Manson tries putting the fear of God into Depeche Mode
Personal Jesus is an astute choice of song for Marilyn Manson, with his shrill cries of “reach out and touch faith” giving more of us nightmares or tingles, however there seems to be little fresh input brought to Depeche Mode’s 1989 hit. After the success of his dark remake of the Eurythmics track “Sweet Dreams” and the classic “Tainted Love”, one could expect big things of his latest cover version. However Personal Jesus already had overdriven guitar and spine tingling sexual tension and leaves little for Manson to improve on, except to add his own classic gothic touches. Yes, Manson’s creepy vocal reverb and unique vocals add a different slant to the song, but still not one so dissimilar from the original.
The single features two versions, the radio edit and an extended album version featured on Manson’s best of album, “Lest We Forget”. The album version includes an extra few seconds of build up to the intro and ending, but little to get excited about. This single is well-produced and typical Manson, but its success is most likely to come from the fact that the original is such a powerful song, rather than the Manson-ite embellishments. The inclusion of the video on the final release is needed to bring out Manson’s stunning and grotesque visual style and remind us why he’s been in our charts for 10 years.