Marilyn Manson - The Golden Age Of Grotesque

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Free Music Notes for The Golden Age Of Grotesque

Free Music Review: It's still Manson
Hit: 5 Stars

Manson's previous three albums were absolute masterpieces, perfect in every way. Manson had also established a solid pattern of releasing an album every two years. Having first heard about this album back in the spring of 2002, I had been eagerly awaiting it for a very long time. From what I had heard, it was slated for release in the fall of that year. Then the fall came and I was hoping for the winter. Then, finally, an official release date was set for May of 2003. Having waited more than an entire year for this album, I was expecting at least the same mind-blowing music that comprised his last three albums. I was wrong.

In the time between when I first heard of the album and when it was actually released, Manson was involved in several projects. He was furthering his acting career, appearing in films like Party Monster. He was putting together a live DVD of his Guns, God, and Government tour for his last album. And he was involved in setting up a gallery for his paintings. I think he simply had too much on his plate. That, combined with Tim Skold of KMFDM replacing band member Twiggy Ramirez probably explain the difference in sound (note I said 'sound', not 'style').

The first few songs I heard, I liked immediately. After all, it's Manson. The first songs I was able to get ahold of were Mobscene and This Is The New Sh*t. Mobscene is a good Manson song, similar to The Death Song or Born Again. But after I listened to it a few times, I decided it wasn't good enough to be the first single. It just isn't up to par with other great singles like Disposable Teens or Rock Is Dead. This Is The New Sh*t is a lot like The Love Song. It starts out fairly sedated and then suddenly rips into a badass Manson chorus. The song, however, is terribly repetitive. Aside from the chorus, Manson wrote a few lines for a little intro part and only one song verse. These are both good songs, but it didn't take me very long to get sick of them. Things didn't look bright for The Golden Age.

When my pre-ordered copy of the album eventually did arrive, I began noticing some disappointing trends. My one biggest complaint about The Golden Age of Grotesque: MANSON DID NOT WRITE ENOUGH LYRICS. Most of the songs are way too repetetive. He repeats choruses much more than he has in the past. He also reuses lines as much as he can, substituting lines from the first verse or the chorus to make the bridge. My second complaint about the album: IT'S TOO SHORT. Antichrist Superstar had 16 great songs on it. Holy Wood was a staggering 19 tracks long. Golden Age has 15 tracks and two of those are the short, instrumental intro and outro that bookend the album. So the Golden Age is merely a collection of 13 repetetive songs by an artist who's obviously losing his touch. Or is it?

Even considering the faults and flaws I've pointed out, this is still a good album. It may not be quite as good as Antichrist Superstar or Mechanical Animals or Holy Wood, but the bottom line is this is still Manson. It's still better than any of the grunge \ nu-metal \ rap-rock that gets played on the radio. The album has its own unique sound to it, something we should expect from Manson. And his attempts at integrating swing and cabaret into his music are very cool. There's also a vaguely KMFDM \ MDFMK feel to some of the songs (Skold's influence I assume), which can't be a bad thing. Some songs even come very close to the level of quality I'd expect from Manson, like Mobscene and (S)aint. And the best track on the album, hands down, is The Bright Young Things. This is a really great, heavy song that I think embodies what Manson was trying to do with this album. It's worth getting just for that song. Finally, the whole album is catchy as hell.

I gave this album a 5-star rating, but that's because most of Manson's work deserves 6 stars. This is still a great album. I just wish he had spent a little more time on it.

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