Tell Me, What's It All Mean?: What You Should Have Heard #51

Tuesday, March 8, 2011

What You Should Have Heard #51

My Mix CDs

I’ve got a lot of music but limited space to hold it in, especially in my car. So I’ve gone the old tried-and-true way of making mix CDs to have access to as many bands as possible while driving. I’m going slightly old-school since I’m a bit backwards and have no iPod.

Most of the songs will be more upbeat, with probably only the occasional ballad or slower song included. I like to sing in the car, and the more upbeat songs are more fun to sing.

I’ll be going in alpha-numeric order with these, so if you’re wanting to argue with me about what Weezer songs should be included, you’re going to be waiting for a while.

My only limitations are that I use 80 min. discs, and I’m only going to use one disc per band/artist. I will make exceptions for only my most favorite bands with huge playlists (Foo Fighters and Self, off the top of my head), but I’d really like to boil everything down to just one disc.

Here’s the list guide:

Track # - Song Name - Album Name [Artist if album is by a different artist]

Marilyn Manson Mix CD

The Beautiful People – Antichrist Superstar
Disposable Teens – Holy Wood (In the Shadow of the Valley of Death)
The Nobodies – Holy Wood (In the Shadow of the Valley of Death)
The Dope Show – Mechanical Animals
Rock is Dead – Mechanical Animals
Prelude (The Family Trip) – Portrait of an American Family
Cake and Sodomy – Portrait of an American Family
Lunchbox – Portrait of an American Family
Dope Hat – Portrait of an American Family
Get Your Gunn – Portrait of an American Family
Dogma – Portrait of an American Family
Snake Eyes and Sissies – Portrait of an American Family
My Monkey – Portrait of an American Family
Misery Machine – Portrait of an American Family
Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This) – Smells Like Children
I Put a Spell on You – Smells Like Children
Rock ‘n’ Roll Nigger – Smells Like Children
This is the New Shit – The Golden Age of Grotesque
Mobscene – The Golden Age of Grotesque
Doll-Dagga Buzz-Buzz Ziggety -Zag – The Golden Age of Grotesque

A few notes on Marilyn Manson:

I’m actually surprised that I have to cut a couple of songs from this mix. I really like MM’s first CD, but, kind of like Limp Bizkit, everything after that has been pandering. Whereas the first CD was creative and original and disturbing, everything after that seemed to either try to focus on being “different” (when at that point NOTHING was different from anything else) rather than producing good music that just might happen to piss some parents off. The music took a backseat to the controversy.
Actually, turns out I DIDN’T need to get rid of any songs, I just needed to edit out the silence after “Misery Machine” from Portrait of an American Family. Problem solved!
I first became aware of Manson my junior year of high school. A friend listened to Portrait of an American Family constantly. I tried to listen to it and didn’t like it. Then his cover of “Sweet Dreams” came out, and I loved it. I went back to PoaAF and found a new appreciation for it. Everything after Smells Like Children has been hit-or-miss for me, leaning more heavily on the miss side.
I’ve never had a problem with Marilyn Manson, his personality or his lyrics. Regardless of whether what he does is a gimmick or not, it doesn’t affect the way I listen to his music. I listen to it as a whole. His voice and the lyrics are just another instrument that blend in with everything else. I know the words are there, but I can listen to them without them meaning anything. It’s just a little part of the whole.
I can’t remember if I was a freshman or sophomore in college, but one of those years for Spring Break I went to Gatlinburg, TN with a group of friends. There were seven of us, I think, heading up there in a minivan. We ended up getting to the cabin well after dark, and the driver was really not liking the trip up the steep, narrow road to the cabin. So what did I do? I popped PoaAF into the CD player, and the first track was “Prelude (The Family Trip)” from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. While Gene Wilder’s version was trippy indeed, Manson’s was sinister and creepy. Hearing that did not help ease her mind about finding the cabin. Still brings a smile to my face, though. Sorry, ‘Becca!