Antichrist Superstar
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Antichrist Superstar (sometimes written as Antichrist Svperstar as an allusion to Latin) is Marilyn Manson's second full-length studio release and was released on October 8, 1996, by Interscope Records. The album raised public awareness of the band, and led to numerous protests due to the band's supposed anti-Christian stance. It was produced by the band's frontman and Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails. The album has sold about 2 million copies worldwide.
Background
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The album's title is a combination of the concept of the Antichrist with the title of the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical Jesus Christ Superstar. The influence of the latter can also be seen in the song "Angel with the Scabbed Wings", which features a riff strongly reminiscent of a portion of the Jesus Christ Superstar score.
The album is considered a concept album. In a three part storyline, an abused and apathetic person (represented by "The Worm") becomes an influential celebrity and finally is transformed into the powerful "Disintegrator". In an issue of Kerrang! magazine edited by Manson, he stated that the album was a tribute to—and inspired by—the philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche. Much of the album content is deliberately vague, allowing listeners to draw independent conclusions.
It has elaborate packaging, consisting of a black cardstock sleeve covering the plastic jewel case with graphics of Manson on both the front and back, the latter of which is flanked by the red Superstar Shock logo and the roman numerals IX, VI, III and VII. The booklet contains pictures of the band, a visual worm-to-angel metamorphosis, medical diagrams, printed lyrics to each song, and liner notes including traditional thanks and credits as well as a curious entry found under the lyrics to the song "Irresponsible Hate Anthem", stating it was recorded live on February 14, 1997, despite the album being released well before that in October 1996.
Also, found on the front of the album cover is a circle surrounded by the words Heart, Mind, Complacent, and Malice. If one folds the booklet just right he can also find the hidden words Heart, Mind, Complacent, and Malice made up of folding the words Heaven/Comfort, Minister/Fiend, Complaisant/Magnificent and Master/Lice respectively. The booklet also makes reference to Revelation chapter twelve, verses one through five, in the Bible.
The album is cyclical, as both the very beginning of Track 1 and the end of Track 99 include the distorted phrase "When you are suffering, know that I have betrayed you." The phrase is also included in the end of Track 12, again distorted and played repeatedly. Similarly, Track 16, the last "official" track of the album, ends with computer-generated voices repeating the phrase "When all of your wishes are granted, many of your dreams will be destroyed". The names of the two latter cycles seem to be referencing two films by avant garde filmmaker and Satanist Kenneth Anger: Inauguration of the Pleasure Dome and Lucifer Rising.
Track listing
All lyrics are written by Manson (track 1 with Ramirez)
| No. | Title | Music | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Irresponsible Hate Anthem" | Berkowitz, Gacy | 4:17 |
| 2. | "The Beautiful People" | Ramirez | 3:38 |
| 3. | "Dried Up, Tied and Dead to the World" | Manson, Ramirez | 4:16 |
| 4. | "Tourniquet" | Berkowitz, Ramirez | 4:45 |
| No. | Title | Music | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5. | "Little Horn" | Ramirez, Reznor | 2:43 |
| 6. | "Cryptorchid" | Gacy | 2:44 |
| 7. | "Deformography" | Ramirez, Reznor | 4:31 |
| 8. | "Wormboy" | Berkowitz, Ramirez | 3:56 |
| 9. | "Mister Superstar" | Ramirez | 5:04 |
| 10. | "Angel with the Scabbed Wings" | Manson, Ramirez, Gacy | 3:52 |
| 11. | "Kinderfeld" | Ramirez, Gacy | 4:51 |
| No. | Title | Music | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 12. | "Antichrist Superstar" | Ramirez, Gacy | 5:14 |
| 13. | "1996" | Ramirez | 4:01 |
| 14. | "Minute of Decay" | Manson | 4:44 |
| 15. | "The Reflecting God" | Ramirez, Reznor | 5:36 |
| 16. | "Man That You Fear" | Ramirez, Manson, Gacy, Berkowitz | 6:10 |
| 99. | Untitled (hidden track) | Gacy, Ramirez | 1:39 |
- Notes
- While consisting of three cycles, the album was released as a single disc, similar to the four cycles of 2000's Holy Wood.
- No name for Track 99 has been identified, though The Marilyn Manson Collection on iTunes titles it "Ghost Track"
- Rhapsody titles Track 99 as "The Empty Sounds of Hate".
B-sides
- Long Hard Road Out of Hell – appears on the 1997 Spawn film Soundtrack, also released on the "Man That you Fear" promotional single
- The Suck For Your Solution – appears on the Howard Stern: Private Parts soundtrack
- Apple of Sodom – appears on the Lost Highway soundtrack
Chart positions
Album
| Year | Chart | Position [1] |
|---|---|---|
| 1996 | Billboard 200 | 3 |
Singles
| Year | Single | Chart | Position [2] |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | "The Beautiful People" | Modern Rock Tracks | 26 |
| Mainstream Rock Tracks | 29 | ||
| 1997 | "Tourniquet" | 30 |
Videos
- "The Beautiful People" - directed by Floria Sigismondi
- "Tourniquet" - directed by Floria Sigismondi
- "Man That You Fear" - directed by W.I.Z.
- "Cryptorchid" - directed by E. Elias Merhige (This uses scenes from his film Begotten. However, it was banned from MTV due to its graphic imagery. It would later be included on the God Is in the TV VHS.)
- "Long Hard Road Out of Hell" - directed by Matthew Rolston
- "Apple of Sodom" - directed by Joseph Cultice
Credits
- Marilyn Manson
- Marilyn Manson — all voices, and pan flute
- Daisy Berkowitz — lead and rhythm guitar
- Twiggy Ramirez — lead and rhythm guitar, acoustic guitar, bass
- Madonna Wayne Gacy — all keyboards, loops, and other original pieces of 16-bit audio information
- Ginger Fish — live drums, programming
- Zim Zum — live guitar on the tour for Antichrist Superstar
- Sean Beavan — producer, engineer, editing, mixing, guitar, guitar synthesizer
- Trent Reznor — producer, editing, mixing, mellotron, guitar, rhodes piano
- Robin Finck — live (guest guitar), additional keyboards (uncredited, however Manson confirmed his work on the album)
- Danny Lohner — guitar
- Chris Vrenna — drums, programming, engineer, editing
- Dave Ogilvie — producer, programming, engineer, editing, mixing
- Brian Pollack — production assistant, assistant engineer
- Tom Baker — mastering
- P. R. Brown — digital illustration, design
- Dean Karr — photography
References
- ^ "Antichrist Superstar - Marilyn Manson". Billboard.com. Retrieved May 08, 2010.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=(help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - ^ "Marilyn Manson". Allmusic. Retrieved May 08, 2010.
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