Marilyn Manson
'THE GOLDEN AGE OF GROTESQUE'
Marilyn Manson has befallen the same fate as Austin Powers;
he appears to have lost his mojo.
His capacity to misbehave has been severely incapacitated.
As you might imagine, that's not good news for the 'God Of F*ck',
whose impotency means people aren't afraid to smirk where they once
frowned in distain.
This is especially noticeable in a period of global turmoil
when America's political agenda has been roundly condemned.
You suspect the Manson of old would have gladly commandeered the anti-mission
but the 21st century model has been oddly silent.
Maybe he's pissed that he failed to figure in the Axis of Evil?
The world he once manipulated at will has moved on but significantly
Manson hasn't.
The shelf-life of tabloid hysteria means his tasteless shock antics aren't
headline-worthy anymore.
His thunder has been well and truly stolen,
first by a skinny white rapper and now even 'Pop Idol' instigates more social
outrage than a heavily made-up goth rocker,
subsequently pushing Manson onto a charm offensive with disastrous results.
Like the TV show that exposes magician's secrets,
the self-exposure has blown the myth to unveil nothing more than an
articulate fully grown trick-or-treater.
Nor has there been any discernable response in terms of music.
Despite frenetically seeking those extreme reactions,
they remain strangely elusive.
Manson's sound still casts a dark cloud in the same way it's done for the past
four albums - tinny drum machines giving way to industrial guitars,
while Manson rants on about sex, drugs and violence -
but shouldn't a so-called innovator and artist offer us more?
Manson's need to use the word 'grotesque' in the title says it all -
just in case you'd forgotten his purpose.
Desperate measures continue with the album's transparent opening lines:
"Everything has been said before/nothing left to say anymore"
and his plea to "Let us entertain you".
It's difficult to tell if his wryness should be applauded or not.
Yet, for all that negativity, it's difficult to write '... Grotesque'
off given that it's a far superior record to 'Holy Wood':
a return to his goth glam rock stomping ground of 'Mechanical Animals'
sees to that.
Until the funereal title track, this is a highly enjoyable LP.
The direct 'This Is The New Shit',
the almost cheery 'Doll-Dagga Buzz-Buzz Ziggety-Zag',
the volatile 'Use Your Fist and Not Your Mouth' and
the first single 'mOBSCENE' (with its Faith No More pillaging kiddie chorus)
throttle along with his trademark frantic industrial rampage.
Pity then that it runs out of steam so spectacularly with half the record
remaining.
Manson still has the capacity to raise an eyebrow but not on the scale
he once did.
His treatment by the media has obviously taken its toll,
even if he shrugs off such suggestions.
'The Golden Age Of Grotesque' is anything but golden.
It's an inferior re-run of the Marilyn Manson hammer horror panto
that's been showing since '96.
We know what happens in the end. Brian, time for a re-invention.
６／１０
Chris Heath
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作者: CREgodfather (教父<天亮就遺忘>) 看板: M_Manson
標題: [譯文] Review on Dotmusic
時間: Sat Nov 29 19:10:14 2003
這篇是 Dotmusic 對近來的 Manson 和 The Golden Age Of Grotesque 的評論。
蠻嚴厲的，但是偶爾看看有益身心健康。
原文：
作者 noseven (geeza) 看板 M_Manson
標題 Review on Dotmusic
時間 Sun Jun 1 19:38:11 2003
───────────────────────────────────────
Marilyn Manson
'THE GOLDEN AGE OF GROTESQUE'
06/10 Chris Heath
王牌大賤諜 (Austin Powers) 的命運降臨到 Marilyn Manson 身上了；
他似乎失去了他的魔酒（見本段末註解）。他耍壞的能力嚴重受損。
就和你猜的一樣，這對 "God Of F*ck" 而言可不是好消息，
無能就表示以前皺眉的人們現在可以放心擺出討厭的笑容。
（註：「魔酒」MOJO，色紅，性剛熱，惟有天生龍種、
後宮佳麗三千人的皇帝，經過日積月累的採陰陽，方能擁有。
資料來源：http://movie.kingnet.com.tw/channelk/AustinPowers/）
這在全球陷入混亂與焦慮，美國政策被強烈而直接的批判的此時，特別明顯。
你以為 Manson 會像以前那樣高興地接收這個反動的使命，
但是這位二十一世紀的典範沉默得很詭異。
也許他為了無法描繪邪惡軸心正在惱怒？
他曾經操縱的世界繼續往前，但是顯然 Manson 沒有。
小報那種歇斯底里的保存期限意味著他毫無品味的譁眾取寵再也不值得登上頭條。
（譯註：在下不太理解為什麼要提到小報的保存期限，所以只好照字面翻譯）
他的話真的都被說光了，先是個骨感的白人饒舌歌手，
現在連「流行偶像」煽起的社會激情都比濃妝豔抹的哥德搖滾樂手還多。
這些事情逼使 Manson 討好敵人，帶來災難性的結果。
就像電視節目揭露魔術師的秘密，自我揭露吹開了迷思，
面紗底下不過是個成年的耍嘴皮萬聖節小鬼。
音樂界也沒什麼反應。
即使這些音樂狂熱地尋求極端的反應，它們還是奇怪地難以理解。
Manson 的聲音仍然引來一片烏雲，像以前四張專輯一樣
－便宜的電子鼓讓位給工業吉他，而 Manson 嘶吼著性，藥，和暴力－
但是所謂的創新者和藝術家難道不應該給我們更多東西嗎？
Manson 需要在標題中用到 "grotesque" 這個字就說明了一切－怕你忘記他的目的。
這種無計可施也可以在專輯的開頭幾句看得很清楚：
"Everything has been said before/nothing left to say any more"
還有他的懇求 "Let us entertain you"。實在很難判斷該不該為他這種幽默喝采。
不過呢，經過這麼多的否定，還是很難把 "...Grotesque" 丟開不管，
因為它已經比 "Holy Wood" 好很多了：
回到他的 goth galm rock，請注意是踩在 "Mechanical Animal" 的基礎上。
直到用葬禮作標題的歌之前，這是張很令人欣賞的 LP。
直截了當的 "This Is The New Shit"，
幾乎是興高采烈的 "Doll-Dagga Buzz-Buzz Ziggety-Zag"，
輕快短促的 "Use Youe Fist and Not Your Mouth"，
還有第一單曲 "mOBSCENE"（和它的 Faith No More pilaging kiddie 合音）
和他正字招牌的工業狂暴一起令人窒息。可惜接下來的半張就沒氣了。
Manson 仍然能令人瞪大眼睛，但是沒有以前那麼大。
媒體對他的禮遇顯然是有些代價，雖然他不想聽這句話。
"The Golden Age Of Grotesque" 什麼都是，就是不 golden。
它是從 '96 年就開播的 Marilyn Manson 榔頭驚悚童話劇的次級重播。
我們知道結局是什麼。Brian，該說個新故事了。（譯註：Brian 是 Manson 的本名。）
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￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣
im not in love but im gonna fuck you til somebody better comes to love
im not in love but im gonna fuck you til somebody better comes to fuck me
ˍˍˍˍˍˍˍˍˍˍˍˍˍˍˍˍˍˍˍˍˍˍˍˍˍˍˍˍˍˍˍˍˍˍˍˍˍ
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