ThePumpkins.net

Well Epitome, it has begun. Let us take a journey into the soul of this mad man, and post our critiques

Frankie is listening to debut album, Portrait of an American Family.

Track One: PRELUDE (THE FAMILY TRIP)

8/10

What the fuck?
How creepy / terrifying is this intro? Near perfect as an intro the album. I love how he covers that song from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. He talks a lot about Willy in his autobiography.

Quite early in the run, But Frankie is impressed so far


Track Two: CAKE AND SODOMY

8/10

Unconventional, solid rocker. Dark, absorbing, and bitter. I might like the first track slightly better, but this is a good song too.
Just dealing out the blood and guts of his nature, without care or regard. Artistic.

Edit: 9/10.. This song gets better on a few listens.

Good ol' Trent discovered this guy, I believe.

For the record, NIN > MM

I don't like NIN, personally. I find Trent's voice quite boring, but I admit the music is pretty good.

I listened to Portrait this morning and was surprised how good it was. I was expecting, based on what people on here had said and other people that it was going to have lots of filler.

Anyway, I will listen to it again later today and write more opinions on it.

Frank, why did you only review the first two tracks?

Actually I thought I was sneaky doing two.

We should be putting forth an Epitome / Frankie B opinion of each track, before our final individual analysis's of the album.

I am waiting yes, for you to review the first two

Haha, alright. So what's happening? You want my summary of the first two tracks?

Yeah man, just do it how I did mine. And add your own creativity to it as well, and I shall incorporate

Ok. First I'll say this:
Before getting this album I already had 3 tracks from it: Two on Lest We Forget (Lunchbox, Get Your Gunn) and one on a soundtrack (Sweet Tooth). The first two of those I liked, the last I remembered not being too keen on, but hadn't listened to it for years.

Anyway, here we go:

1. Prelude (The Family Trip)
This is a very odd track. It's weird, it's creepy... outside of the album it would just sound silly, but as a build up to what you know is going to be a weird and creepy album it works well.

7/10 (as an introduction track)


2. Cake and Sodomy
A solid start to the album. Aggressive and dark lyrics set to a familiar mid-90s alternative rock sound. Not my favourite on the album, but a good way to get things going.

Actually, like Frank, I'm having to increase this one

9/10

3. Lunchbox

This song is a son of a bitch.
I never heard it before, and I fucking love it.. but why do I feel like I'm at a concert right next to the subwoofer?

Points on for the concert feel, points off for the blind fuzz.

8/10

epitome wrote:
Really? I've always liked Trents voice. My favorite NIN songs are probably Burn and Somewhat Damaged.

Right, I've now listened to Portrait two full times and currently on my third play. I'm changing my Cake & Sodomy score to a strong 8 actually, it's really catchy.

3. Lunchbox
So, one of the ones I'm already familiar with. It's a more typical alternative rock song than most of the album - not quite as intense and not very weird. I really like it though - the chorus is very catchy, good hooks.

9

Don't particularly like this album, just a few tracks really make it worth it though.

Prelude
3.5/10

Cake and Sodomy
3/10

Lunchbox ... this is where it picks up a solid
8/10



BTW I think Trent has a great voice that matches his music just right. Love the NIN live album.

Cake & Sodomy 3/10? I'm on my 4th listen to the album today and I was considering upping that song from an 8 to a 9...

I'm a Marilyn Manson vet. Good luck on your quest, guys. You have a lot to look forward to with the next 3 albums.

I really like Portrait - it has some great tracks on it. Cake and Sodomy, Dope Hat, Dogma and Misery Machine are some of my favourites - it seems more of a sort of "fun" album than what comes later. Once you guys have listened to Mechanical Animals, you should definitely check out The Last Tour on Earth. The performances of Get Your Gunn, Sweet Dreams and Lunchbox are fucking fantastic...really loud and they pack a certain oomph that isn't so apparent in the studio versions. Loads of other really good stuff on there too (I Don't Like the Drugs is amazing).

I love Nine Inch Nails. I haven't listened to them properly for a while now, but they're still my favourite band ever. One of the most energetic and powerful that I know about, especially live. And I've never found Trent Reznor's voice boring.

Reznor also more than discovered Marilyn Manson; he produced Portrait and Antichrist Superstar, and is often cited as Marilyn's "mentor." He also played some instruments on Antichrist Superstar, and co-wrote a few songs (Little Horn, Deformography and The Reflecting God).

Jaxx wrote:
I haven't listened to "The Reflecting God" in a while, but listening to it now, I can definitely hear the Reznor influence.

NIN is my third favorite band behind Smashing Pumpkins, and anything Conor Oberst lays his paws on.

4. Organ Grinder

Not sure about this one. Could be a grower, but at times it makes me cringe. In any case, I don't think it's musically as strong as the three tracks prior.

6/10

Jaxx wrote:
Yeah, I'm loving Portrait so far and looking forward to the albums that follow it.
I remember buying The Last Tour on Earth for a friend when it was her 18th birthday... 12 years ago That was back when I presumed MM was all gimmick so didn't bother listening to his albums myself. Now I feel I've missed out all these years.

Oooh... almost missed your Organ Grinder review there, Franky-baby.

4. Organ Grinder
This is where the album starts to get a bit weirder (after the promise of the intro track was followed by two fairly typical alt. rock songs). I really like this... not quite as good as the two previous songs, but not too far away.

8

5. Cyclops

Slightly better than Organ Grinder, but again it's probably one that will need to grow on me. Bit too heavy for my taste.

6/10

5. Cyclops
The weirdness continues. I agree, it is slightly better than Organ Grinder, it packs a bit more punch. I really like the lyrics, although I can't really figure out what it's actually about. Really cool stuff going on in the background on this one.

8/10