Album Reviews |

Marilyn Manson

Antichrist Superstar 8½ ( 1996 )
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

Opens very strong and we hear a crowd/audience shouting insults at Manson, presumably at another of his flesh baring displays. 'Irresponsible Hate Anthem' of course is the song that kicks in. All thrashing guitars and screamed vocals and really rather fine. 'The Beautiful People' is a stone cold classic in my book. Great glam rock influenced drum pattern and crunching riffs! His vocal is sinister, whispered, menacing and a generally wonderful thing. 'The Beautiful People' even managed to be a hit single of sorts and definitely the commercial breakthrough for Marilyn Manson. 'Dried Up...' is very industrial rock and a rather typical Manson number. Again, great vocals, though. He's much underrated in terms of his vocal work, actually. All the attention he receives is often for his stage presentation and various controversial pronouncements in the press. With the sound of his voice he can consider the lyrics he actually sings, lyrics which are full of imagery. End of the world, heaven and hell type lyrics, good lyrics, but not especially Satan worshipping or anything like that. There are far more controversial lyrics out there than these. The music and songs are often forgotten when it comes to discussing Marilyn Manson in light of the controversy the man does create. 'Tourniquet' is simply a great song. 'Little Horn' is heavy as hell and thrillingly doom laden! It's short and leads into the atmospheric 'Cryptorchild'. We're well into the second phase of the album now. It's a well thought out sequence of songs, the album flows very well.

'Deformography' is fantastic! Great 'dirty dirty' vocals in there with wonderful guitar. Manson plays guitar himself of course but the real star is Twiggy Ramirez. His contributions are often overlooked with all the attention on Manson himself. Twiggy doesn't put a foot wrong over the course of this record though, and is often in inspired form, driving the music forwards. 'Mister Superstar' is the perfect marriage of guitar with Manson on top form lyrically and vocally. Good bass riff too! Trent Reznor actually plays guitar on this song - he produced the album and somewhat took the group under his care. It's certainly a massive improvement over their first couple of records. It's pretty consistent and inspired moments abound all over the place.

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Readers Comments Anita Luke Aal.222@btopenworld.com iiiiiiiiiiii llllllllllllloooooooooooovvvvvvvvvvvvvveeeeeeeeeeee marilyn manson adam finalfantasy325@hotmail.com the start of the antichrist superstar begins with him starting the chant "We hate love We love hate" not to be an ass or anything just thought you would want to know ^_^ bass player edd eddie123zeppelin@hotmail.com what a load of old bollocks. I heard the similie "sounds like a microphone wired up to a toilet on St Patricks day" used wrongly for the great floyd album "Piper at the gates of Dawn". It does however apply to this pile of crap.

'Great Big White World' is a more controlled sound than much of 'Antichrist Superstar'. Not that it's bad, it just lacks the edginess of that particular record. 'The Dope Show' is a glam based rhythm and Mansons twisted version of a pop song. 'Mechanical Animals' itself is notable for the keyboard sound that runs underneath the rock backing through the verses. Again, it's a more controlled, polished sound. It's not until the fourth song in fact we reach classic Marilyn Manson. The other big single on here was the deliberately ridiculous sounding 'I Don't Like The Drugs...' which is almost a cartoonish version of the groups original vision. Their audience was expanding and this appears to be a 'user friendly' Manson album designed to facilitate this. 'The Speed Of Pain' is a slow, keyboard heavy dirge that goes nowhere in particular. 'Post Human' is better and effectively reintroduces heavier guitars into the melting pot. Highlights of the second half include the guitar led 'I Want To Disappear'. 'New Model No 15' features hand clapping (?!) and a great set of lyrics. The final two songs end the record on a high note and save it somewhat. A Gary Numan influence is strong on 'Last Day On Earth'. It works well here as part of a more ambitious and darker sound. The closing 'Coma White' is simply a great way to close. Guitars all over the place doing all sorts of interesting things.

Not as consistent or inspired an album this as was it's immediate predessesor. Still, hardly a bad record overall. A commercial Manson is still a good Manson and i'm using the word 'commercial' lightly. Comparitively speaking, this is still a heavy set of songs with heavy, albeit very playful, lyrical matter. The voice of Marily Manson still speaks! He's not going no-place.

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Readers Comments Simon Brigham slb23@shaw.ca Can anyone say "David Bowie Copycat" ? Look at the different coloured eyes, the androgeny, etc."I Don't Like The Drugs (But The Drugs Like Me)" is incredibly similar to Bowie's "Fame". Just listen to the funky drums and bass line after they say the title of the song at the begining. Then listen to "Fame" I'm pretty sure you'll see the similarities. ANYWAY, onto the album . . . I guess you could call it "goth electronica pop rock". The affect and like-ability of this album wears off (or thin) after about 3 or 4 listens. The Best songs (until they wears off - or thin): "The Dope Show", "Rock is Dead", and maybe even "I Don't Like The Drugs (But The Drugs Like Me)". 3 out of 10 at the most. Dani Lucifana666@hotmail.com I'm a fan of manson and i htink he is and extremely inspired individual. When i heard Coma White for the first time, and still to this day it touches me. the music and the lyrics are so real. so you can imagine my extacy at Coma Black. i think it is a depressingly heartfelt song that connects to me on a very personal level.i was very dissapointed to see it skipped over in your review. Lil Miss Naughty purpleroses321@hotmail.com cani just say first that i absolutely adore manson and i think he is incredibly talented, like, with all the lyrics he writes. my favourite ould have to be Coma White... a memorable love song. As soon as i heard it i was in love with it... and, like many others, was very excited when Coma Black came along. love manson, love his lyrics, love his look. 10/10 Jane Jane_Weatherfield@yahoo.com I hate to admit it today.. But I actually did listen to Manson for a while (hey.. I was young and impressionable!) but now I am glad for the experience.. While listening to this album I realized I was much more interested in David Bowie, who Manson is basically mimicking throughout the album. I have loved Bowie ever since. Greg public_secrecy@hotmail.com On the contrary, the more I listen to Mechanical Animals the more i appreciate it. Every time I listen thru I notice something else, some other subtle twang or snare here and there, all so well placed that it just harmonizes the entire song. Things that you don't initially notice at first listen, if you just pay attention it really sounds great and it's obvious how much work went into this album. damo mouse_666_88@hotmail.com "Qoute" Simon Brigham slb23@shaw.ca Can anyone say "David Bowie Copycat" ? Look at the different coloured eyes, the androgeny, etc."I Don't Like The Drugs (But The Drugs Like Me)" is incredibly similar to Bowie's "Fame". Just listen to the funky drums and bass line after they say the title of the song at the begining. Then listen to "Fame" I'm pretty sure you'll see the similarities. ANYWAY, onto the album . . . I guess you could call it "goth electronica pop rock". The affect and like-ability of this album wears off (or thin) after about 3 or 4 listens. The Best songs (until they wears off - or thin): "The Dope Show", "Rock is Dead", and maybe even "I Don't Like The Drugs (But The Drugs Like Me)". 3 out of 10 at the most. you are a dick. if you done any research you would find out there are extremely great reasons why he looks like he does like for instance the different coloured left eye. "The Dajjal is what is known as the Islamic equivalen! t of the Antichrist who will appear before the Day of Judgment and mentioned numerous times in various hadith, or teaching of Mohammed. Like Satan he is a great deceiver who will teach that Heaven is Hell and that Hell is Heaven and have the ability to perform miracles which will deceive the world as such. And also like Satan he esteems Man over God. He is said to be physically misshapen, have the word 'kafir' (Arabic for liar or blasphemer) branded on his forehead and will be blind in one eye. In a hadith written by Hadhrat Huzaifah it is said that the Dajjal will be blind in his left eye; left being the path which the damned travel away from God, and the eye which Manson has perpetually blinded" thanks to:http://www.nachtkabarett.com for the info. so think twice before you say something that you have no idea what its about. Chris Birmingham, UK I still adore this album 5 years after buying it, yes the David Bowie influence is very clear, but Manson's always citied him as a huge influence,so it's to be expected. Personally, I think it's a risk taker of an album, by this point he had a large fanbase of industrial/metal music fans, and he went and released a stripped down (in terms of distortion,not production as a whole,which is very lush across this album), melancholy, 80's styled pop album really. It alienated ALOT of his auidence at the time. A bit of background delving does help it all make sense, I'm not going to into the whole tryptych concept thing that spans MA,AS and HW (apologies for the abbreviations) but, as mentioned in your AS review, Trent Reznor was all over that album, by 98, Manson and Trent wern't even talking to each other, and whilst the AS sessions were fuelled by cocaine in particular (you can REALLY here it in the vocals, strip away all the echoes,extra vocal tracks etc, and its bloo! dy obvious) MA is a sor of "come down" album, a lot of tranquilisers were flying around amonst the band and Billy Corgan of Smashing Pumpkins fame was hanging around, kind of playing the role of unofficial song writer, you can definetly here his influence in some of the chord progressions and just the feel of the album as a whole I think. Rather than an attempt to go mainstream, I think its partly an attempt to not repeat themselves,partly messing with their fans and attempting to open them up to Mansons less heavy influences (especially Bowie) and [artly just a different set of narcotics influencing the songwriting...Ive been lucky enough to see both Great big white world and Coma White live,at two seperate shows,both were standouts of those particular sets...it's not a standard Manson album by anymeans, it remains therefore, one of his most intriguing,and also musically accomplished in my opinion. just my (long) 2 cents

A return pretty much back to the sound of 'Antichrist Superstar' and although not as concise ( being a sprawling 19 track affair ) contains many inspired, exhilarating moments along the way. 'Disposable Teens' for instance, when he screams out the song title in the chorus it really is a thing to behold! 'The Love Song' and 'The Fight Song' are both excellent sides of the same coin. Continuing this early high start to the record is the scathing 'Target Audience'. 'President Dead' is simple good fun (!?) before a couple of less interesting moments close the first half of the album. If you've made it as far as track ten realising you are but half-way through, they have a little reward for you. 'The Nobodies' is prime Marilyn Manson and a perfectly structured rock song, too. 'The Death Song' opens with impossibly loud drums, the guitars kick in and it's something of a highlight, for sure. 'Lamb Of God' is more proof Manson has yet to master the rock ballad format, unfortunately. Something for to work on, maybe? Does anybody even want ballads from Manson? Well, perhaps he can work on it and do something different and well, Marilyn Manson-esque with the form whilst still retaining his character and vision. 'Born Again' is a frantic thing and sounds sound with 'Burn down your disco' lyrics. A few more pounding drums? Ok, then!

Whilst there are relatively few weak moments on this album, it's unrelenting assault, heavy and dark, makes it difficult to always sit through in a single session. We do have filler here, and the filler is noticeable - 'Valentines Day' is hardly a highlight, for example. Still, 'The Fall Of Adam' opens well with some nice acoustic guitar before it explodes into a frenzy of dense noise. 'King Kill' repeats the loud drum sound heard on other songs here. Repetition, uh-huh. 'Count To Six And Die' is a suitably dramatic closer however and opens with nice goth type piano. A good album, lots of fine moments. It is too long and uneven to really be a classic or the best Marilyn Manson record. Not quite, anyway. The highlights here are very high indeed though, and this being the third in a trilogy of albums, in the end is just a good batch of songs. No more, no less.

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Readers Comments Spooky Kid MansonCasey1@aol.com manson is by far one of the greates rockstars of all time, i see holywood, mechanicl animals, and antichrist superstar as an excellent story, if you wonder what i mean reat the autobiogrphy, it will give you a better start in under standing the albums better and appreciate the meaning behind the story that manson has behind the music. i don't belive that any thing that manson has put on any of the albums has any downfalls, so anyone that can appreciate real music and can't find it with manson pick up the book: THE LONG HARD ROAD OUT OF HELL you wil begin to undersatnd manson, and soonappreciate what is put behind the music Ilya Grigoriev negative_creep@gmx.de I disagree with you on that ballad subject. "In the valley of the shadow of death" is a hell of a ballad actually the best I've heard in a quite a long time because nobody makes rock ballads anymore. Plus The Nobodies is a song that can be played without any effects on a good old acoustic and sound just as good because of its good melody (synonym for ballad ;) This record gets a 8 out of 10 because Fight Song sucks after quite a short while and King Kill 33 simply makes me wanna slap Manson with my slippers. Ben Fishes_Inc@hotmail.com Thus far, I think this is his most complete album. Lyrically, the Golden age is lacking any notably new ideas. Neither this nor Mechanical animals reached the roughness of Antichrist Superstar, but Holywood makes up for it with high quality songs. The first half is flawless, but the second is uneven constisting of straight up rock songs and quiet ballads. Burning Flags and The Death song are still pure bursts of energy. 8.5/10

A new bass player enters the band, so goodbye to previous bass-player Twiggy, it seems. Manson co-writes much of this album with new bass player Tim Skold, who also gets to co-produce the set with Manson. Does it make a difference? Well, the vision is still clearly Manson's - a quote that appeared from him regarding 'The Golden Age Of Grotesque' prior to the albums release stated it was this... "most genius deluge of hardcore guitar-drum violence and reckless electronic-punk vaudeville mixed with 30s cabaret decadence and Arch-dandy dada. These snot-nose stompalongs will convince the finger-waving, faithless bangsters one thing for sure. We can only become what we really are when we no longer believe what others have convinced us to be. We won't follow religion, we are one. And the understanding of my art is only the sad product of journalism. Fuck art. I am art". So, no real change in Marilyn Manson land then?! Actually, given the promise of hardcore guitar-drum violence mixed in with ( German ) 30s cabaret decadence, it's a little disappointing that more wasn't made of the concept. 'The Golden Age Of Grotesque' for the most part is just a very solid and strong Marilyn Manson album. One of the best actually. The sound is a little different, but then, it's always been just a little different album to album, rarely ever making huge strides. The band, complete with new bassist do sound confident here - we'll certainly give them that. The first half or so of the album is pretty tight in terms of melodies, structure, lyrics and songs. Oh, yeah! Overall, the lyrics are angry and biting in the usual Manson fashion. The music certainly isn't back to something like 'Mechanical Animals', but it does sound commercial, almost like a nu-industrial-hardcore-metal band playing pop songs, albeit pop songs twisted, heavy, dark and provocative.

The music is as heavy as any music he's done, but the pace and tone and delivery of the songs maybe, not quite as thrillingly aggressive as something like 'Antichrist Superstar'. It falls somewhere inbetween 'Antichrist Superstar' and 'Mechanical Animals' whilst also offering a musical development with subtly increased use of electro keyboard sounds. Highlights? 'This Is The New Shit' and first single 'mOBSCENE' are both prime, classic Marilyn Manson. Singing along to the chorus of the delirious aggressive screamed statement that is 'This Is The New Shit' being particularly entertaining! The song here that makes the most of the promised trip to cabaret, berlin in the 30s, vaudeville, etc - is the title song which is very spooky and spooked and Manson sings this differently, really getting into character and twisting his vocals - great stuff. One of the most entertaining songs during the second half of the album is the typical Manson statements of 'Better Of Two Evils', nothing unexpected for Manson, but just remaining very entertaining indeed. The same could be said for the album as a whole, actually. An album doesn't quite match the still startling 'Antichrist Superstar' and doesn't contain the same number of highpoints as 'Holywood', although compared to the latter, 'The Golden Age Of Grotesque' is the more consistent listen from beginning to end.

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Readers Comments Mr. Rojas's student Josh Solis shamucool@yahoo.com I love Manson! I think all of his work is wonderful, especially in terms of creating an ambience of feeling and pain... This album is more about relationships. Manson uses more pitches in the songs, such as "The Golden Age...." and the feeling is angrier, yet mellow still. The sound is much different than other albums in my opinion... most likely because Twiggy is gone... But Manson's ambition still flies; this album is the best one yet. AcctRec at PC AcctRec@porterchester.com Not a bad album, a little to much of a top 40 taste to it. I would like to see Manson & co. get back to the heavier stuff & a little less disco-techno pop thing. It’s too main stream. This record borders on being “bubble gum music”. Manson makes me want to break out some platform shoes and a suede vest with fringes. Put some fear back into me will ya? :) J_gun@msn.com Hey u ADRIAN Dude ur a fag You Rated Marilyn Manson's New cd 8 and that is not fucking true u mother fucking jew by the way i can say fuck all the way i want if anyone got a problem.fuck fuckyty fuck fuck GAOG is number one in Europe and 2nd in U.S. Dushbag dickfucking mirco dildo sucker mother bitch!! Tapeworm andrewjustus@hotmail.com this fucking album sucks so fuckin bad it's pathetic. i don't even want anyone to know i listen to manson after hearing this piece of shit. the lyrics suck (because Twiggy didn't write them this time most likely).If Manson doesn't make another one like smells like children or antichrist superstar he just as fuckin well quit makin music.if you listen to this pop for goth kids, crappy, lyrically challenged piece of shit cd, and likes it:::: you need to be fuckin beat to death if you wanana hear a good cd go pick up thirteenth step Kamui blacabais@shaolinkungfu.org I was not that thrilled with this album. it was ok for what it was but manson has had way better things in the past. it sanded me greatly when twiggy left. but hopefully the new bassist will be able to be as great as twiggy Bill spank_thru101@hotmail.com Marilyn Manson was best early in his career, with albums like Antichrist and Portrait, albums on which he same songs from the smae level as the fan, songs about wanting to be big and suceed and escape the pain and confinement of organized society but at around mechanical animals (which is my fav album ) he changed and suddenly he started singing about how he was the 'shit' and he was a rockstar and how he WAS MARILYN MANSON and since then he has lost touch with his audiencee and hie rock riffs have gotten lamer...........no wonder his sales have slagged for the past few years.............. Bill Thomas pfimn@yahoo.com "J_gun@msn.com Hey u ADRIAN Dude ur a fag You Rated Marilyn Manson's New cd 8 and that is not fucking true u mother fucking jew by the way i can say fuck all the way i want if anyone got a problem.fuck fuckyty fuck fuck GAOG is number one in Europe and 2nd in U.S. Dushbag dickfucking mirco dildo sucker mother bitch!!" HAHAHHAHAHAHA Soo... anyways, Adrian I agree with you fully this is DEFINATLEY some of Manson's strongest work, the album as a whole works alot better than his other records. The riffs are solid, and the lyrics are good, better then even ACSS in my modest opinion 9/10

Well, there are no concepts this time out, no promises of debauchery or blood - just a new Marilyn Manson album. His reputation as a serious artist appears to have taken something of a battering in the 21st century but I find it hard to see why just from listening to the albums. Sure, the first couple of records were raw, that's true of a lot of artists. Aggression alone doesn't make a good goth-metal album. 'Eat Me Drink Me', without expectations, delivers on the songfront. We're not getting anything new stylistically but some of the lyrics seem more personal than usual and it seems that Marilyn Manson has been reevaluating himself. Turning his torture into art? Well, at least turning it into a new album that doesn't sound like it's been aimed squarely at the charts. 'Eat Me Drink Me' has cover artwork that's only striking because Marilyn Manson cuts a striking figure. Otherwise, this is all very low-key. It's appeared in the shops over here in the UK without any hype, or indeed, anticipation. Looking through the comments on rateyourmusic.com, it seems also without any appreciation. Let's put myself at the outside of the argument by saying I for one don't yearn for another 'Mechanical Animals' and don't think everything he's done since then has been progressively worse and worse. I don't think he's got the out and out outstanding songs here like he used to. Remember 'Disposable Teens'? I mean, that was some years ago now. 'Golden Age Of Grotesque' also lacked such highpoints but overall delivered very nicely, says me. 'Eat Me, Drink Me' has less of a reliance on tried and trusted ( therefore also cliched ) goth-metal melodramas. It doesn't resort to cliche. Although the songs here merely vary in tempo by being differently mid-tempo to each other - some effort has clearly gone into the songwriting.

This is a relatively brief album by Manson standards, a mere fifty two minutes. This isn't a lack of inspiration, rather a manageable length that makes the album listenable. I do tire of these rock groups making every album an attempted, unrelenting, two hour masterpiece, as if they are making and releasing Lord Of The Rings rather than a record album. What are the highlights here then before I ramble on all day? Well, 'They Said That Hell's Not Hot' is a fine tune with a good structure and an excellent guitar solo through the middle. 'Mutilation Is The Most Sincere Form Of Flattery' is actually something of a mini-return to the glam based sound of 'Mechanical Animals' and he's still good at doing that kind of thing. Lead single 'Heart Shaped Glasses' doesn't really sound like you expect Marilyn Manson to sound. There's a bit of a new-romantic thing going on there, but the song has a decent hook. So? Well, this album may or may not actually matter, but that really shouldn't matter. What's the matter? Well, nothing much as it goes. It's a 'welcome back Marilyn Manson' - may you never get boring.

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Readers Comments Cris Birmingham, UK An interesting album, very different in sound to his previous works, . This album also proves he can do the balladesque slower tempo thing, something you touched upon as a weakness in your review of Holy Wood. In a few years time, I fear this record will be mostly forgotten, as the songs from it didn't go down too well live (Although both times I've seen him, he has opened well with "If I was your Vampire") And reading between the lines in recent interviews, it seems that Tim Skold had a lot of control over this record, and Manson's next record will be much more like his ealier "classic" records now that he is again working with Jeordie White AKA Twiggy Ramirez. It's a shame, becuase it's as close to a Brian Warner, as oppose to Marilyn Manson record, as we are probably ever going to get, without a concept or character to masquerade behind. This approach seems to have bought him some credibility with the mainstream music media, with magaizines suchs as NME being mu! ch less dismissive of this album than previous ones. An overall good record, with two or three stellar tracks in my opinion, with "Just a Car Crash Away" and "Putting Holes in Happiness" being particular stand outs.

Twiggy returns to the Marilyn Manson band and both he and Mr Manson have suggested 'The High End Of Low' being the heaviest thing they've done since 'Antichrist'. The reality is somewhat different with 'The High End Of Low' overall sounding closer to 'Mechanical Animals' than anything else Marilyn Manson have done. Sure, it's nice to have Twiggy back but 'The High End Of Low' is just too inconsistent to rank truly alongside the best albums Marilyn Manson have done. By the way, i've read Mr Manson is now 40 years old. Yes folks, he's 40 and perhaps needs a new style without all the posturing, swearing and generally trying to be the devil incarnate? Well, that's what I also read but I disagree. He's still one of the most entertaining artists we have, even if he is more ignored these days than he was some ten years ago.

'Devour' opens this album, some kind of twisted love song, not something you'd normally find opening a Marilyn Manson album and you know what? It's good! The quiet inevitably moves into loud and Twiggy gives the bass his special Twiggy bassisms. All is well. 'Four Rusted Horses' opens with bluesy acoustic guitar, also something unexpected. It's nice to have a couple of new twists and I feel Manson unfairly gets stick for sticking to what's he's best at and tweaking the formula rather than go for musical reinvention. He's not David Bowie, let's face it. Anyway, never changing never did Kiss any harm, did it? Haha!

'Arma-Goddamn-Motherfuckin'-Geddon' is really almost as good as anything Manson has done. Sure, the lyrics don't really shock in this day and age but when did they ever shock unless you spent most of your teenage years in a monastry? Who do these music critics think we are, anyway? Does Lady Gaga's weird and weirdly revealing costumes shock? No, I don't think anybody is capable of shocking these days, short of going on stage entirely naked and having some weird kind of deformity. All I care about is FUN in music like Marilyn Manson. Those dark edges do add to the fun as does a song like 'Arma-Goddamn-Motherfuckin'-Geddon'. I don't even think my own mother would be shocked by it, but even she might enjoy the rasping vocals and the cool glam beat. I don't like the fifteen minutes occupied soley by the uninspired 'Running To The Edge Of The World' and 'I Want To Kill You Like They Do In The Movies'. The songs have a few nice sounds, musically we have depth yet these two just don't justify their running time. Hey, I feel like Homer Simpson, 'Predictable, pedestrian, uninspired. Hey, I didn't say stop!'

'Unkillable Monster' has power, it's a slow moving power ballad with crunchy nasty bits inbetween. 'We're From America' may lyrically cover well-trodden Manson ground yet who can truly resist these riffs and the screaming vocals and the glam rhythms? I can't, for one. Sure, 'The High End Of Low' has weak links in the chain and sure, it's not quite a return to form, but let's not wish away from the planet one of the few remaining interesting rock stars we have, hey?

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