Marilyn Manson's second album, released September 8 1996. Produced by Trent Reznor and it shows.

1. Irresponsible Hate Anthem (Berkowitz/Gacy/Manson/Ramirez) - 4:17
2. Beautiful People (Marilyn Manson/Ramirez) - 3:38
3. Dried up, Tied up, Dead to the World (Manson/Ramirez) - 4:15
4. Tourniquet (Berkowitz/Marilyn Manson/Ramirez) - 4:29
5. Little Horn (Manson) - 2:43
6. Cryptorchid (Gacy/Manson) - 2:44
7. Deformography (Manson/Ramirez/Reznor) - 4:31
8. Wormboy (Berkowitz/Manson) - 3:56
9. Mister Superstar (Manson/Ramirez) - 5:04
10. Angel with the Scabbed Wings (Gacy/Manson/Ramirez) - 3:52
11. Kinderfeld (Gacy/Manson/Ramirez) - 4:51
12. Antichrist Superstar (Gacy/Marilyn Manson/Ramirez) - 5:14
13. 1996 (Manson/Ramirez) - 4:01
14. Minute of Decay (Manson) - 4:44
15. Reflecting God (Manson/Ramirez/Reznor) - 5:36
16. Man That You Fear (Berkowitz/Gacy/Manson/Ramirez) - 6:10
Plus an untitled Hidden Track. (99)


Okay, Dan's quick capsule review: Best of Artist, and in a word, interesting. At least of this date (the day before Holy Wood (In the Shadow of the Valley of Death) comes out).

Dan's long review (Keep in mind that though this used to be one of my favorite albums I haven't listened to it in its entirety in nearly a year. I keep losing my copies!):

Overall sound: It's immediate, punky. Because of this punk-quality, however, the soundscape isn't as thick and full as I'd like it to be, though it stays busy. I think the lyrics, while not subtle, are quite interesting, and I'll go into that a little more later.

The album starts with Irresponsible Hate Anthem and the chant "We hate love. We love hate." from a crowd, which kind of sets the mood for a good chunk of the album. As the music kicks in, it starts with some guitars pounding out a simple and fast riff, but it's not for total lack of skill. The chorus contains the line, "I wasn't born with enough middle fingers." Very angry, pretty cool.

After the Hate Anthem ends, the album flies into The Beautiful People, which wasn't the feel good hit of the Summer some wanted, but the pseudo-disturbing video helped bring manson to the public eye, which was exactly his intentions. It was this momentum that allowed him to piss off enough Christians and have his shows boycotted and so on. He intentionally sought this infamy, and if you listen/read the words, the more reactionary and ignorant the Christians seem w/r/t their protests.

Personal Note: Upon seeing Manson perform live for this album, I was accosted by several dozen prayer circles, etc. I wondered aloud if they realized Manson wanted them there. It was a good show, BTW. Manson is quite a showman. Also, I attended a Hell House in my home town, and I was wearing a Marilyn Manson t-shirt. I was continually asked about it. The first skit they showed to us, a person was listening to a loop of The Beautiful People chorus over and over and over. I'd be insane then, too.

After the beautiful peoples simplistic industrial metal, we slow down, the next couple songs help develop the theme of creating something w/ the lyrics. Tourniquet especially gives us this info, and the video helps to reinforce that. The patching of things together. Creating something out of parts, patchwork people. This is what I think is interesting. The anger of many of the songs, while envigorating, tends to be shallow.

The rest of the album alternates between these two extremes, and while there is some certain similarities between Nine Inch Nails and this particular work of Marilyn Manson's, I see them as two separate things with different things to say. The Downward Spiral, IMO, is about the descent of one person into insanity and personal hell. Antichrist Superstar is about the creation of a thing that believes it is god, and will destroy anything, including itself, that gets in the way of its apotheosis.

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