Eat Me, Drink Me
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Eat Me, Drink Me is Marilyn Manson's sixth studio album, released worldwide on June 5, 2007. Eat Me, Drink Me was recorded in a rented home-recording studio in Hollywood, California by lead vocalist Marilyn Manson and guitarist and bassist Tim Skold. A press-conference with Manson in April 2007 revealed that the album itself was a collaboration strictly between himself and Tim Skold. It was produced by Marilyn Manson and Tim Skold, and mixed by Sean Beavan.[1] It has been stated that there were originally around 20 embryonic songs, all written by Skold, 2 of which (that didn't make the album) Manson considered complete with lyrics and vocals. Manson stated that he had a difficult time cutting some of them, but felt he had to in order to prevent the album from being "diluted". This album was also the last to feature Tim Skold's contributions, having been replaced by Twiggy Ramirez the following January.[2]
Background information
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Manson decided not to give up music and recorded a duet of “Don't You Want Me” with Shirley Manson. This was originally intended to support the forthcoming ‘best of’ release but was felt by both artists not to live up to their standards and has yet to see release.
Lest We Forget was released on September 28, 2004. It was referred to by the singer as his "farewell" album; however, he insisted that it would not be the final Marilyn Manson album. After the release of the single "Personal Jesus", the band made a number of promotional appearances. Lest We Forget was certified Gold in 2005. When promotion for Lest We Forget concluded the band returned to the studio and recorded eight embryonic songs – some of which had vocals, and one notably a tribute to Andy Warhol. It was supported by the Against All Gods world tour.
The Against All Gods tour was marked by one release, a 2005 EP of "The Nobodies" featuring a new mix of the song (by Chris Vrenna) and other remixes.
Recording
Manson began his singing on the album in November 2005 but was focused on his film Phantasmagoria, the process of opening an art gallery and personal troubles relating to his marriage. It was after opening the gallery, the Celebritarian Corporation Gallery of Fine Art on Halloween night of 2006, that Manson really began his contribution as a singer by working out melodies and structures around Skold's already existing compositions, writing lyrics quickly and usually recording on the same day. One result of this is that the album features six guitar solos from Tim Skold (comprising 3 minutes, 39 seconds of the album in total) and many other guitar moments while bass and keyboards – both played also by Skold – feature much less than on a usual Marilyn Manson release. Manson explained that "[he] was writing in the way you would write a diary" and as a result thinks that the record was written from a "more mature musical point of view."[3] Sonically the album is predominantly mid-tempo and is said to be Manson's most melodic work to date. Manson has since revealed that he sang most of the album lying down on the studio floor with his hands cupping the studio mic, resulting in a very distinctive vocal sound. Of Skold’s compositions a further two are said to have been turned into fully-fledged songs with lyrics, music and vocals completed but were not put onto album for fear of making it overwrought. Manson has raised the possibility of using the two as starting points for his next potential album, in which Manson has not confirmed or denied. On an interview in Denmark, Manson talked about Phantasmagoria, Eat Me, Drink Me, and Manson has said he will work on a new album as soon as his current tour has ended.
Activity
Manson announced via his website in mid-January that the record was ‘nearly finished’, titled Eat Me, Drink Me, and that the band would be touring the world in support of the record that is scheduled for release on June 5, 2007. The album's artwork (primarily the work of Nela Koening, Perou and Anthony Silva) was wrapped up in early February thus bringing an end to the creative process in preparation for the imminent promotion and publicization of details.
On February 26, 2007, Rolling Stone writer Austin Scaggs revealed his opinion in the Smoking Section column, writing:
[I was] blown away as Manson debuted his new album, Eat Me, Drink Me. The key cut is "If I Was Your Vampire," a six-minute epic…If anyone thought Manson was down for the count, think again.
Since then Manson appeared in Rolling Stone four times - the March article 'Manson's Dark Return', a further paragraph from the Smoking Section, a mention in the 50 Albums To Look Forward To This Summer issue and a small snippet featuring an explicit picture of Manson and Evan Rachel Wood in a hotel after the Heart-Shaped Glasses video shoot in which a naked Wood lies over Manson who has his fingers in the vicinity of her anus. Other publications to include original content with Manson have been the April issue of UK magazine Rock Sound ('Marilyn Manson Lays Soul Bare', the May issue of Revolver (Feeding Frenzy), an interview with French RockMag, an MTV online piece focusing on Manson’s suicidal ideation, a longer, more in-depth interview in Rock Sound (Alas, In Wonderland), a long, very descriptive and open piece in The Observer Magazine (The Life and Loves of a He-Devil), a partial transcript of a friendly chat with Alejandro Jodorowsky, an interview in Germany’s lifestyle monthly BlondMag, the cover story of June’s Spin magazine stretched out over eight pages entitled ‘The Last Rock Star?’, an article in Rolling Stone from Austin Scaggs who spends a fair amount of time with Manson judging by the five pieces in four months he has contributed, The Sun newspaper’s Something For The Weekend section.
Manson appeared twice on BBC Radio 1; on April 17 on the Zane Lowe Show and on May 23 in the Live Lounge where he and Skold performed an acoustic version of "Heart-Shaped Glasses" and a cover of Justin Timberlake’s "What Goes Around Comes Around", having been given a choice by the station of Timberlake, Green Day, Amy Winehouse or Muse.
To promote the album Manson first traveled to France, the UK and Germany where he held both press conferences and listening parties. Similar listening parties for journalists and fan club administrators took place in other European countries and America. Measures taken to prevent an unauthorized recording or copy of the album from leaking included bag searching and the prohibition of recording devices and mobile phones.
Promotion
On April 15, 2007 Marilyn Manson’s Interscope-administered Myspace page went live with promotional artwork. The next day "If I Was Your Vampire" was added to the player as Myspace Music’s ‘Single of the Week’. Hours later Manson’s official website went through a revision to coincide with the imagery of the new album. Later still but on the same day Interscope e-mailed out a press release containing the album artwork by Nela Koenig. Two days later Interscope opened a VampireFreaks account for Manson. The album leaked onto P2P networks on May 1, Manson said he was unconcerned by the leak as it mainly affects record companies and not the artists.
The next significant promotion – aside from the flood of magazine articles – took place on May 18 with the uploading to the official website of the album's 16-page linear booklet. The uploading coincided with Manson’s in store signing at Hot Topic in California where fans who had obtained an entry wristband days prior were given a copy of the booklet for Manson to sign though he signed other items on fans request for two hours. Also available at the event, and now available in Hot Topic stores and online shop, is an exclusive 2-track "Heart-Shaped Glasses" single. All Hot Topic stores across the USA held listening parties for the album on May 25. The stores are also added three new official t-shirts to the racks to coincide with the party and Manson recorded linking material for the songs.
Newbury Comics gave away licensed Eat Me, Drink Me pint glasses with each pre-order of the album. Further promotional oddities were to be found in the UK where boxes were distributed containing chocolates marked ‘Eat Me’ and mini bottles of Tequila with 'Drink Me' on the back.
An official Eat Me, Drink Me mini-site was discovered through a link found in the EU "Heart-Shaped Glasses (When the Heart Guides the Hand)" single. The site, www.marilynmansonvault.com, contains lyrics, a photo gallery, a mosaic, and the ability to stream up to two tracks per day starting on May 28, 2007. Upon completion of the mosaic, an Eat Me, Drink Me wallpaper becomes available for download, and three preview tracks ("Heart-Shaped Glasses (When the Heart Guides the Hand)", "If I Was Your Vampire", and "Evidence") become available for streaming. The official release of the single coincided with the opening of the vault itself (for those with the single) to access a screensaver, ringtone and two ‘classic tracks for download’ ("Disposable Teens" & "The Dope Show").
On May 31, the entire album was uploaded for streaming on Marilyn Manson's MySpace page, five days prior to its American release.
Track listing
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "If I Was Your Vampire" | 5:56 |
| 2. | "Putting Holes in Happiness" | 4:31 |
| 3. | "The Red Carpet Grave" | 4:05 |
| 4. | "They Said That Hell's Not Hot" | 4:17 |
| 5. | "Just a Car Crash Away" | 4:55 |
| 6. | "Heart-Shaped Glasses (When the Heart Guides the Hand)" | 5:05 |
| 7. | "Evidence" | 5:19 |
| 8. | "Are You the Rabbit?" | 4:14 |
| 9. | "Mutilation is the Most Sincere Form of Flattery" | 3:52 |
| 10. | "You And Me And The Devil Makes 3" | 4:24 |
| 11. | "Eat Me, Drink Me" | 5:40 |
Bonus tracks
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 12. | "Heart-Shaped Glasses (Inhuman Remix)" (International bonus track) | 4:07 |
| 13. | "Heart-Shaped Glasses (Space Cowboy Remix)" (UK/AU bonus track) | 5:24 |
| 14. | "Putting Holes in Happiness (Acoustic Version)" (Japan bonus track) | 4:10 |
Bonus DVD
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Putting Holes in Happiness (Boys Noize Remix)" | 5:37 |
| 2. | "Putting Holes in Happiness (Robots to Mars Mix)" | 4:23 |
| 3. | "Putting Holes in Happiness (Guitar Hero Remix)" | 3:44 |
| 4. | "Putting Holes in Happiness (Ginger Fish Remix)" | 3:15 |
| 5. | "Heart-Shaped Glasses (Penetrate the Canvas Remix)" | 4:48 |
| 6. | "Heart-Shaped Glasses (Hamel Remix)" | 7:01 |
| 7. | "You and Me and the Devil Makes 3 (Adam Freeland Remix)" | 5:38 |
- Video
- "Heart-Shaped Glasses (When the Heart Guides the Hand) (Explicit)"
- "Heart-Shaped Glasses (When the Heart Guides the Hand) (Clean)"
- "Putting Holes in Happiness"
- Track by track interview
Singles
1st single: "Heart-Shaped Glasses (When the Heart Guides the Hand)"
On March 27, 2007, Charts in France reported that James Cameron was filming a new music video with Marilyn Manson called "When the Heart Guides the Hand"[4], which will use a special effect in 3D. The Heirophant reported that it is planned to be released on DVD, and on March 28, 2007, The Heirophant also reported that Evan Rachel Wood and the SuicideGirls were to have been involved in the video as well[5].
On April 24, 2007, "Heart-Shaped Glasses (When the Heart Guides the Hand)" was added to the Marilyn Manson's official MySpace account.
On April 27, 2007, Marilyn Manson released a clip featuring the last 34 seconds of the then upcoming music video for "Heart-Shaped Glasses (When the Heart Guides the Hand)" on YouTube, and later on the official website. On May 8, 2007, the following week, the music video was world premiered on Sevenload.de. The song peaked at #24 on U.S. Modern Rock Tracks.
2nd single: "Putting Holes in Happiness"
"Putting Holes in Happiness" is Marilyn Manson's second single from the album. Written on his own birthday Marilyn Manson describes the song as being "a romantic-misogynistic-cannibal-gothic-vampire ballad".
Personnel
- Marilyn Manson – vocals, percussion, lyrics, producer, photography, art direction and design
- Tim Skold – guitars, bass, keyboards, music, lyrics, engineering, programming, producer
- Sean Beavan – mixing
- Ambooleg – photography
- Perou – photography
- Nela Koenig – photography
- Anthony Silva – photography
- Evan Rachel Wood – polaroid photography
- Liam Wood – art direction and design
- Ginger Fish - live drums
- Rob Holliday - live bass
- Chris Vrenna - live keyboards
Chart positions
Album
| Year | Chart | Peak position |
|---|---|---|
| 2007 | Australia | 9 |
| 2007 | Austria | 2 |
| 2007 | Belgium (Flanders) | 19 |
| 2007 | Belgium (Wallonia) | 9 |
| 2007 | Canada | 8 |
| 2007 | Croatia | 7 |
| 2007 | Czech Republic | 12 |
| 2007 | Netherlands | 38 |
| 2007 | Estonia | 1 |
| 2007 | France | 5 |
| 2007 | Finland | 9 |
| 2007 | Germany | 4 |
| 2007 | Greece | 7 |
| 2007 | Hungary | 32 |
| 2007 | Ireland | 23 |
| 2007 | Italy | 8 |
| 2007 | Japan Oricon | 7 |
| 2007 | Korea | 2 |
| 2007 | Mexico | 12 |
| 2007 | Norway | 12 |
| 2007 | New Zealand | 18 |
| 2007 | Poland | 36 |
| 2007 | Portugal | 25 |
| 2007 | Spain | 7 |
| 2007 | Sweden | 10 |
| 2007 | Switzerland | 4 |
| 2007 | Turkey | 1 |
| 2007 | U.S. Billboard 200 | 8 |
| 2007 | UK | 8 |
United World Chart - #6, total to date: 789,000 copies [6]
As of September 14, 2007, the album has sold 214,594 copies in the US.[7]
Singles
| Year | Single | Chart | Peak position |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | "Heart-Shaped Glasses (When the Heart Guides the Hand)" | U.S. Modern Rock Tracks | 31 |
| 2007 | "Heart-Shaped Glasses (When the Heart Guides the Hand)" | U.S. Mainstream Rock Tracks | 24 |
| 2007 | "Heart-Shaped Glasses (When the Heart Guides the Hand)" | UK Singles Chart | 19 |
| 2007 | "Heart-Shaped Glasses (When the Heart Guides the Hand)" | Sweden Singles Chart | 27 |
| 2007 | "Heart-Shaped Glasses (When the Heart Guides the Hand)" | Austria Singles Chart | 41 |
| 2007 | "Heart-Shaped Glasses (When the Heart Guides the Hand)" | Irish Singles Chart | 46 |
| 2007 | "Heart-Shaped Glasses (When the Heart Guides the Hand)" | Germany Singles Chart | 49 |
| 2007 | "Putting Holes In Happiness" |
References
- ^ Dan Epstein. Feeding Frenzy, Revolver magazine, reported by The Heirophant May 2007. Last accessed March 23, 2007.
- ^ The Heirophant. The Red Carpet Grave, reported by The Heirophant May 2007. Last accessed May 23, 2007.
- ^ Manson "Interview with Oliver Tanson". Oliver Tanson. Retrieved 2008-01-08.
{{cite web}}: Check|url=value (help) - ^ Thierry Cadet. Marilyn Manson tourne avec James Cameron, Charts in France, March 27, 2007.
- ^ Norsefire. Marilyn Manson Includes Suicide Girls In New Video, The Heirophant, March 28, [[2007.
- ^ United World Chart (Global sales data), June 15, 2007.
- ^ Billboard Top 200
