Review Summary: A short EP by Manson, just to give fans something more to listen to, proves itself essential to any Manson fan.
Marilyn Manson is a strange guy. He has very different views of almost everything. His music is great, I have loved it for years, and I have almost all of his albums. I picked this up about 6 months ago at a Best Buy, just because it was cheap and I needed some new Manson. This album is pretty self-explanatory, due to the title. It's remixes and live tracks. So don't expect a masterpiece here. This EP was just put out due to the success of
Antichrist Superstar to give fans something new to listen to. All the songs on here originally appear on Antichrist Superstar.
The album starts with a remix of The Beautiful People, and takes the song in a completely new direction. The song is called
The Horrible People and it starts out with some light jazz music and then you hear that familiar guitar riff. But the riff here is very choppy. The drum beat is very danceable and gives the song a new groove. The jazz instruments return in the pre-chorus and sounds really great. Manson usually makes some really awesome remixes and this is no exception. Sweet track.
Next comes a remix of Tourniquet, simply called
The Tourniquet. It really skips over an intro and goes right into the track and gives itself a more electronic approach. Synths take the spotlight here, but guitar still plays a vital role with some familiar parts shining through the synths. I don't really love this remix very much because it doesn't do the original song enough justice. I find this song seems to drag on a bit, but it's still refreshing to hear new versions of an old song. Alright song.
The next two songs are live. They are
Dried Up, Tied and Dead To The World and
Antichrist Superstar. Dried Up, Tied and Dead To The World is one of my favorites off the Antichrist Superstar album. The live version doesn't really add much because it is performed perfectly, although there is some added energy add to both of these songs because they are live tracks. Antichrist Superstar is the better of the two live songs, because I think you can feel more energy being projected from it. The vocals really shine here, they are really done well. Some weird effects are used during the post chorus on the vocals and guitar. These songs will really get you pumped up.
Next is my favorite track on the album,
Man That You Fear (Acoustic) is one of the most emotional tracks that I have ever heard. I prefer this version to the original any day, and this song is truly amazing. Only synths and guitar accompany Manson's vocals giving it a hollow and empty feel that gives it that very emotional feel. The lyrics are amazing and I have actually (not that I like to admit this), but I have actually broke down in tears when listening to this song. This song truly is a piece of art which is superbly done. Truly astonishing.
Track by track
The Horrible People 3/5
The Tourniquet 2/5
Dried Up, Tied and Dead to the World (Live) 3/5
Antichrist Superstar (Live) 3.5/5
Man That You Fear (Acoustic) 5/5
Pros
Some awesome remixes from Manson.
Refreshing versions of old songs.
Pretty nice length for an EP (around 25 minutes).
Man That You Fear (Acoustic).
Cons
Live tracks sound too perfect.
No new songs.
The Tourniquet.
