Reviewed by David Pearce
Artist – Marilyn Manson
Album – Born Villain
Label – Cooking Vinyl, Hell
Year –2012
Track Listing
1. Hey Cruel World
2. No Reflection
3. Pistol Whipped
4. Overneath The Path Of Misery
5. Slo-mo-tion
6. The Gardener
7. The Flowers Of Evil
8. Children Of Cain
9. Disengaged
10. Lay Down Your Goddamn Arms
11. Murderers Are Getting Prettier Every Day
12. Born Villain
13. Breaking The Same Old Ground
14. You’re So Vain (Bonus Track)
Marilyn Manson give us Born Villain it is the bands eighth full-length studio album. It was released on May 1, 2012 by Cooking Vinyl Records and Manson’s own vanity label Hell, Interviews with the band’s frontman described that the record would be in a heavier tone than that of previous works, describing the sound as a “suicide death metal” style.
When I heard that Marilyn Manson was bringing a new album I just thought oh no if it is going to be like the last three he made I am not going to enjoy it. But I must admit this album is probably his best work since The Golden Age of Grotesque album in (2003) from the start of the album it was typical old style Manson you can tell just by his vocals that he is enjoying his music again. The first song is Hey Cruel World it is full of well-done lyrics, great riffs and keyboards it is typical Manson in your face music that shocks the world.
The next three songs are No Reflection, Pistol Whipped and Overneath The Path Of Misery. All these songs are very good but my favourite out of these three has to be Pistol Whipped it is also my favourite off the whole album it really takes me back when Manson was at his best. The fifth song is Slo-mo-tion it starts off with a good bass run which is then followed by the drums, guitar and keyboards then Manson’s vocals come with the same panache as he always does. It is another good well-done song.
The next Four songs are The Gardener, The Flowers Of Evil, Children Of Cain and Disengaged all these songs are very well done again just as you would expect from Manson it has great riffs, cool keyboards and well put over vocals. The Tenth song on the album is Lay Down Your Goddamn Arms starts off with a great heavy riff then the vocals come in and the tempo goes down a notch but keeping the heavy riff going. This is a really good song the way Manson is putting him self over in this what he used to do back in the day. The next three songs are Murderers Are Getting Prettier Every Day, Born Villain and Breaking The Same Old Ground these songs have more of the same good vocals, heavy riffs and good keyboard work in them that any Manson fan would be happy with. The last song and this is a Bonus song on some editions of the album which is You’re So Vain which is a Carly Simon cover it also has Johnny Depp featuring on lead guitar and on drums. In typical fashion Manson has stamp his own style on this and it really works well. Just like some of his other covers that he has it has been done very well I can see this being on a film soundtrack somewhere in the near future.
Overall
This has been a bit of fresh air from the Manson camp it is definitely been the best album that he has brought out since The Golden Age of Grotesque (2003). If you are a Marilyn Manson fan you will hopefully be very pleased with what he has produced here.
8/10
Marilyn Manson Is
Marilyn Manson – vocals, lyrics, guitar, keyboards, compositions, production
Twiggy – guitar, bass, keyboards, backing vocals, compositions
Chris Vrenna – keyboards, synthesisers, programming, drums, percussion, compositions, production
Fred Sablan – bass, guitar, compositions
Production
Sean Beavan – Mixing
Dean Karr – photography
Johnny Depp – guitar, drums, production (“You’re So Vain”)
