Marilyn Manson - "Heaven Upside Down"

Marilyn Manson is without a shadow of a doubt, one of the most controversial figures in metal music of all time.  His image, his lyrics, his imagery, his music videos, are all the stuff of any teenagers parents' nightmares.  But I've always had such a soft Spot for Manson.  In 1994, Manson debuted with "Portrait Of An American Family".  Now, this is by no means a perfect album, the production is often sloppy, and some of the worst songs on here are ridiculously bad.  But there are also tons of tracks on here that show Manson's genius at an early stage.  Sure, there are fan favorites like "Dope Hat" and "Cake And Sodomy".  But it's the little details that make this a decent album, like his parody of the Psychotic boat ride from Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory that starts this album off, or his brilliant sampling of "Twin Peaks" for "Wrapped In Plastic".  Manson very quickly turned the volume up to 10 though on his next album, 1996's "Antichrist Superstar".  This album was instantly so much more explosive, incorporating much more Industrial Metal and Gothic Metal Influence.  But that's not all Manson turns up. The production on this album was a thousand times better, and the level of violent lyrics and disturbing themes were countless.  And what do you know, it was a freaking BLAST to listen to.  Manson sounded like a real rock star, and not just the estranged lovechild of Trent Reznor and Rob Zombie anymore.  In 1998 though, Manson did a complete 180 with the release of "Mechanical Animals".  This album wasn't nearly as heavy or as intense and was majorly influenced by some of the Glam Rock of the 70's.  Which on paper, really doesn't sound like it would work.  And in all honesty, it took me years to really appreciate this album.  But now that I'm older and I can appreciate stuff like T.Rex and Bowie more, I've come to love "Mechanical Animals".  Plus, it really gave us a look into the person that Marilyn Manson really was around this time, which is something I didn't expect. It's a strangely somber album, with themes of drugs, depression, and fame within these tracks.  However, if you were into Manson's heavier material, he had you covered.  2000's "Holy Wood (In The Shadow Of The Valley of Death)" showed Manson going back to his heavier and more industrial sound in a big way.  The tracks on here were intense and explosive, like "A Place In The Dirt", "The Love Song", as well as others.  But it also showed a slightly more mature side to Manson on tracks like "In The Shadow Of The Valley of Death".  Manson in the 2000's is a bit more hit and miss.  In 2003 he released "The Golden Age of Grotesque".  Now, this album isn't all bad, and tracks like "This Is The New Shit" and "mOBSCENE" prove that Marilyn Manson could still write a damn good single.  Even some of the later deep cuts were solid.  But this album overall is just so cheesy in parts.  Tracks like "Ka-Boom Ka-Boom" and "Doll-Dagga Buzz Buzz Ziggety Zag" were cringeworthy, and quite frankly didn't even sound like Marilyn Manson singles.  Manson returned in 2007 with "Eat Me, Drink Me".  Now, this album was still very flawed and showed Manson getting cheesier by the minute.  But I feel like this album doesn't get enough credit.  A good portion of this album is just so different for Manson, as he stripped down his metal sound for more of an atmospheric, Goth Rock sound.  The result is much sexier, and so much more personal than we've seen from Manson in the past, and sort of bluesy too (fans of early Danzig may dig this album a whole lot).   Now, the late 2000's were really rough on Manson.  He was in this phase of really wanting to re-establish himself as this much more emotional, tortured soul.  In 2009, he went head-on with that sound with his "The High End of Low" album.  The results sadly are laughable.  Tracks on here like "Running To The Edge of the World" are truly some of the most hilariously bad tracks in Manson's discography.  Even the singles on this album hit far from the mark for Manson.   Things got even worse with "Born Villain", which hearing the first track or two I didn't think it was going to be that bad.  But oh LORD this was bad.  Manson here took a nosedive into deeply emotional, often over-sexualized tracks that quite frankly came out along seriously dated and ridiculous.  I honestly thought I would never enjoy a Manson album again.  But low and behold, 2015's "The Pale Emperor" is quite frankly, a masterpiece.  This album really hit me out of nowhere.  Manson had been going for a gloomier and more personal and bluesy vibe for years.  But "The Pale Emperor" just seemed to click so well with Manson's style.  Tracks like "Third Day of A Seven Day Binge" and "Deep Six" are instant classics, and overall this is easily the best thing Manson has done since the early 2000's.  And not for nothing, but these new singles have been pretty damn great as well.  So yea, I'm really excited to talk about this new Manson album!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w5LZ8YErl2M

This album starts off with “Revelation #12”, and oh nelly is it ever a noisy and abrasive intro.  It actually reminds me of just how explosive NIN sounded on their “Not The Actual Events” EP this year.  It’s a little different for this era of Manson.  He’s sort of toned it down these days, but this is just vicious, to be honest.  It’s explosive, with some really great instrumentals that harken back to his early, glory days.  I’m not gonna say that “Revelation #12” is anything too groundbreaking.  But it actually comes off pretty well for a late-career thrasher, and it constantly just sounds completely off the rails.  Here, a lot of the lyrics don’t even come off corny.  As a matter of fact, I feel like a lot of the biblical imagery used on this track is really clever for Manson.  Overall, this track is all gravy for me.  Now, “Tattooed In Reverse” however instantly slows things down into a sort of bluesy jam that I would have expected to hear on the last Marilyn Manson album.  But let me just say, this is a mere fraction of what it could have been.  On Manson’s last album, when it came to this sort of tune he would come off so tortured sounding.  But here, he just sorts of sounds like a sad old man trying desperately to reclaim his fame.  But it ends up coming off so much less shocking and truly abrasive.  Not to mention, I feel like in a weird way this beat was left over from Kanye West’s “Yeezus” ( I can almost hear him yelling in the background”.  Manson on “Tattooed In Reverse” just sounds so cheesy, and these ad-libs are even cheesier.  I can’t take this one seriously at all.   On the other hand, “WE KNOW WHERE YOU FUCKING LIVE” is so much more in the right direction.  Manson sounds like a real killer again here, and I love the sheer intensity of these verses.  And it’s all a buildup to this absolutely gigantic chorus which really does feel like an old-school Manson anthem.  The whole concept of “What’s a nice place like this, doing around people like us” is clever, bizarre but clever.  Overall, it’s just sort of refreshing to hear Manson back in this much more industrial atmosphere.  “WE KNOW WHERE YOU FUCKING LIVE” is intense, but it’s just melodic enough to really stick with you.  “SAY10” (or Satan, get it?) is once again pushing in the more synthetic direction.  Now, I do really like this track, but I do sort of wish Manson would stick to one sound.  I love the very creeping atmosphere and the slow pace of this one that’s just so murky.  But it makes for one of the album’s best atmospheres, to the point where it’s actually really thrilling when those blaring guitars pop in.  Now, you can certainly argue this one is a little cheesy.  I honestly think it’s pretty damn clever though.  It’s not nearly as shocking material, but it’s an effective tune that does stick with you.  It’s moments like this that I really am so glad he drifted away from what he was doing on albums like “The High End of Low” and “The Golden Age of Grotesque”.  “SAY10” really works for me, and it makes me happy that Manson is having this career revitalization.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bmblT8_9-7U

    This album trudges on with “KILL4ME”, which sort of comes off as a leftover from Manson’s last album, but a really good one.  I love how bluesy and swanky this is, this one certainly has some real swagger to it.  It’s smooth though, and Manson doesn’t sound like he’s really reaching for anything.   It has just the right amount of synths in the chorus to make this so much bigger in feel.  Overall, so far, this has been pretty solid of an album.  It’s nothing Manson has never done, but this is just so much better than the low he was at for years.  Now, obviously “KILL4ME” isn’t nearly as intense or explosive as other tracks here.  But for that sort of Glam Rock inspired Manson we got on albums like “Mechanical Animals”, this is great.  Now, ‘Saturnalia” took some time to grow on me.  I love the very fast paced, intense Industrial beat that this one starts off with.  However, I will be honest, I’m not really that interested in Manson’s opening vocals, they’re sort of goofy.  Once again though, as far as lyrics go, in Manson’s own way this is more human than ever.  Even if Manson’s definition of “Human” is talking about demons, he makes it work.  Most importantly though, I love how tortured Manson sounds.  In every way, this is the sound that he mastered on his last album.  But it still packs quite the punch when it needs to.  Now, for an almost 8-minute track, this one actually floats really nicely and doesn’t feel drawn out.  As a matter of fact, it almost has a Progressive feel since we’re dealing with these sort of different passages.  But overall, “Saturnalia”  works pretty great for Manson.  He may not be breaking new ground or trying anything wildly outside the box.  But he’s being himself and sounding more human than ever.  "JE$U$ CRI$I$” on the other hand is much more explosive and intense right off the bat and seems like a lot more of a standard Manson track.  But lyrically, this one is a little hit and miss with me.  I certainly dig a few lines here and there, but there are just as many lines that I can’t take seriously at all.  Thankfully, instrumentally this one is intense enough to save this one to an extent.  But it’s moments like this as a whole that sort of come off as just OK.  It shows that Manson isn’t the unhinged Rock Star he once was and that he’s trying so hard to be edgy once again.  "JE$U$ CRI$I$” is certainly alright, and I do love the demonic growling of “JESUS CRISIS” in the final moments.  But this one just exposes a little too much of how Manson has grown out of relevancy.  Now, “Blood Honey” goes back in the much gloomier direction.  But holy hell, am I ever having slow flashbacks to Manson’s really awful albums of years ago.  I don’t mind just how patient and slow the instrumental is.  But Manson once again is slowly falling apart lyrically.  There are some really great lines once again, but the majority of this shows Manson just desperately grabbing for shock value that used to come so easy to him.  There are certainly still a lot of human elements to this that is really nice to hear, and Manson once again does sound very lonely.  So it’s not bad per say, but it does make me pine for the days that this came so easy to him. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lnx-ofbxSQ8

    Thankfully, Manson bounces back with “Heaven Upside Down”, the sort of bluesy and stripped down track that I was actually really excited to hear.  It’s moody, bluesy, but also really confident.  Manson on this one doesn’t sound like he’s trying for anything he just sounds like he’s being himself.  It’s really refreshing to hear a track like this, with Manson taking influences from numerous other Rock genres.  The female vocals floating through the background are a nice touch as well.  This album ends off with “Threats of Romance”.  Sadly, the sluggish and bluesy vibe on this one doesn’t click at all.  Here, I feel like Manson’s much heavier instrumentals just don’t do as much for him.  I like the bluesy guitars, but his vocal performance here isn’t nearly as striking.  I do sort of like the atmosphere, but it’s just so exhausting to hear this track.  

Rating: 7.6/10

Give A Listen To: “Revelation #12”, “WE KNOW WHERE YOU FUCKING LIVE”, “KILL4ME”, “Saturnalia” 

Genre: Metal / Industrial Rock / Blues Rock 

Overall Thoughts: Marilyn Manson right now is in the middle of a career renaissance of sorts.  This album isn't exactly reinventing anything as far as Manson goes. But for the most part, there really isn't anything terribly wrong with this album.  There are certainly a few moments where Manson's writing is off, or maybe he's trying a little too hard.  But let's be honest, this far into his career can we really expect anything more?  If you were a fan of "The Pale Emperor", chances are you'll like this.