Retro Spins: Marilyn Manson - Portrait Of An American Family

Well, this is certainly the opposite spectrum from last week's Retro Spin. Title of the album aside, Meat Loaf is pretty tame compared to Marilyn Manson.

I've long since been a Marilyn Manson fan. However, I haven't spent much time with his music since my younger years. I have all of his albums through 2009's High End Of Low, but honestly never got around to listening to it. Meaning my last real exposure to Manson was 2003's Golden Age of Grotesque, which I really enjoy(ed).

With all these Manson CD's, it's probably a good idea to find out if I still actually like the guy / band. I figured I may as well start at the beginning with the first album, Portrait Of An American Family. If I do, I may just have to track down the album which came after 2009.

I remember getting this CD long before Marilyn Manson was considered cool, controversial or, well, at all. A buddy of mine gave it to me and said, "You've got to check these guys out." From there, as a teen, I was hooked.

The album starts with an interesting rendition to Willy Wonka's (Gene Wilder) scene from the boat. It's neither interesting nor good. It's just Charlie and the Chocolate Factory as "read" by Marilyn Manson.

When track two started, I was immediately reminded that, yes, I do still like Cake And Sodomy...um...the song. I also still have an appreciation for Lunchbox. As I continued to listen, I heard tracks I still remembered from thirty years ago (wow, has it really been that long?), but it wasn't until Dope Hat that I was like, "Oh yeah! Still love this one," and it kept coming with Get Your Gunn. Tracks just kept delivering too with the likes of Snake Eyes And Sissies and My Monkey.

I guess the point I'm getting to here is, yes, I am still very much a Marilyn Manson fan. It was great to hear these tracks again after all these years. I suppose if one thing has changed, I'm not as angry as I used to be, so the songs don't hit me as deeply as they used to. They're not fueling my infinite rage, they're just decent metal tracks. It's great to have this new perspective for the album.

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