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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 in 1996. 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 7.5 million copies worldwide as of 2008[1].

Background

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.

Many of the album's riffs are based on the notes of a diminished pentatonic minor scale. This scale in D runs D E F G Ab, and is a staple of metal songwriting, being preferred due to its dark tone (this being due to its combination of a minor key and the inclusion of the tri-tone Devil's Interval, the interval brought to rock in the main riff of the song "Black Sabbath", and banned in the middle ages for its supposedly demonic qualities). The Devil's Interval can be heard in the first ten chord-strikes of "The Beautiful People". Other songs built around the diminished pentatonic minor include "Irresponsible Hate Anthem" and "Little Horn".

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 you fold the booklet just right you 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." 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, except track 1 (with Ramirez)

Cycle I - The Heirophant
No.TitleMusicLength
1."Irresponsible Hate Anthem"Berkowitz, Gacy4:17
2."The Beautiful People"Ramirez3:38
3."Dried Up, Tied and Dead to the World"Manson, Ramirez4:16
4."Tourniquet"Berkowitz, Ramirez4:45
Cycle II - Inauguration of the Worm
No.TitleMusicLength
5."Little Horn"Ramirez, Reznor2:43
6."Cryptorchid"Gacy2:44
7."Deformography"Ramirez, Reznor4:31
8."Wormboy"Berkowitz, Ramirez3:56
9."Mister Superstar"Ramirez5:04
10."Angel with the Scabbed Wings"Manson, Ramirez, Gacy3:52
11."Kinderfeld"Ramirez, Gacy4:51
Cycle III - Disintegrator Rising
No.TitleMusicLength
12."Antichrist Superstar"Ramirez, Gacy5:14
13."1996"Ramirez4:01
14."Minute of Decay"Manson4:44
15."The Reflecting God"Ramirez, Reznor5:36
16."Man That You Fear"Ramirez, Manson, Gacy, Berkowitz6:10
99.Untitled (hidden track)Gacy, Ramirez1:39
Notes
  • While consisting of three cycles, (much like the 2000 release Holy Wood) the album was still released on a single disc.
  • There have been a lot of rumors regarding the name for Track 99. No name has been confirmed, however there are alternative titles such as "Empty Sounds Of Hate" or "Dying Years". On The Marilyn Manson Collection available on iTunes this track is given the name "Ghost Track".

B-sides

Chart positions

Album

Year Chart Position
1996 Billboard 200 3

Singles

Year Single Chart Position
1996 "The Beautiful People" Modern Rock Tracks 26
Mainstream Rock Tracks 29
1997 "Tourniquet" 30

VIDEOS

Credits

References

  1. ^ "Antichrist Superstar has sold 7 million copies worldwide". MTV. Retrieved 2008. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
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