Interscope Pull The Plug On Manson

The world's most notorious shock-rocker has been dropped by his record label due to disappointing album sales in the U.S.

It has been revealed that after Marilyn Manson's latest album 'The High End of Low' sold little more than 120,000 copies in America, Interscope have decided to part ways with the band.

The album has been heavily criticised amongst the music world, with the band being accused of loosing their edge after the film 'Bowling For Columbine' revealed the intelligent and sensitive side of Marilyn Manson.

"After the film, his mystique as the 'God Of Fuck', scourge of society dissipated; he was understood, even appreciated and the game's been up ever since."

NME claimed the above statement in their album review of 'The High End of Low'. They added, "This album is full of self-pitying dirges which give the impression of a slightly sad man-child sulking about girls in his bedroom."

This opinion seems to be a shared one amongst music critics. All of them complaining that Manson's new album has lost it's edge and by opening himself up to the public he has revealed his true self and no longer has that dark mystery to his persona that was so evident back in the days of 'Holy Wood'. However, despite the heavy criticism and the loss of their record label, Marilyn Manson promises that this is only the beginning.

"I was so restrained from the music that I wanted to make ... At least half of my creative output has been squashed, so now I think people can expect a whole lot more." Manson revealed in an interview with Metal Hammer.

He also announced that he is working on new material, reminiscent of David Bowie's 'Aladdin Sane'. "I think it will be more badass ... I think it's going to be more romantic maybe. Self abusive."

The end of Interscope and Marilyn Manson could be a blessing in disguise for the band. With more creative freedom and complete control we may see more of the Manson of old, or we could see the emergence of something completely unique and original.

All eyes will now be on the band after two consecutive albums failing to impress the critics, but Manson won't be taking notice of what the critics and reviewers say and neither will his fans.

In the words of the iconic shock-rocker, "Music critics get their records for free so their opinions usually don't matter."

Killing the Undead - Again

When Valve announced that Left 4 Dead 2 was in development some time ago, there were mixed reactions within the gaming community. Some were happy to hear of a second installment of this year's Online Game of the Year, the first being a huge success with both fans and critics. Although some people were slightly mifted that they did not spend more time nurturing Left 4 Dead 1, with the lack of DLC maps being rather fleeting and downplayed (Xbox 360 owners being rather annoyed that the PC version was given their downloadable content free but them being required to pay 540 Microsoft Points, however this WAS NOT Valve's decision).

Upon playing it I can only applaude Valve at another fine display of their work. Left 4 Dead 2 takes all the elements that made the first so enjoyable and capitalised on them, making them bigger and more badass than they were in the first. Understandably some people may just think that this Left 4 Dead with a fresh coat of paint, just with different characters and new maps. Thankfully they couldn't be more wrong. Left 4 Dead 2 features 4 new unique and comical characters, all with distinctive backgrounds, dialogue and attitudes. Valve gives you intense action with some dark humour injected into parts, with the characters occasionally mocking one another during the very sparce calm moments.

There are 4 new faces to play as in the campaigns: Coach (my personal favourite), a high school gym teacher that looks like Danny Glover if he let himself go and speaks in very much the same way (if you dont't know what I mean, please see Predator 2). Nick, a suave gambler that is slightly cocky but is still a solid team player. Rochelle, a hot head very much in the mould of Zoe from L4D 1 and finally Ellis, a friendly yet simple red neck who has an attitude like Francis in that shooting nearly everything alive pleases him no end.

The campaigns this time around still maintain the same "Movie" type style but with a much stronger narrative than before. In the first, it was unclear whether each campaign was linked or they were seperate ideas but now it is clearly shown that one follows on from where the previous finishes and the true finale is on The Parish campaign (Campaign 5). These stories are populated with new special infected (as if the first lot weren't bad enough) there are even more annoying super powered zombies to try and make you epic fail. The Jockey that takes control of a Survivour and steers him around in deadly areas populated with hundreds of infected. Spitter, a lanky woman who shoots dangerous acid that makes an area toxic for a short period, her ability mainly being designed to keep the survivours apart, maybe leaving one guy on his own and having to fend for himself until the acid subsides. The Charger, who wears dungerees (which is hilarious) and rams through the group to split them up. He also has the ability to pick up and carry one survivour a worrying amount of feet and them slam them into the ground over and over. One of his arms is also huge. Thought you might like to know that.....

In addition to this there are also uncommon infected, who don't have special abilities as such but do have something a little different about them. One is unique to each campaign, Clowns being confined to the Carnival where they have the ability to lead common zombies, Infected CEDA Agents have resilient suits and can use Boomer Bile, Army infected are unaffected by pistol bullets and Swampy Mudmen obscure your vision when they hit you. So there are plenty of dangerous undead mo fos to watch out for.

Valve's unique strength again comes from its random element generator and "The Director", an AI generator that seemingly controls the environment, chooses what special infected to spawn and where, when to launch a horde wave attack etc but has now been refined. Not only this, according to how fast or slow you are moving or how good or bad you are doing, your path to the holy safe room can be a straightforward path or a complex maze of constant corners. I think that element that made L4D 1 so replayable was the fact that you would never play the same game twice. Now this variety has been expandable, instead of just the standard SMG/M16 you are given a whole host of weapons, some of which look borrowed from a game featuring warfare of a very modern kind. Aww if I only I could remember the name of it......Never mind. You can keep your distance and pick off infected heads with a Sniper Rifle or sprint round giving the zombies the old 3 burst fire from a Scar-H. Melee weapons have also been introduced but these take the place of your pistol(s) so you must choose whether you want to twang heads with a guitar or take a Deagle on your travels.

All in all this game is a solid buy, Valve have outdone themselves once again, providing us with a new modern L4D which we can all get down to. If you do find yourself wondering whether to purchase a game where on the box art a zombie is giving you the peace sign, just remember, you get to kill zombies. Thousands of them. Over and over again. Plus the sight of a Tank in tight jeans is worth seeing because its just so funny.

Killing in the Name Of.. Good Music

Ok, I thought I'd jump on the bandwagon. You may have heard of a reality TV programme called the X Factor. For those not in the know it's an annoying show where contestants compete for who has the biggest sob story, the judges fight over who can be the most controversial and Simon Cowell sees how much money he can rake in through week after week of telephone voting. Oh, and there's also a bit of singing thrown in too.

Now, every year that the X Factor has been on, the winner has gone on to receive the 'prestigious' title of Christmas Number One in the mainstream music charts through clever marketing and over-advertising. All a bit boring really if you ask me. Where's the competition if we all know already that whatshisface is going to win with his sappy, vomit inducing cover of a Miley Cyrus song? Miley bloody Cyrus. Has it really come to this?!

So, there's this little campaign to offer an alternative to the X Factor winner's single, in the form of Rage Against The Machine's Killing in the Name Of. Of the millions of alternative songs that could have been chosen to provide the nation with an antidote to this musical twaddle, I'm not too sure why they chose this one. Even so, it'd be quite refreshing to see if it ends up in the chart- alongside that slushy song by the Soldiers and Mariah Carey.

Let's face it, music today is more about making money than acute craftsmanship. More about shifting units than penning beautiful, catchy melodies, at least when it comes to pop music (Lady Gaga being a possible exception). So why not have some fun with it?

If you want to join in this experiment that's already received praise from the likes of 6 Music and NME Magazine, then go buy it on iTunes or Amazon THIS WEEK.

Dan Le Sac vs Scroobius Pip Can't Help But 'Get Better'

After the huge success of 'Angles' everyone was waiting to see how Den Le Sac and Scroobius Pip could possibly top it. Every song was packed with catchy beats, thought provoking lyrics and left massive expectations for their following album.

Finally, the duo have released a little teaser for us all to ponder over until the album is released. The track is titled 'Get Better' and it doesn't disappoint. Not in the slightest! The song has stuck to the basic principles that has served them so well in the past. Dan Le Sac's addictive beats and bass lines fuse beautifully with Scroobius Pip's poetic and memorable lyrics.

You can hear 'Get Better' on BBC iPlayer for the next seven days and then it will be posted on Dan Le Sac's MySpace.

I'm sure many of you are crying out at your computer screens, "I WANT TO SEE THEM LIVE!". Well never fear. The hip-hop duo have announced that they will be performing at Bristol's very own O2 Academy next March.

To get more information about tickets go to www.o2academybristol.co.uk