Marilyn Manson: My Retrospective of the Antichrist

When Brian Hugh Warner donned the name Marilyn Manson and his eponymous band arrived on the rock music scene back in the '90s he became two things. On one end he was every parent's nightmare. His controversial stage personality conjured an image that he was out to corrupt America's youth. He was believed to be promoting Satanism, violence and delinquency. At the height of his popularity some even accused him of directly inspiring the Columbine High School massacre in 1999. On the other end he became more than an artist for a dedicated fan-base. A voice for those disenchanted with our society and a means of letting out that anger. For many he's a thing of the past having not been the subject of mainstream scrutiny for quite a while, but to me he's as relevant as ever.

I won't hide my admiration for this man. Aside from his music being amazing and constantly evolving he really is a hero to me. In a world where we're pushed into uniformity he stuck his middle finger back and told us to pursue our weird individualism and be proud of it. Although his latest album SAY10 has had its release delayed I want to celebrate that Manson is still around to be an entertainer and a inspiration towards creativity and personal pride by offering my thoughts of the nine studio albums released from over the past two decades.

PORTRAIT OF AN AMERICAN FAMILY, 1994

For some Marilyn Manson's first effort is little more than a 'practice album' to warm up before the show really started a few years later and I think they're both right and wrong about that. While it has a cheesy quality that would never be seen on a Manson record again, I think it's far wiser to view it as the epitome of what the original band wanted to be: A contrast between the wildly over-the-top, the macabre and the pitfalls of family ideals. Manson himself has even suggested that some songs would serve as blueprints for the band's future message.

Portrait of an American Family truly is a raw piece of work. It's not as thematically deep as future albums and it wouldn't be until the EP Smells Like Children that the band would enjoy any mainstream success, but I think it deserves more credit than it gets. Unpolished and featuring some exciting (though very dated) tracks, it achieved its goal but I'm glad this style has since become a major rarity for the band. If this album served any role in the bigger picture it's that it told us that there was a new group on the scene ready to challenge anything perceived as the norm.

Notable Songs: Wrapped in Plastic, Cake and Sodomy, Get Your Gunn, Dope Hat, Lunchbox.

ANTICHRIST SUPERSTAR, 1996

It was here that the true Marilyn Manson was born. The sillier elements of Portrait of an American Family were eliminated, a heavier industrial sound was introduced and Manson constructed his stage persona that remains iconic to this day. For many it's Marilyn Manson's magnum opus and the best in his beloved triptych. I'll grant that to a later album, but that doesn't change the fact that Antichrist Superstar is a heavy metal masterpiece and set a standard that for his own band or any other similar group that's tough to live up to.

The concept has a very Nietzschean nature and tells the story of  'The Worm,' a depressed figure victimized by a Darwinian elite that rises from his lowly origins to become a more powerful being. Its compelling message about rising to greatness is coupled with its sound that really draws you into its dark world. It's both gloomy and depressing, but also gets the adrenaline going. It's no surprise that it's a fan favorite and seeing the band release anything of this caliber again would be a dream come true.

Notable Songs: The Reflecting God, Man That You Fear, The Beautiful People, 1996, Minute of Decay.

MECHANICAL ANIMALS, 1998

It's actually quite amazing that this album performed as well as it did. The second addition to the triptych is not the result of change occurring over a number of years, but rather a dramatic shift in style into a sound that's more unique than anything else in the Marilyn Manson library. Clearly inspired by the work of David Bowie, the band released a glam rock album full of synthetic alterations. This might sound jarring to some, but its spacey sound is consistent with its concept.

Mechanical Animals concerns an alien named Omega that falls to Earth only to be exploited by the entertainment industry, but largely the concept is symbolic of Manson's career as of the late 90s. He's high on his fame, fearing being reduced to a product and making it known that he won't allow himself to be tied down as an artist.

What I'm most glad for is its spawning my all-time favorite song by the group. It contrasts with its predecessor quite dramatically, and may have been off-putting to some fans at the time, but Mechanical Animals is worthy of its status as a Manson classic.

Notable Songs: Coma White, The Last Day on Earth, The Speed of Pain, The Dope Show, Rock Is Dead.

HOLY WOOD (IN THE SHADOW OF THE VALLEY OF DEATH), 2000

This is it. In my opinion Holy Wood is Marilyn Manson's masterpiece. What's sad is that it also marked the beginning of the decline in the band's commercial success, but fortunately this means very little about the quality of the music itself.

The final installment of the triptych was, in Manson's own words "a declaration of war" against everything that was said about the group's influence in the Columbine massacre. It has the modern heavy metal sound down to perfection, but also mellows down into an extravagant meditation.

Like Antichrist Superstar and Mechanical Animals, Holy Wood is also a concept album. It concerns a boy named Adam with aspirations for greatness who travels to the place called Holy Wood to attempt a revolution through music only to find himself becoming the very thing he despised. Only after its release was it announced that the triptych was a story told in reverse, but I think the album stands ever stronger on its own rather than as part of a whole.

It truly is an album full of highs and lows in mood and knows exactly when to have you chanting with it, and when to have you deep in its emotional clutches. I don't see Manson ever surpassing this level of excellence.

Notable Songs: Target Audience (Narcissus Narcosis), The Nobodies, The Death Song, The Fight Song, Disposable Teens.

THE GOLDEN AGE OF GROTESQUE, 2003

It would be revealed later on that Manson originally intended The Golden Age of Grotesque to be his exit from the music industry. He had so far made an amazing trilogy of albums exploring characters that grow and see the world for what it is. This was a very different cases and comes off as regressive.

Manson still adheres to his love of the concept album seen in the previous three releases, The Golden Age of Grotesque feels much less like a collection of pieces building towards a greater whole, but rather a selection of songs that are geared towards mere entertainment. In this respect it works very well, and many of the album's tracks are the ultimate example of modern metal party mix. Some of these are so over-the-top, so cabaret in their nature that it's hard not to be bob your head away. Perhaps the most fascinating element is Manson's juxtaposition between the music industry of today with the Nazis' crackdown on the arts in the 1930s, but it proves to be inconsistently applied alongside songs that feel derivative of Antichrist Superstar and Holy Wood. It has less to say and it's obvious, but it may be one of the best albums to listen to in a group setting.

Notable Songs: The Golden Age of Grotesque, This is the New Shit, mOBSCENE, (s)AINT, Doll-Dagga Buzz-Buzz Ziggety-Zag.

EAT ME, DRINK ME, 2007

This was a truly different release for Marilyn Manson and one that prompts a lot of worthwhile discussion because it's a usual contender for the worst Manson album ever. It got positive reviews on release and has some excellent tracks, but it's also the beginning of a transformation that perhaps he wasn't ready for.

While The Golden Age of Grotesque felt thin in comparison to the triptych, Eat Me, Drink Me is a departure from Manson playing society's villain to a man with real problems. It's his way of saying to us that he's human, and something's eating away at his soul. Clearly depressed by his recent divorce from Dita Von Teese, the tracks are a much more radio-friendly, gothic-rock sound and much less thought-provoking.

I applaud Manson and his band for putting out a record that's going straight for the heart and revealing more about the man rather than make a statement through characters and metaphor, but it's a true anomaly. Whether the album is weaker that its predecessor I'm undecided on, so I'll conclude that it's an improvement in many ways, but not in the spirit of what made us love his music.

Notable Songs: Heart-Shaped Glasses, If I Was Your Vampire, Evidence, Just A Car Crash Away, They Said That Hell's Not Hot.

THE HIGH END OF LOW, 2009

At this point many had given up on Manson ever releasing something in the spirit of his earlier works, but I think The High End of Low deserves a lot more credit than it gets. This is the beginning of a new sound for the band. While it has some lyrical similarities with Eat Me, Drink Me in its aim straight for the heart, the album also has a political edge and strikes out at modern American conservatism.

I really feel that this album is a revised edition of its predecessor, coming off as dramatically more pronounced in its emotional content, and far more varied in both its topics and style. While one might expect me to praise anything by Marilyn Manson for its heaviest tracks, I would argue the opposite in this instance. The High End of Low boasts a few much gentler tracks than you'd expect and it pays off incredibly well. There's a sense of maturity about the record, and I have the feeling that this was the beginning of Manson coming to terms with what he is against what he used to be. If this album reflects what I think it does, then I think it's admirable and a necessary step-forward above years of stylistic and personal uncertainty.

Notable Songs: Unkillable Monster, Devour, Leave A Scar, Running to the Edge of the World, Four Rusted Horses.

BORN VILLAIN, 2012

For some Born Villain is an excellent achievement for the group, and for others it's a fall short that was to be expected. I've heard of this album being described as both the "runt of the litter" of Manson's discography, and having some of the heaviest material the band has ever recorded. I think that both points of view could be justified depending on what the criteria being examined is.

It was evident that the band's frontman was looking to play with a lot of different things around this time given the album's inviting merger between the old and new sounds of the group and the accompanying surrealist short directed by Shia LaBeouf. In all fairness not every track works, but most of them do and some are brilliant achievers that I think are argument enough against some of the mixed reviews.

Marilyn Manson's return to a heavier sound and a darker subject matter is an elevating fact, and I think the title is perfectly descriptive of the man's realizations about his own life. Brian Warner was born to be Marilyn Manson, the villain figure that tore into the nature of the world he found himself in through heavy music and controversial theatrics. It may not be the best Manson album, but it was the first in ages where the mission was clear.

Notable Songs: Slo-Mo-Tion, Overneath the Path of Misery, Breaking the Same Old Ground, Born Villain, Hey, Cruel World....

THE PALE EMPEROR, 2015

The unexpected happened in 2015. Even now I still think it's a miracle and for anyone that doubted Manson and his band for years I refer them to this. The Pale Emperor is, I think, the best album released by the band since Holy Wood, proof that they're at the top of their game again and that they've overcome the challenges of the past, coming full circle.

Sound-wise it still proves to be a little experimental with its merging of a previously unheard blues influence with the gothic and hard rock sounds we'd associate with the group. Lyrically though, Manson has jumped back to the roots of the Triptych. He's done away with the more personal notes from Eat Me, Drink Me, The High End of Low and Born Villain and instead dealing with subjects like war, slavery and the state of existence. It's as though Manson has abandoned the more human portrayal of himself seen before and returned to his playing a stage persona, only this time more realized.

While it is a wonderful album to listen to, I think it represents something much greater than even Manson himself is aware of. When he hit the scene he encouraged individuality and the pursuit of greatness is one's own unique way. By overcoming the waning popularity of his band, his own personal demons and the battle that is living up to the past he's risen to a whole new level entirely.

Notable Songs: Warship My Wreck, Slave Only Dreams To Be King, Deep Six, The Mephistopheles of Los Angeles, Killing Strangers.

TWO DECADES OF MANSON AND SAY10

Looking back at the last 23 years Marilyn Manson has undergone one transformation after another. What was originally little more than a heavy comedic act poking fun at family values, the band has been a dark storyteller, a platform for experimenting with different musical styles, a means of Manson himself showing us his humanity and an example of rising from a state of frailty towards a re-emerging eminence. By composing outstanding music all this time and being a voice Marilyn Manson has shown the importance of living up to who you are and the rewards that come with the journey of creativity. I don't need to even question how awesome the upcoming album SAY10 is gonna be, and annoyed as I am about its delay I'm sure the wait is gonna be worth it all in the end.