More pro-style, but still evil and creepy...or how about this one?
Very pro-style, despite the Baphomet hand symbols (which ICP call "Forks up/Forks down")
Anyways, despite the aesthetically unappealing cartoony album cover, the tracks seem to have a more lost feel to them than say, The Great Milenko. On The Great Milenko, there was a more hopeful feel and the "hidden" message was God is good and will punish those who abuse His name and those who abuse/mistreat others. Okay, true, there were joke tracks such as The Neden Game (commonly called The Dating Game) and a song about voodoo, but over-all it was a more uplifting album.
One of the videos off Milenko is Halls of Illusion. The lyrics depict various illusions, showing what could have been versus what actually was because the individuals in question fucked shit up by being assholes.
Mighty Death Pop? Not as uplifting and I question what their over-all messages are.
Where's God is about exactly what you'd think. I get what they're saying, though it confuses me because on the last track off of The Wraith: Shangri-La (titled Thy Unveiling, which is where I got the name for my blog) they "reveal" that they've been about God all along-which I always knew because I picked up on that from their previous works. It wasn't exactly a secret, imo, though other Juggalos and Juggalette's got their panties in a knot over it as if it was some big surprise.
In "Violent J's Massive Shoot Interview", he is asked about Where's God and if he's beginning to lose faith. J responds: Fuck no. We haven’t lost any faith in God. In fact, we have more faith now than ever. We asked “Where’s God?” because as people go through their lives and face hard times, that is a question we all have asked ourselves, no matter who you are or how close to God you are.
Honestly, the music video to the song isn't bad. It shows J and Shaggs walking through some town, carrying a giant cross. As they walk, they pass people struggling with their own battles. An abused housewife, a drug addict, and so forth. These people notice J and Shaggs carrying the cross, and decide to follow them. As for the lyrics, I guess I shouldn't be surprised with Where's God, considering ICP also questioned His (or Her) motives on Shangri-La with their track Crossing The Bridge, asking why children die, among various other things. Although, I agree with many of the questions asked in the song.
Off Bang Pow Boom Nuclear Edition, there's a track titled It's All Over, which seems to celebrate the end of the world. Perhaps they're trying to tell us to not be afraid, though I think there's a little more to it than that.
Yet on the regular Bang Pow Boom, they have a track called Miracles which seems to have a more inspirational message...despite the video having MK themes
This video and song gained a lot of attention, even getting spoofed on SNL, though I guess YouTube has their copyright bs going on with the video...I had to go to another site to watch it. They do a pretty good job, you can watch it here: http://www.dula.tv/watch.php?file=magical-mysteries-snl.flv It is definitely worth the view, especially if you've watched Miracles. A lot of people-even before SNL-mocked Shaggy's asking how magnets work.
It's not just music and videos that make me question where ICP's collective heads are at. Twiztid left Psychopathic in December 2012, after 17 years at the label. The number 17 has always held significance with ICP. Is it coincidence that their frankenstein's left after 17 years? Twiztid supposedly stated at the end of a concert that they left for survival. I tried listening to them in the video (posted on Juggalo Nation, link below) but even Madrox telling the crowd to "shut the fuck up" didn't quiet them enough to make what they were saying more audible. I did hear them say "If we'd stayed, in another year there would have been no Twiztid." Although they (and their other best friend Blaze, who also left Psychopathic with them) will most likely be returning annually for The Gathering of the Juggalos, and, when time and schedules allow, will still be recording Dark Lotus and Psychopathic Rydas albums at their old label. Still, they left for survival? I'm not saying that they would have been killed or committed suicide had they stayed at Psychopathic, but wtf is that supposed to mean? It also seemed that they were getting sick of feeling like the second bananas compared to ICP, and feel that if they were on their own then they could stand a chance at being number one. Maybe they're right. There are fans who like Twiztid better than they like ICP, but to the majority of us ICP and Twiztid go hand-in-hand. ICP pretty much discovered, and helped, Twiztid get started after leaving House of Krayzees. ICP helped make Twiztid what they are today. I guess that's why Jamie and Paul still feel a sense of loyalty to Psychopathic. But still. They aren't number one, but they aren't number two. ICP and Twiztid are both on top of their game. They go together like cereal and milk. As I said in a previous post, they remind me of Baphomet's As Above, So Below.
It isn't just Twiztid leaving after (a questionable) 17 years.
There's also their "newer" (it's not that new, but compared to the old) style of t-shirts and re-vamping of their Jokers Cards on t-shirts. I don't like it. It's too evil. I miss the old style.
Old Style. Used to be able to find this kind of art-work on all their merchandise. Then again, we used to be able to find buttons and patches at most music stores. Now finding band buttons and patches are a rarity in general. Except for online. But I hate online shopping.
A newer style Riddlebox shirt (I have this one, but I miss my old-style one. It was way cuter!)
More newer-style artwork from their t-shirts. They're all so evil and horrible! A few of them look as though they're laughing and saying "I will devour your soul!"
Speaking of wicked and conditioning, Violent J makes an interesting comment in his Massive Shoot Interview.
QUESTION: When is ICP going to make some wicked shit? I remember you saying you guys were taking all the public insults from Miracles and using that anger to make the new record. The Mighty Death Pop is awesome but not wicked. The last wicked thing from ICP was Hells Pit. I love everything you guys do but where is the wicked ass shit?
- Adam P.
- Adam P.
ANSWER: Hell’s Pit was especially wicked because it was about HELL’S PIT. If you honestly don’t hear the wickedness in Death Pop in such songs as “Bazooka Joey,” “Night of the Chainsaw,” “Chris Benoit,” “The Blasta,” “Dog Catchers,” “Shooting Stars,” and more shit on Death Pop, then maybe it’s just that you’ve gotten so used to the Wicked Shit that it doesn’t shock you anymore. Seriously. Maybe it’s just that you’re so conditioned to it after all these years that it’s hardened you up. Maybe it sounds normal to you now. It’s like the Rodney King beating video. After seeing it 10,000 times, it’s not as shocking anymore. But I’m sure if any pop music fan compares The Mighty Death Pop to anything else in pop music today, Death Pop will stand out as extremely wicked.
I'm merely speculating on things but I still-and always will-love these guys and their music. I still buy their evil-looking shirts because they're all I can find off-line and I like to rep what I love. Even if I do often question just how real they're being with us. Joey Utsler and Joe Bruce are probably as real as can be with their fans, but there are alters to them. In this video J shows 2 of them with Florida Joe and Moon Glorious (who reminds me of a gay Anna Nicole Smith when she painted her face like a clown), Shaggy shows one as The Red Ninja who acts like Shaggy but has a red face and wears a Wendy's girl-looking wig:
In the song Bloody Bitch (a bonus track off Wizard of the Hood), J raps: "Violent J's not around, but Moon Glorious is there, scared to fucking death of what's happening here" J often talks and raps about his other personalities, he boasts that in his music he gets to be other people and can do anything, and often-times his alters make appearances on their albums. Shaggy's varying personalities seem to be less obvious. Maybe Shaggy is actually J's handler?
Juggalo Nation: Twiztid Says Why they left
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