Golden Age Of Grotesque, The [PA] - Marilyn Manson > Reviews > The Golden Age Of Grotesque

Author's product rating:   

Originality	Definitely a cut above the rest
Lyrics	Thought-provoking
Quality and consistency of tracks	Mixed
How does it compare to the artist's other releases	Good
Value for Money	Good

Advantages:	It hosts some classic manson songs, it has some great playing
Disadvantages:	A lot of fillers, seems a bit preoccupied in trying to achive the shock factor

Recommend to potential buyers:

no

Full review

Marilyn Manson is, let’s say “colourful” character. Some class him as a genius, some class him as a sell out, some class him as a fool. But whatever your views are on Manson, you can’t deny that the band backing him up are superb. The lyrics all mean something, and aren’t just about soppy love affairs. Although his choice of lifestyle and dress may not be to everyone’s taste, he has had some very good songs.

This album boasts one of his, of not thee, most popular song by Manson, Tainted Love. This song is obviously not a Manson original, nor is it his best work, but even the most un-likely people found themselves tapping their feet to this catchy remake. It’s the one song that everybody knows. Surprisingly, it’s not the high point of this album. It’s found drifting around at the end, surrounded by, well, not the best of songs.

The first main song on the album (not including the short opening track at the start which can’t really be classed as a song) is “This Is The New Shit”. This song is very strange, in the way that it seems to almost be a parody of himself. Not a very strong point to get going on, in my opinion. Although it is saved by the next song, the sublime “mObscene”.
mObscene is the song that really got me interested in Marilyn Manson. It’s a classic rock song. That’s the thing about Manson, the music he plays isn’t really goth. It’s more hard rock for people with strong opinions or who want to seem like they do. This song has some very clever lyrics and is just brilliant.
The Golden Age Of Grotesque, the track is the album is named after, is the 6th song on the CD. At first, I thought it was, well, rubbish. But when I really got into it, I realized that it was actually a great song. It’s sort of a sarcastic song. When I listen to it I feel like it’s saying “Now a days everything really goes. Everyone is expecting me to be shocking/grotesque, so hey, I might as well be”. Although at first it comes off as very odd, it will really warm up on you.

So, I’d say seven or eight really good songs out of the seventeen on this album, but a number of them don’t really jump out at me. They seem completely average and lacking in lustre. I wouldn’t call them filler, but… okay, actually I would for most of them.

To summarize, it is one of his best albums, I must say, but I do think that some of the songs are just run of the mill angst-rock, exactly what you would expect from an artist like Manson. It seems like a few songs are so busy trying to shock you with the lyrics that the tune suffers.

I probably wouldn't recommend this album to many people, but that's not to say it isn't a good album in it's own rights.