Marilyn Manson - Holy Wood (In The Shadow Of The Valley Of Death)
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Free Music Notes for Holy Wood (In The Shadow Of The Valley Of Death)
Free Music Review: More complex then most people think
Hit: 5 Stars
Manson's 4th full length album is misunderstood by some as being the sellout mark. This is not true. He hasn't sold out. If you haven't noticed, every Marilyn Manson album is different. Holy Wood is a hybrid of Antichrist Superstar and Mechanical Animals. The result is different and not a rehash. Manson returns to his dark industrial roots with emotion, creativity, artwork, a story and most importantly it makes a point. It makes several of them as a matter of fact. A large portion revolves around America's obsession with guns, violence, JFK, the Beatles, the Columbine Massacre, God and the media. Some of these things Manson has already gone over but here he goes into more detail. You actually may not understand Holy wood at first if you aren't too knowledgeable about the JFK and John Lennon assassinations. Ex: King Kill 33 (a song name) is actually the name of an essay about the JFK assassination. The story revolves around a person Marilyn Manson created who is simply named Adam Kadmon. I could go into all the very deep meanings of every song, but that would take forever and I'm only allowed 1000 words. So instead, I will cover each event/song in the story. I will also cover some of the larger meanings behind some of the songs. Manson had clearly worked his really hard for this record. It contains 19 songs (not including the B-sides on the singles) and a lot of beautiful artwork. And even though Holy Wood is the final chapter in the trilogy, it is actually the first as it is completed in reverse. Antichrist Superstar had 3 Parts and Mechanical Animals had two different views (Alpha and Omega). Holy Wood however, has 4 parts.
The story goes that Holy Wood is this mystical place which is ruled by the rich, beautiful celebrities, and their money. The Death Valley is a terrible place where anybody who thinks differently or artistically is kept. Adam is a character who finds acceptance in holy Wood but ends up engulfed by violence and consumed by his own fame.
A: In the Shadow
God Eat God: It's a song that serves as an intro in some ways. It revolves around how JFK and Christ are viewed similarly to one another.
The Love Song: It displays America as a place filled with everything Adam wants to change.
The Fight Song: "The death of one is a tragedy, the death of a million is just a statistic" is a quote from Joseph Stalin, the beloved dictator of the Soviet Union who is responsible for over 20 million deaths of those sent to work camps in Siberia. Anyways, Adam becomes a performer and wants people to hear him and his views on Holy Wood.
Disposable Teens: Often referred to as another beautiful people, it's still great though, The keyboardist M.W. Gacy contributes to this with additional drums (the GGG DVD).
D: The Androgyne
Target Audience (Narcissus Narcosis): This song has a LOT of meanings. Adam confronts "all the old deceivers" with a list of their crimes and failures.
"President Dead": After becoming popular in the Valley, President Dead says what he thinks of Adam's performances.
In The Shadow of the Valley of Death: A very personal acoustic song, I feel Adam is making decisions.
Cruci-Fiction in Space: Represents the evolution and de-evolution of mankind as we again resort to violence to enjoy ourselves.
A Place in the Dirt: containing references to things like the Holy Grail and Xianity.
A: Of Red Earth
The Nobodies: Obviously about the Columbine tragedy.
The Death Song: Hopelessness, Heaven is vague and maybe God would like to end it all.
Lamb of God: the second acoustic song is filled with references to John Lennon and how if a celebrity is killed then they are thought of as a hero or "martyr and a lamb of god". How the media praises death.
Born Again: Adam Kadmon is disheartened, castigates those who destroy the irreplaceable, reward mediocrity, and hardly seem able to tell the difference.
Burning Flag: A war of the classes. Holy Wood and the Valley are now completely divided.
M: The Fallen
Coma Black a) Eden eye b) the apple of discord: The opposite of Coma White. This is where Adam Kadmon (being a paradox of humanity and divinity) is broken up into individual humans (like the Mechanical Animals era).
Valentines Day: If you are familiar with the ACSS story then you know that this is the same day as the Irresponsible Hate Anthem. It's also about a girl (Coma Black?) who walked into the Valley seeking him.
The Fall of Adam: Adam gives up on saving mankind and hands out guns as shown in the last half which seems to be one of Manson's infamous "bible speeches". First half is acoustic.
King Kill 33: "I am not sorry, and I am not sorry, this is what you deserve" is a Charles Manson quote from his trial. It is asking do we deserve to be saved? After all, it is the savior who must die.
Count to Six and Die (the vacuum of infinite Space encompassing): Very creepy song. Listen to this record for this first time in the dark and this song WILL freak you out.
The Enhanced portion of this CD leads to a website that no longer works. It showed a bizarre autopsy video that will be placed on the CD/DVD version of Marilyn Manson's Best Of album.
I may be wrong in a few parts in this huge 70 minute album, but it's all up to interpretation due to the story being very elaborate. A few people complain of their being a lot of filler here. I disagree. I can listen to the album the whole way through. The only time I have an urge to press the skip button occasionally is when President Dead pops up. We have 19 tracks of Manson music, intellectuality, knowledge and criticism.
Free Music Review: Valley of death we are free
Hit: 5 Stars
'Holy Wood: In the Shadow of the Valley of Death' is a conceptual album that describes a story from the last three albums of the band (going back to '96) were a part of this long story that is supposed to become a novel and potentially, a stylized film in which Johnny Depp had agreed to star in as the King of Holy Wood. MM met Depp in the eighties on 21 Jump Street where they became friends.
70 minutes of music and an extensive booklet of art detail four stages in the protagonist Adam's life. He compares his life as a Rock Star to that of a God or a President or King, etc. He intends to use this almost fascistic power that music can have to revolutionize the world but it turns around on him and he becomes another amusing product between television commercials and blown-up on billboards.
HOLY WOOD is where the exalted people in society live, their beautiful, their rich, their actors, uncontroversial artists like Matisse whose paintings of flowers fill lavish Victorian homes.
THE VALLEY is a vast, desolate desert where the undesirables and the outspoken are kept.
Adam begins this idealistic journey wanting nothing more than to exist with those in Holy Wood, but when he gets there ... he realizes that everyone around him, all of his new associates, publicists and friends, are the same people who have kept him down all his life.
It opens by telling you what life was like in this world, before he died. He begins a speech (THE LOVE SONG) by asking a large crowd, 'Do you love your Gun? Do you love your God? Do you love your Government?' -A resounding "YES!"- These are the things he hopes to change.
Part of what needs to change in his thinking is having people think and grow as a group. One song mocks modern America as being a nation that cannot begin to evolve, and that the only change or growth being made now is material or industrial.
The Monkey, the Man, then the Gun.
He's pushed into performing for an audience, but his cynicism wins out and his shows are nothing but a spectacle, because he wants people to hear him (THE FIGHT SONG). After frustration essentially makes what he does popular among the youth of the Valley, the cut PRESIDENT DEAD declares the state of their concerts. It criticizes the 'bitter thinkers' looking to 'find God like a piggy in the fair', 'getting high on violence, baby!' and he asks himself why he continues to do what he does.
That may be answered in the song THE NOBODIES, where a tragedy reminds him of how he felt growing up and he's compelled to express this with the song.
LAMB OF GOD - is a track that recalls wannabe-revolutionary John Lennon. Of course, it ended with someone killing him. Lennon sang 'Nothing's going to change my world', and of course Mark David Chapman came along and changed it entirely.
Here the lyrics are 'Nothing's going to change the world', and you could argue September 11th came along and changed the world quite a bit.
The intention is that when the next track begins with a screaming crowd, a lot could change in Adam's hands.
BURNING FLAG is about the divide between Holy Wood & the Valley. It has reached the point where it's become almost a literal class war.
VALENTINE'S DAY is about a girl from the perfect world named Coma who walked into the shadow of the valley of death for him. Of course Saint Valentine was another martyr.
THE FALL OF ADAM details the funeral procession for a martyr along the lines of Kennedy in the nineteen-sixties.
KING KILL 33 is an accusation and the title is taken from a Kennedy/Mason theory.
COUNT TO SIX AND DIE is the last track and by then, Adam has realized he's had the ability to attain this power, but it may be too late.
You can change yourself, but you cannot force anyone else to change along with you - he's failed in his goal, ultimately. Russian Roulette is being played and the empty chambers are being released to his forehead, 1, 2, 3, 4 ... waiting for the shot, it never comes. Adam is going to live on to accomplish other things.
The second part of this story is in Mechanical Animals, the sell-out product side of his overturned revolution is described (He becomes a character called Omega)
...and in Anti-Christ, he views his progress in life as a worm changing into an angel, then a demon and lastly as he is older, he's able to mature into a Nietzchian Overman character who finally leaves Holy Wood behind and returns to the old Valley. They cannot recognize him he is so different and expect that he will rescue them, but instead, he does something else entirely.
Free Music Review: Another great album from Mr. Manson that actually might be his best!
Hit: 5 Stars
I have been listening to all of Marilyn Manson's albums in the weeks awaiting his newest release "The High End of Low" which was just released May 26th, 2009. I spent much of my teen years listening to Marilyn Manson and consider myself a big fan of his work. But this does not make me biased in any way towards the high and lows (no pun intended) of his career. So this is my review series of all his albums. Hope you get to check them all out.
Where do I begin. It was the end of 2000 and music wasn't getting any better in the world. I needed a good album soon or I was going to lose it. It had been over 2 years since Marilyn Manson's previous album "Mechanical Animals". I mean it seemed like he was on a roll so this album was going to be great right? Wrong! This album is not great. This album is AMAZING!!!! This album is the perfect example of doing everything right on a record. Let me back up just a little bit in the timeline...
Marilyn Manson had released "Portrait...", Smells like children, Antichrist Superstar, and Mechanical Animals prior to this album. Each album he released he was also getting more diverse musically. His first album to really hit it big however was Antichrist Superstar. That album was a very dark record. And comparing that album to the next one which is mechanical animals, you can see that he took an entirely different direction from Antichrist superstar. So that brings us to Holy Wood (in the shadow of the valley of death). Everything that made Antichrist Superstar great and everything that made Mechanical Animals great got thrown into a blender and the end result was this album! So regardless if you prefered Antichrist or Mechanical, there was something in this album for everyone. Personally this is one of his best of not his best work. I am tied between Mechanical animals and this album myself. Its hard to compare two masterpieces and decide which is the better of the two. Thats like saying who is the better out of mozart and beethoven! But this album is on the top no matter how you look at it and it is no surprise that it is his best selling album to date!
As far as the album goes it is a concept album in many ways. Much like Antichrist Superstar and Mechanical Animals this album tell a story. It is also Marilyn Manson at the pinnacle of his career in many ways. The tracklisting is great and there is NOT one bad song on this album. The tracklist is as follows:
1. "GodEatGod"
2. "The Love Song"
3. "The Fight Song"
4. "Disposable Teens"
5. "Target Audience (Narcissus Narcosis)"
6. ""President Dead""
7. "In the Shadow of the Valley of Death"
8. "Cruci-Fiction in Space"
9. "A Place in the Dirt"
10. "The Nobodies"
11. "The Death Song"
12. "Lamb of God"
13. "Born Again"
14. "Burning Flag"
15. "Coma Black"
16. "Valentine's Day"
17. "The Fall of Adam"
18. "King Kill 33º"
19. "Count to Six and Die (The Vacuum of Infinite Space Encompassing)"
The album starts of great and haunting and ends great and haunting. As you can tell the main theme seems to be about love, violence, death, as depicted by the song titles such as Love Song, Fight Song, Death Song. The theme keeps the album going and the artwork inside the album is amazing! Many people would disagree with me but this is a much better album than Antichrist Superstar. Marilyn Manson was still finding his niche in that album and although classic, it doesn't stand as well as Holy Wood does. If someone who never owned a Marilyn Manson album before asked me which of his albums to buy first, I would recommend this one! Although I stated in a previous review that I think Mechanical Animals is my favorite album. The reason I would recommend this one is because this album has the most variety. Each song is unique and very catchy. It grabs you in on the first listen where as Mechanical Animals might take a few listens to draw you in. A great album has one of those qualities of drawing you in immediately. And that is what makes this album so great. If you don't have it, pick it up already. If you never owned a Manson album, then buy this one! If your just getting into manson pick up this one along with best of. If you own it then you already know what I am talking about! The worst thing about this album being so good is that Marilyn Manson has yet to match it yet!
Free Music Review: Marilyn Manson - Holy Wood
Hit: 5 Stars
To be honest I did a review of this album a few months ago saying that some of the songs were bad, how wrong I was. You know when you listen to something once and delete and then you come back to it again and really listen to the songs and lyrics and end up liking them. That's how talented MM really is if he can make you like his whole album that must be something. Adults who dismiss him as a stupid shock rocker are wrong we all know they were once teenagers too and if MM was around back then they would listen to him like us by the way I'm not 13 I'm 16. I must admit I am a MM fanatic...I am going to keep neautral about this review, anyway when you read my review don't think I'm some pompous reviewer blabbing on about how good the lyrics are. But I can't help it when I listen to a MM and I don't like it, I try to like it in another way eg... the lyrics instead of the music for instance. Anway on with the review. In my last review I said:
01 GodEatGod 2:34
02 The Love Song 3:16
03 The Fight Song 2:55
05 Target Audience (Narcissus Narcosis) 4:18
06 Predident Dead 3:16
08 Cruci-Fiction In Space 4:56
10 The Nobodies 3:35
11 The Death Song 3:30
13 Born Again 3:20
14 Burning Flag 3:2
Were all good songs in some way and bad in others eg. good lyrics, good background music, catchy chorus/hook/bridge etc...
vice versa. What I didn't say was that:
07 In The Shadow Of The Valley Of Death - I said this was slow boring and not worth listening to basically. Now I think It's thought provoking and worth listening to for at least the lyrics.
09 A Place In The Dirt - I said the same thing for this song that it was SB&NWLT (Slow, Boring & Not Worth Listening To)
I love this song now!! The good thing is it is thought provoking without being slow and boring its a fast though provoking song.
12 Lamb Of God - SB&NWLT not anymore this song although slow I feel for this song its like when you listen to it you can relate even if it has no relation to it.
15 Coma Black - Still not my fave song i like it more than I did then though.
16 Valentine's Day - Honest I didn't listen to this at all before. Now it's just catchy. Although he says "In The Shadow Of The Valley Of Death" so much at the end it's annoying.
17 Fall Of Adam - I used to think this was scary with all the shouting and screaming in the background not the most thoughtful song he's ever produced basically it's a minute of singing and a minute and a bit of shouting and screaming in the background with some cool music.
18 King Kill 33 - I still think this isn't the best song on the album mostly because of the repetative booming in the background there's a difference between good booming and annyoing booming.
19 Count To 6 And Die - I used to think this was slow and boring and worthless but now I think its an ok song.
I almost feel that my taste in music has matured as I have listened to Holy Wood more and more. If you ask me this is a totaly different review to my last. Basically I'm telling you that the slow boring songs aren't so slow and boring if you listen to them differently and repect them for what they are.
Holy Wood is a 5/5 album I'm not awarding those points because I'm a MM fanatic I'm doing it in a professional manner. If a singer can make every song on his album sound good in some way. whether it be for the lyrics, the music, the chorus, or the background music. Holy Wood deserves 5/5 for
* Making all the songs sound good in some way.
* Having 5 albums in the first place. Most music artist's drop their game after 3 albums. 9although we can say SLC was his downfall album (: can't we?)
* Good cover and inside booklet with lyrics (I like it when people put the lyrics in their album don't you?)
* Having 19 songs on the album and none are skits!
* Having 19 songs in the first place. you know a [bad]artist when they struggle more than 11 songs on an album and they had to have like 4 skits to make up for it (:
Well all I can say is if you are on the Holy Wood page you must be intrested in MM otherwise you wouldn't be here would you (: Just get the album! all the songs are good and only 2 are ok and none of them are skits which I value.
P.S I apologise for my poor grammer (:?
Free Music Review: Beautiful Decay
Hit: 5 Stars
Marilyn Manson's agenda requires the type of act he puts on. Over the top, self-deprecating, endlessly critical and thriving on media attention and shock-value spurred public disgust, the leader of this endlessly entertaining circus of a rock band has been manipulating his position as a public figure to his advantage since first appearing on MTV. Between then and now he's rallied a loyal following of young cynics, nihilists, head-bangers, ex-goths, and intellectuals. Yes, intellectuals. At the very least open-minded and curious fans with a great enough feeling of loss to question the values of our current societal mindset. Manson actually makes for a much better cultural and societal critic than Rage Against the Machine, Ian Mackaye, and System of a Down could ever hope to be. Instead of dwelling on incidental overt political disagreements he goes right to the source of what he believes to be a disease that progresses into further depths with each new year. He's kind of a modern, pop-culture for German culture musically inclined and very angry Friederich Nietzsche (never will I apologize for that comparison.) Many would argue that his music, beliefs, and behavior are representative of a decline in morality and a plague wiping out values, but this is merely a calculated reaction to a personal offense. What Manson seeks to expose in all their unflinching psychoses are the values that nearly every person unwittingly attaches themselves to in accepting and working with this society.This album attacks the values that have come to be his opponents with true wit and atmospheric finesse. It seems to be the third in a sequence that includes "Antichrist Superstar" and "Mechanical Animals". But where "Superstar" was a personal descent into madness caused by the expectations of a twisted society and "Animals" was a joke on the band's own image that managed to harbor a few biting critiques, "Holy Wood" is a polemic that manages to be witty, creepy, funny, thought-provoking, and musically refined, while still rocking out better than almost any other mainstream band. It bubbles over with historical, religious, and pop-culture references and forces one to ask whether these may be grouped into one category at this point. The deaths of JFK, John Lennon, and Jesus Christ share mythic qualities in Manson's mind, and his repulsion at the political machine that is intended to improve society is evident in grin-inducing lyrics set against mercilessly aggressive sonics ("Do you love your guns? God? Government?" "This is evolution/ The monkey, the man, then the gun"). The single "Disposable Teens" uses the robotic reaction of the American public following the slew of youthful murders (that culminated in Columbine) against itself, spitting in the face of anyone who sat transfixed as high school students mourned the loss of their friends on National television, becoming entertainment for the yuppie and baby boomer with the fake conscience. This is why comparisons between Nine Inch Nails and Marilyn Manson are ridiculous. They're both much further developed than almost everything in the barren wasteland of the Billboard charts, but Manson uses his intellect in surprisingly attentive and accurate diatribes against society, whereas Trent Reznor uses his to aurally assault his fans with true beauty and creativity.
In terms of songs, there are a few high points of sheer insanity that leave you transfixed ("King Kill 33" "Born Again" "The Nobodies"), as well as the usual onslaught of outright rock blended with subtle moods that mingle decay, regret, surrender, and hope. Although I can't say there's an "I Don't Like the Drugs, But the Drugs Like Me" or "The Reflecting God" (his all time most commanding and head-thrashing endeavors) the album as a whole smacks of maturity, intelligence, and concerned outrage, three vital ingredients currently missing from this and every other society. So if you're like me and you're doubting the societal graduation from psychological taxation to merciful understanding happening any time soon, you can live in the world of the controversial rock album to take your mind to a transcendent plane for now.