Marilyn Manson - The Golden Age of Grotesque
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Free Music Notes for The Golden Age of Grotesque
Free Music Review: Manson continues to impress with his subtlety
Hit: 5 Stars
Anyone who calls themselves a fan of Marilyn Manson should be ashamed of themselves when they criticize the band for the "new direction" they're taking.How many cds does the band have to release for you to realize every album is going to be different, stylistically, conceptually and aesthetically?
Portrait of an American Family was a candy-goth-industrial (almost pop-y) album. AntiChrist Superstar was the only truly dark gothic industrial album the band has released. Mechanical Animals was glam, 70s-era rock. Holywood was something close to Antichrist Superstar but not quite there. And now The Golden Age of Grotesque is a 1920's era American jazz and swing album with gothic industrial overtones.
You should be orgasmic that there are bands out there who have this kind of range and subtlety in their music. What do you listen to, Linkin Park, kids?
Who out there can go from disco-beats to gothic industrialism to swing three albums in a row? And make it sound good? Besides Marilyn Manson?
Older (real) fans of Manson will like this album for it's dark cynicism and impeccable songwriting. People who thought Marilyn Manson is a mindless hack with no musical ability whatsoever will find the songs on here catchy and entertaining. I have yet to get enough of "Doll-Dagga-Buzz-Buzz-Ziggety-Zag", and I'm not even a swing fan (or wasn't, maybe)!
This album will appear stale and non-technical--to anyone who won't listen to it. In point of fact, there is quite a lot going on with the music, particularly the guitars. I love the use of them as trombones and trumpets, really brings a big grin to my face.
I would go so far as to say this is Manson's best cd since Antichrist Superstar, tied maybe with Mechanical Animals. Which doesn't mean I think Holywood is bad (it is, in fact, one of my favorite cds that I own, below the aforementioned two only because it's his least original release).
Manson is unlike any other relatively-popular band out there in the mainstream. He's maintained his musical integrity, his focus and (at least my) admiration. I love the way he experiements with period music of the 20th century and incorporates it with industrial sounds to create his own unique interpretation of the style.
Anyone who can't see this should probably stick to the twelve-year-old lyrics, talent, concepts and general attitude of bands like Linkin Park. You're not wanted here.
Free Music Review: first album i've purchased by marilyn manson, but not last
Hit: 5 Stars
i rarely ever do these review things, but this one deserves one.first off - the lyrics. very clever, i love them. the music is something that i've never heard from them before, something NEW, new is better than old, despite what most trendy kids say. you have to explore and experiment with new sounds, branch out, try not to make a duplicate of what you've already created. this is a good example of doing just that.
"this is the new sheist" (i thought that was appropriate for the album's german-esque theme.) - wow. this is honestly one of their best songs to date, it should NOT be a single though, it's already getting recognition on the matrix soundtrack. this gives me more of an adrenaline rush than korn's "here to stay" did the first hundred times. amazing.
"doll-dagga buzz-buzz ziggety-zagg" - good beat, even better song title. either this or "(s)AINT" should be a single. speaking of that song, the chorus sounds like it was blatantly stealing from an old snoop dogg song. the keyboards seem to mimic the ones on "murder was the case," but that's besides the point. the song is awesome, the beginning is neat...and so are the lyrics, of course. the chorus is very cool.
the title track...very nice. it sounds a bit like their older material mixed in with the newfound sound of this album. it's awesome. "vodevil." that's a standout. "this isn't music, and we're not a band; we're five middle fingers on a motherf×cking hand." how can you not love that?
"para-noir" and "(spade)" are also great songs. the rest i did not mention, are also good. "mOBSCENE" is doing great on the billboard charts, but mtv and mtv2 are ignoring the video. they've had 7 videos make total request live ("the dope show" was #6 on the first show - 09.14.98. it had 48 days on the countdown,) "rock is dead" and "i don't like the drugs..." each had 11 days [and both debuted at #8,] "coma white" had 7, "astonishing panorama..." had 1, "disposable teens" had 23, and "the fight song" had 6. manson himself was the first visitor to the show as well, which was also on 09.14.98 - but yet trl ignores their presence and accomplishments and doesn't let you vote for the new one. oh well. mabey the second single will do better, whatever it may be.
i plan on buying all the rest of their cds, minus SLC and TLTOE. this is definetly one of the best releases this year.
Free Music Review: The Golden Age Of Grotesque - Possibly Manson's Finest Work
Hit: 5 Stars
Marilyn Manson is a fascinating band. With every album, Manson & co. reinvent themselves in a dramatic, and wholly unexpected way. And, as suspected, "The Golden Age Of Grotesque" is no exception.During its production, front man Manson said of the album's sound, "I can say the album will be a hard and violent mix of industrial-strength punk vaudeville with 30s Berlin cabaret decadence." This is probably the best way to describe TGAOG. Songs such as "Doll-Dagga Buzz-Buzz Ziggety-Zag" and "The Golden Age Of Grotesque" have the trademark Marilyn Manson sound, but also have such a significant vaudville/cabaret influence that you can swing dance to them (I'm hoping to see this at Ozzfest this year).
Other tracks have the more traditional Manson feel to them however. "Slutgarden" and "Para-noir" are somewhat modeled after "New Model No. 15" and "User Friendly" from the Glam Rock, Bowie-influenced "Mechanical Animals". On the other hand, songs such as "Vodevil" and "Use Your Fist And Not Your Mouth" would fit perfectly on Manson's more Gothic-Industrial album "Antichrist Superstar".
As with all their albums, TGAOG is so unique that it can not be justly compared to any of the other Manson records, and must be rated by itself. The tracks that stand out the most would have to be "Spade", "This Is The New S**t", and "Doll-Dagga Buzz-Buzz Ziggety-Zag". These are the type of songs that you can expect to be covered, re-mixed, and generally revered in the future.
Overall, TGAOG will probably be proclaimed as Manson's finest album to date. Being a lowly high school junior, my opinion will most likely be referred to as invalid, but I will say this: If you are a fan of Marilyn Manson, or if you are open to many types of music, I highly recommend "The Golden Age Of Grotesque".
Oh, and by the way, if you have only heard "mOBSCENE", the first single off TGAOG, keep this in mind: "mOBSCENE" is only the tip of the iceberg. No song on TGAOG is like it. It only gets better from there.
Free Music Review: Stand up and admit, yesterday's never comin'...
Hit: 5 Stars
I am pretty surprised at the amount of negativity in these reviews. I am more surprised at how banal these complaints are. The chief one seems to be that he "uses rap slang now". Which is funny, as it is the chorus of the song "The Better Of Two Evils" and doesn't show up anywhere else on the album. The lyrics, "Haters Call me bitch, call me faggot, call me whitey, I am something that you'll never be" are barely hip hop, and I have this question for the complainers: What exactly are the haters saying about Manson if not those exact same things? But I digress.
This is an extremely solid Manson album. The lyrics are very memorable, and seem to be less constructed around a character (as all his previous albums, barring the Spoooky Kids work, are) and focus more on his relationship with the world around him. For me, this makes them easier to relate to. He has a tendency to to combine words and images in a very clever way that you don't see very often in rock music today. The music is much more industrial flavored, as the psych-rock freakout bass/guitar work of Twiggy Ramirez has been replaced with the cold, hard slam of Tim Skold. It's different, but fits the mood of the album very well. And as Manson said "It's not meant to be like the old songs. It's meant to be better."
As for the DVD, it's some pretty freaked out junk. Very out there and strange, might be hard to get for some people. I don't know. It's hard to make a general statement about it, other than that I quite enjoyed it as a visual piece of art.
That's about it. I can't pick a favorite song from the album. My least favorite is probably Para-Noir, which is less of a song and more of an audio experiment. If you don't need songs that make you angry at your parents or overly angst-y brain damaged "rawk" to freak out the "preps at skool" to enjoy a CD, I highly recommend this. If you do, maybe you should be listening to the Disturbed or Limp Bizkit or some such nonsense.
Free Music Review: Some may not care for this.
Hit: 5 Stars
Let me start by saying this... This is, by far, the best Manson album to date. It has well exceeded my expectations.Let's get this straight... ... But, the fact remains... This is a guy who really knows how to put out good music.
If your favorite Manson songs are Sweet Dreams, The Beautiful People, The Dope Show, and other radio-friendly songs, this probably isn't the albumn for you. I can't really picture the best songs on this album getting any radio-play.
I've thoroughly enjoyed every Manson album, so far, but this one just keeps getting better. On all the other albums, I have my favorite songs, and I have songs that I don't care for that much. Every time I've listened to GAOG, I try to pick a favortie song, but when the next song comes on, it's like I forgot how ... each one actually is (disregarding the weird, ambient, creepy intro/outro).
..., this album does have slow songs... 2 actually (GAOG and Spade), although Spade kinda starts jamming a bit on the chorus.
Admittedly, there are a few riffs on this album that sound somewhat familiar, but the same is true of ever Manson album. (The "Beautiful People" riff is just about worn out, if you ask me... heh heh.) But I can forgive this riff-recycling, due to the innovation used to give each new song a life of its own.
I don't really understand the bad reviews given for this album, but that's ok. After over 200 reviews, it's still getting an average rating of 4 stars, so that speaks for itself.
Manson has some waaay trendier, "poppier" stuff than this. I figure, that's what the people who didn't like this album are into.
But if you want an album that really breaks away from the trendy, radio-friendly Manson, this will be the most satisfying album you can get, at the moment.
I'm not dissing Manson's older stuff. I'm just saying: ARE YOU ... READY FOR THE NEW ...?