Rob Zombie Makes Surprise Label Switch; Hints at Blob Delay
Debi Moore
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It was announced a few days ago that Rob Zombie’s new album Hellbilly Deluxe 2 was being delayed past its scheduled release date of November 17th due to some issues he was having with the Geffen label he’s been with for the past 18 years. And today we got the word those problems were so irreparable that Zombie has signed a new worldwide deal with leading rock label Roadrunner Records through its Loud & Proud imprint.
As Billboard explained it, Zombie felt “the basic structure of releasing a record” was not adequately in place for the project.
“Basically the label (Geffen) wasn’t really in a position to promote it or deal with it,” Zombie explained. “It was basically everything, from getting advance copies to the press to…There wasn’t even time to make a video (for the first single, ‘What?’, which you can hear below), and we were leaving for the tour. There was the sense that every little thing about the record was rushed — not the music, ’cause that was done for a long time, and that was the thing that was so annoying. We spent so much time crafting the record, we didn’t want it to be something that was so chaotic that it became, ‘Oh, that’s done and gone’ two weeks later.”
Now fans can look for Hellbilly Deluxe 2 from Roadrunner in early 2010. But none of the behind-the-scenes drama has affected his first headline tour since 2007, which kicked off October 29th in Phoenix, AZ. He told Billboard fans can expect a return to the lavish stage production he’d abandoned in supporting 2006’s ‘Educated Horses’.
“It’s pretty awesome,” Zombie noted. “I have the stage set from the first ‘Hellbilly’ tour in storage; I toyed with the idea of pulling it out…and using the actual set. But it felt so tired and contrived to do that. It seemed fake. So we’ve sort of gone back and created what seems like the new version of that…the modernized update of that. There have been some incredible advancements in digital technology. It’s a pretty high-tech stage show going on. The stage feels very fresh, very modern, very high-tech. It has the spirit of that first show.”
Zombie is also planning an “extra special” version of the show for his Halloween night performance at the Palladium in Los Angeles, re-creating the concert scene from his latest film, Halloween II, complete with a performance by Capt. Clegg & the Night Creatures and more pyrotechnics than he’ll be using during other stops on the tour.
Zombie will be on the road until the fall of 2010. As for his next movie project, Billboard calls his remake of The Blob “rumored” and still “unscheduled” with another film “that will take him out of the horror and gore realm” in the pipeline. “If (that’s) the next movie,” Zombie said, “people will be shocked.”
Hmmmm … that’s our Rob! Always up to something that gets people talking. Personally, I’m hoping it’s that Western he’s been hinting at. It’s time for him to do something more suited to his filmmaking style.
While we wait for a definitive answer, visit RobZombie.com for Hellbilly Deluxe 2 World Tour updates, including the official blog, Twitter feed, photos, and videos directly from the road.
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