siLLy puPPy MARILYN MANSON is of course a 90s rock icon with his slew of albums starting with the shocking portrayal of American values on “Portrait Of An American Family,” the irreverence and industrial metal heft of “Antichrist Superstar” and his most controversial album “Mechanical Animals” which got him accused of ripping off David Bowie’s Ziggy Stardust persona however soon after those releases and an excellent hit single in the form of the Eurythmics cover “Sweet Dreams,” Brian Hugh Warner who as MARILYN MANSON led the band of the same name seemed to run out of steam after blowing his wad on his 90s output. After the “Mechanical Animals” fiasco MANSON returned to his guitar based creepy persona for “Holy Wood” but something just sounded off on that one and insincere. I never pursued MANSON’s releases from then on and basically just ignored them as one review and critique after another simply tore them apart for being insidiously boring musical dross.

Being irrelevant for two decades seems to break many artists and send them away packing but nobody can accuse MANSON of not being persistent. While i have none of the albums since “Holy Wood” to compare this to, for some reason i felt compelled to explore a new release from MANSON and lo and behold a new album just emerged on September 11, 2020, MANSON’s 12th titled WE ARE CHAOS. Obviously things have changed since the lineup featured Twiggy Ramirez, Madonna Wayne Gary, Ginger Fish and Robin Finck who all played their parts well in the most dysfunctional band of the 90s. Many musicians have come and gone but sometime in the not so distant past MANSON hooked up with Shooter Jennings, song of the infamous outlaw country star Waylon Jennings who has taken up the task of producing WE ARE CHAOS.

Album #12 returns to the days to the concept album days of the 90s and even takes on the retro feel of an LP of yore with two distinct sides and a playing time of only 42 minutes and 27 seconds. Having cited Elton John and Bernie Taupin as a main influence, it’s no surprise that the piano plays a prominent role in crafting discernible and instinctively hooky melodies that provide the underpinning of much of the album’s run. Despite the hero worship of 70s pop, i would say that the overall melodic flow is the closest thing to 1996’s “Antichrist Superstar” that i’ve heard at least with many of those familiar returns to MANSON’s soft whispered parts alternating with angsty punk shouts and heavy metal guitar heft in tandem with crafty industrial electronica. While the album misses the mark of providing as impactful experience as his lauded multi-platinum best seller, WE ARE CHAOS is quite the surprise that it is an extremely listenable album that although dusting off old ideas for contemporary use, manages to remain engaging throughout its ten track playing time.

While the metal aspects pale in comparison to the earliest days, the return of the Goth and glam is in full regalia on WE ARE CHAOS. The familiar melodic hooks that remind me of all those classic tracks like “The Beautiful People,” “Angel With The Scabbed Wings” and tracks such as “The Reflecting God” seem more like rejects from “Antichrist Superstar” as they lack the immediacy despite the strong hooks and similar feel however this is a much more mature version of MANSON and 24 years on sounds much better than anyone could’ve ever hoped especially after a slew of extremely uninteresting specimens of musicality. While this album does tend to cast MANSON as someone who is looking back for ideas rather than innovation, in his case where the innovation of the past 20 years has resulted in dismal ennui, i can’t say that it wasn’t a great idea to focus on what made you stand out in the first place rather than something you have no business tackling.

While MARILYN MANSON has never been a favorite band, i do love the first three albums enough to cherish them as some top picks of the 90s but MANSON as a personality just rubs me the wrong way. With the accusations of Satanic pedophilia from celebrities like Isaac Kappy MANSON has been vilified once again and perhaps has brought some renewed interest in his career but judging from WE ARE CHAOS, it is doubtful that MANSON will ever match the heyday of his 90s output despite crafting a pleasant retro album that is perhaps a bit too tame for his wild image as the album’s metal heft is more on the side of “Mechanical Animals” rather than the first two albums. Still though, i’m not disappointed that i at long last have checked out a new MANSON album. The dude still has the vocal chops to pull off his wicked unique style of industrial goth rock but despite strong melodies and songwriting prowess, the album still seems a bit too tame and could use some faster more upbeat tracks to offer some needed contrast. The title track is almost pure Goth pop rock as are several other tracks. This one is decent but far from the needed comeback in the modern era. Once again i think i will ignore Mr MANSON next time around.

siLLy puPPy With an album cover displaying a disturbed creature looking like the love child gone wrong of a grey alien and Black Widow (Scarlet Johansson) from the X-men movies, MARILYN MANSON (the man) steered MARILYN MANSON (the band) into strangely surreal territories after blowing their wad with the apocalyptic visions of their previous album “Antichrist Superstar” which was in reality the culmination of a trilogy released in reverse order. Did anyone not tell you these guys were weird? The band’s third studio MECHANICAL ANIMALS finds itself neatly tucked between the three albums that make up the rock opera and either way ends up at #2! Thematically speaking no one could have figured out the storyline at the time of release and probably no one cared but musically the band takes on the totally different realm of glam rock mixed with the usual goth tinged industrial electronica, ominous nihilistic melancholy along with the Nine Inch Nails guitar oomf only not magnified to extreme metal proportions. The result of this shift is a dramatic change in style and mood and finds the album perfectly exemplifying the theme of the Bowie-esque (think Ziggy Stardust) androgynous Omēga becoming addicted to drugs and fame after coming to Earth and turning into a rock star.

Everything about MECHANICAL ANIMALS sounds, well MECHANICAL actually. The album begins with the valium space flair feeling “Great Big White World” which finds Portishead type downtempo type beats accompanied by electronic atmospheres that are eerie and utterly detached from reality. The guitars are tuned to a twangy echo with the usual catchy glam pop type of melodies that MANSON crafts so well and are instantly gratifying. “The Dope Show” song and video are the perfect anecdote for this tale of shedding the dark and finding ways of breaking through the detached drug addictions that fame and fortune brought Omēga and his band and how they ended up becoming trapped into the cycles of consumerism, narcissism, addiction and ultimately detached surrender. The video likewise shows a shocking genderless figure struggling to maintain sanity in the artificial world that has seeped into every aspect of its existence. The slower tracks bring out strong hints of 70s Queen and Bowie with Pink Floyd space rock effects to heighten the atmospheres while the heavier tracks such as “Rock Is Dead” retains the perfect holy trinity of Nine Inch Nails bombast, Prodigy laden big beat electronica and MANSON’s predilection of Alice Cooper style shock rock only tinged with a gothic flair reminiscent of Bauhaus or The Cure.

MECHANICAL ANIMALS is a woefully misunderstood album and one that i admittedly lagged into accepting in my own musical world. After the bombast and pomp of “Antichrist Superstar,” the dopey mope of MECHANICAL ANIMALS came as the undesired antithesis of the heavy industrial metal sound that preceded. This album must be taken in context of the story at hand however upon first listen i had zero idea that a context was to be had. I just didn’t like it. Over time this album has grown on me and while some deem it MANSON’s best and some the worst, i personally find it no better or worse than its predecessor and should be judged on its own merits and not in relation to the albums that bookmark it. It is clearly an anomaly in the MANSON canon and one that he has admittedly refrained from repeating but the mood, imagery and theme of the album are perfectly suited for the overarching story at hand. However like every MANSON album, much like the opposing dichotomy of the name that graces them, there are moments of utter brilliance and likewise moments of extreme mediocrity.

Musically speaking, MECHANICAL ANIMALS is a very catchy, groovy industrial rock type of album but there are few tracks that rub me the wrong way. Slow burners such as “The Speed Of Pain” are a little sleepy and melodically bland with little payoff and some like the single “I Don’t Like The Drugs (But The Drugs Like Me)” are a little too close to the Bowie playbook and have a bass line far too close to Bowie’s “Fame” and the authenticity of the track eschews me as it resides far too close to its influence for my liking. Overall MECHANICAL ANIMALS is another excellent album from MARILYN MANSON and one of the last consistently good ones to be honest. The tracks are the perfect 90s angsty anthems with all the industrial heft and electronica wizardry frosting every cadence and stanza. A slow burner in my world but one that has finally turned up the heat and boiled down into a consistently interesting listen minus the few flaws that still rub me the wrong way.

siLLy puPPy The man and the band who were not born with enough middle fingers to choose a side were back two years after their rude and crude musical theatrical depiction of the dark side of American culture and returned with the ultimate of chosen sides guaranteed to ruffle religious feathers and as well as finding themselves a target of congressional hearings which took the shock rock 2.0 style of goth and doom to the very heart of the American fabric to ascertain the effects of the provocative lyrics that could possibly create revolutionary thoughts and actions.

ANTICHRIST SUPERSTAR was dropped upon the musical world like an atomic bomb and left the impact crater that caught the world’s attention instantly gathering up such disparate musical influences of Alice Cooper’s shock rock theatre, hardcore punk’s attitude of dissent and utter contempt for society at large, the alternative grunge guitar eschewing the neoclassical leanings of the 80s, the industrial embellishments of Skinny Puppy with the catchy pop sensibilities of any the NIN-led Trent Rezner who has his role into propelling the production into a goth-dance club gone to hell and oh, let’s not forget about the sleep deprivation induced make up job that would make Brian Hugh Warner, leader of the band look like a cover girl gone wild and possibly a contender as Tammy Faye Baker look alike who would be smothered by a pillow in her once placid slumber.

This is an album that i was utterly against even hearing for the longest time simply due to the fact that it eschewed any progressive leanings of developing the metal genre and seemed like a retrograde of sorts, but i have to admit that this was the album for me that broke down the barriers of snobbery and immediately opened up a floodgate of music that is simply expressive in a more simplistic way without having the desire to delve into every contemplative way of being complexer-than-thou. MARILYN MANSON was a force to be reckoned with in 1996 providing simply catchy metal riffing, a hardcore attitude and enough thought provoking anti-establishment criticism that would even make Che Rivera cover his face in corpse paint and belittle “The Beautiful People.”

While i do indeed find this album to be a major pivotal point in my musical development, i do have some serious critique regarding it’s balance as the supposed rock opera that was intended to be as magnanimous as any that came before. My first reaction is - what theme? This album does not constitute a ridiculously convoluted theme of any sort. It is basically just a 77:26 musical rant that incorporates snide razor sharp criticism to undermine the oral defecation of the day and on that front it does an excellent job but let’s face it, this is an excellent collection of tracks that don’t hold together perfectly even if the majority of them are adeptly constructed and executed. A nice little teenage angst opera if you will.

Personally i really love most of the tracks on here with the sword piercing consciousness expanding material and groovy metal meets dance that was soooo not the norm of the day but as an overall expansive concept album this just flops big time and is probably the reason many don’t regard this as any kind of relevant historical marker despite many of us who love it being mesmerized by the musical output. I also find many tracks to derail the overall feel. I could never stand “Tournequette” and “Little Horn” early on in the album and find the album’s track order could have been more effective for communicating an overall theme of some sort, but this is hind site and we all know that is 20/20. While this album is not a timeless classic, there are plenty of classic moments shining like brilliant diamonds in the queen’s crown only unfortunately there are plenty of turds to mire the overall impression which for better and more often much worse was the destiny for MARILYN MANSON in the long run. It does seem after many years of listening to this one that a bit more maturity in construction could have added to the overall effect of what the man and band were aiming for, but for what it is, i still find this to be an exciting listen despite it not being my ultimate protest album of the century. While the muthafuckin’ anti-Pope didn’t quite have what it took to be the tsunami of rebellion that was planned, it is true that the songs were well constucted, excellently executed and passionately delivered. Unfortunately it seems that MANSON blew his wad with this one and from here on he (the man) has only been grasping for straws in style and musical content. I personally find this one to be a unique and compelling album that delivers the concentration of societal angst in a huge explosion of musical expression. Perfectly executed? Nope, but i can still put this album on years later and feel a connection to an era. Not bad.

Unitron Marilyn Manson - The Pale Emperor

'The Pale Emperor' is the tenth studio album by industrial metal artist Marilyn Manson released on original Playstation discs. I have to say, I'm not a big fan of Marilyn Manson. I do like songs from his 'Antichrist Superstar' album, but I've just never really been fond of his overplayed shock rock approach. I don't really care if a band wants to visually shock it's listeners, but sometimes it can get overused and just become an annoyance. 'The Pale Emperor', however, shows Manson really move away from his previous style.

By move away from his previous style, I mean adding a strong blues element to a Nine Inch Nails-esque industrial metal style. This is emphasized in the opening track 'Killing Strangers', which begins with an industrial stomping beat mixed with some bluesy guitar. Manson's voice here sounds kind of like a bluesy Jonathan Davis of Korn, and it really fits with the industrial/blues combination. The guitar soon gets both heavier and more melodic, and Manson's vocals of 'Hello?' are really powerful and fit well with the sound of the section. Towards the end, the guitar reminds me a little bit of Crossfade. The next song, 'Deep Six', is probably my favorite from the album. It begins with a menacing bass-line before the crushing guitar comes in. There's not much else I can say about this song, just a really kick-ass industrial metal song.

Besides industrial and blues, there are other styles mixed in as heard in the Deadmau5-esque ambient beginning of 'Warship My Wreck'. The entrance of the heavy guitar is conducted perfectly, mixing with the atmospheric electronics beautifully. This song just perfectly combines heavy and soft, probably my second favorite song on the album. 'Slave Only Dreams to be King' is a more grooving song, with an electronic stomp to the guitars and drums. Another really good bluesy song on the album is 'Birds of Hell Awaiting'. While Manson's vocals reminds me a lot of Jonathan Davis, his vocals actually fit extremely well with the blues-twinged sound. I said with this album, Manson was moving away from his previous shock-rock approach, and that shows in the lyrics too. The lyrics feel much more genuine and emotional then his previous lyrical themes to me.

Overall, this is what I call a pleasant surprise. While there are a couple filler tracks, I suspect I will be listening to this album quite a bit. My love of both industrial metal and blues rock probably helps my enjoyment of this, but I'd highly recommend it to anyone who's looking for some industrial and some blues and think both would sound well together. Hope you found this review helpful.

Feel free to comment!

siLLy puPPy SMELLS LIKE CHILDREN is the second release by shock rockers MARILYN MANSON. This is technically an EP but a sprawling one that clocks in at 54:43 and initially began as a simple idea to remix the single “Dope Hat” but due to the involvement of various outside sources and the band’s fertile mind’s the whole project evolved into this bloated behemoth of grab bag ideas, some of which are utterly brilliant and some that should have been jettisoned into the composting heap.

This EP was actually my first exposure to MARILYN MANSON when a friend of mine was obsessed with their cover of the Eurythmics’ “Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This)” which quickly got my attention and admiration as this is one of the most brilliant covers i’ve ever heard with MANSON’s industrial doom take on the new wave 80s pop hit augmented with their own shock rock imagery 2.0 following in Alice Cooper’s footsteps. The track is a masterpiece for effortlessly adapting the upbeat pop song into a depressive motif that changes the synth pop into down tuned guitars, darkened bass echoes and MANSON’s ability to leap his screams from one octave to another. The video has actually been deemed one of the scariest ever to exist.

While this EP gets a bad rap i have to admit that i don’t find it all that horrible. Sure there is plenty of filler whether it be the overlong intro “The Hands of Small Children” which is a weird mix of strange sounds with voices of suffering children or the total wastes of time “F**k Frankie” and phone call footage “May Cause Discoloration of Urine And Feces” where all we get is a boring phone call of some dude who hasn’t taken his meds and is losing it, but there are plenty of interesting moments on here including the track “Sympathy For Parents” which leads into “Sweet Dreams” and the actual remixes themselves such as “Everlasting Cocksucker” which sounds like NIN meets White Zombie doing a remake of “Cake And Sodomy.” The remakes of Jay Hawkins’ “I Put A Spell On You” and Patti Smith’s “Rock N Roll Nigger” are also strong tracks with the latter ending the set perfectly to usher in the pinnacle of MANSON’s shock rock 90s era.

Too long? Definitely. This set is as messy as MANSON’s makeup. As dualistic as his multi-hued contact lens that offer the best the band has ever attempted as well as some of the worst. The name after all is derived from MARILYN Monroe and Charles MANSON symbolizing dualities. This is a strange little beast that came out when it did but it was the one that got them noticed and despite the presence of skippable material that may have seemed like a good idea at the time this one is still a must own for me simply because of the strongest tracks on board. A strange album that deserves a whopping 3 stars.

Kingcrimsonprog Marilyn Manson may divide opinion, he may be taken too seriously by some and not seriously enough by others and it just makes sense that if you don't already like Marilyn Manson then this Blu Ray isn't something you should buy. I'm not going to get into a debate with anyone about whether or not Marilyn Manson albums have been declining in quality over the years but I will say that if you think they have, then the track listing of this concert is perfectly suited to you, with all the material dating before the divisive 'The Golden Age of Grotesque' album.

You may already know this; but for those who don't, this Blu Ray is not a simple transfer of the previously released DVD 'Guns God And Government,' which featured footage from all around the world on different nights. The Blu Ray is taken entirely from one concert in LA during the same tour but also features the same bonus features as the original DVD (chiefly a documentary/montage entitled 'The Death Parade')

The concert is just over and hour and a half in length and features sixteen tracks, including the unreleased 'Astonishing Panorama of the End Times,'as well as seven tracks from the then new Holywood album in addition to a selection of live favorites from older albums. The band features John 5, Twiggy Ramirez, M.W. Gacy and Ginger Fish, in what many fans have come to consider the classic line up.

The video quality is pretty incredible and its surprising just what a huge improvement this is over the previously released DVD, especially when the house lights are up. When the lights are up, this 2002 concert looks better than many live Blu Rays filmed as recently as last year and the team behind this Blu Ray have clearly done an excellent job. In addition to the sterling video quality, the sound is utterly fantastic and as with the video it honestly rivals the majority of modern concerts on Blu Ray.

The performance is excellent, right from the start you know you are in for a theatrical and over the top experience as Manson arrives on stage in a chariot pulled by bikini girls to a stage featuring huge backdrops of crucified fetuses, crucifixes made of various rifles and revolvers, a tonne of dry ice and even naked dancers. The set also contains the infamous slit walk and 'growing,' as well as several costume changes for Manson and one or two minor costume enhancements for the rest of the group.

If you didn't already know, while the band do perform live Marilyn himself sings over a prerecorded live vocal track when he is doing anything theatrical such as the stilt walk or standing behind the pulpit and from repeat viewings I have begun to think that while he sang live over the track on the night, these vocals were erased from the mix and replaced with the live track entirely although I am not 100% certain.

The Blu Ray specs are as follows: 1080i HD Widescreen (1.78:1) LCPM Stereo, Dolby Digital 5.1, DTS HD Master Audio.

In summary this is an absolutely excellent product in and of itself, doubly so if you prefer this period in Manson's history, and an extra star is warranted if you aren't put off by the vocal track not matching up to Manson's mouth movements.