Customer Reviews

Genuine American Monster

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

As I see it, there are two "Pigs". The first Pig (pre-Sinsation) experimented with different musical genres. It flirted with the sounds of Cuban, Jazz, Big Band, and Doo-wop music while heavily laden with synths and drum machines to give it an industrial-rock edge. Whereas, the genius of the other pig (post-Sinsation) shone brilliantly in the studio. It's music was geared almost solely toward industrial and created vast, breathtaking landscapes which often left me speechless. Finally, the two unite. "Genuine American Monster" combines the experimental musicianship of Pig "A" with the masterful Production of Pig "B", to make one of the most original albums I've ever heard.

The first track, "Prayer, Praise, and Profit" is plenty pissed off yet almost anthemic and startlingly begins in a major key. "Riot, Religion, and Righteousness", probably the most dance-friendly track on the album, has a vocal effect that has to be heard to be believed. "Salambo" introduces industrial music to an upbeat salsa feel. "Whore" creates a beautiful atmosphere for one of the most sorrowful and personal songs Raymond Watts has ever written. "Flesh Fest", the down-tempo Doo-wop influenced track, leaves you confused as to whether you should grind to it or swing dance. "Black Brothel", the first instrumental on the CD, displays the ever-present beauty in sadness. "Disrupt, Degrade, and Devastate", in a similar vein to Pig's "Wrecked" album, reminds us that it's sometimes fun to be pissed off. "F.O.M.", which I feel to be the weak point of the album, seems like Raymond forgot that he was writing music for Pig instead of KMFDM. "A Fate Worse Than Death", contrarily, is what I feel to be the albums high point. The rhythmic work is astounding, the guitar work is exceptionally unconventional, and the accompanying female vocals during the chorus still give me chills. "Cry Baby" is another flawless collaboration between Pig and Sow. And "Inside", the 13-minute reluctant epic (whose variations have appeared on several different Pig albums) has never been so poignant.

Raymond, congratulations are in order. Instead of butting heads with your other musical voice you've collaborated with it to produce a brilliant work of art. May you two continue to work together.

This is THE single greatest industrial album ever released, quite possibly the greatest album ever released of ANY genre!

This was first released in Japan, so it wasn't sure whether they were going to release it in the U.S. or not. It's a good thing they did, because this is one of Pig's more solid efforts. Plus, they added an extra track to the U.S. edition. This is the epitome of techno rock, with Guenter Schulz from KMFDM and Slick Idiot adding some assistance.

1. Prayer, Praise, and Profit - 10/10 - The best opening for any song EVER, a masterful orchestrated opening builds up to a heavy guitar rift. The chorus is simply fantastic. Put simply, this song is SWEET.

2. Riot, Religion, and Righteousness - 10/10 - An electronic song with some guitars. Raymond Watts sings in a robotic voice, except during the chorus, which is the best chorus ever made for a song. If you can't understand the lyrics, go to www.raymondwatts.com and find them out. You don't want to miss out on them.

3. Salambo - 9/10 - Bordering on Tango, this industrial Mariachi mix might turn hardcore Industrial fans from listening to it, but it's quite a treat. You'll be in a for a pleasant surprise.

4. Whore - 9/10 - Basically, the lyrics are just a lot of Pig's songs/album titles thrown together. The music is very slow and low-key, but it builds up to a rocking electronic chorus.

5. Flesh Fest - 10/10 - Mainly a rock song, but with some Jazz elements, and a Tango-like keyboard near the end. Watch out of the lyrics, some of them are quite offensive.

6. Black Brothel - 9/10 - A really short instrumental, somewhat of a rehash of Transceration from Sinsation, with some piano added in.

7. Disrupt, Degrade, and Devastate - 10/10 - Probably the most famous song off here, this had its own single. With lyrics attacking religion, awesome guitars, and skillfully placed electronic work, you can't go wrong.

8. F.O.M. - 10/10 - Just so you know, the guitar is SUPPOSED TO SKIP in the beginning. There's nothing wrong with your CD player. Anyway, most of the music is very quiet techno, but the chorus has some of the best heavy guitar on the album. Like most of the songs on this album, the chorus is amazing.

9. A Fete Worse Than Death - 9/10 - This and Salambo are the catchiest songs on the album. The cool thing about this song is that samples from a movie are used, and they actually don't sound out of sync with the chorus. This has the best electronic and guitar work on the album. The only reason it doesn't get a perfect 10 is because Raymond Watts doesn't sing the chorus. Also, a female singer gets a solo near the end of the song, and her singing is terrible. She sounds like a horrible knock-off of Patti LaBelle.

10. Cry Baby - 2/10 - It has good percussion near the beginning, but that's the only good point about this song. The vocals are done by Raymond Watts, they're spoken word vocals done by some random guy talking in Spanish. The song is very creepy, don't play this with the lights out.

11. Inside - 9/10 - A very long instrumental, it also has a New Age feel to it like Transceration from Sinsation or Watt from A Stroll in the Pork. It also has some jungle-like drums near the end. The only downside is that it's too long, clocking in at over 10 minutes.

12. Saved (Locust Remix) - 10/10 - A remix of Save Me from Wrecked, this is the U.S.-only bonus track, although it's also on Prime Evil. It's just as good as the original, although the vocals are distorted, they sound cool that way. The vocals are also chopped up and re-sequenced to actually create a rhythm. The main lyrics and chorus are still sung normally, though.

OVERALL SCORE: 8.9/10

CONCLUSION: Sadly, this is Pig's last album. Raymond Watts is now in a band called Watts. However, this is fairly recent, and won't go out of print anytime soon (hopefully). Still, you should get a copy to add to your collection.

best industrial album in this world
a little different for pig some songs have an almost dark teckno thing to them it is not like kmfdm and it is not like pigs early stuff ie the swinning, sin ses salvation
still hard evil dark and creepy but in a different way
best songs
whore
flesh fest
FOm is the hardest son on the album

Simply another masterpiece from the very talented Raymond Watts-Lord of Lard. This CD is one of my personal favorites. Prayer,Praise and Profit is a glorious start to this CD with Riot,Religion,and Righteousness following behind. Salambo is hard to grow on,but it is a great song otherwise. Whore would have to be my favorite on this CD-slow but very powerful.I recommend this CD to any KMFDM fan who has heard from Raymond about PIG and would like to see how great PIG is. Don't forget to pick up Sinsation!

I decided to pick up this album on the advice of my friend......and what good advice it was!!!!!! This album is great from start to finish. One of the biggest surprises on this disc is the song "Salambo", which combines nasty sounding vocals, techno and latin salsa music into a very catchy and very danceable song. I actually had the DJ at a club I went to play "Salambo" and everybody went crazy!!!!! As I said before this album is great from start to finish and even if you don't dig on industrial much you need to get Genuine American Monster.
Much thanks to my friend Randy for exposing me to such great music.

I got this cd before it was even released through a promtional deal with Pigs manager, and I was pretty impressed with it, though I didn't like it as much as Wrecked. It's mostly electronic, not as much guitars as his previous stuff. It was an interesting twist for pig. overall, it was a strong album, with F.O.M and Prayer, Praise & Profit being my personal favorites.

Raymond "PIG" Watts and co. have done it again, they've created another Industrial masterpiece! This one just may be their best yet! "Praise the Lard" was my favorite with "Sinsation" close second and "The Swining/Red,raw,& Sore" in third.I'm tempted to say that this may be PIG's finest yet!.....maybe??? Riot Religion & Rightousness is pretty "bumpin" and F.O.M. is certainly creepy.....this CD has it all. Every time I hear it I fall in love with a different song, but I keep diggin' "A Fate worse Than Death"....that song is a trip! Definately a must for all PIG fans, I'm really glad they finaly released it in amerikkka.

Whenever Raymond Watts takes the stage, one can expect something that will definitely be lyrically twisted in the most delicious of ways, some interesting instrumental vessel to carry the sadist tendencies housed within the music, and something almost theatrical in its build to appear within the craftsmanship of the work. Through a heavily distorted mouthpiece he speaks, laying the groundwork for something undeniable entertaining in its celebration of depravity, with his album progression getting more versed as time grants him a helping hand in crafting his talents.

And while Genuine American Monster isn't new, per say, it has recently joined the ranks of the readily available releases in the US, keeping the importation price down and Pig fans like myself from having to buy new/replace old albums at those lofty heights. This is a good thing, considered the album, mixing the EBM sounds with heavily driven components in some places and presenting interesting instrumentals in others, gets quite a bit of play in my home.

The album is pretty driven in parts, with songs like Prayer Praise and Profit and Riot Religion and Righteousness - a song where Raymond distorts his voice to machinelike heights-getting the blood thumping through the veins. There are also other portions of it that hit more interesting plateaus that Watts seems to forge so easily, like the mambo-driven beats of Salambo, the slower, more seductive 4th track, and the catchy mixture of bleak theatrics and foreign tongues on Cry Baby, plus there are the instrumental songs that flank the album as well. This comes together and meshes into an almost-seamless toy to tempt the needy mind.

For anyone wanting something interesting to play with and to have grow on you, this is a release you should definitely pick this up. There are varieties of flavors to chase away the mundaneness, including the press of bleakness that everyone should definitely try at least twice in their lives. I recommend it, along with other Pigs releases, very highly.

I recently decided to splurge and buy this CD which Ive been wanting for about a year now. Im Canadian so with the exchange rate this was a very expensive CD, nearly double what it costs in USA. But it was worth every penny. While I still think The Swining is Ray's best work this is a strong second. Black Brothel is one of the most beautiful songs Ive ever heard (As well as Transceration on Sinsation, which is a very similair song) and something Trent often tries but cant pull off the way Watts does. Then there is Salambo. I feel this is the best of Pig's "experimental" songs, such as iToxico! and Black mambo. it sounds like a cross between The Beuna Vista Social Club and KMFDM. Pure genius.

Cry baby is another off beat song. With Anna Wildsmith (SOW) doing the vocals in Japanese and Ray's FANTASTIC music, it is something that has to be heard to be believed.

The Final song is Inside. This finishes what "Watts" and "Murder Car" started. It is the more amazing 14 Mins you could spend listening to a song. It is simply one of the most plesent sounding instrumentals Ive ever had the pleasure of hearing.

Genuine American Monster has a very strong feeling of being the final PIG CD. It has a clusure type feel to it. Im fairly sure it wont be but that doesnt hurt the CD from being the most mature and serious release PIG has ever had.

Dont wait to buy the heavily altered US version with new art work. In fact the art work on this CD is by far the best PIG has ever had. One of the best of all time too. This is a CD EVERY PIG fan should have. If youve never heard Pig before, buy Wrecked as it is a tad more accessable nad cheaper. But if you like that , which you will, come back and buy this. You WONT be dissapointed