No Salvation No Forgiveness

Summary: The idea of Marilyn Manson making a record this good, will make the haters dismiss it even harder. But the ones willing to give it a chance, will find a record that its worthy of the biggest honors.

"6 am Christmas morning," Manson tells us, and then we hear the powerful guitar riff, and a second later the drums like a death-marching band. "I love you so much you must kill me now" that's what she told him... then Manson screams "If I Was Your Vampire," by then we already know that this is one of the best Manson songs. As the song progresses, we see the classic Manson, a song that could fit on Antichrist Superstar or Holy Wood, but the song takes a different turn never heard on Manson before, as he finishes the chorus for the last time, everything is quiet... some drums and then the outro explodes in an epic way than fills you with the power of the song, so good that you'll want to play it again before listening to the rest of the album.

Few artists have dared to alienate their fanbase as much as Manson did with Mechanical Animals, and it's incredible that he dared to do it again with Eat Me, Drink Me, as If I Was Your Vampire is the only song that you could recognize as Manson, because the rest of the songs are something entirely new and will be, indeed, hard to digest for the fans, and will create a lot of excepticism and even mocking from non fans.

Putting Holes in Happiness even tricks you and makes you think this will be another classical Manson song, but when the guitar starts to play, the new style hits you like a boulder in your face. The southern 80's rock sound fits surprisingly good to Manson's vocals, with the verses and chorus being very catchy and accessible, not in the bubble-gum way, but as in the good'ol classic rock that sticks with you because of the rhythm being so well crafted and the singing so touching. But wait, there are even more surprises: a 1 minute length solo by Tim Skold, which has a very weird and dissonant style, that fits perfectly to the band, because he doesn't try to make the solos on Eat Me, Drink me technically perfect, or beautifully harmonized, let alone Metallica-like solos, however they fit perfectly to the songs.

The Red Carpet Grave, lets us know that the industrial/metal days of Marilyn Manson are far gone, and he is now doing what he always said that he wanted to do: good rock and roll.

Lyrically this album resembles to POAAF with cheesy lyrics, that Manson manages to make them sound serious while singing them and when accompanied with the music you can get the true meaning of them.

With They Say That Hell's Not Hot, Manson couldn't be that accessible and listenable, however you should not confuse this as Manson getting more mainstream since up to this point in the album, and I mean it, you will only hear excellent rock songs. Today's mainstream is focused on new wave rock ala The Cure combined with happy punk that we know as Emo Music, and post-punk/britpop with a garage feeling that today we know simply as indie rock, Manson's approach to the eighties goes far from that tree with a weird mixture of David Bowie, ZZ Top, The Smiths, Prince and oddly Queensryche with little hints of Pink Floyd, however Skold and Manson made it in their own way adding their own style and succeeded as it doesn't sound outdated or like a rip-off, while at the same time the influence remains strong.

In 2003, with the song "The Golden Age of Grotesque", Manson managed to pull out the vocals like only true artists can do, meaning that they were technically incorrect all the way and sounded like a drunk screaming painfully, yet the song wouldn't be as powerful without that kind of vocals, that I can only categorize as Avant-Garde, truly genius. In Just A Car Crash Away, he manages to achieve that again, only few dare to sing like that and getting splendorous results, the whole song is very emotional and probably along with If I Was Your Vampire, the best song in the album. The lyrics touch you painfully, with very sentimental vocals and a hypnotic rhythm, with a delightful yet painfully emotional chorus and a heartbreaking solo.

The first single Heart-Shaped Glasses (When the heart guides the hand) is the only song that sounds like britpop, and is in fact the most commercial song on the record (in my opinion is the only one with possible commercial success.) Manson shows current bands how it's really done. Evidence somewhat reminds me of the badass rhythm of "Breaking the Law" by Judas Priest, and also gives a little feeling of the songs on Smells Like Children, like I Put I Spell On You. Are you The Rabbit? is the best example of the pure and classic rock and roll that Manson can perform like he did with Rock'n'Roll N*gger, but even better. Mutilation is the Most Sincere form of Flattery is also another good example, this one with a little touch of the punky feeling of the Spooky Kids and POAAF eras. You and Me and the Devil Makes 3, is even more surprising because up to this point there has been no filler or a song that's not up to the rest of them. There is somewhat also some Sisters of Mercy influence in some songs that bring "This Corrosion" to mind.

EAT ME, DRINK ME, the last track on this disc, is a great closer, and has an eerie Alice In Wonderland feeling, and the lack of a proper chorus ironically makes it just better and builds up to the ending of the song and the record, that will only left you wanting to listen to the whole cd again... and again... and again...

The downside of this album is that most won't like the whole record at the first listening, some of the songs have to grow on you, but when they do, you will find yourself not wanting to stop listening to it. The potential of this record is incredible since there are so many songs that can be considered classics, however today's situation of the music industry might make of Eat Me, Drink Me a sales failure compared to the quality of the songs that compose it, since, at least in my opinion, while accessible, this album is not mainstream-friendly. Hopefully I am wrong.

Considering how fast this album was made and how it was made, the results are overwhelming, This album is the consequence of Marilyn Manson's divorce with Dita Von Teese and the rise of a new relationship with the actress Evan Rachel Wood; its also the exclusive collaboration between Tim Skold and Manson himself. The real test that this record has is if it can get the classic status since this is a Marilyn Manson album and lots of people will dismiss it just for that.

Review by Djnx.