The shtick is old, but Marilyn Manson's devotees don't seem to know it. Whether or not you buy the neo-
If you're a death-
When he turned 18, Warner moved to Florida, where he worked as a music critic in the Tampa Bay area. In 1989, he bumped into a guitarist who, in his post-
Deciding that the entire band name was too much to swallow, they sliced their moniker down to, simply, Marilyn Manson. This didn't seem to confuse their fans a bit, and during the summer of 1993, they racked up five more Slammie nominations, and won the hefty honor of Band of the Year. More importantly, Trent Reznor dished them up a recording contract with his Nothing Records label, and the chance to open for Nine Inch Nails in the spring of 1994. Manson accepted both offers, and the troop laid down its first full-
The Nine Inch Nails tour started giving the Mansons the exposure they craved. Twiggy Ramirez had come onboard as the new bassist, replacing the drug-
Back in Florida after the tour, Manson quickly wound up in jail on a charge of "violation of the Adult Entertainment Code" following a nudity-
The EP Smells Like Children was released in October 1995, and Marilyn Manson's cover of the Eurythmics classic "Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)" grabbed airplay, MTV, and media attention. Suddenly, it became cool to dig Marilyn Manson. A five-
Upon their return to Florida, Berkowitz quit the band, and although he's credited in the liner notes, some insiders claim he doesn't actually appear on Marilyn Manson's 1996 LP, Antichrist Superstar. He would later sue Manson, claiming to be owed substantial sums in unpaid royalties. To replace Berkowitz, the band placed an ad in the Village Voice to find a new guitar player, and after sifting through 150 responses, they finally settled on a Chicagoan dubbed Zim Zum. Antichrist Superstar, which was released in October 1996, debuted at the No. 3 spot on Billboard's charts and garnered general critical acclaim. The songs were lyrically deeper and far more intense than their earlier carnival-
By early 1997, Marilyn Manson was at the top of its rather peculiar genre. Shortly after the release of Antichrist Superstar, you couldn't spit without hitting a new fan wearing a Manson T-
Regardless, the band would go on to have its most successful year ever in 1997, both in terms of popularity and headlines generated. The tour in support of Antichrist Superstar was met with protests in many American cities, some of which successfully forced venue changes and even cancellations. Religious outlets like the 700 Club took up the cause, as did one U.S. Senator — all the while, Manson was laughing his way to superstardom. The anti-Manson campaign crested in June with a well-publicized battle to force the band from an Ozzfest tour stop at the Meadowlands in New Jersey. The group eventually won and played the gig, though the Ozzfest tour wound up as something of a sidestep for Manson and his mates, who had grown too popular to share a festival bill.
The high (or depending on your perspective, low) point of Manson's triumphant year was a September 1997 appearance on the MTV Video Music Awards, at which the dark master himself addressed the crowd from a mock presidential podium before launching into "The Beautiful People" and exposing the better part of his naked buttocks to millions of viewers the world over. The group capped the year by releasing a five-song EP, Remix & Repent, in November. Manson also solidified his relationship with the Smashing Pumpkins Billy Corgan (who would help to shape the direction of the band's next album) by joining him on stage at the annual Bridge School benefit concert in Mountain View, Calif., in October, and again at a Pumpkins gig in Florida in December.
For the first half of 1998, Marilyn Manson maintained a low profile while recording what would become the band's third full-length album. With the completion of the record, however, the Manson lineup suffered another casualty — Zim Zum departed for a solo career, and was replaced by former Two guitarist John "John 5" Lowery. The first hint of a new musical direction for the group surfaced in August in the form of a reverent cover of David Bowie's "Golden Years" featured on the Dead Man on Campus soundtrack. (The album also contained "I Only Want To Be With You," a humorous duet between Twiggy Ramirez and '60s supermodel Twiggy.) Six weeks later, Manson's third album, Mechanical Animals, hit stores (though many chains refused to carry it due to its provocative cover art), which sees the band wholeheartedly embracing glam-rock styles.
Back, back I say