut in its first week and became his second record to enter the Billboard top ten. Although it sold more in its first week, it did not ultimately end up selling as much afterwards. It was also met with positive critical reviews.
After the release of this album, Zombie ventured into the world of movie making, directing the film House Of A Thousand Corpses and its sequel The Devil’s Rejects. In 2006 he released his third album, Educational Horses. Although it also entered the Billboard top ten, it received a mixed critical reception. It was not as generally commercially successful, selling considerably less than his previous two records.
After the release of this album, Zombie announced that he was going to be taking a back seat from music to focus on his career as a director. After directing the remake to the classic horror film Halloween and its sequel, Zombie announced the release of his fourth album Hellbilly Deluxe 2: Noble Jackals, Penny Dreadfuls and the Systematic Dehumanization of Cool which was released in 2010. It was billed as a sequel to his debut and also made the Billboard top ten. It received a mixed critical response.
In 2013, Rob Zombie released his fifth album Venomous Regeneration Rat Vendor which was his lowest selling album despite reaching the Billboard top ten. After releasing The Electric Warlock Acid Witch Satanic Orgy Celebration Dispenser in 2016, Zombie took some time out of music to focus on film projects. His most recent album The Lunar Injection Kool Aid Eclipse Conspiracy was released in 2021. Here is a list of his ten best songs.
# 10 – Sick Bubble-Gum
Starting off our list of the top ten Rob Zombie tracks is one from his 2010 album, Hellbilly Deluxe 2. This album, a follow-up to his debut Hellbilly Deluxe, was released on February 2, 2010, via Roadrunner Records. This song was reportedly named after a phrase Johnny Ramone, the iconic Ramones guitarist and Zombie’s friend, used to describe Zombie’s unique sound. With its heavy industrial influence, the track bears a resemblance to the style of Ministry.
# 9 – Iron Head
Next on our list is a track taken from Zombie’s second album The Sinister Urge released in 2001. It features a guest vocal appearance from none other than Ozzy Osbourne. The instrumentation on this track is very unique sounding and despite its industrial sound, it manages to have a catchy vibe about it.
# 8 – Never Gonna Stop ( The Red Red Kroovy)
Next up is a single taken from Zombie’s taken from The Sinister Urge. It is also featured on a couple of compilation albums. It was nominated for a Grammy award for Best Metal Performance in 2003 but lost to “Here To Stay” by Korn. It is based on A Clockwork Orange and the promo video for it is based on the movie.
# 7 – Two Lane Blacktop
This song is taken from Zombie’s compilation album Past Present and Future released in 2003. The lyrics are based on that of the 1971 movie of the same name. Upon its release it was featured on the soundtrack to the video game Need For Speed: Underground and in the 2005 horror film Venom (not to be confused with the more recent Marvel movie.)
# 6 – Demonoid Phenomenon
The last song on the first half of our list is taken from Rob Zombie’s debut album Hellbilly Deluxe: 13 Tales Of Cadaverous Cavorting Inside The Spookshow International released in 1998. This is an underrated track on the album that is overlooked by its singles. This is a shame as it is one of the best cuts in Zombie’s entire back catalogue.
# 5 – Dead City Radio and the New Gods Of Supertown
The first song on the second half of this list is taken from 2013’s Venomous Rat Regeneration Vendor. The song is about the state of contemporary rock radio. The promo video to the song was directed by Rob Zombie himself which featured all of his usual kind of quirks. Shot in black and white, it featured a break dancing skeleton and all of kinds of other burlesque characters.
# 4 – Living Dead Girl
Here is one of Rob Zombie’s most popular songs that is also lifted from his debut album. A song that sounds like a cross between Marilyn Manson and Ministry, it has an eighties vibe about it and is packed full of samples and references to old classic horror movies. It has also been used on soundtracks to several more contemporary scary flicks.
# 3 – Demon Speeding
In third place is the second single The Sinister Urge. In 2002 the song was remixed by Chris Vrenna who had previously played in Nine Inch Nails. It is a very powerful sounding song that also has elements of bands such as Ministry and Prong. Weirdly, this is combined with a traditional rock n roll swagger that strangely works.
# 2 – Scum Of The Earth
Just off first place is this song that was featured on The Sinister Urge and also on the Mission Impossible 2 soundtrack. Possibly due to this, it received quite a lot of radio play when it was released. This is yet another song that is similar in tone to Ministry with its heavy industrial guitars and the chanting chorus also sounds rather like something that the Chicago band would do.
# 1 – Dragula
You could probably see this one coming but topping off our Rob Zombie songs list is this track taken from his debut album that is commonly agreed to be his signature song. It is influenced by an episode of one of Zombie’s favourite tv shows (that he is currently in the progress of producing a remake of) The Munsters. It was a big hit upon its release, reaching number six on the Billboard Mainstream Rock charts. The video that was made for it was filled with clips of old horror movies also received heavy rotation on MTV.
Top 10 Rob Zombie Songs article published on Classic RockHistory.com© 2021
Classicrockhistory.com claims ownership of all its original content and Intellectual property under United States Copyright laws and those of all other foreign countries. No one person, business or any organizations is allowed to republish any of our original content anywhere on the web or in print without our permission.