Marilyn Manson - The Pale Emperor
Just listened to Marilyn Manson’s new Pale Emperor album a couple times. It made me sad. Because it was not what I enjoyed about Manson.
Manson stated that he no longer “dresses [his] feelings in characters and extended metaphors”, saying that he instead “lets melody lead” the album.
The characters and metaphors are what made Manson unique and entertaining. I loved The Worm, Omega, and The Archdandy of Dada. They provided a story, a theme, and a direction for the underlying subtext (since Manson lyrics were never simple, I enjoyed digging up the references and interconnected tidbits).
But now… This just sounds like a copy-past of his last two albums. Manson as a parody of Manson. What does he have now without the pomp and circumstance, the grandiose, and the occulted? Crooning. Ten tracks of crooning.