We Are Chaos: The Mephistopheles of Los Angeles Stalks The Charts Once Again (Track-by-Track Review)
[Update: 02/02/21. This post was made prior to the public allegations made against Marilyn Manson by Evan Rachel Wood and five other women. Like many fans, I am saddened to see the cycle of abuse continue and I sincerely hope that justice is served. While it is important to see that art is judged independently of artists, I wish to express my support and respect for the women who have come forward and distance myself from their alleged abuser.]
"I Was A Snake But I Didn't Realise You Could Walk On Water, Without legs."
(The Fall, Genesis. Manson inverts the walking on water miracle, replacing Jesus Christ with The Serpent)
Marilyn Manson has proven just how much more he has to offer. This is a blow by blow review of all 42.27 minutes of the God of Fuck's latest instalment, We Are Chaos, released 11/09/2020.
01. RED, BLACK AND BLUE
Ever the polemicist, Manson titles his first track, Red Black And Blue -- a bruised corruption of the Star-Spangled-Banner. His album's release date, too, falls on 9/11, a sensitive and tragic date in the U.S. calendar. The track opens with a spoken-word prelude in which biblical imagery is interposed with chat-show laughter and political rally screams. He proclaims to have been "the snake" that discovered it can "walk on water without legs" before transforming into the "king bee" who threatens to cover the earth in honey so that everyone "will eat themselves". Here, Manson's true lyrical prowess towers above his last album, Heaven Upside Down; even The Pale Emperor's shining moments pale in comparison.
(Beelzebub. "Now I'm a bee, the King Bee")
It's a misanthropic start to the album and charged with bitter political subtext. However, the rest of the album doesn't entirely follow suit. It's a strong opening song and certainly makes a statement, but what that statement is exactly is open to interpretation. Manson says that his "eyes are mirrors" that only see "Gods on the left and demons on the right". [NB. These words are borrowed and manipulated from The Lesser Key of Solomon.]
02. WE ARE CHAOS
A lot is peering out at us in 'We Are Chaos'. From behind the cloistered bass drum, there are guitar slides, tinkling piano notes and a distorted voice message which swims straight out of 'The Telephone' (1990, The Beaver Meat). Manson howls, bellows and drawls with the dark magnetism of a southern preacher whose passionate exclamations remain jangling in our ears long after his sermon has been delivered. He steers away from the whistle-range (something Manson explored in Born Villain to a mixed critical response) but punches in those sharp notes with piano chords instead.
Manson's sermon is the song's refrain: "We are sick, fucked up and complicated; we are chaos; we can't be cured." It sums up a world that is not only in the grip of an infectious pandemic (Covid-19) but a pandemic of hate too. He makes two allusions to literature, the first comes in the line, "far from the maddening crowd" (a play on the novel, Far From The Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy) and the second, "a man of all seasons." A Man For All Seasons is a play written by Robert Bolt. It is based on Sir Thomas More, Henry VIII's Lord High Chancellor and grapples with the themes of conscience, loyalty, and identity. In the song's choral bridge, Manson asks "Am I... the man in the moon or the man of all seasons?"
(We Are Chaos directed, edited and photographed by Matt Mahurin)Chillingly, the line directly after this (which also precludes the outro/chorus) reads, "Will I be in at the kill//With you?" It is reminiscent of a line from the very same play in which More is persuaded to sign off on an act which he finds unconscionable. More says, "and when we stand before God, and you are sent to Paradise for doing according to your conscience, and I am damned for not doing according to mine, will you come with me -- for fellowship?"
(The Man in The Moon is, in some Christian interpretations, meant to be Cain, the son of Adam and the first murderer)
He makes two allusions to literature, the first comes in the line, "far from the maddening crowd" (a play on the novel, Far From The Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy) and the second, "a man of all seasons." A Man For All Seasons is a play written by Robert Bolt. It is based on Sir Thomas More, Henry VIII's Lord High Chancellor and grapples with the themes of conscience, loyalty, and identity. In the song's choral bridge, Manson asks "Am I... the man in the moon or the man of all seasons?"
(We Are Chaos directed, edited and photographed by Matt Mahurin)
Chillingly, the line directly after this (which also precludes the outro/chorus) reads, "Will I be in at the kill//With you?" It is reminiscent of a line from the very same play in which More is persuaded to sign off on an act which he finds unconscionable. More says, "and when we stand before God, and you are sent to Paradise for doing according to your conscience, and I am damned for not doing according to mine, will you come with me -- for fellowship?"
(The Man in The Moon is, in some Christian interpretations, meant to be Cain, the son of Adam and the first murderer)
Could we stretch this, in light of the killings in America, to suppose that Manson is asking whether we, all of us, must choose to be people of conscience or the pareidolic man in the moon, who, banished for his crimes, is doomed to live in cold isolation.
All in all, 'We Are Chaos' provides a more grown-up instalment in the shock rocker's discography. It asks grown-up questions too -- questions about ourselves and about those who have power over us. When the track ends, Manson's vocals still haunt us. They crouch under the wooden rafters of the dark church he's built in the dust. What will he do next? And more importantly, what will we do next?
Could we stretch this, in light of the killings in America, to suppose that Manson is asking whether we, all of us, must choose to be people of conscience or the pareidolic man in the moon, who, banished for his crimes, is doomed to live in cold isolation.
All in all, 'We Are Chaos' provides a more grown-up instalment in the shock rocker's discography. It asks grown-up questions too -- questions about ourselves and about those who have power over us. When the track ends, Manson's vocals still haunt us. They crouch under the wooden rafters of the dark church he's built in the dust. What will he do next? And more importantly, what will we do next?
03. DON'T CHASE THE DEAD
The anthemic track. An explosive opening belies a catchy synthpop rhythm and an equally catchy chorus. This song oozes new-wave and gothic rock. It's stylish. The drums are thunderous but not raucous. They provide the song with a compelling structure, similar to The Cure or The Sisters of Mercy's 'Neverland'.
04. PAINT YOU WITH MY LOVE
A love song. A sweet opening from Manson and a slow backbeat which is reminiscent of a 50's Doo-wop ballad. This song has a dreamy backing track too. The tempo picks up a bit around the two minute mark and we get some characteristic screams from Manson as the song descends into a wailing outro.
(Paint You With My Love)
(Paint You With My Love)
05. HALFWAY AND ONE STEP FORWARD
Melodic, syncopated piano like rainfall; Manson's vocals reel alongside, "I don't wanna know// Don't need to know//You got champagne problems//I don't wanna know//Don't need to know//You got champagne problems". His voice is deep and very similar to the late great David Bowie in tone. It's a song that's less experimental than any of Bowie's later music but the way he climbs those notes makes him the closest thing to an heir to Bowie living today. There are also some beautifully arranged strings near the end of the track. It is dynamic and expertly crafted.
(Manson, Left, Bowie, Right)
06. INFINITE DARKNESS
Probably one of the weakest songs on this album. It's heavier than the previous five tracks but lacks the maturity and substance that they offer. This track sounds like mall-goth rock and has all the profundity of an adolescent interpretation of Nietzsche. The lyrics lose the surreal and poetic turns of phrase Manson has shown us thus far. The chorus, "You're dead longer than you're alive" is flat and obvious and his usually clever linguistic play turns into lines like, "First class on the astral plane". I just wish Manson could have stretched himself a little further to meet the highs of the first five tracks. Unfortunately, he's lapsed back into the low end of the disappointing, High End of Low. This track is a miss for me.
07. PERFUME
This song is seductive but dangerous. We get back to old fashioned rock n' roll. Manson sings the hook in rousing falsetto, "get behind me, get behind me, get behind me, Satan!" This song also has its share of low lyrical moments but since it doesn't take itself as seriously as track 6, they're more of an indulgence than anything. He makes some close to the bone statements that are clearly aimed at the messy situation involving his friend and collaborator, Johnny Depp and Depp's former partner, Amber Heard: "It's all just tongue and cheek, yeah//Not a victim of fashion//More fascist than vogue//'Cause victim is chic//You're as famous as your pain//Victim is chic, yeah." The title leads back to his 'We Are Chaos' lyric, "once you've beheld death, everything else is perfume." As a victim of abuse himself, it's frightening to think that Manson might be close to calling abuse or alleged abuse... perfume. To be honest, I think Manson is best sticking to more universal themes rather than celebrity drama. Perhaps my interpretation is too flippant. Maybe it deserves a few more listens but at first glance, this song means nothing to me.
(We Are Chaos directed, edited and photographed by Matt Mahurin)
(We Are Chaos directed, edited and photographed by Matt Mahurin)
08. KEEP MY HEAD TOGETHER
A nice, heavy bass line carries this one. It hits like 'Cupid Carries A Gun". It's arguably one of the best songs on the album. An unapologetically choral bridge in which Manson sings, "fuckin' love you//I love fuckin' you//I eat glass//And I spit diamonds" is reminiscent of some of the lines from 'You, Me and the Devil Make Three'. The song fades out with a backmasked utterance from Manson of the Latin phrase, "Solve Coagula" meaning, dissolve the congealed mass.
09. SOLVE COAGULA
In which Manson returns to his past self-loathing. He professes, “I’m not special I’m just broken and I don’t wanna be fixed” in a line that is as hokey as The Mephistopheles of Los Angeles', "don't know if I can open up I'm not a birthday present". This song is all bass and perhaps a good track to put on when your only companions are your stormy mood, some booze and cigarettes. Like Manson says of himself, this song is not special but it takes up a hefty 4 minutes and 22 seconds all the same.
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