Marilyn Manson - Heaven Upside Down [Review]

“I am not someone who is loved,” Jared Leto’s rendition of The Joker muses in the extended version of the 2016 DC film Suicide Squad. “I’m an idea, state of mind.” This is an outlook on one’s identity that is probably not too far removed from how Marilyn Manson (born Brian Hugh Warner) views himself (or at least how others view him), which seems to be evidenced on his latest album, Heaven Upside Down. The album was originally titled SAY10 and was slated for a Valentine's Day 2017 release, but due to mostly undisclosed reasons, the album was delayed to later in the year. (Manson has since said that he is grateful for the delay because the delay gave birth to songs that we previously would not have heard.) Heaven Upside Down is undeniably Manson's heaviest and most aggressive album in years (possibly even since 2003’s The Golden Age of Grotesque), and if it accomplishes anything wholeheartedly, it is that it serves as a stark and brutal (although probably pleasant to many fans) reminder that the self-proclaimed “God of Fuck” is still alive and well and doesn’t plan on going anywhere anytime soon. Highlights on Heaven Upside Down include "Tattooed in Reverse," the first single "WE KNOW WHERE YOU FUCKING LIVE," "KILL4ME," and "Blood Honey."

As I have seen other Marilyn Manson fans point out, there are several tracks on the album which seem to call back to earlier Manson albums, and I agree. The opening track, for example (titled "Revelation #12"), sounds almost like an outtake from the debut album, Portrait of an American Family. The song is one of the heaviest songs on the album, and while it is actually one of my least favorite songs on the album (primarily due to its stale repetition), it does invite listeners to share nostalgic memories of '90s Marilyn Manson and Rob Zombie. The second track on Heaven Upside Down is titled "Tattooed in Reverse" and is definitely, as previously mentioned, a highlight on the album. One reason why I love it so much is that it is sonically similar to sounds heard on Eat Me, Drink Me, my favorite Manson album to date. The track features a thumping and playful beat, reminding me strikingly of the Eat Me, Drink Me track "The Red Carpet Grave." What I also love about the song is that it features clever wordplay (something that he employed frequently on his last album, The Pale Emperor, another one of my favorites), such as when he asserts that he is "unstable" and "not a show horse."

The album's third track is its lead single, "WE KNOW WHERE YOU FUCKING LIVE." This song is sure to remind fans of older Manson albums such as Antichrist Superstar and/or Holy Wood (in the Shadow of the Valley of Death). The track abandons the playful cabaret sound of "Tattooed in Reverse," instead opting for a raw and straightforward heavy metal track. The song's music video depicts Manson portraying the leader of a cult of murderous nuns, and this idea of blindly following someone or something and consequently surrendering your sense of individuality is one that is prevalent on the album. "WE KNOW WHERE YOU FUCKING LIVE" definitely (at least in my humble opinion) features a political slant (to which Manson is no stranger), as it could easily be interpreted as being from the perspective of (a) government official(s) who is/are proudly exercising his/their power to tap into citizens' personal and private lives. (Big Brother, anyone?) Even if the song is not intended to be interpreted so literally, however, the theme of power (be it political, social, etc.) being abused by the song's speaker is there regardless.

"SAY10," as previously mentioned, was originally intended to be the title track, and it is actually the first song that was previewed. Nearly a year ago, Manson uploaded a music video that only previewed a snippet of the song; the gory video depicted Manson destroying a Christian Bible as a decapitated man resembling Donald Trump lie in a pool of blood on the floor. The full music video, which was released about a month ago, abandons that concept but still doesn't hold back on the gore, as Manson is seen gushing blood out of his throat during the video as a character played by Johnny Depp (longtime friend of Manson's) is seen alongside Manson and getting it on with young and attractive women. The song is heavy and reminds me of the Golden Age era, and it lyrically calls attention to the idea that one person's villain is another person's hero, which could be meant to clarify his stance on Satanism; while he believes in neither God nor Satan, Satan, like Manson himself, is often misunderstood as a figure of pure evil when the reality is that he was merely a rebel, unwilling to obey God's rules. (The song's title is an obvious play on Satan and is also probably meant to exemplify the fact that Heaven Upside Down is Manson's tenth studio album.)

While I don't intend to keep comparing the album's songs to older Marilyn Manson songs, "KILL4ME" is strikingly similar to "Third Day of a Seven Day Binge" from The Pale Emperor, even opening with a very similar bluesy rock beat. I can't help but associate this song with the character Kai Anderson on American Horror Story: Cult. Kai is basically a modern day Charles Manson (from whom Manson gets half of his stage name), a cult leader who manipulates people into brutally murdering people for political reasons. (The "WE KNOW WHERE YOU FUCKING LIVE" music video would have been a good concept for this song, as well.) The song is also probably intended to be a satirical commentary on all of the heat that Manson has taken over the years for supposedly being a negative influence on people, especially youth, and encouraging them to commit acts of violence. Manson's career, in fact, nearly came to a screeching halt when conservative fearmongers like Bill O'Reilly pointed blame at Manson for the Columbine massacre that occurred in 1999. Mainly because of its similarity to "Third Day of a Seven Day Binge" (which, in my opinion, is one of Manson's best songs in his entire catalogue) and because of its catchy hook, "KILL4ME" is my favorite song from Heaven Upside Down.

"Saturnalia" is honestly a low point on the album. It runs (probably unnecessarily, I might add) at eight minutes long and is one of the more subdued songs on the album, not really featuring a memorable hook like songs like "WE KNOW WHERE YOU FUCKING LIVE" and "KILL4ME" do. Although attempting to analyze this song's lyrics can be a challenge (as is often the case with Manson), lyrics like "I was invited to eat the young" and "I don't want to be another bullet hole in the exit sign on your road" seem to suggest that Manson might be pointing at a theme similar to that of "KILL4ME" - the unnerving fact that Manson has so often over the past two decades been used as a scapegoat by people who don't actually understand him. I have an older relative, for example, who once successfully convinced my mother when I was much younger to try to avoid allowing me to listen to Manson, citing reasons such as how Manson encourages listeners to murder their parents. It was immediately clear to me that he was acting on ignorance, as people who oppose Manson often do, as there is, to the best of my knowledge (and I am a pretty passionate fan), no Marilyn Manson song that encourages such a thing.

"JE$US CRI$I$" is a fun and upbeat song that pulls no punches. It violently introduces us to its hook, during which Manson declares that he "write[s] songs to fight and to fuck to. If you want to fight, then I'll fight you. If you want to fuck, I will fuck you." Manson could definitely be demonstrating a strong sense of self-awareness here, but is he? One reason why Marilyn Manson's songs tend to be somewhat difficult to interpret (aside from the fact, of course, that he often extensively employs esoteric knowledge of the Christian Bible, which, as his autobiography The Long Hard Road Out of Hell explains, is primarily because he attended Christian Bible school as a child) is that it's rarely clear whether or not Manson wants his words to be taken satirically or seriously. He has, for example, said in the past that he doesn't really understand why people are drawn to him sexually because he doesn't want to be attractive and even intentionally attempts to make himself look like a corpse. This shines an interesting light on these lyrics. My interpretation of the song is that Christianity is a manipulative (and maybe even financially driven, as the title of the song seems to suggest) power that is the root of many of our crises.

"Blood Honey" is another highlight on the album, serving as one of my favorites. Although undoubtedly still a hard rock song, "Blood Honey" is a slower song on the album, almost having a waltzy rhythm to it, and it may actually be one of Manson's most personally reflective songs to date. "I fuck every broken-crazy girl instead of hanging from the ceiling," he laments. As previously mentioned, I have read Manson's autobiography, so I know that he is no stranger to trauma, having been raped as a child by the very same person who also murdered his beloved dog. "I got some feelings, but I try to hide when I'm healing... so I keep my life a lie." This idea of keeping "my life a lie" is indicative of why, as previously mentioned, we are probably not intended to take everything that Manson says via his music at face value. How do we know, after all, that Brian Hugh Warner and Marilyn Manson are the exact same person? How much of Marilyn Manson is a persona? Celebrities are so often seen as archetypes or as characters rather than as human beings, and I think that Manson is well aware that this tends to be the case for him, which is why I made the comparison to The Joker calling himself a "state of mind."

The penultimate song on Heaven Upside Down is the album's title track, another song, like "KILL4ME," that has somewhat of a bluesy rock sound that sounds like it could belong on The Pale Emperor. Like many of the songs on the album, the song refers to realities being reversed and "upside down." Songs like "Tattooed in Reverse" and "Blood Honey" (which even features the lyric that "you only say that you want me when I'm upside down") feature this theme, and I even came to the realization that the unconventional way that the CD is packaged might have been a creative choice done to help promote one of the album's themes. Many people nowadays (if they buy it at all) buy music digitally, and the age of CDs seems to sadly be dying. (Be still, my poor CD player junkie heart.) I did, however, buy the CD and was almost immediately taken aback by how it was packaged. The front cover is very thin, featuring only two sides, and the booklet, which is made out of a thin, newspaper-like material, is underneath the disc. I have never before seen an album packaged in such a way and can't help but wonder if, as I said, it's meant to accentuate the album's theme of reality being "upside down."

The album's final track is titled "Threats of Romance." The introduction of the song features a slamming and heavily accentuated beat similar to that of "Tattooed in Reverse." It is, in fact, yet another one that reminds me of Eat Me, Drink Me. "Threats of Romance" is another song that could potentially be personal for Manson. It's no secret that Manson has been unlucky in love, moving from relationship to relationship, none of them lasting very long. "Things that are pretty are always kept behind glass," he sings in an almost mournful tone, "and someone like me... can't make it last." Manson, or at least the speaker of this song, seems to be blaming himself for failed relationships, reasoning that his need for chaos and disarray is what leads to his relationships ending. On his song "WOW," found on his 2009 album The High End of Low, Manson sings, "Did you stop and take a look at who you fell in love with?" which seems to parallel his feelings on "Threats of Romance." He continues, "My seed would have made good fruit, and you could have been a tree." Could it be that Manson regrets never having fathered any children? Manson's own father passed away this year, something that hit him very hard, so it could very well be that this is on his mind.

I am overall relatively pleased with Heaven Upside Down. It is most definitely not my favorite Marilyn Manson album to date (that, as previously mentioned, would be Eat Me, Drink Me, and it's going to take a lot for a future album to take that album's place), but it is also far from being my least favorite. (While it is difficult to pinpoint my least favorite Marilyn Manson album, Portrait of an American Family, The High End of Low, and Born Villain all come to mind as possible candidates.) The album features some low points such as "Revelation #12" but also features brilliant highlights such as "KILL4ME" and "Blood Honey." It is interesting how, via this album, Manson manages to continue implementing his modus operandi of using clever wordplay and biblical imagery while still capturing a somehow introspective and personal photograph of himself as a human being. This duality, this question of identity regarding where Brian Hugh Warner ends and where Marilyn Manson begins, if anywhere, perhaps at least partially begins to deconstruct the idea that Marilyn Manson is nothing more than an archetypal character, a "state of mind," that he is actually a human being who tends to be looked at "upside down."

Otep - Quiet Lightning on the Noisy Mountain - Book [Review]

Otep Shamaya, for a couple of years now, has been one of my absolute favorite musicians, and when I discovered that she was also a writer (beyond writing song lyrics, that is), I had to get my hands on one of her books. Quiet Lightning on the Noisy Mountain is definitely a wise starting point for someone looking to read Otep's work for the first time because it is almost like a sample platter, a conglomerate of many different genres from blog posts, short stories, and even fairytales (of which there are two, located at the very end of the book). Otep is a brilliant writer, and one of my absolute favorite aspects of her writing is her vivid use of alliteration (consonant sounds being repeated more than once in close proximity): "We've tasted the divinity of music in clubs stuffed with bodies and thick clouds of methane, where wanton women beg for liberation and brave souls burn with pride, busted bones and bloody clothes, through a sea of limbs and lips, hungry eyes, fists in the air, these fashionistas, these rogues, rebels, the willing weird, revered friends, lovers, and anonymous apostles, untied and united, seek communion, consumption, and corruption in a quick breath of our sweet lucidity” (Shamaya 104). One of my favorite stories is titled "The Fourth Reich" and is easily one of the most unusual stories that I have ever read, as it tells the story of Adolf Hitler being resurrected as a flower. Never before have I read such a story, especially since Otep somehow manages to vividly describe how it would feel if one of us suddenly found ourselves existing as a flower; the description is so vidid that one would suspect that Otep has experienced the sensation herself. (This is a true sign of a brilliant writer.) Many of Otep's stories feature the same plot/theme - women warriors exacting revenge on oppressors, especially male ones in patriarchal positions. Such stories are brutally bold and harrowingly haunting, and while I do love such stories, I also cannot help but adore the fairytale near the end of the book titled "Brother Blue," as it is a child-friendly story featuring no violence at all and delivering a lesson about how important that it is to value and respect diversity. (Otep's ability to go from writing a violent thriller to writing a charming children's fairytale is indicative of her eclectic ability as a writer.) My only complaint with Quiet Lightning on the Noisy Mountain is that many pieces have not been proofread and consequently feature a number of grammar errors and/or typos, but I can't allow that to bother me too much because she does, in a preface to the book, acknowledge this: "Forgive any spelling or grammatical errors you may uncover," she asks. "This is pure, uncut ME. Otep in the raw – if you will." Otep is as brilliant of a writer as she is a musician, and I am looking forward to reading more of her work in the future.

Evanescence - Bring Me to Life (Synthesis) - Single / Imperfection - Single [Review]

Right around the time that Evanescence's vinyl box set (which I reviewed here) was released, Amy Lee revealed that the band would be releasing a new project in the fall that would be very different than anything that they had done in the past. She eventually revealed that the next Evanescence album would be titled Synthesis and that it would be comprised mostly of new interpretations of old Evanescence songs, subdued and revamped with strings and synths. Synthesis, which is due to drop on November 10th, will include eleven reworked songs, two new songs, and three new instrumental pieces. The first single released from Synthesis was the new version of "Bring Me to Life" (Evanescence's first ever single released from Fallen back in 2003), and while I really like it, it seemed to disappoint many fans, with some fans saying that it sounds like a studio tour version or a fanmade remix. While the Fallen version of the song begins with a piano melody with which most everyone, Evanescence fan or not, is familiar, the new Synthesis version begins with eerie, dissonant strings before Amy introduces us to the lyrics. While vocally not much different than the Fallen version, Amy's vocals are a lot more raw, almost giving the song a live quality (which I think is why some fans said that it sounds like a studio version of a live performance). The song is stripped down, featuring no guitars but instead freshly reworked with shrill and eerie strings (which sound like the score to a horror film) and synths, which hit at full power in the second verse. The synths give the song a fresh futuristic sound, making it sound like it belongs on a Resident Evil soundtrack. Diehard Evanescence fans know, however, that this is not the first time that "Bring Me to Life" has officially been in an electronic capacity, as demo versions of the song recorded before the release of Fallen were much more electronic-driven than the piano-driven final product on the album. Noticeably absent from the Synthesis version are Paul McCoy's rapping vocals. Amy, in fact, skips over those lyrics entirely and sings "Don't let me die here," whereas she eerily whispered that on the Fallen version.

The second single is a brand new song titled "Imperfection." Fans seemed to respond much more positively to this new song, with some even citing it as Evanescence's best single to date. It is definitely a lot more upbeat than the "Bring Me to Life" reworking, featuring piano, a hip hop beat, playful synths, and an uplifting orchestra. During the song's verses, Lee belts out the lyrics similarly to what she does in her electronically driven cover of Chris Isaak's "Baby Did a Bad, Bad Thing." The song thematically reminds me of "Disappear" from the 2011 self-titled album, as both songs are from the perspective of someone who loves someone suffering from depression. "Disappear," in fact, features the lyric, "How much longer are you going to give into the fear?," and "Imperfection" features the lyric, "Just don't give into the fear." "Imperfection," probably not coincidentally so, arrives during the wake of beloved rock musicians like Chris Cornell and Chester Bennington recently lost to suicide: "So many things I would've told you if I knew that I was never going to see you again," Lee laments. The song also seems to address depression itself in its second verse: "The way you look us over, your counterfeit composure, pushing again and again and sinking lower and lower. The world is on our shoulders. Do you really know the weight of the words you say?" Depression has a habit of lying to those who suffer its burden, trying to convince them that they are worthless and unloved. Although doubtfully intentional, the song also reminds me of a line from the smash hit "Broken" by Seether and Amy Lee: in "Broken," Lee sings, "I want to hold you high and steal your pain," and in "Imperfection," she sings, "I want to lift you up into the light that you deserve. I want to take your pain into myself so you won't hurt." (As I said, though, I very much doubt that Amy intended to call attention to that song, given her history with Seether frontman Shaun Morgan.) I am overall very pleased with what we've heard of Synthesis so far, and I am really looking forward to hearing the entire album on November 10th!

Björk - the gate - Single [Review]

Icelandic electronica musician Björk has finally followed up on her 2015 release Vulnicura with the haunting single "the gate," which will be found on her upcoming album Utopia (due to be released in November). (Read my review of Vulnicura here.) Björk said quite some time ago, probably last year in fact, that the new album would be the paradise to Vulnicura's hell, which makes sense because Vulnicura could definitely be described as a sort of hell, as it very closely chronicles the pain experienced right before, during, and after her split from ex-partner Matthew Barney. Utopia promises happier and more uplifting themes, and its lead single definitely seems to be an indicator. Even though "the gate" is sonically eerie and dark, its lyrics speak of the love (possibly even self-love) that comes from healing. Even on Vulnicura, a genius album nothing short of devastating, Björk offers hints of hope, seeming to offer the idea that pain makes us stronger: "Don't remove my pain; it is my chance to heal," she sings on the track "Notget." The cover art of Vulnicura shows us Björk with a hole in her chest where her heart should be (which is also imagery found in the "Lionsong" music video), representative of how the break-up made her feel emotionally. Some song lyrics referenced this feeling, as well. On the opening track, for example, she sings, "All that matters is who is open-chested and who has coagulated." It should come as no surprise, then, that Utopia's lead single features lyrics that reference her "healed chest wound." "the gate" and most likely most of Utopia are likely to show us the paradise that can oftentimes follow a hell.

I have seen some fans affectionately call "the gate" Vulnicura's tenth track because of how it seems to complete, or at least continue, its story. I agree; however, "the gate" is both sonically and thematically different from most of what a listener would hear on Vulnicura. Much of Vulnicura is made up of strings, whereas "the gate" is heavily composed of woodwinds and synths. Vulnicura deals with separation, and "the gate" deals with unity. The song, which features reverberating vocals that provide an atmospheric and dreamy effect, speaks of a wound becoming a passage through which love can pass, and throughout the chorus, Björk sings that "I care for you" as synths and strings waver eerily. This has not been confirmed, but I think that the song also references her well known 1995 hit "Army of Me." "Army of Me" was a demand that the receiver stop being so needy, to start becoming independent. Its second verse asks for "self-suffience please," and in "the gate," Björk sings in the third verse, "Didn't used to be so needy... Proud self-sufficiency." I believe this to be a callback to "Army of Me" because in "Army of Me," Björk, in the song's chorus, warns that "if you complain once more, you'll meet an army of me," and Vulnicura, in keeping with those words, is essentially a giant complaint. Björk is now saying that she better understands that neediness because of her painful experience but that getting herself through it made her stronger. I love "the gate" and cannot wait for Utopia to arrive. Björk is one of a very select few artists who can successfully pull off an eerie and somewhat dissonant song that still manages to be beautiful and harmonious. I am really looking forward to discovering what the album's overall sound is.

Lana Del Rey - Lust for Life [Review]

It is debatable whether Lust for Life is Lana Del Rey's fourth, fifth, or sixth album. If one counts neither the limited independent debut Lana Del Ray A.K.A. Lizzy Grant nor the nine-track Paradise as an album (or vice versa), then they would probably consider Lust for Life the fourth album. If one counts one and not the other, then they would likely consider Lust for Life to be the fifth album. If, like me, one counts both Lana Del Ray A.K.A. Lizzy Grant and Paradise as albums, then they would probably consider Lust for Life to be her sixth album. As I said, I ultimately consider Lust for Life to be Lana Del Rey's sixth album. Including the iTunes bonus track "Burning Desire," Paradise contains nine tracks, which in many other cases (such as HIM's Venus Doom and Björk's Vulnicura) constitutes a full-length album, so, to me, Paradise is an album, and Born to Die: The Paradise Edition is a double-album. (I also consider Lady Gaga's The Fame Mons†er much the same way.) While Lana does not really reinvent herself in ways like artists such as Madonna and Lady Gaga do, she does create a slightly new environment on each album while still, overall, maintaining her image and sound, and Lust for Life is no exception. While some parts of the album are more or less the same as what we have gotten from her before ("13 Beaches" sounds like a Honeymoon outtake, and "Cherry" and "In My Feelings" sound almost like Ultraviolence outtakes), other parts (such as the title track and "Summer Bummer") are pretty much new territory for her. (I don't necessarily like that new territory, and I will cover those reasons in this review.) The album is, overall, a great album that explores a lot of interesting topics. (This is, for example, the first time that Lana has really gotten deeply political on an album.) It does have its shortcomings, though.

The first Lust for Life track is "Love," the album's first single. Sonically, the song is not too far of a departure from Lana's usual sound, but lyrically, it is a lot more hopeful and uplifting than her music usually is. It seems to speak to the beauty of love when you're young, how being in love can outweigh the mundane cycle that life offers as well as the hardships that it offers. Although the song is an effective opening to the album, I think that it also would have made an effective closing track because when you get to the end of the song, it does feel like there is a finality to it, some kind of closure. The album then gives us the title track, which features The Weeknd on guest vocals. "Lust for Life" is quite honestly one of my least favorite tracks on the album. It has grown on me since I first heard it, and I appreciate it a lot more than I used to, but I still find it rather underwhelming. In comparison with Lana's usual vintage style, "Lust for Life" sounds very modern and mainstream, and I can even easily imagine it being played on top 40 radio. This isn't always necessarily a bad thing (and I don't mean to be sounding like a hipster here), but the song is just kind of redundant, especially in its chorus, and falls flat and doesn't really go anywhere. It has a soulful R&B sound to it a little bit as well, which doesn't tend to be my favorite style of music. I also don't really like The Weeknd's vocals on it, but the two of them seem to have a friendship, given that she had previously collaborated on two songs of his. The song is somewhat similar to "Love" lyrically, as it speaks of being carefree despite life trying to throw hardships your way: "They say only the good die young. That just ain't right 'cause we're having too much fun..."

The third track is titled "13 Beaches" and is definitely a highlight on the album. It is said that the original version of the song was titled "Something Real" and was sonically much darker than the final version that we got, with heavier strings and a "horror movie vibe." (My sincerest hope is that we will eventually get to hear that version.) Interestingly, even though it does seem to have gone through a major change, it still pays homage to a horror movie, as the spoken introduction ("I don't belong in the world; that's what it is. Something separates me from other people. Everywhere I turn, there's something blocking my escape.") is lifted from the 1962 horror film Carnival of Souls. What I love the most about this song, which calls back to the relaxed and subdued jazzy sound of Honeymoon, is the lyrics of its chorus: "It hurts to love you, but I still love you; it's just the way I feel, and I'd be lying if I kept hiding the fact that I can't deal." As is typical of much of Lana's music, this is likely meant to contain more than one meaning. Lana has said that the song is about how she deals with being so famous and having to deal with being followed by journalists and paparazzi. The song was inspired by an experience that she had while trying to find a quiet place to unwind; she literally had to visit thirteen beaches before finding one where she could be alone and unrecognized. The chorus therefore addresses both her fame as well as a potential ex-lover. (She has, after all, stated before that she will probably always love the same man and is constantly writing about him, although I don't think that we know who that man is.)

"13 Beaches" transitions smoothy into "Cherry," one of the most playful songs on the album. The song begins with Lana warbling over a lightly strumming guitar. The song picks up a little bit when it gets to the chorus, adding a light hip-hop-esque beat. The song has a bluesy-rock sound to it, which reminds me of Ultraviolence, but it also, as previously mentioned, has a restrained hip-hop sound to it, which reminds me of "High by the Beach" from Honeymoon. The song manages to be playful (throwing words like "bitch" and "fuck" out seemingly for their own sake) but also subdued, which is one reason why I love the song. "Cherry," which seems to speak of the way that love typically declines and deteriorates over time, is another highlight on the album for sure. "White Mustang," the fifth track, on the other hand, is a bit of a letdown in my opinion. The song starts with a quiet piano, which I do enjoy because the piano is my favorite musical instrument, but the song makes promises that it doesn't keep, building up to an anticlimactic chorus that doesn't really do anything interesting. The song, however, is arguably the closest that the album comes to the sound from Born to Die, possibly reminding one of songs like "Dark Paradise" and "Summertime Sadness." The song is extremely short (running at only two minutes and forty-five seconds) and honestly just seems to abruptly cut off at the end. Lana recently said during a live Q&A session via Instagram that "White Mustang" will be the next music video, which I admit does disappoint me a bit; it's hardly a highlight from the album. It thematically speaks of an infatuation with and possibly even relationship with a famous musician.

The next two tracks are "Summer Bummer" and "Groupie Love," both featuring rap verses. "Summer Bummer" features A$AP Rocky (with whom Lana had previously collaborated on the unreleased track "Ridin'") and Playboi Carter, and "Groupie Love" features only A$AP Rocky. I discuss these two songs simultaneously because Lana has said that she considers them to be sibling songs (probably mainly because they both feature A$AP Rocky). I honestly hated these songs when I first heard them, but they have definitely grown on me, and I now love them. I do feel, however, that the rap verses do not fit and should not have been featured. Lana has a very distinct vintage folky sound as well as a very soft subdued voice, which, in my sincere opinion, do not mesh well with aggressive rap vocals. It would almost be like trying to mix Patsy Cline or Nancy Sinatra with rap verses. Can you imagine? On "Groupie Love," for example, A$AP Rocky raps in his verse, "God dang, got a nigga actin' irate," which really does not sound like it belongs in a Lana Del Rey song. "Summer Bummer" features a very heavy hip-hop beat, and the song definitely has a strong urban appeal. Given that that is the sound that tends to be popular, I can totally imagine this song being played on the radio, as it definitely has a "top 40" sound to it (which is, as I said, unusual for Lana). "Groupie Love" is softer than "Summer Bummer"; even Rocky's verse is softer than his verse in "Summer Bummer," but he still sounds out of place. While I do understand Lana's reasonings for considering these two songs to be sibling songs, I actually more so consider "Groupie Love" and "White Mustang" to be sibling songs because both are thematically similar, telling stories of relationships with famous musicians. (There were actually rumors recently that Lana was dating rapper G-Eazy, which these two songs might help substantiate.)

The eighth track on the album is titled "In My Feelings" and is probably my #1 favorite. The song starts with what sounds like deep strings which introduce us to the light hip-hop percussion (something that essentially pervades the first half of the album) that persists throughout most of the song. "In My Feelings" is probably the angriest song on the album, with lyrics such as the impatient demand that her (ex) lover "get that cigarette smoke out of my face," the savagely sarcastic statement that "you wanna make the switch? Be my guest, baby" and the fair warning that "if you were me and I was you, I'd get out of my way." The song addresses a lover who has more than likely been unfaithful (a theme especially prevalent on Ultraviolence) and has consequently caused her to feel a wide array of emotions, the most dominant one seeming to be anger. The speaker has had enough and wishes to now be on her own (a theme also present in the also angry Honeymoon track "High by the Beach," in which she poetically determines that "everyone can start again, not through love but through revenge. Through the fire, we're born again. Peace by vengeance brings the end." (This seems to recall the popular adage that "living well is the best revenge," as if Lana were saying that the best way to recover from a broken heart is not by rebounding but by living happily on your own. One could also argue, of course, that by revenge, she means shooting your ex out of the sky with a bazooka, but I am going to assume that that is probably not the case.) I love the blip sound that drops the chorus, and the chorus varies in tone, going up and down the scale more quickly and more often than Lana's songs usually do.

The ninth track on Lust for Life is titled "Coachella - Woodstock in My Mind" and is right about where the more pop and hip-hop flavored songs transition into more folky songs. This song was released months ago as a promotional single, and it was originally meant to be a standalone single, as Lana said that it was not going to be included on the album. When fans finally saw the tracklisting, however, they were surprised to see that she had, in fact, changed her mind. I am glad that she did because the lyrical content of the song is in keeping with some of the other songs, with "When the World Was at War We Kept Dancing" functioning almost as a sibling song. The song, like "13 Beaches," is meant to be taken literally because it is based on actual experience of hers. Lana attended Coachella 2017 where she, with the frontman's wife, watched Father John Misty perform live. In the song, she compares the experience to Woodstock '69 because both shows took place during turbulent times and represent freedom through music in spite of the turbulence. Lana does, for the first time in her career, directly address politics on this album, and this starts on this song when she addresses the mounting tension between the United States and North Korea. The song has a slow waltzy groove to it, and I love the melody. I also love how it nods toward Led Zeppelin's "Stairway to Heaven" in its chorus. My only complaint regarding this song is its beat. She said that the song was quickly whipped up following the Coachella show, and I think that the beat makes this evident. It does not sound like live drums; it instead sounds like a very basic drum machine beat. I do, overall, really love the song; I just wish that it hadn't been rushed.

Lana is no stranger to infusing her music with Americana; she has done it before on songs like "National Anthem," "American," "Afraid," and so forth (the list goes on), and she has also used the American flag as imagery time and time again, but as previously mentioned, Lust for Life is really the first time that she has directly addressed current American politics in her music. She begins to touch upon it on "Coachella - Woodstock in My Mind" but digs even deeper on the next several tracks. "God Bless America - and All the Beautiful Women in It" is meant to add to the discussion that many had this year at the Women's March on Washington, when approximately 500,000 people protested in Washington D.C. against the inauguration of Donald Trump. Lana's song glorifies women, acknowledging their value and worth in the country. The song is very light and acoustically driven and has a strong folky flavor to it, as do many of the songs on the back half of the album. The album then moves into the aforementioned "When the World Was at War We Kept Dancing," which is thematically similar to "Coachella - Woodstock in My Mind" and is similar in sound to "God Bless America - and All the Beautiful Women in It." In response to Donald Trump's election, Lana asks, "Is this the end of an era? Is it the end of America?" This is in keeping with how many Americans felt following the November election results, but Lana provides hope: "If we hold onto hope," she encourages us, "we'll have our happy ending." Echoing what she says in the Lust for Life album trailer, she reminds us that America has endured turbulence in the past, and we'll endure it now: "When the world was at war before, we just kept dancing." As previously stated, this also echoes "Coachella" in that it offers music as a way for us to get through this.

A piano-driven folk track, "Beautiful People Beautiful Problems" is definitely a highlight on the album because Lana collaborates with legendary folk musician Stevie Nicks of Fleetwood Mac (with whom she sounds incredible). The song sounds like a vintage folk song, and the opening verse could potentially be leaning towards a political meaning: "Blue is the color of the planet from the view above. Long live our reign. Long live our love. Green is the planet from the eyes of a turtle dove 'til it runs red... with blood." The planet running red with blood could be in reference to war, but it could also be referencing the planet metaphorically bleeding because we are not being eco-friendly and are not taking care of it. (Donald Trump is not concerned with eco-friendliness and regards climate change as a hoax.) My overall interpretation of the song is that most of us are both better than and worse off than other people in the world, and regardless of how we feel, we are all inhabitants of the same planet and should all have similar goals in mind. The next track on the album is also significant because it is a duet with the son of John Lennon and Yoko Ono, Sean Ono Lennon. "Tomorrow Never Came" is either my second or third favorite song on the album. An acoustically driven folk song that I can totally imagine Sean's father and/or The Beatles performing, the song is a beautiful lament about someone (most likely an ex-lover) who had represented a brighter future for the speaker but then never delivered on that promise. (It is a song to which I strongly relate.) Near the end of the song, Lana sings, "I wish we had stayed home, and I could put on the radio to our favorite song. Lennon and Yoko, we would play all day long. 'Isn't life crazy?' I said, now that I'm singing with Sean." I love this part of the song because it is meant to be ironically "meta."

"Heroin" is not a terrible song but is a part of the album where it temporarily dips off for me. I like the chorus of the song, in which Lana sings, "Flying to the moon again, dreaming about heroin," as it is melodically beautiful, but most of the song is flat and doesn't go many places. It is one of my least favorite songs on the album. (It lyrically seems to be very personal and could be addressing actual drug use like past songs such as "Yayo" and "Florida Kilos" seem to, but that's unclear.) The next song, on the other hand, simply titled "Change," is either my second or third favorite on Lust for Life, butting heads with "Tomorrow Never Came." "Change" is piano-driven and is devastatingly beautiful, especially in its soaring chorus: "Every time that we run, we don't know what it's from..." The song addresses a common human condition: "Lately I've been thinking that it's someone else's job to care." We sometimes do suffer from this syndrome, believing that we don't need to stand up for what's right because someone else will. The problem is that if everyone has this mindset, then no one will stand up, and Lana addresses this in "Change." The song seems to be a call to action, encouraging listeners to live by the mindset that we are the change that we seek: "Change is a powerful thing; people are powerful beings." The song is discouraging and encouraging at the same time, seemingly hopeless but actually very hopeful, and it is another song that definitely seems to have a political stance to it. (I think that it is another song that was definitely written in the wake of Trump's election.)

The final song on the album is "Get Free," which sounds extremely similar to Radiohead's 1992 hit "Creep." It is a beautiful song which kind of has a psychedelic rock flavor to it, and I interpret the song as being about newfound happiness and self-discovery. She nods to her single "Ride" from Paradise when she sings, "Sometimes it feels like I've got a war in my mind. I want to get off, but I keep riding the ride." It is my belief that Lana here is tackling the same issue that she does on "13 Beaches" and Honeymoon's "God Knows I Tried," which is the burden of fame. I don't believe that Lana is referring to suicide when she says that she wants to "get off" (although I suppose that one could interpret it that way); she is referring to giving up her life as a famous musician. This is substantiated by the following line: "I never really noticed that I had to decide to play someone's game or live my own life." Being famous can sometimes mean being a puppet owned by the media; the media can tell lies and spin your stories their own way, making your own life not truly yours. This has been the case constantly for Lana, as headlines have commented on her fluctuating weight, whether or not she has had cosmetic surgery done, and even whether or not the vintage folk and Americana aesthetic is real or merely a gimmick. On "Get Free," Lana seems to be addressing this, saying that she plans to continue moving forward regardless because freedom and happiness are states of mind, and she has found both of them. While Lust for Life is not my favorite Lana Del Rey album to date (as that honor still goes to Ultraviolence), I do overall love it despite my wishes that a few decisions had been made differently. Let's just hope that now that she is six albums into her career, people are finally starting to realize that Lana Del Rey is not a gimmick.

Once Upon a Time: The Musical Episode: Original Television Soundtrack [Review]

I remember saying years ago that Once Upon a Time should do a musical episode. Once Upon a Time is, after all, a Disney show about fairytale characters such as Snow White, the Evil Queen, Captain Hook, Rumplestiltskin, the Wicked Witch of the West, and so forth, so a musical episode was long overdue. The episode, titled "The Song in Your Heart," features a long-awaited wedding and was the perfect time to finally deliver songs to the fans (especially since more than half of the main cast members are not returning in the fall for the show's seventh season), so how, in the grand scheme of things, does Once Upon a Time's musical episode hold up? Well, while it hardly conquers the musically magical "Once More, with Feeling" that Buffy the Vampire Slayer did back in 2001 (also in the show's sixth season), it does come out of ahead of Fringe's "Brown Betty" musical episode from 2010, which, although a beautifully rendered noir tale that offers a lot of insight into a lead character's psyche, disappointingly featured only very abbreviated and unoriginal numbers. "The Song in Your Heart," on the other hand, features eight original songs written by Alan Zachary and Michael Weiner, both of whom, from what I have heard, come from Broadway success.

As I had been hoping would be the case, the episode's songs were released digitally as a soundtrack. (While Buffy the Vampire Slayer's "Once More, with Feeling" released the songs, Fringe's "Brown Betty" did not, another factor that was disappointing, although I suspect that it had something to do with the songs being covers.) The soundtrack was, in fact, released on Friday, May 5th, two days before the episode aired. The soundtrack being released when it was was a marketing decision that I honestly cannot understand. Why would you want people hearing the songs before they see the episode? That would have almost entirely ruined the excitement of the episode for me, which is why I refused to listen to the soundtrack until after I had seen the episode. (Granted, ABC and the showrunners spoil significant plot-points before they happen quite frequently, so I shouldn't be surprised by how the soundtrack was released, and I quite honestly am not. I don't mean to slam the show, but I really don't understand its promotion process sometimes. Fans know things about the direction of the show, even significant character deaths and departures, way before they should. Even the focus of the upcoming seventh season was made known to fans way before the sixth season finale even aired.)

The opening song is the Disneyesque "Powerful Magic," a duet between real-life married couple Ginny Goodwin (Snow White) and Josh Dallas (Prince Charming / David). "Powerful Magic" features a powerful and booming melody sure to become an ear-worm and definitely has elements of humor, as Snow and David sing in confusion about why it is that they're singing. "Good morning, friend," Snow opens, singing to a bird that perches itself by her bed. "Oh, my dear, something's wrong 'cause all my words are coming out in song." The song is then followed by "The Queen Sings," a short introduction to "Love Doesn't Stand a Chance," when The Evil Queen (played by the beautiful Lana Parrilla) regally saunters toward the Magic Mirror in classic Disney fashion. She then eerily and angrily sings in a low register, wondering why she is singing. She uses her mirror magic to spy on various Enchanted Forest residents, including the Dwarfs, Granny, and Geppetto, all of whom have also broken out into song. The Evil Queen then breaks out into a rock number titled "Love Doesn't Stand a Chance," described by Parrilla as being similar to David Bowie's classic style. Parrilla passionately growls some of the words (which reflect on her belief that Snow and David's love for each other is their downfall, as love is weakness) like a rockstar, and it's evident that she had a lot of fun singing and performing the number/scene.

Colin O'Donoghue, who plays Killian Jones / Captain Hook, did not surprise me with his impressive tenor vocals; he was one of several cast members with musical experience. Snow and David, believing that they can defeat the Queen with song, offer Hook money in exchange for passage to her castle. Hook, however, bursts into "Revenge Is Gonna Be Mine," an '80s rock meets Broadway number (fueled by Queenesque guitars and harmony) about how he only wants revenge on Rumplestiltskin. The song is one of the catchiest songs on the soundtrack; it was stuck in my head after only a couple of listens. The following song, "Wicked Always Wins" (another ear-worm), is probably my favorite one. Performed by Rebecca "Bex" Mader, who plays Zelena, Oz's Wicked Witch of the West (who, on Once Upon a Time, also happens to be the Evil Queen Regina's sister), the song begins with quiet and melancholy piano but soon crescendos into a joyful melody fittingly reminiscent of Wicked. The song features lyrics about triumph and victory, and Mader's sweetly vibrato vocals are perfect. Interestingly, both this and Regina's song are about triumphing over an enemy but also acknowledge said enemy's strength. Regina sings, "Love at times can entrance, but love doesn't stand a chance," and Zelena sings, "Evil may be powerful, but wicked always wins."

"Charmings vs. Evil Queen" is a medley of "Powerful Magic" and "Love Doesn't Stand a Chance," taking place when Snow and David confront Regina and try to defeat her with song. "Emma's Theme" is the first of only two songs that are sung in the present; the previous six songs are all sung during flashback sequences. The song, which reminds me of Anastasia's "Once Upon a December" (especially because of its hauntingly beautiful piano accompaniment) and the Broadway musical Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, is set primarily to Mark Isham's score for Emma, which can he heard during the end credits of every episode so far. This song is the one that surprised me the most because I honestly hadn't expected Jennifer Morrison to be as vocally talented as she is. She has the voice of an angel, and considering how she enunciates and draws out her vowels and makes use of a beautiful, almost operatic vibrato technique, she sounds like she has had extensive vocal training. (I am hoping that, following her soon-to-be departure from Once Upon a Time, she will pursue music as another career because the woman seriously has pipes. She can also be heard singing here.) "Emma's Theme" is lyrically about Emma embracing the fact that she has finally found a home and a family, which gives her the advantage over evil.

The final song of the episode (and, of course, the soundtrack) is "A Happy Beginning," an ensemble celebratory song sung during the aforementioned wedding. Heard from during this number are Jennifer Morrison, Colin O'Donoghue, Ginny Goodwin, Josh Dallas, Lana Parrilla, Bex Mader, Jared S. Gilmore (Henry), etc. Parrilla really showcases her range here because whereas she had previously sung "Love Doesn't Stand a Chance" in a growly and sultry low register as the Evil Queen, her line here is much higher-pitched and sweeter as the reformed Regina. The song is about how the ceremony represents a new beginning for the characters and how that will win the day despite the literal and metaphorical darkness approaching them. I, overall, vastly enjoyed this episode and its soundtrack. As previously stated, it was long overdue and felt earned. I only wish that it had been a two-hour episode so that songs could have been longer and so that maybe more cast members, like Robert Carlyle (Rumplestiltskin) and Emilie de Ravin (Belle), could have been heard. There are two aspects of the songs that I especially like; the first is that most of them are timeless in relation to the show because their themes represent the characters singing them in general, not just in relation to the episode, and the second is that they all share a common theme - overcoming adversity. The musical episode was well executed, and bravo to all who were involved!

Oh, and my laptop kept autocorrecting Bex Mader's name to Bex Vader, so here is this for your amusement:

Beauty and the Beast - 2017 Film [Review]

The recently released 2017 live-action adaptation of the 1991 Disney animated classic Beauty and the Beast is easily the best musical and one of the best Disney films that I have seen in a long time. It is absolutely beautiful, touching, and visually stunning. Prior to seeing it, I was of course looking forward to seeing it seeing as how I am a Disney fan and a fan of the 1991 animated version, but I had my reservations and my doubts because although far from being a terrible film, the live-action Cinderella film released two years ago in 2015 was a bit of a disappointment (although Cate Blanchett's performance as Lady Tremaine was memorable). I had expected a lot more after being spellbound by Maleficent in 2014, but the film did not meet my expectations. In the case of Beauty and the Beast, however, the film exponentially exceeded my expectations, accomplishing so much more than I had expected. I had not, for example, expected to walk out of the movie while the end credits were rolling with tears welled in my eyes, nor was I expecting to still be haunted (in a very good way) by it a week later. I certainly was not expecting to find the film superior to the 1991 animated version, yet here I am about to make that argument in this review. (Bear in mind prior to continuing to read this review that my expectation is that you are familiar with the premise of the story, considering the fact that the average person has probably read the fairytale and/or seen the 1991 Disney film, but if you are not familiar with the story at all and don't wish to be spoiled, then read no further until you have seen the film.)

What makes Beauty and the Beast so much better than Cinderella? Well, for starters, while "A Dream Is a Wish Your Heart Makes" and "Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo" are present on Cinderella's soundtrack album, they are absent from the film. In fact, the film is completely void of any musical numbers at all, omitting "The Work Song (Cinderelly, Cinderelly)" and "So This Is Love," as well. Beauty and the Beast, however, keeps all of the original Disney film's songs intact and even adds new songs such as "How Does a Moment Last Forever," "Days in the Sun," and "Evermore," all hauntingly beautiful songs that add a much more emotional and maybe even slightly melancholy layer to the story. That slightly melancholy layer acts as a positive force, though, as it adds depth to many characters such as Belle, The Beast, and even Belle's father Maurice. Even Gaston's sidekick LeFou (which, funnily enough, is French for The Fool) is far more interesting, complex, and even likable in this version of the story. More is learned about Belle's history as well as the Beast's history, making him a more sympathetic character, and Maurice is a more active character rather than just a plot device like he is in the animated film. Another factor that I strongly feel that this adaptation gets right is costume design, even though it recently came to my attention that many reviewers apparently harshly critiqued the costume design. I am of the opinion that the elaborate costumes fit the mood, atmosphere, and apparent era of the film. The only complaint that I have about the costume design, which is a really minor complaint, is that the color of Belle's iconic yellow dress in the ballroom scene seemed a bit off to me. It is a very bright, vibrant yellow whereas, for some reason, I was expecting and hoping for a color that was more gold. This is nitpicky, though, and like I said, I am overall very pleased with the costume design.

Nearly all of the casting in Beauty and the Beast is spot-on, as well. Although this version of Belle has a somewhat different personality than the animated Belle, Emma Watson (best known for her role as Hermione in the Harry Potter films) fits into this film's universe perfectly, with a sweetly innocent singing voice (which some people have complained sounds too autotuned even though it's hardly noticeable to me if it is), which is a lot softer and more timid than Paige O'Hara's soprano soars in the animated film, and a fiercely independent and quick-witted personality. Kevin Kline's Maurice is a lot less timid than he is in the animated film, and some of his facial expressions, such as the one that he displays when he stands up to Gaston and tells him that Gaston will never marry Belle, are hilarious. As previously stated, I would definitely argue that he plays a more active role in this film compared to the animated film, and Kline's acting, like pretty much all of the acting in this film, is phenomenal. After seeing the film, I can't imagine a better fit for Gaston than Luke Evans; he nailed the role perfectly, and although he didn't stray too far from the animated version of Gaston, he does seem a bit more reserved and more calculated. I would also argue that he's probably more evil than the animated version of the character, as he does something especially heinous that he doesn't do in the animated movie. Josh Gad (already Disney famous for his vocal portrayal of Olaf in the 2014 hit Frozen) was also a perfect fit for LeFou; his singing voice is even somewhat similar to the animated version of LeFou. As previously stated, he's a little bit more complex than the animated version, and he's even a bit more comical. Dan Stevens (known previously for titles like The Guest and Downton Abbey) plays The Beast, and I absolutely adore this version of The Beast. I know that some people did not because they didn't feel that he was scary-looking enough, and I agree that he doesn't appear all that menacing; he, in fact, looks very majestic and beautiful, but I also think that that makes it even harder to hate him. Similar to Andrew Lloyd Webber's Phantom, The Beast, although definitely initially villainous, is meant to be seen as a misunderstood and tortured soul, and Stevens delivers this perfectly.

Emma Thompson (famous for roles like Nanny McPhee and Professor Trelawney from the Harry Potter franchise) plays Mrs. Potts, and even though playing a role previously played by Angela Lansbury obviously means very big shoes to fill, Thompson manages it very well. Lumiere, played by Ewan McGregor (known for a long list of titles but probably known best for his portrayal of a younger Obi-Wan Kenobi in the Star Wars franchise), is another character that I actually prefer in this version. Even though I love the animated Lumiere, this one, like LeFou, is even funnier and sassier. At one point in the film, Cogsworth (played by the legendary Ian McKellen) tells Lumiere that if the master (meaning The Beast) finds out that they have been catering to Belle behind his back, he will blame Cogsworth, and Lumiere exclaims, "Yes, I will make sure of it!" What also makes this live-action version better than the animated film is that even though the animated film is a classic and a masterpiece and is definitely among my favorite Disney films, it's also messy and sloppily written, as it's lousy with errors and plot-holes, and this rendition corrects just about all of them. The list is very long, but to list a couple: (1) The curse is said to become permanent on The Beast's twenty-first birthday, and during "Be Our Guest," Lumiere sings that they have been cursed for ten years. That would mean that The Beast was eleven when he was cursed, yet he is clearly older than that in the portrait that he tears up. (2) How does Philippe know where The Beast's castle is? The list goes on, but those are the two most annoying ones, and the new film corrects both of these. So much about this movie - no, everything about this movie - is magical and beautiful, and I can't praise it enough. Disney definitely got this one right. (I have now seen the film three times, and those rookie numbers will definitely rise once I have my hands on the blu-ray!)