Once upon a time in the 1990s, a guy named Brian Hugh Warner decided to adopt an artistic alias by combining the names of Marilyn Monroe and Charles Manson, and then follow in the footsteps of shock-rock icon ALICE COOPER, only with a bit more contemporary flavor. Whereas Vincent Damon Furnier‘s trademark aesthetic owed a great deal to the likes of Roger Corman, the undisputed king of vintage-psychedelic horror films, Marilyn Manson honed a graphic horror-rock brand in homage to the slasher films of the 1980s and 1990s. Discovered by NINE INCH NAILS frontman Trent Reznor, Marilyn Manson and his eponymous band created a few iconic albums, among which their sophomore full-length “Antichrist Superstar” from 1996 remains one of the most fan-revered selections among his Gothic and industrial shock-rock discography to this day. It probably stemmed from Manson‘s theatre and journalism studies that he immediately showed a devilish knack for pulling just the right strings in terms of visual branding: while his first few albums were indeed jam-packed with quality bangers, I reckon it was the horror aesthetics in both his music videos and his stage antics that helped him hit a home run with the larger public. The horror themes were abundant in the song lyrics as well, along with explicit drug references, much to the joy of all the troubled GenX teens of the era – and to the chagrin of their conservative Boomer parents. In the beginning, this Marilyn Manson character seemed more like a meticulously crafted public persona for Warner than anything else, whereas in recent years, it has started to look an awful lot like he has absorbed traits from this shady makeshift alias into his real life; regardless of whether that is the case or not, 30 years ago the dude sure could write killer songs with his band. I mean, all the flirting with controversial topics aside, some of these songs kicked major ass – and still do! Some dad-rock aficionados obviously disagreed strongly already when the album came out, dubbing it a dreadful epitome of boring, musical emptiness, at best, and a sad specimen of corporate rock for pre-teens, at worst. Let’s see, now that I have reached the age when I’m supposed to listen to such dad rock: how does the album resonate with me now?
Right from the get-go, the songwriting is rock-hard solid. There has been some online speculation about whether “Antichrist Superstar” was designed to be a concept album, but I guess the theory got wind from the fact that the lyrics that kick off the album, in the opener, “Irresponsible Hate Anthem,” are the same lyrics that end the closer, “Man That You Fear.” This created a kind of endless lyrical loop, but if there was an overarching concept, it must have been a rather loose one, like on PINK FLOYD‘s magnum opus “Dark Side of the Moon.” The only common denominator in the songs is that, beneath all the abrasive industrial soundscapes and theatrics, there are songs that are catchy as hell. In fact, most of the riffs are basically 1970s-tinted bubblegum-glam-rock pastiches, but they are adorned with a modern touch of glitchy electronics and blistering guitars, and most of all, Manson‘s signature hissing, so that they feel like glimpses from a Sam Raimi movie rather than That ’70s Show. Well, y’know, like T.REX leftovers dipped in blood and gore. As per the Zeitgeist of the era, the production is clean and crisp, although in retrospect, it needs to be said that Manson‘s vocals didn’t need to be drenched in distortion so much. I guess it was the default setting on an industrial-rock record at the time. It’s just that the vocals tend to become a little bit annoying after a while when it’s all about Manson‘s signature dry grating and half-whispered shrieks fed through a Big Muff. On the other hand, with these songs being such bangers, you can easily take them out of the album context and listen to them on an individual song basis without losing much of their original charm. Two songs stand out in the selection – the video singles, “The Beautiful People” and “Tourniquet.” If my memory serves me right here, I think they got a rather nice rotation on MTV at the time – and for a bloody good reason, too. Even without the help of the graphic music videos, these songs slap the hardest, musically, among these horror-rock nuggets. So, regardless of whether they actually were some random strokes of genius on the band’s part or merely corporate re-packaging of vintage shock-rock with the visual imagery turned up to eleven, these songs kicked some serious ass – and quite a few of them still do.
I reckon it was a good move that the band shortened their original name, MARILYN MANSON AND THE SPOOKY KIDS, because – let’s be honest – despite all the horror-movie imagery, the music wasn’t very spooky for us GenX kids who grew up watching gore-infested horror movies. While the debut album, “Portrait of an American Family,” introduced a band that seemed to have figured out their shit already, “Antichrist Superstar” was a strong follow-up selection that further cemented the impression that this bunch had cultivated their own voice down to a T right from the start. That probably factored in why some critical voices deemed the whole thing a mere corporate product. It was all too cool, all too early, or something along those lines. Marilyn Manson has since proved beyond doubt that his early achievements were no flukes. Warner and his bandmates could cook up some wicked and catchy riffs for real. Of course, all the flirting with blood and gore and whatnot was just silly nonsense, but we didn’t really mind. After all, it was all highly entertaining nonsense. That’s probably why some metalheads viewed Marilyn Manson as more pop-like. In contrast, NINE INCH NAILS was considered the real thing – yeah, despite the fact that Trent Reznor actually produced this album and released it on his own Nothing label. Sure, it’s hard to revisit the album without a pinch of nostalgia, but hey – even the silly nonsense sounded pretty damn good in the 1990s!
Written by Jani Lehtinen
Tracklist
- Irresponsible Hate Anthem
- The Beautiful People
- Dried Up, Tied and Dead to the World
- Tourniquet
- Little Horn
- Cryptorchid
- Deformography
- Wormboy
- Mister Superstar
- Angel With the Scabbed Wings
- Kinderfeld
- Antichrist Superstar
- 1996
- Minute of Decay
- The Reflecting God
- Man That You Fear
Lineup
Marilyn Manson – vocals, guitars, pan flute
Twiggy Ramirez – guitars, bass
Madonna Wayne Gacy – keyboards, synths
Zim Zum – guitars
Ginger Fish – programming, drums
Dave “Rave” Ogilvie – programming
Label
Nothing / Interscope
