NowStreaming: Marilyn Manson – WE ARE CHAOS

NOW STREAMING: MARILYN MANSON – WE ARE CHAOS JASON SAVIO

A lot can be said about Marilyn Manson and his colorful career. But the one-time shock rocker hasn’t really done anything to shock us at all in recent memory—for that you’d have to go back to before the turn of the century. There is a bit of a surprise, though, on WE ARE CHAOS, Manson’s newest effort.

While many of Manson’s recent releases have been largely forgettable, WE ARE CHAOS captures the singer/songwriter with something worth saying, rather than leaning on the usual intimidation and scare tactics he enjoys applying. It's a more honest Manson.

The most obvious example of this “new” Manson comes on the title track, a surprisingly poppy number that is the troubled goth cousin of any take-your-pick 21st century neo-folk song. In it, Manson sums up how he sees us as a people, singing in the chorus, “We are sick/F***ed up and complicated/We are chaos/We can’t be cured.” It’s a commentary on us as humans that strikes a deeper chord given our current social and political climate. These words aren’t delivered as a boast or a threat, they’re delivered as a tragic plea for help in a discouraging world. It features Manson looking outward, which he rarely seems to do, and reporting on what he sees. It’s a song for the times and it feels more transcendent and relatable than most of his material.

If there was ever a David Bowie for today it would have to be Manson, and “Don’t Chase the Dead” drives that point home even further with its atmospheric dance groove held together by Manson’s deep voice. Interestingly, two 80s Bowie songs come to mind when listening to “Don’t Chase the Dead”: first is “Let’s Dance,” thanks to a pounding intro that builds up into a clean break, going into another Bowie-sounding song, “Scary Monsters (And Super Creeps).” Manson delivers a message here to not live in the past or you’re apt to be haunted by it, when he sings, “Don’t chase the dead or they’ll end up chasing you.”

Both the title track and “Don’t Chase the Dead” are radio hits waiting to happen, or at least they would have been a couple of decades ago when Manson was more under the microscope.

“Paint You with My Love” is a dreamy ballad that also has segments that fall in the category of “Is That Marilyn Manson?” This is a track that sounds better with headphones on, by the way.

Manson unfortunately starts to revert back to his comfort zone during parts of the record’s second half, namely with “Perfume” and “Keep My Head Together,” but WE ARE CHAOS is still worth a listen, showing some growth from an artist you thought was done.