{"id":13353,"date":"2020-09-15T05:00:28","date_gmt":"2020-09-15T05:00:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rpmonline.co.uk\/?p=13353"},"modified":"2020-09-14T17:29:03","modified_gmt":"2020-09-14T17:29:03","slug":"marilyn-manson-we-are-chaos-lorna-vista-recordings-caroline-international","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rpmonline.co.uk\/?p=13353","title":{"rendered":"Marilyn Manson \u2013 \u2018We Are Chaos\u2019 (Lorna Vista Recordings\/Caroline International)"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Given the title of Marilyn Manson\u2019s eleventh studio record you\u2019d half expect it to be an inexorable sonic fist in the face, perhaps even harking back to the fury and anger of his \u2018Antichrist Superstar\u2019 days. But think again, because \u2018We Are Chaos\u2019 is a body of work designed to challenge and confound listeners, and in fact after numerous listens it actually takes me back to the days of \u2018Mechanical Animals\u2019, and a time when screams of \u2018SELL OUT\u2019 could be detected from within the more hardcore element of the Manson family.<\/p>\n

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I suppose discovering that this ten tracker (you get two extra acoustic tracks on the deluxe CD) was being co-produced by Shooter Jennings should have given the more astute Manson fan some indication that that this would be anything but a \u201cby numbers\u201d record (something that perhaps could be levelled at MM\u2019s last two studio records) and on first hearing the acoustic driven title track via the obligatory teaser lyric video I was certainly intrigued to hear more.<\/p>\n

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Kicking off with the part spoken word \u2018Red Black And Blue\u2019 this is without question the most old school Manson sounding track contained herein. The spoken word intro making about as much sense as Manson\u2019s (almost Cantona-essque) press releases these days, it\u2019s not long before the trademark staccato rhythms are banging away at my brain and I can just see the self-styled God Of Fuck screaming his lungs out draped over the lightbox\/monitor stage front and centre. Oh, for a live gig though eh?<\/p>\n

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One of the funniest things I read online in the run up to the album\u2019s September 11th<\/sup> release date was that the title track reminded one listener of an eighties charity single, it\u2019s a comment I simply cannot get out of my head never mind how many times I have subsequently listened to it, so maybe just maybe it is just that, a cry for help in our troubled times, and perhaps something we can all reflect upon.<\/p>\n

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\u2018We Chase The Dead\u2019 is up next and this is for me is where the album truly slips into gear, a huge slice of gothic pop, this beauty segues perfectly into the anthemic \u201870s melancholia of \u2018Paint You With My Love\u2019 and thus truly submerges you within the qualities of the album as an art form.<\/p>\n

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This rich vein of songwriting form continues within the Satanic funtime grooves of \u2018Perfume\u2019, the prophetic electronic blitz of \u2018Infinite Darkness\u2019, which once again touches on the raw Manson nerve endings of old, whilst the down beat \u2018Half-Way And One Step Forward\u2019 and \u2018Solve Coagula\u2019 perhaps best illustrate what Marilyn means when he says that \u201cshards and slivers of ghosts haunted my hands when I wrote most of these lyrics\u201d.<\/p>\n

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The epic \u2018Broken Needle\u2019 closes things down and this once again acoustic lead track actually has me checking it is Marilyn Manson I\u2019m listening to and not in fact 90s indie rockers Mansun. That\u2019s because like I said at the top of this review \u2018We Are Chaos\u2019 is an album that in equal measure will challenge and confound you but thankfully it will not disappoint you.<\/p>\n

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Oh, and before I sign off, \u2018We Are Chaos\u2019 is also a concept album. Good luck figuring that one out.<\/p>\n

Buy ‘We Are Chaos’ Here<\/a><\/p>\n

Author: Johnny Hayward<\/p>\n