Marilyn Manson – Eat Me/Drink Me (3 out of 5)

Marilyn Manson’s “Eat Me/Drink Me.” I have been a Marilyn Manson fan since I first thought he was a really ugly girl in his “Sweet Dreams” cover. Once I found out it was an actual dude, I became more of a fan. He was genius, and he truly understood what it was to fuck with people. Sadly though, his last great album was in 2000 when he came out with “Holy Wood.” In my opinion, it was his greatest album yet. Still, if I were to sit back and write down the top 10 albums that changed my life, that album would definitely be up there. He had SO MUCH to write about for that album. He was at the top of the mothers’ most hated list, he was being blamed for Columbine, and people were actually burning his albums. The album came out at the perfect time with his most perfect songs. His follow up to “Holy Wood,” which was entitled “Golden Age of Grotesque,” was by far his WORST album to date. Seriously, I almost cried when I heard it. Lyrically, it didn’t even seem like he tried. Because of lyrics like “the grass is always greener on the other side, we burn it down in flames and have no reason why,” I eventually, and literally, threw the CD out of my car window while on the interstate. That’s how angry I was. When news came that he was putting out a new album, and allegedly his most “personal” album, I got a little hard-on. He got rid of Dita Von Teese, and though I am a fan of hers and think that she is VERY beautiful, my overall opinion was that she was bringing Manson down musically. She actually left him in the middle of the album, which made everything better in my mind. I thought half the album was going to be very sad and the other half to be angry. What I got was certainly better than “Golden Age of Grotesque,” but almost up to par with “Mechanical Animals;” meaning that though this is not his worst album, it certainly isn’t his best. Actually, if “Golden Age of Grotesque” didn’t exist, then it certainly would be his worst album yet. But I must say that though its his second-worst, its still not a bad album and definitely worth the listen. It really is his most different. It is his most personal, but only because a lot of it is kinda emo. It is very love-influenced. The bad part of it being love influenced is his voice on the album. A lot of people have tried to comically imitate his dreary gothic voice, and this is the epitome. It’s quite frustrating at times. Two things highlight this album: one being that there are GUITAR SOLOS. No, I did not just have a typo, there are seriously guitar solos in these songs. Never have there been guitar solos in ANY Marilyn Manson song. Not only that, but they are actually really good guitar solos. I was VERY impressed. The other highlight of this album is the song “Mutilation Is The Most Sincere Form Of Flattery.” This song is actually about Gerard Way of My Chemical Romance. You’ve seen Gerard sport the black dress suits, the white powder face with the black stripe across his eyes. It’s pretty obvious that many of these emo faces come from Marilyn Manson. This is his vent on these faces, but more specifically Gerard Way. Though I am a personal fan of Gerard, I like this song and think its funny. Three out of five stars. It is worth the buy simply because of the guitar solos and the refreshment from Golden Age. ***

Linkin Park – Minutes to Midnight (3 out of 5)

Linkin Park. What else can be said about this band? They are on the coat tails of the rap/metal phase, which should have died long ago and never brought up until Rage Against The Machine got back together. I had low hopes for this album when I heard the first single. It sounded like the same ole’ Linkin Park with the unoriginal lyrics and the four-chord progressions. It wasn’t until I heard the rest of the album that I thought, “well at least they are TRYING to evolve.” The best decision they had for this album was getting Rick Rubin to produce. He has the magic ear. He doesn’t even know how to play an instrument; he simply sits back, listens, and pretty much just says “yes” or “no.” This album sounds a lot more raw than their previous ones. You don’t hear so much synth and catchy chorues about how Chester is depressed and thinks the world is against him (didn’t Jonathan Davis start that?) But at the same time, there is pretty much only one song on the album that I can really get into, and its primarily because of the drums. He really stepped it up on that song, but then let it go back to normal on others. Though I am glad that they are going in a new direction, I feel that this album is only a demo of what is to come from them. For me, it is more listenable than their previous two, but I still can’t get into it. I give it a rating of three out of five stars. I feel its pretty fair. ***

The Used – Lies For The Liars (3 out of 5)

Now let’s take a look at the new The Used album. This one is entitled “Lies For The Liars.” As far as this band goes, the first album was great. However, it sadly broke down the barriers allowing the ever-frustrating influx of “screamo.” Actually, now that I think about it, in my mind they are the equivalent to Rage Against The Machine. Rage didn’t start the rap-metal phase, but they perfected it and no one else could do it as well. I’m not saying that The Used perfected screamo, but their first album was one of the closest things to it. Screamo, in my opinion, can’t be perfected (or at least hasn’t yet) because it sucks. Their follow-up album to their debut, “In Love And Death” was supposed to be great. Bert’s girlfriend died and he had written the majority of the album about her. It was to be an absolutely heart-wrenching, screamtastic vent for him. IT BLEW. “In Love And Death” was one of the most cliché and unoriginal pieces of emo shit that I have ever heard. I had NO hopes for their newest work, “Lies For The Liars.” However, this album really impressed me. Their first single “The Bird And The Worm” is honestly one of the best songs they have ever written. It is creepy and orchestra-driven with lyrics that I can actually listen to and say “this is pretty cool.” Much of the rest of the album seems very swing-influenced and able to be danced to. Still, their days of “In Love And Death” linger, as a few of the songs are their shitty versions of ballads. Though they have their ballads that I can hardly sit through, there is still one song that I have to skip every time it comes on. This song is called “Liar Liar (Burn In Hell).” I don’t need to describe what the song sounds like, all I have to say is that the chorus is “liar, liar, pants on fire.” Fuck you, Bert. FUCK YOU. Three out of five stars. And you are lucky to receive such. I do this partly out of pity and partly out of satisfaction that you BARELY saved yourself from “In Love And Death.”***

Nine Inch Nails – Year Zero (4 out of 5)

The album is called “Year Zero” and it is arguably the most industrial and noisiest album yet. Though I would usually be biased in this situation because I am a HUGE fan of Trent Reznor, I am going to try and be as neutral as possible. Compared to their previous albums, this stands out on the same line as their previous one, “With Teeth”. Many die-hard Nine Inch Nails fans have found distaste in these two albums and feel that Trent is losing his edge. What they need to understand is that he isn’t losing his edge, his is SOBER. Of course his music is going to sound different. He is focused! He quit drinking, picked up a pen, and wrote the album “With Teeth.” It was very different from the rest of his albums, most notably because he did something he hasn’t ever done before on any other album: he talked. In the song “Only,” he spoke much of the lyrics instead of singing them. On his newest album, “Year Zero,” he is still sober and still writing differently. This album is so alien-inspired that there seems to be an entire subculture dedicated to finding out new information on it. The physical CD itself is interesting because when you play it; the color on it changes, revealing a hidden message written on the cover. This message brings you to a website furthering the interest already grasped by NIN fans. Overall, I give this album four out of five stars, and it pains me to do so. I have the vocal melody of “Hurt” tattooed all over my right leg; trust me, it pains me to give them only four out of five stars. I only do this because, though the album is fantastic, it did not blow me away.****

Rolling Stone has lost its edge (obviously)

When did the greatest music magazine start becoming the most predictable? Being a music critic does not mean giving four out of four stars to everything that is catchy and sounds pretty. You have to actually CRITICIZE it. Pay attention to how it was recorded (the hi’s, the lo’s, too much mid, the panning, the overall quality). Pay attention to the difference between that album and the albums previously recorded by that band or artist. Research the meanings of the songs. There is so much more that goes into an album than just instruments and voices. Rolling Stone seems to have forgotten this. They are giving out four-star ratings as often as they put unqualified and undeserving celebrities on the fucking cover.