boo!

I wasn't really expecting much from this album, I got used to the fact that lately Manson scares cause it's his job to do it. The Ronald McDonald of rock music: hi, my name is Marilyn and I shock for a living. The title of the album made me chuckle by itself. I mean how low can you go? Very high, apparently.

But.

No, wait. Before I get to the goodies, let me mention the baddies. 

Baddie # 1: it's a Manson album. There will be pointless screaming and numerous threats ("I'm a danger to myself. Are you aware I am a danger to others?" - "If you're not afraid of getting hurt then I'm not afraid of how much I hurt you" - "I will choke all of you down"  and so on) You know, I have always felt that Marilyn Manson and Michael Jackson share many similarities: the make-up, the androgynous thing going on, the love for theatrics, the larger-than-life approach to, well, life. Now there's one more. Remember Michael's "Bad"? He had to say it himself - "I'm bad, I'm bad" - cause no one else was gonna lie through their teeth like that. Manson has this I'll-infect-you-just-by-thinking-of-you attitude in almost every goddamn song. And it gets really old after ten minutes. Alright, you're a really bad person from Mars, can we get on with the music now?

Baddie # 2: it's a Manson album. You can't ignore that, he won't let you.  It's the voice. It floods everything. And he has a special voice, to be sure. Most of the time he sounds like a wailing widow out on a shit break. That's special, not many men can do that. The trouble with special voices, for me anyway, is that they need to be special in a very special kind of way for me to stay tuned without getting bored or annoyed. Bjork, Robert Smith, maybe Dylan, just other examples in that category. Manson has patented that menacing "uhhhh" sound at the end of each and every damn lyric, in a "uuuh, I'm gonna eat all your sandwiches, scooby-doo" kind of way. That gets old too. Also some lyrics just aren't meant to be screamed. There's some really good music on this album, but it's hidden way back behind the rusty pipes of his voice, it's quite an effort to locate and appreciate it. I remember his voice on "the speed of pain" and that beautiful woman's voice he did on the lyric "I'm a diamond that is tired of all the faces I've acquired". I could have married that woman, where is she now?

But on to the goodies.

I'm not really for dissecting structures and identifying genres and influences and guitar brands. But this album has something to offer. Again, it's very personal (like "eat me drink me", but that was a total mush). And if you can get past all the cockiness and anti-hero bravado, you can almost smell the sincerity. Almost. 

Plus. It has some really nice songs. I know you didn't expect that, but there you go.

"Running to the edge of the world" is beautiful in a very simple way. When he's not screaming, that is. It has the anthem-gene, but in the way that "we are the world" is an anthem.

I really liked "I want to kill you like they do in the movies", though. Skip the first verse, it's silly. For me, the song begins after that stupid "...and I'm a country you don't ever ever ever ever ever wanna visit again". He's bad again, but never mind. The voice really fits on this one, I think. This is a snuff of a song, so yeah, the wailing, screaming and cynicism go very well together with the violence of the lyrics ("cut, cut, cut.." I love that) an the whole slipping-down-the-throat-of-a giant feel of the song. Good one. Long one, too. 

"WOW" reminds me of "new model #15" a bit. Or "user friendly". Either way, it's funny. Sometimes because it's meant to be, other times not so much so. 

"Four rusted horses" surprised me with the acoustic guitar. There are lots of acoustic guitars on this album and they all surprised me. I thought he was over that. I'm glad he isn't.

"We're from America", ironic and anti-american as it is, only points the obvious once more: Manson is a very American singer. Very American.

The last song - "15" - with that wobbly guitar in the beginning, turns out to be almost melanchlolic, in spite of the lyrics. "If you don't know what forever feels like, I'll show you what it feels like without it" - again, a threat, but he has such a sweet voice saying it. But then ruins it in the end when he threatens to "teach us about loss" in that scary-scary voice.  Oh well.

I was not disappointed by this album (maybe because my expectations were on the high end of lol by now). But you do need a pre-nup to listen to this one, cause it ain't gonna end well.

Marilyn Manson - I want to kill you like they do in the movies


Marilyn Manson - running to the edge of the world


Marilyn Manson - wow


Marilyn Manson - 15