Heaven Upside Down is the tenth studio album by American
rock band
Marilyn Manson. It was released on October 6, 2017, by
Loma Vista Recordings and
Caroline International. The record had the
working titleSay10 and was initially due to be issued on
Valentine's Day. However, the release was delayed by numerous events, most notably the death of Marilyn Manson's father, Hugh Warner, who died during production and to whom the album was later dedicated. The record has many of the musicians who performed on the band's previous album, The Pale Emperor (2015), including the producer
Tyler Bates and the drummer
Gil Sharone. Despite Manson's early implications, long-time bass guitarist
Twiggy Ramirez did not participate on the album. He left the group following a sexual assault allegation by a former girlfriend.
The album received positive reviews from
music critics upon release, with several publications saying it continued a creative resurgence that began with the previous album. It was also a commercial success, debuting at number eight on the
Billboard 200 and charting in the top ten in most of the
major markets. In Australia, it was the band's highest-charting album since Mechanical Animals, and its first top 10 studio album in the United Kingdom since The Golden Age of Grotesque in 2003.
Marilyn Manson met
Tyler Bates, the
score composer of the TV series Californication, while playing a fictionalized version of himself in the season finale of the
sixth season of the series.[1][2] The two then collaborated on
the band's ninth studio album, the
blues-influenced The Pale Emperor (2015),[3] which was described by numerous publications as the best album the band had released in over a decade.[4][5] In July 2016, Manson received the 'Icon Award' at the
APMAs, where he revealed several details about the follow-up, such as its
working title of Say10 and a tentative
Valentine's Day release date.[6][7] He explained that the title originated from a note written in one of his workbooks from his time as a student at
GlenOak High School.[8] Manson doubted whether Bates would collaborate with him again following The Pale Emperor, saying relations between the pair deteriorated to such an extent during the supporting
The Hell Not Hallelujah Tour that Manson threatened Bates on-stage with a
box-cutter knife.[9]
During the tour, Manson regularly shattered glass bottles on-stage so he could cut himself. Bates, who recently announced his leaving the tour to pursue other projects, an announcement that he said saddened Manson, confronted the vocalist during a concert when he realized the shards of glass were hitting drummer
Gil Sharone. Manson responded by threatening Bates with a box-cutter, to which Bates replied "You fucking come near me and I'll kill you with that box cutter". Despite the confrontation, Bates agreed to work with the band, and renamed his
music publishing company Box Cutter Music in honor of the incident.[10]
On May 8, 2017, Manson announced the album had been renamed Heaven Upside Down, and said recording had been completed.[11] He elaborated on the meaning of the new title: "I was going to call the record SAY10, but I didn't feel that that defined the album. I had the lyrics written for the song 'Heaven Upside Down', and I thought that defined the record more so because of
the idea of time as a flat circle,
constellations being defined by the
negative space—the blackness; the idea of looking at something from an opposite point of view."[12]
As was the case with The Pale Emperor, Manson and Bates worked on the record while the latter was composing
score material for the American television series Salem;[13] the
third season of which featured Manson as a recurring cast member.[14][15] Parts of the album were recorded in
Louisiana, where he was filming scenes for the series.[16] The record was produced solely by Bates,[17] and recorded at Bates's
Studio City recording facility Abattoir Studios,[18] with live drums recorded by The Pale Emperor contributor Gil Sharone.[19] Despite initially suggesting that longtime bassist
Twiggy would contribute to the writing and production of the album, Manson later confirmed that he was invited but did not participate during sessions at Bates's recording studio. According to Manson, after listening to pre-recorded
basslines performed by Bates, Twiggy responded by saying he would be unable to "play them any better, and that the record sounded great [as it was]".[20]
Manson and Bates largely improvised during their writing sessions. Bates said that songs were created "out of a conversation, essentially, just between [Manson] and I, and we make it pretty much on the spot. It's me making music right from my head, and the lyrics are developed by Manson right there in the studio with me."[21] Manson described the collaborative process between the two as being "a very intimate, personal experience. ... We sit across from each other, with headphones on, we look each other in the eye when we're writing." Manson opted not to record his vocals from inside a
vocal booth, instead recording them while sitting at Bates's
mixing console;[22] the majority of vocals on the album were recorded in single
takes, with minimal
overdubbing.[12] Bates sought to incorporate the intensity of the band's live performances into the album's production,[23] describing the record as "intense, fun and violent. It's more immediate than The Pale Emperor, much more aggressive, and definitely much more imbued with Manson's fucked-up humor."[21] He also said:
I wanted the album to be a platform for Manson to return to journalism, and write about the stuff we talk about, which is the sickness and passivity that is permeating the annals of society. Terrorism, mass shootings, reluctance to change, abandonment, dogma, apathy, judgment—all of this is pervasive in shaping our daily life's experience. The music is imbued with frustration, sadness, and anger about all of this, and to explore this landscape effectively, the sounds and the riffs needed to be more cutting and abrasive than The Pale Emperor. Heaven Upside Down is comprised of the music we love.
Goth and
Industrial. King-size guitar riffs. Sex. Equal parts 'fuck you' and jagged humor. Act II.
— Tyler Bates, in an interview with Pop Disciple.[23]
Composition and style
"Two decades on and ten albums down, Manson remains the same icon in a different realm, one that he's warned us about his whole career. 2017 is heaven upside down: a nightmarish, capitalist landscape of broken promises that we're constantly reassured is what we asked for. A world of uncertainty, with endless possibility sitting alongside ever-growing restriction, reality TV becoming reality... becoming president. 'I'm not a ghost', Manson screams on the album's title track. And isn't that what we're all worried about right now—that we're either invisible, or nearly dead?"
—Dazed writer Thomas Gorton on the underlying concept behind Heaven Upside Down.[24]
Manson initially described Say10 as being a musical departure from The Pale Emperor, saying it was "pretty violent in its nature for some reason, and it's not emotional in the same way. It's got a chip on its shoulder."[13] He called it "by far the most thematic and over-complicated thing that I've done",[17] and indicated it would contain some of his most politically-charged lyrics,[25] but denied the political lyrical content related to the election of
Donald Trump by saying most of its lyrics were written before the
2016 US presidential election.[22] He said he would not be voting in that election, and believed that – as an artist – he could make more of a difference with his music than with a vote.[26]
The title of opening track "Revelation #12" is a reference to both the
Book of Revelation and the Beatles song "
Revolution 9".[8] "
We Know Where You Fucking Live" was the first song Manson and Bates recorded for the album;[10] its lyrics reference
state surveillance and
drone warfare.[33] "Saturnalia" was the final song written for the album.[22] Manson described its lyrics as being "the real heart of the record."[34] He was unaware of the severity of his father's terminal illness until two days before he died,[35] on July 7, 2017,[22] the same day the band finished recording "Saturnalia".[22] Its lyrics contain numerous
astrological and
mythological references, specifically the
astrological transit of
Saturn –
Saturn return – and the myth of
Saturnus devouring his children.[24] Manson conflated his father's death with the lyrical content: "Seeing my father dying, I felt like that was the circle of life that he'd want me to put the energy of
death into rebirth, you know,
the snake eating its own tail,
Saturnalia, Saturninus, that whole concept."[12] "Je$u$ Cri$i$" was described by Manson as "my
résumé ... It's basically something I would say with a [sarcastic] shrug when someone asked me, 'What do you do?' 'Well, I write songs to fight and fuck to'."[34]
Release and artwork
The album was not released on Valentine's Day,[36] prompting increasingly aggressive responses from fans on
social media platforms.[37] Manson later explained several factors caused the delay, including Bates' schedule scoring films,[24] Manson being unhappy with the quality of the record by that date,[38] as well as the death of his father, to whom Heaven Upside Down is dedicated.[22] Bates also said recording was delayed due to the band's touring schedule; the pair had completed just six songs before beginning a co-headlining tour with
Slipknot in the summer of 2016.[39] At least three tracks were recorded sometime after Valentine's Day: "Revelation #12", "Saturnalia" and "Heaven Upside Down",[38] with the album's name then being changed to the last song title.[8]
Prior to the record's eventual release, Manson posted a series of
horror-themed videos on
Instagram.[40][41] The first of these was captioned "6:19. The time has come."[42] Numerous publications hypothesized whether 6:19 referred to a June 19 release date, a
Bible verse, or the Eat Me, Drink Me track "
If I Was Your Vampire",[43] which features the lyric "6:19 and I know I'm ready".[44] The final video featured the Celebritarian Cross,[45] an inverted variation on the
Cross of Lorraine that had previously been used by Manson as a logo for his
Celebritarian art movement in 2005; the symbol subsequently appeared on the Heaven Upside Down album cover.[8]
Heaven Upside Down was released worldwide on October 6, 2017,[46] by
Loma Vista Recordings in the United States,[47]Caroline International internationally,[48] and in Japan by Loma Vista in cooperation with
Hostess Entertainment; Japanese editions contain a
Mystery Skulls remix of "
Kill4Me" as a bonus track.[49] The booklet was printed on
Bible paper, with the lyrics formatted to resemble biblical text.[18] The record was
mastered by Brian Lucey,[18] the engineer who masters the majority of Bates's soundtrack work. According to Manson, Lucey was chosen because the album contains "some extreme experiments with sound. We were very particular in not allowing someone else to master it, who might accidentally eliminate them. We've got some very intense, alchemical, scientific,
binaural sounds that sometimes even make me have a panic attack while I'm listening to it."[22] These sounds are most prevalent in the title track and "Saturnalia", which Manson highlighted as centerpieces of the record.[50]
Promotion and singles
"In an era where
mass shootings have become a nearly daily occurrence, this was an act of theater in an attempt to make a statement about how easily accessible semi-automatic weapons are, and how seeing them has become normalized. My performance was not meant to be disrespectful or show any insensitivity. ... My art has always been a reaction to
popular culture, and my way to make people think about the horrible things that happen in this world. My empathy goes out to anyone who has been affected by the irresponsible and reprehensible misuse of real guns."
—Manson's statement in response to criticism made after his use of a replica assault rifle as a microphone during a concert.[51]
The band initially included Manson on vocals with Bates and Paul Wiley on electric guitars, Twiggy on bass and Sharone on drums.[22] They began the first leg of the
Heaven Upside Down Tour on July 20, 2017, in
Budapest,[52] during which they debuted several new songs.[53] During this leg of the tour, the group narrowly avoided injury in
Moscow when their tour bus was involved in a collision with a
semi-trailer truck,[21] and Manson caused controversy in
Eastern Europe when he referenced the ongoing
Russo-Ukrainian War during a concert in
Kyiv, saying: "You just made Moscow sound like your bitch." The band performed in Moscow two days prior to the Kyiv concert.[54]
The North American leg began on September 27, and was scheduled to incorporate performances at several
music festivals, including the
Aftershock Festival on October 22,[55] at which
Nine Inch Nails was also scheduled to appear. Manson indicated a possibility of joining that band on stage during the festival, after he and
Trent Reznor mended a longstanding feud.[56] However, Manson was injured on several occasions during the tour. He sprained his left ankle after jumping off the stage at Pittsburgh's Stage AE on September 29.[57][58] The following night, at the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York, he was crushed by a large
stage prop,[59] and lay unconscious on the stage for up to 15 minutes[60] before being carried out of the venue on a
stretcher to a nearby hospital.[61] Manson had broken his
fibula in two places, requiring a plate and ten screws to be inserted into his bone.[57] The rest of the tour was then canceled,[62] including their appearance at Aftershock,[63] with all dates – excluding festival appearances – rescheduled to take place at the start of 2018.[64]
On October 25, Manson announced he had "decided to part ways" with Twiggy after the bassist was accused of sexual assault by former girlfriend
Jessicka Addams, who was the vocalist for alternative rock band
Jack Off Jill. Addams said the incident occurred while she and Twiggy were a couple in the mid-90s.[65][66] He was replaced on subsequent tour dates by former
Racer X and the Mars Volta bassist
Juan Alderete.[67] Alderete's first show with the band, at the
2017 Ozzfest Meets Knotfest festival in
San Bernardino on November 5, found Manson performing in a wheelchair as a result of injuries he sustained earlier in the tour.[68] Manson attracted criticism from some publications after he used a replica
assault rifle as a microphone during the concert, with some commentators arguing it was insensitive considering the city had previously been the subject of a
terrorism-related attack,[69] and that the concert took place hours after the
Sutherland Springs church shooting in Texas.[70]
The day of the 2016 US presidential election, a short teaser clip for "
Say10" was released.[71] Created by director
Tyler Shields,[72] it featured images of Manson holding a bloodstained knife while standing above a decapitated corpse lying in a pool of blood. Numerous publications noted the corpse was dressed in similar clothing to the kind regularly worn by Donald Trump—a suit and red tie.[73][74][75] Manson would later say the decapitated figure in the video "wasn't anyone except if you wanted it to be them."[8] A cover of
Ministry's "
Stigmata" was released on July 28, 2017, when it appeared on the soundtrack to Atomic Blonde.[76] "We Know Where You Fucking Live" was issued as the album's
lead single on September 11, after premiering on
Zane Lowe's
Beats 1 show.[33] Its music video was posted onto
YouTube four days later,[77] and was directed by Bill Yukich and
Perou.[78] "Kill4Me" was issued as the album's primary airplay single in the United States, where it went on to become their highest peaking single ever on the BillboardMainstream Rock Chart.[79] A series of advertisements created by Canadian
pop artistAlex Kazemi to promote the album on Instagram were leaked online in late September, but were deemed too graphic to be used on the image hosting service.[80] Music videos were subsequently released for "Say10" and "Kill4Me", both directed by Yukich and featured actor
Johnny Depp.[81][82]
A cover of "
God's Gonna Cut You Down" – recorded during the Heaven Upside Down sessions[35] – was released on December 8 when it featured on the soundtrack to 24 Hours to Live.[83] "
Tattooed in Reverse" was serviced to
active rockradio formats in the United States as a promotional single on March 6, 2018,[84] and peaked at number 35 on Billboard's Mainstream Rock Chart. This made Heaven Upside Down the band's first studio album since 1998's Mechanical Animals to contain more than one charting song on Mainstream Rock.[79] The song's music video was directed by Yukich,[85] and featured singers
Courtney Love and
Lisa Marie Presley.[86] Yukich also directed the music video for the band's cover version of
Gerard McMahon's "
Cry Little Sister", released in June and recorded for the soundtrack of The New Mutants.[87]
Heaven Upside Down was well received by
music critics upon release.[104] Several publications said it continued a creative resurgence that began with their previous release, including
AllMusic, which described it as a more satisfying album than the predecessor.[97] This sentiment was echoed by both
Loudwire,[105] and The Boston Globe, which said: "No one expected this band to be doing some of its best work 20 years after it first shook up the zeitgeist, but here it is, continuing to evolve while toning down its more dated or cartoonish aspects. It just goes to show that a good album beats a good scandal every time."[29]Bloody Disgusting said it was their best release since Holy Wood (In the Shadow of the Valley of Death),[12] and Loudwire included it on their list of the best hard rock albums of 2017.[106]Consequence of Sound commented on Manson's stage injury: "Had the worst happened, Heaven Upside Down is the kind of career-defining record that [he] just might want to leave as his last great opus anyway."[100]
Numerous publications lauded it for being a solid and concise album. Clash commended the quality of songwriting, complimenting the band for mixing various styles from their discography while saying the record fused three distinct genres from their previous work—the
industrial of Antichrist Superstar, the glam rock of Mechanical Animals, and the blues of The Pale Emperor.[98]Classic Rock's sister publication Metal Hammer described it as a solid album and said it illustrates how Manson can "still do what he got famous [for] doing: write biting, anti-establishment goth rock full of dark, playful imagery."[32]Singapore's The Straits Times dubbed it the album of the week and described it as an exhilarating recorded.[107]
Critics praised the quality of lyricism found on the album, specifically in light of the presidential election of Donald Trump.
ABC News said it saw Manson going back to basics, which they described as him "playing overtly with taboos and openly baiting his critics."[108]The Evening Standard said the lyrical content may prove cathartic for people disillusioned with the election.[109]The List made a similar point while comparing its lyrical content to
Grand Guignol,[110] a term used to describe graphic,
amoral horror entertainment.[111]Mark Beaumont of Classic Rock called it an astute album, saying the band "update and renovate the goth-glam dazzle of Mechanical Animals and Antichrist Superstar to better ram home [Manson's] top-line points: that religion is a pointless poison, politicians are society's true Satans and that fighting and fucking are the only reasoned responses to the current countdown to the Book of Revelations [sic] apocalypse that the world has chosen democratically for itself."[99]
The album received some mixed reviews as well, with several writers criticizing the lyrics to "Je$u$ Cri$i$".[112][113]Spin criticized the "reprehensible" violent lyrical content found on the record, in light of the
2017 Las Vegas shooting.[113] Conversely, Pitchfork said the lyrics were ineffectual, arguing they were easily eclipsed by the horror found in real life.[47] Both Crack Magazine and PopMatters complimented the inclusion of punk elements, which the latter said helped the album match the intensity of the band's earlier work, but they were both critical of the lyrics.[31][114]NME argued the record was too similar to the band's earlier work, and complained most of the songs lacked innovation.[102]Drowned in Sound said that fans were "unlikely to see the power or the passion of Manson's classic run again – it's very difficult to bottle lightning twice ... That said, [Manson] seems to have settled after many years of free-fall. In Tyler Bates he has found a collaborator who knows how to get the best from his twisted mind. It's business as usual, but after a decade of disappointment, it's good to know business is doing well."[101]
Commercial performance
Heaven Upside Down debuted at number eight on the
Billboard 200 with 35,000
album-equivalent units, 32,000 of which were pure album sales, making it the band's seventh consecutive top ten album on the chart.[115] Industry forecasters had predicted it was on course to debut in the top ten with sales of between 25,000 and 32,000 copies.[116] It was the band's fourth consecutive number one album on Billboard's
Top Hard Rock Albums, and their first to reach number one on
Top Alternative Albums.[117] It also debuted at number two on both
Top Rock Albums and
Top Album Sales,[118][119] which acts as the current equivalent of the previous Billboard 200, before it was reconfigured to incorporate
album-equivalent units.[120] In Canada, Heaven Upside Down matched the peak of The Pale Emperor by debuting at number four.[121]
The record was predicted to enter the top ten of the
UK Albums Chart,[122] making it their first top ten album there since Eat Me, Drink Me peaked at number eight a decade earlier.[123] The album debuted at number seven with first-week sales of 6,636 copies—their highest opening week figure since The High End of Low debuted with 7,746 copies in 2009 and their highest-charting studio album since The Golden Age of Grotesque peaked at number four in 2003.[124] The record went on to peak in the top ten of multiple European markets, including Austria,[125] the Czech Republic,[126] Finland,[127] Germany,[128] Greece,[129] Slovakia,[130] and Switzerland.[131] It peaked at number six in Spain, making it their highest-charting album there since The Golden Age of Grotesque peaked at number five.[132][133] In France, Heaven Upside Down debuted with sales of 4,745 copies.[134]
Heaven Upside Down entered the
ARIA Charts at number four, making it their sixth top ten album in Australia, and their highest-charting since Mechanical Animals reached number one in 1998.[135] It entered at number six on the
Official New Zealand Music Chart, their fifth top ten studio album there.[136] On the Japanese
Oricon chart, the album debuted at number 29 with first week sales of 1,805 copies.[137]
^
ab"マリリン・マンソン、新作より"Say10"のミュージック・ビデオを公開" [Marilyn Manson releases "Say 10" music video from new album]. NME Japan (in Japanese). October 10, 2017.
Archived from the original on November 11, 2017. Retrieved November 11, 2017.
^
ab"ČNS IFPI – SK ALBUMS TOP 100 – 201741".
IFPI.
Archived from the original on October 18, 2017. Retrieved October 17, 2017. Note: To access information from this reference, user must define SK – Albums – Top 100 and 201741 as the search parameters, and then click Zobrazit