Marilyn Manson - Mechanical Animals
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Free Music Notes for Mechanical Animals
Free Music Review: Incredible
Hit: 5 Stars
Mechanical Animals is the third full-length release by the band and a complete reinvention of its sound. Where Portrait of an American Family and Antichrist Superstar had attempted to push "dark" and "heavy" to their limits, this record makes the abrupt transition to a glam rock parody, mixing the "sex, drugs and rock `n' roll" attitude with the inevitable negative aspects that come with it.
Each song on the record is great, period. Some of the tracks take longer to sink into the mind of the listener, but they are well worth it. The songs vary in attitude from the mindlessly catchy ("New Model No. 15") to the dark-yet-head-bobbing ("The Dope Show") to the somber ("Speed of Pain" and "Coma White") to the heavy ("Rock is Dead") to the just plain hilarious ("I Don't Like the Drugs [But the Drugs Like Me]").
Perhaps the most brilliant musical aspect of the record is its use of the synthesizer. Fitting in with the glam sound of the CD, it adds melodies to a number of the songs, most notably "I Don't Like the Drugs".
Also, typical of a Manson record, the lyrics are incredible. Moving away from his previous themes of religion, family, molestation and social acceptance, but keeping the emotions of rage and depression intact, they include the topics of relationships, the degeneration of youth culture, and, of course, sex, drugs, and rock `n' roll. In typical fashion, they are written to feel extremely personal without divulging many actual aspects of the singer's life: they, like all great art, are up to the audience to decipher.
On a side note, the name Marilyn Manson, whether referring to the person or the band, definitely carries a negative reputation. This is often due to the actions of those involved, but just as often it is not: One of the Columbine shooters had one Marilyn Manson CD.
Anyone who honestly experiences a CD will find it to be thought-provoking and well made if they are open to the darker side of music. Mechanical Animals is perhaps the best Manson record to date, and it proves to the world the band's talent and adaptability to different styles.
Free Music Review: Makes a Strong Message
Hit: 5 Stars
I don't usually talk about myself in reviews, but I'm afraid I must for this one to come across at all. I am not a depressed teen, worried parent, or raging Christian. I am instead a 27 year old graduate student with a well-paying job in the mortgage industry. I am engaged to be married next year to my girlfriend, who is a Biochemistry major. I myself am seriously considering law school. I have been a fan of Marilyn Manson since Portrait of an American Family came out. I realize the strangeness of that concept. I admit I do not fit the stereotype of a Manson fan. Yeah, I'm happy, yeah, I'm 'old', yeah, I'm well off for someone my age. I admit all that. Yeah, the only black I wear is in slacks and ties, (yeah, I'm a yuppie with a brown briefcase.) Yet I get in my 2000 X-Terra and blast Mechanical Animals 'til the mirrors shake. Here is why. One reason lies in that the Beatles said that happiness is a warm gun that Mother Superior jumped, yet the Fab Four are still sung in campier churches. Jefferson Airplane lamented the 'stupid christians,' and said that 'no body needs to baptize me; everytime I laugh, I've got religion.' I know parents, however, who still hum that tune on the same day they burn their teen's Marilyn Manson album. The overall message in Manson albums, the message that America is a TV-whipped nation pulling its own string for instant senseless quotation, is backed up by the actions of its people. We do talk without knowing what we are talking about. We want to make a difference, but only truth can make a difference. Opinion can only hang in the air, inevitable, necessary, but fundamentally useless. Marilyn Manson try for truth. The frontman himself is basically a well-televised atheist with strong feelings and words. Look how we react when we hear something we don't know how to answer to. Look how we hate and fear something with real strength (proveable) and musicality (my opinion.)That something is Mechanical Animals and every other Marilyn Manson album.Think what you will, but make sure that your opinion was not given to you.Free Music Review: A talented and incredibly thoughtful artist
Hit: 5 Stars
Marilyn Manson is one who doesn't always receive the recognition that he deserves. Unfortunately, most people do not realize that Manson has this incredible talent for putting into words what other people are afraid to do or are unable to do. However, because of the disturbing things that he has to say about the world and about life in general, people turn away from him and dismiss him as another goth freak who somehow, miraculously, managed to be noticed in the ever changing world of pop culture. The fact that he is now one of the biggest stars is not surprising at all. In fact, this is what Manson deserves. He has worked long and hard to produce the kind of music that he does, and listening to him or watching his music videos is worth it. Recently, I have seen the video of one of my favorite songs on this album, Coma White. The interpretation of the song in the music video is incredible. The fact that he says so many true things about America and American culture is amazing...he is articulate, intelligent, and can pinpoint exactly what some people feel. (...) So overall, I have nothing but respect for this artist. He may be a rather scary figure, and at first, I was incredibly against him and all that he stands for, but then I realized that to hate someone, you have to try to understand them first. This is what I did, and it opened up my eyes to a new view of Manson and his music. Personally, I believe that this is what a lot of people are doing, blocking out everything that Manson has and only taking in his image. And before I sound like some goth freak raving about how much I love Manson, let me tell you that I am a 15 year old girl who happens to find some feeling in Manson's music, not in the teeny-bopping, (...) that is monopolizing the music industry these days. And before I get too serious and start going on and on about how those bands have no talent, no skill, no creativity, no originality, let me say that Manson's drummer is oh so hot in his video. =) So thank you if you took the time to read this, especially of you're anti-Manson.Free Music Review: We're automatic and as hollow as the 'O' in God
Hit: 5 Stars
"Mechanical Animals" is an absolute classic. Not only is it radically different from "Antichrist Superstar," but it marks an emotional rebirth for Manson and his band of creatures. Manson had said in interviews that MA was supposed to make fun of the typical rock star lifestyle, and how he used it to poke fun at himself. Heavily influenced by David Bowie's
Ziggy Stardust persona, Marilyn Manson's Omega character was
an exaggerated version of the 70's glam rocker while at the
same time bore the qualities of an androgenous alien from outer space. Of course he wasn't literally a martian, but an outcast created by society's manipulative institutions (Christianity included).
As the middle part of the trilogy started by ACS
and concluded by Holywood, MA recalled how Brian Warner lived
as Marilyn Manson 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and willfully indulged every rock star temptation brought before him.
"The Dope Show" and "Fundamentally Lonesome" were songs about drugs.
"User Friendly" clearly told how a rock star gets plenty of
sex, but never has a permanent relationship. "New Model 15" mocks popular magazines, such as Cosmopolitan, Spin and
Rolling Stones, all of which Omega appeared on the covers. Manson, as Omega, savored so many drugs and so much sex and shallow publicity that in the end he didn't know how to feel emotions anymore; what was left of him was a hollow shell of his former self. In his existence, he paid a heavy price in becoming what Heritage Christian School did not want him to be.
No doubt he was gravely aware of how many of the biggest rock legends suffered the consequences resulting from their own indulgences, ending up with either depression, AIDS, lawsuits, bankrupcy or just plain lonliness. Realizing that society made him who he is, Omega became the Antichrist not to entertain the fans, but to destroy the very thing he created.
MA is part-two of Manson's grand rock opera,
and I thoroughly recommend it to anyone old enough to buy music.
Free Music Review: my favorite artist at his creative peak
Hit: 5 Stars
I've listened to Manson since Smells Like Children, but it took Mechanical Animals to really make me a fan. This album is his glam-rock turn & I can't help but think of Bowie's "Ziggy Stardust & the Spiders from Mars". Its 14 songs have an existential feel throughout, and only 1 of them isn't golden; track 12 is the only one I skip over. This is his best work & one of my top-5 favorite albums of all time.
MM could have simply followed the success of Antichrist & pumped out another "look at me, I'm dark & evil" shock value album, but instead chose to reinvent himself with this one. I have a lot of respect for bands that take the risk of fundamentally changing their sound from one album to another. Faith No More was a band that did this well with each album sounding completely different, yet better, than the one before. Too many bands pump out the same-sounding tunes year after year. They may still sound good, but the songs become bland & almost indistinguishable from one another. Green Day & Godsmack are 2 such bands who have stubbornly refused to change and even though I like their over-all style, I've really grown bored with both of them.
It's a shame that MM got burned for taking this risk, in terms of sales & fan-support, and I think that his next 2 studios albums suffered for of it. They're still both good albums and worth listening to, but not nearly as good as Mechanical Animals. His evolution as an artist became stunted & I feel he tried too hard to distance himself from this perceived glam-rock failure & regain the shock value he had with Antichrist Superstar. The world had already been shocked once by Mr. Manson, and it wasn't going to be again.
This is Marilyn Manson at his creative peak. Definitely worth picking up by any fan of metal, industrial, glam-rock, synth-rock, or any brilliantly crafted music that transcends genres to become something sublime.