While his last album showed Manson getting out the boo-hoos of a failed relationship, this one sees him return somewhat to form of just generally hating shit, although he's still bitter. "Devour" kicks it off and could actually be a hold-over from Eat Me, Drink Me, but then Manson jumps right back into his old "controversial" self, with "Pretty As A Swastika". It's barely even a song, and only exists so that Manson can put the phrase on his fucking album. Manson has apparently not learned that "shocking" stopped being shocking after the millennium started. Not we just you to show your vagina on the Internet."Four Rusted Horses" is a step away from the norm, as Twiggy plays the main riff on an acoustic, but the song has little value otherwise.
Now, I can deride the first couple of singles for having an obnoxious lyrics and for being obvious "Beautiful People"-type of crowd pleasing screamers. But in the end, they're just fun songs. "We're From America" is like an angry bouncy version of Kim Wilde's "Kids In America". Lyrically, it paints the anti-America picture using the most egregious images that Manson can dream up. "We don't like to kill our unborn. We need them to grow up and fight our wars."
Similarly, "Arma-Goddamn-Motherfuckin-Geddon" has that trashy big-beat like Jay-Z produced it. Like "Crazy In Love" except Beyoncé would be singing:
First you try to fuck it, then you try to eat it
If it hasn't learned your name
You better kill it before they see it
"Blank And White" has a great minimalist blues riff and a great bridge which altogether gets wasted with the rest of the song full of Manson's clichés. He even talks about "shooting up the school". "Running to the Edge of the World" also treads some new ground as a full on power ballad love song. Although Manson-ized, with the lyric, "We don't want death, we want destruction", this would be perfect for my teenage neice.
The capper is the last song, and after 72 minutes, it was a difficult ride, but as you will hear below, "15" shows a thought-provoked Manson coming to terms with renewing his sense-of-self after losing a love. He says, "Yesterday everything I thought I believed in died, but today is my birthday." You really get a different Manson here. One that's not painted and evil, but someone who can commit to a relationship and can be just as traumatized as the rest of us when that commitment is disrupted.
Overall, these surprising moments are outweighed by the clichés. There's promise here, but with 15 songs, it's littered with the simple. (2.5 of 5 stars)
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