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Manson is one of the few mainstream artists that makes their audiences think and try to understand further things better than Hit Me One More Time or She Bangs or A.D.I.D.A.S., maybe he's ot the better example for a young generation, but if you're concerned about the kind of music or movies or TV that your children are exposed to, start by showing them that those Britney, Ricky Martin and Oprah dweebs are a danger too. There's always variety for everyone of us.


More complex then most people think   September 29, 2004
 12 out of 13 found this review helpful

Manson's 4th full length album is misunderstood by some as being the sellout mark. This is not true. He hasn't sold out. If you haven't noticed, every Marilyn Manson album is different. Holy Wood is a hybrid of Antichrist Superstar and Mechanical Animals. The result is different and not a rehash. Manson returns to his dark industrial roots with emotion, creativity, artwork, a story and most importantly it makes a point. It makes several of them as a matter of fact. A large portion revolves around America's obsession with guns, violence, JFK, the Beatles, the Columbine Massacre, God and the media. Some of these things Manson has already gone over but here he goes into more detail. You actually may not understand Holy wood at first if you aren't too knowledgeable about the JFK and John Lennon assassinations. Ex: King Kill 33 (a song name) is actually the name of an essay about the JFK assassination. The story revolves around a person Marilyn Manson created who is simply named Adam Kadmon. I could go into all the very deep meanings of every song, but that would take forever and I'm only allowed 1000 words. So instead, I will cover each event/song in the story. I will also cover some of the larger meanings behind some of the songs. Manson had clearly worked his really hard for this record. It contains 19 songs (not including the B-sides on the singles) and a lot of beautiful artwork. And even though Holy Wood is the final chapter in the trilogy, it is actually the first as it is completed in reverse. Antichrist Superstar had 3 Parts and Mechanical Animals had two different views (Alpha and Omega). Holy Wood however, has 4 parts.

The story goes that Holy Wood is this mystical place which is ruled by the rich, beautiful celebrities, and their money. The Death Valley is a terrible place where anybody who thinks differently or artistically is kept. Adam is a character who finds acceptance in holy Wood but ends up engulfed by violence and consumed by his own fame.
A: In the Shadow
God Eat God: It's a song that serves as an intro in some ways. It revolves around how JFK and Christ are viewed similarly to one another.
The Love Song: It displays America as a place filled with everything Adam wants to change.
The Fight Song: "The death of one is a tragedy, the death of a million is just a statistic" is a quote from Joseph Stalin, the beloved dictator of the Soviet Union who is responsible for over 20 million deaths of those sent to work camps in Siberia. Anyways, Adam becomes a performer and wants people to hear him and his views on Holy Wood.
Disposable Teens: Often referred to as another beautiful people, it's still great though, The keyboardist M.W. Gacy contributes to this with additional drums (the GGG DVD).

D: The Androgyne
Target Audience (Narcissus Narcosis): This song has a LOT of meanings. Adam confronts "all the old deceivers" with a list of their crimes and failures.
"President Dead": After becoming popular in the Valley, President Dead says what he thinks of Adam's performances.
In The Shadow of the Valley of Death: A very personal acoustic song, I feel Adam is making decisions.
Cruci-Fiction in Space: Represents the evolution and de-evolution of mankind as we again resort to violence to enjoy ourselves.
A Place in the Dirt: containing references to things like the Holy Grail and Xianity.

A: Of Red Earth
The Nobodies: Obviously about the Columbine tragedy.
The Death Song: Hopelessness, Heaven is vague and maybe God would like to end it all.
Lamb of God: the second acoustic song is filled with references to John Lennon and how if a celebrity is killed then they are thought of as a hero or "martyr and a lamb of god". How the media praises death.
Born Again: Adam Kadmon is disheartened, castigates those who destroy the irreplaceable, reward mediocrity, and hardly seem able to tell the difference.
Burning Flag: A war of the classes. Holy Wood and the Valley are now completely divided.

M: The Fallen
Coma Black a) Eden eye b) the apple of discord: The opposite of Coma White. This is where Adam Kadmon (being a paradox of humanity and divinity) is broken up into individual humans (like the Mechanical Animals era).
Valentines Day: If you are familiar with the ACSS story then you know that this is the same day as the Irresponsible Hate Anthem. It's also about a girl (Coma Black?) who walked into the Valley seeking him.
The Fall of Adam: Adam gives up on saving mankind and hands out guns as shown in the last half which seems to be one of Manson's infamous "bible speeches". First half is acoustic.
King Kill 33: "I am not sorry, and I am not sorry, this is what you deserve" is a Charles Manson quote from his trial. It is asking do we deserve to be saved? After all, it is the savior who must die.
Count to Six and Die (the vacuum of infinite Space encompassing): Very creepy song. Listen to this record for this first time in the dark and this song WILL freak you out.

The Enhanced portion of this CD leads to a website that no longer works. It showed a bizarre autopsy video that will be placed on the CD/DVD version of Marilyn Manson's Best Of album.

I may be wrong in a few parts in this huge 70 minute album, but it's all up to interpretation due to the story being very elaborate. A few people complain of their being a lot of filler here. I disagree. I can listen to the album the whole way through. The only time I have an urge to press the skip button occasionally is when President Dead pops up. We have 19 tracks of Manson music, intellectuality, knowledge and criticism.



in the shadow of the previous albums?   March 8, 2001
 11 out of 11 found this review helpful

I have the album and I enjoy it very much. Picking a favorite is pretty tricky, but it would be a battle between "Lamb Of God", "The Nobodies", "Born Again", "Burning Flag", "The Fight Song", "In The Shadow Of The Valley Of Death", and "The Fall Of Adam" (that's on my personal note). This album is less tech and more Rock. It has a good rocking beat and stays pretty heavy at the same time. The cover of Manson with the missing jaw is pretty cool for the symbolism of censorship issues Manson has. I have no doubt that lots of people would want to shut him up or worse.

Now I have read a good deal of the reviews here and some love this album. Some love it because its the third part of a trilogy and some hate it because it 'imitates' Antichrist Superstar and/or/mixed-with Mechanical Animals. I can see the different cups of tea that people like here. Some like their taste to stay around the same, such as the music and songs. Some like the same with a little variety now and then. Some want a totally new thing. Then there are some that get bored easily. I love Antichrist Superstar and I enjoy Mechanical Animals and to me Holy Wood really rocks. Artists change and some don't. I like to consider every album its own and I usually don't expect them to be the same or different, if I like what I hear then thats all I need. I like what comes from my stereo when I pop this album in, hopefully you will too.


Holy Wood is a strong entry from Manson!   November 14, 2000
 10 out of 12 found this review helpful

Much has been made that HOLY WOOD completes a trilogy that began with ANTI-CHRIST SUPERSTAR, continued with MECHANICAL ANIMALS, and is now completed with this album. According to Manson all three albums are about a revolution, and this is the middle chapter. To paraphrase him...ANTICHRIST was about a personal revolution (the boy becomes the worm) and MECHANICAL was about the revolution selling itself out (Omega becomes a plastic product). Holy Wood seems to be the bridge between the two, both thematically and musically. The story seems to be about a revolution in progress, one that is concerned with selling out. The album is concerned mostly with "guns, God, and government". It speaks to the disenfranchised youth, and anybody who feels on the outside of mainstream America. Musically it's as hard as ANTI-CHRIST, but has some of the gloss and sheen found on MECHANICAL. If you liked either album you should like this one. He seems to be doing this one for the fans! "THE FIGHT SONG" takes a riff like Blur's SONG 2 and pumps it up as only Manson can. "DISPOSABLE TEENS" sounds like "BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE" with its crunchy drum beats and Manson flipping up to falsetto. "THE DEATH SONG" talks about a world where mom and dad have destroyed everything, and you can feel the anger rushing around a very catchy guitar riff. "COMA BLACK" and "CRUCI-FICTION IN SPACE" seem to be responses to MECHANICAL's "COMA WHITE" and "SPEED OF PAIN". I loved both ANTI-CHRIST and MECHANICAL ANIMALS, both had merits and showed the range of an artist (yes, Marilyn is an artist!) that could stretch himself in many directions. This album has some very strong song-writing, and should be appreciated by anyone who likes their metal twinged with equal doses of industrial, goth, and glam. I hesitate to say it's a GOTH album, or to catgorize it. You just can't pin Marilyn down. It sounds like a Manson album, and if you liked him before this will do it for you again. People put off by MECHANICAL ANIMALS will say it's a return to form, and people who liked the last album will say it's still got some of that quality they wanted. Doubtful that it will win a lot of new converts. Definitely see the tour if you can! It makes this "bridge" seem even more seamless when you hear the band go from songs on all three albums (and harken back to the days of "Lunchbox"). Manson has finally proven he is not just a Trent Reznor production, or just a spooky kid in make-up. He's an artist, one who paints beautifully angry sonic landscapes using a lot of black and grey and red. In this world of Ricky Martins and Brittany Spears he is a refreshing breath of angry air to remind us that no matter what the song says "ROCK IS NOT DEADER THAN DEAD". At least not as long as a cross-dressing serial killer can go out on the road and sing songs about alienation and disestablishmentarianism!


Wow...   November 15, 2000
 10 out of 12 found this review helpful

Four years ago, an artist by the name of Marylin Manson, who at that point in his career had built a large fanbase but was still somewhat in the underground after two albums, released an album that not only made him a Superstar, but an album so incredibly controversial that it immediatly rocketed him to living-legend status. Two years later, he almost totally changed his image for the 80s glam-styled Mechanical Animals which turned a lot of casual fans away because of its softer, mellower, slower sound and put Manson on the receiving end of accusations of "selling out" Personally, I love all the albums, and, believe it or not, Mechanical Animals was my favorite...but each to their own. Anyway, while he touring for Mechanical Animals, the world was shocked by the Columbine massacre...Manson's first thought upon hearing about it was "I'm going to get blamed for this." Sure enough...he was. Not only was it a stupid thing to begin with, it was made even more crackheaded when the accusations continued to rain down even after it was revealed that the young terrorists didn't even like his music. Frustrated, Manson went into seclusion for months...and this album is the result. Bringing Antichrist Superstar and Mechanical Animals together in sound, this album is simply awesome...fans of Manson old and new (as cliched as that is...) should by this album right away. The ONLY complaint I have about it is that many of the songs are a litte too short...but it's still a VERY worthy buy. And for all those hypocritical religious fanatics who condemn the man, go read his lyrics so you at least know what you're talking about...it makes one look incredibly STUPID to condemn something you haven't even tried to find out about about...any way, hope this helped...enjoy the album!!!