Portrait of an American Family: the 30th Anniversary
The Blind Eternities forum
Posted on Nov. 17, 2024, 3:13 p.m. by DemonDragonJ
This year is the 30th anniversary of Portrait of an American Family, the debut album by Marilyn Manson. Marilyn Manson was a performer and shock artist in the same vein as Alice Cooper and Rob Zombie (and has toured with both of them, as well), with a fearsome appearance, elaborate live performances, and dark and creepy music that features horror-themed lyrics. Many people complained about the content of the music, stating that it was a corrupting influence on the youth of the nation, and responsible for acts of violence that occurred around the time of its release, but such complaints did little to deter the album's popularity, helping to establish Manson as the next major shock rocker, following in the footsteps of Alice Cooper and White Zombie (Rob Zombie had not yet started his solo career, at that time).
The songs of the album are in an industrial metal style, very similar to that of Ministry or White Zombie, and Manson sings lyrics that focus equally on fantastic horror and on relevant social issues (such as abortion, as mentioned in Get Your Gunn), drug addiction (Dope Hat), or sexual abuse (Cake and Sodomy), making it an ideal album for angsty youth who were feeling disaffected and directionless in life. I, myself, have been a fan of Manson for many years, and I appreciate his talent for horror and theatricality, so I certainly am very glad that I discovered his music, during my adolescent years, when I was still lacking in confidence and uncertain about my life, as the music allowed me to escape and feel more comfortable and confident, with myself.
I dearly hope that Manson did something, earlier, this year, to commemorate the anniversary of his debut album, since that milestone definitely should be commemorated. What does everyone else say, about this subject? How do you feel about this year being the 30th anniversary of Marilyn Manson's debut album?
He is 1/2 responsible for my favorite xmas music mash-up: All I Want for Xmas Is... The Beautiful People. I listen to it every holiday time.
Otherwise, in hindsight, it turns out that I did indeed like his sound a bit & I probably listened to some of the negative hype in the 90's instead of just listening with my ears
FormOverFunction says... #2
Back when I did some college radio I was part of an industrial show that got me a lot of exposure to that genre (16-volt/chemlab/etc). Manson was a big part of that, but seemed to fall prey to success… like what happened to Pearl Jam and Nirvana and all the rest of those 90’s bands. I was never a fan of the pagentry of his shows (or any live music, I guess) but definitely appreciate some of those killer tracks.
November 17, 2024 6:58 p.m.