I look at it kind of the other way, where it seems like an epilogue or postscript to the album.Originally Posted by Cringeon
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I look at it kind of the other way, where it seems like an epilogue or postscript to the album.
Ok so this is me writting about the record after giving it the deserved and proper time to show its identity and real face. There aren't many bands that make me wait for the CD to hit the stores so that I can embrace it, but my experience with Marilyn Mansons works was always a case-study in terms of first listens. I enjoy the wait, like to run to the store the day the album comes, look at the cover and back-cover inside the plastic, go home, relax, light up some candles, read the lyrics, stare at the booklet and dive into the music, letting it take me to familiar and unknown territories. A strange sort of ritual that tends to turn its back to the usual immediate standards of nowadays consume, but that doesn't cease to wonder me. Needless to say that this time the prelude was shortened: the absence of a wondering booklet was felt and it bothers me to think that I need to turn on the Internet to read the fucking lyrics, or print them. Yes, time is changing, costs climb but it doesn't make sense because the CD has per se a physical life. And the booklet, with all of its elements, was always part of the magic for me so part of the magic was missing. Nevertheless, it made me jump to the music more quickly - only to be blown away. I'll first elaborate on the tracks and then make an overall comment.
HEY, CRUEL WORLD… First tracks tend to be crucial for the direction my mood is going to take. After just one listen I realized I had this huge smile all over my face. I literaly jumped from the sofa and started headbanging. This is one of those tracks that make you proud to be a fan of Marilyn Manson. "Goodbye Cruel World" put an end to one of the faces of Pink Floyds masterpiece The Wall, it was a statement of definitive reclusion from reality. The way I see it, HCW is the opposite: it's a defiant statement, its Manson looking at this very same cruel reality and refusing to give up. Instead of being smashed by it, he chooses to fight it back and give it what it deserves in the form of powerfull sounding, abrasive guitars and screams and afirmative lyrics. Its Manson in control again and not only that, it's him shaking things up with his own vision. Afirming a fate over the faith, a destiny more powerfull than any belief, a victory of the will over submission and the ill. The screaming bridge it's fucking great and the song is powerfull live. Fucking amazing song. A major one.
NO REFLECTION The initial beat kind of marks a curve in Mansons sound. It introduces us to the rhythmatic atmosphere of the record, an inflection that smells and feels like the new clothing you put on after you buy it. Evolution is this songs name: at the same time embracing the traditional dirty industrial MM guitars that made the band conquer territories and taking it to another level. Good song to headbang to specialy if you're at this underground cave bar with a lot red leds.There're little sounds here and there, samples and small details that make us want to listen for the second time. By now, if you're not dancing, you really need to start, or you have lost your reflection... The synths help cooking this kind of dangerous cloud that menaces to piss all of us with rain in a few moments, a warning that something is about to happen.In the video, we see Manson killing several girls, trying to save one of them and then killing her too. A dark tale that I think expresses well where has he been in the last few years. But someone who reads the living bible can only expect to enjoy life.
PISTOL WHIPPED Cockier than cock. Lustier than lust. Perfect song for every sexual demand. I love the guitar distortion in this one, the way the sounds flow like someones taking off their clothes. Love the breathing, the cock cock cock its, the moments before and after the guitar explosion, the way the guitar decides to take its course with no way to stop it and its almost like a sound translation of the image I have in my mind – rather it being a zipper opening, a body dancing agains a wall or a dick entering a hole. One of the most minimalistic efforts of the record but still with the menacing twist that makes the record so special. Love the small details here and there again, sexy backvocals and the way contained lyrics must be avoid listen to by guilty ears that still want to be safe when the song ends.
OVERNEATH THE PATH OF MISERY The Shakespeare introduction could lead us to a field of disappointment. I need to read the books that inspired this record to more deeply understand what's being said, but for me this is more Manson building a new beginning than crying over the past. This song is an example of how the lack of live drums can affect a song. I love the tribal beat but would love it even more with a more powerfull and real drumming. The guitars are Mansons industrial print all the way, so a plus for them. Probably a bit longer and repetitive than needed.”Why die, when you can kill the father? Dad is missing an ‘e’”: This is a great line and an interesting testament of strengh. The visuals that were conceived for the teaser were very inspiring.
SLO-MO-TION In sloooooo...... mooooooo......... tiooooooooooooonnnnnnnn..... One of my favourite songs, pure gold! Sarcastic and demolishing lyrics, fucking hypnotic track as hell, fuck!!! I absolutely loove everything in this song. From the catchy and balancing bass line (so amazing) to the AMAZING guitars. I love the distortion once again, the way the guitar just lives by its own terms and drives me insane! The lyrics are just ones to remember, I mean: “You’ve got your
Hell’s teeth smiling at you. It keeps your brain safe, as it all eats at your face…”; Don’t we wish
that we had something more than hate and morbid panic? Morbid panic. Hate and morbid panic?”; I’m the host with Vaseline I hide behind bullet-proof glass and I can feel your tits with my brand new camera (equipped with a flash) fast-food-nude I hate you all but somehow you find me incredibly charming”. For real? Who doesn't love morbid panic and fast-food nude hate? Backvocals give it a slight surrealistic sense too and things like the distorted “slomotion” after the first chorus, the echoing at the end and Manson's screams make me refuse to click the stop button! A+
THE GARDENER This song is another breath of fresh air in Mansons catalogue. From what i've read, it wasn't supposed to be spoken in the first place but it turned out like that. I like the relaxed atitude of letting things flow and never knowing the result of it. Sometimes the unpredictable becomes atractive. The spoken verses remind me of Mansons early poetry sessions before becoming a singer and its just sounds great with the somewhat dance rythm. And then.. then we get the totaly Mechanical Animals solar side of explosive guitar riffs and blasting chorus. The strong punchy very mansonesque type of choruses are one of the things that make this record so amazing. The lyrics of the chorus are also a mirror of Mansons life. A sarcastic and in your face afirmative response to everyone that tried to transform him into something he's not, tried to make him actualy less human by telling him he wasn't human enough to stay with them according to their life standards. Ladies, anyone lol? Another great song.
THE FLOWERS OF EVIL Love the texture of this song, the indiscribable sounds floating everywhere. Very deep and dark song, the screaming in the end is great but there's something with Mansons voice in this one that i don't like that much. Even though, it's a good transition to the second half of the album. It's growing the more and more on me.
CHILDREN OF CAIN Just wow. What a fantastic track. When I saw it was a Manson solo son, I liked the tune even more. The synths give it a very large space, the track sounds like the steps of a giant walking along a destroyed continent. It give the song a broad spectrum. And it had to, because Children of Cain has probably the most conceptual lyrics of Born Villain. Excelent words choice to describe a sensitive state and living plot. Always loved his poetic and metaphoric use of words. “don’t assume that I’m always with you/It’s just where my mortal body happens to be”, man this is fucking deep and introspective. A good one, from the first second till the last wash it away.
DISENGAGED The amazing powerfull chorus is everything here. Can't get any better than “you’re with me, against me but the only thing forever is haaaaaate”. I'ts Manson spiting vitriol and being in control once again.
LAY DOWN YOUR GODDAMN ARMS Big song, in the sense that every instrument is given the same relevance here. Even the drums are live I think, which makes all the difference, the song sounds stronger, with proeminent guitar riff foundations. What I like the most about this track is the ambivalent feel to it. At the same time strongly heavy and emotionaly melodic.The lyrics tell us about the very unique and puzzling Manson personality, hard to understand and to deal with. This is made more evident at the chorus and the line “there isn't a key you can use on me”, which also made me time travel again to Mechanical Animals, but this time to its lunar, melodic and emotional field. Just love the way Manson makes the words “key” and “me” sound so everlasting and painfull.
MURDERERS ARE GETTING PRETTIER EVERY DAY Another amazing track, probably the most heavy song on the album, musically speaking. Fucking headbanging tune they have made here, that translates gracefully live. I wished I had a piņata to smash when I heard it for the first time. I love the guitars, Mansons screams and the feel behind this. I remember reading that they included the unexpected sirens because it tied to the lyrics and the general vibe of the song. One of those great coincidences that makes art so interesting, it reminded be the recording process of “Coma Black” and the unexpected thunders that came along. Also, the lyrics remind me of Holly Wood too, the way the media keep transforming murderers into mass hits by giving them the atention they seeked, more than what they do with the victims themselves. A paradigmatic example of this is the recent Norway Anders Breivik massacre, the way he became the punctum of the tragedy and appeared in all the newspapers with in depth analysis of his life and stuff. One of my favourite tracks.
BORN VILLAIN Title track and the beginning of a glorious end of the record. Dark, deep, with a lot of lovely texture and great electronic. The lyrics are metaphoric and elegant. Like the dynamic of the song, looove the “burial grounnnnnnnd” part, the “there is a taste for blood” one and absolutely looove the guitar riffs that start at 4:12, remind me of Antichrist Superstars “Deformography” and “Wormboy” style. And I want to marry with the subliminal Mecanical Animalish synth at the end. Industrial epic tune.
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Last edited by AppleOfSodom; 06-11-2012 at 07:25 PM.
BREAKING THE SAME OLD GROUND Another favourite and delicious track, a classic Manson ending track. Deeply emotional, with catchy amazing synth work. The chorus introduces a change that I enjoy too. When Manson starts whispering and there's this slight synth change that drives me into this vast and relaxing atmosphere. All the “sshhhhs” and sampling in the back make this an experience you want to experience over and over in repeat mode, like if you were invited to a whispering spirits party. A seriously dark tone gravitates all over the song. I LOOVE the screams that start at 3:33.. So emotional and strong... and the end with “I am owned by death and I'm in love with obliviooooon”... god I so adore this, It reminds me so many things in my life! I'm so proud to be a fan of this band!
YOU'RE SO VAIN Such a cute bonus with one big of a friend of Manson. I believe that the friendship of people like Depp and Twiggy, together with the help of his family, saved Manson. The track is delicious, very poppy and ironic and critic. A charming ode to vanity.
OVERALL, I consider this an epic album. Different from everything they have done in the past, so very straight forward record, but at the same time recovering alot of classic Manson elements. A step forward but preserving the identity of Mansons art. I think the previous 2 albuns were not bad but mostly not as cohesive and strong as this one, from track 1 till the end. Vibrant, hard, sexual, dangerous, emotional, dark and pleasant candy. This is Manson in top form, being himself again and in control again. Emotioning us and making us think or just wanting to headbang like there was no tomorrow. And man.. have I done it or what! The villain may look like he's dead on the cover, but in fact he has just change his life and oppened the door to serve us an unforgetable dinner...
^That was a fantastic review AppleOfSodom. Thanks for all the words and the hard work put into this. Thoroughly enjoyed reading. Now you've got me itching to go put on Born Villain again.
I usually don't listen to an album on repeat this often, but god damn it still makes me rock the fuck out. Manson did well.
Thank you Terrapin Glad you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writting it. And yes, BV is in repeat mode here since it has seen the day light. Rock on babe, that's what this is all about! ;)
Last edited by AppleOfSodom; 06-11-2012 at 07:34 PM.
Born Villain summed up was a good album. Lyrically, it was a bit on the weak side. The title track was great, which surprised me.
Disengaged was, for me, one of those songs that sounded like a cheap imitation of his older work. Slo-Mo-Tion was good musically, but the lyrics lacked significant value to me. Overneath is probably my personal favorite of the whole album. It's so well done. A very strong album, yes. He could've done better but I'm not complaining. I have a friend who, when he got it remarked "Manson's back!" upon buying the album.
It's not ACSS, though.
Still good.
"Everytime I've seen a vintage 70's porn I feel like I am watching a guy fuck a brillow pad." - Dv5
It was a pleasure to read your review AppleOfSodom. Beautifully written and just like Born Villain, straight from the heart. Oh look, and now the album is back on my stereo on repeat, thanks to you!
"A sun with no planets, burning in circles"
Oh.. how sweet of you dear Assemblent, thank you! Believe me, It's a pleasure to write about such an interesting effort by MM and his band. It's incredible how after so many years Manson is still able to surprise and touch me. Indeed straight from the heart, as the album was for sure. And I'm glad the result of this was you inserting it again in your record player. Enjoy the ride!
It's definitely one of Manson's best since Golden Age of Grotesque with a title track that is easily the best since Mechanical Animals. I can personally do without Children of Cain, but Pistol Whipped, Slo-Mo-Tion, and The Garderner totally make up for that single song.
when is the new born villain coming out?
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