Born Villain
Year: 2012
Format: Spotify
Grade: D+
In 2000, it was dangerous to be Marilyn Manson. Proclaiming himself a "born villain" would've been daring and accurate.
In 2012, it's old, tired shtick. Heck, it was tired shtick on 2003's The Golden Age of Grotesque. It's not that he/they haven't shown attempts to reinvent themselves: "Heart-Shaped Glasses" was an attempt at dark romantic, but all it did was give people the creepers about Manson and his then-girlfriend, Evan Rachel Wood.
That relationship kept his name in the public conscious on a tabloid level, which is sort of where he's always subsisted. He's always been a step above a circus act.
The thing about being a shock rocker is that, unless you're Howard Stern, shock has a limited appeal. We're initially fascinated and then we're over it.
And with Born Villain, we're so over it. The song titles say everything: "Hey Cruel World," "Murderers Are Getting Prettier Every Day," "The Flowers of Evil."
Appropriately, the name of one near the end: "Breaking the Same Old Ground."
Exactly. Born Villain proves that if Manson's career development were a tree, it would be a stump.
Tomorrow's entry: Laura Marling, Alas, I Cannot Swim
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