Album of the Weekend

Marilyn Manson-Mechanical Animals 

Sure, Manson is a jerk, a Satanist, and generally an unpleasant person-but he's also incredibly bright. Startlingly so, really. Brian Warner comes across as well read, well spoken, and able to debate and defend his positions better than you'd think. 

He's also a great artist. Mechanical Animals is the concept album that the late David Bowie could have made. It's easily the most underrated album by Manson, and one of the most underrated albums of all time. 

Concept albums tell stories. This one is about a drug addicted glam rocker and an androgynous alien that comes to earth to become a drug addled glam rocker. Seeing how little people feel in modern day America, the alien correctly views them all as "Mechanical Animals". It's a lot like "The Wastelands" by TS Eliot which, in poetic form, tells the story (at least partially, that poem is incredibly complex) of how we lack passion, vision and emotion in the post World War One era. 

Musically, the album really is a reminder that, at the time, rock/metal was dead and mostly sounded alike. Wretched bands like Korn and Limp Bizkit were the popular ones, and those of us who liked rock and metal were desperate for a savior. Manson is no savior, but this album did provide some small form of redemption. This album is vastly superior to "AntiChrist Superstar". 

The best songs on the album are "Posthuman", "I Want to Disappear", "New Model 15" and "Rock is Dead". This album is another 5 star, must have for fans of glam rock and rock in general.