Heaven Upside Down (studio album) by Marilyn Manson

The MM/Tyler Bates partnership was a surprising match made in heaven cause "The Pale Emporer"(I consider to be the best record in Marilyn's discography) and "Heaven Upside Down" are easily the best work Marilyn's done since "Holly wood." This current gothic, psychedelic, pop rock phase (including his most recent "We Are Chaos") is some of the best from his entire career.

Best Song(s): "Revelation #12" "KILL4ME" "Saturnalia" "Blood Honey" "Heaven Upside Down" "Threats of Romance"

It’s not easy and not really a pleasure to discuss or review an album by MM. Since 2000, Manson has delivered hardly any notable albums and in the world of popular music, there are few examples of musicians who can successfully stick to an image that should obscure the lack of relevant, creative output. But since “The Pale Emperor” (2015) it looks a bit like Manson has regained some of his musical credibility. The tracks have again become more songs. If "Pale Emperor" was a welcome return to form, then MM is doing its best to repeat the Renaissance on “Heaven Upside Down”. Characteristic of the fact that MM is doing his best to be musically relevant and entertaining again is de song "Blood Honey". You cannot suspect MM of an interesting and exciting kind of songwriting, but the melody line (why not a classical piano, indeed) does have its charm. Unfortunately the song also suffers from predictability. A pity. Now I have had it a bit with the obvious puns such as “SAY10” or “mObscene”. It’s all part of the game but really? This starts feeling like an insult to my intellect. It also bears witness to a lack of inspiration. I may not be welcome in the group of fans, but Manson increasingly is becoming pretty cramped. He has tried to move the milestones in his career, getting fame with a modernized version of shock (and less and less rock), being Alice Cooper 2.0, but he has been stuck in "seen this, done that" for a while and - history is an unlikely fair judge - his entire image is transparent ( so is his going back to David Bowie is that too), and in the absence of good ideas you inevitably become part of the set, no matter how dangerous and perverted your props and intentions are. Although ... are MM's music and image really dangerous? It is all quite calculated and let's face it: there is not much needed to insult religious people in the USA and engage in several fights. Europeans are more cynical in defending their cultural values and standards. But let’s get back to the album. "Tattooed in Reverse" can entertain because the song is good, has a catchy refrain, is strongly driven by synthesizers and some good structural interventions (the biting MM choir). Say10 is quite ok and very promising but the chorus and the lyrics are just silly. “My goat horns are napalm trees, And a crown of thorns is hard to swallow”, yeah right. On "Kill4Me" MM wants to prove too hard that he is a singer. It is not too bad, but it is not convincing. The melody is pretty ok, and for a moment you think this song is essentially good, old rock 'n roll with a great vibe. No, it's not forbidden to rock. "Jesus Crisis" is also inspired by a genre that has reinvented itself several times: Glamrock. The cheeky singing in the bridge doesn't work. The chaos is not really orchestrated. Here and there "We Know Where You Fucking Live" can still fascinate with a few strong melody lines, but again the cheeky and distorted vocals are there to spoil the fun. This track is strongest with the least loud parts and there are not enough of them. “Revelation #12” has several good moments, including a catchy verse. "Saturnalia" is not very bad, because the melody of the verses is pretty strong, but the track is simply too long and becomes annoying. "Heaven Upside Down" certainly has its charming moments, but the limited expressiveness of MM's vocals corrupts the - nevertheless very well produced and well written – song. “Threats of Romance” is good though someone must absolutely tell MM that it can all be less harsh and ugly or brutal. He squeezes himself in so many turns to convince the listeners of his unique position in the music landscape that the music is degraded and starts to suffer from the image. In his career, MM already fell back to proven successes a few times, but you cannot continue to do so. Glam Rock and Rock, Gothic … but all performed too loud and too brutal. Especially nihilism is a genre that very quickly stops to inspire, as this is its very nature. Anyone who has ever called MM Gothic or Gothic Metal is terribly wrong. Blasphemy is not lasting long or aging well. This is heavy metal without an edge, because all emphasis is on “Heavy” and the edge is buried beyond sets of distorted vocals. MM is once again ready for re-sourcing and is better assisted by musicians who also actively contribute to songwriting. Maybe get some lessons from Alice Cooper? He’s still around and in great shape.

From thirstyDog 12/18/2017 19:03

A few steps back from the excellent Pale Emperor. The maturity and self awareness from that album is nowhere to be found here.

Marilyn Manson's late-career hot streak continues.

Highlights: WE KNOW WHERE YOU FUCKING LIVE, SAY10, Saturnalia

From Helios 09/26/2017 03:24

It's like eat low-sodium gluten-free no-fats air: Nothing