Eat Me, Drink Me : Marilyn Manson : Review : Rolling Stone

Headline from "THE ONION" a few years back: MARILYN MANSON NOW GOING DOOR-TO-DOOR TO SHOCK PEOPLE. It's been a while since the Halloween homeboy's combo of freak-show antics and Alice Cooper records scared anybody, and Manson's last few albums -- long on bombastic industrial metal -- were as predictable as a Big Mac. He hasn't exactly overhauled his identity, but with Eat Me, Drink Me, he's at least tweaked his approach a bit. Recorded at a home studio with just one buddy, Eat Me, Drink Me is the closest Manson will ever get to unplugged. It's still plenty dark, with Manson dishing about vampires and mutilation in a horror-ific croak that's rougher than ever. But, for Manson at least, it sounds pretty spare and oddly matter-of-fact without the huge, schlocky choruses and high-gloss production. Forget what you know about this guy and it'll come off like a decent, and rather efficient, little goth-pop record.

Manson's gift for darkening and reappropriating New Wave drama remains on cuts like "The Red Carpet Grave" and "Putting Holes in Happiness," all grinding guitars and trashy synths, with Manson spitting personal pain and decently gripping, if ragged, melodies. Elsewhere, as on the single "Heart-Shaped Glasses," Manson sounds like a suicidal Billy Idol, tossing off trashy hooks with focus and some expertise. Some of Eat Me, Drink Me is ho-hum and bone-dry, with few hot choruses and even fewer chord changes. But unlike those breast implants he once had, it's nothing to be embarrassed about.

CHRISTIAN HOARD

(Posted: May 30, 2007)

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Review 1 of 21

5of 5 Stars

THIS ALBUM'S HIS MASTERPIECE!THESE SONGS ARE BEAUTIFUL!THESE SONGS ARE VERY DEEP,AND PASSIONATE!THESE SONGS ARE "NOW"-BUT THEY ALSO GO BACK IN TIME IN A CERTAIN ERA.IF YOU RELAX AND LISTEN TO IT-YOU'LL SEE WHAT I MEAN.ALOT OF SONGS ON THIS ALBUM TOUCHED MY SOUL VERY STRONGLY.THE INSTRUMENTS,THE MELODIES,HIS WORDS,AND THE TONES OF HIS VOICE HE USES IN HIS SONGS-YOU YOURSELF CAN FEEL HIS DIFFERENT EMOTIONS THAT HE'S FEELING.MY 3 FAVORITE SONGS ARE:1)YOU AND ME AND THE DEVIL MAKES 3.IT'S HYPNOTIC,AND IT'S THE WAY THINGS ARE.2)EVIDENCE.IT'S RITUALISTIC WITH THE RELATIONSHIP BASED ON SEX ONLY.3)IF I WAS YOUR VAMPIRE.IT'S A DEEP,AND OBSESSIVE SINCERE LOVE STORY THAT WILL NEVER END-NOT EVEN IN DEATH.EVEN IN DEATH THEY'RE KEEPING EACH OTHER ALIVE.DEFINITELY GET THIS ALBUM!YOU'LL BE MISSING OUT ON SOMETHING SPECIAL IF YOU DON'T!MANSON TRULY IS A SPECIAL PERSON,AND HE REALLY SHOULD BE APPRECIATED!

Sep 15, 2007 14:39:45

Review 2 of 21

5of 5 Stars

I love this album, even if i have heard better from Manson. He's been through alot lately with him and Dita splitting up. But MArilyn MAnson is one of the best rockers of our time .

Sep 11, 2007 05:34:36

Review 3 of 21

2of 5 Stars

Okay, I dont know really what to say. This album was supposed to be written and produced by Tim Skold and Marilyn Manson. Well Skold should have brought his industrial roots, and Manson should have brought the darkness. Well Skold is pretty dark but. This album was really boring. I thought I would like it, because I am usually a Skold fan but this album sucked really bad. What ever happened to the Golden Age of Grotesque roots, they make it seem like that album did not even exist.

Sep 2, 2007 21:04:18

Review 4 of 21

4of 5 Stars

None of the user reviews I read on this page really make any sense. No one is actually taking about the music on the album. They are either analyzing the lyrics or insulting goth kids. What does any of that have to do with whether or not this is a good album? Yes Manson is pissed about his divorce with Dita and this is obvious from his lyrics, but that is not necessarily what makes this a good or bad album. And yes Manson and some of his fans wear eye liner, that also has nothing to do with the album. Why are people so hung up on Manson's image and personal life that they can't hear what's actually on the album? Yes Manson does use his image in the media to get peoples attention. He does this so people will go buy his album and then listen to it. Your not supposed to stop at the image. Manson is a song writer just like any other musician. He usually writes with a partner. His writing partner used to be Twiggy now its Tim Skold. Manson and Skold wrote some pretty decent rock n' roll songs on this album. Just because Manson grew up and stopped bitching about the government and now he bitches about his relationship problems does not mean these are not decent songs. Even if Manson was not singing them they would still be good songs. People need to listen with their ears not their eyes. Also, RS, what exactly makes synths trashy? I want 500 words or less by tomorrow.

Aug 20, 2007 17:05:55

Review 5 of 21

2of 5 Stars

I don't know. I expected a lot from this album and from Manson. I can't remember what issue it was but it was in the smoking section, and Mason stated that he was going to make the rock album of the year and that he was going to show all of these little punks and their little rock bands what it was really all about. Well he didn't back any of that up. He totally went soft and pussed out in my opinion. Granted it is Marylin Manson so I totally respect him in his vision but, c'mon, if you are going to talk shit back it up at least. There are quite a few other records out there that would top him for rock album of the year.

Aug 16, 2007 15:08:26

Review 6 of 21

3of 5 Stars

This is not Marilyn Manson. Guitar solos (great ones!), love songs, melodies, danceable rhythms. I love you, so much you must kill me now. Dita Von Teese broke his heart and he became a vulnerable, insecure, normal human being. Don't break my heart and I won't break your heart-shaped glasses. She tried to change him, to 'fix' him. I gave my soul to someone else. She must have known that it was already sold. It was never about her, it was about the hurt. This is not Mr. Manson.

Mutilation's the most sincere form of flattery. Eat Me, Drink Me alludes to what Manson considers is the best way of dying: If I have to choose a way to die, it would be eaten alive by somebody; something more romantic and seductive.

The music is good, though. He plays the drums and his partner in this adventure, Tim Skold, is in charge of guitars, bass, keyboards, engineering, programming and production. He is the catalyst, the one who makes Manson's catharsis possible in this album. It's a great, excelent rock album, but this is not Marilyn Manson.

Without Twiggy Ramírez on guitar. No political criticisms, no satanism, no sadism, no... Manson. Is this the Marilyn part and its fragility in its pure state? No, this is Brian Warner yelling out and asking us to exorcize him. Asking us to release him, deliver him from evil, from the devil (who's the devil?), who has taken control of him. This is Brian Warner asking us to please, please!, save him from death.
Should we save him?

Aug 11, 2007 21:51:40

Review 7 of 21

5of 5 Stars

I said B-4 on the blog about his video that I wasn't a true manson fan but that I have enjoyed his books. Well my son is now taking me 2 his concert on aug 2 in N.J. So I decided I better hear the cd 2 know what I was getting in 2. I must say I found my self playing it over and over. I LOVE it. Now I want 2 C what kind of show he puts on. He has grown. O even my husband has enjoyed it. He asked me who I was playing and when I said Manson he said NO WAY. I feel if the CD wasn't the way it is it would just be the same'ol same'ol s**t. I'm 38 and my husband is 53.And we both liked it. Looking 4ward 2 the show.

Jul 25, 2007 07:33:38

Review 8 of 21

3of 5 Stars

Boo hoo. FFS, I like this album, sure, it does take at least two plays to sink in but its not the big disaster some fanboys are saying it is.

I own almost every Manson album and love them all (for different reasons) and this one is no different. It may be two dudes in a room but it really isnt the 'up close and personal' album i think people think it is. Antichrist Svperstar was way more personal.

All in all, this album seems like something he wanted to make not had to make. Any comparison to the Emosplosion is understandable as Mansons music has always been about feeling your feelings and dealing, its not his fault it got so trendy.

I want to see a Manson/Fall Out Boy joint, why not? Cant sell your soul if theres nothing to sell.

Jul 18, 2007 00:35:28

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