Eat Me, Drink Me (album)
Eat Me, Drink Me is the sixth studio album by Marilyn Manson, due for release on June 5 2007 in North America by Interscope Records. Eat Me, Drink Me was recorded from late October 2006 to early January 2007 at a rented home studio in Beverley Hills, California, and in collaboration with Tim Skold who is responsible for composing all music on the album. It was produced by Marilyn Manson and Skold, and mixed by Sean Beavan
Contents
Background information
Manson on Eat Me, Drink Me
"I feel as if there's more like three albums' worth of material, [because] I don't want to cram a long record into a place that doesn't have the attention span for that... I'd like to return to the old-fashioned records that had eight or nine songs [that] were all very important. Not to say that I made records that had filler material. They were all based around a central idea, and the central idea in this one is my pain and its ability to be unashamed to repeat itself."
- —Marilyn Manson, MTV News
"[The songs] are clearly written to seduce somebody... I don't want people to think that the record is some kind of exploitation of my personal life. At the same time, it also represents exactly who I am and what I feel... I really wanted to be a singer on this album. This is very earnest and uncalculated and raw, in the sense that I know I'm fucked up, and I'm really not ashamed of it."
- —Marilyn Manson, Rolling Stone
"This is the record I’ve worked all my life to get to. You always have to transform, or you can’t continue as an artist, and this record has been the biggest transformation for me... It’s better heard than described... On this record I really wanted to sing, and that has to come from a naked, emotional place. It's not a record about me crying, or songs about my woes, but I think this record will probably speak to more people in different ways, because of its total human element... If I had to do a record review, I’d say it’s got a cannibal, consumption, obsessive, violent-sex, romance angle, but with an upbeat swing to it... The album's title [Eat Me, Drink Me] was also inspired by that story several years back of the German man who put out an ad that he wanted to be eaten, and the man who ate him. Although I can't relate to the relationship those two had, I found the story very compelling in a romantic way."
- —Marilyn Manson, Revolver
The singer also referred to the album as "very guitar-oriented and very melodic", and as featuring "various unconventional forms of percussion". He has also called it a romantic album, whose lyrical content involves "the unfulfilled yearning to be in another time or another place where you feel like you would fit in better".
Recent Events
On February 26, 2007, MarilynManson.com revealed the opinion of Rolling Stone upon first hearing the album as being:
"Things got really interesting on Saturday when the Smoking Section drove out to the Valley at the behest of Marilyn Manson. The S.S. joined Manson in his rec room where we worked our way down the belly of a bottle of German absinthe and were blown away as Manson debuted his new album, Eat Me, Drink Me. The key cut is "If I Was Your Vampire," a six-minute epic with the lyric "The hole is where the heart is." If anyone thought Manson was down for the count, think again."[1]
Since then Manson has appeared in Rolling Stone three times - the March article 'Manson's Dark Return', a further paragraph from the Smoking Section and a mention in the 50 Albums To Look Forward To This Summer issue. Other publications to include original content with Manson are the April issue of Rock Sound ('Marilyn Manson Lays Soul Bare', the May issue of Revolver (Feeding Frenzy) and an interview in French newspaper La Parisein.
To promote the album Manson has traveled to France, England and Germany where he has held both press conferences and listening parties. Similar listening parties for journalists and fan club administrators have taken and are planned to take place in other European countrie and America. Measures taken to prevent an unauthorized recording or copy of the album leaking have included bag searching and the prohibition of recording devices and mobile phones.
Recording details
Manson began his singing on the album in November 2005 but was focused on his film Phantasmagoria, the process of opening an art gallery and personal troubles relating to his marriage. It was after opening the gallery that Manson really began his contribution as a singer by working out melodies and strucures around Skold's already existing compositons, writing lyrics quickly and usually recording on the same day. One result of this is that the album features six guitar solos from Tim Skold and many other guitar while bass and keyboards feature much less than on a usual Marilyn Manson release. Sonically the album is predominantly mid-tempo and is said to be Manson's most melodic work to date. Manson has since revealed that he sang most of the album laying down on the studio floor with his hands cupping the studio mic, resulting in a very distinctive vocal sound.
Themes
According to Manson, Vampirism is just one of the dark themes running through Eat Me, Drink Me. "If I had to do a record review, I'd say it's got a cannibal, consumption, obsessive, violent-sex, romance angle, but with an upbeat swing to it." He says with a laugh. Aside from the obvious Lewis Carroll and Jesus Christ references, Manson says the album's title was also inspired by "that story several years back of the German man who put out an ad that he wanted to be eaten, and the man who ate him. Although I can't relate to the relationship those two had, I found the story very compelling in a romantic way. I think a lot of people wouldn’t look at it as romantic, but it was to them in some sick way, and it is to me in some sick way, too" he laughs.
Release dates and details
The album is scheduled for a US release date of June 5, 2007, a UK/France/Spain release date of June 4 and a Germany/Ireland release date of June 1. It will see release in Japan on June 6 with just a standard Japan release only with one bonus track included that has yet to be announced. Japan was also set to retail the special edition CD/DVD version but Universal Japan have cancelled this release due to it's content. The CD/DVD edition is still scheduled for release in other markets, the DVD will be of the uncut and uncensored video for lead single Heart-Shaped Glasses (When the Heart Guides the Hand).
Track listing
- "If I Was Your Vampire" – 5:56
- "Putting Holes in Happiness" – 4:31
- "The Red Carpet Grave" – 4:05
- "They Said That Hell's Not Hot" – 4:17
- "Just a Car Crash Away" – 4:55
- "Heart-Shaped Glasses (When the Heart Guides the Hand)" – 5:06
- "Evidence" - 5:19
- "Are You the Rabbit?" – 4:14
- "Mutilation is the Most Sincere Form of Flattery" - 3:52
- "You and Me and the Devil Makes 3" - 4:24
- "EAT ME, DRINK ME" - 5:40
Personnel
- Marilyn Manson - vocals, lyrics
- Tim Skold - guitars, bass, keyboards, programming
Live Band
In addition to Manson and Skold (who will play guitar) the live band will comprise:
- Madonna Wayne Gacy - keyboards
- Ginger Fish - drums
- Rob Holliday - bass
