Music Review: Marilyn Manson – The Pale Emperor

                Manson’s last album, Born Villain was the first music review I ever did for this site, so when his new album was released, I had to dive back in to his twisted world.  From the opening bass guitar of “Killing Strangers” I could tell this was going to be a good time.  Marilyn Manson has carved out his own little genre of the metal world, one that I thoroughly enjoy, mind you.  The Pale Emperor, his latest addition to music’s creepiest discography doesn’t disappoint. 

                The music is just as heavy as any of his previous albums, even the old stuff, but it doesn’t feel as dirty.  Manson has changed as he has grown, taking all of the different musical experiments he has conducted over the years and combining them  to create the perfect amalgamation of heaviness and musical proficiency.  This isn’t an album of musicians banging on instruments (and the vocalist screaming into the microphone) for forty-five minutes.  This is solid, complete album, and one of Manson’s best.  Manson slows the tempo on a lot of the songs on this album without removing the quality or the requisite sleaze from his voice or the songs themselves. 

                Of course, the song titles and subject matter are as dark as you would expect, but no one is picking up any music, new or old, from Marilyn Manson with the expectation of a disc full of show-tunes.  If you purchase the Best Buy exclusive disc, you even get three additional songs.  Those three songs are acoustic versions of three of the earlier songs on the record, but they actually hold up as their own recordings surprisingly well.  It is well worth the price to get those tracks along with the rest of the album. 

Many of the songs actually have more in common with Mechanical Animals than any other album to date.  Considering Mechanical Animals was my first Manson album, I love this return to that form of music.  The heavy but almost danceable beats make for an interesting overall experience.  If I was to ever go to a rave in Hell, this is the kind of music that I would expect to be there.  While it certainly seems like Manson has gotten away from his heavier roots, it is not a change that I mind in the least.  The simple fact that he is still making quality recordings when many of his contemporaries have been unable to stand the test of time speaks volumes about his ability.  I would highly recommend The Pale Emperor for anyone even remotely interested in the genre. 

Loseriest

At least Happee has his pride, right?  

To still be going strong after being dumped in the loser bracket, that's conviction.

Cocktail

Week Fifteen- (The Playoffs round 1-B)

Standings:

Shrimp:		Assorted Freaks:
The Masked Shrimp	7-6	The Slugomatic	7-6
Fred	9-4	The Wormy Guy	5-8
The Masked Shrimpette	6-7	Mr. Happee	5-8

Schedule: Round 1 First round leader in parentheses      Round 2

Fred

(Shrimpette)

(Sluggy)

Shrimpy

Loser Bracket:

(Happee)

Wormy

Peyton Manning jokes are almost as easy to make as Eli Manning jokes.

Not so New Comic Review: Universe X #1

                Earth X opened every issue with a retelling of the origins of some of Marvel’s greatest heroes.  Universe X is no different as the narrators, Nighthawk and Gargoyle continue the tradition started by Uatu and X-51.  Dr. Strange is the subject of this issue, and we get a refresher course on his hubris, and how that hubris transformed him into Dr. Strange.  Back in New York, it’s a frozen wasteland thanks to the switching of the polarity within the planet.  Tucked away inside their apartment, Nighthawk tells his tale, while Gargoyle writes it down.  When a page is complete, he then sends it down a chute to the basement, where someone binds everything Nighthawk says into books.  We get a peek at the figure, but we don’t actually know who he is (nor will we for quite some time).

                In another part of New York, we come across Marv and Cap (this obviously takes place some time after “Four” as Cap is now entrusted with Marv’s care, and last we saw, Marv was in Latveria.  I will say, Doug Braithwaite does a great job of drawing Marv as a young kid.  Kids are not easy to draw consistently, especially realistically, and Braithwaite does an exceptional job at it for the entirety of the series.  This series basically turns into one big Legend of Zelda adventure as Marv and Cap traverse the Marvel Universe to gather all the goodies that Marv needs to complete his quest.  The first item on the list is Cloak’s…cloak.  It just so happens that Dagger, now an old woman, is using it to keep warm and mourn her friend.  Some street punks want to take it from her because, well, they’re cold too.  They don’t realize that it’s a portal to another dimension though and the cloak begins to envelope them all.  Cap saves a couple of the kids, and Dagger is bent out of shape as apparently, the cloak just basically eats people all the time.  Marv does what Marv tends to do through the whole series, he tells people how the dead person that the living are mourning is doing well on the other side.  Because this is the Marvel Universe, no one thinks he’s a nutty little kid.   Marv then takes the cloak and he and Cap now use it as a teleportation device.

                In Latveria, Reed and Sue are back together, and because of this, Reed has ditched the beard and Doom armor.  Out of nowhere, Immortus shows up and says that the torches are crippling everyone (which they kind of are by removing everyone’s powers).  Reed explains to Immortus that the Earth is going to die soon anyway, so basically who cares if people don’t have powers.  That seems pretty shitty coming from someone that just got their reason to live back. 

                In New York, Spiderman is now a police officer who is stopping some thugs from stealing food.  They attack him, and Spiders Man, the guy that casts webs of illusion shows up to cast another one, showing the thugs that there is plenty of food for them to eat.  They subsequently start chowing down on absolutely nothing and Spiderman notices that Iron Maiden is hanging around as well.  Basically, it looks like we are connecting the two series at this point, showing what everyone is doing at this point in time. 

                Cap and Marv are now in Dr. Strange’s house, looking for some books of his.  They encounter a bunch of mindless ones that leave them alone at first and then turn to attack.  As they are enveloping Marv, Loki plucks him out of the fray.  Cap reiterates the position that no Avenger can actually trust Loki, which Loki debunks because he is no longer the same person.  While on the moon, X-51 enters some ruins, looking for answers.

Next Issue: Does X-51 find the answer?  Do we even know what the question is?

The Drew Brees Blues

Sometimes it's a good thing when your cousin is the bartender, 

except when he's the frontrunner for the Fantasy Football crown.

Music Review: Govt Mule – Dark Side of the Mule

                I am not a huge Pink Floyd fan, never have been.  I like the classics, sure, but the deep cuts just don’t do it for me.  I am, however, a huuuuge Govt Mule fan.  They may be one of my favorite bands of all time.  A couple years ago, they put out a CD where they covered Led Zeppelin’s Houses of the Holy, and it was awesome, and Warren Haynes and company rarely ever disappoint on a live album (though their studio albums can be hit and miss) so I knew I had to pick this up. 

                While the source material is not my cup of tea, I have heard the entire Dark Side of the Moon album, and from what I remember, this is a great replica of that.  As with every Govt. Mule experience, the guitar work is as good as you could ever ask while the vocals fit perfectly.  I could listen to Warren Haynes sing me the musical version of Mein Kampf and be soothed to sleep.  My favorite tracks are the classics though, which Govt Mule performs to perfection.  “Comfortably Numb”, “Wish You Were Here” and “Shine on You Crazy Diamond” (Parts 1-9) are great songs in their own right and translate incredibly to the Jam Band style that Govt Mule has perfected. 

                The rest of the band is exactly what you would expect as well, quality music from accomplished musicians that work to highlight Haynes’ signature sound.  The band doesn’t miss a beat in the different style and sound that Pink Floyd is to theirs and if Warren gave up the vocal duties, you might even think you were at a Pink Floyd show. 

All in all, Govt Mule has made Dark Side of the Moon their own while sticking closely to the source material.  It’s a great album to add to the concert playlist of the band and an album that my Pink Floyd loving father (and anyone that is a fan of either band) will most certainly enjoy.

Week One Results

Being in the loser bracket is the worst.  Even if you win, you're still just the best of the losers.