Antichrist Superstar
is the second
studio album
by American rock band
It was released on
October 8, 1996,
by Nothing
and Interscope Records.
It was recorded at
Nothing Studios
in New Orleans
and produced by
the band's eponymous
vocalist
along with
Sean Beavan,
former
Skinny Puppy
producer
Dave Ogilvie
and
Trent Reznor
of
Nine Inch Nails.
The recording of the album
was marred by
excessive drug use,
which provoked a
high level of antagonism
between band members.
Consequently,
it was their last release
to feature
contributions from
founding guitarist
Daisy Berkowitz,
who was
acrimoniously fired
partway through recording.
A rock opera
and a concept album,
Antichrist Superstar
was the first installment
in a trilogy which
included
succeeding releases
Mechanical Animals
(1998)
and
Holy Wood
(In the Shadow of the Valley of Death)
(2000).
The central storyline
on the album
revolved around
a supernatural being
who seizes all power
from humanity
in order to initiate
an apocalyptic end event;
a populist demagogue
who is driven solely
by resentment,
misanthropy,
and despair,
he uses his
newfound position
to destroy the world.
The record
can be seen as
a social critique,
utilizing this premise
as a metaphor
for the perceived
fascist elements
of the conservative
political movement
and the
Christian right in
North America.
Preceded by
"The Beautiful People",
whose music video
received
three nominations
at the 1997
MTV
Video Music Awards,
the album was both
a critical and
commercial success.
Lorraine Ali
of Rolling Stone
credited
Antichrist Superstar
with ending
the dominance
of grunge within
popular music.
In the years since
its release,
various publications
have listed it among
the best albums of
the 1990's.
The album debuted at
number three
on the
Billboard 200,
and has sold
almost
two million copies
in the
United States alone.
As of 2011,
worldwide album sales
had surpassed
over seven
million copies.
The album was
supported by
the controversial
"Dead to the World Tour",
which was
heavily criticized
by elements of the
Christian right.
Nearly every
North American venue
the band visited was
picketed by
religious organizations,
predominantly
because of
unfounded,
exaggerated claims of
onstage
drug use,
bestiality,
and
Satanic rituals,
including animal
and even
human sacrifice.
The band also
found itself
the target of
congressional hearings,
which attempted to
implicate the group
in a fan's suicide.
Several previously
unreleased recordings
were issued on
soundtracks
throughout 1997,
including
"Apple of Sodom"
and
"Long Hard Road Out of Hell".
Background and development
Marilyn Manson
was formed in 1989
by the vocalist
and by the guitarist
Daisy Berkowitz.
For the next seven years,
the name of every band member
was created by
combining the stage name
of a female
pop culture icon
with the surname of
a male serial killer.
Their highly visualized concerts
quickly earned them
a loyal fanbase in
the South Florida
punk and hardcore
music scene.
Within six months
of forming,
they were performing
sold-out concerts
in 300-capacity nightclubs
throughout Florida.
Eventually,
the band gained the attention
of Nine Inch Nails
vocalist
Trent Reznor,
who signed them to his
Nothing Records
vanity label;
Reznor produced their
1994 debut album,
Portrait of an American Family.
This was followed by
the 1995 EP
Smells Like Children,
which contained their
commercially successful single,
a cover of the Eurythmics'
"Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)".
Antichrist Superstar
was recorded over an
eight-month period at
Nothing Studios
in New Orleans
by an extensive group
of musicians.
Along with the remaining members
of Marilyn Manson
Twiggy Ramirez,
Madonna Wayne Gacy,
and
Ginger Fish
Nine Inch Nails
guitarists
Robin Finck
and
Danny Lohner
and drummer
Chris Vrenna
participated.
The record was initially
produced by
the vocalist alongside
Trent Reznor
and former
Skinny Puppy
producer
Dave Ogilvie.
The process of creating
the album was
long and difficult,
highlighted by
experiments involving
near-constant drug use
and sleep deprivation
in an effort to create
a violent and hostile environment
suited to the album's content.
Manson has admitted to
heavily experimenting
with prescription painkillers
including forms of
morphine sulphate
and hydrocodone
during recording;
he also claimed he
regularly inserted
sewing needles
underneath his fingernails
to test his
pain threshold.
Initial sessions were
unproductive,
and routinely culminated in
the destruction of the studio,
as well as the group's
own equipment
and instruments.
There was also a high level
of antagonism
between band members,
with most of this directed
toward founding guitarist
Daisy Berkowitz.
He later claimed to
have been
"shut out"
of recording sessions,
and alleged that
much of his equipment
was destroyed,
such as the
four-track recorder
which had been used to
produce many of
the band's early demos,
along with his drum machine.
The latter was subsequently
revealed to have been
thrown from a
second-story window.
This animosity resulted in
Ramirez performing
the majority of guitar work
on the record
Antichrist Superstar
is a rock opera
concept album,
and its title is
based on the
1971
Andrew Lloyd Webber
musical
Jesus Christ Superstar.
The central storyline of the album
revolves around a supernatural being
a demagogic rockstar
who seizes all political power
from humanity in order
to initiate an
apocalyptic end event.
This underlying concept
was both inspired by
and a tribute to the work of
German philosopher
Friedrich Nietzsche,
specifically his
philosophical concept
of an
Übermensch.
It was also influenced by
"the idea of putting yourself
through a transformation
to become something superhuman",
which Manson said he
garnered from
Nietzsche's
The Antichrist.
The album is a social critique
which utilizes this premise
as a metaphor
for the perceived
fascist elements
of the conservative
political movement
and the Christian right
in North America.
Manson also cited
David Bowie's
"We Are the Dead"
(1974)
as a major influence
on the album lyrically,
saying:
"I remember hearing [that] song
in the Nineties,
when I first moved to L.A.
It wouldn't have had
the same impact on me
if I'd heard it when I
was a kid in Ohio
it felt like it was
about the culture
of Hollywood,
the disgusting cannibalism."
BONUS CD
REMIX & REPENT
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