I'm sure a lot of you have dismissed him as being either an Alice Cooper and/or David Bowie rip off (I won't deny that he has tried to be both of these people before) or an annoying idol for the mallcore types to bow down to, but to me he is an artist. He's quite intelligent actually; did you know he is a member of Mensa? Yes yes, he also was a Reverend in the Church of Satan and considered Anton LaVey to be his mentor, but I wouldn't consider him to be a LaVeyan Satanist since he also said he frequented the library and the local Blockbuster more than the Church of Satan and appears to have an eclectic belief system from what I can tell.

My favorite albums from him are probably the first two: "Portrait of an American Family" and "Antichrist Superstar". His debut album is quite different than what came later since Daisy Berkowitz, the original guitarist and co-founder of the band (they were originally called Marilyn Manson and the Spooky Kids) contributed a lot to the songwriting and thus there are some solos here and there and the album has a more "fun" feel to it compared to the later releases which are obviously more dark and serious.

I can think of a lot of reasons why I also like "Antichrist Superstar". The concept of the worm to angel metamorphosis is pretty interesting and it's a pretty heavy album with songs such as "Angel with the Scabbed Wings", "1996", and "Irresponsible Hate Anthem" but finishes out with the melancholic number "Man That You Fear". I also just liked the band era in general since Zim Zum was in the band, who is also a talented guitarist; I still miss Daisy but he was a worthy successor (don't get me wrong, I like John 5 too).

So I hope there are some of you out there who are fans. To me, there's a lot more behind the band and the man than just the shock value and makeup.

I have the "antichrist superstar" and the "mechanical animals" albums and i still consider them good albums today. Those albums are still fun to listen to. I watched the band live once, in 2005 and they had several problems during the show, the guitarist was new (only to tour with them apprently) and he screwed up in some big songs. Apart from that Manson show was visually very interesting.

I always thought their lyrics were accurate and thought-provoking, at least in the albums i have.

I like a couple songs by him. I agree with BloodTears, visually he's interesting, but musically... I'm not sure... I dont' think he's even metal. He has some nice songs, but not that nice for me to get (or even download) a complete album.

Like I wrote in some review a long time ago, Marylin Manson is basically an amalgamate of ideas that other people and bands have created and there is therefore very little originality in his music/show/entire shtick. He got his image from Alice Cooper, David Bowie and Throbbing Gristle, his music from Nine Inch Nails and Prick (and now KMFDM I suppose)... At the same time, I think that most of his music is actually pretty good, even though its not original. He wrote some great songs in the past (for example, Tourniquet).

Actually, the music isn't that bad as I want to think it is (I have this strange feeling that it's uncool for a metalhead to like this band). My mom is a big fan and listen to him constantly so I've heard the most of his music, and some songs are actually kinda good. Not great, but good.

Written by Warman on 07.04.2007 at 18:35

My mom is a big fan and listen to him constantly

Really? Whoa your mom is really cool then! Mom likes a couple songs by him, specially "Beautiful People", and she laughs a lot with his videos.

<I'm sure a lot of you have dismissed him as being either an Alice Cooper and/or David Bowie rip off>


damn right, i've always thought of him as a bad Alice Cooper rip-off. Yes he's an intelligent business-man. But do people still care about his music and the ridiculous Chruch of Satan relationship?

BTW always admired Twiggy/Jeordie White as an excellent bass player. Manson did feature some very good musicians in his band but i doubt he will leave any kind of legacy, anyway it was nice to see back in the 90s parents recoil in disgust at his mainstream 'extreme' music and vulgar imagery.

I think that he's both a little misunderstood and underrated. He obviously took advantage of the publicity to be more popular, but he is intelligent, and his band doesn't sound that bad. The band was actually one of the very first ones that got me into real metal, and I still enjoy a couple of their songs, for example "Coma White", "Beautiful People", "Disposable Teens" or the cover for "Sweet Dreams". I have saw him a couple of times live and his performance is really great.

Ah, nice get some positive responses. Those of you who mentioned this are definitely correct about his performances relying a lot on the visuals, but that's the great thing about it. You're not going just to hear the band play (IMO, Manson's voice sounds awful live, at least from every live video clip I've seen), you're also getting an entertaining theatrical performance too that reinforces the themes of the albums. Manson dresses up like a reverend and stands behind a podium to preach the unholy gospel of his Antichrist Superstar character, flanked by the banners with the lightning bolt symbol (Jupitreas is correct though, that the lightning bolt itself isn't original; you should also notice that Manson just took it and combined it with the outer circle part of the Church of Satan's Baphomet pentagram complete with the Hebrew letters). Another example of this is for "The Golden Age of Grotesque" he had the mOBSCENE dancers up there too.

Anyway, I don't know if anyone else here is keeping up with him or not but he's got a new album coming out in June. It's called "Eat Me, Drink Me", and you can hear one of the new songs called "If I Was Your Vampire" here: http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=178753931&MyToken=dbf63229-e9d6-45db-b6f3-37631e5e7293

Marilyn Manson is taking the approach of Nine Inch Nails now. Where they have a studio band and a live band. The studio band now consists of Marilyn Manson(vocals, precussion) and Tim Skold(bass guitar and lead guitar). The live band consists of Marilyn Manson(vocals), Tim Skold(lead guitar), Madonna Wayne Gacy(keyboards and electronic drums), Ginger Fish(drums) and Rob Holliday(bass guitar). And you can definetly hear a difference in musical style on their new album. I listened to Heart Shaped Glasses...Very...different from previous works.

MM is a good artist. I don't really dislike his works but I stopped watching him while performing. It makes me focus on his masquerade which I don't particularly love so I get annoyed and dismiss the music completely. Still, he has some great works and lyrics do highlight the many problems people grow with and have to carry all life long.

Written by Warman on 07.04.2007 at 18:35

Actually, the music isn't that bad as I want to think it is (I have this strange feeling that it's uncool for a metalhead to like this band). My mom is a big fan and listen to him constantly so I've heard the most of his music, and some songs are actually kinda good. Not great, but good.

lol, I don't think many people think it is cool to like Marilyn Manson. After all, he IS a dumbass. But, Portrait of an American Family is a true classic and one of my all-time favorite albums. Almost every song is an anthem. Antichrist Superstar was also great.
I thought Mechanical Animals sucked balls, and I quit listening to any new material after that album. Are there any of you that thought Mechanical Animals wasn't very good but enjoyed the later albums? If so, maybe I will check them out.

Written by theflyingmachine on 15.05.2007 at 18:04

Written by Warman on 07.04.2007 at 18:35

Actually, the music isn't that bad as I want to think it is (I have this strange feeling that it's uncool for a metalhead to like this band). My mom is a big fan and listen to him constantly so I've heard the most of his music, and some songs are actually kinda good. Not great, but good.

lol, I don't think many people think it is cool to like Marilyn Manson. After all, he IS a dumbass. But, Portrait of an American Family is a true classic and one of my all-time favorite albums. Almost every song is an anthem. Antichrist Superstar was also great.
I thought Mechanical Animals sucked balls, and I quit listening to any new material after that album. Are there any of you that thought Mechanical Animals wasn't very good but enjoyed the later albums? If so, maybe I will check them out.

His later albums such a Golden Age Of The Grotesque are alot better than mechanical animals, you should give that a try.
Also he's not a dumbass he's actually a clever guy

I actually brought back to my flat all of my Marilyn Manson albums from last time I went home because I really felt like listening to some of it again..
the last album of his I bought was "The Golden Age Of Grotesque" - I haven't got anything he did after that..
listening to "Antichrist Superstar" the other day was really weird though.. the music is really good in places and I am looking forward to listening to "Holy Wood" as well some time soon just for the memories, etc.

Written by [user id=22198] on 22.04.2007 at 18:28

The live band consists of Marilyn Manson(vocals), Tim Skold(lead guitar), Madonna Wayne Gacy(keyboards and electronic drums),

Actually, Madonna Wayne Gacy is reportedly not in the band anymore and didn't thus contribute to "Eat Me, Drink Me". Chris Vrenna is the live keyboardist.

Written by [user id=22198] on 22.04.2007 at 18:28

And you can definetly hear a difference in musical style on their new album. I listened to Heart Shaped Glasses...Very...different from previous works.

Yes; MM is always re-inventing himself. "Eat Me, Drink Me", thank to Tim Skold, has guitar solos in most of the songs amongst other chances. I've only heard the new album once but I think overall it's fairly good. I don't think his relationship with Evan Rachel Wood is a realistic one though; she seems like a rebound to me.

IMO mansons new album is his worst yet. I think he a smart man and has great opinions, but he just is very good these days when it comes to writing music.

http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=74257

I laughed.

I LOVE MANSON.
He's an artist all the way. His music, his public persona, everythign about him screams the fact that he is nothing but 100% devoted to a genre he has created all on his own. And let's admit it, He has!
All of his albums have devlievered nothing but excellence.
Well, where do you even start with this one?
Portrait of an American Family - Cake and Sodomy & Get Your Gunn & Snake Eyes and Sissies.
All these songs are awosome. Although, this is the first album so you can expect it to be a little rougher. I think at this stage, he was just finding himself, his style and the market for what he was aiming to create.
Smells Like Children - Another awesome album. Of course eveyone knows vSweet Dreams (are made of this). A cover but an awosome one. And i believe if you are going to attempt a cover, it had better be good. Leave it too Manson to perfect the art of covering a song and still making it your own
Onto Antichrist Superstar. I have far too many favourites on this album to list. This is the pivitol moment when Manson became Manson. the sounds, the look the feel. Everything feel into place within this album.
Mechanical Animals another awesome album. I, once again, love this complete album. So different from the others. As opposed to say, the beautiful people, he produced The Speed of pain. A georgous song that totally compliments this album. The 'mechanical' fell throughout the music on this album also becomes one of his traits where as before his inspirations appeared to be more metal based.
Holy Wood, Golden Age of Grotesque, Lest We Forget love all of these albums. They have ocncreted the fact that Manson is a performer artist all to his own. I have not and probably never will hear anything like it and that's why i love it so much.

the new album, i am yet too sample. I am very excited though and cannot wait to experience another piece of art. Mush love to Manson

PLEASE excuse my terrible spelling. Fat fingers.

New Manson sucks man...I saw the new video...what the hell do you call his new shit anyway...

I only listened to the single so far and its pretty average.

The new album is a pile of shit, really disappointed with it as i've liked all the other albums...

Well it just proves that his work is becoming severely unfocused...I only really like a few of their songs...

Manson always sucked. Too much noise for nothing. My sis was a big fan of him when she was 15 or 16 and was passing her "let's freak out my parents" phase... I mean it's definitely music for posers, that want to dress in black and pretend to be metal and freak out the world. More and more young girls pass this phase. This band is another poser band to me, both for their stage acts to gain publicity with idiotic acts. My opinion is that THIS BAND MUST DIE...
Their music sucks and they give a negative image for metal and the metal community, representing them as posers, attention whoring people and also money-addicted bitches. Not to mention the damage their fans do.

After all, it's just a phase for most of their fans, and after they leave their teen age, they come back to the shit outside metal they used to listen before.

QUESTION: Have you ever seen a Manosn fan, aged over 22?

Written by theflyingmachine on 19.09.2007 at 05:00

Written by iaberis on 18.09.2007 at 12:55

Manson always sucked. Too much noise for nothing. My sis was a big fan of him when she was 15 or 16 and was passing her "let's freak out my parents" phase... I mean it's definitely music for posers, that want to dress in black and pretend to be metal and freak out the world. More and more young girls pass this phase. This band is another poser band to me, both for their stage acts to gain publicity with idiotic acts. My opinion is that THIS BAND MUST DIE...
Their music sucks and they give a negative image for metal and the metal community, representing them as posers, attention whoring people and also money-addicted bitches. Not to mention the damage their fans do.

After all, it's just a phase for most of their fans, and after they leave their teen age, they come back to the shit outside metal they used to listen before.

QUESTION: Have you ever seen a Manosn fan, aged over 22?

Me. I'm not painting my nails black and all that, but Portrait of an American Family and Antichrist Superstar is the shit that I used when I was a teenager, and I always come back to it. I don't give a fuck what he does on stage or how he acts...that's not who I am, nor do I try to act like that, but it takes nothing away from the fact that the two albums mentioned are nothing short of classic.

Written by iaberis on 18.09.2007 at 12:55

QUESTION: Have you ever seen a Manosn fan, aged over 22?

My mom.

Actually there are quit a few older marilyn manson fans, weird lol. Suppose they like him because of his remakes of things like Sweet Dreams and Personal Jesus more than anything though.

i cant stand marilyn manson
he tries too hard
cus hes such a crappy ass singer that he has to make stupid antics to make up for his faults
but the guitar is sometimes pretty kikass
but thats not manson so he still sux
haha

i think that marilyn manson is not metal, but it's a very original industrial rock (as nine inch nails or kmfdm), and i like some albums like antichrist, mechanical, portrait, holywood, he's not great but he's so good...

I consider him to be a mix of a lot of genres, but mostly it's Alternative Metal IMO.