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: Holy Wood...Holier than thou, that's for sure!
Hit: 5 Stars
The music and lyrics on this CD are so fascinating and original that I liken Holy Wood to yet another musical icon of our culture... The Beatles. And in that I mean that it is new, different, thoroughly entertaining, thought provoking, riddled with teen angst and very controversial. In a word: Excellent!Mr. Manson has indeed taken those holier than thou fingers that are always pointed at him and shoved them back up their owners back-end brown eye! Anti-God messages? I do not hear it anywhere on this, or and other of his CD's, nor do I understand what that means. An Anti-Christian establishment message is absolutely everywhere...but Anti-God? I do not think so. As a matter of fact Holy Wood screams of an apologetic soul who sees our doomed Judeo-Christian, consumption obsessed, society for what it is, and is basically saying to God "Sorry, about all this!"
Anyhoo... From the opening Godeatgod and throughout such mesmerizing numbers as In the Shadow of the Valley of Death, Cruci-Fiction, A Place in the Dirt, Lamb of God and the Love Song, Manson weaves a story that mirrors our society to a tee, which is why I believe so many people hate him. His primary genius is the ability to reveal our stupidity as a civilization and our sins as a God-fearing hypocrisy so that we can all see those flaws within ourselves. Point that out to the lemming and you have indeed made an enemy for life.
Well, buy this record and listen to it, and I mean REALLY listen to it, is my advice. You will not be disappointed and you will be entertained and educated.
Free Music Review: A Great Introduction to Manson
Hit: 5 Stars
I must say that I used to think that Manson was just a band of freaks that have a talent at provoking the media. I have since learned that they are a band of freaks that have a talent at provoking the media who play some awesome music. And this album more than proves it. It was my first introduction to Manson and the searing lyrics and catchy riffs will engulf you throughout this album. The first Manson song I ever heard was Target Audience and it just blew me away. If you have never heard a Manson tune, give it a listen, you'll be impressed. My next song was The Love Song, and the power and anger of the song sent chills through my body! I was hooked. I ate up as much of their music as I could. This album is, in my opinion, their best studio album to date. It is appealing to the ear in that it has peaks and valleys in terms of volume, the highest being "King Kill 33°", and the lowest being "Count to Six and Die". There is also a nice flow from track to track, meaning that there are no abruptly loud or soft songs. It is also more industrial sounding than it's predecessor Mechanical Animals, but it also has some great quasi-acoustic tracks, along with Manson's own breed of synth/digital/guitar riffs that keep the songs moving. There is also a hidden extra feature for you if you pop it into your CD-ROM drive on your computer (Note: not for the weak-stomached!)
So, basically, if you are either into Manson or have never heard them, give this CD a listen 'cause I guarantee that it will deliver some great music to your ears.
Free Music Review: Won't make any new fans, but will please previous ones.
Hit: 5 Stars
I'm a huge Marilyn Manson fan and have been since Antichrist Superstar. I've been waiting for Holy Wood since January of 2000 and purchased it the day it arrived at my local Sam Goody. I personally feel that I was way too caught up in the fact that it was Manson's new album to even consider the music itself. However, once I sat down to actually listen to the music and take it as if I wasn't a Manson fan at all, I was impressed. Overall, the album has about five different layers that you have to get through and not everyone will love every layer. It's a great album, but it should've been faster paced. I was very disappointed with the lack of energy, but the songs are very well structured nonetheless. The upcoming "The Fight Song" single is the only song on the album that has a chance of making people who don't like Manson, buy this cd. If you plan on purchasing this album, check out "GodeatGod", "The Love Song", "The Fight Song", "Disposable Teens", "Target Audience", "In the Shadow of the Valley of Death", "Cruci-Fiction in Space", "The Death Song", "Born Again", "Burning Flag", "Coma Black", "Valentine's Day", "The Fall of Adam", "King Kill 33", and "Count to Six and Die (The Vacuum of Space Encompassing)". If the cd consisted of those songs alone, I believe that I'd enjoy it much more. I give it five stars for the songs mentioned, but the ones not can be considered filler.Free Music Review: Learn it, Love it, Live By It
Hit: 5 Stars
After an album like Anitchrist Superstar, it's hard to believe Manson could improve at all. I thought with the amount of raw effort and honesty in that album, all that would follow would be cheap, overstated, and repetitve. Perhaps some of the tracks on here are, but for the most thought, Manson is at his peak genius, thoughfulness, and maturity. Sure, there's the stray catchy sing-a-long (Such as the 'UFO' enhanced "Disposable Teens") but there are also an armload of rich, honest rock songs.Of the nineteen tracks, there are perhaps five I skip, depending on my mood. Some of the highlights would be "The Nobodies," "The Fight Song," "Godeatgod," "Target Audience," and the all-out rocker "Death Song."
The album ties together several different sounds. Sure, "The Beautiful People" is just "Disposable Teens" reincarnated, but the lyrics make it work. The hard rock of "Death Song" and perhaps even "Count to 6" would seem terribly out of place on an album with "Love Song" if anyone else were doing it, but through the miracle of strong songwriting skills and Marilyn's scratchy-but-sensitive voice, there are no issues with the flow of the album.
Any real rock fan will appreciate the dark and deep message of Marilyn Manson's "Holy Wood." Please, don't judge him by his appearance or a single. Manson is a band that portrays so much more than image. Sadly, in this world, they are looked at as "goth freaks with evil music." Rock and roll may fade from the mainstream but will never die as long as metal this wonderful is still produced.
Free Music Review: Who said this isn't goth?
Hit: 5 Stars
The definition of goth that most people seem to state these days is: "Music which makes you think about the corruption etc. in the world today". Then there are the people who state Manson as being "Shock Rock", not goth. Alice Cooper was shock rock. He sang about the same sort of things as Marilyn Manson, but it was all an act, intended to shock. MArilyn Manson, on the other hand, is pure goth. In each of his albums prior to Golden Age of Grotesque (if the aforementioned people were judging Manson after listening to Grotesque, I don't blame them), every song contained a hidden message, be it an attack on world media (Dope Show), hypocritical christians (Beautiful People) or censorship (Lamb of God). If Manson dosen't make you think, who does?
And nothing compares in gothic messages to Holy Wood. This almost drips with hate towards the world, but mostly towards Christianity (Fight Song, Godeatgod, Target Audience), the rich and famous (The Nobodies, Love Song), and politicians (President Dead, Burning Flag). This album shows Manson at his lyric writing best, and also his impressive vocal range. In previous albums he'd stick to a particular type of singing, albeit with a lot of variations, but in Holy Wood his voice encompasses his entire range, from haunting melody to primal screaming (This is especially impressive, as I normally cannot stand screaming vocals i.e. Slipknot, Mushroomhead)
This is quite possibly Manson's Best, but it's stil close as I adore all of his other work,