> I've been reading Consumable for a little over 2 years now, and I usually find it informative, complete, and unabashedly critical. The reviews I've come to expect from Consumable are of above-average to excellant quality, certainly far superior to most print-based, mass media marketing efforts - which is why Janet Herman's mediocre review of Marylin Manson's new album came as such a disappointing surprise.
Herman makes it clear that she doesn't take Manson seriously, and that's certainly her prerogative. But to write Manson off as a shock artist does him and his fans a severe disservice. Manson speeks to a small but growing and increasingly vocal subculture of both American and European listeners that are young, vital, and highly dissatisfied with the current mainstream.
It seems most likely to me that Herman was just a bad match to the album - which is not her fault. This is most evident in her blanket admonishment that the album "grows sour over time" without her providing even one concrete example of what that means. Manson isn't trying to appeal to an audience seeking harmony and reassurance - he is trying to expose something dark in all of us, and whether or not he takes himself seriously, there are quite a few people who find meaning in his music. He follows a genre that, like punk, grows by design almost self-destructively disharmonious. Rather than calling attention to the obvious, the reviewer should explore what contributions Manson does or doesn't add. Herman did this a bit with her analysis of "Beautiful People" but failed in general to live up to the deeper level of analysis I've come to expect from a Consumable review. The obvious example of a comparative look at his cover of the Eurythmics' signature peace, "Sweet Dreams (Are Made of These)" wasn't even present in the review.
Overall Herman had what felt like a solid beginning that was finished in a hurry. Blanket statements of the overall feel of an album certainly have their place, especially if they can be backed up with examples from the songs or information about the band. But this can never replace the need for a deeper level of analysis, especially in a magazine of as high a quality as Consumable; Herman's rather surface analysis of the album only looked all the more so next to reviews that contained that greater depth. - Rich P
> You're right, the Les Claypool album Present Highball With The Devil is amazing. I wish people would listen to this instead of trendy Oasis. - Mark K., Canada
