STRUGGLING WITH INSOMNIA? LISTEN TO MARILYN MANSON’S BORING VILLAIN

When did Marilyn Manson and his key collaborator, Jeordie “Twiggy Ramirez” White, forget how to write catchy pop metal songs? The nicest thing I can say about Born Villain, the duo’s latest offering, is that it’s slightly less soporific than 2009’s The High End of the Low; songs like “Slo-Mo-Tion” and “No Reflection” at least have hooks (however dull those hooks may be), while other tunes, like “The Gardener,” have some okay ideas buried within them (a riff here, a vocal line there). But for the most part, Born Villain is slightly less exciting than watching Rose McGowan take a nap. Only one song, “Murderers Are Getting Prettier Every Day,” has even a sliver of the energy we expect from vintage Manson material.

Really, what these fuckers need to do is write another Antichrist Superstar — fuck, I’d settle for another Holy Wood at this point — but instead, they seem to have drifted off into some absinthe-induced sleep. They’re starting to make Korn look good.

Born Villain comes out tomorrow, but you can now stream the entire thing here. Although you could just as easily stare at the ground for an hour and have an experience every bit as exciting.

Somewhere, Tim Skold is laughing his ass off.

-AR