I almost had to laugh when I first heard Marilyn Manson was going to release an album entitled "We Are Chaos" in 2020. It just seemed too fitting. The rocker has often branded himself as a mirror to society, and what better year to provide said reflection than 2020? The COVID pandemic; another case of police brutality on seemingly a weekly basis; protests and riots nationwide due to said cases of abuse of power; tornadoes in Iowa; hurricanes in the Southeast, wildfires out West; white-supremacist militias taking to the streets; the "President" of the United States threatening to overturn the Constitution; etc. So, with all this going on, what did the shock-rocker have in store for us?
I'll start by providing a grade and summary of all the songs on the album, and then give a fuller analysis.
1. "Red Black and Blue" (8/10): Manson kicks things off by speaking, with a haunting horror soundtrack-type of sound emanating from the background, giving us a glimpse of things to come. A catchy bass groove comes immediately as Manson stops talking. When the chorus hits, the heaviness goes from 5 to 11, as Manson provides his best sing-scream since "Antichrist Superstar." Speaking of which, the licks in the chorus remind me of the 1996 album, but with a contemporary twist. A great start to the album.
2. "We Are Chaos" (7.75/10): With this second track, we get an immediate change-up, as Manson goes from a modern-day "Antichrist Superstar" to David Bowie. The shifts within the first two songs actually provide a rather accurate representation of the album as a whole. Whether it was intentional or not, from a sonic perspective, the record seems to be divided into two halves: Marilyn and Manson. This song starts with an acoustic guitar and a creepy, yet positive vibe. The song almost comes across as the "Heal the World" for 2020, as the chorus is, "We are sick, f*cked up, and complicated. We are chaos, and can't be cured." No, I'm not entirely sure how he turned that into a positive sound, but he somehow made it work.
3. "Don't Chase the Dead" (9/10): Here Manson goes new wave, with a catchy, almost Cure-esque vibe. It was at this point I started noticing a particular theme in the concept of this album, which I'll explain more in-depth later - as Manson sings, "Don't chase the dead or they'll end up chasing you." This is one of those songs, for me at least, which came across as appealing at first, but has continually gotten better with successive listens.
4. "Paint You With My Love" (9.75/10): Ladies and gentlemen, allow me to introduce you to Marilyn Manson impersonating Radiohead. The song starts off in a love ballad-type fashion, with an acoustic, piano, and arguably Manson's best singing since "Mechanical Animals." Then things suddenly go dark, in an almost "Daily Mail" kind of manner, as Manson screams, "It's not a life sentence, but a death dream for you." A very different kind of song for Manson - experimental, fresh, and impacting. Great tune.
5. "Half-Way and One Step Forward" (8.75/10): Manson goes from a new "Antichrist Superstar" to Bowie to the Cure to Radiohead to...? Coldplay, because why not? This song basically just features Manson singing, drums, and piano. The piano part is pretty much the same keys in a loop throughout the song, with varying degrees of volume and intensity. It may sound repetitive and boring when reading that, but it's incredibly catchy and improves with every listen. Upon first listen, it was one of my two least favorite songs on the album. Now it's ranked in the top half.
6. "Infinite Darkness" (8.25/10): While the first half of the album tended to present a lighter, more upbeat, and "Marilyn" sound, this song immediately starts side B with an incredibly gothic, "Manson" touch. It starts with a sound similar to the inferior "Pale Emperor" tune, "Birds of Hell Awaiting," before the bridge provides the feel like you're in danger, and then Manson shouts in the chorus, "You're dead longer than you're alive." Incredibly dark-sounding song. If there were ever another "Resident Evil" movie, I'd expect to see this song in the end credits.
7. "Perfume" (9.75/10): Ella Fitzgerald meets "Rocky Horror Picture Show." I'm serious. The song starts with Fitzgerald-like lyrics, "Get behind me! Get behind me! Get behind me, Satan!," before Manson creepily sings in the chorus, "If you conjure the devil, you better make sure you've got a bed for him to sleep in." This is an incredibly catchy song - arguably the catchiest on the album. When comparing it to the rest of Manson's catalogue, I'd say it's a hybrid of "Mechanical Animals" and "The Pale Emperor." Warning: if you listen to this song even just once, there's roughly a 666% chance of it getting stuck in your head. As such, you may not want to listen to it just before going to church, for the pastor may not appreciate you singing, "Get behind me, Satan!," but I digress.
8. "Keep My Head Together" (8.5/10): Sonically, it comes across like a hybrid of '80s punk and '80s new wave. Lyrically stout, as Manson sings in the chorus, "Don't try to change someone else. You'll just end up changing yourself." At least the first time through, it's probably best to listen to this song with headphones, as you'll otherwise miss some of the background sounds/details which make it distinct. It closes with probably the best guitar solo on the record and then Manson changing up his voice in a similar fashion as he did at the close of "Speed of Pain" off "Mechanical Animals."
9. "Solve Coagula" (7.25/10): To me, this sounds like a mix of a modern-day pop ballad and Peter Frampton. It's probably my least favorite song on the album, but is still solid, which just goes to show how strong this album is overall. Again, great lyrically, as Manson sings, "I'm not special. I'm just broken and I don't wanna be fixed. No one else I wanna be like, so I stayed the same like nobody else."
10. "Broken Needle" (10/10): One of the strongest songs in the entire Manson catalogue. It ranks right up there with "Coma White," and my personal favorite, "Saturnalia." Powerful. Passionate. The perfect close to the album. Vocally, I'm not sure Manson's ever sounded better, singing, "Are you alright? Because I'm not okay. All of these lies are not worth fighting for. I am a needle digging your grooves. Scratch you up and then I'll put you away." Yes, there's a double-meaning with those last two lines, which is rather commonplace on this (and his other) album(s). Manson closes the song with goosebump-inducing cries of "I'll never ever play you again."
Overall: 87.0% (87/100): Masterpiece
Conclusion/Analysis: Marilyn Manson's 1998 album, "Mechanical Animals," was a modern-day masterpiece I never thought he'd top. "Holy Wood" in 2000 was another gem, but a starkly weaker back half of the album held it back from contending with the aforementioned 1998 record as the best of the Marilyn Manson catalogue. He released two incredibly strong albums with 2015's "The Pale Emperor" and 2017's "Heaven Upside Down," respectively, but once again, they fell short of "Mechanical Animals." With "We Are Chaos" - 8 albums and 22 years later - I think he's finally managed to outdo himself. Not only is it the best album of his career and now one of my all-time favorites overall, it's come at the perfect time. There isn't a weak track on the record. Every song presents a unique sound, as the descriptions should allude, yet even with the extreme contrast in sounds from one song to the next, they feed off one another with seeming ease, presenting a complex, beautiful work of art in the process - a masterpiece.
In interviews, Manson has said the album is like a series of mirrors and the concept/story should be different for everyone - adding that every time he listens to it, it provides a different experience. After listening to the album roughly ten times through, I think I now know what he was talking about. "We Are Chaos" is like a therapy session. It's more psychological than Freud playing the inkblot version of the card game Memory. Throughout the record, he points to the fact that nobody is perfect; that we're all screwed up in one form or another, and that's perfectly alright. He builds on this to suggest, after accepting oneself, flaws and all, we must make the most out of this life, because nobody can know with certitude what will happen once we take our final breaths. In "We Are Chaos," he sings, "Maybe I'm just a mystery. I can be your misery. Maybe I'm just a mystery." The pronoun here, to me, is referring to life and perspective. Do we embrace the unpredictability of life and find silver-linings in hardships or do we obsess over and fear it, and allow these negative feelings to control us? As he begins and ends with "mystery" (as opposed to "misery"), given the "primacy" and "recency" effects, it's my belief this wording is suppose to have a positive tilt to it. In "Don't Chase the Dead," he sings, "Don't chase the dead or they'll end up chasing you," which translates to me as don't chase the past, or the past will take over your present and future. He then shouts "You're dead longer than you're alive" in "Infinite Darkness," suggesting, "You don't know how long you're going to be here and don't know what happens when this life passes you by, so make every moment you're blessed with count." Toward the close of "Perfume," Manson sings, "Am I superman or superstitious?" I think this is another way of saying, "Are you going to control your life or allow something/someone else to control it - namely God?," or to put it another way, "Do you believe in free-will or predestination?" On the next tune - "Keep My Head Together" - Manson sings, "Don't try to change someone else. You'll just end up changing yourself." Again, this seems to advise listeners to accept themselves and others, baggage and all, as often times, when we attempt to change another, it's simply to deny our own faults - perhaps projecting our own weaknesses onto them. This very denial and projection can in turn provide one with an illusory view of themselves and wind up changing themselves as a result. In "Solve Coagula," Manson sings, "I'm not special. I'm just broken and I don't wanna be fixed. No one
else I wanna be like, so I stayed the same like nobody else." At this point, it feels to me as though the person in the story has finally come to terms with who they are. As they look into a mirror, they accept what they see and are ready to move forward. In "Broken Needle," he sings, "Are you alright? Because I'm not okay. All of these lies are not worth fighting for. I am a needle digging your grooves. I'll scratch you up and then put you away. ... I'll never ever play you again." This is the final step, as once a person has accepted themselves, they need to accurately present themselves to others (no more lies), take the risk of being vulnerable, and when this results in you getting hurt (scratched up and put away), to not go back (never play you again), to pick up, and march ahead - for the same painful track of one's life will continue to persist until we remove the needle from the record. Yes, as if 2020 couldn't get any more surreal, shock-rocker Marilyn Manson has released a therapeutic self-help-type album to aid us in the craziness that is today. Unlike what he suggests with his final words on the album, however, I will be playing this record over and over again.
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