From the vaults: Marilyn Manson – Antichrist Superstar (1996)
There was a period in the mid-90s where Marilyn Manson was ubiquitous – loathed, loved, discussed, debated, over-played and much more, whether you ‘got it’ or not you had to admit that he (and his music) was interesting if nothing else. It was also considerably more colourful than metal traditionally had been, and more gratingly offensive, too – you don’t have to agree with what MM says to appreciate that he was deadly serious and keen to provoke thought as much as ire. Where much metal traditionally thrived on anger, the likes of ‘Beautiful People’ and ‘Irresponsible Hate Anthem’ had something to say about the modern Western world – it wasn’t pretty, but you could dance to it. That’s a difficult balance to maintain.
The purest metal heads bewailed the lack of guitar solos and overuse of atmospherics, and were uncomfortable with the extensiveness of much of the introspection – the mainstream, of course, labelled him a ‘freak’ and simply closed their eyes and minds. Both had missed his point, despite ‘The Beautiful People’ thrusting it in their faces. Is it metal? Not in the traditional sense, certainly. Manson’s song-writing essentially took elements from the alternative bands of the ‘80s, filtered them through a tortured industrial soundscape and layered them over with scuzzy guitars: it is indebted much more to Depeche Mode than Black Sabbath, and the presence of Trent Reznor here creates a sound indebted to a period in which N.I.N had opened up metal’s sonic palette considerably – ‘Wormboy’ is really an inverted pop song (saccharine hooks gone sour, you might say), ‘Deformography’ is pure Gary Numan, and the visceral ‘Dried Up, Tied And Dead To The World’ is sort of dystopian prayer which Killing Joke perfect 15 years earlier. In the mid-90s this all sounded vibrant and vital – other worldly, even – but a generation on it has hard to trace Manson’s influence in the current metal scene (you could say the same of Korn).
Is that because it was all a fad or that the music was substanceless? Some of it was certainly 2D – ‘Little Horn’ was really just sub-par N.I.N, whilst ‘Mister Superstar’ demonstrated that even at his peak MM had a remarkable capacity for unintentional self-parody. But this was evidence of the need for editing – Reznor and Manson clearly thought they could make a N.I.N epic where MM is better suited to short, sharp blasts – than of a lack of depth. Indeed, there is some devastating music here. The title track is propelled by a big, fat, fuck off riff and an ugly groove that was MM at his best. ‘1996’ is furious punk rock. ‘The Reflecting God’ takes soft/heavy dynamics to tortuous limits via bursts of filthy scuzzed out guitars. And you don’t have to want to listen to MM to appreciate that – at this stage in his career, at least – he really meant it. Take ‘Tourniquet’, for instance:
She's made of hair and bone and little teeth
and things that cannot speak
she comes on like a crippled plaything
her spine is just a string
I wrapped our love in all this foil
Silver tight like spider legs
I never wanted it to ever spoil
but flies will always lay their eggs
Take your hatred out on me
Make your victim my head
You never ever believed in me
I am your tourniquet
Prosthetic synthesis and butterfly
Sealed up with virgin stitch
If it hurts baby please tell me
Preserve the innocence
I never wanted it to end like this
But flies will lay their eggs
Take your hatred out on me
Make your victim my head
You never ever believed in me
I am your tourniquet
What I wanted, what I needed
What I got for me
What I wanted, what I needed
What I got for me
Take your hatred out on me
Make your victim my head
You never ever believed in me
I am your tourniquet
Fuuuuck, that’s a dark piece of art.
‘Anti-Christ Superstar’ is not MM’s best record – ‘Mechanical Animals’ and ‘Hollywood’ are much more complete and focussed pieces of work. But it is, perhaps, the best encapsulation of his oeuvre. Dark, twisted, somewhat pretentious and wilfully unconventional, this was – and is – a furious clutch of demented blackened pop.
There was a period in the mid-90s where Marilyn Manson was ubiquitous – loathed, loved, discussed, debated, over-played and much more, whether you ‘got it’ or not you had to admit that he (and his music) was interesting if nothing else. It was also considerably more colourful than metal traditionally had been, and more gratingly offensive, too – you don’t have to agree with what MM says to appreciate that he was deadly serious and keen to provoke thought as much as ire. Where much metal traditionally thrived on anger, the likes of ‘Beautiful People’ and ‘Irresponsible Hate Anthem’ had something to say about the modern Western world – it wasn’t pretty, but you could dance to it. That’s a difficult balance to maintain.
The purest metal heads bewailed the lack of guitar solos and overuse of atmospherics, and were uncomfortable with the extensiveness of much of the introspection – the mainstream, of course, labelled him a ‘freak’ and simply closed their eyes and minds. Both had missed his point, despite ‘The Beautiful People’ thrusting it in their faces. Is it metal? Not in the traditional sense, certainly. Manson’s song-writing essentially took elements from the alternative bands of the ‘80s, filtered them through a tortured industrial soundscape and layered them over with scuzzy guitars: it is indebted much more to Depeche Mode than Black Sabbath, and the presence of Trent Reznor here creates a sound indebted to a period in which N.I.N had opened up metal’s sonic palette considerably – ‘Wormboy’ is really an inverted pop song (saccharine hooks gone sour, you might say), ‘Deformography’ is pure Gary Numan, and the visceral ‘Dried Up, Tied And Dead To The World’ is sort of dystopian prayer which Killing Joke perfect 15 years earlier. In the mid-90s this all sounded vibrant and vital – other worldly, even – but a generation on it has hard to trace Manson’s influence in the current metal scene (you could say the same of Korn).
Is that because it was all a fad or that the music was substanceless? Some of it was certainly 2D – ‘Little Horn’ was really just sub-par N.I.N, whilst ‘Mister Superstar’ demonstrated that even at his peak MM had a remarkable capacity for unintentional self-parody. But this was evidence of the need for editing – Reznor and Manson clearly thought they could make a N.I.N epic where MM is better suited to short, sharp blasts – than of a lack of depth. Indeed, there is some devastating music here. The title track is propelled by a big, fat, fuck off riff and an ugly groove that was MM at his best. ‘1996’ is furious punk rock. ‘The Reflecting God’ takes soft/heavy dynamics to tortuous limits via bursts of filthy scuzzed out guitars. And you don’t have to want to listen to MM to appreciate that – at this stage in his career, at least – he really meant it. Take ‘Tourniquet’, for instance:
She's made of hair and bone and little teeth
and things that cannot speak
she comes on like a crippled plaything
her spine is just a string
I wrapped our love in all this foil
Silver tight like spider legs
I never wanted it to ever spoil
but flies will always lay their eggs
Take your hatred out on me
Make your victim my head
You never ever believed in me
I am your tourniquet
Prosthetic synthesis and butterfly
Sealed up with virgin stitch
If it hurts baby please tell me
Preserve the innocence
I never wanted it to end like this
But flies will lay their eggs
Take your hatred out on me
Make your victim my head
You never ever believed in me
I am your tourniquet
What I wanted, what I needed
What I got for me
What I wanted, what I needed
What I got for me
Take your hatred out on me
Make your victim my head
You never ever believed in me
I am your tourniquet
Fuuuuck, that’s a dark piece of art.
‘Anti-Christ Superstar’ is not MM’s best record – ‘Mechanical Animals’ and ‘Hollywood’ are much more complete and focussed pieces of work. But it is, perhaps, the best encapsulation of his oeuvre. Dark, twisted, somewhat pretentious and wilfully unconventional, this was – and is – a furious clutch of demented blackened pop.
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