Marilyn Manson
Eat Me, Drink Me
Interscope
2007

by Lana Cooper

Rating: 8/10

Marilyn Manson's latest disc, Eat Me, Drink Me, goes back to the very essence of his roots, standing as a walking, talking, shocking dichotomy. The Artist Formerly Known as Brian Warner's stage name intertwines both the beautiful and the macabre, and never before on a Marilyn Manson album has that concept of duality been more ever-present than on Eat Me, Drink Me.

While not officially a concept album, Eat Me Drink Me seems to run with a sort of chronology, a logical progression from the closing of one door and the opening of another, sprinkling in several literary references along the way from Lewis Carroll to Nabokov.

Written during the course of his divorce from wife, fetish model/burlesque performer Dita Von Teese and on the cusp of his current relationship with actress Evan Rachel Wood, Manson's latest album explores some heavy-duty emotional territory.

No one in their right mind would ever compare the two, but Marilyn Manson shares a stranger-than-strange kinship with Phil Collins' on his early solo albums which centered around the former Genesis singer's own divorce. It's a good bet that Manson won't be penning and performing Disney any time soon, but with Collins, Manson shares a similar, albeit less radio-friendly intensity regarding the dissolution of wedded bliss, and the anger and depression that accompanies it.

On the flipside, Manson and his latest album owes a debt of gratitude to his new girlfriend, Wood for bringing him out of his divorce doldrums and acting as a rejuvinating tonic, dousing Eat Me, Drink Me with a raw sexuality that could almost call for this offering to be called How Manson Got His Groove Back.

While Manson's feminine inspiration is given a dedication credit on the disc, Tim Skold seems to have been his masculine muse.

Eat Me, Drink Me is the closest thing to a Marilyn Manson solo album in his seven-studio album career. His sole collaborator on this effort was former KMFDM and Shotgun Messiah member, Tim Skold.

Skold co-wrote, co-produced, and co-performed with Manson on the disc, his role within Manson's musical orbit having rapidly expanded since producing Manson's remake of Soft Cell's "Tainted Love," then going on to replace long-time bassist, Twiggy Ramirez. Knowing Manson's meticulous standards, it's almost shocking to see one singular member of Marilyn Manson (the band, in this case, not the man.) have such a large amount of input and influence on an album.

Tim Skold's guitar work on most of the tracks is less of the industrial flavor that you would expect, instead, it's more of a "Hey! You got your chocolaty glam metal in my satanic rock peanut butter!" This is not so much KMFDM-era Skold, but more of a happy medium between industrial and heavy leanings toward his days as a guitarist for Shotgun Messiah.

Listening closely, songs like "The Red Carpet Grave" showcase a hint of industrial rivet-head noise amid the Wonka-esque bounce that was an early Manson staple.

As much as I thought I would miss John 5's distinctive style, I didn't. There are times when Skold's playing sounds a lot like not only former Manson member John 5's style, but also the collaborative guitar efforts of the revolving cast of Marilyn Manson guitarists on Antichrist Superstar and Portrait of An American Family .

Eat Me, Drink Me seems to be an album in two acts. The first half, kicks off with the dirge-like If I Was Your Vampire, an elegy for the demise of a relationship. Rife with Manson's stock-in-trade image-laden lyrics, however musically, the song's tempo doesn't pick up until the end, plodding along at a slow and methodical pace with the coda standing as an effective outburst.

Still tackling the touchy subject of divorce, "Putting Holes In Happiness" conjures an image of Manson walking through his gothed-out pad, swinging a baseball bat at framed photos of Dita with the lyrics, "Should have picked a photograph / It lasted longer than you." One of the standout tracks on the album employing both emotionally charged lyrics and a very theatrical structuring of the song.

Similarly, the excellent "They Said That Hell's Not Hot" proves to be highly melodic, surprisingly so for Manson. While the title may give the impression of an Anton LaVey-inspired epic, instead, the title is a metaphor that sets the stage for more of Manson's rather depressing ruminations on love.

Bridging the gap into the second act of the disc, "Heart-Shaped Glasses (When the Heart Guides the Hand)," has Manson jumping in with trepidation into the healing world of post-divorce love and lust. Soundwise, the track is perverse blend of something that could very well be sung by a '60s girl group with a touch of '80s, Flock of Seagulls-esque pop.

By the next track, "Evidence," he's moved on to what could be a full-out "fuck you" to his ex-wife, a lusty affair with brutally sexual lyrics like "Fuck me til we know it's unsafe / And we'll paint / Over the evidence."

"Are You The Rabbit" trips down Tom Waits territory with the abstract imagery. Tim Skold's guitar work manages to sound almost exactly like Mechanical Animals era John 5 on this one grinding, striptease of a song that brings to mind an even more warped version of Alice In Wonderland.

Come to think of it, maybe Manson could be doing a dark, Disney remake of Alice In Wonderland (eat your heart out, Phil Collins), the title track (and last cut on the disc) continues with overtones from Lewis Carroll's masterwork. The track winds like smoke from an ominous, hookah-huffing Cheshire Cat, somewhat reminiscent of Manson's work on Holywood. Manson's vocals take on an even darker tone than normal, vacillating between dark, whispering inflections and deep, droning tones that turn this into a standout piece.

Although there is none of the railing against established hierarchies and bureaucracies as on Antichrist Superstar and Holy Wood, Eat Me, Drink Me culls a similar musical ambiance from these albums, as well as Mechanical Animals. Thematically, rather, this is Manson's most personal declaration of anger, depression, and lust ever. Some tracks instantly hit the listener hard right out of the gate, while others take time to appreciate.

Nevertheless, longtime Manson fans will enjoy this disc, particularly as it's a return to his earlier sound, a departure from the more cabaret-sounding Golden Age of Grotesque. Ever the chameleon, Manson still manages to add a twist to familiar territory, offering something different with every album while pulling off the not-so-easy feat of keeping with a signature sound.