It’s pretty easy to take potshots at Marilyn Manson. The electronics have always been pretty basic/safe and the guitar based Nu-Metal wanking has more often than not been pedestrian at best though at times catchy as hell. As much as the guy tries to posture himself as an intellectual he often falls back on the same old, tired, in-your-face antics like garish makeup and near constant use of the F word, which not only comes across as lazy but fairly juvenile. It’s the sort of shock rock Alice Cooper was doing forty years ago, only better. Hey, don’t get me wrong – I love fuckwords – but after seven albums of the same schtick it’s worn a little thin. And while I can come down on Manson I can also lower the boom on Cooper who should have retired back in the Eighties.
Manson seems to be unraveling. The last album was absolutely horrible. I considered reviewing it but I couldn’t come up with a single positive thing to say about it. Not one. And I’m not a Manson hater. I own all the guy’s albums and even some of the singles. But I’m sorry, Eat Me, Drink Me was one of the biggest piles of steaming horse manure I’ve ever endured. It was wretched, like watching all of an artist’s best instincts imploding and witnessing the man revert back into an insecure pile of mush as he sonically achieves nothing more than complete insignificance. It was embarrassing. And I’m actually holding back in my criticism, believe it or not.
So now he’s back, with Twiggy Ramirez in tow no less, and while he’s still trying to play down the Industrial Metal posturings of his earlier works the tracks I’ve heard are a little bit of an improvement from the last, uh…”effort.” If you are so inclined, I present the download links to some leaks that may or may not last very long as Manson and his label are pretty aggressive about this sort of thing. Aggressive to the point of stupidity. They’re busy trolling YouTube and torrent sites trying to pick off any posts that give people some idea of the musical direction of The High End Of Low because the companies haven’t figured out that the free hype which comes along with these things helps them. And they blame us for ruining their industry. Idiots.
Anyway, check out “Arma-God Damn-Mother fuckin’-Geddon,” “The WOW,” and We’re From America.” But, uh, keep it on the DL, yO.
Manson’s website is offering a free, legal download of “We’re From America” here, but you’ll probably be subjected to quite a bit of spam as a result. If you troll around YouTube you can find “video” of leaked material but it gets taken down fairly quickly as the label is clearly on top of things in that area of the internet neighborhood.
The High End Of The Low is apparently due out May 26th, but that date is subject to change without notice. You can almost guarantee it will. And if the people in charge are going to continue to stifle any of the build up they may want to get this thing on shelves sooner rather than later.
March 28th, 2009 at 7:08 pm
Your article started out fine, but the most important thing in getting people to trust you (and keep reading your articles) is to tell the truth.
examples of fabrication in your article:
“Manson and his label are pretty aggressive about [leaks]”
no they are not. Manson has been historically pretty cool about leaks (ACSS). none of the youtube videos have been taken down afaik.
And you have absolutely no proof that “Manson and his label” are trolling youtube and torrent sites, idiot.
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_type=&search_query=arma-god&aq=f
“but you’ll probably be subjected to quite a bit of spam as a result”
I have signed up and recieved no spam…
“leaked material but it gets taken down fairly quickly ”
LIE. the songs leaked to the general public 3 days ago, and all the videos have been up for 2 days. They have not been taken down.
It’s no wonder that you can’t get a good job in journalism. You write your article using made-up facts.
March 28th, 2009 at 9:02 pm
Wow. Someone sure has a chip on his shoulder. actually i’ve noticed videos have been steadily removed over the past couple days because i’ve posted them in my own journal. The only people who would ask for them to be removed are the licensers, song writers etc. It may have been presumptuous for the writer to say it was manson or the label but it seems a pretty good guess seeing as how the videos that have bben removed relay a message about “copyright infringement.” But then this aint cnn and the people on this site dont strike me as “journalists” so much as random music fans. So if youre going to troll for “idiots” try looking in the mirror instead of hiding behind a screen name and some fabricated balls.
March 29th, 2009 at 1:06 am
Y’know, I remembered reading an article on Yahoo news some time ago where Manson had some rather unkind things to say about people who download music through torrents or rapidshare or what-have-you. I went looking for it again so I could turn the whole “idiot” think around on you and show what a complete douche you really are…but I couldn’t get it. So I guess I’ll have to allow your douche ass to get away with calling me an “idiot.” Fair enough. Let it be known that I am, in fact, an “idiot.” However, I will not capitulate that the labels aggressively work against leaks (Interscope in particular, which is the label releasing this new album) and the posting of leaked materials on YouTube, often insisting that the material be taken down. There are hundreds upon hundreds of examples of this and if you try to argue against that then you’ll just wind up proving that I’M not actually the one who is an “idiot.”
You’re wrong about no YouTube videos being taken down. Do a little looking before you flap your yap. Some videos have been “removed by user,” indicating some kind of coercion, while others have been “removed due to a copyright violation.” I really don’t think it was the fucking tooth fairy that ordered YouTube to take down these videos. But I’m not going to resort to labeling you as an “idiot” for believing as much.
I will capitulate that I couldn’t be sure that people would be subjected to spam for signing up on the website which is why I used the word “probably” in the context of uncertainty. I’ve been burned by signing up for shit like this before so I’m not quick to hand over my info to some band or label site. I’m glad this is not the case in this instance and I thank you for pointing it out even if it did involve labeling me as a “liar.”
While we try to do what we can to promote Electro/Industrial music here in spite of the defeating attitudes of your ilk it sometimes makes us want to throw up our arms and say, “Y’know what? Fuck these people. They’re not interested in building things up so much as tearing things down.” I was interested in what you had to say from the onset but then, instead of presenting your criticisms in a constructive manner, you decided to get personal and insulting. Beyond that, I’ve never been interested in “journalism.” What I do here is provide objective music reviews in certain areas and rattle off rants in others. This ain’t some professional organization. We’re trying to provide a place for a small group to amass and build a larger following for the music we appreciate. At least we’re trying rather than throwing eggs at people for doing so.
If you don’t like what you’re reading, stop reading. If you have something to offer try doing it in a more tactful manner that doesn’t make you look like just another anonymous troll waving his flaccid internet dick in people’s faces.
March 29th, 2009 at 3:36 pm
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=arma-god-damn&search_filter=0
again, check there. none of the 7 amra-geddon videos have been removed in the last 2 days. A few went up, in fact. That would leave a period of 1 day for anything to have been removed.
also jaime, would you care to provide a link to your journal entry with the removed video?
if manson if against leaks, then why did he leak a track on his website?
March 29th, 2009 at 6:52 pm
http://www.youtube.com/browse?ytsession=WVHH2xnGF1KsrUSIgbVYNx59YWrpx0JoExqQY6KG1dD-F2BJXDY22FVyUyDHWtuCmbgGPNkWCFG_3egeYJjm1k-lvNpn1lmofyV3X5FRRRx4i9tgc4LAdt-iUWOxcBlHvgtr1Ys459nfSQVFWsMPwF72q5FhPdeNIlqryP7YoTapfvN42dN9-nPWrMAzP-AysWPLrvMO97E4zol1GlMYQ9-dvJB9mEnmmYqw-UN5hQHf5-dZq_lffSab2d9u_bD9hqVQFSJs1mOJA0LuFh_X2m4UO6P1s8BnyS7qU3olXQY
That was a video of A-GD-F-G
http://www.youtube.com/browse?ytsession=-QBBWn0RvmaYymV-Wq48Hi48SiqUzGGqcnl4ZNi9Sk4JHiuAkpnI0B9TO3fUBTmxocCI6sEkwZ40Z9zI_eL0bfQi2ijCBp2S1zPaUejbtzD5fnBNvnc00gBY5fMoZO-hbuFWUo4iEYluIxw9qsZOsAfLYQMmQSDGirsZcjTBlp5QcELWdSwOt2lvi2ZyVdoxhAU-sQweqLoppKyy8E5yjNrOnsiPnhBdi6JPvMZ0fbwQHqSzw412-7Sdqc51fqNCu3zztFR8CmE4sabG-hJZr5i48HPW7eOnkGpj7PmPUd8
That was a vid for The Wow
I can’t speak for this Jaime fella but if Manson is all for leaks and such that’s great. Good for him. He’s always presented himself as one of the more intelligent members of the greater music community. I’m pretty sure his label isn’t as understanding though. And if you would like I’ll compile a new post for detailing each individual labels stated reactions to leaks and file sharing. But at this point would it even matter?
As with anything else I fully expect that with every vid taken down more will spring up. That’s how it always works so it’s always perplexing to me that industry types would waste so much time and effort trying to pick them off.
March 30th, 2009 at 1:48 pm
garish makeup:P dude that first picture is HOT i didn’t even read what you wrote;) j/k. but thanks for the hot pic.
March 30th, 2009 at 9:05 pm
yeah dissing manson is nothing new, yawn. and really why do you expect artists to have to ‘reinvent’ themselves with every album, this is who he is, this is what he does. move along then..
May 19th, 2009 at 3:07 pm
Someone said “why did he leak a track on his website?”
Technically, it’s not a leak if he’s giving it away for free, temporarily.