Heralded as a return to form for Manson after years of indulging in his self loathing and destructive relationships in his music, this album is definitely... not that return. It tries to go for a grittier, more guitar driven, I'd almost even say old school grunge sound but with several industrial dance beats interspersed within the songs. Honestly it all sounds too samey to me, same tempos, same chords (Twiggy was drugged out of his mind so that's Manson's first time picking up ... read more

More like the Low end of Low. Manson's worst moment and creative nadir. If Eat me Drink Me was a detour, this shit is an absolute spiral into psychotic breakdowns, misery and most of all, the boredom that comes with it all. Not even mentioning the never ending bloat, he tries to do so much here that I cant help but feel how disjointed this whole project is. One moment he's trying to evoke his hard hitting industrial metal success days with a song like Armaggedon (kinda successfuly) ... read more

Marilyn Manson's dark age. Well, in fact most bands from his era were kinda suffering at that time, both creatively and commercially. Him giving in fully to romantic fallen vampire aesthetic might initially seem aligning to his overall dark goth image, but it doesn't stick the landing as much in compositions. Definitely a sign of the times. I do admit that the first half of the album is considerably stronger than the second part. In fact its genuinely good Marilyn Manson music. Tim ... read more

There it is, the moment in history where the band Marilyn Manson turns into the front man's solo project. Originally intended to be his final album, its basically an attempt to make a more commercial "middle finger to everyone" statement. Apparently they wanted him to tone down the serious thematics and heaviness, so that's what he did. An album about nothing at all. For me, massive step down compared to the trilogy. It sticks to a tried and true industrial rock formula ... read more

Hot on the heels of Columbine, this is the third and final part of the Anthichrist trilogy. It tackles themes of martyrdom, scapegoat culture and the fall from grace of American society. It is overambitious in its attempt of trying to combine the nasty heaviness of Antichrist Superstar with the simple and minimalistic electronic flourishes of Mechanical Animals. It does however manage to land a fitting and satisfying, if a little bloated, ending to the trilogy just fine. Be it anthemic hard ... read more

We're full throttle into Manson's classic era and what a gem is this. Instead of spiraling further into the industrial hell of edginess that Reznor took them in, they now decided to make an atmospheric glam rock album. The concept here is satire and more or less a continuation of Antichrist Superstar. The sonic difference is night and day though. Much more emphasis on spacey electronic textures rather than chugging riffs and the mixing is clean and polished rather than dirty. Manson ... read more

Now this shit is massive. One of the most rage inducing and socially charged albums of the 90s, if not ever. The concept is well executed, doesn't indulge in many details, tells a coherent story while leaving a lot up to the listener's interpretation. As for the songs, they're riff driven, distorted to the gutter and Manson gives an all time nasty vocal performance. Despite all this, the structure is very much there and you can scream along to most of the choruses. Incredible ... read more

Pretty slow start for this legendary band. You already have the cheesy drug infused boogeyman elements in classic songs like Lunchbox and Get Your Gunn. Here's the thing though, those classic songs are very few and far between here. They're basically just trying to build this coke induced industrial dirtfest, but without much songwriting and structure to back it up. Solid score for the groundbreaking aesthetic, but if it wasn't for Trent Reznor this would be even worse

Yeah that was the record they always knew they had in em and just decided to deliver at the breaking point. Basically a summary of their achievements and tropes, but executed better. Whimsical, mysterious, rocking, majestic, everything that made Queen Queen is here and amplified tenfold. Maybe the late 80s production values could use some work but everybody is on fire here performance wise. Freddie's voice is thinner here, different than any other Queen album, but powerful at the same ... read more

Savatage successfully returns to heavier material after a period of focusing exclusively on theatrical Broadway style albums. Yeah Gutter Ballet had its more sinister moments but this one is on the whole the heaviest collection of songs since Hall of the Mountain King. Banger after banger, even the more melodic atmospheric ballady songs hit hard.

Zach Stevens, a lower register singer, replaces Jon Oliva for the first time and who would've thought he'd do such a great job. Emotive, ... read more

Simply outstanding. One of the most beautiful soul/pop albums of all time. I'd think it would have been way more popular across the world if it came out couple years earlier. Probably the best and most diverse top to bottom project Annie Lennox ever committed to. Production values are out of this world, her voice is haunting and the songs are hit material each and every one. Pretty telling that she didn't manage to write anything like this afterwards. The album that solidified her as ... read more

As the first half of the decade draws to a close, so does Abel Tesfaye's tenure under the "Weeknd" moniker. An artist who first grabbed my attention with the now generational 2020 effort "After Hours". It was followed up by the divisive and less impactful "Dawn FM" in 2022, which I personally thought expanded on the momentum of After Hours and showcased a lighter, more danceable and retro direction to an otherwise dark and self loathing sonic pallete. Thus, I ... read more