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annielwhite remembers...i loved marilyn mansin i used to listen to the smells like children cd every night before i went to ... More »
Posted on 10/05/06
“The beautiful people, the beautiful people
It’s all relative to the size of your steeple…” – “The Beautiful People”
His fans laud him as a crusader for free speech, and his detractors denounce him as standard shock rock fare – a copycat of Alice Cooper – but no matter where you stand on Marilyn Manson, it’s hard to deny that the “Antichrist Superstar” was one of the most notorious and controversial entertainers throughout the 1990s. When Manson came on the rock scene he was just the latest in a line of acts themed with sex, drugs and Satanism. He was dismissed by critics, but his style caught on with the younger crowds, much to the disdain of conservative politicians, religious figures and, of course, concerned parents.
Born as Brian Warner in Canton, Ohio, Marilyn Manson moved to Tampa Bay, Florida to become a music journalist. In 1989 he met guitarist Scott Mitchell and together, they changed their names and formed a band. Mitchell was now Daisy Berkowitz and Warner was now Marilyn Manson. The idea was that each band member would create a name by combining the first name of a female pop culture icon and the last name of a mass murderer or serial killer. Soon, they added Gidget Gein, and Madonna Wayne-Gacy (Who would later be referred to as M.W-Gacy), and were calling themselves Marilyn Manson and the Spooky Kids. They handed out demo cassettes and playing goth-inspired shows with elaborate make-up and homemade special effects. After ditching a drum machine and getting Sara Lee Lucas, their sound took a hard edge and soon they were one of the most popular acts in southern Florida.
In 1993, Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails came along, offering them a contract on his record lable, Nothing Records, and asked them to open for NIN on their next tour. Manson accepted, and their debut Portrait of an American Family was released mid-1994. The album got a lot of attention off its lead single, “Lunchbox.” The group underwent some line up changes, and Twiggy Ramirez replaced Gein on bass. Soon, the band became more notorious than ever. One incident in Salt Lake City had Manson on-stage ripping apart the Book of Mormon. The Church of Satan’s Anton LaVey also bestowed the title of “Reverend” on Marilyn Manson.
The cult following continued to grow, and 1995’s Smells Like Children EP broke them into the mainstream with their hit single, a cover of the Eurythmics’ “Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This).” Their next full album, Antichrist Superstar, debuted at #3 on the pop album charts in 1996. The success of the album continued, fueled by three hit singles “The Beautiful People,” “Tourniquet” and “Man that You Fear.” As the band’s popularity grew, so did the fury and debate over his performances. His concerts found regular protests from civic groups, that is, whenever he wasn’t outright banned from performing, and his music was being attacked by the right wing and religious groups. He was on the cover of Rolling Stone and had a best-selling autobiography released; soon the onlookers began to question Manson’s motives.
In 1998, Marilyn Manson released the David Bowie and glam-inspired Mechanical Animals. With heavy promotion of the album and its lead single “The Dope Show” the album debuted at #1 on the bards, and the group had a new image borrowed from the likes of Bowie and Roxy Music. Shortly after, the band went on the ill-fated “Rock is Dead” tour with Hole. After a couple of weeks, Hole pulled out of the tour and Manson broke his ankle, forcing some postponements. A few weeks after the show was back on the road, two students at Columbine High School in Colorado killed thirteen people. The early media reports called them fans of “violent” music and video games, increasing the already tough backlash Marilyn Manson faced throughout their careers. At the end of April, out of respect for the victims of the tragedy, Manson cancelled the remaining dates of the tour and stayed away from the stage until 2001 for Ozzfest.
After a quiet year, Marilyn Manson got back into the studio to record Holy Wood (In the Shadow of the Valley of Death). It packed a more visceral punch, with much of the content in response to the Columbine massacre. It found a lot of critical praise, though record sales didn’t follow in kind. The band described Holy Wood as the third in a trilogy including Antichrist Superstar and Mechanical Animals, exploring themes and relationships between death, fame and American culture, with many lyrics referencing JFK, Lee Harvey Oswald, John Lennon and Mark David Chapman. Their Guns, God and Government found success and controversy, just like everything else. During a show in Michigan, Manson was charged with criminal sexual misconduct for an alleged offensive act on a security guard. Soon after, charges came from another security guard for similar matters, though the charges were dropped to a misdemeanor and the civil suit was dropped entirely.
Manson’s version of “Tainted Love” found its way onto the soundtrack of 2001’s Not Another Teen Movie. After the departure of Twiggy Ramirez, the band brought in Tim Skold of KMFDM, who brought with him the heavy industrial beats. Though its detractors called it derivative of KMFDM and lacking in originality, the 2003 release of the ‘swing-inspired’ The Golden Age of Grotesque enjoyed critical praise and the album spent a week on top of the charts. In 2004, Lest We Forget: The Best of Marilyn Manson was released. It was considered a “farewell” album, though Manson has insisted it’s not the final Marilyn Manson release, giving his fans and adversaries something to look forward to.
