New Marilyn Manson album!

[Beowulf]

His best album in a fucking decade. Go pick it up everyone. He has reunited with Twiggy Ramirez, his long time bassist and the guy who wrote the tunes for ALL the great stuff in the first 3 albums.

I wanna do videos with this stuff. Damn my real job!!

[guy07]

Wicked timing, I was just getting back into his stuff.

[Ghet]

its not bad. aint antichrist superstar, but still a good album.

[Prodigi]

I listened to it last night and was kinda disappointed because I was expecting one thing but got another.

Then I listened to it a couple of times at work today and got pretty into it. I quite like Wight Spider.

[dreamawake]

So, Dead To The World 2?

[Beowulf]

I posted a review of the album on mansonusa's forums. The review is for people who have heard the album a lot, and is really just my thoughts more than an "album review", but people should really get this album, so here it is.

I love this album. Its a real grower. The first time I heard it, I liked it, didn't love it, as nothing really immediately jumped out at me. Upon more listens however, you really start to gel with all the songs, and I am now completely in love with the album.

A lot of people have said that this album gives us a bit of everything, kind of like Radiohead's Hail to the Thief. It touches on just about everything we've loved about Manson for the past 15 years (except for the thrash metal that I was hoping for; Hate Anthem, 1996, Little Horn, etc), while at the same time updating the sound with a VERY fresh and clean production. Manson has always had incredible production and ambiance to decorate the curtains of his songs, something I thought was very lacking with Tim Skold. There's also some brand new stuff, more on that later.

I cannot overstate the importance of live drums in this album. It makes Manson sound like a fucking BAND and not some self loathing solo act. The mixing of live drums with programming really is one of this albums best elements, as all the songs feel groovy, fat, and most importantly NOT OVER COOKED. Manson himself sounds his most natural and organic in a decade since that god-fucking-awful fuzz effect he's used on his voice for the last 10 years has been dialed down.

The whole sound of the band is just better. With Tim Skold we had fleeting moments of awesome (This is The New Shit, If I Was Your Vampire), surrounded by a bunch of mediocre riffs with the same 100 bpm tempo, that were over produced into the fucking ground (Hells Not Hot, Para-noir, Better of Two Evils, Ka-Boom Ka-Boom). I think with this album we can finally hear exactly what Twiggy brought to the band: great chords, song structures, bridges, and a sleazy menacing bass. Twiggy came up with the tunes that everyone added too. I do miss John 5's presence on the album, as he undoubtedly came up with all those incredible catchy riffs for the singles, something this album has very little of. I would have liked a punch-you-in-the-face riff of Fight Song, mOBSCENE, Rock Is Dead, etc.

This album really sounds A LOT like a Bowie's best albums. Its got a classic flow, and isn't immediately appealing. Upon finishing the album for the first time, I didn't like it, but immediately wanted to hear it again. The sign of greatness, imo. Not like a Coldplay album where you hear the whole thing and go "that was awesome!" and never listen to it again.

TRACK BY TRACK:

DEVOUR: This is just a perfect opener for the album, even though I chuckle at the first line (big bottle of big big pills? C'MON). Manson really sings his heart out here, and I feel it. Its got a great understated arrangement, and I love those dissonant guitars. It sounds like a volcano is about to erupt. The climax has a classic Manson line "my pain's not ashamed to repeat itself". Some people have complained that he's whining about relationships, but this is just a damn good song. I love it.

PRETTY AS A SWASTIKA: My favorite track upon first listen, but it doesn't have much depth to it. Classic big stompy, screeming chorus, but thats about all it has. It remindes me of NIN's "Letting You". Upon first hearing you go "Oh man this shit is heavy! AWESOME!" and then after about 10 listens, you wish it had better lyrics, a proper bridge, or something dynamic about it. Its a quick SMASH BANG BANG SMASH song, and I like it, but its not a track I repeat during the album.

LEAVE A SCAR: This was my favorite demo I heard, and is still an awesome song. When I heard this, I laughed and thought Manson was doing his best indie-radio single-song. Unapologetic disco beat, the kind of song you listen too at 80 miles per hour. Twiggy's bass really ties this one together as its just PERFECT. I like the lyrics a lot, very melodic. This song could have fit right into 90s radio with its flangey guitar bridge, something I really enjoy. This song really exemplifies the classy production of the album. The song feels full and complete, without being busy.

FOUR RUSTED HORSES: I really like the lyrics for this song, and musically it sounds a LOT like Hollywood. Very similar vibe to "In The Shadow Of The Valley Of Death" and "Place In The Dirt". I prefer the opening titles version, but I love the keyboards one the album version. This song is where we first hear the albums theatrical elements, as its definitively western in tone, and in lyrics. This is the kinda song where they blast pyrotechnics during the chorus and people pump their fist.

ARMA-GODDAMN-MOTHERFUCKIN-GEDDON: Sounds exactly like "Rock is Dead" which is fine by me, as that song is awesome. Masnson really sings it in that barely-contained-menacing-sarcasm that I just love, similar to way he sang Tainted Love. One of the highlights of the album is "call my dealer, call my lawyer.... WE GOT A SITUATIOOOON". That part cracks me up every time. The production on this one is just perfect, and if you heard the leaked demo you know why. The demo felt empty and flat. This has the proper boombast of self aware radio hit.

BLANK AND WHITE: One of my favorites on the album. Someone said that this song makes them feel like a teenager again and I think they really hit the nail on the head. Manson kills his part, and the verse riff is just perfect. Tambourine makes ANY song better, just ask NIN. "I want to celebrate, I want to sell your hate" is one of my favorite parts of the album, just a fucking killer bridge. The song just has an undeniable energy too it, that just keeps on building. Its also got probably the biggest rock and roll climax on the album, with Manson screaming better than he has in 2 albums. I just rock the fuck out like a 14 year old when the song climaxes. "YEAH YEAH YEEEEEAH!"

RUNNING TO THE EDGE OF THE WORLD: A classic 80's power ballad, that Bon Jovi did 100 times before. I've never liked these kinds of songs, as they always feel too self aware, and therefor insincere to me. I connect more when someone is singing about their personal stuff, and not crafting a song that is going to appeal to just about every human being on the planet. It feels like marketing to me. I always liked U2's "Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" and always skipped "With Or Without You". All that being said, the song has really grown on me, and Manson's falsetto is used to great effect, and it was some nice touches like the double guitar stab they do at the end of chorus. It is paced perfectly in the album and takes us soundly into middle-of-the-album-territory.

I WANT TO KILL YOU LIKE THEY DO IN THE MOVIES: My favorite track on the album. The swampy atmospherics are just awesome, like Manson is channeling Creedence doing "Susi Q". Upon first hearing it sounds like a big messy blur, but the more you listen, the more the pacing reveals itself to you, and the more you notice Twiggy's brilliant atmospheric guitar work. At about the 4 minute mark the song switches to a reggae beat with Manson sounding legitimately EVIL. Theres a reason they left the tape on for 30 minutes when they were recording this, everything just WORKS. Manson has some of his best lines on the album: "I wanna fuck you like a foreign film with no subtitles", "I feel a little sorry baby, I hear the afterlife is poorly scored". Alot of these lines sound like inspired adlibs: "You're only acting baby, Its only acting baby, You're over acting baby. Don't confuse it with love". The groove itself reminds me a lot of Rolling Stone's "Slave". The band is absolutely in the pocket, and the more you hear it, the more you notice how just PERFECT the drumming is. The crashing symbols, the pounding bass drum, the whole percussion. I really hope Manson explores this style more, as its absolutely a career highlight for me. This song also boasts my favorite bit of the album: "This is business not pleasure baby, This is is business not pleasure baby"

WOW: When I first heard the demo of this track, I turned it off halfway through, and tried to forget I heard it. It was just awful to my ears. This song really shows what a difference some editing and a louder snare drum can do to a song, as now its just fucking awesome. I wouldn't be surprised if they released this as a single. This is probably the most Bowie sounding song on the entire album with its wild synth work and spoken word style. The groove is completely driven by Twiggy's goth-porno riff, and the song really takes you into the red light district. Manson sounds sleezy, like an over sexed rock star, even if some of the lyrics are laughable, it doesn't matter. This has probably the catchiest chorus on the album, and is kissing cousins with "User Friendly" from Mechanical Animals. Vrenna's production and synth work really add a lot to this song especially the "VOOOP VEEEP VOOOP VEEEP" ping-pong synth work during the "unbeleavablybelieveable" bit.

WIGHT SPIDER: While I don't know if Twiggy and Manson listen to much Moby, this song is almost a direct clone of Moby's "New Dawn Fades" from his I Like To Score album. (The song that plays while Robert DeNiro is going 150mph about to go kill the traitor dude at the end of "Heat"). That all being said, I really enjoy this one, even though Manson's vocals kind of fade into the mix a little too much for my liking. The lumbering fuzzy guitar is just great, and the live percussion is killer. Manson delivers the goods in the climax, with some of his best screaming. "YOU CAN'T HARVEST HOPE FROM ANYONE" "NO NO NO NO" (that is what he's saying right?). I bang my head with a big sneer on my face when this song crescendos, and you should too.

UNKILLABLE MONSTER: Only song that doesn't do it for me. I don't like the twangy country guitar, I don't like the pedestrian strummy guitar work for the chorus, I don't like Manson singing "am I my own shadOOOOOOOW",
I don't like "Are we in love or are we in pain?", and now this marks the 5th song in a row that has a slow tempo. Pick up the fucking pace! I would have left this one on the floor and gone straight into...

WE'RE FROM AMERICA: Epic fist pump, and probably the ONLY Manson single that doesn't sound like a descendant from The Beautiful People. I love the tongue in cheek lyrics especially "we turn literature into litter" during the breakdown, Chris Vrenna adds a synth bit that sounds VERY nine inch nails, and it adds just the right amount of tension to get us to the climax. The riffis great, and the big pumping drums really create a driving beat that you can just rock the fuck out too. This song made me realize how much Manson was missing as real RHYTHM SECTION from his last two albums.

I HAVE TO LOOK UP JUST TO SEE HELL: The title track. This song doesn't pop out immediately since it doesn't have a big hook, but everyone just brings a PERFECT part to this track. The opening scream, like Manson is descending into the big hellish void, just works great for opening theatrics. Twiggy and Ginger lock into another killer groove, with Ginger doing some especially creative drum work. The song just builds and builds as it goes on with some of my favorite texture work. Theres David Gilmore-esque guitar right out of "Echoes", theres some great background vocal bits, and that eternal lumbering bass. The song really sounds like a Radiohead song in terms of arrangement. Theres a killer bridge; "the light shines in the darkness and the darkness never understands it", classic line. One of my favorites.

INTO THE FIRE: Manson really kills this song, singing the perfect mix of theatrics and heart ache. He really sells it, as I'm feeling him throughout the whole song. "If you wanna hit bottom" raises the hair on my neck, and has since I heard the demo. Pogo's piano is just great, and really gives the song an organic touch that contrasts with lyrics to great effect. Much has been said about Twiggy's guitar solo, with even Manson himself talking it up, and to me it sounds pedestrian. The first section of it, before we get "Intooo the Fiiyaaaa" sounds plucky and amatuerish. Twiggy is hardly a guitar god, albeit an incredible song writer, but not a guitar god. This song is VERY similar to Fundamentally Loathsome, which is easily in my top 5 Manson songs, and I love it all the same. Fundamentally Loathsome had a real GUITAR SOLO, however, and I guess thats the difference between John 5, who was an LA session player with serious chops, and Twiggy. Twiggy's solo adds something, and is very understated.

15: This ties with ITKYLTDITM for my favorite song on the album. I just can't get enough of Manson's voice on this one. Some of the best lyrics he's ever written. I get goosbumps when he sings "Yesterday everything I thought I believed in died, but today is my birthday". He really sounds like someone who's lost everything but will persevere, something I think the entire album is about. The lyrics have a quiet declaration to them, like someone at the end of their life making their final assessment of it. I really connect with the lyric "This time I won't hesitate to kill to protect what I believe in". Songs like this remind you what an incredible singer Manson is. This song has about x5 as many listens as any other on my iTunes. The arrangement is worth note as well, as its something completely new for Manson, and something I hope he explores in the future. The song builds with some incredible live drumming in the 2nd verse, but doesn't explode into an obvious big rock-n-roll ending, similar to a Radiohead song. Theres an incredible understated tension that ends with a whisper instead of a scream. I love the Brian Wilson style vocal layers at the end, with Manson doing his lowest and highest at the same time. By the time we're here, the grove is just fucking HUGE, and then its completely disappears as fast as it came. I can see why Manson loves this song so much, as I think its a real breakthrough in terms of lyrics, and the maturity of the arrangement.

This is easily his best album in a decade, and one I think time will treat very very well. Everyone on these forums seems to have different favorite songs, which is always a good sign, as opposed to GAOG to which everyone was all "Man, fucking New Shit and mOBSCENE are AWESOME!". I don't remember anyone saying Slutgarden was their favorite off of that one, lol.

1. Antichrist Superstar
2. Mechanical Animals
3. High End Of Low
4. Hollywood

Hope you dig the review

[Ghet]

Tl;dr like a motherfucker - but a good review.













also, slutgarden is definitely among my top 10 manson songs =|

[dreamawake]

I read it and can generally agree with it. Dug the album.