Customer Reviews

The High End of Low

5 star:		(52)
4 star:		(32)
3 star:		(13)
2 star:		(15)
1 star:		(20)

 

 

I approached "The High End of Low" the way I would a corroded anti-tank landmine--hyper-cautious, and nauseous with anxiety: I expected to either be totally finished with Manson, or be reveling in his return to form.

What I got is what I should have ultimately anticipated: just enough to bring me back to the well next time. "The High End of Low" is a step back in the right direction (which I largely attribute to Mr. White's return), but on my third listen through this album, I was thunderstruck when I finally put my thumb on what had been bugging me. The thing that Brian has lost over time could probably be mapped convincingly against a chart chronicling his loss of band-mates. His ego has spilled out of control and damaged his art. This is the second (arguably third) album from Manson the man, as opposed to Manson the band.

Let me be clear--I intend no character attack. Whatever his future efforts produce, I will remain a steadfast fan of Marilyn's work on the strength of his 2nd, 3rd, and 4th albums. However, his art has become unbalanced toward the personal, which is a disappointing regression in my eyes.

There is variety, wit, and a sense of play in the sonic/musical qualities of this album. There is also a shocking lack of variation in lyrical subject matter. Listen to this record carefully, and skip to the next song any time you hear one of the following words: I, Me, My, Mine, You, Your, We, Us, Our. The first-person narrative repitition is mind-numbing.

"Antichrist Superstar" is an industrial-metal stew of atheism, young-adult angst, and porn-shop occultism strained through melodrama, three-act structure, and The Church of Satan. "Mechanical Animals" is a right-brain/left-brain identity crisis expressed in hyperreal glam, androgyny, and sterile poignancy in a blurry, blue-and-white, pharmaceutical landscape. "Holy Wood" draws paralells between the "Manson" character from the previous two albums with Jesus and JFK ,while weaving together themes of martyrdom, conspiracy, and nihilism. "Golden Age" is a bleak experiment in Dadaist word-play and electronica-cum-Nurembourg dance beats glammed up in zoot-suits and faux-silver tooth-caps.

"Eat Me, Drink Me", and "The High End of Low" feature progressive musicianship, ego, synthesizers, and a total lack of thematic variety (barring a tiny few songs which feel half-hearted and out-of-place). They also take drugs from muse, to metaphor, to excuse.

There's your mini-review of the last six Manson albums. Pick one.

I'm all for artistic growth, but forgive a burly curmudgeon who came of age on "Angel with the Scabbed Wings", "Man that you Fear", "Speed of Pain", "Coma White", "The Nobodies", and "In the Valley of the Shadow of Death", for not giving a damn about Brian's love life. He's become too literal. Not to take a man to task, but I've got to take a man to task. It, "wipes the floor," with everything you've done before? Not remotely. You're not more than the sum of former parts. You've, "got [your] fire back[?]", it's guttering right now man, but I've got faith--the kind based on on observation as opposed to hearsay--you've a bonfire or two left. Just get over yourself.

In the 90's, I oscillated from liking and disliking Manson. I loved the band's sound along with his thematically inventive lyrics and striking vocals, but gathered from his look and interviews that he was just shocking for the sake of shocking. The vivid yet desolate aural landscape and hyperrelavent theological, political, sociological, and ultimately personal sentiments of "Holywood" convinced me otherwise. It demonstrated that his shock was a means to an artistic/intellectual end. After hearing that album, I had a much deeper appreciation of his past albums.

Then the trajectory turned downward. "Golden Age of Grotesque" didn't seem to say as much as his previous albums, lyrically or musically (especially the last third of the album). But overall, it was a clever indictment of our culture. "Eat Me, Drink Me" had raw righteousness and more tone colors, but some songs were noticeably bland at times. Upon hearing that Twiggy was returning, I anxiously awaited a return to form on the new album.

In short, "The High End of Low" isn't a return to form. It seemingly expotentiated the bland qualities of his last effort while offering roughly nothing new. Repeated power chords, repeated mantras, repeated "shocking" lines nowhere near as emotionally engaging or thought-provoking as any of his old albums.

I listened to every song, but barely made it through the half-way point of most of them. The few things I liked were the feel of Devour and We're From America, the acoustic riff of Four Rusted Horses (but again, it repeated too much), and the structure of Running to the Edge of the World. All a little new, and little different, a little metal. But "little" is the key term, as these few things were dwarfed by the quarter-baked blandness of the vast majority of the album.

I honestly don't know what happened. Between rejoining Twiggy and having more than enough reasons to shred our society, one would think Manson would prepare his magnum opus. My guess is the drugs and romantic obsession are to blame. The "daily fantasizing about smashing her head in with a sledgehammer" comment in a recent interview wasn't provokingly disturbing, just disturbing. I'll chant "We hate love, we love hate" any day of the week, but that comment just leads me to worry that the unparalleled intellectual and artistic powerhouse Marilyn Manson is no longer reflecting our sick society, but succumbing to it. This album could very well be the end. But not a burn out, just a fade away.

I would suggest to Manson that he quit feigning rebirth and do it. Return the songs and lyrics to form or go in a radically new direction. Do another Antichrist...or do a gospel album. Don't become the media caricature. Destroy it.

This album should not have been made. Given the past of Marilyn Manson, if you are not ready to play "in your face" rock and throw some well-thought out, and often well deserved, middle fingers then don't bother. This is not anything worthy of the Marilyn Manson name.

First, Manson has always worked better when he has a theme and actually had something to say. It was the over arching self-destruction through self empowerment that made Antichrist Superstar great. It was the escapist drug induced despair that made Mechanical Animals great. It was the critique of America's fascination with martyrdom and tragedy that made Holywood great. There is no theme to this album. There is no message to get across. Rather, what is there is a collection of songs that sound disjointed, unoriginal, and tripe. Songs that try for the shock value without any message behind the sound. Even if they do get you attention, there is no substance behind the music. Even the packaging of the album is unoriginal all the way from the typeset of the logo to the cover shot. This album exemplifies that Marilyn Manson is a poor imitation of what was once a great band.

Secondly, the album is definitely among the most melodic of his career, but even with Jeordie White doing some of the writing it is all predictable. The sound itself is hard to define, which is not unusual for a Manson album. There are elements of country as in "Four Rusted Horses" and there are elements of what could almost pass for bluesy groove driven rock as in "I Want to Kill You Like They Do In the Movies". This album for the most part is not like anything else Manson has put out. In reality, it sounds a little like something Rob Zombie would have done for House of 1,000 Corpses. Regardless, the album doesn't draw you in or keep your interest. There is nothing here worth hearing. Whatever sound Manson is trying to convey is honestly bland. This is Manson basically releasing a country or folk album with a few industrial influences kicked in. This also would be a miserable failure by any artist, all the more so for an artist of the caliber of Marilyn Manson.

Third, lyrically Manson continues to fall. With lyrics like "I've got a black eye of a soul" the lyrical content of the album is laughable. Manson is devoting very little thought to being at the top of his game when it comes to writing thought provoking lyrics. He has become lazy and it shows. It is at the point now where he needs to realize that the die hard fans who stuck around for the lyrical atrocities of his Golden Age era and Eat Me, Drink Me are beginning to leave the theater. The man who wrote the anthems of rebellion of the late 90s is no longer performing.

The critics, as usual are wrong in their praise. This is an album to be avoided. A lot of reviewers are stating that you shouldn't compare Manson's new work to his older material because his former masterpieces were done so well that their replication would be more a miracle than an expectation. I say, the older material proves what he is capable of. He can do better. He should do better. He can start be taking the $10.00 I paid for the CD and start a fund to get Zim Zum, John 5, Trent Reznor and Daisy Berkowitz all in the same room to have a meeting to get Manson back on track. Perhaps there is still hope that the Antichrist will be reborn, but it didn't happen on this album and sadly doesn't look likely for the near future.

I used to be a huge Manson fan, even when it was dangerous to be one because you put yourself up to great ridicule by people who despised his cutting edge androgyny and imagination. "Antichrist" was an amazing although completely nihilistic album, it was definitely the definition of youth and relevant at the time with the approaching millennium and the whole apocalypse motif. Then "Mechanical" was the glam which either you loved or hated, I loved that album and the whole alien creature, space trip theme. "Holy Wood" had some heartbreakingly awesome songs with the whole trip down memory lane of America, everything from Jesus to JFK. There was heart there and then the "Golden Age" which played with Dada surrealism and insanity. Those four albums were all good in their own right because they had a clearly defined theme and let's face it, Manson is a good storyteller and his life is the fiction. Whether he realizes this or not, he created his own character and became it. So all his concept albums worked because he just became that character and invited us into his world. His last two albums have been incredibly disappointing because of the "I" perspective, the extreme narcissism and view from a man who isn't as interesting when he gets "real" because then you see how pathetic his life is. I'm not trying to be mean but he's a lot like Michael Jackson, Jackson did "Thriller" and Captain Eo and "Ghosts"; making these music videos that were tiny movies. Yet over the years Micheal's music grew weaker when we saw just how much self-hatred he had for himself and the plastic surgery and the child molestation charges. Manson has a lot of self-hatred and instead of getting medicated for it, he chooses to consume cocaine and absinthe which only magnifies his despair and he ruins every relationship he has ever had then tells us about it. He wants us to feel sorry for him but why? How can you feel anything but pity for a person who just does the same thing over and over...his songs are like this now. "People will come to my funeral to see if I'm dead" sounds like Michael Jackson, huh?
While these two artists are different they are very familiar because Manson doesn't want to grow up either, he wants to live in his own private Neverland in the Hollywood Hills with his grotesque museum of trinkets which would be cute if you weren't a 40yo man whining about your love life. He has become his own cliche, Manson either needs to return to the concept album (give us metaphor not your reality because it invites us to judge you and psychoanalyze you and it makes you look like a self absorbed jerk) or he needs to take off the makeup and get real with himself. How about some lyrics like "I put on this face and created this lie so you would love to hate me", there would be some honesty but like every other aging artist out there, he's going to pump out the same teenage angsty crap with lots of cursing (because its so naughty, omg my mom took away my album so now i love him even more!) that proves nothing. I know you are an intelligent person, Mr. Manson but you are in love with your own despair and it's disgusting. If you were telling a story I might be able to forgive the self-pity but when it's all from the "I" perspective it feels so incestuous like you are trying to get back who you used to be and plagiarizing your former self so much that it feels like a watered down version of you. New fans will love it who want to make their parents mad and scare their peers, longtime fans over the past decade will see through the charade and wonder why we have grown up and the artist hasn't.

As a Manson fan, I was looking forward to his reunion with his old guitarist, Twiggy Ramirez. But...all they ended up doing was recording a bunch of songs that all sound the same. No songs really stand out to me, and I've given this CD a bunch of chances to make its claim on my soul. Sadly, nothing hooks me on this CD, and the music is just incredibly boring.

I miss the Manson that made energetic, tight songs as exemplified by Mechanical Animals. Those songs are GREAT on my iPod for a workout or a long car ride. These songs on "The High End.." plod along at a slower pace than Manson's usual frenetic speed. As a result, I'm BORED. I can take a few slow songs thrown in for good measure, but the whole album ambles along as though it needs a cane to stand up at all.

The lyrics reveal Manson to be a 13 year old boy trapped in a full grown man's body, and that is incredibly unappealing to the ladies. I gotta say, if Manson really wants to make an impression on his existing fanbase, he'd better grow up fast in terms of what he wants to sing about. How much can we hear about his drug use and sexual habits? I just don't care anymore - and there are so many other subject matters that he leaves untouched, probably because he's too immature to understand world matters or too self absorbed to sing about anything other than himself. It's kinda pathetic, and not worth my listening time.

I just get the feeling that the performer didn't really give these songs his ALL in terms of production, performance and creation. But...I remain a loyal fan who hopes he will return to his groovy ways once again. Maybe it's me that grew up too much to appreciate Manson, but I do love his "old" stuff, and I'd love to hear some more attempts from Manson to engage his "old" fans.

As stated by previous reviewers (and I agree), Manson's peak era was from Antichrist Superstar to Mechanical Animals. It was during those years that he showed the public how diverse and creative he could be. I personally like all his releases as they tend to be vastly different from one another (maybe up until Golden Age anyway). While I liked the "rock N roll" feel to Eat Me Drink Me, mostly due to Tim Skold's guitar style, I thought the self-loathing aspect to the album really dragged it down. I still cannot listen to "Just A Car Crash Away". WAY more depressing than even Manson could handle, as evident in future interviews.

Understandably, there was a lot riding on The High End Of Low. Mainly, because of the return of chief songwriter Jeordie "Twiggy" White and because of Manson boasting about how this album is his most "dark, brutal and heavy" album to date. Did it live up to the hype? Well, mostly if you can forgive Manson for his inaccurate description of the record. The High End Of Low is actually Manson at his most melodic. Tracks like Devour, Leave a Scar and Running to The Edge of the World show Manson pushing his vocals further than ever before. This works about 80% of the time, though at times his voice seems strained. However, you know what to expect as Manson has always had that hoarse, dramatic quality to his voice

If you are a Manson fan then definitely get this album because its a great rock record and his least depressing album to date. Its almost hopeful in a strange way. Twiggy and NIN alum Chris Vrenna wrote the music and the songs are well done. You get your money's worth with this record and thats what matters. Standout tracks include I Want To Kill You Like They Do In The Movies, which is a 9 minute epic with great throbbing bass and a very dark theatrical quality to it. It even has the sound of a film reel spinning constantly throughout the song. Very cool. Into The Fire, Leave A Scar and Pretty As Swastika are great as well. Twiggy has shown himself to be a great songwriter and he took over the guitar duties again with great results. The only song that did nothing for me was "We're From America", just because the main riff got old fast. Thats only one song out of 15. Not bad.

Pick this up. Great album.

Just got the deluxe high end of the low. I heard arma.... and we're in america before it came out and was expecting something like old, offensive, filthy manson ('specially w/ twiggy back). So after hearing the first track upon purchase I realized this was not totally what I thought..and became frightened. I really didnt like their last album, eat me, drink me (it's the only manson disk I don't own, singles etc included and I am a total anal completeist. I did get it, but quickly gave it away. woa, mass gramatical errors; shows what state I'm in currently...back to the point).
But all fear were quickly put away. The cd is great, just take it at face valure; a very dark expose on love and human relationships in modern america. at leat thats what I think. dont get me wrong though, there are some delicously devious songs on this.
I love old manson, but this is proves that there is room for new manson.
maybe I'll even give that other one another chance....

This is a bad CD period, no matter who released it, it is just bad. Boring, repetitive, and wholly about how mopey and sad Brian is. That's it. Like listening to someone whine about his life, but semi-talk sing it at the same time. Even when the lyrics try to be clever, they're lame. The music is lame, the "shock value" is lame. Nothing new, notable or even good in this mess of emotional self absorbed rubbish.

I've been a longtime fan of Manson's. I think his "trilogy" of Antichrist Superstar, Mechanical Animals and Holy Wood are some of the smartest, most intense and awesome albums I've ever owned. Manson was often accused of being all image with no substance, but anyone who had actually sat down and soaked in one of those three albums knew better. However, it seems the once false accusation has slowly become more true over the years. From 1994 to 2001, Manson had more substance than most artists out at the time, but since 2003 it seems he's slowly become less inspired. The Golden Age Of Grotesque was a solid album, but fell short of the magic Manson had once captured, and his "solo" effort in 2007, Eat Me Drink Me, was a borderline disaster. But I still had high hopes for Manson after he reunited with drummer Ginger Fish and longtime co-writer Twiggy Ramirez (who left the band 7 years earlier). Even more exciting, on several occasions Manson claimed that this upcoming album was much closer to Antichrist Superstar and had some of the best songs he'd ever written. That's a pretty big statement, but I thought it had to be better than the last album. I was right, but not as right as I'd like to have been...

First off, this album DOES NOT sound anything like Antichrist Superstar. That album was brilliant...this album is decent. While I didn't expect Manson to put out the same album again, I was hoping he would be inspired enough to come up with a solid theme for the album, and fill it with mean guitar riffs, creepy melodies, and poetic lyrics. Instead Manson is still blah-blah-blahing about drugs and bored sex. Ok Manson, you get laid a lot, good for you. Even the album cover is far less interesting than his past attempts, it looks like a random photo session for Spin magazine or something. Like Manson's last couple albums, the booklet is filled with about 500 pictures of him and 1 picture of Twiggy, which tells me that Manson is probably too in love with himself to really focus on having something to say.

Ok, ok, I've been hard enough on the album. It's still a decent release, so let's talk about the music. It opens with Devour, which has an interesting guitar melody that isn't what you would expect, but the song is a bit slow and kinda drags. Pretty As A Swastika is the heaviest song Manson has done since 2003, and it's definitely one of the album's stronger tracks. Leave A Scar seems very radio friendly, not bad but not that great either. Four Rusted Horses is very different, almost like a Johnny Cash tune. While this is not your standard Manson song, it makes it unique and gives it some appeal, and it has a nice chorus. Arma...geddon really bored me on the first couple listens because it sounds like something Manson has done at least a dozen times before. However it grows on you and it's nearly impossible to get it out of your head once it gets in there. Blank And White is somewhat heavier, but it's forgettable. Running To The Edge Of The World is a very mellow tune, but is one of the few tracks on here that offers some emotion and seems like Manson was feeling creative when it was written. I Want To Kill You Like They Do In The Movies is very dark, but it's boring and drags on for 9 minutes while rarely changing direction. WOW is another standout song, it doesn't offer much lyrically but it's a very twisted and catchy tune. Wight Spider is kinda repetitive, but I like it and it probably sounds good live. Unkillable Monster is pretty boring, kinda like something from the last album. We're From America is a bit more like the Manson from several years ago, and it's another standout on the album. It's fairly heavy and it'll get stuck in your head, however I am pretty burnt out on rockstars whining about how evil America is. Things get boring again with I Have To Look Up Just To See Hell, probably another left-over from the last album. Into The Fire is unique but seems over-dramatic somehow, it doesn't do much for me. The album closes with 15, and it offers up a lot of new sounds. It's a pretty interesting song but I'm not sure it'll leave a lasting impression. So there you go, about 9 decent songs out of 15. Obviously the album is a redemption from the last, but Manson still has a lot of climbing to do before he gets back to what he once was.

The controversial man known to shock people since the 1990s has released a few albums and has remained present throughout his acts, many rumours and the protests against him. He has endured and is still around today, shocking people helps but I think that if his music wasn't strong enough he wouldn't be around anymore. What's my point? Well, yes, Marilyn Manson is back with another album. After what was thought by many as a disappointment, 2007's "Eat Me. Drink Me", Manson releases "The High End Of Low". Interestingly, former band members Twiggy Ramirez and Ginger Fish return and perhaps this album will please fans more. Manson, like on the last album continues his more personal approach, it's not selling-out I mean he's been around for more than a decade and is maturing as he becomes an older person so he's more reflective but defiantly not boring.

First thought I had about the album was that it sounded like one of his older albums mixed with something more current, making it a very interesting mix to the listener. Some say he sounds uninspired and tired. Let's face it his best days are behind him but he's still capable of doing great music, no he probably won't do another "Antichrist Superstar" because he's passed that point even if that's what some fans would want him to do. I'd think he would be boring if he would just release something he had already done, I think he's right by moving forward. Listen to "Four Rusted Horses" and tell me he's not inspired, in fact I think he still sounds good and into what he's doing. Here you're listening to an artist who is now comfortable as he has experience, knows what he's doing as an artist, and isn't afraid to give fans something different (15 and Four Rusted Horses are good examples of this).

"Devour" is quite simply one of the best album openers Manson has done. "Pretty As $" is good but nothing really special, to me it's pretty much just there, nice ending thought. "Leave A Scar" is an up-tempo song with clever lyrics, I really enjoy this song. "Four Rusted Horses" is one my favourite tracks, it's so personal and very few can relate to it, I feel it's one of the best things he's done. It's a slow bluesy type of song to that may not appeal to all but i can appreciate it. I can see why the single "Arma-Godd**n-Motherf***in-Geddon" was chosen as the first single for the album. It's catchy and the chorus is repeated often but it's still mostly a single released almost exclusively for Manson's fans. I mean not many people will play a song with censured words in the title or in the song (he doesn't censure them in the song don't worry) so it's sort of an anti-single. But to me the song is bouncing with energy, dark one of course but it's a great very catchy song, some describe it as lame but I disagree its powerful. "Blank And White" one of the best songs here for me, it's strong. It starts out slow and progresses into the monster of a song it is. I particularly like the chorus "I Wanna Celebrate Today's The day You're Gonna F***in' Die" it's joyously haunting as the rest of the song. "Running To The Edge Of The World" is a slower more "You and me against the world" type of song. I really like it, Manson screams his way trough the song, good work.


"I Want To kill You Like They Do In The Movies" is a very interesting song that may not appeal to a new fan or the casual listener but to his old and true fans it will. It's also the longest song of the album at over 9 minutes. It's very much worth hearing. "WOW" is a more commercial song, I mean the "Wow, wow, wow, wow, wow..." sounds like something that could be heard in hip-hop, and it's interesting less Manson but still good, a hardcore fan however may take it seriously and hate it. "We're From America" bounces with energy; the song is great, it's sort of an anthem for them. "Wight Spider" is more or less filler; it drags on and never really comes to any point, it's just boring. "Unkillable Monster" is a ballad? Yeah it seems like; it's defiantly got the criteria but its good thought. "I Have To Look up Just To See Hell" begins with a scream then kicks in, I found the lyrics were interesting and it's another good song."Into The Fire" is another ballad, I like "Unkillable Monster" better but this one is decent. "15" is a good closer, not much to add I just found this was a good way to end THEOL.

Overall I feel "The High End Of Low" is a solid album done by Manson in the current time, I feel it's much better than "Eat Me, Drink Me" because it's got strong energy and presence(maybe the line-up for THEOL helped) something EMDM lacked(It was too depressive). It's also more varied than the last album which seemed to be nearly all love songs, not here. THEOL has good energy but it's still very dark, It certainly isn't Antichrist or even Mechanical Animals but I've been listening to it a lot since I've had it and very much enjoy it. There are many who say he's lost it, I don't think so he's been around for some and the fact that he released an album this good is amazing to me. There are certainly a few songs here that if another compilation is released, I'd see on it. Not a fantastic album but a very good one. I think many of the songs here will still sound good in a few years because they are sort of current but not too much. Four out of five.