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Holy Wood (In the Shadow of the Valley of Death)

Marilyn Manson - Holy Wood (In the Shadow of the Valley of Death) Audio CD

A fair review of the Marilyn Manson "Holy Wood (In the Shadow of the Valley of Death)" Audio CD. Please note that the below review is the views of the authors, and authors only. You can get a complete list of all Marilyn Manson reviews here, or go back to the Marilyn Manson tabs.

Band: Marilyn Manson
Title: Holy Wood (In the Shadow of the Valley of Death)
Rating:

Release Date: 2000-11-20
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: Godeatgod 2: Love Song 3: Fight Song 4: Disposable Teens 5: Target Audience (Narcissus Narcosis) 6: President Dead 7: Shadow of the Valley of Death 8: Cruci-Fiction in Space 9: Place in the Dirt 10: Nobodies 11: Death Song 12: Lamb of God 13: Born Again [Recorded Live, Feb. 14, 1997][Live] 14: Burning Flag 15: Coma Black: Eden Eye/The Apple of Discord 16: Valentine's Day 17: Fall of Adam 18: King Kill 19: Count to 6 and Die 20: Nobodies [Acoustic Version]

ESSENTIAL MARILYN MANSON.
This is the third part in what Marilyn Manson refers to as his unholy rock trinity ( a trilogy of albums begining with Antichrist Superstar, Mechanical Animals, and ending with this album in review. . Holywood). Holywood, is. . . AMAZING!!!! Some of the hard edged industrial rock anthems are here as well as some artsy sounding goth ballads and some straight up rock and roll. Lyrics are intellectual and truly confrontive. . . . many punk bands have strived to say the things that MM says on this album. You may hate Manson. . . but who can deny him as a meaningful songwriter? If you don't see the point behind MM's artistic expression. . . . than your not listening. Anyways, this is a fantastic album. John 5 on guitars.

Deep Subject Matter & A Unique Tone
It seems as if every other album is either laughing & mocking mainstream society or dishing out songs that are purposely so dark & disturbing that even the most hardcore Goths are scared! Yet on Holy Wood, the pace & flow of the album's songs make it a very different & unique experience. Many people overlook this album when they think about M Manson - However, Holy Wood has the darkest tone & the deepest subject matter in its lyrics. Holy Wood takes you on a ride into M Manson's views on the world, both political & spiritual. It is done by having every single sentence being a work of poetic genius! One song in particular, Target Audience, gives you a frighteningly new perspective on some rather taboo subjects. Target Audience explores what Lee Harvey Oswald, John Wilkes Booth & the Columbine kids were thinking before they unleashed their inner demons into the world. For the first time you get to hear what they thought justified their attack on the outside world that had ridiculed them way too far. And that's only 1 song from the album. If you buy this album, get ready for an amazing unique listening experience! However, you will be disappointed if you are looking for a Jesus hating & pop culture bashing hard rock party. Holy Wood is deeper than that.

- JLW
.

Another great album from Mr. Manson that actually might be his best!
I spent much of my teen years listening to Marilyn Manson and consider myself a big fan of his work. I have been listening to all of Marilyn Manson's albums in the weeks awaiting his newest release "The High End of Low" which was just released May 26th, 2009. But this does not make me biased in any way towards the high and lows (no pun intended) of his career. So this is my review series of all his albums. Hope you get to check them all out.

Where do I begin. It was the end of 2000 and music wasn't getting any better in the world. I needed a good album soon or I was going to lose it. It had been over 2 years since Marilyn Manson's previous album "Mechanical Animals". I mean it seemed like he was on a roll so this album was going to be great right? Wrong! This album is not great. This album is AMAZING!!!! This album is the perfect example of doing everything right on a record. Let me back up just a little bit in the timeline. . .

Marilyn Manson had released "Portrait. . . ", Smells like children, Antichrist Superstar, and Mechanical Animals prior to this album. Each album he released he was also getting more diverse musically. His first album to really hit it big however was Antichrist Superstar. That album was a very dark record. And comparing that album to the next one which is mechanical animals, you can see that he took an entirely different direction from Antichrist superstar. So that brings us to Holy Wood (in the shadow of the valley of death). Everything that made Antichrist Superstar great and everything that made Mechanical Animals great got thrown into a blender and the end result was this album! So regardless if you prefered Antichrist or Mechanical, there was something in this album for everyone. Personally this is one of his best of not his best work. I am tied between Mechanical animals and this album myself. Its hard to compare two masterpieces and decide which is the better of the two. Thats like saying who is the better out of mozart and beethoven! But this album is on the top no matter how you look at it and it is no surprise that it is his best selling album to date!

As far as the album goes it is a concept album in many ways. Much like Antichrist Superstar and Mechanical Animals this album tell a story. It is also Marilyn Manson at the pinnacle of his career in many ways. The tracklisting is great and there is NOT one bad song on this album. The tracklist is as follows:

1. "GodEatGod"
2. "The Love Song"
3. "The Fight Song"
4. "Disposable Teens"
5. "Target Audience (Narcissus Narcosis)"
6. ""President Dead""
7. "In the Shadow of the Valley of Death"
8. "Cruci-Fiction in Space"
9. "A Place in the Dirt"
10. "The Nobodies"
11. "The Death Song"
12. "Lamb of God"
13. "Born Again"
14. "Burning Flag"
15. "Coma Black"
16. "Valentine's Day"
17. "The Fall of Adam"
18. "King Kill 33�"
19. "Count to Six and Die (The Vacuum of Infinite Space Encompassing)"

The album starts of great and haunting and ends great and haunting. As you can tell the main theme seems to be about love, violence, death, as depicted by the song titles such as Love Song, Fight Song, Death Song. The theme keeps the album going and the artwork inside the album is amazing! Many people would disagree with me but this is a much better album than Antichrist Superstar. Marilyn Manson was still finding his niche in that album and although classic, it doesn't stand as well as Holy Wood does. If someone who never owned a Marilyn Manson album before asked me which of his albums to buy first, I would recommend this one! Although I stated in a previous review that I think Mechanical Animals is my favorite album. The reason I would recommend this one is because this album has the most variety. Each song is unique and very catchy. It grabs you in on the first listen where as Mechanical Animals might take a few listens to draw you in. A great album has one of those qualities of drawing you in immediately. And that is what makes this album so great. If you don't have it, pick it up already. If you never owned a Manson album, then buy this one! If your just getting into manson pick up this one along with best of. If you own it then you already know what I am talking about! The worst thing about this album being so good is that Marilyn Manson has yet to match it yet!.

A Little Disappointing...
This was my 3rd CD of him I ordered. I'm a little new to Marilyn Manson music. So far, the only songs on here I like are 'The Fight Song' and 'Disposable Teens' Maybe in time, I'll grow to like the other songs. If you are a goth and love Marilyn Manson music, I'm sure you'll love HOLY WOOD (IN THE SHADOW OF THE VALLEY OF DEATH!!!).

My Favorite Marilyn Manson Album!
In fact, I would say that this is his best album and one of the greatest rock albums ever! This album is mainly about school shooting events that have been in USA. This album has really made me happy! The songs are absolutely awesome! After "Mechanical Animals", Manson really wrote some great songs, including "The Fight Song", "The Death Song" and "Disposable Teens" etc. Marilyn Manson was accused by the media and goverment. Marilyn Manson made this album as a revenge. This album truly indicates how not-guilty Manson was for those shootings. The album itself has great riffs and melodies. I like every song except from "The Fall of Adam" which seems to be too short and meaningless song. Marilyn Manson may not be the greatest singer on Earth but his voice fits perfectly for these songs and make a scary feeling.
Stars: The Love Song, Disposable Teens, The Fight Song, The Death Song.

You can see a complete list of all Marilyn Manson discography, or go back to the Marilyn Manson tabs. There is also a good guide on how to read guitar tabs here.