Score one for the grotesque over the gangsta. “The Golden Age of Grotesque,” the newest album by Goth rocker Marilyn Manson, topped the album sales charts in the past week, selling about 118,000 copies in the week ended May 18, industry tracker Nielsen SoundScan said on Wednesday. Gangsta rap artist 50 Cent was No. 2 with his major label debut, “Get Rich or Die Tryin’,” which sold 107,000 copies, taking its cumulative sales to 4.7 million. The newest release by Manson, the self-proclaimed “Antichrist Superstar,” features songs with headbanging riffs including “Use Your Fist and Not Your Mouth.” Opening at… Read more »
Marilyn Manson and bassist Twiggy Ramirez have parted ways. Ramirez had been with the Manson band for eight years, beginning with its 1994 release Portrait of an American Family, and he co-wrote some of Manson’s biggest hits, including “The Dope Show” and “The Beautiful People.” According to a statement by Manson, the split with Ramirez was a result of creative differences over the band’s upcoming album, The Golden Age of Grotesque. “I have spent eight months transforming this band and our new songs into an unstoppable juggernaut, and sadly Twiggy wasn’t able to make himself a part of it,” Manson… Read more »
Marilyn Manson won’t be traveling to Michigan this week to continue his court case on charges of misdemeanor assault-and-battery and inappropriate sexual conduct. A pre-sentencing hearing on the charges, which were reduced from criminal proceedings last December, has been postponed from Thursday (April 25) to May 1 as attorneys for both sides wait for 52nd District Court Judge Julie Nicholson to rule on a prosecution appeal of Judge Gerald E. McNally’s refusal to remove himself from the case. Prosecutors charge that McNally compromised himself by indicating his sentencing inclination-fines of $2,000 and no jail time-during the December hearing. Nicholson, who… Read more »
Marilyn Manson and the mother of a woman who died in a car crash following a party at his home last April are beginning to face off, as Manson is now considering a countersuit to the wrongful death suit she filed last week. Maria St. John accuses Manson (born Brian Warner) of providing her daughter, Jennifer Syme, with cocaine and instructing her to drive while under the influence. Manson addressed the lawsuit last week in a statement expressing sorrow for Syme’s death while claiming she had been given a designated driver. This week he issued another statement, calling the accusations… Read more »
Marilyn Manson will have to wait a little longer to get his day in court in Michigan. The shock rocker’s hearing on charges of criminal sexual conduct and assault-and-battery, slated first for November 9 and then for tomorrow (December 7), has now been moved again to December 28 at the request of his attorney Walter Piszczatowski, who is involved in another trial. The hearing will still take place before Judge Gerald E. McNally of the 52nd District Court in Clarkston, Michigan. Manson is free on $25,000 personal bail after a September 21 arraignment at the court. The charges stem from… Read more »
Marilyn Manson aren’t the only modern rockers revisiting ’80s hits for the soundtrack to “Not Another Teen Movie,” which comes out December 4. In addition to monsieur Manson’s creepy version of “Tainted Love,” which was a top 10 hit for Soft Cell in 1982, the disc will feature Goldfinger covering Nena’s “99 Red Balloons,” Saliva tackling the Pretenders’ “Message of Love,” Mest covering Modern English’s “I Melt With You,” Muse reworking the Smiths’ “Please, Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want,” Good Charlotte playing Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark’s “If You Leave” and Phantom Planet covering Jackson Browne’s “Somebody’s… Read more »
During Ozzfest’s stop Thursday in Denver, where the curious and the converted clamored equally for a view at the foot of the stage, Manson introduced two of his favorite themes – religion and government – by blaring an aorta-rumbling choral rendition of “God Bless America” through every one of Mile High Stadium’s aged speakers. Flags blazed on the video screens above the stage; fireworks and fighter jets would not have been out of place. When Manson finally did appear (sporting a flowing black gown and a “Bride of Frankenstein” wig), his hands were outstretched in a gesture that might have… Read more »
Despite protests from a local organization, Marilyn Manson claims that he will indeed be performing at the Denver stop of the Ozzfest summer tour, and he promises a “wholesome Bible reading” during his performance. “I am truly amazed that after all this time, religious groups still need to attack entertainment and use these tragedies as a pitiful excuse for their own self-serving publicity,” Manson wrote in a post on his official Web site. “In response to their protests, I will provide a show where I balance my songs with a wholesome Bible reading. This way, fans will not only hear… Read more »
Even up until the day of the concert, I wasn’t fully prepared for what I was about to experience.
Basslines and Protest Signs is Brett Callwood’s column looking at the intersection of music and politics. This week talks about separating the art from the artist.
