By: Darius

Marilyn Manson - The High End Of Low

Andrew Marten is a man I greatly respect, but I must disagree with his recent opinion that the new Marilyn Manson record, The High End of Low, is “horrible.” He listened to the album once and concluded that it is a terrible release and that Manson is “simply a man out of ideas.” Andrew also cited The Washington Post, which mentioned that Manson “has to labor much too hard to be a provocateur.” I find this entire methodology of album “review” to be complete bullsh*t.

Darius Hates Andrew

These aren’t album reviews; these are artist reviews. Instead of discussing The High End of Low, these reviewers used the album’s release as a way to slam Marilyn Manson, the artist. It’s what critics have been doing for years and years. When you become the lightning rod of media scorn and the poster boy for everything that is “wrong” with America’s youth, I suppose it’s easier to disregard the actual body of work and just go about slamming the artist instead.

He Hates The Washington Post Too

In the late 1990’s, Marilyn Manson essentially took what Alice Cooper was doing decades earlier and kicked it into overdrive. He made great strides to build his image and celebrity centered on controversial themes, and made some pretty great music in the process. While being despised by generally every music publication, Manson sold millions of albums. He undoubtedly became the most divisive figure in all of music at that time, if not ever.

Mugshot - Looks Like His Name is Edna Here

The downside to this rapid ascension is that critics have always been quick to denigrate him, without actually listening to his releases. Let’s be honest here, a major newspaper like The Washington Post isn’t going to appease the vast majority of their readership with a glowing review of any Manson record. So they use the release of The High End of Low as a means to assure their readers that his career is over and we can now sleep well at night. It’s ok America! Marilyn Manson’s can’t hurt you anymore! We have The Jonas Brothers!

Manson Can't Hurt You, But The Jonas Brothers Can

Marilyn Manson has been pigeonholed into an artist that HAS to be a provocateur, has to be shocking, and has to disgust the critical masses. Honestly, it’s 2009 and it is pretty hard to shock anyone anymore. So why can’t he just release a rock record? It’s ludicrous to assume that he has to have the same effect on the public more than 10 years after he broke. I say let the man be an artist and create his music. With that in mind, here is what I think of The High End of Low:

It’s a very good album. It’s not my favorite Manson record but it’s in the upper echelon. “Devour”, the album’s opener, is as chilling of a song that Manson has ever released. Pretty As A ($) is an especially heavy number that I can see going over very well live. “Unkillable Monster” and “Running To The Edge Of The World” might be the albums best songs and they are the slow tracks! I’m also a big fan of the second single, “Arma-Godd*mn-Motherf*ckin-Geddon”.

Dita Von Teese - Inspired The Slow Numbers

What’s most apparent on this album is the return of original bass player and Manson’s artistic muse, Twiggy Ramirez. His bass lines are all over these songs and serves well in driving the music forward; it’s apparent that he had a lot of influence into the creative aspect of this record.

Twiggy Ramirez, Holy Wood era

Now don’t get me wrong, the album isn’t perfect. “Wow” sucks. The first single, “We’re From America” is terrible. But there are enough good tracks to assure me that Marilyn Manson is as relevant today, musically, as he ever was. He does not need to shock me anymore, he just needs to create quality music, and The High End of Low proves that he still has it.

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