Marilyn Manson - The High End of Low
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Free Music Notes for The High End of Low
Free Music Review: Back To The Basics
Hit: 5 Stars
What is clear to me after years of being a devoted Manson fan and being exposed to the way his mind works is that the man's music depends on what is influencing him at the time. The famed trilogy of Antichrist Superstar, Mechanical Animals and Holywood seemed to have been a product of pure necessity since Manson had a lot to say. Then it seemed like he was tapped out for the next two albums. With the High End of Low he doesn't have a whole lot to say but he had enough to come up with an album whose sound and feel showed sincere effort on Manson's part.
Instead of experimenting with dank, damp melodies as in the previous album or just screeching to sludge as in Golden Age, Manson does what he does best in this album. Namely, he allows the band to sound like a rock band instead of an industrial/rap crossbreed, creating a sophisticated yet fundamentally rock and roll melody that he had so staunchly resolved to achieve back in 1992 when he first set out as a musician. And without the Burlesque influence of his ex-wife or the post breakup malaise that gave his last album the appeal of ditchwater, it seems he almost reflexively reverted to the only thing he had left: himself...and of course good ol' Twiggy Ramirez.
This works extremely well since the vocals in this album are not distorted with the scratchy, far away sound of his previous albums. Instead, the natural intensity of his delightfully low pitched croak comes through with quite a bit of honesty much the same way as it did in Mechanical Animals and Holywood. They are backed up by the usual skilled bass playing of Jeordie White. Combined with the dark themes and Manson's particular brand of heavy rock, this album could almost be Holywood Part II. However to me it isn't since Manson is clearly a lot more introspective in the High End of Low, choosing to sound less heavy than in Holywood.
This is evident by the prevalence of some blues inspired, acoustic work - as in "Four Rusted Horses" as well as keyboard chords that sound almost cheerful, inspiring a far away nostalgic feel as in the track "Unkillable Monster". With this album, the man has proved that he has a talent coming up with several different sounding tracks using the simple concepts that helped make him a star. They are pleasing to the ear and while the lyrics might sound stagnated to some, I am not too concerned about that since they are still personal as they have always been. Asking any more of him would be asking him to be artificial
Lastly, I cannot deny credit to Jeordie White/Twiggy Ramirez. Being such a long time fan, White became as integral a member of this band in my eyes as Manson himself. His reutrn boded well for Manson fans and the band alike. Marilyn Manson has been composed of varying band members over the years but at this point I think everyone including Manson is facing up to the fact that Marilyn Manson is, at the very least, Mr. Manson and Jeordie White. This album's ambient/rock and roll/blues brilliance is testament to that fact.
Free Music Review: Strange, but beautiful.
Hit: 5 Stars
Like many many other fans, I was ready for something as brutal as Antichrist Superstar, and so when I first heard the couple low-fi previews on Youtube (guilty as charged), I was really confused and disappointed. I'm a fan of various artists - I listen to Muse and the Dresden Dolls together with Rammstein and Children of Bodom, so I'm not a die-hard metal fan, I'm a fan of anything I think is good, if you know what I mean. The worst thing I can say about music is that it is boring, and let's face it - if you're in for the music, "We're from America" is very plain. Something that would have worked (and worked much better!) in the Smells like Children era, but not something we have a right to expect now.
I still got the album, and listened to it, not quite believing my ears. I thought that Eat Me Drink Me was the softest Manson could get. I was wrong. Four Rusted Horses? Running to the edge of the world? The only time Manson had ever done something like this was in the ending of Speed of Pain, where he would switch to major and write something mellow. Come to think of it, this _MAY BE_ a continuation of AC in the sense that it is an exact opposite of AC.
Well, after listening to the album once, I listened to it again. Then again. Then again. And I realized that what we thought it would be does not matter. That this is nothing like what Manson has done before, but the same thing can be said about almost every one of his albums, which is something rare in today's music scene, and something I respect very much. He did a mellow, thoughtful, sad album about himself, but he did it well. Take We're From America out, and you've got yourself an album that is not just a collection of songs, but a whole entity, one music piece split into fourteen parts. I will not be able to shuffle this album with any other album. I may not even be able to shuffle the songs on this album. And I probably will not listen to it as often as to, say, Holy Wood, but it's still a piece of high-quality art.
Couple more things. Though the album had definitely "grown on me" by now, I still say that there's not a single song that could be a highlight of this album, the way Heart-Shaped Glasses was for EMDM or Beautiful People was for AC. My favorite tracks are Devour and 15, but none of them would exactly make a single. Second (and now you die-hard Manson fans can throw stones at me), I really miss Tim Skold. He and Manson were great together. But then again, he and KMFDM were great together, too.
Free Music Review: Album of the year so far!
Hit: 5 Stars
After hearing some of the unmastered songs that had leaked from this album, I was expecting a somewhat disappointing release from Mr. Manson, but after hearing the finished product, I think it is a very satisfying release. However, I am not one who disliked Eat Me, Drink Me. In fact, that album is one of my favorites, if not my favorite album by him (though I have all of his albums and have been listening to him for years). If you disliked his approach and lyrics on that album, you will dislike some of this album as well, as it deals with similar themes in some songs. However, I would say it is a heavier album musically overall than Eat Me, Drink Me. I would describe the sound of this album as more of an amalgam of his previous styles from Antichrist on, rather than a totally new sound. If you enjoyed Mechanical Animals, Holy Wood, and Antichrist Superstar, you should find something on this album you like (though there are more songs reminiscent of the former two than the later). My favorite songs are Pretty As A Swastika, Running To The Edge Of The World, I Want To Kill You Like They Do In The Movies, and especially Blank And White. I would recommend finding the uncensored version of Blank And White if you can. It can be heard on Manson's myspace. Overall, I think this is one of the best albums of 2009 (along with Eminem's Relapse), in a year of less than stellar releases, such as Green Day's 21st Century Breakdown. I do not understand what other people are complaining about. I cannot stop listening to this album and have listened to it nearly every day since I got it.Free Music Review: MM's Best Since Holy Wood!
Hit: 5 Stars
This album was not exactly what I expected because like many I was expecting Antichrist Part 2, or something very heavy and dark, but what we actually get is something very melodic, varied, and sometimes almost experimental and I love it! This album, lyrically, is sometimes similar to Eat Me, Drink Me because it is often about relationships, mostly romantic, but musically this album is nothing like EMDM. Twiggy and Christ Vrenna do an incredible job on the music on the album, Twiggy's bass playing is top-notch and the guitar work is very cool as well. There are also some great keyboards by Vrenna. This album has many different sounding songs, from slow, ballad-like songs like Devour, Running to..., Unkillable Monster, and Into the Fire. To faster, thumping hard rockers like Pretty as a..., Arma..., and We're From America. There's a great new-wave, industrial beat that is undeniably cool on WOW. Blank and White is another highlight, and it is just a great song from start to finish, a mid-tempo song with very good lyrics. Overall this album is awesome, and is a step back in the right direction for MM, though EMDM was a good album, this album is light years better! Best tracks: Devour, Arma.., Blank and White, WOW, Unkillable Monster, We're From America, and Into the Fire! Highly recommended, and please don't listen to all the negative about this album, if your a true MM fan, and if you specifically liked Mechanical Animals definitely pick this up! Great, great album!Free Music Review: Love... Hate... Slow... Fast... Soft... Hard... This album has it all!!!
Hit: 5 Stars
WOW!!! well although that is one of my fav songs on the album it isn't what I'm referring to... I'm referring to this album in its entirety... Seriously this shows how much Manson missed twiggy and his styles... I was very very skeptical after the botched attempt of a good album that "Eat Me, Drink Me" was suppose to be... don't get me wrong I still bought it since it did have a few high points, but nothing like this... Manson to me has always had a very distinctive and melodic voice, but holy cow does it shine in this one... He hits about every note I think he could and does a darn good job at it... If you love Antichrist for its unique... hard yet loving lyrical content then you will absolutely fall in love with this one... My wife being someone who has never liked Manson in the past loves this album... I started streaming it to my ps3 one day while cleaning the house and she started singing along... she actually had no idea who this was and told me she really enjoyed it... I let her keep singing and having fun listening and then when the entire track of 15 great songs ended I told her who it was... she was shocked and really confused... I even came home one day and caught her listening to it while she was scrapbooking of all things!!! lol
Anyways... buy it... I did and trust me anyone who not only loves Manson, but loves good adult music will love it...
Dustin