Smells Like Children - Marilyn Manson

Picture the scene. Salt Lake City, 1994 and a young man called Brian is tearing up the book of mormon shortly before being made a reverend of the church of satan (Incidentally I hear the church of satan is in financial difficulties, and here’s me thinking the root of all evil was money…) by the church’s founder in front of a crowd of metal fans. No Marilyn, you’re not at all about image are you. Certainly on this 1995 release image is everything. I mean, check out the song names for a start! * The Hands of Small Children * Messed up samples, moody bass noises and a distorted baby crying (Just how do you plug a baby ...  Read the complete review

When I first started university in 1997 I was pleased to find a group of like-minded people who were into their metal/rock music as all my friends from school were into other types of music. The people I met at university were all into a band than I had heard of but had somehow never listened to, that band was Marilyn Manson. At this time, shortly after the release of the hugely controversial AntiChrist Superstar album, Marilyn Manson was all over the music magazines and tabloid press with huge protests at their gigs and crazy rumours following them everywhere. The album itself was a hugely heavy piece of gothic vision. It was a very ...  Read the complete review

I've never been a Marilyn Manson fan, In fact his look rather put me off (im not against blokes in make-up, placebo are cool) You can look at him and say your either going to love him or hate him on first impression. My friends are into mostly the same music as me and they all seemed to have different opinions about him. I decided I'd better find out for myself. I bought the album 'Smells like Children' simply because it has a revamp of the song 'Sweet dreams' and i absolutely adore this song. I didn't find the album very easy to get into, It isn't an album you could sing along too and the songs are very unpredictable with harsh ...  Read the complete review

There's no denying the raw power and underlying rage in this album and it's certainly akin to early TOOL. While some of the track titles are slightly boarding on the unnecessary and perhaps offensive, the parental and authority outburst against this, and subsequent MM offerings came to be a catalyst for future success and live performance. Manson craves on this controversy and PG13, as do his fans (and I). It's very much the cutting edge, dark themes which kick started Alice Coopers career in the early 1970's. The opening instrumental passage is fantastic, and to hear the anguish and pain of all those crying little babies is music to my ears - ...  Read the complete review

I was introduced to MM about five years ago by my wife. Rock music at its best and worst! Having listened to Smells Like Children a few times, the lyrical content on the surface is coarse and blatantly hateful. However, Mr Manson has opened a few doors into the background of how we are developing as children into adults. When I was young, I remember watching 'Chitty Chitty Bang Bang' (incidentally where the album title comes from) and the rather sinister child catcher who says "I smell children!", catches them, puts them in cages and throws them into a bondage of labour and starvation. One track on this album starts with "Not a speck ...  Read the complete review