Composition
Unlike Marilyn Manson's previous work, Antichrist Superstar, Mechanical Animals is, on an aesthetic level, far less dark. In both image and music, Mechanical Animals is inspired by 1970s style, Bowie-esque glam rock (Manson has often cited David Bowie as his biggest influence). The album also borrows heavily from Bowie's 1974 concept album Diamond Dogs. Most songs contain lighter melodies, however, this 'lightness' does not necessarily extend to the lyrics. The music is also far more complicated than most of his work.
The song "Great Big White World" raised concerns, among some groups, of possibly being a racially-motivated reference until Manson himself cleared up the rumors by stating that it was about cocaine.
Rolling Stone described Manson's crooning on the title track, "Mechanical Animals", as evocative of "the sultry vibe of T. Rex's Marc Bolan".
"I Don't Like the Drugs (But the Drugs Like Me)" features guitar work by Dave Navarro.
Read more about this topic: Mechanical Animals
Famous quotes containing the word composition:
“There is singularly nothing that makes a difference a difference in beginning and in the middle and in ending except that each generation has something different at which they are all looking. By this I mean so simply that anybody knows it that composition is the difference which makes each and all of them then different from other generations and this is what makes everything different otherwise they are all alike and everybody knows it because everybody says it.”
—Gertrude Stein (1874–1946)
“At painful times, when composition is impossible and reading is not enough, grammars and dictionaries are excellent for distraction.”
—Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1806–1861)
“Since body and soul are radically different from one another and belong to different worlds, the destruction of the body cannot mean the destruction of the soul, any more than a musical composition can be destroyed when the instrument is destroyed.”
—Oscar Cullman. Immortality of the Soul or Resurrection of the Dead? The Witness of the New Testament, ch. 1, Epworth Press (1958)