The High End of Low
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The High End of Low is the seventh studio album by Marilyn Manson. Sean Beavan, who mixed Antichrist Superstar, Mechanical Animals, and Eat Me, Drink Me, is co-producer of the album along with Chris Vrenna.[4] The album was released on May 25 2009 in the United Kingdom and May 26, 2009 in the United States.[6] The album's first radio single "Armageddon" was released on May 18, 2009.[10] Reviews were mixed, with some criticizing the repetitiveness of the music and lacklustre ideas, while others praised a more human Manson following his divorce, and a return to the sound of the well-received Mechanical Animals. The album debuted at number four on the Billboard charts, falling to number 24 and 60 on its second and third weeks.[11]
Background and recording
On November 29, 2007, it was reported that Marilyn Manson planned to begin writing songs for their seventh studio album.[citation needed] Pre-production began following the band's Rape of the World tour, which ended on March 2, 2008.[citation needed] Jeordie "Twiggy Ramirez" White, who had collaborated with Manson on numerous previous projects was confirmed as a collaborator, and also mentioned as possible contributors were Kerry King (of Slayer) and James Iha (former guitarist of The Smashing Pumpkins),[12] though ultimately only White would be involved. The album was recorded in Manson's Hollywood Hills studio and the first single ("We're From America") was made available for download from MarilynManson.com on March 27th, 2009.[13]
Reception
The album received mixed reviews; some critics felt it sounded diluted and repetitive while others praised the album for showing Manson's more human face after his divorce and best material since Mechanical Animals.
Allison Stewart from The Washington Post gave the album a positive review saying that Manson's divorce from burlesque dancer Dita Von Teese has led to a new musical high. "He doesn't seem to realize it, but he's much more interesting, much more human, as a spurned lover than he is as a fusty culture war relic, rattling his chains."[9]
Spin writer Doug Brod gave a positive review and stated "While it's still easy to dismiss his shock tactics as puerile and insensitive he hasn't sounded this vital -- and tuneful -- since Mechanical Animals."[8]
The BBC review states that the new album sees Manson resurrected after the lacklustre Eat Me, Drink Me, with credit given to the skilled bass work on the album. The review sums up the album by saying that it "proves there's still a fair dose of blood and bile to pour from his carcass yet. More impressively, at its best it provides a pointed satirical commentary on noughties America." "We're From America" was cited as the strongest track on the new album.[14]
Planet Sound gave the album a positive review, citing it as his best work since Mechanical Animals and that Manson has his "preening confidence back. It results in strutting glam and magnificently OTT ballads, with Manson engaged with sounding alien again."[5]
Los Angeles Times reviewer Mikael Wood states that the band even provide a "surprise or two, as in "Running to the Edge of the World," a lush acoustic power ballad complete with pretty falsetto vocals." Wood also states that "'High End' makes a deeper impression as a result of Manson’s reunion with longtime guitarist-bassist Twiggy Ramirez; together with producers Sean Beavan and Chris Vrenna, they sculpted a sound both harder-hitting and more finely detailed than on any previous Marilyn Manson record."[3]
Rolling Stone reviewer Jody Rosen gave the album a mediocre review, citing the diminished shock value of the album compared to years past. Rosen stated the best parts of the album are in the ballads like the blues-tinged "Four Rusted Horses" for a more endearing depiction of Manson as a melancholy human rather than "Antichrist Superstar."[7]
Phil Freeman of Allmusic criticized the lack of variety in the album with "two or three musical ideas are repeated throughout the disc". He also criticized the lyrics, stating that Manson "[feels] like he's trying to convince himself as much as the audience" and that he is "pretty much advertising that [he's] out of ideas".[1] A review in The Guardian complained of the lack of novelty in the album, which repeated "the usual entry-level shock-rock histrionics".[2]
Revolver Magazine gave the album favorable review, with three stars. In the review, saying that The High End of Low seems to be a mixture of Mechanical Animals and The Golden Age of Grotesque. Also stating that Marilyn Manson may have just made the world's most expensive mix-tape.
The album debuted at #4 on Billboard 200 with 49,000 copies sold. Despite reaching a higher charting position than Manson's last studio effort Eat Me, Drink Me which debuted at number 8, it arrives with the lowest opening week sum of any of Manson's albums since The Last Tour on Earth began with 26,000 in 1999.[15] Since its debut the album dropped steadily, falling to the 24th position in its second week and 60th in its third.[11]
On December 3rd, it was announced that Marilyn Manson had parted ways with long-time label Interscope Records. Of the split, he said "a lot of things on which my hands were tied - the music videos, things like that - I've regained a lot of that creative control. You'd be surprised how much restraint my creativity had - what they would put out, what ideas they would allow to be conveyed in [music] videos. The first example I could give would be the newest video (Running to the Edge of the World), they clearly [wanted nothing to do with] that. At least half of my creative output had been squashed. We've even started writing new songs on the road, so I think people can expect a new record a lot sooner than [you think]."[16] It was also announced that special one-off concerts are currently in development for the near future. These performances would see each album from the Triptych ("Holy Wood," "Mechanical Animals," and "Antichrist Superstar") being played in their entirety over three different nights in the one venue. The tour would take him through-out the United states and (maybe) "a few select dates in Europe."[17]
Track listing
All lyrics by Manson; all music by Ramirez & Vrenna, unless otherwise noted.
| No. | Title | Music | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Devour" | 3:46 | |
| 2. | "Pretty as a Swastika" (censored for retail as "Pretty as a ($)") | 2:45 | |
| 3. | "Leave a Scar" | 3:55 | |
| 4. | "Four Rusted Horses" | 5:00 | |
| 5. | "Arma-Goddamn-Motherfuckin-Geddon" | 3:39 | |
| 6. | "Blank and White" | 4:27 | |
| 7. | "Running to the Edge of the World" | 6:26 | |
| 8. | "I Want to Kill You Like They Do in the Movies" | 9:02 | |
| 9. | "WOW" | 4:55 | |
| 10. | "Wight Spider" | Manson, Ramirez, Vrenna | 5:33 |
| 11. | "Unkillable Monster" | 3:44 | |
| 12. | "We're From America" | 5:04 | |
| 13. | "I Have to Look Up Just to See Hell" | 4:12 | |
| 14. | "Into the Fire" | 5:15 | |
| 15. | "15" | 4:21 | |
| Total length: | 72:12 | ||
Standard edition bonus tracks
- "Pretty as a Swastika" (Alternate Version) [Independent music store version] – 2:26
- "Arma-Goddamn-Motherfuckin-Geddon" (Teddybears Remix) [International versions] – 3:30
Deluxe Edition bonus disc
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Arma-Goddamn-Motherfuckin-Geddon" (Teddy Bears Remix) | 3:31 |
| 2. | "Leave a Scar" (Alternate Version) | 4:02 |
| 3. | "Running to the Edge of the World" (Alternate Version) | 6:08 |
| 4. | "Wight Spider" (Alternate Version) | 5:28 |
| 5. | "Four Rusted Horses" (Opening Titles Version) | 5:02 |
| 6. | "I Have to Look Up Just to See Hell" (Alternate Version) | 4:07 |
| Total length: | 28:25 | |
Deluxe Edition bonus tracks
- "Fifteen" (Alternate Version) [iTunes bonus track] – 4:17
- "Into The Fire" (Alternate Version) [iTunes pre-order & Japanese versions] – 4:34
- "Arma-goddamn-motherfuckin-geddon" (Alternate Version) [Hot Topic deluxe edition] – 3:39
Release history
| Region | Date | Label | Format | Catalog |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Japan | May 20, 2009 | Universal International | Compact disc, deluxe edition | UICS9107 |
| Australia | May 22, 2009 | Interscope Records | Compact disc, deluxe edition | 2706388 |
| Germany | Polydor Records | Compact disc | — | |
| France | May 18, 2009 | Polydor Records | Compact disc | — |
| New Zealand | Interscope Records | Compact disc, deluxe edition | — | |
| United Kingdom | Interscope Records | Compact disc, deluxe edition | — | |
| Korea | May 26, 2009 | Universal International | Compact disc, deluxe edition | — |
| North America | Interscope Records | Compact disc, deluxe edition | — | |
| Brazil | Universal International | Compact disc | — | |
| Hungary | May 26, 2009 | Compact disc, deluxe edition | — |
Charts
"The High End of Low" charting positions[18]
| Charts (2009) | Peak position |
Certification | Sales |
|---|---|---|---|
| Australian Albums Chart | 11 | - | - |
| Austrian Albums Chart[19] | 6 | - | - |
| Belgium Albums Chart (Flanders)[20] | 38 | - | - |
| Belgium Albums Chart (Wallonia) | 16 | - | - |
| Canadian Albums Chart[21] | 4 | - | - |
| Czech Republic Albums Chart[22] | 13 | - | - |
| Danish Albums Chart | 32 | - | - |
| Finnish Albums Chart | 9 | - | - |
| French Albums Chart | 9 | - | - |
| European Album Chart[23] | 6 | - | - |
| German Albums Chart | 11 | - | - |
| Hungarian Albums Chart[24] | 17 | - | - |
| Italian Albums Chart[25] | 18 | - | - |
| Irish Albums Chart | 47 | - | - |
| Japanese Oricon Albums Chart[26] | 9 | - | 10.583[27] |
| Mexican Albums Chart[28] | 34 | - | - |
| Netherlands Albums Chart | 73 | - | - |
| Norwegian Albums Chart[29] | 26 | - | - |
| New Zealand Albums Chart | 8 | - | - |
| Polish Albums Chart[30] | 31 | - | - |
| Portugese Albums Chart | 22 | - | - |
| Spanish Albums Chart | 9 | - | - |
| Swedish Albums Chart | 15 | - | - |
| Swiss Albums Chart | 6 | - | - |
| UK Albums Chart | 19 | - | 7,746[31] |
| U.S. Billboard 200 | 4 | - | 121,000 [32] |
- Note: Figures listed for U.K. and Japan are first-week sales.
Personnel
- Marilyn Manson
- Marilyn Manson – lead vocals, guitars, production
- Jeordie White (credited as Twiggy) – guitars, bass, backing vocals, keyboards, production
- Chris Vrenna – keyboards, programming, percussion, production, engineering
- Ginger Fish – piano on "Into the Fire"
- Sean Beavan – production, mixing
References
- ^ a b Freeman, P. "The High End of Low". Allmusic. Retrieved 2009-06-29.
- ^ a b Thomson, J (2009-05-22). "Marilyn Manson: The High End of Low". The Guardian. Retrieved 2009-06-29.
- ^ a b Wood, M (2009-05-26). "Album review: Marilyn Manson's 'The High End of Low'". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2009-06-29.
- ^ a b "The High End Of Low by Marilyn Manson". Metacritic. Retrieved 2009-06-29.
- ^ a b "Marilyn Manson/The High End Of Low". Planet Sound. Retrieved 2009-06-29.
- ^ a b Cooper, L (2009-05-29). "Marilyn Manson: The High End of Low". Popmatters. Retrieved 2009-06-29.
- ^ a b Rosen, J (2009-05-26). "Marilyn Manson: The High End of Low". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2009-06-29.
- ^ a b Brod, D (2009-05-11). "Marilyn Manson, 'The High End of Low' (Interscope): The overlord of the overblown justifies his sleaze". Spin. Retrieved 2009-06-29.
- ^ a b Stewart, A (2009-05-26). "Music Review: Marilyn Manson's 'High End of Low': Musical Highs From Breakup Lows". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2009-06-29.
- ^ "Marilyn Manson premieres new video". NME. 2009-05-14. Retrieved 2009-06-28.
- ^ a b "Billboard Comprehensive Albums: The High End Of Low". Billboard. 2009-06-27. Retrieved 2009-06-29.
- ^ "Manson: "New album is very violent"". Kerrang!. 2008-05-23. Retrieved 2009-06-29.
- ^ "MARILYN MANSON: New Album Details Revealed". Roadrunner Records. 2009-03-23. Retrieved 2009-06-29.
- ^ Power, C (2009-05-18). "Marilyn Manson High End of Low Review". BBC. Retrieved 2009-06-29.
- ^ Caulfield, K (2009-06-03). "Manson Debuts in Top 10". Billboard. Retrieved 2009-06-29.
- ^ Marilyn Manson splits with Interscope www.Blabbermouth.net Access date: 6 December 2009
- ^ Marilyn Manson: “We’re Going To Play Each Album On A Different Night” www.MetalHammer.co.uk Access Date: December 6 2009
- ^ The High End Of Low Chart Statistics from aCharts. Access Date: 31st May, 2009.
- ^ Austriancharts.at - Official Austrian Album Charts Access Date: 05th June 2009
- ^ The High End Of Low Chart Position. Access Date: 31st May, 2009.
- ^ Canadian Albums Chart Access Date: 5th June 2009
- ^ Czech Republic Album Chart. Access Date: 2nd June 2009.
- ^ Greenday Atop Euro Chart. Access Date: 16th June 2009.
- ^ Hungarian Albums Chart. Access Date: 5th June 2009
- ^ Italian Albums Chart Source: The Official Federation of the Italian Music Industry Website] Access Date: 5th June 2009
- ^ Japanese Album Charts from AllCharts.org Access Date: 5th June 2009
- ^ High End Of Low - First Week Japanese Sales Access Date: 06-20-09
- ^ Mexican Album Chart NOTE: Downloadable PDF File. Access Date: 5th June 2009
- ^ Norwegian Albums Chart. Access Date: 3rd June 2009
- ^ Official Polish Albums Chart Access Date: 5th June 2005
- ^ First Week UK Sales Access Date: 06-20-09
- ^ Official Billboard Results Thread Note: Marilyn Manson @ #168. Access Date: 8 August 2009.
