Antichrist Superstar

One of their best

Not great.

Some of the music in this isn't bad. I hated the lyrics, both the sound of them and the content. Ultimately, a very negative listening experience for me, even if I can see its merits and how other people might be into it.

Man the 90s were wild weren't they? All the reviewers for this album cancelling Marilyn Manson must not have been of age when this album came out because everything fit in his image back then too so I wasn't surprised when the actual news broke of what a shit human being he is. Anywho… loud rock that grated people's ears was all the rage back then and this album definitely pushed the envelope. While it hasn't aged well, it still stands as a testament of the decade. 2.5/5

Crazy how this can be so original and so run to the mill at the same time

3.5 - Okay this surprised me, but still can't get over the hardcore emo stuff

Went into this expecting the worst, and really didn’t hate it at all, in fact quite liked a few parts and felt it had very little filler. Possibly the biggest surprise of the 1001 so far for me. Fave Tracks: The Beautiful People, Tourniquet, The Reflecting God 3.6/5

2/5

Blech

An oldie and a goodie - first exposure to Marilyn was their cover of 'Personal Jesus'. Remembered fave songs are the titular 'Antichrist Superstar' and 'The Beautiful People'.

ok rock album tries to hard to be edgy and shocking some good riffs and songs though

No

Ok...not really a go-to anymore for me. Just to angry (and troubling). 2.5/5

1.5 - not unlistenable, but almost there

The songs do rock and I think he's got a good voice for heavy music. I can't really get over the lyrics, they're quite off putting. Suppose it appealed to the crowd on the periphery of the mainstream with the shock value Also 77 minutes is too much, it's long for an album in general but definitely too long for something intense like this for me

Marilyn Manson is an interesting figure in music history, and more broadly in public life in the mid-90s. Often blamed for moral degeneration among the youth, and for school-shootings/murders/etc. you would hope the music is more interesting than it ends up being. There are some catchy and interesting songs on this album, but they are packed in between so many mid-tier, repetitive ideas, and it goes on for so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so long. An important listen in context of history, and "Beautiful People" was a bright spot, but I can't imagine wanting to put this album on in the future.

didn't hate this as much as i wanted to but it's still pretty exhausting

Not for me, but I get why people listen.

Setting aside Manson as a person. Musically, I don't want to rate metal this low. The first tracks slap but most of Manson just falls short for me, though I don't know exactly why? Lack of texture? Vibe that promises but doesn't deliver? Edgy af but I wish the bulk of the album was more engaging

Pas pour moi , du bruit , que du bruit et vocifération. Désolé

Obvious NIN industrial rock influences here with Manson’s signature shock glossed over top. It’s interesting enough and I really do love when one rattles the cage of the Christian’s out there and boy did he do that. It’s a clever enough concept album that has its moments but runs long and I really don’t see myself coming back to this but it’s something. 3 stars

It actually doesn't sound awful, but this is not my style of music at all.

Oh, Marilyn Manson. I was raised in an evangelical Christian household in the nineties, so Marilyn Manson was among the top ten scariest things in the world when I was in middle school and most of high school. I remember there was a guy in one of my classes in seventh grade who said he thought Marilyn Manson was ‘neat,’ and I was pretty much aghast, and wondered if I should associate with him. He was a super nice guy and really funny, so my fear of Mr. Manson was overridden. Later on in high school, I scooped up a copy of the Not Another Teen Movie soundtrack, and I listened to Manson’s cover of “Tainted Love” quite a bit. Other than that, I vaguely know “Dope Show” and “Beautiful People,” but that’s it. At almost 80 minutes, this should be an adventure. Side note: how lucky am I to get Kid Rock and Marilyn Manson in the same week? I thought this was actually a good album. It’s not really my jam, but I enjoyed the industrial metal sound, and it was surprisingly easy to listen to. I wasn’t terribly impressed by the lead-off track “Irresponsible Hate Anthem,” but after that, I think the album found its groove a bit. “The Beautiful People” and “Tourniquet” were really good, but “Cryptorchid” and “Mister Superstar” were probably my favorite songs on the album. “Cryptorchid” had some really great synthesizers, and I liked the vocal distorted vocals as well. “Man That You Fear” was great too; I loved those backing vocal sounds, and the overall mood and sound of the song was great. The overall narrative of the rock opera was ambitious and well written through the songs, but I was much more focused on the music. There were some songs where the swearing felt excessive and performative, but that’s the business of shock rock, I guess. Marilyn Manson’s legacy has definitely taken hit since he’s been exposed as a creep and sexually violent, but his polarizing music was a hallmark of nineties culture and rock music, and this album deserves to be on this list. If Manson wasn’t such an awful person, I’d probably be more inclined to listen to this again, but I don’t want to be pumping more chump change into his bank account via Spotify.

Didn’t really listen bc it’s so not my thing

I like this kind of music, but saying that the whole album is a must listen is a bit of a stretch.

I grew up listening to a few of his songs here and there. He's got some hits. But, listening to the album as a whole was just too much. I don't have it in me.

Didn't care for this one

Deep, dark, pit of your soul, end of the world, offering from Marilyn Manson. And it's effective too: you have to remind yourself, "it's just a song", sometimes. Try it, but, er, put the sharp objects away first.

ew

Honestly surprised to see Marilyn here. This album has some really great tracks (like the hit “Beautiful People”, but some of the songs are a bit too much noise for my ears. A couple times I did have to hit skip due to that noise. Overall I liked this album as a whole more than I expected, but I don’t think I’d put this as an album you must hear before you die.

They probably felt really cool and edgy while recording this. The result is a little silly today, but I think the earnestness makes it a better album.

Manson’s magnum opus. This is a well thought album. Ethics and metaphysics in great position. Its timing was flawless, too. I remember watching those music videos and feeling the creeps. The nihilistic view, the artwork. Manson thought about everything. The only reason behind my 4 star rating is that it could tire the listener a little sometimes. I believe that each track has been carefully crafted, but the music feels a little repetitive at some point.

Nope. Not going to listen. I’m open minded, open to all music but this creep can fuck off.

Aaaaaggghhhh - 1

The amount of attention this album received both from critics and outright opposers was something to behold. In an era where shock a la Howard Stern was crossing over into being a mainstream avenue of entertainment, Marilyn Manson's entry was nothing special until the Christian right took major offense to his imagery and music which are indeed objectively profane, which resulted in both social and political harassment (if we are being fair). The attention was so intense, Manson/this album were attached to various behaviors, including the Columbine massacre and other murders, most of which were false, but some were in fact scrutinized by Manson's content being in possession and supposed mimicry of some of his darker content. While any normal person would find such associations in bad taste, if there is indeed no such thing as bad publicity, this album benefitted from the controversies. Fast forward nearly 30 years later, the album still carries its cringe, but it also carries a resistance-like reputation with it being a reminder of perhaps "better" days before the world really got to know the artist himself. Marilyn Mason descended into self-parody, perhaps embracing the controversies a bit too hard. Years later, some of the same controversies that propelled him to success in the 90s, took on a new light in the era of #MeToo. Manson's downfall is that his persona outpaced his music, and humans are generally unreliable once fame and fortune are acquired. However, once past the noise of the persona, the music stands out. This album is actually very great, enough to where one can truly believe that Marilyn Manson may know something about music. His songs are heavy, and they resolve so well in the listening experience. Vocally, he is clear yet gravelly, evoking emotion as needed and capitalizing on the dark tone. Lyrically, his anti-religious (Christian) stance appealed to many Gen X/Y/Early Millennials who were being inundated with what had become a heavy works-based Christianity where its tenets were no longer being used to inform society, but rather to exert social control. The album is not perfect, but it is objectively good enough to earn its spot as a must-listen should one be invested into music history. This album hits a lot of seemingly correct notes in its controversy, its performance, and production. It created a social upheaval of sorts, good and bad, perhaps mostly bad upon hindsight.

Looking back on this, it's surprisingly accessible. I guess it goes to show the difference between the aesthetic and the product. The lyrics are shocking and some of the effects can be off putting but the songs are 4:4 metal rock. It's not as challenging to enjoy as I was expecting. I'm not into this music per say, but there are times where I want to hear something intense and this kind of fits that bill.

If artists like KISS/GWAR/etc. got on stage without the cosplay and pageantry...would their fans be pissed? Do celebrities that got famous with an eXtReMe costume/spectacle get annoyed maintaining it decades later? Marilyn Manson must not care. Pigeonholed himself early, so even if he wanted to move on, the pop/country/rap conversion was unlikely. Maybe if he found religion? I do vaguely remember his appearance in Sons of Anarchy though lol. Anyway, ~nostalgia~ hitting me as listening to this reminded me of The Matrix soundtracks + MM's other singles from that era.

Oh boy, this album. This is one of the cases where you can say "yes, my parents were right, this guy is an irredeemable piece of shit" but not because of his music! It just turns out he's a garbage person, which maybe you could guess from the music and aesthetic but whatever. Thematically this album fit a niche that really was only mega popular in the 90's. A real "I fucking hate everything and I need to be extremely shocking but not so much that it gets me banned from too much." The lyrics pretty much all refer to violent or otherwise edgy sex acts, various blasphemies, body horror, etc. None of it is really profound, and none of it is necessary but it fits the image Marilyn Manson was cultivating. I imagine this is like what Alice Cooper or Ozzy was like to parents in the 70's. Musically it's more listenable to the lot of the real "extreme" music of the time. It's actually pretty good industrial/metal crossover. Like a more guitar driven and (much) less intelligent Nine Inch Nails a more rock oriented Frontline Assembly, a more machine based Slayer. Maybe it's nostalgia (I did listen to this in high school after all) but I actually like quite a bit of this album. Just have to ignore what I would now consider cringey lyrics; I know at the time I was like "wow cool!!!!!!". In general I think the album shines a more when the tracks are guitar oriented (The opening 3 tracks, Mister Superstar, the title track, 1996, etc) . The more industrial or less metal tracks just make me want to listen to a real industrial band to be rid of the mental image of Manson himself mostly naked and contorting himself in a video with half second cuts of worms eating a dead bird or something like that. Ultimately it's extremely difficult to separate the aesthetic from the music, which is a testament to what Marilyn Manson was doing at the time. I still find it hard to believe he's as edgy (though he definitely is as disgusting) as he pretends is/was, but he did a real good job of marketing himself and aligning pretty much everything in to this one style. I like this probably more than I should. I kinda want to like it less if I’m honest.

During the Holy Wood era of Manson this was the unremovable album in my high school girlfriend's car. I had to listen to it more than I care to remember. Even back then I thought Manson was a self aggrandizing weirdo with no real talent. Coming back to it I feel very much the same. The industrial sound is washed out and grimy, his lyrics are overwrought and self-important.   There are little nuggets of synths and clips that you can tell were put in my Reznor. All in all, not an enjoyable listen. Industrial was done better before and better after. If he debuted today people would argue about him being an industry plant.

I tried. I honestly gave it a shot.

Didn’t like him when I was a teenager and he was super popular. Certainly don’t like him now. 1/5

Ultimately, you don't want to let current events influence your judgment of the album. It's best to separate the two and appreciate the music on its own, without considering the artist's alleged crimes.

First of all, this is separating the artist and the art. The album is really good. The high points are great, but it's certainly a little bloated. If this were about 20 minutes shorter, it would be a lot better.

Fine but really what in the mood for at all

too much shocking for me. Verry special in the 90ies, maybe necessary, but definitively not to hear before I die.

If I've heard any of these songs other than "Beautiful People" before now I don't remember it; I imagine Marilyn Manson didn't make it into many Christian homes in the 90's. Teenage me probably would have liked some of this, but the relentless screaming probably would have turned me off. I'm more tolerant of hardcore vocals these days, so overall this worked reasonably well for me. Good not great. 3.7

This worked a lot more for me as a much younger man. Now it's just okay metal with unbalanced angst.

That one’s pushing a 4

Just no.

This was a chore to listen to. Edgelordiness for edgelord sake. Feels like a mad lib of charged words like ‘orgy’ ‘blood’ ‘abortion’ ‘god’ and ‘death’. Shitty guy mid music.

While not as try hard as Limp Biskut, Manson is definitely up there in terms of terrifying parents and boring audiences.

Damn, I've spent my whole life thinking Marilyn Manson is a tool and totally disregarding his music... oh wait, he's rapist and a terrible person, so I guess there's that. But to the music, IDK why I never listened to this back in the day. I love Ministry, NIN, White Zombie, etc.. this should have been my jam too. I think Manson's whole "look at me, I'm so creepy" schtick made me think he was a douche and ignore the music. But I really did enjoy this album almost 30 years later.

It’s crazy there was only one single on this album and he had such a reach. Lots of good production on this one, good vocal layerings to get 3 tones of his voice

Sorry on principle not gonna listen to this absuer

Dragged on a bit towards the end.

If we had completely ignored Marilyn Manson in the 90s, today we would have no Marilyn Manson songs and maybe an extra massive shooting, which seems like a good trade off

Had a girl friend who was obsessed with this album when it came out, enjoyed being edgy. Now had several children & a good husband & works in a cookie shop. Idk, man, life comes at you pretty fast.

I quite liked this album.

Power, dikke riffs, en lekker hard. Matige teksten, maar als geheel toch best goed.

I don't think it's a real surprise this guy turned out to be a phucked up sexual predator, is it? I'm just surprised he turned into this after he played such a wholesome character in the Wonder Years. Yea, I know. It's a joke. Wasn't a fan of this guy back then and certainly not a fan these days. Don't get the whole shock music genre and for the most part, found this album to be pretty annoying. I have to admit, I was aware of The Beautiful People and think this is a pretty good song. But after listening, this is my 2nd favorite tune off the album. Something about The Reflecting God I really enjoyed. Everything else, I just kept thinking, this guys is really phugged up. 2

3 Hoo boy, where to start with this guy. Controversial figure for sure (and for good reason), but I’ve gotta say, someone who I feel like 100% deserves to be on this list based on cultural impact alone. The dude is like the musical boogeyman, haunting parents and playgrounds alike with music alleged to damn one’s soul to hell for just listening - or at least that’s how I remember him growing up as young music fan myself, as if physical copies were some kind of occult totem not to be fucked with, held by the kinds of kids you were a little scared of but made friends with anyway just in the off chance they decide to shoot up the school. Nowadays, as someone who grew into a matured, informed music fan and not a God-fearing Christian conservative, I understand it’s mostly shock value. And for largely that reason, I find Marilyn Manson’s music mostly whatever - there are definitely a couple good songs to his name (The Beautiful People has been a part of my heavier playlists for some time now), but his schtick mostly just feels edge-lordy now, to the point where I probably would have found this album more cringe if it weren’t for its genuinely solid sense of musicianship and production. As I just learned in reviewing this now, much of that is thanks to Trent Reznor - I never realized the two had a working relationship, but his influence here is super noticeable once you’re aware of it, to the point that this almost kind of sounds like The Downward Spiral Part 2, down to this even being a concept album itself. Unfortunately, I don’t think this works quite as well as The Downward Spiral. In my opinion, TDS works because it connects a lot of themes through diversity in songwriting and unity in messaging, and while this album starts strongly - to the point where I was almost considering giving a 4 early on - it ends pretty weakly with what feels like a lot of screaming, noise, and static. I get that that’s probably a deliberate choice being that I’m pretty sure the titular Antichrist Superstar is destroying the world at this point in the album’s loose narrative, but I still don’t think it results in a particularly enjoyable or listenable conclusion. It also makes this album feel overly long, to the point where I was ready for this to start wrapping up shortly after Kinderfeld. The first handful of tracks are excellent (especially Tourniquet, my pleasant surprise here), but the rest of this is pretty skip-worthy. And that’s not to mention the slurs that are dropped all over this thing - once again, I get that’s probably the point, both from a shock value and narrative sense, but I still didn’t find it necessary, and I don’t think it will help this album age well (amongst a variety of other reasons). That to say, I still think this deserves a spot on the list for cultural impact alone, but this definitely isn’t becoming part of my musical rotation anytime soon. Also, music aside, f this dude for his sexual crimes.

a bloated 71 minutes of some edgy goth guy yapping over Trent Reznor industrial beats. 2.5/5

There’s some good guitar riffs mixed in here but for the most part I find it very non musical and vile. I probably would have loved this at thirteen

First half was during an annoying commute, second after a nice day. Really only goes with the mood

This guy really said the n word within the fist song

Was going to rate lower, but I had a bad day at work and The Reflecting God really felt good on the drive home.

Really very likable and I knew it would be. I’m not about giving this man my streaming cash but as it was for a good reason, ie this challenge, I’ll go all in. I really liked it.

I thought I might like this more. I was quite aware of 'Mechanical Animals' which has got a lot of great tracks on, but this one is messier and noisier, with an emphasis on messier. There's still elements that I like here. I like how some of the tracks flow together. I like the big fat guitars which crop up in places, and I like the clear Trent Reznor influence with the industrial background vibes. The problem is that there's nowhere near enough standout tracks, particularly as there's 17 to choose from. It's a big messy mix that all bleeds together. And for something so noisy, you wouldn't expect it to be this boring. Really disappointing.

The advent of the CD induced many artists to produce albums of excessive length: this is one such. While it starts with a refreshing sonic blast, the sad truth is that this album is over-long and lacking in variety. It's the kind of shock-rock-pop that teenagers play to antagonise their parents. Shallow and boring.

Did not use a private spotify session. Nu Metal has always been hit or miss with me. This one is a miss.

Brian brings the positive vibes! But seriously, it’s not as dark as it would have you think. There’s an enjoyment and a lust in sharing all those feelings that would make your mamma and your pastor cry. It’s also long and relentless and tiring, but, especially towards the end, there are enough moments where a change of pace really helps to give a well-rounded experience. I was left exhausted, but strangely wanting more.

I'm not going to give my thoughts on the actual album because being a horrible person overshadows all of Marilyn Manson's contributions to music. This is not a case where we need to figure out how to separate the art from the artist - at this point, there are plenty of musicians that can make stuff that's just as good or better, so as the first step we need to just stop giving him attention.

Hard pass.

Um. The album cover is terrifying. Antichrist Superstar is such a clever song title. Not my favorite album though. Not horrible I didn’t want to turn it off.

yikies.

Just garbage

I like the occasional Manson song here and there, but I'm not what you would call a fan. This record felt kinda top heavy, kinda dragged in the latter half to me.

long time no listen, and i have been so different from before.

No, Marilyn Mason is a garbage human

I knew of MM before this album due to the song Sweet Dreams, from the previous record. However it was hearing Beautiful People that spurred me to actually buy this album, as it's such a strong song. The sound was pretty unique for the time and still holds up fairly well. I'm going to ignore the controversy surrounding Manson himself and judge this purely on the music itself.

4.5/5 Loud. Passionate. Melodic. Excellent. This album beats a lot of other hard rock due to its vulnerability and variation. Irresponsible Hate Anthem 4/5 The Beautiful People 5/5 Dried Up, Tied And Dead To The World 5/5 (FAV) Tourniquet 3.5/5 Little Horn 2.5/5 (LEAST FAV) Cryptorchid 4.5/5 Deformography 4.5/5 Wormboy 3.5/5 Mister Superstar 4.5/5 Angel With The Scabbed Wings 5/5 Kinderfeld 4.5/5 Antichrist Superstar 5/5 1996 4/5 Minute Of Decay 5/5 The Reflecting God 4/5 Man That You Fear 5/5

The beautiful people is a great song and I didn’t find myself disliking the music as much as I dislike the man

Favorite Track: The Beautiful People

Remember when Bowling for Columbine came out, and everyone was like "oh Marilyn Manson is actually a normal and thoughtful dude". But now we know that he's actually a psycho violent abuser. So this time I guess our parents were right to clutch their pearls.

I hated the album cover. I hated the singing. I hated the lyric content, with abuse-coded gems such as "I lift you up like the sweetest angel/I'll tear you down like a whore". And none of this is helped by the awfulness that has come to light about Manson himself and his disgusting abusive tendencies because the violent lyrics feel way too on the nose. I'm glad I've finally heard music from a household name, but am also glad to never ever listen to it again.

Что меня больше всего удивляет в этом челе - так это то, как вот эта легенда про ребра разошлась по всему свету? Как? Я слышал эту байку во времена, когда у нас тупо не было интернета. По музыке. Мне никогда не нравился чел просто поведением, и те песни, что я слышал, всегда находились для меня в этом лимбе между популярным/принимаемым и экспериментальным/авангардным, то есть уважать не получается ни за что. И вот я послушал этот альбом от начала и до конца, устал к четвертой песне, прочитал ВЕСЬ лор альбома еще до его окончания, заценил песню-другую в финальной его части и даже подумывал: бля, похоже это всё-таки 2? Но альбом из 17 треков с 3 приличными вещами? Которые еще и удивительным образом вышли из-под крыла Трента Резнора?.. Лучшая песня - The Reflecting God.

There is so little metal in this list that I'll even take this guy. He is annoying yes but the riffs are kinda good? 3.5 stars. Stand-out: Irresponsible Hate Anthem

an evil creep with some admittedly catchy/hooky stuff here buried under a ton of mediocre shit, in addition to being way way too fucking long (do you really expect me to buy this as some kind of 'masterpiece,' marilyn?) and as always his shtick is just so performative and lame. considered in a vacuum it's probably actually a 2 but I'm feeling particularly ungenerous towards it

Another person who wont get clicks from me, because separating art from the artists is stupid.

Bringing angst goth alt rock to the mainstream with this one. Not all songs are great, but lots of them are fun

You can definitely feel Trent’s influence on a lot of the better songs on this album. It doesn’t sound as great as I thought it did back in the day!

Antichrist Superstar feels like a long, loud tantrum. The repetitive anger lacks any depth. Imagine Nine Inch Nails but without the same finesse. Actually, it's kinda funny because Trent Reznor is all over this album. It’s raw, but not in a way that feels meaningful at all. Just relentless, and not in a good way.

It was a struggle to get through it, because musically it's mediocre/boring, lyrically it's abusive and nothing I can get into it and his voice is also annoying. It gets a 1 also because it is a 72-minute long album that seemed even longer than it actually was.

A new album to me (apart from Beautiful People). Never cared for MM music. Silly lyrics and adapting names of serial killers is poor taste and disrepectful. Music at face value is a rip-off of NIN and Alice Cooper. Of course, like so many 90s albums, it is also way too long. But I admit, the songs are well-made and very catchy, so go for the middle score then.

Not that bad overall, just very exhaustive.

I was never a big fan of The Wonder Years.

You know, looking back at 90's Jake, I thought I would appreciate this album more, but I couldn't get through it. I heard the guy took out a rib to munch his ween.

It's depressing how many albums come up on here where your first thought is - how exactly should we approach rating work by this [abuser/misogynist/homophobe/racist- insert as appropriate] work?

In the 90s I didn’t give Manson a chance. I had no interest in his Schtick and still don’t. But Antichrist Superstar isn’t as bad as expected. It’s just 90s rock with Manson’s screaming over the top. It’s more dynamic musically than I expected but it’s ridiculously too long and it’s still Manson 5.2/10

I wanted to enjoy this one more. I did enjoy it. But not a ton. I don’t really know why. I’ve listened to it twice. It’s very aggressive. Some good songs. Idk, not much to say

Kind of a blind spot in my metal listening

I wondered what exactly it was that made me stop listening to these albums for almost six months. One reason was that I got hit with a series of 2-star albums which did nothing to pique my interest. But upon opening this website for the first time in half a year, I now remember - I pulled this album and said 'nope, not in the mood to listen to this.' Today (January 2025) I finally listened, and it wasn't really worth pausing for so long but.. meh I still didn't enjoy this record. It's yet another addition to my long list of 2-star albums. The music was cool at times, but a human being can only take so much indecipherable screaming.

This was a struggle.

Meh Some good moments, but more screaming than I enjoy.

Cool album, but didn’t feel like it had big enough moments to justify the run time.

Nope. But not as bad as something we’ve had on this list.

I’ll admit, I knew next to nothing about Marilyn Manson before listening to this record. I read a bit about Brian while it played and I don’t really know what to make of his character. I heard that he’s been accused of some terrible things, but I don’t know how much of it is confirmed. Either way, I feel a lot of people are judging this album purely based off the accusations against him that may not be true. But on the other hand if the allegations are true then it’s hard to separate the art from the artist here. Especially when the lyrics are so provocative and the accusations are very disgusting. Ignoring the many, many allegations for a second, the record is fine. I like the Nine Inch Nails obvious influence, and the hour long project certainly isn’t boring. However, the vocals and lyrics are a bit much at times. It’s very edgy and without the same tenderness bands like Nine Inch Nails or Nirvana could have. Obviously Brian has had many controversies, but I still feel that this record is a tad over-hated and I actually was fine with it more than I thought I’d be.

I'm 14 and this is deep. Please look at me, i'm so edgyyy...

Great album

someones grumpy

NIN if they sucked musically and as people. I love a lot of industrial stuff but god damn this guy SUCKS. Trent Reznor’s skills can’t even save him here - Trent is just the better musician and MUCH better human being.

Even when I was into heavy music and industrial stuff and Nine Inch Nails and the like, I never cared for Marilyn Manson. He turned my stomach then and he turns my stomach now. As a music lover, it is hard to fathom how overrated I think he is…the only part of this whole thing I liked was a couple bass lines. Now as a Christian, I really can’t stand listening to this stuff. I realize that would probably make this guy happy, if in fact he gets happy over anything. But again, even before that, I just could never find anything redeemable about it and don’t understand why it is so highly acclaimed.

This is a having to separate the artist from the music situation. This definitely isn’t my favorite mm album. I do enjoy his music overall.

Four Inch Nails. Only thing longer than this yawnfest is Marilyn Manson's "Controversies" section on Wikipedia.

Antichrist Superstar Mum! It’s not a phase, this is who I am now! Musically this is not my thing at all, although it is better sounding than Dirt yesterday, the elements of glam and theatrical rock make it more interesting and more listenable. There’s enough little guitar runs and moments to be interesting enough to alleviate some of the preponderance of industrial and metal noise. Thematically, despite not being particularly original and more than a little parent’s basement, it’s not awful. The idea of ‘a populist demagogue who is driven solely by resentment, misanthropy, and despair, using his newfound position to destroy the world’, again is hardly novel, but is fairly apt at the moment, especially in the context of him deliberately provoking the hypocrisy of the Christian right with his lyrics and imagery. Those lyrics though, while occasionally arresting, are quite ludicrous to the point of cliche: shit, blood, pussy, nightmares, alienation, anger ad infinitum. While I can definitely understand its appeal to unhappy, perhaps socially awkward, angry teens, I had too much of a privileged, happy UK childhood for them to ever resonate with me, and they definitely don’t resonate with me as a 44 year old man either. However, for all the Christian baiting, the odd bit of good guitar playing and the occasional moment of clarity when it all comes together, this really doesn’t feel that shocking, it actually feels quite tame. And it does also fall a bit flat when it turns out that he’s probably quite rapey. It didn’t make me despair in the way Alice in Chains did yesterday, and even though I would never choose to listen to it, it actually is comparatively listenable, or at least some of it is comparatively listenable anyway. I don’t buy into his artistic vision, but there’s no doubt he followed through and made an album consistent with that vision, which is something I suppose - although if that vision includes being a sexy predator it may not actually be something at all. It’s also unnecessarily and stupidly long at 77 mins. Perhaps if this was a 35 minute short, sharp, shock I can possibly see how this might approach something near decent for the genre, but the reality is that it is nearly 1 hour 20 mins, and despite it having some merit thematically and occasionally musically it isn’t actually good. It’s probably a 2, but with the noncery factored in it's a 1. ✝️ Playlist submission: Beautiful People

Wasn’t as bad as I expected but still not my thing. 2*

It does scream try-hard but I enjoyed it.

Look, if you'd asked me this in 1996, I woulda said five stars. And it's probably still five stars. The production is great, the over-the-top boundary pushing is also somehow within the bounds of good bad taste. Irrresponsible Hate Anthem got me through some angry and confused times. Manson is probably a terrible person. And maybe he gave us enough hints. I don't know. But I still do like this album.

I made it two thirds of the way through before tapping out. I am a metal fan, with an appreciation for some of the genres extremes, but I guess I can't hack 'extremely boring'. I can envisage the scenario of some angst-ridden teen screaming at his or her parents about how they don't understand anything, slamming the door and putting this on. The parents hate it! But surely our JNCO-clad Young Werther is also raging at the fact they have over an hour of this to plod though (plus hidden punishment track). If I were counselling any adolescent that wanted to wallow in true Weltschmerz, look no further than Steely Dan's 'Katy Lied' album, that's what I say!

On one hand it’s important to include challenging albums on the list. On the other hand this album is shit and Marilyn Manson is a bit of a tool

Not all that bad musically with some good riffs and a few songs that stick, but the mood and aesthetics behind it don't interest me too much.

Super good

Feels like it's trying way too hard to drum up controversy but I take it that was kinda the point. Either way, I'm pretty sure the commentary could have been delivered without all the needless edge, but then again, maybe it wouldn't have made its point as well as it did without the absolute hysteria that arose from it. Honestly though, the album kinda bangs. Probably because of the Reznor influence and production on it. Get rid of some of the filler and it would be even better. Brb, gonna go remove my ribs.

I instinctively clenched my asshole after I turned this on

The first couple songs weren't bad, but then it slowly took on a more Metal sound. Weird lyrics for sure, I can see why this album was \"shocking\". The screamo singing isn't really my thing either. Also this album is too long lol Oh and I HATE the cover.

Sounds a bit like NiN Part 2: Electric Bugaloo. I remember being scarred by The Beautiful People when it came out, and never really listened to anything else by MM. This listen through shows there is some music worth hearing though. Still a bit "edgy" in the lyrical department.

The Beautiful People Tourniquet

How many people bought this because they were rebelling? How many listened to it once and realised they'd wasted money on a poseur? In the last three days I've had the really boring 1990 Pet Shop Boys, Kendrick Lamar's misogynistic whining, now this. Have I offended God?

Ovo je zapravo ništa drugo osim popičniji rani NIN. Obzirom na sve vrlo je loše ostarilo. Bolje slušat the donward spiral, nego ovo

My teen self loved this quite a lot, but wow does it suck now. Unrelated but Brian, why don't you do the ultimate shock rock move and kill yourself, maybe on stage, maybe with a shotgun to the head, idk just throwing some ideas around. Still, giving this 2⭐ because of Trent Reznor's involvement (as much as he might regret it) and my stupid 16yo self's sake.

Trash just like this trash human being

I didn’t hate this. It was surprisingly far less scream-y (and therefore, far more listenable) than I expected. You can’t deny, “I wasn’t born with enough middle fingers” is a bar.

4.5 quite liked it, a little bit edgy, a little bit noisy, my typa music. fuck marilyn manson tho fr

Fuck this rapist. His music and schtick suck anyways.

This whole album (cover art, lyrics, instrumentation) gives me the creeps, and not in a good, fun way

Annoying

Lasted less than a minute

Beautiful people is a decent song. The rest... eh.

Edge lord gets a band

This is a challenging listen. First of all it's too long - there's too many filler tracks. I appreciate the dark themes and tones but I find the industrial influence makes the songs feel like they drag on and overall go too slow for my liking. The Beautiful People is of course a banger but that's a faster tempo song that is much different than say, Man That You Fear. Also fuck this guy - he seems like a real piece of shit.

yikes, not what I want

Bad man, bad music.

If I wanted to listen to Nine Inch Nails I'd just listen to Nine Inch Nails.

The second album in a row I have to preface by saying I'm only commenting on the record and listening to it for what it is, separate from the artist that made it. On a personal level, fuck this guy. I remember when Marilyn Manson sort of came into the spotlight. It was different than anything I'd heard back then and middle school me loved it but didn't really know what to make of it. I used to really like his music and got into it more as I got older but at this point have sort of given him up due to the recent revelations about him as a person. I do think that maybe what makes this album great is the contributions the band made and not necessarily Manson himself. This may be totally wrong but I get the feeling that Manson is a super hard guy to work with (as evidenced by the revolving door of band members) and that the rest of the band, whoever they may be at the time, are likely responsible for the bulk of what's recorded. Some of the lyrics on this album are very smart and offer an interesting point of view into a different way of thinking than is typically seen in mainstream media. Some of the lyrics are super cringey now, though maybe that's looking at them with nearly 30 years of hindsight. And a lot of it seems to be 100% for shock value, but I think that was the intention all along. I mean the album is called Antichrist Superstar. Beautiful People is a fantastic song and by all accounts was written largely by Twiggy. Play that song for anyone of a fairly large age range and they're not only going to recognize it but tell you it's probably the best songs Manson did and maybe one of the best of the 90s. Dried Up Tied Up is great as well. As is Antichrist Superstar. But there were a few songs I had to skip. Probably just because I don't think Manson really deserves much of my time anymore. This is a tough one to rate. Some of it I really like, some of it is fine. If the whole album was as good as the handful of strongest tracks, it would be a fantastic album. As is, it's middle of the road and I was ready to move on before it was over. 2/5

I dislike how much I liked this album, but also Brian Warner is a creep so it gets a 1

Not my cup of tea

I tried but I hate it so much

Just a poor man’s Nine Inch Nails

Nope.

Sometimes you just know when to say no

Wanted to like this more but it was pretty exhausting by the end

It fits the bill as pretty evil- and gross-sounding music (by a pretty evil and gross dude, at that). This is definitely not something I would seek out on my own, but I do have to give it some credit for its vision, plus a few good guitar riffs. Best song: The Beautiful People

I am separating the art from the artist with this rating. Album 4 stars MM -4 stars, predatory arsehole

Not for me

Dark, explicit, graphic, and controversial. All attributes that define this album and the man himself. This album really wasn't my cup of tea hearing all that screaming made the album a bit repetitive and therefore boring. I can't say that I hated the entire thing since there was a very few amount of songs on there that stuck out that I thought were listenable. 100% won't be coming back to this but it ain't the worse thing I've heard so far. Best - The Beautiful People, Tourniquet and Antichrist Superstar Worse - Pretty much the rest of the album 2.25-2.5/5

impossible to dislike

No comment. Just gonna say that this didn’t age well after all the allegations came out, and I’m not gonna listen to it.

Kind of boring. No structure, just random noise. I’m a metal fan and this was not good. Take away Beautiful people and this is a 1 all day.

I was not thrilled to get this when it came up. I was never all that in to Marilyn Manson the band, and Marilyn Manson the person seems like a POS. But, I enjoyed this way more than I was expecting. It's definitely too long--another release from the CD era--but it's good for sure.

Marilyn Manson sucks and so does this album

Idk if it was the breast implants or him getting ribs removed to suck himself but I never wanted to listen to him when I was younger. Not the greatest album but it’s decent enough industrial metal with plenty of emotion

There is a surprising amount of this that holds up, not that I've ever heard it all before. I never owned this album. It sure does have Trent Reznor's thumb print all over it though.

This dude is awesome

Hahaha I enjoyed this way more than I was expecting, it gets a huge nostalgia bump but even then it's such a fun concept album. I love the opener with the line "I wasn't born with enough middle fingers", The Beautiful People is a pretty great track, but the whole album just works.

I was pretty into this album during my A levels - even saw them live during the tour and bought a long sleeved tshirt with "WHEN I'M GOD EVERYONE DIES" printed on the back in giant lime green letters! 😆 Didn't really get into any of their albums after this one. Even back then, though, there were a bunch of tracks I could take or leave, (Why is "The Beautiful People" so popular? It never landed with me) and re-listening now, they have become more grating, so even a hefty nostalgia bump isn't going to get it to 5 stars. The Trent Reznor production is really doing a lot of heavy lifting here. Fave tracks - "Irresponsible Hate Anthem" and "1996" were my faves back then, and they're still my faves now - I guess they're the most straight ahead industrial. Most of "Antichrist Superstar" I'm indifferent to, but the creepy looped announcement-sounding thing in the outro always reminded me of the movie "Prince of Darkness", which is neat. "Man That You Fear" would be my pick from the slower, gothier side of the album, and that also has a creepy looped outro, heh. I guess that's the way to my heart. 🖤

Meh. I remember when this album came out... the whole Nu Metal thing was starting up with Korn and this whole sound was becoming the next big thing. While Manson wasn't quite what i would describe as Nu Metal, the conceptual nature of their albums starts to flirt a bit with that genre, while preserving his industrial roots. I didn't like Marilyn Manson then, and I don't like them now. While I've always appreciated what Brian Warner has had to say about politics and society, the medium in which his message is delivered I've always thought was, to be blunt, lame. Shock for nothing more than shock's sake. A modern day Alice Cooper at a time when the internet was about to desensitize us to anything shocking. That Warner's continued to hold on to this image has always made me chuckle. So much of this seems like arrested development - the school kid trying to fly a big fuck you flag at his teachers from his Christian upbringing. Give credit where credit is due, there's some bangers on this album, but on the whole much of it sounds the same, with non-stop attempts at trying to shock the listener more and more. It grows old, and thus grows boring. Less could have been much, much more.

As an adolescent/teen I would feel bad about disliking Manson’s music because I thought it meant I was too soft for metal or something, but listening to it now I’m gratified to discover that it’s just bad. “Beautiful People” unfortunately still slaps, but the rest is posturing, tedious stuff.

Partly heard before Saved 9/17 Top track: The Beautiful People

By all accounts, Brian Warner as a person - 0. Antichrist Superstar as an album - 5.

🤡🤡🤡

Despite his recent problems, I still liked this album. It's sometimes hard to separate the person from the music, but he's thrived in controversy from the beginning.

I never liked this when it came out, didn’t care for anything he did later, and absolutely despise abusers and rapists. Won’t listen now and get him any royalties. I remember this as being really cheesy and over the top edgelord crap anyway.

This just bad music.

Lounge music for rapists

2-

Music is bad and Marilyn Manson is a creep.

Oh, shit!

No

2 stars for the music, -1 star for being a shit human being.

I remember this being synonymous with a certain demographic at school, which put me right off but it you can't deny its influence. I went into it with an open mind though, but it's too long and really not as hard or heavy as I expected and left me a bit bored.

The Beautiful People Never been a huge fan of Marilyn Manson. Not into screaming music. I didn’t find anything inherently wrong with the album tho and can understand why people like it. But just not for me.

in the this album sucks so much i wont even finish the poem

Ok

First of all - I'm very surprised that Marylin Manson is on this list. I don't think he was ever famous for the quality of his work. Second of all - I'm very surprised it's his early album that got him on the list. His best singles are from 2000s, and those are mostly covers. But after listening to Antichrist Superstar I can tell it was something pretty unique for it's time. What if black metal wasn't metal at all but rock, and main vocal just a bit creepy? And somehow it will be aimed at all the teenagers of the era? Well, it kinda worked. Marylin got famous, although this album didn't really survived the stand of time (less than 30 years later). It's a very interestong record regardless, pretty nice blast from the past. Just don't read about anything that's not music related, this dude is bounded for jail sooner or later.

3.9/5 - better than expected

Separating the art from the artist. Great album and awesome production. But this guy is just disgusting

If I was looking to scratch an industrial itch I think I'd rather listen to Nine Inch Nails. The amount of controversy that continues to follow this man makes the music all the more uncomfortable to listen to. It wasn't horrible, but I won't be listening to this again. 2.5/5 -> 3/5. On listening again and thinking about this album, I really think the most interesting parts of the music are captured by bands like NIN, and the juvenile "shock" factor is childish. Lowering this to a 2/5.

As one dimensional as Marilyn Manson seems, this album was pretty dense. His shock value is very high in this album, he has some great lyrics that feed into my once teenage angst. But he also has lyrics that are just unnecessary and obviously used to be shocking. It fits his whole image... I still don't think he needs to throw the N word around... This album might be Manson's Magnum Opus. He came around at the perfect time. Riding the wave of the demise of grunge and as NuMetal was on the rise. Manson's work was dissimilar to the heavier artists of the time: from Korn, Limp Bizkit to Papa Roach or Mudvayne.. Maybe more akin to Nine Inch Nails but heavier and again, more "shocking". There were some shockingly awesome riffs in this album. The lesser known songs were pretty good. I like Manson's scream... But his soft or normal vocals are annoying. Especially in his, (I say this tounge in cheek) 'anti' - balad closer, Man That You Fear. Overall, I kind of liked this more than I wish to admit. Is it perfect? Nope! But I enjoyed it.

Yes Brian Warner is a weird dude. Look at him how could you not see he was a crooked individual, he’s the Alice Cooper of the 90s but was definitely carried by the production. Trent Reznor is incredible as always, makes me want to listen to Nine Inch Nails instead.

See under Slipknot, below.

I'm three songs in and I'm exhausted. He isn't very optimistic. Rock and roll sores, indeed.

Against expectations I enjoyed this a lot

Take Trent out of this and what do you have? A creep in too much makeup. The music slaps though

Sucking Trent's Dick...

Booo tomato tomato

Qué pereza me ha dado verlo, y eso que lo escuché mucho en la época que se lanzó. No ha sido para tanto, me quedo con Tourniquet y The beautiful people, lo demás se puede oír, pero ha perdido pegada. Lo voy a dejar en 2 ** aunque está cerca de 3.

Another album I thought I'd struggle through, but ended up enjoying. A good way to access and understand Marilyn Manson and company, though still not a casual listen 3.5/5 Funny enough, through the metal and politics, you can hear their influences in the original punk and metal bands, and in turn their sound went on to influence a massive amount of hard rock, indie, and various other future genres.

Alltof löng plata. 90s gítardistortion og öskursöngur draga mann hressilega niður, sem og seinni tíma ásakanir gegn Manson. Það er helst að þetta nær rytmískt áhugavert á köflum, Beautiful people hefur ákveðinn sjarma og Man that you fear, en svo er þetta eintóm læti. Feginn að þetta er búið.

Such a great and complex rock opera. There was no other album out there that was quite this ambitious about entropy, from the repurposed Kabbalah references that litter the album, to Jesus Christ Superstar references repurposed. A worthy spiritual successor to David Bowie's DIAMOND DOGS, Nine Inch Nails THE DOWNWARD SPIRAL, and the character of Alice Cooper. All made into something new, chaotic, and beautiful. Brian Warner portrays the supernatural Antichrist antihero supernatural presence that is birthed on this album. A presence that doesn't have a grudge against any particular group or people, but rather has an obsession with destroying all of humanity itself. He takes the piss out of everything under the sun, including himself. Trent Reznor and Dave "Rave" Ogilvie's (producer of highly influential industrial act Skinny Puppy) production is glorious. A beautiful balance of glam, metal, hard rock, post punk, thrash, electronic, industrial music that tells the first tale in the rock opera trilogy. Warner's vocal delivery explores all the dynamics, from whispers to blood curdling screams. ANTICHRIST SUPERSTAR was a reprieve from a sea of borings albums at that time that were predominantly hip hop, grunge, and ska. My favorite tracks include "The Beautiful People", "Dried Up, Tied and Dead to the World", "Tourniquet", "Cryptorchid", "Wormboy" , "Mister Superstar", "Angel With Scabbed Wings", and "Kinderfeld". This album's recording would also produce the incredible non album release tracks "Long Hard Road Out of Hell" and my favorite that ended up on the LOST HIGHWAY soundtrack, "Apple of Sodom". Ahhh, misanthropy at its best. Chef's kiss!

The only positive thing I can say is that it’s better than Korn? The attempt at badassery falls flat with me. Some of the songs have great baselines and rock pretty hard. It’s not as bad I I thought it would be. But it’s bad.

Listened to enough of it to realize some parts are alright musically, but he still sucks. Creeps don’t get stars.

Sinnloses Rumgebrülle! 0/5

The artist is ok, the album is not

Why the fuck is this the album I get right after Pink Moon lmao

I'm a fan of this genre but not of MM. There was always something about him I didn't care for.

I never really got into Manson. A few songs here or there, but other than that, I will typically pass on his music.

So let me pre-empt this small review by stating that Brian Warner is human filth. I hope the reckoning will come. This album however is the peak of Marilyn Manson (the band's) discography. This album is raw and energetic and brings the whole thing, where the album is more than the sum of its parts. The lyrics with their scathing attacks on corruption, societal hypocrisy and religion. Graphic designer P.R. Brown's artwork with its impressive packaging and dual covers. The bleak, aggressive and claustrophobic song material by a very talented band is backed a lot by Trent Reznors incredible unsettling production which creates an almost nihilistic atmosphere: it's all there. It all culminates in "The Reflecting God," already an hour into the 70 minutes. This song where the protagonist (antagonist) of this concept album gets to the end point. Full of riffs, style changes, warped sounds, aggressive crowd sounds and clever lyrics. This album was an assault and stands as a classic in the industrial metal.

Tedious, overblown, edgelord nonsense from someone that unsurprisingly turned out to be a massive wrong’un.

So the guy is a scum (a real one; for a very long time I just thought he was acting like one (as an agitator) but that he was a decent guy, as some interviews -- for example in Bowling for Columbine -- could let think) but the trilogy started with Antichrist is huge. Antichrist is not my favourite (I like the peculiar atmosphere of Mechanical Animals and I like even better Holy Woods) but it lays ground for the said trilogy. It has many bangers and despite the length of the album, it's pretty much an 'all killer, no filler' type of record. It hits hard with these rhythms so characteristic of industrial music, it has all these punkish riffs, and Manson's way of singing may be annoying but I kinda want to scream with him. I didn't listen to this for ages, and it takes me back to my teenage years, full of anger and despair and happy to find some relief in (what I found to be, at the time) dark, agressive music.

Better than I expected. More like Nine Inch Nails and the post hardcore bands of that time like Rollins Band etc. than like Korn and Limp Bizkit (that's what I expected). There's some good songs and some filler. The songs are generally too long. Favorite song: tourniquet

Talk about a fad. He's aged about as well as Kid Rock.

Yeah this is just too much. I get it you are angry and creepy but no man. Just creepy and weird and not something I want to listen

It's rock'n. But I'm too old to have this much anger and angst.

I like Beautiful People, but he’s just too over the top for me. We get it, you’re dark and edgy. Feels like he’s trying too hard to play a character, which takes away from the music. Plus it’s just loud and angry, and I don’t relate to this level of ire in my middle aged life.

I am going to rate this purely on the basis of the music only. I didn't hate this as much as I thought I would. Yes it's loud and harsh, but there's actually some substance to this. It's not particularly accessible but I do think there's a place for it.

1. hate anthem - 1 2. beautiful people - 1.5 3. dead to the uuorld - 1.5 4. tourniquet - 1 5. little horn - 1 6. orchid - 1 7. deform - 1 8. uuormboy - 1 9. zuperztar - 1 1. angel - 1 12. kinderfeld - 1 13. antichrizt - 1 14. 1996 - 1 15. decay - 1.5 16. god - 1 17. fear - 1.5 18. untitled - 0

Let's get the "artist is a garbage human being" portion out of the way first. I do not follow Marilyn Manson's intimate details, but I know enough to know that the creepy guy persona wasn't a persona. Gross. On to the "separating the art from the artist" portion. I like the overall sound, but I hate the lyrical delivery. I just don't dig the theatrical-melocidal thing going on here. Thankfully, Nine Inch Nails has me covered. Then there's the lyrical content. I can't get past the "edgy kid trying to be edgy", and the N-word dropped in the first song didn't help (I grasp the context, I just don't care). I'm sure this was groundbreaking at the time, but now I can only think of THE EDGINESS. The worst thing about the edginess is that it's dull. I'm not offended, I'm bored, which is worse. I followed this up with The Downward Spiral to get the bad taste of this album out. Liked Tracks: - The Beautiful People - Tourniquet

bad

seductive...Aina ei hyvä asia..

Love the industrial sound but it does wax an wane in quality, still it’s a worthy listen. 3.5 stars.

not even interested in listening due to him being a pos

Even at the time I struggled to see the shock value after little Richard, Screaming Lord Sutch, Alice cooper, the sex pistols, Bowie, etc. That said, Marilyn Manson was a bit interesting. This is the album to pick. That he was a tool, unlike Alice cooper, is irrelevant. This is an interesting album. Not a great album. Probably slips past ok into pretty ok. 3 seems too high. 2 seems a bit low. So rounded up.

I dont enjoy this. it serves as distrubing art, bit when life imitated art, its too disturbing, aspecially when its influential on the impressionable. Its just soundtrack stuff really. Stright onto the NO pile, and back to other albums for me.

In 1999, before my daughter had totally embraced hip-hop, she was keen on Marilyn Manson. So much so that she wagged school (not unusual - she wagged one day before this with her girlfriend Natalie & they hopped a train to Newcastle just so they could get a bus to Merriweather, where they could stand outside the house that Daniel Johns grew up in & give thanks) to line up & get Manson’s autograph at HMV record Store in Sydney’s Pitt Street Mall. I can’t remember how she went getting his autograph, but there were other Big Day Out artists there, & she got my Hole CD autographed by Courtney Love. Good daughter. As for myself, I’ve never been a fan of MM. I’d never heard this cd before & won’t be going in for seconds. It just does not interest me.

When Marilyn Manson was first big (around the time of this record), I had a friend whose teenage daughter was rally into the band. My friend, somewhat concerned, asked if Marilyn Manson really was as bad as the press were making out. "No," I replied "it's shock value. It's really just the Alice Cooper schtick, updated for the 90s." And, on that level, they did a pretty good job. Brian Warner was smart enough to identify issues that would really trigger parents and other squares, and seem like a proper rock and roll rebellion for alienated youth market. If you want to see how uncomfortable it made the mainstream, watch their performance of "Beautiful People" at the 1997 MTV Awards. The audience is NOT digging it; this was genuinely the complaint of the outsider. And they had a powerful look and a stomping sound (largely courtesy of various members of Nine Inch Nails and Dave Ogilvey from Skinny Puppy) and a charismatic frontman and a bunch of free media based on controversy. I'm sure they ran a pretty compelling live show. But it's teenage alienation all packaged up to sell. Your parents will hate it, but they still want to sell you the CDs and tickets and t-shirts. Marilyn Manson are not as genuinely dangerous or outside the mainstream as, say, Skinny Puppy or any one of the myriad of industrial rock bands that came before this. But this album was massively influential, not necessarily musically, but in terms of fashion, the look, and the playing the media for column inches. Personally, I think the following album "Mechanical Animals" was a much more interesting record than this, both musically and thematically, but "Antichrist Superstar" was the record that made the big cultural impact. Now, here's the problem. As the Beastie Boys point out in their excellent retrospective documentary, if you play a part long enough (even in satire), you become that person. And I'm pretty sure that's what happened to Marilyn Manson. Too many drugs, too much bad sex, too much violent rebellion and debauchery, and now it seems that the insightful and intelligent Brian Warner has devolved into full-time power-freak rapist and fascist Marilyn Manson. He even says in his own autobiography "Antichrist Superstar was about using your power, not your misery, and watching that power destroy you and everyone else around you." Is he still play-acting on this record? Can't quite tell. The horrible truth is that Brian followed his thematic interests down a very dark hole, that led to some disgusting and appalling behavior, particularly towards women. This is not just an artistic statement about destruction, but a statement of intent, which he followed up. And he got away with it for a very long time. I was wrong. Marilyn Manson is not Alcie Cooper. He isn't play acting shock and rebellion. He _is_ that thing, and I can't listen to this any more. And I _like_ industrial metal. There is an ongoing debate I have about when the moral deficiencies of the artist means we can't enjoy the art any more. Marilyn Manson crosses the line for me, because the art is all about his terrible behavior. it is celebration and mission statement of his cruelty and destructive behavior. He was hiding in plain sight. Maybe he hadn't fully crossed over right at this point, but this was him telling us all what he was going to do. And I can't be complicit in it.

Whatever your feelings on the guy himself, this album stands as an achievement.

4.5/10 way too long

I hear that people used to kill themselves after listening to this guy. Now I know why. Extra star for coming up with the scary guy gimmick to overcome average talent. Decent heavy metal voice, though.

Album cover has me leaning towards a 1 already!

Actively despise this arsehole and everything he represents. The horrible music is an irrelevance at this point. I listened to it but I didn't wanna. ☠️ People talk a lot about separating art from the artist, often to justify continued enjoyment of the things they like while becoming more aware of the personal failings of some creators. With this guy there's no need for that though, it's a singularity of degenerate, provocative crap and the sick scumbag hiding in plain sight who led its creation. No amount of slick production can mask that. It doesn't give me much pleasure to note that time has proved me right on this one.

Not for me.

As heavy on the N word as he is on the distortion, also the rape. Some of the songs get the head bangin. Otherwise very passable.

Theatrics and wanna be nin

Remember not being too mad on this, going to 3 the shit out of it

it's fine, just not exactly my style.

Well, I guess I have to like this.

Don't google musicians I guess. Would I have liked this more if I didn't? We may never know. I found some of the lyrics unpleasant and some of the sound bad thought. Favourite track: Tourniquet.

Wait, it's good? Since when is the shock jock producing interesting harmonically pleasing amazing chord progressions? huh.

Not into it for multiple reasons

Nope. Hated it back in the day. Not listening.

I don't really like this genre. Favourites: the beautiful people, dried up tied and dead to the world. I understand it's art and everything but it's not that deep Brian. How are you gonna be edgy and be named Brian. Also apparently they did drugs almost constantly to make this album because they needed a ""violent and hostile environment suited to the album's content"" it's never that deep bro you didn't need to do all of that. There are also mega controversies connecting Mr. Brian to murders (done by other people) and assaults (done by him) which cannot be a good sign even if he's innocent. I hate the album cover and I hate the ending of antichrist superstar. Music itself isn't as bad but I don't like the lyrics or Mr. Brian. I was also just informed by my wife that Mr. Brian (white man) over here has said the n word hard r multiple times (3 times just in the first song). Brian makes me nauseous. 1/5

1/5. I would rather shit my pants at convocation than listen to this again.

Ummmm. Not really my vibe, objectively the music is okay, but the lyrics are atrocious. Also kind of zoned out at random points during my listen through. Songs I liked more than the others were The Beautiful People, Cryptorchid, Angel With The Scabbed Wings, Minute Of Decay, The Reflecting God, and Man That You Fear. 2, I didn't really like it that much

A total of sixteen people have made various allegations against Manson,[3][310] including five accusations of sexual assault.[311]

Manson sucks. Interesting album as a cultural thing and sonic uniqueness, but Manson sucks.

This is a tough review, and I will do my best to separate Brian Hugh Warner from the art that the band Marilyn Manson (and its 5 members) created and the 11 other people whose contributions made this album. I won't judge the album based on my negative feelings for 1/5 of its members. The 1/5 band member Brian Hugh Warner appears to be an awful human being (beyond his persona as Marilyn Manson) with issues involving violence and the abuse of women. I have no intention of diminishing their allegations or experiences because I enjoy this art. This album is art, a concept album, and the first part of a trilogy. I love industrial rock, and Trent Reznor, one of the album's producers, is among my all-time favourite artists. I'm not sure this album would have been as successful without him; you can hear his influence in every track. The album's concept is awesome and very much suits the music and lyrical style. A supernatural being—a demagogic rockstar—who seizes all political power from humanity to initiate an apocalyptic event. Let's face it: if you don't like the sound of that, you're not going to like this album. I don't think this album is as good as Mechanical Animals, but it introduced an element of death metal and industrial rock into the mainstream. 4/5 for the art 0/5 for Brian Hugh Warner, a vile human being.

I listened to the first 2 tracks, wanting to make an effort to complete this challenge and listen to all the albums from beginning to end in full - but it was so awful I gave up for most of the day deciding I just didn’t need this trash in my ears and brain. I did end up going back and skimming the rest - and I’m now annoyed at myself for giving this any extra thought, reading about the band and about the lead singer, and in the end giving it more of my headspace than it deserves. Putting aside Warner being an abusive disgusting creep, the lyrics are just awful (as in both content and also just lame - ‘oh look at me look at me, I’m so scary, and weird, and random, and spooky’) and I just don’t think the music is a good example of the genre either. I sometimes enjoy a bit of industrial. This is just hype. So it’s just gross to me on multiple levels and I have no desire to ever hear it again.

Real crap

Obviously I cant listen to this dude anymore cause hes a horrible garbage human. Music sounds like a monster made it which now is kinda true. But it is way catchier than i imagine. If you ignore the person it is pretty cool. Also the phenomenon that this album was when it came out was incredible. I will never forget how sppoky and cool he seemed when this first came out, plus my parents hated it.

There are some OK songs in here, but not enough to overcome the nastiness of the lyrics and the creepiness of the artist.

Marilyn Manson has a few really great songs. the Beautiful People is one of them. Tourniquet isn’t bad either. The rest of the album is loud and hard to listen to. Best I can give it is 3.5

What happened to Paul from the Wonder Years that made him so angry? Did they record this before or after he removed the ribs?

Decent enough concept but falls flat in the execution, and goes on for way too long while it’s at it.

Metal gótico de Marilyn Manson. The beautiful people. Un 4, aunque al final me ha parecido todo un poco igual...

Bit shouty.

The Beautiful People. Sólo por esa 4.

Mér finnst lúmkst gaman að Marilyn Manson og hlustaði mikið á hann í gamla daga, sérstaklega Mechanical Animals. Á þeim tíma hef ég greinilega verið að brjótast út úr skelinni því ég varð smá þreyttur á aggresívu tónlistinni núna. Myndi samt alveg hlusta á hana aftur en ég þarf þá að vera í réttu stuði eða þá bara að spila Marilyn Manson í smáskömmtum

I have no problem separating the art from the artist, but in this case they are both a piece of shit. I think it’s Trent Reznor production that saves this from 1 star, but this really is just poor man’s downwards spiral.

Manson kind of scared me as a kid, I'll admit. I don't know if I'm old now or if I don't get it, but...meh? I know the handful of Manson hits and don't mind them, but a whole album of this is a lot. There are some catchy songs on here, and I can appreciate the attempt at a concept album. But it just feels like the aural equivalent of an Eli Roth movie. It's just torture and disgust porn for the sake of shock value and trying to offend people. It's not really that shocking, it's just not that interesting. Artists like Screaming Jay Hawkins and Alice Cooper had a sense of humor and genuine theatricality to them. Goth music explores the horrible and disgusting and tries to find the beauty in it. This is just...shock for shock value that takes itself way too seriously. Reading about the making of this album just underscores what messed up, try-hard artists they are. You don't have to go so method for your art, dudes. It's cringey. Add to that the accusations that have come out about Brian Warner over the last decade or so and, nah. No thanks. I'm good. Maybe I'll go read some Nietzsche and skip this sophomoric interpretation. (Tangentially related—it's annoying how good "Redeemer" is from the Queen of the Damned soundtrack given what a garbage person he is).

4.0 - I'm gobsmacked that I enjoyed this album as much as I did -- I'd written Marilyn Manson off as a poseur and a charlatan. And it certainly didn't help that he's been (rightfully) cancelled for some exceptionally violent and sordid behavior. But Manson gives voice to a misanthropy and self-loathing that I've never heard expressed with such fury . This record challenged me in ways I haven't felt since I first heard Black Sabbath's debut a couple years ago (also through this listening exercise). As always, I think Reznor produced this record masterfully, helping to flesh out these macabre musings into panoramic nightmare soundscapes that gnarl and twist and descend into bedlam and decay (listen to the cinematic "Man That You Fear"). I find the sound design fascinating, particularly in its treatment of guitar. Whereas much of heavy metal tends to exalt the guitar, embracing its rough and ragged edges, on here guitars sound synthesized and clipped, in order to meld with other sonic layers. It's a very different approach and I think it works, especially on songs like "Cryptorchid", which incorporates walls of electronics. I was expecting schlocky, B-movie horror effects and instead I admit that there are genuinely scary moments on here -- just listen to the robotic, uncanny-valley-like vocals at the end of "Antichrist Superstar."

Too much

Punk, live 1998 -> 1

For someone who played Paul on “The Wonder Years” and had a rib removed to be able to suck his own dick, this guy sure seems cranky. You’d think between hanging out with Fred Savage and all the autofellation, he’d be in a better mood and write happier songs.

Aaaaaaargh ferme ta gueule! Je skip l'album parce que j'assume que Manson sait rien faire d'autre de sa vie que gueuler dans un pauvre micro et violer des mineurs

Ben said pretty much everything I was thinking about this album while listening. Nine Inch Nails does everything Marilyn Manson sets out to do without the lyrics being edgy to the point of cringe. I like some of the music on this but The Downward Spiral and The Fragile by NIN do all that better too, so I’ll just listen to them instead.

After Marilyn was dropping racial slurs left and right in the first song, I was sure this was going to be a 1. Fortunately, as I listened along, the Trent Reznor production sound came out and a lot of the songs just ended up sounding like a Nine Inch Nails rip off with edgelord lyrics. The lyrics on this album are like if Saw (the movie), Limp Bizkit, and a Facebook comment section had a baby. Overall, very strange vibes on this album, and Trent Reznor is just about the only thing going for it.

What ben said -1 star. This album was absolute dog meat. Idc if it had 9 inch nails influence. it sucked bc the lyrics were shit and i hated it. longest album ever. fuck

90’s industrial is always a thing of beauty. Its electronic influences aging it like a fine wine. Manson and his barely strung together band formulate some of the genres best late decade output here. The first in a trilogy of oddities from the shock rocker. Riff that’s simply fuck and lyrics that signal someone’s doom coalesce into something strange and unusual.

Really not my thing at all

Loved it

Horrid

The algorithm is really trying to bring me down. First Eminem and now this. I have avoided listening to this wannabe Alice Cooper my whole life and frankly I'm sorry to see it show up on this list. Pretty inconsequential gross-out music, it proudly wears the Trent Reznor industrial-metal brand right up front. So if you like that stuff, which not everyone does, you'll like this. Gives rise to some of the most extreme music to come, like Dillinger Escape Plan and their ilk. Marilyn Manson's (if that IS your real name) attempt at genre-bending transgressive provocation is merely a passable mashup of Nine Inch Nails, the aforementioned Alice Cooper - who, by the way, did a far far more interesting and entertaining version of this schtick 25 years prior - and possibly Throbbing Gristle. Take that mix, dirty it up, and voilà! Rock stardom! Fame! Fortune! It's all very self-referential. Wow, that's deep man. I "like" extreme metal, and you might lump this in that category. But it's unoriginal and frequently boring, and like a lot of stuff that doesn't hit me, devoid of soul. This feeIs like a stage show that just needed a soundtrack. The music kind of sucks, the majority of the people involved are huge assholes, and while that's not in itself a disqualifier of good music, the shenanigans are a distraction. P.S. The U.S. Congress in the 1990s really had some serious issues, why are they so worried about what your kids are listening to? If you want to MAKE 100% sure kids hear this shit, make a big deal out of how they shouldn't get to hear this shit.

This is a classic, nostalgic for me.

Pas le style de musique pour moi.

- Obligatory "Fuck Marilyn Manson." - While I am not the biggest fan of his music, I get the appeal and this is essentially his classic stuff. - I felt gross even playing his music given all of the allegations against him lately...that lowered the grade.

Wicked

This music gives me a visceral reaction, like staring at a seed pod or other Trypophobia inducing pattern. My skin feels tense and nausea builds in my throat. I can continue to listen, but I know my blood pressure and gag reflex will dissipate if turn it off. I will say that I liked the drums in Beautiful People but the whole album feels so forced... \"look at me, I'm angry and have dark thoughts!\" being screamed at me for over an hour is simply unpleasant.

An awful album by a disgusting freak. Edgy for the sake of edgyness, 0 artistic merit anywhere.

Marilyn Manson is obviously a fucked up and disgusting human being, but I ignored that as much as possible and focused solely on the music. It actually started way less shit than I expected, some of the riffs were pretty good, but the lyrics and the music is just still garbage. Was actually close to a 2 for me as it wasn't absolutely terrible and I could see myself listen to this if I'd be in some random satanic mood, but first of all I have the option to just listen to better metal, and also this was just way too long to endure, not to mention the ear cancer I got from the end of 'Mister Superstar'. One.

Awful, an insult to music.

👎🏼

Joining the group late, I had a lot of catch-up work to do. I “saved” MM for last because to be honest I was dreading the thought of listening to screaming and compressed music for over an hour. The tone of his voice sounds like the hounds of hell, which I guess is the point. Like most, I have always loved “The Beautiful People” and that song holds up and fits this style perfectly. The rest of it I can do without. He did an excellent job with covering “Tainted Love” later, but those two tracks are pretty much all the love I have for MM.

It is noisy but very good!

This was an appropriately titled album as it was a hellish experience trying to listen to it.

Removing the art from the artist this was a decent album. Had great energy and a few really good songs. But Mr Manson is a scumbag

I thought I was going to love this at first, but once it settled in it was just ok

I grew up being weirded out by this guy and by the kids who liked him. Listening to it now, it's just kinda meh. A bit embarrassing actually. Shock rock that takes itself too seriously, and is actually way more polished/commercial-sounding than I remember. Would much rather just listen to Alice Cooper. Or NIN. Or Ozzy. Still, 2 stars because "The Beautiful People" has a good beat, and because this album landed like a grenade back in 1996.

If you'd asked me to rate this in 1997 I'd probably have gone a bit higher. Not sure it's aged that well. And nor has he...

- immediately demoted in stars cause it’s marilyn manson

Nah

5/5. I understand it is just the modern The Wall basically, but damn does this slap so hard. I’ve always heard opinions about Manson so avoided it but damn, wish I found this sooner. It’s metal, punk, and rock all in one. The riffs and the guitar front and center are awesome. There are quiet songs that are haunting but highlights are definitely just the ripping and shredding in most songs. Don’t quite get the concept yet, read it was a concept album, but it seems dark and terrifying, so excited to continue listening.

Sometimes it's difficult to rate music because it can be hard for me to separate my knowledge of the terrible things the musician has done from their talent and skill. Luckily, this time it's not hard at all, because Marilyn Manson's music sucks as much as he does.

Not really my jam, but it did lead to some good follow on tracks

the beautiful people and tourniquet are okay but otherwise hard to listen to

I figured I’d never listened to this beyond Beautiful People, but I got flashbacks to a LAN party in 1998 when Jared was playing this and Mechanical Animals on repeat ALL NIGHT. Jared, you’re a weird one. Anyway, there’s a lot of anger and no subtlety in the writing, and lots of interesting things in the engineering. Important arguments made about hegemony, commercialism, celebrity, but Altogether, it’s about as redeeming as a Nuremberg Rally speech, but still “notable” in a similar sort of way. Glad I listened. Influential artifact of a specific time, and good for a bucket list, not a “best” list.

A rock/metal album definitely worth hearing. But still I miss something to be able to say "great album".

Let’s fuckin buckle in. Was never a big fan of this screamo dark rock. It’s just so over the top that it makes me want to barf blood. I will say this to its credit; impeccable production, very original writing, obviously unique vocals, and some seriously tight instrumentation. Not much to dislike unless the genre just isn’t your vibe. It also definitely overstays its welcome. I don’t care how much you like Marilyn, an hour twelve is too much. 3/5

Only got halfway through this and had to take a break. Genre not my cup of tea but I get the point and Mason delivers 100%.

Jesus christ is my savior!

Boo.