(Interscope)
As I sit at my desk at my day job the repetitive but infectious chorus of "The Beautiful People", Marilyn Manson's first single off of their latest release, runs over and over in my head. The scariest aspect of this is that, according to the creepy press kit that I received with the compact disc, this is exactly what Mr. Manson and his crew had in mind for their listeners and I have almost succumbed to his wishes. Marilyn Manson, whose name is formed by the combination of Marilyn Monroe and Charles Manson, seems to believe in a definite dark side to human existence and hopes that everyone who listens to this album will see the dark, so to speak, and realize this as well.
Mr. Manson, the lead singer of this doomsaying group, is also a reverend of the Church of Satan and insists that his image, which consists of ripped black stockings, lots of leather, missing eyebrows and self-inflicted cuts all over his body, does not disappear after his shows. He insists that he is not just a parody of the dark side of human nature, but is actually a parody of a parody of this. Are you still following this? I'm not sure if I am either, so don't worry. If you want to believe the ideas expressed on this album, feel free. However, I am sure that many will agree that Marilyn Manson basically comes off purely as an attention seeker whose strongest weapon is shock value. If you want to scare the parents, then this is the album to buy for musical and visual reasons.
Musically speaking, Marilyn Manson sounds quite a bit like Nine Inch Nails, which is really no surprise as the album is coproduced by Trent Reznor, their kindred spirit in revolution. In a similar fashion to Trent Reznor, Marilyn Manson will jump back and forth from a scream to a whisper as he is backed up by the sounds of pounding techno/industrial samples and creepy noises. What struck me the most is that the lead-in drumbeat of "The Beautiful People" sounds awfully similar to that of Green Day's "Longview". This is a catchy track but it also complies with the supposed purpose of Marilyn Manson: take something that most people know well and twist it into something dark and ugly and makes us question the good and evil aspects of what we are dealing with.
Compared to Marilyn Manson, Nine Inch Nails almost sounds happy. While Reznor sings, 'If there is a Hell, I'll see you there' in "Heresy" from The Downward Spiral, Marilyn Manson seems to be claiming that there IS a Hell and we are all already there. Mr. Manson obviously means to shock or disturb his listeners with lyrics like, 'The beautiful people/it's all relative to the size of your steeple' and, 'Each time I make my mother cry/an angel dies and falls from Heaven.' Manson's music and lyrics can be fun to listen to if you're in the mood for doom and gloom, whether you take Manson seriously or not. However, as my friend Sam puts it, 'Marilyn Manson is ear candy' - meaning that on the surface, it's enjoyable - but after a while it can turn sour and become overdone and nauseating. Such is the case with the music and lyrics of Marilyn Manson which after a while hit you over the head with Manson's hatred of American society, aiming most often at the Christian Church.
I'll leave the reader to discover for themselves the ever-so-lovely visual disturbances that accompany this album. Let's just say a picture on the back of the jewel box gives a certain sexual act new meaning.
