You And Me And The Devil Makes 3
June 12, 2007 8:30 AM   Subscribe

"You are the first person to sit right next to me." What does that tell you? "That you're smart." Marilyn Manson isn't doing industrial howls anymore, but still has all the melancholy you could ask for. Fun interview by Polly Vernon.
posted by Firas (69 comments total) 2 users marked this as a favorite
 
She sorta lags in her understanding of his pop-culture image though; it's far from what it was 10 years ago. I couldn't find any great reviews of his latest stylistic endeavours but here's a roundup.
posted by Firas at 8:34 AM on June 12, 2007 [1 favorite]


I saw him on the Rollins show a while back, he seemed a bit morose. Also he's getting a bit fat - Rob Smith from The Cure comes to mind.
posted by Artw at 8:37 AM on June 12, 2007






damn...
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 8:41 AM on June 12, 2007


Alice Cooper was recently interviewed on Fresh Air. He was a complete boob, whose answer to every question was that "you gotta understand" he was BLOWING THE MINDS of the squares, man. He also gave a back-handed compliment to Manson by pointing out that he'd done a pretty good job of tweaking Cooper's act and bringing it up to date, though it lacked some of the same punch.
posted by DU at 8:44 AM on June 12, 2007


But in America he's feared as the Satan-worshipper who inspired Columbine.

Really? This American thinks the only thing he's known for now is dating Evan Rachel Wood. I don't think people are barricading their doors against a Marilyn Manson invasion.
posted by spicynuts at 8:46 AM on June 12, 2007


This American was actually wondering whatever happened to him. All I really know for sure was that he wasn't that kid's friend on The Wonder Years.
posted by DU at 8:47 AM on June 12, 2007


I'm no big fan of Marilyn Manson, possibly due to discovering Rozz Williams and Christian Death right before Manson hit big, but the article is just sad. He sounds like a petulant, depressed 15 year old. Which is fine when 15, less so, when 38.
posted by khaibit at 8:48 AM on June 12, 2007


I dunno. I kinda like the idea of Marilyn Manson more than I like Marilyn Manson. I'm glad that he's doing his thing, and pop culture needs a few spooky creepy stars to jump out at us every so often and yell boo. I just wish his music was interesting. I like the tune "Lunchbox", because it speaks to a certain strain of scared geeky empowerment that I can identify with, but everything else....meh.
posted by BitterOldPunk at 8:59 AM on June 12, 2007


Rozz Williams and Christian Death

Yeah - let's talk real death rock instead of this air conditioned honky. Only Theatre of Pain is amazing. The farther I get away from that album, the more fun I have listening to it.

Death in June scared the shit out of me, and still sort of do. And Alien Sex Fiend had the true sense of whatever carnival game Manson tried at/tries at.
posted by Peter H at 9:01 AM on June 12, 2007


Marylin Manson has dated beautiful women, and gives a surprisingly good interview - but he's Norah Jones compared to the real stuff.
posted by Peter H at 9:01 AM on June 12, 2007


This American was actually wondering why this is worthy of a FPP.
posted by chillmost at 9:02 AM on June 12, 2007 [1 favorite]


Oh man, I clearly failed my intentions with this FPP. I'm not sure how comparing his current career to circa Antichrist Superstar happenings is a useful metric for anything. I'd rather artists move on and play around with themes and styles than stay stuck in a deluded rut. MARILYN MANSON IS ALL WASHED UP AMIRITE?

On preview, chillmost: I found the interview playful and fun. So I posted it.
posted by Firas at 9:04 AM on June 12, 2007 [1 favorite]


He was a complete boob

Alice Cooper and 1969 were a bit different from Marilyn Manson and 1999. The former was a bit more Grand Guignol and had some actual showmanship; the latter seems more self-conscious and commoditized.

In a time when a movie like Hostel: Part II gets mainstream reviews, MM is an also-ran.
posted by pax digita at 9:07 AM on June 12, 2007


...and Alice Cooper wrote better songs.
posted by BitterOldPunk at 9:13 AM on June 12, 2007


Fun Fact: the Columbine kids hated Manson. Their favorite band? KMFDM.

...which shows they weren't paying attention, but what the hell.
posted by Pope Guilty at 9:14 AM on June 12, 2007


A 3500-word article on Marilyn Manson. Um ..... I think the British press is perhaps a bit behind the times in their ga-ga fascination with Monsieur Warner. The only people he makes shiver anymore are Observer reporters and James Dobson.
posted by blucevalo at 9:18 AM on June 12, 2007


The former was a bit more Grand Guignol and had some actual showmanship; the latter seems more self-conscious and commoditized.

I think this was kind of Cooper's point, though it was admittedly hard to find that in the way I wrote it (not to mention hidden among Cooper's non-stop self-aggrandizement. Seriously, he sounded like those guys at truck stops that say they invented dental floss.)
posted by DU at 9:22 AM on June 12, 2007


Their favorite band? KMFDM.

...which shows they weren't paying attention, but what the hell.


Some might say they were ...naive?
posted by Peter H at 9:25 AM on June 12, 2007 [3 favorites]


Personally, I'm still waiting for his "Only Women Bleed". Something to convince me that he is more than a Brittany Spears, only wearing black.
posted by khaibit at 9:35 AM on June 12, 2007


There's no "fascination" there, methinks. Although it's balanced out by what sounds like genuine affection for the subject, the article is pretty much just schadenfreude. I kinda feel sorry for him, but really, he's gotten a LOT of mileage out of a second-hand schtick and a talent for singing all growly. Time to grow up, bro.
posted by kittens for breakfast at 9:36 AM on June 12, 2007


This article came out a month ago. Also, it's hard to understand Polly Vernon on the internets - her main schtick is to have as many pictures of herself as possible in the Observer's supplements, especially Food Monthly.

Also, Marilyn Manson has no fan base to speak of in the UK - I'd guess that for most people he's one of those non-exportable cultural artifacts like baseball/American football movies or Kid Rock.
posted by Mocata at 9:51 AM on June 12, 2007


Marilyn Manson has no fan base to speak of in the UK

Has Camden Town changed so much since I've been gone?

Anyway, it's well known that new American cultral bogeymen are Emo Kids, with their Spiderman 3, gender-bending, disco moves and cutting.
posted by Artw at 9:56 AM on June 12, 2007


I miss Marilyn Manson before anyone over 25 knew who he was, before he was hooked up with Trent Reznor, and could afford crazy contacts and designer cloaks, just making these low-fi industrialish goth music full of Alice in Wonderland references and Willy Wonka samples. Sometimes he would just give interviews as a normal, cocky, educated goth guy and sometimes he would write into horror mags and fanzines with all of his celebrity serial killer, savior satanist shtick.

Then he started scaring parents (I wasn't able to go to Ozzfest 97 because my friend's Lutheran parents refused to let him go to a Marilyn Manson show) and he got all famous doing it, and and wanted people to listen and take him seriously, and started giving interviews like in "Bowling for Columbine" and "Politically Incorrect" and it was kinda boring.

I don't know what his deal is now. He really does seem like he needs to impress you so much. Ooh, I'm drinking absinthe with Johnny Depp. I'm a tortured soul. America can't handle me. Women don't understand me. Oooooh.

Blah blah meh.
posted by elr at 10:02 AM on June 12, 2007


Portrait of an American Family was actually pretty decent, but when Smells Like Children came out, it became all to clear that he was just like Trent Reznor, watering down scary music to sell to angsty suburban teens in between their pop punk stage and their pretend-to-listen-to-jazz stage. It's surprising that he's still putting albums out.
posted by cmonkey at 10:20 AM on June 12, 2007


Anyway, it's well known that new American cultral bogeymen are Emo Kids, with their Spiderman 3, gender-bending, disco moves and cutting.

Dammit, if they're gonna play part of the Glam kids role, at least they're music could be decent.
posted by khaibit at 10:24 AM on June 12, 2007


their, crap
posted by khaibit at 10:28 AM on June 12, 2007


I was in the prime of my teenage angst years when Mr. Manson first came out, and for shame, I forsook him for being 'too mainstream'. In these long days of my aging decrepitude, I have taken quite a shine to Mr. Manson's works. A lot of the rhetoric and themes of the music are pretty silly, but taken as a whole I find it to be quite rockin'.
posted by smackwich at 10:32 AM on June 12, 2007 [1 favorite]


khaibit, you had it right the first time. There there.
posted by puddleglum at 10:33 AM on June 12, 2007


This American thinks the only thing he's known for now is dating Evan Rachel Wood

Ewww.
posted by Bonzai at 10:43 AM on June 12, 2007


cmonkey: I can't really reconcile the wild swinging of approaches and styles between his albums to a 'watering down'. It seems much more of a process of discovery to me (Mechanical Animals is nothing like Antichrist Superstar, etc.) Do you want to explain further? I guess I'll have to admit a preference to more 'hard rock' style stuff than industrial/alt metal per se. I don't think 'scary music' (whatever that means) attains innate aesthetic privilege over anthemic or punkish or swinging music.

elr: I don't really get the whole "I'm so pathetic look at me oh dear I'm tortured" emo vibe off Manson's interviews or his music really. That is to say, the conceit itself is not any heavier than with most rock or rap etc. I think the whole idea of seeping into an imaginative canopy/time period and basing the whole album around the concept shows much more respect for the process of art than many mainstream rock bands display.

If he used to be an over-literate goth, what part of forwarding 15 years makes his ideas less the product of an educated mind? Not to get too metaphysical, but I don't see the difference as far as the artist in question is concerned.

I'm speaking in vagaries but to be honest none of the criticisms leveled so far have been particularly specific either. They're all knocking him for not living up to standard X that the commentator mandates (Alice Cooper, true shock, authentic subversion, whatever.) How about judging the work and/or artist by what they're actually trying to do rather than by what you wish or expect them to do. If you can track down words from him outside of his musical characterizations that claim that he's truly some sort of rend in the mental state of human consciousness maybe I'll see your point. He's always come off as laid back, intelligent and reflective to me.

*shrugs* I'm a fan. Looks like literally nobody else here is. That's cool.
posted by Firas at 10:48 AM on June 12, 2007 [1 favorite]


Smells Like Irrelevant
posted by uri at 10:53 AM on June 12, 2007


#*&$#*&$

Smells Like Irrelevance
posted by uri at 10:55 AM on June 12, 2007


Also, Trent Reznor has clearly out-pretentioused him now, with that last concepot albulm being an awesome flanking move.
posted by Artw at 10:57 AM on June 12, 2007


Marylin Manson is the corporate rock version of what was actually a quite grisly industrial underground in the late 90's.

I was traveling around Eastern Europe around 1997 and when I made my way back to Greece I came across an album by some guy that was allegedly a live recording of a performance of his during which he murdered a woman from the audience on stage. The album was an ultra-crappy CD-R that some guy was selling out of a truck for about 22 bucks US, but he had a lot of copies of it, and the dopey Greek metal kids were eating it up, saying he was supposed to come to greece before he OD'd and died. (Apparently truly satanic music is a big hit there).

The guy selling it was playing it in his truck, and after the supposed murder (which sounded pretty convincing despite the awful quality) the audience became very quiet and then they cheered, which was chilling. The concert kept going, too.

The band/guy was from Latvia, supposedly, but the only identification on the cover was some random string of letters, like NFRNNLNWR or something. (no, not kmfdm).I don't remember the letters exactly, but it had a lot of N's, but googling gets me nowhere. I haven't been able to track this album or this story down, except that I heard a few years later that some euro death metal band supposedly reenacted the murder on stage as part of their act. I didn't buy the album because that's not my thing. (My thing is trying to figure out why the hell anyone else would buy it.)

Anyway, ever since then that has been my data point for shocking. I see Marylin Manson on stage in a leotard brought to you by Sprite and MTV/Viacom and I think, meh, it's not like he's killing anybody.
posted by Pastabagel at 11:00 AM on June 12, 2007 [2 favorites]


Okay, I have a confession to make: I was a Manson fan. The first concert I ever snuck out to was on his ACS tour, and I went to some Ozzfest at some point mostly because he was playing. So I gave this album a listen.

And then, a bit over an hour later, I tried to remember any of it. I couldn't, except for the one catchy bit from that one song that is too boringly like the poster art from Lolita. The lyrics were massively uninspiring. The music was background noise, nothing much.

Now, I didn't like Year Zero on a first listen either, but I gave it a second chance and now I love it. I gave this three chances, but it didn't stick. If anything, it became more background noise.

Early, gritty, basement Manson? Fantastic. I found some of the early videos on Youtube and they have a kind of home-made honest evil vibe. Then later on - his 'incarnations' - he's a great showman. He knows how to put on a show, a facade, and they're great. I love Mechanical Animals with the synth-feel, and even Holy Wood, with its' decayed feel. But this doesn't give me a solid feel. He's miserable. He's in love. And that's boring.
posted by cobaltnine at 11:24 AM on June 12, 2007


38 is middle aged? Really?
posted by Lazlo Hollyfeld at 11:25 AM on June 12, 2007 [1 favorite]


The only problem with this line of thinking, Pastabagel, is that it gets people thinking that X is harder/evil-er/more-rock'n'roll than Y because X supposedly did/does/might-have-done-according-to-rumour Z. So was Marianne Faithful 'harder' than Janis Joplin, for instance? She did do heroin, after all (I use this example because I have nothing personally invested in either choice).

That said, I am greatly intrigued by this Greek killer musician you mention, and will keep an eye out for further mention of same.
posted by stinkycheese at 11:28 AM on June 12, 2007 [1 favorite]


I can't really reconcile the wild swinging of approaches and styles between his albums to a 'watering down'...

I haven't listened to them since the mid 90s so my memory is a little fuzzy, but it just seemed like he saw a cohesive brand identity for his band as being the best way to get paid and didn't put much effort into the music. But hey, if people like it, that's really all that matters.
posted by cmonkey at 11:48 AM on June 12, 2007


"This evil of the Defil creeps in threw all the Sensual approaches; he gives himself to Figures, he adapts himself to Colours, he abides in Sounds, he lurks in Smells, he infuses Himfelf into Flavours."
— THE MALLEUS MALEFICARUM, Part I. Question IX. Whether Witches may work some Prestidigatory Illusion so that the Male Organ appears to be entirely removed and separate from the Body.

Myself*, I've always had some sympathy for Mssr. Warner, insofar as his imagination & subsequent — some would opine consequent — posturings & pantomimes were whelped in the scorching dolor of Fort Lauderdale's working class neighborhoods; truly, it takes the self-sewn umbrageous comfort of Gothickness' chancel screen to partially shroud a sensitive callow soul from the sun-blasted nihility of South Florida. (c.f. Tampa & Death Metal, alack.)

*Raised slightly further north, I escaped more nearly unscathed apart from this unfortunately pulpy vocabulary and a good deal less mascara. No Rose McGowan, either.
posted by Haruspex at 11:58 AM on June 12, 2007


Oh Jeez. Marilyn Manson was doing this stuff way before the 'late 90s'. Once again—the whole "he's not really scary" criticism is no criticism at all.

Artw, it's interesting that you bring up NiN's latest because it clearly illustrates the difference between what Manson and Trent Reznor are up to these days. 'Outflanking' would have been what Trent was doing in the past but at this point (with Eat Me, Drink Me vs. Year Zero they're playing in different fields altogether.)

I remain puzzled as to why anyone would consider gimmicky shock rock a more authentic artistic route to follow than what Manson has been doing this decade.

And Pastabagel, that reads like satire… pity that you're sincere; what a startlingly obtuse take on the matter. It's like saying Tupac is a worse artist than 50 cent because the latter has had more bullet wounds.

Saying Manson is not 'actually' scary is not a criticism of his work. It's an unintended alliance with him against mid-90s media hysteria. It's 2007, ladies and gentlemen.

I'm beginning to suspect that the difference of opinion here isn't so much a split in taste as much as utter cluelessness about the man's oeuvre beyond CNN headlines. Well, familiarity with a work doesn't matter as long as you can be snide and blasé right?
posted by Firas at 12:30 PM on June 12, 2007 [2 favorites]


I'll be the first to admit that I messed up the FPP by linking to an interview of the personality rather than making it about his recent career and album, thus ensuring the thread would be just a regurgitation of moth-eaten reflexive opinions on the band.

Now if you'll excuse me I have some angry poetry to write once my black nailpolish dries.
posted by Firas at 12:39 PM on June 12, 2007 [1 favorite]


Nobody's going to take up my Janis Joplin Vs. Marianne Faithful derail? How about Johnny Cash Vs. Lemmy?
posted by stinkycheese at 12:43 PM on June 12, 2007


That said, I am greatly intrigued by this Greek killer musician you mention, and will keep an eye out for further mention of same.
posted by stinkycheese at 2:28 PM on June 12


I agree with you that that line of thinking, i.e. more extreme=better, leads to madness, but that seems to be the cachet of this kind of music. I'm not so much interested in the music, but in the train-wreck aspect of the whole subculture.

And the musician was Latvian, not Greek. I simply came across it in Greece. FYI, the cover was a black and white copy of a photograph of the murdered girl. You could see the dead girl (her eyes were very wide), the back of the singer guy hunched over her grabbing or pushing her, and some faces in the audience off to the side. (the cover also contributed to convincing me that the murder was real.) That's all I know.

Although the man selling them was obviously bootlegging them himself, I can't imagine the original album was an official record label release. It was more like someone in the audience recorded it matched it with a photo, and then shared it.
posted by Pastabagel at 12:49 PM on June 12, 2007 [1 favorite]


Latvian, sorry. And wow, that's completely nuts. I can't believe I haven't heard of this before. You should do a follow-up post if you ever find anything online about it.
posted by stinkycheese at 12:55 PM on June 12, 2007


Peter H, agreed: to my mind, very few people have ever made music creepier than DiJ and Current 93. I'd say Marilyn Manson isn't even within an order of magnitude, but that'd imply I find him scary at all.

/shudders
posted by adamgreenfield at 12:57 PM on June 12, 2007 [1 favorite]


Lets have a FPP for Latvian Murder Metal. That story was about 3x more interesting than the OP's article.
posted by smackwich at 1:03 PM on June 12, 2007


Firas,

Fair enough. How about, in the half a dozen or so albums that I have heard of his, I did not hear anything that convinced me he was more than a dark pop star. His music is alright, but it is crafted to be pop.

stinkycheese,
Janis Joplin is harder than Marianne Faithful because she was from Texas and she died at the magic age of 27.
Johnny Cash is cooler than Lemmy, which I suppose makes him cooler than God.
posted by khaibit at 1:03 PM on June 12, 2007


See, that was a trick question because they both liked speed.
posted by stinkycheese at 1:07 PM on June 12, 2007


damn
posted by khaibit at 1:09 PM on June 12, 2007


I don't think whether he's "scary" is -- or at least should be -- relevant; since he's ostensibly a musician, the question should really be whether the albums are any good. For me, the answer is a resounding (you know it's coming)...meh. The most memorable stuff, I think, are the covers, which are (I'm sorry) interesting mostly as kinda cool novelty songs. (Like "Sweet Dreams"? Then you'll looooooove scary "Sweet Dreams"!) I would be hard-pressed to name half a dozen Manson songs that AREN'T covers. They're just not that great, and lyrically, they're abominable. (Not in a "scary" way; in a shitty way.) I would argue that the covers are good because they're the most self-consciously schticky stuff the band does, and that the original work -- the stuff people are supposed to take seriously -- tends to be pretty forgettable. In short, it's kind of a camp thing, and as long as it stays trashy and without pretense, it's entertaining. I would argue that the best thing that could happen to Manson would be if he were to lighten up and spend a week golfing with Alice Cooper...but, you know, that may be just me.
posted by kittens for breakfast at 1:09 PM on June 12, 2007


Actually I kind of like some of his covers too. I'd add that he's done one or two tracks with a glitter beat that I liked, but I couldn't really tell you the names of them off the top of my head.
posted by Artw at 1:23 PM on June 12, 2007


I liked a few of Manson's songs. What I particularly liked, though, was the overall creative look and feel of what he was doing. It doesn't always work when artists try that. (Madonna has done the same kind of thing--and when it is bad, it's really bad--but I appreciate that she makes the effort.) I thought his videos and his stage setup (though I never saw it in person) had a neat kind of dark beauty to them. Even when I don't like the music, I tend to appreciate when artists add extra layers like that.
posted by troybob at 1:33 PM on June 12, 2007


He has the talent of Britney Spears and Jessica Simpson combined.

His corporate handlers must be pleased that the kids are still buying their "shock your parents" product.
posted by acetonic at 1:38 PM on June 12, 2007


38 is middle aged? Really?

38 * 2 = 76 > average life expectancy of a human being in the 2000s

So, yep. Sorry old man! Shuffle your half-dead carcass out of the way. The young have places to be.
posted by synaesthetichaze at 1:55 PM on June 12, 2007


(If it makes you feel any better, it's all the same places you already were 15-20 years ago.)
posted by kittens for breakfast at 1:58 PM on June 12, 2007


What pisses me off about MM is that he originally mentioned Alien Sex Fiend as an influence in a couple of zines, but once his band/career got off the ground, it all came to a screeching halt. And yet MM had built a career off aping Nik Fiend's appearance (right down to the cover art!) and mannerisms-

*head explodes - again*
posted by Smart Dalek at 2:06 PM on June 12, 2007


Firas:

Like I've said, I don't personally rate music by it's presentation, but the market/audience does. This goes to the question of authenticity that seems to matter so much to artists and fans. 50 Cent has authentic street cred because he sold crack and was shot. Tupac is an authentic gansta rapper because he was in a gang. etc. I personally don't care about the authenticity, but they do.

To me, Manson was never good or interesting music, it was in fact quite the opposite - programmed drum tracks, generic rhythms and overdriven guitar chords. It was the creepy music for people who've never really heard creepy music (like the ones identified by adamgreenfield).

My comment above wasn't satire, unfortunately, and if my remark at the end was flippant, well, that's how I integrate quite possibly the most fucked up thing I'd heard in my life up to that point (a recording of a murder presented as a performance) on a spectrum with artists who wrap themselves in a costume of nihilism, despair, decay, death etc. The comment is intended more to question why Manson would want to present that particular image when the real thing is so horrible. I still don't have an answer to that, other than it sells to suburban kids yearning to experience something real and dangerous but uncomfortable with venturing outside of their safety net, associate themselves with something that appears dark and strange but which they know subconsciously is going to be safe because of where it came from (MTV, Tower Records, etc).
posted by Pastabagel at 2:12 PM on June 12, 2007


Marilyn Manson has fallen in love again, with actor Evan Rachel Wood... She is mindlessly beautiful - in an interesting way. Oh - and she is 19 years old.

Is he really in love? 'Yeah. Yeah. Absolutely!' Furthermore, he had no issue with falling in love, after his marriage failed... My current relationship gives me the ability to realise ... I was always thinking: I wish that my life could be like the movies, like Bonnie and Clyde or The Hunger or Harold and Maude.
... or 'Husbands and Wives'. Ugly, middle aged washed-up rocker dates hawt teenager. StarFuckers Inc.

I for one can't wait for Manson to descend into Alice Cooper Geezerhood. Let the plaid golf pants commence!

(Wait... that would mean I'd be old too... abort statement! Abort statement!)
posted by dgaicun at 2:12 PM on June 12, 2007


The comment is intended more to question why Manson would want to present that particular image when the real thing is so horrible. I still don't have an answer to that, other than it sells to suburban kids yearning to experience something real and dangerous but uncomfortable with venturing outside of their safety net, associate themselves with something that appears dark and strange but which they know subconsciously is going to be safe because of where it came from (MTV, Tower Records, etc).

No, I'm sorry, but this is bullshit. By this logic, Thomas Harris shouldn't have written The Silence of the Lambs without first eating someone or at least dancing around his home with his junk tucked between his legs. And also by this logic, the novel should never have been written, because...doesn't he realize how horrible it is when people eat people (to say nothing of dancing around their homes with their junk tucked between their legs)? Mind you, I say none of this to defend Marilyn Manson in specific, but people who create horror fiction in general...which, in a sense, is basically what he does. Of course those thrills are safe, and of course they're supposed to be safe, and there is absolutely not a damn thing wrong with that. Quite the contrary.
posted by kittens for breakfast at 2:32 PM on June 12, 2007


I get a kick out of him. He seems to have a brain under there. I think what sealed it for me was my mother announcing that she thought "The Beautiful People" was "kinda pretty." I shelled out for a couple of albums, then decided I wouldn't have to worry that I was missing anything if my CD collection just had Lest We Forget. One click and I'm done. Most of his singles are fun, but I cannot imagine them scaring anyone who doesn't have a deep need to be scared. I still give the CDs a whirl occasionally.

The reviewer is on acid, though. I don't know how he's "keeping goth culture alive." If anyone's doing that, it's the Projekt and Cleopatra labels, with some help from not-quite-goth-but-it's-the-handiest-category-we-got bands like Dresden Dolls and Rasputina. I never quite understood how he was constantly conflated with "goth." Was it that he was skinny, wore black, and had something besides ooh-baby-baby to sing about? If that's true, there's a lot of heavy metal bands that just have too large biceps, otherwise they'd be goth, too.

Even Death in June is scarier - "Into that darkness, into that darkness, ze bodies collapse, schvollen wiz gasz ... she said, 'Destroy!' in black ... New York." One day, I expect he'll be playing in a small New York venue, and, out of nowhere, Diamanda Galas will stand up out of the audience, slither up onto the stage, skitter towards Manson and touch him, just once, and he'll wither into a dingy grey teddybear with one funny glass eye. Then, with a glare and a single hiss, she will, Gorgon-like, render anyone playing with him into stone and vanish in a puff of greasy black smoke.
posted by adipocere at 3:48 PM on June 12, 2007 [1 favorite]


I kinda like his new album. It's a bit more guitar oriented, almost classic rawk-y. I'm not sure who the target audience is anymore, though.
posted by First Post at 3:54 PM on June 12, 2007


38 is middle aged? Really?

"Middle-aged"? Heck, 38 is downright elderly. Think about it: 38 is easily old enough to be a grandparent, even without being in any way precocious about it.

You grow up, get married at adulthood (18), you're a parent at 19. Your kid grows up, marries at 18, has a kid the following year. Bingo, you're a grandparent at 38. This is much closer to the human norm than is today's state of perpetual adolescence.

Anyway, I'm glad there's a MM in the world.

Except I keep wondering what tomorrow's kids are going to have to do to shock the previous generation.
posted by AsYouKnow Bob at 5:52 PM on June 12, 2007


"Middle-aged"? Heck, 38 is downright elderly.

44 is the life expectancy for your average heroin junkied Afghani. Or non heroin junkied. Just trying to keep things in the theme of the thread. I said HEROIN. DOES THAT SHOCK YOU, MOTHERS OF AMERIKKKKA!>!>?

(signs with Warner, collapses on own soapbox)
posted by Peter H at 6:07 PM on June 12, 2007


Except I keep wondering what tomorrow's kids are going to have to do to shock the previous generation.

Eat their own children.
posted by exlotuseater at 8:32 PM on June 12, 2007


synthachaise: 41 is middle-aged in BC. Some of the healthiest people in the world, we are!
posted by five fresh fish at 11:34 PM on June 12, 2007


He's best known in Britain as the red-lipped, milky-eyed performer who is single-handedly keeping goth culture alive (or at least undead).

...and you've lost me right there. Keeping goth culture alive...please. Adipocere hit it on the head with Cleopatra and Projekt. And I really wish that this piece didn't refer to him as being a goth every second line.

And how exactly does one have "the foetus of an unborn child"?

And I missed the memo which declared "Dita and Marilyn ... the Posh and Becks of alternative popular culture. "

This woman doesn't get it. She's at least fifteen years behind being "edgy".

Finally, the only track I have heard from Eat Me, Drink Me is "Heart-Shaped Glasses", which sound like it was written in Polish by a Korean language student then translated into English using Babelfish. The metre is poor, the lyrics clash with themselves, it's musically unimpressive and overall sounds like a poor homage written by a teen fan with no musical talent. It's a bit sad, since most of his preceeding work has at least been interesting, in one way or another. "Heart-Shaped Glasses" was just bad.
posted by Jilder at 6:47 AM on June 13, 2007


sound like it was written in Polish by a Korean language student then translated into English using Babelfish

Looks like you put on Nirvana by accident :p
posted by Firas at 9:43 AM on June 13, 2007 [1 favorite]


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