Marilyn Manson - Antichrist Superstar

I've said it before: Manson is generally better when he's not trying to be the boogie man. So, I've not much of a proponent of Antichrist Superstar, which unabashedly baits for controversy with its title and music. At seventeen songs, it's way too long. Every song seems to be built around the same 90s industrial grind, but it lacks Nine Inch Nails' taste for atmosphere while turning the theatrics up to 11. The big hit, "The Beautiful People," is the best thing on here. The strangest thing is that, for an album that's almost entirely driven by aggressive guitars, nothing sounds as heavy as it should, which lessens the impact. Manson got better over his next few releases.

Marilyn Manson - Mechanical Animals

When all is said and done, Marilyn Manson's a pretty shitty boogeyman. If anything in his oeuvre can be called scary, it's the darkly ominous Holy Wood. His shock tactics are blatant and shameless, and his lyrics can sometimes border on being an unintelligible mix of naughty words. The music, especially Antichrist Superstar always sound somehow less heavy than they should. So all in all, I prefer Manson when he's being a bit more theatrical. Here, taking a page from Bowie with a semi-concept album about an alien rock star (or some such bullshit) works better than most. Because it's got one Gary Glitter boot firmly in the realm of glam rock, he's free to stretch out a bit. The gospel singers on "I Don't Like the Drugs," for example, add a little bit of flavor to what otherwise would be an interminable stomp. The sinister, snake like first single "The Dope Show" ranks as the best track here, but the rest has a sort of flamboyant charm to it, making it my second favorite Manson album (first place goes to the absurd The Golden Age of Grotesque).