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The hype machine is warming up to promote Marilyn Manson's forthcoming album: the track listing was released to the media, sales of Manson's art prints are increasing (as are the prices) and the man himself is making statements designed to maximise his coverage in the music press.
The recent statement, "I really like Jesus, he is my gardener (no joke)" was a response to a 'fan' question asking "Why do you hate Jesus so much? Why do you hate a God who loves you with all that He is?" on his official website. This seems as sane response as the question deserves but then he goes into stage-mode: "I won't make fun of the Bible, but people can look at that book as blindly as you look at me... For example. Drink my blood? VAMPIRES. DEMONS. MURDER. ANIMAL SACRIFICE. If you preach love, go find some street kid who needs a home and take him/her in. Pay for their food and school. Really help one person. WWJD? Don't be a weekend warrior for Christ. Get your hands dirty, or get off my site!"
If you have never seen Manson live then you might not be aware what 'stage-mode' is. Basically, Manson likes the sound of his own voice, and happily rants about how Jesus invented LSD, and the is made of acid, and the beach of cocaine. In all fairness his stage shows are pretty fun, the AntiChrist superstar tour was spectacular as was 'Mechancial Animals'. The rhetoric is a little repetative but the sight on Manson on stilts like a giant spider was unforgetable.
Marilyn Manson has promised fans that his new single, 'mOBSCENE', and accompaning video will be "everything that people have always liked about me, and then some.. I need to come back and remind people that I have a gigantic brick tied to my shoe and I am going to kick you in the balls really hard. And then I am going to kiss you and look really good while I do it." He might look good (in a darkened room) but the rest of the band have randomly aquired dubious bleached hair and now could rival Orgy on the stupid hair stakes.
Having heard some of 'The Golden Age Of The Grotesque', it is ok but I can confiently say that I am not the target audience. It sounds like Manson is still annoyed that he could not use 'Charile and the Chocolate Factory' quotes on 'Smells like Children' and feels that the Christian protesters did not try hard enough on his last tour so is trying to really provoke them this time. Manson's role in 'Party Monster' is eerily well suited, although some bitterness could be interpreted in his performance as he was rumoured to be up for a Tim Burton film of 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory' which fell through/never existed. I will not spoil the 'plot' to 'Party Monster' but it is worth renting it simply for amusement value.
The video for 'mOBSCENE' features black-painted elephants, girls singing, Rockettes high-kicking, vintage Victrola record machines, "all of the things that you need." Additionally the live show to accompany the album will be a visual feast. "We're gonna travel with art, making it not just about a concert. The Golden Age of Grotesque is exactly what it says it is. It's an age. It's about entertainment. Ozzfest is a perfect forum for me to break the idea of the stage down and make everyone part of the performance." It is unlikely that Dani from Cradle of Filth will be prepared to be upstaged without a fight so potenially the Ozzfest could be good for a change - the US one at least.
Thoretically 'The Golden age of Grotesque' should be incredible. Manson lists all the right influences: the glamour of 1930s Hollywood, the grotesque of Vaudeville to the extreme height of cabaret decadence and so-called "degenerate" art in Weimar Berlin just before its destruction. But inevitable the personality will overwhelm the substance, despite the welcome influence of Tim Skold, who helped produce the album and is currently a member of the band - until he and John 5 realise that they could sucessfully do their own album away from Manson's circus of freaks if only one of them developed a personality.
Manson says that "the genius of art finds sanctuary among children and madmen to survive," as he presumably counts himself as part of this santuary he could explain why the new song titles such as 'Use your fist and not your mouth', 'Slutgarden' and 'Doll-dagga buzz-buzz ziggety-zag' could almost be Jack Off Jill songs, but at least Manson has promised to leave his clothes on for the immediate future.
"Art always sounds like some painful thing that you have to do in school. It's not. It's imagination. It's creativity. It's imagery. It's performance." And performance is something Manson is good at.
