Hellbilly Deluxe - Legacy

Legacy

Hellbilly Deluxe quickly became a fan favorite for fans of Zombie's music, leading to the success of the album's three singles. Aside from spawning three Top 40 hits on the Billboard Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks, the album went on to sell over three million copies worldwide, with two million units sold in the United States alone. Hellbilly sold more copies in its first week of release than any previous White Zombie album in the past, and went on to become Zombie's best selling album to date. The album's third single, "Superbeast", was nominated for "Best Metal Performance" at the 42nd Grammy Awards held on February 23, 2000 but ultimately lost to "Iron Man" by Black Sabbath. The production of the album was seen as a highlight by critics, with one stating "Humphrey had pushed the boundaries of primitive DAW and was instrumental in the development of Pro Tools features like Beat Detective and batch cross fade processing. So that same inventive mentality went into Hellbilly’s production."

"Well, it was around the ten- year anniversary of the first record, and the idea just popped into my head. It really wasn’t this big master plan by any means, I just knew I wanted to return to the old ways of doing things, and I thought that that would be a good starting point."

The success of Hellbilly Deluxe came as a surprise to Zombie, who didn't believe it would perform well. Due to the album's success, a remix album, American Made Music To Strip By, was released in October of the following year. The remix album was somewhat successful, peaking inside the Top 40 of the Billboard 200. In 2005, a deluxe edition of Hellbilly Deluxe was released, featuring new artwork and a bonus DVD. Included on the DVD were music videos for all of the songs featured on the album. The Special Edition of the album was released on November 22, 2005. Zombie's 2010 album, Hellbilly Deluxe 2: Noble Jackals, Penny Dreadfuls and the Systematic Dehumanization of Cool, is referred to as the follow-up to the original Hellbilly Deluxe. Zombie has stated that the album is referred to as a follow-up because they are "similar in style" and "have the same feel". Songs from Hellbilly Deluxe have been performed on all of Zombie's tours following its release, including his 2010 tour Hellbilly Deluxe 2 World Tour, made to support the second edition to Hellbilly Deluxe.

Song's from Hellbilly Deluxe were used in numerous television series, films, and video games. The "Hot Rod Herman Remix" of "Dragula" was included on the soundtrack to both the 1999 film The Matrix and the 2000 film Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2. It was later used in the video game Twisted Metal 4, in which Zombie is a playable character. It was also used in the American version of Gran Turismo 2 and in the PlayStation game Sled Storm. "Dragula" was also played in the background of a Spring Break scene in the show King of the Hill. It was later used in the 2012 video game Twisted Metal. "Superbeast", "Dragula" and "Meet the Creeper" are featured in the video game Twisted Metal 3. "Superbeast" is also a part of the soundtrack for the game Brütal Legend, while a remixed version is used in an idle animation for the arcade game CarnEvil. Both "Dragula" and "Superbeast" were released as downloadable content for the Rock Band series on October 27, 2009. "Living Dead Girl" was used in the opening credits for the 1998 horror film Bride of Chucky, as well as the 1998 for the film classic Psycho. "Spookshow Baby" was featured in the horror movie Urban Legend, released in 1998. "Demonoid Phenomenon" and several other tracks from the album were used in the videogame Nightmare Creatures II in 2000. "Demonoid Phenomenon" wasbeing used for the game's opening cinematic. In the Malcolm in the Middle episode "Home Alone 4", Richie is seen wearing a Hellbilly Deluxe T-shirt.

The songs on the album have also been subject to numerous cover versions over the years. The song "Dragula" was covered by Motionless In White in 2009, and was featured on the deluxe edition of their 2010 debut album Creatures. Suicide Silence covered the song "Superbeast" in 2011, and was featured on the iTunes version of their third studio album The Black Crown. Several songs from the album were covered on the The Electro-Industrial Tribute to Rob Zombie tribute album, released in 2002. The album includes covers of singles such as "Superbeast", "Dragula", and "Living Dead Girl", while fan favorites "Meet the Creeper", "How to Make a Monster", and "Demenoid Phenomenon" are also covered.