Marilyn Manson - WE ARE CHAOS
At this point, I may be more interested in Marilyn Manson’s paintings than his music.
Don’t get me wrong, Marilyn Manson the musician is still talented. But his recent releases haven’t grabbed me like his earlier albums did. And not in a snobby “I like his earlier work better” way, there was just a certain attitude and spirit of his music. All the satanic antichrist imagery was fun, but back then Manson’s songs was aggressive and immediately grabbed my attention. But lately, while the songs are good, nothing stands out.
WE ARE CHAOS (Yes, the album and songs are all upper case. Stop yelling at us!) is Manson’s latest effort, this time a collaboration with country musician Shooter Jennings. They met through the show Sons of Anarchy and got along well enough to work together musically. It would be lazy to blame the blandness of WE ARE CHAOS solely on Jennings, I think they work well together. This just seems to be one of those albums for me that I don’t need to go out of my way to listen to again. That’s not to say I won’t, I just can’t image a day where I’m like “You know what I wanna listen to? WE ARE CHAOS.”
“DON’T CHASE THE DEAD” and the title track are the catchy singles, but unfortunately I don’t ever want to hear a Marilyn Manson song be described as “catchy.” “SOLVE COAGULA” (not to be confused with “Solve et Coagula” by Mudvayne) is somewhat interesting, the idea of breaking something down to build it up again (plus who doesn’t like a little Latin?). “PERFUME” kinda stinks. I can get into “INFINITE DARKNESS” and “BROKEN NEEDLE.” Other than that, there’s not much else that stands out to me. Manson is still a great wordsmith, but the lyrics don’t sync up completely with the music.
I need my Marilyn Manson to have a little more bite. And by “bite” I don’t just mean fast, heavy, and loud. Mechanical Animals is my favorite Manson album, not because the songs we’re super heavy or angry, but the songs were great and they captured me from beginning to end.
Maybe asking the shock rocker to consistently shock me for 20+ years is too much to ask. Maybe Manson is not in that place in his life anymore. Maybe he’s mellowed out. Maybe he’s matured professionally.
The old Marilyn Manson is gone, and that is not necessarily a bad thing. We’re all meant to grow and evolve. That’s what Manson has done, and it’s okay if the art is affected.
Whether your instrument of choice is a microphone or guitar or paint brush, the end result must be true to itself.
“I’m not special, I’m just broken and I don’t want to be fixed”
Marilyn Manson - Solve Coagula
