CD Review: Marilyn Manson – “The High End of Low”

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CD Review

This review was originally written by Jose Bernardo for www.theweeklyriff.com between 2008 and 2010.

These were Jose’s first impressions of the songs and were not written after multiple spins.

Artist: Marilyn Manson
Album: The High End Of Low (2009 Interscope)
Tracks: 15

Artist website: http://www.marilynmanson.com

REVIEW OVERVIEW:

This is the seventh studio album of industrial shock rocker Marilyn Manson. This is a review about the music and not the man. Much to our surprise this stuff is melodic! There are some really nice hooks and riffs. Even catchy!

The album as a whole is very well paced! In a world where most artists don’t really think about the pacing of an album, it’s nice to see that some still care. The only point in the album that felt unbalanced was track 9 into track 10. That 10 minutes was too much of the same.

Here’s the reality, not many people care about the musicianship in music anymore. In this day and age, where just about anything passes for a “pop” song, it is nice to see someone write something that has some musicianship in it even if it is simple. This is an album that most people would overlook just because of Manson’s bizarre public persona. However, the songs are solid. There’s musicianship on this record that I find lacks in so much other stuff that passes for “music” these days. BRAVO!

HIGHLIGHTS:

Leave A Scar, Four Rusted Horses, Running To The Edge Of The World

PLAY BY PLAY REVIEW

Track 1 – Devour
Mellow and simple track. Quite a nice melody. 

Track 2 – Pretty As A Swastika
So, this track sounds a bit more like what I expected. It is an interesting track.

Track 3 – Leave A Scar
This song has a bit more “pop” sensibilities. Very radio friendly. 

Track 4 – Four Rusted Horses
An acoustic guitar intro? That was unexpected. This is actually a very nice mellow song. If there was no fuzz on the bass and the vocals weren’t processed, this song could be done by almost any pop act.

Track 5 – Arma-Goddamn-Motherfuckin-Geddon
This is a really catchy song. 

Track 6 – Blank And White
Again, very nice “pop” sensibilities here and a catchy song!

Track 7 – Running To The Edge Of The World
Really pretty acoustic guitar again. Really nice ballad. 

Track 8 – I Want To Kill You Like They Do I
Another mellow song. All the interwoven things make this song interesting. However, I feel it drags on for a bit too long. It’s about 3 minutes longer than it needs to be. 

Track 9 – WOW
So, here it is, the “industrial” song on the album. So far, the songs haven’t really had this flavor in our opinion. 

Track 10 – Wight Spider
Ok, there are just too many slow tempo songs on this album and for some reason this sounds very drone-like to us.  WOW and Wight Spider together clock in at about 10 minutes and that is way too long to stay in the same atmosphere. 

Track 11 – Unkillable Monster
Medium tempo. Almost balladesque. Cool track. 

Track 12 – We’re From America
Here again, there are pop sensibilities at work and maybe even some punk sensibilities. I just wish this song would have some more chord changes as the majority of the song is in one chord. 

Track 13 – I Have To Look Up Just To See Hell
Could this song be classified as “classic” Manson? There are more industrial elements at work here. Despite the slow tempo again, this is a little more interesting as it manages to avoid the “drone” elements we didn’t like earlier in the album.

Track 14 – Into The Fire
Ballad. Nice piano work and a great guitar solo! 

Track 15 – 15
It’s a pretty song. 

ADDITIONAL NOTES:

We did not pay attention to the lyrical content of the songs during the review. We only reviewed the music.

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Posted in CD Reviews, The Weekly Riff (2008-2010) Reprinted.