I'm always interested in what Manson makes even though I know it can't top his best work. I was actually surprised by how good Heaven Upside Down was.
I think you nailed it - they have social media as an outlet now, I would say there's actually more controversies surrounding artists these days, but they're lower level and people play out their issues online.
With gangster rap and supposedly satanic rock music, both hung around so long that they became cliche and less threatening. I don't know about America but in the uk, these sorts of things are seen as amusing and kind of camp these days
It’s not shocking anymore.
But the thing with Manson was always about freedom of thought, questioning everything instead of swallowing everything you’re told without subjecting it to some sort of analysis. He did take it on religion, nationalism, violence, the media, etc. The reaction was huge back then, and it happened in a very early age of the internet. Today, in contrast, everything is online... big uproar on social media... who gives a fuck? Nobody, it just gets lost in the noise of memes, me too stories, cat videos, stupid food instagram accounts that show you food that looks cool and delicious, but don’t tell you how it’s made or even what the dish is called, soccer moms’ blogs, etc.
It’s not threatening anymore, people don’t care. It’s not shocking. It’s not thought-provoking. It’s just seen as eccentricism. Besides he doesn’t have the same influence on kids. Now it’s mostly adults (who started following him when they were adolescents), and adults are not rebelious, we don’t get that privilege.
I wish he comes back to former shape. I don’t expect him or want him to release albums that are derivative of his good old days, that’s lazy, cheap, and it sucks. Today there are plenty of subjects that could cause controversy and that could be the foundation of the level of artistry he once had. If anything, society has moved even more towards a model where questioning things turns you into a target for not conforming to the norm. But that’s risky business nowadays. It was a risky business too back then, and he did it beautifully, but he was younger, more fearless and confrontational. Also, he didn’t get out of it unscathed, and I’m not sure he or anyone who has been in that situation would want to go through it again.
Honestly, I don’t know what it is... drugs? Alcohol? Depression? Writer’s block? Lack of inspiration? Maybe he doesn’t want to have anything to do with it anymore? It seems he’s just choosing the easy part: graphic shock in his videos, but nuns with guns and a starved pussy is just “meh”, too easy and basic.
As a former long time fan, people stopped caring about Manson in 2001. Long before social media and memes.
Sometimes now it feels like he's trying too hard to be shocking and it just doesn't work. Like instead of saying something that makes you think, he'll just say whatever he thinks will get a reaction and it usually flounders.
Still, I enjoy his music, even his newer material. While he's nowhere near his A Game, it's better than what he did on High End of Low. I actually think Born Villian and Heaven Upside Down are strong albums for Manson later in his career, so I'm happy to see he's still doing pretty good music.
Cry Little Sister video. Pretty bland.
Aesthetically it feels like a mashup of a lot of his past looks — THEOL hoodie, the Mechanical Animals/High End hat and coat, the laser gloves from Born Villain, similar hair to Golden Age, etc. I like the foggy neon look and vibe but wish there was more going on than him lipsyncing for 4 minutes. At least we got a video from this time period where it’s not him trying to show off the fact that he can get laid and wants to top Johnny Depp.
This YouTube channel has been posting some hot hot hot old school concerts from the source film in 60fps, some of which haven't been public until now.
Damn !! those where the days ,newbies who thinks he sounds and looks good now should go and watch this ,the man had stage presence like no others and don't give me that crap about age and drugs/booze ,The stones all have a foot in the grave and they can run circles around today's Manson ,the man used to give a shit about his music and stage shows and now he just doesnt seem to care at all ,really sad when you think of what might have been
Man, it's crazy to watch some of these older videos. I forgot how exceptional he really was as a performer. Here's another old show I like to re-watch sometimes.
The last time I personally saw him live was during the Grotesk Burlesk Tour and that's when I started to see a decline in performances. While I appreciated what he was trying to do stylistically during that era, I just didn't feel like it was executed well (barring the title track on GAOG, which was killer).
I think shortly after GAOG (or maybe it was EMDM?) was about the time that MMUSA was shut down as well, and once I no longer had a platform for tight friendships with other fans online, I lost interest more quickly. Not that there weren't problems on MMUSA, but part of why I was so faithfully purchasing MM albums and going to shows up until that point was because I was on that damn board talking about his music with other fans for hours every day.
Seriously?
Wow....it's stuff like that that makes me think he's doing it to be "shocking" or trying to get attention. It was totally unnecessary. Who cares what shirt people are wearing at shows? And I hate how so many publications are treating it like OH MAN THAT WAS AWESOME! Really, it's a dick move.
Watch the clip I posted in the Shitty Music thread...it's almost like a parody at this point.
Completely.
I was actually a little bummed for a bit that I was going to miss out on this Manson / Zombie tour on Saturday here in St. Louis cause I haven't actually seen Manson live yet and I was interested into how much a of shit show it was going to be ... but then I realized LiveNation still isn't offering ticket vouchers for 2018 yet and I wasn't really into paying for this at all, lol.
I also still can't believe that I actually saw that. Even as somebody that's remained a rather large and loyal fan, you'd figure that Marilyn Manson would be among the last musicians, let alone individuals to tell people what to and what to wear at a rock concert, especially in regards to T-shirts.
This just went up a little bit ago: Manson + Zombie studio recording of Helter Skelter.
I quite like that.
i wonder how that cover sounded before they threw 1000 layers of effects on their vocals. it sounds almost entirely computer generated in a not very good way.
Also it's painfully apparent by his actions at that festival that Manson really can't stand the fact that he's not as big of a deal as he used to be. what a fucking baby. Maybe if you gave a fuck about what you were doing on stage you'd draw better crowds
Spot on. I honestly think his best recourse is to get clean & sober and rediscover/remember WHY he's doing what he's doing. He clearly doesn't give a fuck anymore and hasn't for quite some time, which is not only a shame, it's embarrassing and just plain sad. It's like he views the concerts as nothing more than some minor event that he has to endure until he can get back to drinking, drugs, and whatever party is happening backstage. It would be a nice surprise to see him reevaluate his life, make some changes, and have an unexpected career renaissance with a reinvigorated sense of purpose and recapture some of his onstage intensity and presence, rather than lumbering around, out of breath and rambling on drunkenly while the band tries desperately to hold the song together behind him. BUT, he'll probably just continue on his present course toward irrelevancy, obscurity, and potentially (but hopefully not) his own tragic demise.
Last edited by sonic_discord; 07-11-2018 at 10:09 PM.
I wasn’t expecting much, but I actually dig the hell out of that cover, and it looks like they’ll be playing it together on this tour:
http://www.rollingstone.com/music/mu...kelter-697396/
I just hate that Rob Zombie toured with him again. I really want to see Zombie, but since I've seen Manson twice and with his latest antics, I had no interest in seeing him again. Plus, where I live the venue they went to is not in the city and is really far from me. Even if I won tickets it'd be difficult for me to get there.
Decent cover. I like Motley Crue’s quite a bit. It was some years later after Motley Crue released it (1983?) that I actually found out it was a Beatles tune.