The High End of Low (album)

The High End of Low
The High End of Low cover
Studio album by Marilyn Manson
Released	May 20, 2009
Recorded	March 2008–January 2009 in Los Angeles and Hollywood, California
Length	60:12
Label	Interscope
Producer	Marilyn Manson, Chris Vrenna, Twiggy, Sean Beavan
Professional reviews
Allmusic Template:Rating 3 link BBC (favorable) link Entertainment Weekly (C+) link Revolver Template:Rating 4 Rolling Stone Template:Rating 2.5 Spin (8/10) link The Guardian Template:Rating 1 link The Quietus (favorable) link Thrash Hits (4/6) link
Marilyn Manson chronology
Lost & Found (2008) The High End of Low (2009)

The High End of Low is Marilyn Manson's seventh studio album. It was released on May 20, 2009, and is scheduled for release worldwide on May 26, 2009 by Interscope Records. The album was recorded in Hollywood Hills throughout 2008 and January 2009 by Marilyn Manson, Twiggy and Chris Vrenna; former live guitarist Wes Borland also confirmed writing nine songs for the band, which did not make the album. Sean Beavan, who was responsible for mixing the band's Mechanical Animals and Eat Me, Drink Me albums, acted as co-producer for The High End of Low. Between May 20 and May 26, there will be 11 release parties held for the album in the United States. Following the release of The High End of Low, Marilyn Manson will resume touring.

Manson has attested that The High End of Low is about having his "soul trampled on by women" but is also something that "makes you laugh." Manson claimed in an interview with Revolver that the album "wipes the floor with everything we've done before" citing it's "guitar solos and brutal, reckless screaming" and lyrics which he described as "relationship-destroying statements. Some of it is stuff I should have said to my ex-wife. Some are things I've never said to the world." It has currently spawned the singles "We're from America" and "Arma-goddamn-motherfuckin-geddon".

Background information

Production

Initially Manson revealed the recording session's for the band's seventh album would take place between March and May 2008, that two Eat Me, Drink Me b-sides may be included, and that he would again be working with Tim Skold, as well as Slayer's Kerry King, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs' Nick Zinner and James Iha on the album; a demo of one song was also allegedly recorded, along with written ideas for other potential tracks.

In January 2008, however, it was announced that Tim Skold had departed from the band, coinciding with the return of former bassist Twiggy Ramirez, who christened himself "just Twiggy." Manson said in an exclusive interview with The Heirophant that were plans of recording an album together once the Rape of the World tour ended. Though he had yet to divulge any sonic or thematic details of the album, Manson asserted that the four-year gap between the release of The Golden Age of Grotesque and its successor was "a mistake I don't want to repeat in the future," and that "I just feel like there is a big change happening now. It's going to be the one. Eat Me, Drink Me is opening the window and this is going to be the Hurricane Katrina."

The first photograph released by the band to promote The High End of Low, taken by Delaney Bishop.

In a February 2008 interview with Steppin' Out, Manson described the new album as, "very ruthless, very heavy, and very violent."

In March 2008, a news blog on the official MySpace profile of Twiggy's side project Goon Moon stated that "Jeordie is working on a new Marilyn Manson studio album". A week later Manson's MySpace profile was updated with a new banner, showing a spectral analysis of an audio track, possibly referring to the fact that they are indeed in the studio recording new tracks. In addition to this the track "The Fall of Adam" was added the the page's music player, which may imply a reprisal of the Celebritarian theme.

On October 19, 2008, Manson and Twiggy announced at the 2008 Scream Awards' after party that the album would "sound much like Antichrist Superstar" and that the recording sessions are "pretty much done." It was also revealed that live guitarist Wes Borland would remain with the band while they tour in support of the record. In an interview with Spinner.com released the following day, Manson put forth an explanation of Twiggy's experience working on the album: "This record is the record we always wanted to make and [Twiggy] is writing from a point of view that I've always written from lyrically. I don't think earlier on he had the opportunity to be damaged, and his soul to be trampled on by women as much as me. So now that his penis has been cut off metaphorically, and been smashed into fucking Sloppy Joe's, someone shit on his heart a thousand times, we tried to put a musical face to that." A statement by Manson that the band are considering releasing a song before the end of the year implies that the album is unlikely to be released in winter 2008 as Manson had declared in May.

The second photograph promoting The High End of Low.

In December 2008, Manson revealed the sonic qualities of three tracks. One is said to feature "a coven of witchy girls," the other "acoustic swampiness that harkens back to when [he] was living in New Orleans," and the song Manson plays guitar on also features him "snorting something — whatever it might have been" as a percussive instrument.

The Heirophant administrator Filicide has described one of five tracks whose title has been revealed as "the next Para-Noir," citing "Instrumental more so in that it's hypnotic..similar, but much longer than Para-Noir."

On February 2, 2009, the album's final title was revealed through Rolling Stone's online Smoking Section, and in a short interview Manson revealed that a music video would be produced for the nine-minute "I Want to Kill You Like They Do in the Movies". Rudy Coby shortly after hinted that the choice for the album's first single had been changed, in response to a MySpace user's comment that the video would be "legendary". Via his Facebook page, Coby confirmed that the single had been switched to "Arma-goddamn-motherfuckin-geddon" at the insistence of Marilyn Manson's label, Interscope Records.

Later that month, Manson briefly discussed the album in the monthly issue of Revolver, where he revealed the titles of two new songs, "I Want to Kill You Like They Do in the Movies" and "Armagoddamnmotherfuckinggeddon" (now known as "Arma-goddamn-motherfuckin-geddon"). The Heirophant administrator Filicide described "I Want to Kill You Like They Do in the Movies" as "the next Para-Noir," citing that the similarity lay in the "Instrumentals more so in that it's hypnotic..similar to, but much longer than Para-Noir." He also revealed that "Arma-goddamn-motherfuckin-geddon" was "like Rock Is Dead on steroids."

The third promotional photograph for The High End of Low era.

On March 10, 2009, a blog entry by producer Sean Beavan confirmed two additional titles, "15" and the rumored "Four Rusted Horses". "Armagoddamnmotherfuckinggeddon" was alternatively spelled "Arma-God Damn-Mother Fuckin'-Geddon", leaving the official title unclear. The following day, The Heirophant user MindRelapse commented on the album, saying "The material I heard did not indicate that Manson has set out to create a sequel or counterpart to anything he's done in the past. More so than "Eat Me, Drink Me" or "The Golden Age of Grotesque", the album sounds like Manson is finding his footing in the post-triptych era. [...] The only parallel I can draw to "Antichrist Superstar" is that they both welcomed in a new era with a heavy, hard around the edges style where you knew something big was about to begin. [...] Another parallel I can draw [...] is to "Holy Wood" when regarding Twiggy's bass. [...] Twiggy gets several chances to shine on the songs I heard which were very bass heavy. [...] On Manson's front, the wear and tear on his voice is still audibly present, but less apparent than on "Eat Me, Drink Me". [...] It's a little hard to pay attention to lyrics when the music is this fast, but I did spot the re-emergence of Manson's wordplay and a general 'fuck you' tone. His vocals sound raw again, this time due to age, but they compliment the music perfectly."

In a March interview with Kerrang!, Manson revealed that The High End of Low contains 15 songs, "15" being its closing track. He was also adamant that the fourteenth track is a "glorious epic" which Twiggy would be most memorable for as a guitarist. Manson also explained that the songs on the album are listed by the order they were written and recorded. He also revealed the title of another song, "We're from America", which was made available for free download through the band's website on March 27, 2009. The same month, five rough mixes of songs from the album were leaked to the Internet. Chris Vrenna has commented on the leaks, explaining that "I hate stealing of music in any form. If a band chooses to put tracks online, that is great. [...] But, downloading unauthorized music is that same as walking into your local CD store and shoplifting the disc! I think true fans know that usually songs found online before the record's release are either rough mixes of tracks and will wait to hear the music in the way the artist intended."

The fourth photograph released by the band to promote The High End of Low, which was revealed on the record's official minisite, later revealed to be the album's back cover.

On March 27, 2009, Metal Hammer released a blog describing two songs from The High End of Low, "Arma-goddamn-motherfuckin-geddon" and the previously unverified track "The Wow" (actually titled "WOW"). Later on April 7, 2009, Metal Hammer confirmed the titles of three new songs, "Blank and White", "Running to the Edge of the World" and "White Spider" (actually titled "Wight Spider"). The report also confirmed the leaked song "maybeharmfulifswallowed" has since been retitled "Leave a Scar".

On April 16, 2009, MarilynManson.com was updated to include the track listing for The High End of Low, thus revealing three previously unreleased song titles: "Pretty as a Swastika", "Unkillable Monster" and "I Have to Look Up Just to See Hell". A splash page was also added to the website, depicting Manson holding a bundle of fluorescent lights against his head. According to Rudy Coby, this photograph would be used as the record's cover art. What appears to be the official logos for both the band and album appear on this page as well. On April 27, the track listing for the deluxe edition of the album's bonus disc surfaced on HMV's website, revealing that the disc would contain up to seven remixes.

Recently, the album has been made available for pre-order on the iTunes Store. Here, the album notes praise that "For The High End of Low, Manson regains the spirit of his late-90's period, when he was public enemy No. 1." "Arma-goddamn-motherfuckin-geddon" and "We're from America" were described as "Manson at his subversive best, exposing society's hypocrisy and depravity," and adding to "Manson's catalog of anti-love songs" are "Pretty as a Swastika" and "I Want to Kill You Like They Do in the Movies".

On May 7, 2009, an official minisite for The High End of Low went online. Along with a new promotional photo, the site provides partial lyrics to "Arma-goddamn-motherfuckin-geddon", links to pre-order both the album and the "Arma-goddamn-motherfuckin-geddon" CD single, a mailing list and a Facebook application that features lyrics and samples to songs from the album. The order songs will feature on this application is as follows: beginning May 7, "Devour", "We're from America" and "Arma-goddamn-motherfuckin-geddon" will be available; these will be replaced on May 15 by "Four Rusted Horses", "Leave a Scar" and "Pretty as a Swastika"; these will be replaced on May 22 by "Into the Fire", "WOW" and "Blank and White"; these will be replaced on May 29 by "I Want to Kill You Like They Do in the Movies", "Unkillable Monster" and "Running to the Edge of the World"; and finally, these will be replaced on June 5 by "I Have to Look Up Just to See Hell", "15" and "Wight Spider", after which the fate of the application is unknown. On May 8, 2009, an e-mail sent through the site's mailing list confirmed that each week leading up to the album's release, a song will be accessible through phones by texting MANSON to 909090, the first of which being "Wight Spider".

Release date

The album was originally scheduled for release in October 2008, although due to touring commitments this date was pushed back to winter 2008, before a more recent slating in May 2009 was established. Initially Manson also intended to release a song from the album before the end of 2008, however these plans did not materialize. A North American release of May 26, 2009 has been confirmed; the album received a May 22 release in Germany; and on May 20, 2009, Japan was the first country to stock the album. On April 3, Polydor Records announced a release date of May 25, 2009 in France, and that a special edition of the album would be packaged with a bonus disc. This deluxe pressing of the album, also scheduled for release on May 26, will contain the 15 songs of the standard album, as well as six bonus tracks, including a remix of "Arma-goddamn-motherfuckin-geddon" by Teddybears and the Opening Titles Version of "Four Rusted Horses"; Japanese pressings would also include a seventh track, an alternate version of "Into the Fire". On May 5, 2009, both the standard and deluxe versions of the digital album were made available for pre-order on the iTunes Store, both of which also contain "Fifteen", an exclusive alternate version of "15".

Promoting The High End of Low was a free download of the song "We're from America". This was followed by the song's reissue as a digital single on April 7, and its limited release as a physical single on April 14. The album's first conventional single, "Arma-goddamn-motherfuckin-geddon", entered airplay on April 13, and would be released in CD format on May 15 in Germany and on May 18 in the United Kingdom. The song's music video, filmed between April 4 and 5, failed to meet two expected release dates, before premiering on NME.com in censored form, and hours later on the band's official website in uncensored form.

Reception

Concerning the few reviews that have surfaced thus far, The High End of Low tested fairly well with critics. Reviewing for Thrash Hits, Hugh Platt opens his analysis by questioning if Manson has been able to produce "his nastiest record since Antichrist Superstar." He notes that although Twiggy's involvement in the record "gives the album some much-needed muscle," it "never quite manifests a full personality of its own, favouring imitation of Manson albums past, as opposed to forging a new identity of its own." Platt concludes his review by citing that "True, at times it seems Manson is still treading water in a pool of self-pity, but at its best The High End of Low is a goose-stepping, arse-slapping hunk of slutty death-disco." Platt evaluated the album with a rating of 4 out of 6, leaning his mixed reaction towards a fairly positive one. Although he did not supply any specific rating, The Quietus' John Robb offered a gleaming track-by-track review of The High End of Low, comparing the album's highlights to The Doors, David Bowie, Bauhaus and Iggy Pop, and citing "We're from America" as one of the album's top tracks. Revolver's Christopher Weingarten described The High End of Low as Marilyn Manson's "most uplifting album since 1998's Mechanical Animals," however he shared the same critique as Hugh Platt of Thrash Hits, in that "The only thing keeping this record from being a Manson classic is its lack of cohesive personality [...] The new Manson – upbeat, lovesick, and totally psyched to see you all fucking die – doesn't get one sound or feeling to call his own," likening the album to "the world's most expensive mixtape." Chris Power of the BBC noted that "While High End Of Low isn't nearly the equal of career highlights Mechanical Animals and Holy Wood, it nevertheless proves there's still a fair dose of blood and bile to pour from his carcass yet," after 2007's Eat Me, Drink Me which he labeled lackluster. "More impressively," Power goes on, "at its best it provides a pointed satirical commentary on noughties America."

The album has not been unanimously well-received, however. J.R. of Rolling Stone expressed disappointment in the record, contesting that "In 1996, refrains like "You're as pretty as a swastika" and "It's Arma-goddamn-motherfuckin'-geddon" might have raised a few hackles, but in 2009 those lyrics hold little shock value." However J.R. gave a somewhat positive conclusion to his review, in which he certified the album only two-and-a-half out of five stars, noting that "It's a less glamorous job title than Antichrist Superstar, but these days, it suits him better." Phil Freeman of Allmusic criticized that despite the return of Twiggy, "as ever the Manson personality/persona towers over everything else, and his two or three musical ideas are repeated throughout the disc, with only a few exceptions. It doesn't help that he's never even tried to become a technically proficient vocalist." While noting that The High End of Low contains "a few catchy riffs here, and a nice tone on 'Blank and White,'" Freeman voiced his dissatisfaction with some of the album's lyrics, particularly on the songs "Leave a Scar" and "Four Rusted Horses".

Track listing

All lyrics by Marilyn Manson. All music by Twiggy and Chris Vrenna except "Wight Spider", which is by Manson, Twiggy and Vrenna.

1. "Devour" – 3:45
2. "Pretty as a Swastika" – 2:45
3. "Leave a Scar" – 3:54
4. "Four Rusted Horses" – 5:00
5. "Arma-goddamn-motherfuckin-geddon" – 3:39
6. "Blank and White" – 4:27
7. "Running to the Edge of the World" – 6:25
8. "I Want to Kill You Like They Do in the Movies" – 9:01
9. "WOW" – 4:55
10. "Wight Spider" – 5:32
11. "Unkillable Monster" – 3:43
12. "We're from America" – 5:04
13. "I Have to Look Up Just to See Hell" – 4:11
14. "Into the Fire" – 5:14
15. "15" – 4:20

Deluxe edition bonus material

Track 1 will feature as the closing track on standard versions of the album in the United Kingdom and Mexico. Tracks 1 through 6 are featured on the bonus disc of deluxe pressings and as bonus tracks with the digital deluxe edition on the iTunes Store. Track 7 appears on this bonus disc as well, but is limited only to Japanese pressings; it will also feature as a bonus track received with pre-orders of both the standard and deluxe digital albums. Track 8 will only be available as a bonus track with either digital edition of the album on the iTunes Store. Track 9 will only be available as a bonus track with album pressings shipped to independent record stores. On the track listing for both digital versions, the positions of tracks 7 and 8 are reversed.

1. "Arma-goddamn-motherfuckin-geddon" (Teddy Bears Remix) – 3:30
2. "Leave a Scar" (Alternate Version) – 4:02
3. "Running to the Edge of the World" (Alternate Version) – 6:08
4. "Wight Spider" (Alternate Version) – 5:28
5. "Four Rusted Horses" (Opening Titles Version) – 5:02
6. "I Have to Look Up Just to See Hell" (Alternate Version) – 4:08
7. "Into the Fire" (Alternate Version) – 4:34
8. "Fifteen"
9. "Pretty as a Swastika" (Alternate Version) – 2:25

Cover gallery

• The-High-End-Of-Low.jpg

  Front cover
• 

  Back cover, United Kingdom
• 

  Disc
• The-High-End-Of-Low-Inlay.jpg

  Inlay
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  Independent record store sticker
• 

  Deluxe edition sticker

Trivia

Comparison of the logos for the Criterion Edition of Tengoku to jigoku, called High and Low (top), and The High End of Low (bottom).

• The logo for The High End of Low appears to be based on the English logo for The Criterion Edition of the film Tengoku to jigoku, which translates to Heaven and Hell, a lyrical theme in "Four Rusted Horses".
• The High End of Low is the first studio album by Marilyn Manson since their major label debut, Portrait of an American Family, not to feature a conventional title track. However the song "I Have to Look Up Just to See Hell" is essentially the album's title track, as "the high end of low" is a recurring lyric in the song. Worth noting is the compilation Smells Like Children, which also did not have a title track, however the title of this release was lifted from an unrecorded song of the same name.
• The High End of Low runs rampant with references to the number 15, a first since 1998's Mechanical Animals. These references include the album having 15 songs, the last of which is titled "15", the number 15 spanning across the MM logo on the back of the "We're from America" single, the fact there are 15 letters in the album's title, and that The High End of Low would be released roughly 15 years after the band's major label debut, Portrait of an American Family.

Release history

Region	Date	Label	Format	Catalog
Japan	May 20, 2009	Universal International	Compact disc, deluxe edition	UICS9107
Australia	May 22, 2009	Interscope Records	Compact disc, deluxe edition	—
Germany		Polydor Records	Compact disc	—
Italy		Interscope Records	Compact disc, deluxe edition	—
France	May 25, 2009	Polydor Records	Compact disc	—
New Zealand		Interscope Records	Compact disc, deluxe edition	—
United Kingdom		Polydor Records	Compact disc, deluxe edition	—
Korea	May 26, 2009	Universal International	Compact disc, deluxe edition	—
Mexico		Universal International	Compact disc	—
North America		Interscope Records	Compact disc, deluxe edition	—

Personnel

• Marilyn Manson – vocals, percussion, guitars, production
• Twiggy – guitars, bass, keyboards, production
• Chris Vrenna – keyboards, programming, production
• Sean Beavan – production

External links

• Official North American website
• Official United Kingdom website