Marilyn Manson: Best We Forget(about his career), the worst of.

A lot of you may not know the picture to the left. It is a mug shot of Brian Warner (no, not one of the Animaniacs) also known by his stage name Marilyn Manson. Manson; named after model Marilyn Monroe and serial killer Charles Mason is a 'rock star' hailing from Florida. His music and image were once attacked by pundits on both the Left Wing and Right Wing due to the shooting in Littleton, CO in 1999. Manson-- as a persona and a musician has changed over the 15 years he's been on the musical radar (I count only the time from Nothing Records/Interscope onwards). He's gone from being the most 'feared' man in music, one of the most controversial to one who does nothing but parody his former 'talent'.

We Should Have Stayed in Florida(Portrait of an American Family)

Their first full length album produced by Trent Reznor is very much a continuation of the band's origional sound when they were known as Marilyn Manson and the Spooky Kids. Mostly a drum machine, keyboards and thrash-y guitars. Oh, and what sounds like a cat in a blender (manson's vocals). Manson started to get some attention during this period outside of Florida, mostly due to their tour with Nine Inch Nails and Danzig. The album is not as layered as the next few efforts, but it did spawn 3 music videos.
Get your Gunn
LunchBox
Dope Hat

Between the first two albums, a remix EP Smells Like Children was created; more sonic experiment with then band and Reznor and some other collaborators. This included a cover (I'll dedicate a whole section on Manson's covers) of the Eurythmics song Sweet Dreams (are Made of This). The popularity of this song catapulted Manson into the mainstream spotlight with a more 'dark' image than previous works, which was more a parody/twisted outlook on children's entertainment (the willy wonka parody in dope hat and the childchatcher image from chitty-chitty bang-bang used on the cover of the EP).

Lookatme! I'm EEEEEvil.(Antichrist Superstar)

The band's second full length album released in 1996 was produced by Reznor, and the sound of this album is arguably their most 'industrial' sounding due to collaborations on the album with (at then) Nine Inch Nail members Robin Finck, Danny Lohner, Chris Vrenna and Charlie Clouser, and Reznor contributing piano, keys, guitar and the kitchen sink. The album artwork and music is filled with jarring images and religious references some of them taking a misanthropic viewpoint.

The band's dark image progressed and religious groups protested Manson's performances; around this time rumors also started to fly about Manson, ranging from having his bottom ribs removed so he could preform self-feliatio; that he was Paul Pfeiffer from the wonder years (Joshua Saviano, the actor who played Paul is a lawyer); he mutilated small animals on stage etc. none of which, to my knowledge and research are true.

Three videos spawned during this time frame
The Beautiful People
Tourniquet
Man that You Fear

ZOMG I do DRUGS & I have BOOBS!! (Mechanical Animals)

In 1998 Manson recruited guitarist John Lowery and decided to break with Reznor and decided to rip off David Bowie's Ziggy Stardust and The Man Who Fell to Earth and add prothestic boobs, more glitter, and lots and lots of drugs. The result is a surprisingly good album with very idiotic lyrics. Mechanical Animals spawned a few Music Videos
The Dope Show
Rock Is Dead
I Don't Like the Drugs (but the Drugs Like Me)
Coma White

The Columbine Massacre in 1999 stopped his tour after media focused on him for supplying 'hate filled music'. He canceled 5 of his dates at the end of his 1999 tour due to the incident in Littleton, CO. Senator Joseph Leiberman among others in public outlets focused blame onto music, movies and games, including Manson's band. Manson was quiet about his views on the subject mostly until his next album Holy Wood.

Celebrity and Violence: Now I'm Exploiting America! (Holy Wood)

Holy Wood, released in 2000 is Manson's reaction to American's obsession with violence and celebrity. It draws paralles between our culture and a love of violence as entertainment; giving murderers the attention (some) they crave. Manson paints a poitrait of american media as vultures and how as americans we consume every last dribble of violence on TV. From Kennedy to Christ to Columbine. His views are expressed in the excellent documentry produced during this time by Michael Moore Bowling for Columbine; as well as his appearances on Politically Incorrect with Bill Maher. Back to the music. Manson as usual does the lyrics and vocals, but almost all the acutal music on this album is by Twiggy (Jeordie White) with some exceptions by John Lowery. Musically this has a throwback to AntiChristSuperStar. Some glam elements remain, but it's mostly just hard rock with some industrial-esque elements.
Singles were
Disposable Teens
The Fight Song
The Nobodies
After this point, I really disliked the musical direction of Manson; so from here on out, I may be a bit.... critical compared to earlier.
Mickey Mouse, Nazis and Imitation Swing Jazz (The Golden Age of Grotesque)

So for his 2003 musical endevor, Manson gave us a lot of puns in lyrics (although he CAN be skillful at wordplay... these just fell very flat), some vaguely 20's-30's swing-esque/metal sounding noises (Thanks Tim Skold! [and I like Skold's work in KMFDM, but this album was just... awful]). Manson's art direction done by photographer Gottfried Helnwein is atually kinda fun... sorta. Some of the 'we're in old vintage suits, with makeup' is kinda cool. very zoot-suity, very 30's... but then we also forget what else happened in the 30's... nazism. Yes, folks. Nazi's, and not the silly Indiana Jones Nazi's. Nazi's. In the video for This is the New Shit, manson rides into the video in one of Hitler's old limos. A lot of the promo pictures had Manson in an SS uniform, or sporting the Totenkoph (death head) on a hat. I'm not offended by any of this, it doesn't effect me, but... it's fucking silly.
Songs such as Doll-Dagga-Buzz-Buzz-Ziggity-Zag, Golden Age of Grotesque, and The Bright Young Things all have a very very vague 30's sound, and the rest is just kinda... blah. It's missing the *something* from early Manson albums; and it's not less-shocking, I mean, NAZI's! and look at manson as Mickey Mouse! What the Hell?!

Singles (thank god there were only 2! ["(s)AINT" the third music video has been banned by Universal Music Group]):
mOBSCENE
This is the New Shit

I'm DONE with music... Oh, Wait! (Lest We Forget)

So, Mr. Manson decied to call it quits in 2003/4 after Golden age of a Giant Turd of an Album. So his record lable Interscope (Nothing Records folded in 2004 due to John Malm being a giant dick) decides to cash in on Manson's popularity and releases a 'Best of' CD. Personally, i kind of hate best of CDs, unless I really just like the singles from the artist. It takes the songs out of any context... and that, to me, is boring.

Anyway, Mr. Manson is going to make a movie based on alice in wonderland, then work on his Art, then... ruin his marraige to burlesque dancer Dita Von Tesse by FUCKING EVAN RACHEL WOOD who, i think was like 17 or 18? maybe 19.. and you're closing in on 40? what the hell man, what the hell?

So during this wonderful phase of Manson's career... he does two fatal mistakes. First he coveres what seems to be the hight of self parody he could ever do, by covering Depeche Mode's Personal Jesus and THEN, he goes out and ACTUALLY DOES cover the ONLY song that could at ALL be considered the HIGHEST form of self parody in the history of EVER! He covered This Is Halloween from Tim Burton's Nighmare before Chirstmas.
Seriously, can you be done making music now? Can anyone take this live performance seriously?

Aren't You Done Yet?(Eat Me, Drink Me)

Ahh... let's look at the picture on the left-- see what it looks like he's doing? That's how I feel abut this album. Although it's not as bad as the cover of This Is Halloween... it's bad. Very, very bad. Once again, it's Manson and Tim Skold. The crux of this album seems to be two things. 1. Manson is happy to be fucking Evan Rachel Wood. 2. Manson is pissed off at Dita Von Tesse.
Self parody still abounds here (If I Were Your Vampire, They Said Hell's Not Hot), and Manson is as emo as Chris Carrabba. "Wahh, I'm sad Dita left be because I am fucking a 18 year old no-talent-wanna-be-actress/songwriter, but I'm happy because I'm-fucking-said-18-year-old-and-I-don't-have-boobs-any-more."
Music Videos that are not as bad as Personal Jesus:
Heart Shaped Glasses (When the Hand Guides the Heart)
Putting Holes in Happiness

I'm a leach who brought back the only person who made my records a sucess! (The High End of Low)
So it's been announced a while ago that Jeordie White is back in Manson. White/Twiggy has had a sucessful time from Manson, auditioning for Metallica's vacant bassist position; recording and touring with A Perfect Circle, Nine Inch Nails, Goon Moon and Josh Homme's Desert Sessions, Manson pooped out his Nazi album, his 'best of' cover album, played with his paints, and his emo album.
What have we heard that Manson and White are working together again? A lot of hype 'that [the record] will blow Antichrist Superstar out of the water' and that 'it's harder than Twiggy's dick.'

Yeah... so far, i've heard two songs from it. the track "Arma-God-Damn-Mother-Fucking-Geddon" and "We're From America" (which is avalable as a free download from Manson's website). Not impressed at all.

I wish White all the best, but I do hope that Manson can either regain his creative edge and make something worth listening to, or just fade into obscurity.

Top whatevers of 2008

We'll keep the formalities at a minimum and jump into my biased opinions.

Formality: Happy 2009. Hope your 2008 was decent.

Biased Opinions:

Top 7 Albums of 2008.

7. Coldplay - Viva la Vida
Not immediately recognized by me as being a decent album, but it grew on me, and I thought the universal themes of love, life and death have been done... well, to death. But it's a nice easily digestible album.

6. Nine Inch Nails - The Slip
With Teeth meets Year Zero, to a point. It has the rock-band-esque styling of 2005's With Teeth and some of the glitchy stuff of 2007's Year Zero. And it was released for free. Free. With over a million downloads from nin.com. If you'd still like to give a bit of cash to Trent Reznor and company, it's available on amazon.com, iTunes or as a physical CD/DVD combo.

5. Jack Johnson - Sleep Through the Static
Not a major departure for those familiar with Jack Johnson, but I do feel that the addition of other instruments and adding a little bit of distortion on some of his guitarwork makes this album more accessible than his previous.

4. Ladytron - Velocifero
Now im not sure if this is going to replace Witching Hour as my favourite Ladytron album, but this feels much more fleshed out and I think the production done by Alessandro Cortini aided in this album feel compared to Witching Hour.

3. Does It Offend You, Yeah? - You Have No Idea What You're Getting Yourself Into
Influences of Daft Punk aside, this is just a fun album. Sure, it's just a combination of a lot of electronica mixed with some of the best rock elements with a splash of indie in there as well, but it does it well.

2. Modwheelmood - Pearls to Pigs Vols. 2-3
Add volume 1 to the other volumes and you have a full album. Just download it off of iTunes or Amazon (use amazon, DRM MP3's). It's a little eclectic, and at times inaccessible, but it's some of the best electronica I have ever listened to.

1. Amanda Palmer - Who Killed Amanda Palmer?
Produced by Ben Folds, this is by far, the best album of the year. Moody piano pieces such as "Strength Through Music", fun rocking songs like "Leeds United", songs that were once part of the Dolls live catalogue "Ampersand". Oh and although a song about date rape, abortion, pregnancy tests, having rumors being spread of being a crackwhore, going to a concert with someone you kinda hate, "Oasis" is a fucking catchy and fun song to sing along to. All in all, my favourite album of 2008.

Amanda Palmer "Oasis" Music Video from Amanda Palmer on Vimeo.

You can check out samples of songs on the respective myspaces.

Top 6 Movies of 2008 (up to October) that are worth the $8.50 to get in or the $20 DVD.

6. Teeth
When I first heard about this film, I thought it was a documentary; but upon viewing, it is one of the best indipendant releases of 2008. Vagina Dentata. Horror(ish), amusing(for sure) and an interesting 'coming of age' film.

5. Funny Games
A remake of a 1997 film, actually. A upper/upper-middle class family is assaulted by very polite and proper psychopaths. Excellent use of breaking the fourth wall, the American fascination of bad things happening to good people, and in general fucking with your head, a little bit.

4. Forgetting Sarah Marshell
Touted as a romantic comedy, but it was far from it. Yes, it has romantic and sappy elements. But it also has a lot of funny stuff. And lots of nudity. Mila Kunis' boobs, and Jason Segel's... well... everything. Ass, Crotch, face... and I'm not sure what's worse. It was basically a Judd Apatow-esque film with little splashes of romance in it. And it worked.

3. Wall-E
And on the other end of the spectrum from Sarah Marshell is the very family friendly film Wall-E from Disney/Pixar. The first human dialogue spoken by character that does not sound like beeps and boops is almost 40 mins into the film. Spectacular visual eff

2. The Dark Knight/Iron Man
Dark Knight: Pros: Casting/Acting/Story. Con: "Batman Voice"

Iron Man: Pros: Casting/Humor/Acting/Story. Con: Sam Jackson cocktease after the Credits.

1. Choke.
Although not a direct adaptation, it's fairly faithful to Chuck Palahniuk's book. Victor was cast perfectly as Sam Rockwell. Everyone else was done well. It is a very witty film, not the gut busting Seth Rogan/Judd Apatow humor, but it had me quietly laughing the whole time. But it does have moments of drama and moments that made me... uncomfortable. A very great film.

Top 5 Rifftrax of 2008.

5. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
"I will eat your imortal soul"

4. Jurassic Park
"Be werry werry qwiet, I'm hwunting waptors, huhuhuhuh."

3. Saw
"Shoot him."
"He won't move if you shoot him in the head."
"Nobody listens to me."

2. Spider Man 3
"Giant Anthropomorphic Sand Thief wouldn't make the headlines, of course."

1. Lion King (That Guy With The Glasses)
"Hey, maybe dad is next to that rotting corpse!"

Top 4 things that made me laugh unintentionally in 2008.

4. Pencil Tricks

3. SNL (NSFW/YouTubes)

2. Scientology v. Anonymous

1. Sarah Palin

Top 3 Things that did not live up to the hype.

3. Guns N Roses - Chinese Democracy
16 years, and I get a shitty record and a free can of Dr Pepper. Go reunite with Slash, then we'll talk, Axl.

2. Ron Paul
The most conservative legislator since 1937 leading a revolution? Give me a break

1. Cloverfield
An ARG to promote a JJ Abrhams project, my GOSH that has NEVER been done before! And it was having us guessing on WTF took off the Statue of Liberty for months ahead of time.

Top 2 People who might have changed the world in 2008

2. The 131,237,603 who let their voices be heard in the 2008 election process.

1. The United States Presidential Candidates

Top Concert You Shouldn't Have Missed.
Nine Inch Nails: Lights In The Sky

A Small Holiday Blag

I have been a little sick the past couple of days, but I was trying to think of a little fun holiday blog. And I've been stuck on what to do. I kinda wanted to make this into a 'gift' for those who read this. My way of saying Happy Holidays to those who take time to read this.

So I've decided to make a little top 10 list of some of my Favorite Holiday songs. Some of these are for Humor's sake, or for nostalgia, but most of them genuinely are some of my favorite Holiday songs.

Even though I don't believe in a supernatural being that seems to be the focus of "Christmas" or quite a few of the Holidays around the winter solstice, does not mean I am a Scrooge. That being said, let's get to the List.

10. The Smashing Pumpkins - Christmastime



Now, I kind of hate Billy Corgan. His voice is a bit nasally for my tastes, but somehow, it works with the Pumpkins. And this song kind of reminds me of how my parents must have felt Christmas morning; with me as a kid. After all the hustle and bussle of the holiday season, sitting down and watching a child's eyes light up as they open gifts... it could be nice on some level.

09. Bob Rivers- I am Santa Clause


There is something so wonderful about a well done Christmas parody. Using Black Sabbath's main riff from Iron Man is great. And I have an image of Santa sporting "C-H-R-I-S-T-M-A-S" across his knuckles like Ozzy has "O-Z-Z-Y'. My cousin Miles showed me this a few years back. I'm glad he's more into Black Sabbath and Ozzy more than Santa now, but I thank him for hipping me to this.

08. Danny Elfman - What's This?



So being a former little Goth-y boy, and still being a huge Tim Burton fan, and to a lesser extent a Fan of musicals, this ranks up there as one of my top Christmas songs. Danny Elfman's voice as Jack Skellington is delivering an enthusiastic of wonder is a major turn for the character from "Jack's Lament" earlier in the Film. Burton's creation, the music and clay-mation make "Nightmare Before Christmas" one of my go to Holiday movies. Macabe at times, sure, but Disney has done much worse Christmas Specials/movies. "What's This" is just a fun song, and if it doesn't make you smile, like it Christmas town does for Jack, I have three Ghosts of Christmas that will be paying you a Visit tonight.

07. My Chemical Romance - All I Want for Christmas Is You


This is a recent find for me. I remember the frigging Mariah Carey original, and I loathe it. But Gerard and Co. put a nice little 'pop-punk' spin on it, that makes the unbelievably sappy lyrics a little more palatable. If you really want to torture yourself, go on youtube and see some of the horrendous fan made 'music videos' for either version. I kind of want to stab my eyeballs out due to the one I watched.

06. The Used - Alone This Holiday



Another 'punk-lite' Holiday song. I apologize for the crappy audio on this, but I'm not the one who uploaded the video. The original is on Maybe Memories CD, or iTunes. This is more of a Nostalgic song for me; The lyrics are depressing, but it's a fun song. Good when you're pissed over the holidays. Or just using it when taking a walk out in the snow alone. I actually prefer the version without Kelly Osbourne (Ozzy's daughter) but that's hard to come by.

05. Blink 182 - I Won't be Home for Christmas


This is usually how I feel around the holidays until about a few days before Christmas. I mean, I PROBABLY won't attack someone around Christmas with a baseball bat and get butt-raped in jail for aggravated assault. But one can only have their buttons pushed so much as the days get darker, and drearier. If I end up in jail, please, post my bail.

04. The Vandals - My First Christmas (as a Woman)


What can be more awesome at Christmas than getting what you want? The Vandals, what can I say, I love Josh Freese. A fun upbeat, probably not to serious song about wanting Santa to make you the opposite sex for Christmas. But then again, it is the Vandals. You can never be sure.

03. Spinal Tap - Christmas with the Devil


YouTube does not have a decent recording of this, so I had to get a piano/bass jazz-y version of it. You can find the original on iTunes, I think or any respectable filesharing site. There's a REALLY crappy VHS era of Spinal Tap playing on the Arsenio Hall show. And there is just something hilarious about the lyrics and/or the music in it. Metal + Christmas... it's odd, isn't it? I mean this was released in 1992. A good 4 years before Trans-Siberian Orchestra. Coincidence?
Yeah, Probably.

02. Nine Inch Nails - 28 Ghosts IV



Something about this song reminds me of snowfall or walking in snow. This is not my video to the song, but gives a nice representation of what's in my mind when it plays. Off of Nine Inch Nails instrumental album released in March of 2008 Ghosts I-IV this track has been one of my favorites for this year. at over 5 mins, it's one of the longer pieces on the album. Give it a listen, it's a $5 download off of nin.com.

01. John Lennon - Happy Xmas (war is over)


Street Drum Corps. Featuring Bert McCrakin

The Three Tenors

Maroon 5


This song was originally a protest song about the Vietnam war; although in recent years, I feel it has lost it's meaning. Or it has changed at least. I don't want to preach here (but it might come off as such); It's not what I do well at all. I take this song to be reflective on your year, and if you're working to help this planet, and help and love those around you. I try to, so much and I'm sure you do to. This song is to promote the ultimate ideal of this holiday season, peace on earth and love for your fellow person. Peace can come from a messiah that is to come; or one that has come, died, and will come again. Peace can be simple as extending a hand to someone in need with out thought of getting something in return. Peace is possible, if we hold ourselves accountable for our actions, and we take care of ourselves, and take care of our neighbors.

This Holiday season, lets let the messages of hope, love, light and happiness really take hold. Promote it all year round, take a few minutes each day and do something kind for someone in need. Talk to strangers, make them smile, you might help them when they are having a bad day. Promote people to reach there full potential. Love everyone equally, regardless of race, ethnic background or religion.

Happy Holidays. War, Hunger, Illiteracy, Poverty, Disease can all be over. If you want it. Let's make it happen.

Music, Torture and my Opinions

This story that ran on MSNBC is really disgusting. (2 pages)

As someone who is both an avid fan of music and being someone who contributes to an artistic craft (writing), I am offended by this on many levels. I am on a personal level, because as a writer, I would not want any of my works to be used to inflict harm on another person. Including papercuts, or pummeling someone to death with my forthcoming short story collection.

However, I expect nothing less from this administration. Our current resident in the Office of President and his cabinet have no respect for human or civil rights. We have allowed this administration to hijack basic human decency. We let them, through our military branches to kidnap people that we think are 'terrorists', including children.

What drives me crazy is none of this was done with Artist's consent. They used songs that are for Children's shows (I Love You, from TV's Barney), played at ear splitting volumes while shackled in uncomfortable positions. Yes, they've used Nine Inch Nails and Rage Against the Machine, both of whom have been vocal critics of this current administration.

Some musicians see the situation rather differently.

Some musicians, however, say they’re proud that their music is used in interrogations. Those include bassist Stevie Benton, whose group Drowning Pool has performed in Iraq and recorded one of the interrogators’ favorites, “Bodies.”

“People assume we should be offended that somebody in the military thinks our song is annoying enough that played over and over it can psychologically break someone down,” he told Spin magazine. “I take it as an honor to think that perhaps our song could be used to quell another 9/11 attack or something like that."

Okay... so when John McCain was tortured, it would have been okay to play "Born in the USA" at top volume outside of his cell in addition to stabbing him in the groin? I mean, I can have been tortured by music at times, but usually, I can leave.

The point I think Benton is missing is that this will not really stop another 9/11. If you think that the people being held against all international laws are not going to be pissed at the people/country/government that just decided to torture them... let's look at John McCain again.

John McCain recently (Campaign 2008) told reporters that he hated [racial Asian slur here]s. Now, I feel for Mr. McCain. No, really, stop laughing. I do, if he was tortured, I do feel pity for the man that he cannot forgive a race of people. Do I take John McCain at his word that he uses that word only for those who tortured him? No. I do not. Because you're just as racist by saying ' I only use the term N---er for those who act like N---ers.' You're still marginalizing people by the color of their skin, or their heritage. Or any other racist term you may want to sling out there.

If John McCain a war hero cannot let go of his hatred after being tortured (while not legal to torture, it was legal to detain Mr. McCain as he was a uniformed enemy combatant; most of the detainees at GTMO or the other black operations prisons we have set up are not recognized by any international body), who's to say that anyone in our illegal prison camps will let go of theirs?

Torturing people will not stop crazy idiots from bombing something that they want to bomb. Maybe our actions towards those less fortunate than us might stop some of the psychopaths from recruiting people.

And if you morons in the DoD are going to condone music as a form of torture... at least pick something that doesn't make you look like idiots, like Rage, or Nine Inch Nails.

Please, use Springsteen, or Nugent, or some other idiot that has blind patriotism.