(Nightingale Records)

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Marilyn Manson would seem to have had his fifteen minutes plus by this point so as he fades into semi-obscurity waiting for the periodic chance for revival the vaults of unreleased footage will open in the hopes that what cash the name may still bring be brought, here is one example.

In its simplest form this is a collection of bootleg bits and pieces taken from very early in Manson’s career at a time when it was only in his mind that he was Public Enemy Number One. The centerpiece of the disc is a live performance filmed with one camera in the back of a club. In this concert Manson lays forth the template for all that is to come and I must say that it is like being present for the Black Nativity. The sound is less than state of the art but that fact seems to enhance the experience and the same can be said of the grainy video. Stripped down and squashed onto a stage one twentieth of what Manson would perform on today the band throbs and pulses with all the conviction and presence of any of their latter day incarnations. The birth of evil or a board kid screaming for attention, it is hard to say but in either case it is hard to look away.

There are a myriad of “bonus” features including another live set with an evolved lineup of Manson’s band, an interview with what I presume is an ex-girlfriend, rehearsal footage that features Manson playing drums in another group, a photo gallery and a few other things that basically seem to fill space.

Though short of being the most important anthropological find in rock music history this certainly is as interesting as it is entertaining for the general metal fan. For long time Marilyn Manson fans with the need to collect everything available this may be the find of the century, but then it is still a very young century.

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