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thedarkness · 01-08-2012, 05:34 PM

I like the fact that an artist regarded as well past his prime can still conjour up so many replies-he obviously still has alot of fans awaiting their next installment!

Its obvious from his videos alone, that Manson is a very graphical artist and at times even a very good song writer, but is by no means a great singer. He usually does his best in the studio. His change of style from album to album however makes it hard for many to get an overall impression and opinion, to decide whether to like the artist or what to try out first. Thats probably where the bowie similarities start and stop (like bowie, changing style), although I think his 'Mechanical Animals' album from 1998 was the most obvious link to the bowie era-very 70s glam rock-with tracks such as "I dont like the drugs (but the drugs like me)" being most notable. Personally I think Antichrist, Mechanical Animals and Holywood are his best, so I would try one of those first-for fans of heavier music obviously Antichrist is the obvious first choice, for mainstream rock Mechanical Animals, and for a mix of both, Holywood. Check out youtube for his best works, some popular favourites:-

The Beautiful People, Tourniquet, 1996, Man That You Fear - from Antichrist Superstar
Rock Is Dead, The Dope Show, I Dont Like The Drugs, Coma White - from Mechanical Animals
Disposable Teens, The Fight Song, The Nobodies - from Holywood

I remember the last two receiving accolades in the year released from magazines-in many 'best albums of the year' lists. Not a bad result from what many would argue was "a poor artist". Everything before the albums above (before 1996 and not on a major label-ie the "portrait of an american family" debut and "smells like children" EP) was noted by many magazines as simply more of a trent reznor side project than anything else-as a young artist his writing ability was no where near on the same level as the above albums or as it is now-after all, it was mainly a reasonable cover of 'sweet dreams (are made of this)' on his first EP that made him aquire the most media attention at that stage in his career. After he broke off from trent reznor (after Antichrist in 1996), manson had more control over production and his own character began to show far more in his work. I dont think he's quite finished yet though, he has some major supporters in music (the most obvious arguably Nick Cave-for obvious reasons), and I did like a few tracks from the last couple of albums (Into the Fire, Just A Car Crash Away, Mobscene) but I dont think he will ever reach the same level as he did back around 98/2000, unless he has some genuine new ideas-the current "born villian" track doing the rounds on youtube may be a short studio demo, but it sounds to me that hes trying to copy himself from his own cooper-esque Antichrist Superstar era. The fact that that album was his first major break into the industry just a coincidence, despite the fact that hes wanting to get more attention now that he has in the last few years? I dont think so, but for overall quality, I think the fans will just have to wait to find out.

01-08-2012, 05:34 PM	#239 (permalink)
thedarkness Groupie Join Date: Jan 2012 Posts: 20	I like the fact that an artist regarded as well past his prime can still conjour up so many replies-he obviously still has alot of fans awaiting their next installment! Its obvious from his videos alone, that Manson is a very graphical artist and at times even a very good song writer, but is by no means a great singer. He usually does his best in the studio. His change of style from album to album however makes it hard for many to get an overall impression and opinion, to decide whether to like the artist or what to try out first. Thats probably where the bowie similarities start and stop (like bowie, changing style), although I think his 'Mechanical Animals' album from 1998 was the most obvious link to the bowie era-very 70s glam rock-with tracks such as "I dont like the drugs (but the drugs like me)" being most notable. Personally I think Antichrist, Mechanical Animals and Holywood are his best, so I would try one of those first-for fans of heavier music obviously Antichrist is the obvious first choice, for mainstream rock Mechanical Animals, and for a mix of both, Holywood. Check out youtube for his best works, some popular favourites:- The Beautiful People, Tourniquet, 1996, Man That You Fear - from Antichrist Superstar Rock Is Dead, The Dope Show, I Dont Like The Drugs, Coma White - from Mechanical Animals Disposable Teens, The Fight Song, The Nobodies - from Holywood I remember the last two receiving accolades in the year released from magazines-in many 'best albums of the year' lists. Not a bad result from what many would argue was "a poor artist". Everything before the albums above (before 1996 and not on a major label-ie the "portrait of an american family" debut and "smells like children" EP) was noted by many magazines as simply more of a trent reznor side project than anything else-as a young artist his writing ability was no where near on the same level as the above albums or as it is now-after all, it was mainly a reasonable cover of 'sweet dreams (are made of this)' on his first EP that made him aquire the most media attention at that stage in his career. After he broke off from trent reznor (after Antichrist in 1996), manson had more control over production and his own character began to show far more in his work. I dont think he's quite finished yet though, he has some major supporters in music (the most obvious arguably Nick Cave-for obvious reasons), and I did like a few tracks from the last couple of albums (Into the Fire, Just A Car Crash Away, Mobscene) but I dont think he will ever reach the same level as he did back around 98/2000, unless he has some genuine new ideas-the current "born villian" track doing the rounds on youtube may be a short studio demo, but it sounds to me that hes trying to copy himself from his own cooper-esque Antichrist Superstar era. The fact that that album was his first major break into the industry just a coincidence, despite the fact that hes wanting to get more attention now that he has in the last few years? I dont think so, but for overall quality, I think the fans will just have to wait to find out. Last edited by thedarkness; 01-08-2012 at 05:55 PM.