Jimmy Weasel - Monday, 19 May, 2003 - Print Version
The best way to properly "feel" an album (all pantless & rubbing jokes aside) is to go on a long solitary drive with the windows down and the speed up. Way up. Let the music take control of your hands and feet for 60 or so minutes while your brain processes the ins and outs of your latest purchase. Simply sitting still to listen to it yields restlessness and distractions are imminent.
I had no idea what to expect; I'd downloaded a bunch of songs through Blubster with the correct artist and album title, but I could feel in my bones that they were not Manson. Many tracks in this rank era of P2P death are poorly labelled, be it deliberate or stupid. Tim Skold, as the relevant newsgroup tells me, is easily distinguishable from Manson. But not to me. They sound dangerously similar.
Let's get one thing straight: I am not a Manson expert. I find myself liking Mechanical Animals more than any other of his albums. But even that has songs on it that I don't like. GAOG is much faster. The sound is much clearer. Well produced and near perfectly balanced so limited equaliser adjustment is necessary; more for personal taste than musical clarity. Plenty of clear bass, with enough treble to enjoy the attack of the drum. A great sound that fills the car and my head completely. All the mirrors vibrate with even the thought of a chord being struck, and the glorious feeling of driving at full speed through a puddle coincidentally enhanced by the instantaneous lyric "..god couldn't make someone as filthy as you.." as a spray of filthy muddy water was sprayed in all directions. "Pure bastardry" I thought, "But if those fools don't want to get wet, they should not walk in the rain".
The album begins with a looped sample, building and building and repeating until This Is The New Shit hits. From then until the cover of Tainted Love the album progresses with very little relenting; maybe an intro or an outro or whatever. It'd been pointed out to me that mOBSCENE is excessively influenced by an old Faith No More track Be Aggressive, so I was observant of every beat and sample and melody, hopeful to pick out other dangerous similarities. Not even the overused beat from Disposable Teens and Rock is Dead and Beautiful People was used. Zigetty Zag has variation upon that particular beat, but you really have to listen for it.
On the whole album, I find only 2 or 3 tracks juvenile. Kaboom, for example. I just don't like the introduction, and feel it'd be better off without. Like the first track on Fear Factory's Digimortal, the way a child's voice says the last word of the song is just plain cheesy. Whereas the 6th and title track, Golden age of Grotesque just seemed better.
Despite these annoyances, and the fact that Tainted love just doesn't seem to fit, I like it: the whole shebang. Again, not as much as Mechanical but that's just me. It's clearly heavier, with no ballads as Coma White or Black, and is a more than moderately intelligent arrangement of noise and poetry. This is good driving music.
--------------
Doppelhertz, the short film that was included in the GOAG purchase baffles me. Odd poetry. Poorly lit montage of roads and masks and weirdness. Two girls stitched together by bodysuit. An eerie looped sample. What's it all mean? $4 extra for a new release to the consumer. And $4 is a good price to pay to be completely immersed in confusion. But I had managed a discount through some ordering/layby mixup and bungle. Strange metaphors. Repeated lines. Maybe for clarity or to highlight importance or relevance. Mystifying.
"have I outgrown my spotlight / my pupils are not students/ they dilate but they do not learn"
Tiring to watch.
Finagle with our bagel and keep a fresh and up-to-date eyeball on our latest reviews, articles and filthy somesuch. Mmm doughy.
class=etc
class=grimm
class=grimm
id=vonnegut
For lovers of reviews on music, books and theatre with advice and fiction on life and evolution.
Nipple protection from the elements?
Armpit hair needs a lair?
Bellybutton catching too many flies?
Then grab this comfy chest covering and other kinds of T-shirts at The Wax Sweatshop.