Marilyn Manson has always been an odd person. White make-up, blood red lips, weird eyes-- image that always made your stomach turn sour. However, if you just put aside his image, you just might find yourself liking Marilyn Manson.

...or at least his music.

That is the case for me. Always hated Manson. But when I got a chance to listen to his 2003 album, The Golden Age of Grotesque, I surprised the hell out of me. We know the results right? Yeah, thought so! For many music lovers, when they discover a new artist, they tend to find every piece of music that the artist has done. I have done that and sadly, this is THE best work of "art" Marilyn has ever put out. Nothing compared to this wild ride in "The Golden Age Of Grotesque."

Track Listing:(Best tracks in bold)
Thaeter(Intro)
This Is The New Sh*t
mOBSCENE
Doll-Dagga Buzz-Buzz Ziggety-Zag
Use your Fist And Not Your Mouth
The Golden Age Of Grotesque
(S)AINT
Ka-Boom Ka-Boom
Slutgarden
Spade
Para-Noir
The Bright Young Things
Better Of Two Evils
Vodevil
Obsequey(Death Of Art)[Outro]

First track which is Thaeter is only but a mere intro. Skip this and you'll come running for This Is The New Sh*t which is a wild ride filled with catchy lines and one hell of an intense listening. Guitar licks are a tease in the beginning, but burst out for the chorus along with the thrashing bass. Bliss is again followed by Manson's vocals which are heavy, catchy and they do fit the song real well. One of his best vocals on this record. I was never crazy about mOBSCENE, but after many listenings, it has somewhat grown on me. It has an eerie bunch of instruments that include intense guitar licks and the pounding bass. Manson does a pretty good job on this; greatly paced, lots of different tones in his voice and plus, he has cheerleaders!

Doll-Dagga Buzz-Buzz Ziggety-Zag may be a tongue twister and frustrating to say. Too bad this song is pretty awful. First and foremost, the music is just fantastic! Thumping bass and electric guitars await you, but the vocals are some kind of awful. Greatly paced, but bad in execution with the shouts and whispers. Definitely a skip! Use Your Fist And Not Your Mouth is one of those true head-bangers on this record. It's heavy, intense, it throbs so damn good that you can't help but to bang your head to it. Manson is back again with his catchy and witty whispers and anthem-like shouts. I enjoyed the hell out of this track and you will too! "Put it in your middle finger and sing along, use your fist and not your mouth!"

The Golden Age Of Grotesque is the worst song off the record. Production is bland and slow with it's skipping beats from the bass and the guitars are not balanced too well. Plus, Manson's vocals are terrible. Shrieks, whispers, deep voices, etc. are all not balanced well at all. Another skip here. (S)AINT is another downright catchy song and whoa, this is definitely a fun yet heavy song to listen to. Production is dirty sounding with it's funky bass and guitars are kept mild here. Manson does seem to come back for his witty and catchy vocals here. I love it! "I got an F and a C, and I got a K too, and the only thing that is missing is a b*tch like U." Ka-Boom Ka-Boom is another great song, although not as catchy as the others, but definitely this is a fun track. Another dirty production here with the gritty bass and the guitar licks are heavy and deep. Technical, deep, shouting is what Manson does and he does extremely well.

An eye-opener for people scanning the track listing is Slutgarden. Actually, it's not explicit has it may sound. This song does have one of those gritty productions that feature the deep and dark guitar licks and bass. It's not the best featured on here, but still it's enjoyable. Manson provides those shrieking, shouting and eerily catchy voices on this track. Not the best, however, but still pretty damn good. Spade has never been able to capture my attention for multiple listens just because it's draggy and bland as "Golden Age Of Grotesque". Production is boring as hell and the vocals are scratchy with the long shrieks and low whispers. Para-Noir, which is the most explicit song on here, is a good song despite all the "F*ck you"s repeated on every line. It's quiet for parts of the song while going full throttle with the heavy bass and shrieking guitars. Manson has a woman doing the verses while he does the chorus. A nice mix that provides some strong vocal work.

Looking for an intense, heavy and extremely a headbanger? You've come to the right song named The Bright Young Things. Never in this song will you breathe. It's all the way through heavy with the massive guitar licks and thrashing bass. Manson does a real good job on keeping up the pace with his screams and whispers. Better Of Two Evils is another great example of a head-banger. It's heavy, wild and a pure roller coaster with it's slow moments, but only will you get thrashed around with it's loud moments. Manson still brings that vocal work that we all love. He's loud, he screams and he shouts like he's doing an anthem for others. "Haters call me b*tch, call me f*ggot, call me whitey but I'll be something you'll never be." Vodevil is another masterpiece from Manson. It's very intense and loud with it's massive guitar licks and the bass is just out of control. It's definitely what I like. Vocally, Manson ends this song with a damn loud bang! Screams, shouts and lots of shrieking comes from him. So you better get ready for this!

I was really surprised how well I enjoyed this record. It's everything that a heavy-metal OR hard rock music lover could want. It's loud, heavy, intense, fun in a roller coaster way and plus, it brings some major kick-a$$ bite in the vocal department. Definitely get this record. I tried all of Manson's other records, but this is just the masterpiece of all of it.

Great Music To Play While: being so damn stupid of being put off by Manson's image when all that counts is his music.

Recommended: Yes