Reviews

Before continuing to read this page and e-mailing me a complaint, I just thought I would point out that these reviews aren't of current LPs and singles, they are reviews of all the albums and singles which I own, both new and old. As I aquire more albums and singles this database of my collection will grow. The ratings given below are my honest oppinions on th CDs I own.

MARILYN MANSON

NOW, we all know of Marilyn Manson, whether you like him or not is another matter. He is one of those people who you either love or hate, in my case I love the music and admire the man. I know that this isn't the case for everyone, but I also know that most of the people who hate Mazza do so because of all the Christian bullshit rumors that are flying around and most of them haven't even heard the music. I speak from the voice of experience, up until about seven months ago I too thought that Mazza was an arse hole because of all the stories I had heard, then I bought "Mechanical Animals" to see what all the fuss was about and I loved it! Just because he dares to be different, it doesn't mean that you should hate (Fear?) him.

PORTRAIT OF AN AMERICAN FAMILY

MANSON'S first album set a very high standard to follow, "Portrait..." was a colossal album and proved how just having an opinion of your own can be shocking if it doesn't follow the same lines as what is seen as normality. Much of Christian America was shocked at the release of this album, to some people it was the equivalent to the coming of the Antichrist, but there were some who realised the truth in it all. So there were some anti-Christian lyrics, so what, they were all truthful, they were all well re-enfoced with facts, this album shows just how afraid the world is of change and of anything (Or anyone) who threatens the religious society. Our way of life is ruled by religion, if something good happens it is God who gets thanked, if something bad happens then it is Satan who is cursed, it is this naive way of life that Manson feeds off on this album, he shows the world that God and Satan are simply a way of justifying good and bad things that happen, the only real God and Satan is fortune and misfortune.

The whole shocking (Yet brilliant) message is portrayed in just over an hour of heavy, shock rock. With the first track "Prelude..." you can tell that Marilyn Manson is something awesome and different, then the whole thing bursts into life with "Cake and Sodomy" a song which summarises the whole album and gives us some classic quotes including the now infamous "I am the God of f**k". From there on it's a rolercoaster ride from hell, if you're into really heavy music then you'll enjoy this as much as I did especially track 9 "Dogma" (If the album is the rolercoaster ride from hell then this track is a backwards corkscrew!)

RATING - 9/10

SMELLS LIKE CHILDREN

Manson's first EP was released a year after the collosal (Yet poorly recieved) "Portrait...", this was essentially Manson having a laugh and messing about with some songs that he felt needed work on from "Portrait...". The end result was about four remixes of "Dope Hat", one remix of "Organ Grinder", three remixes of "Cake and Sodomy", three "new" songs and five wierd tracks (The wierdest being "F**k Frankie" which is just Mazza shouting "F**k Frankie!" over and over.) This EP is only really worth purchasing for the three "new" songs which are all covers of other peoples songs, the best being his version of The Eurythmics' "Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This) but listen out for "Rock 'N' Roll Nigger" 'coz it rocks!

RATING - 6/10

SORRY MAZZA!

ANTICHRIST SUPERSTAR

His second album was eagerly awaited, and much feared among the Christian society, it arrived towards the end of 1996 and it didn't dissapoint, many believe that "Antichrist..." is Mazza's greatest work to date. They are right!!!! It gets off to a sizzling start with the live track "Irresponsable Hate Anthem" and never looks back. Some songs on this album are thunderously heavy where as others are dark and slow but no less brilliant. This album is Mazza at his most extreme, dark, evil and heavy, the message of anti-religion on this album is far stronger than on "Portrait..." and as a result turned out to be super successful. Of course, you can't have a review of "Antichrist..." without mentioning the coolest track of all time, "The Beautiful People", this alone is a reason to buy this superb album, simple, aggressive and effective!!!!

RATING 11/10

BRILLIANT!!!

MECHANICAL ANIMALS

After talking about the super "Antichrist Superstar", it seems hard to say anything else about him that hasn't been said before. The aggression on this album has almost dissapeared but tracks like "Rock is Dead", "Posthuman" and "User Friendly" show that, although this is a change of direction for the self styled God of F**k, he has not lost his meaning. There are some great trcks on this album, the above three are the heaviest but "Disassociative" and "The Speed of Pain" are slow, emotional and brilliant melodic tunes which show that Mazza is more than a one trick dog! All in all, this is a good album but too mainstream to be Mazza at his best, the anti-religion message is hidden away (But still there) and most of the shock has gone, it would seem that the Reverend Manson has had the pinnacle of his career in "Antichrist Superstar", but we can rest assured by the man himself that he will return bigger and better than ever before!!!!!

RATING - 8/10

METALLICA

GARAGE INC.

The cover of this "new" Metallica album boasts 2 CDs, 2 hours of music and 27 songs, that may seem daunting to some, but to a Metalli-fan like myself it seems like a dream come true. I managed to pick this nice little package up for #12.99 instead of the R.R.P. #17.99 and I'm glad I manager to save myself #5 cause it's only the first CD that's really worth listening to. CD 1 contains eleven new recordings and CD 2 contains "Garage Days Revisited", "Garage Days Re-Revisited", "B-Sides & One Offs" and "Moterheadache", if they had just released CD 1 it would have been a good album, but CD 2 drags the score down a bit! I'm only gonna talk about CD 1 'cause CD 2 is not as good as it could have been. The best track on offer from the dinosaurs of rock is Blue Oyster Cult's "Astronomy", a song which has a nice, subdued verse and a thundering chorus, Hetfield and Hammett's guitars on this track really makeit into a special tune. Another good track is the first single off the album, Bob Seger's "Turn The Page", there is nothing special about this song but it is well structured and well re-written!!

OVERALL RATING - 7/10

CD1 RATING - 8/10

CD2 RATING - 7/10

CD2 WASN'T AS GOOD AS IT CUOLD HAVE BEEN!

THE OFFSPRING

"AMERICANA"

Every now and again there is a breath of fresh air in the music industry, even though The Offspring have been around for a fair few years now, every time they release a new album it feels fresh and lively, "Americana" is no exception. As with "Ixnay the Hombre" they begin the album with an odd little introduction before you get to the cool first track, but the real treats on this album are "Pretty Fly (For A White Guy)", "The Kids Aren't Alright" and the title track. My advice to you is to go uot and buy this album 'coz it's shit hot! There isn't really much to say about this album's style other than it is a bouncy and fun album which is seriously addictive and enjoyable to listen to.

RATING - 8.5/10

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