Marilyn Manson

by Kurt Reighley

For the public, the triumph of Marilyn Manson happened in the blink of an eye, beginning with the debut of their 1994 "Album Portrait of an American Family", an event which led to a cover on "Rolling Stone" and the group's MTV smash "Sweet Dreams". This biography offers an all-encompassing look at the success of this controversial band.

Genres: Music, Biography, Nonfiction

192 pages, Paperback

First published April 15, 1998

Reviews

[Kitt-e-kat · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read Marilyn Manson's autobiography & this book seems acurate about Marilyn Manson himself, I like that this book gets more into the business of the group about the other members of the group and details about them making their first three albums. It doesn't get into sex and drugs problems they had so you'll have to read his autobiography for all that stuff. This book doesn't really go into about his childhood and life either. ALot of facts taken from Magazine articles and interviews. But its still intersting to read.

[Shirin · Rating 2 out of 5]

This unauthorized biography of the shock rocker is perhaps most interesting because it provides the perspective of the band of the same name’s co-founder, Daisy Berkowitz. This is interesting, because until Daisy’s untimely passing in 2017, he and Mr. Manson tended to treat one another like a bitterly divorced couple fighting over custody of their child — which, in some ways, they were. For this reason, if this book is read alongside the Marilyn Manson’s autobiography, it feels like a shock rock version of Rashomon. For some examples?

Q: Why did they decide to collaborate in the first place?
LHROOH: Not clear: Manson seems to loathe Daisy from the beginning and also thought he was a talentless hack.
MMKR: Manson could write lyrics, but couldn’t play any instruments while Daisy knew how to play instruments, but had little experience writing lyrics or singing.

Q: What happened with the remixing of Portrait of an American Family?
LHROOH: Daisy showed up in Los Angeles and was rude to everyone and also was not interested in the hearing the remixes because... IDK, he was just a dick like that, I guess.
MMKR: Daisy felt excluded, since the remixes had been done when he wasn’t present and thus felt like giving his input at that point was useless, since no one had seemed concerned with his opinion anyway.

Q: What happened when it became clear that Gidget Gein was a heroin addict?
LHROOH: Manson decided he hated Gidget for being a weakling and was really glad to see the back end of him.
MMKR: Manson was extremely upset at Gidget’s heroin addiction and felt conflicted about having to fire him.

Q: What kind of things were happening during the recording of Antichrist Superstar?
LHROOH: Manson, Twiggy, and Pogo were experimenting with sleep deprivation during the recording.
MMKR: “Sleep deprivation” was a euphemism for cocaine use and partying.

Another rather funny example of the Rashomon quality of the two accounts is their varying views of Trent Reznor. In this case, Manson and Daisy both seemed to have acted like a pair of feuding kid brothers who were quite certain that the other was Mommy’s special boy and were seething with jealousy over the real or perceived favoritism. I present, as evidence, these two passages:

But when we played the rough, four-track demos to Trent to ask his opinion, he seemed primarily concerned with the fact Scott didn’t play guitar on it. “Listen,” I explained. “We don’t even know if we can work with this guy. He doesn’t understand the direction we’re going in at all.”

“He’s the backbone behind Marilyn Manson,” Trent warned. “Marilyn Manson is known for his guitar style.” John Malm, our manager and label head, agreed.

A wave of frustration surged through my body. I dug a fingernail into my side to keep it in check. “I’ve read a hundred articles and not one person has ever even mentioned guitars,” I said, pissed off. “In fact, nobody even talks about the songs. I want to write good songs that people are gonna fucking talk about.”

— The Long Hard Road Out of Hell by Neil Strauss and Brian Warner

“It’s a funny thing,” recalls Daisy. “When Trent said he wanted to redo the record, Brian flew out to L.A. early, and he was the only one in the band that was out there. So the remixes that they did, I had no say in.” Naturally, this did not sit well with the guitarist. When the rest of the band was flown out to commence rerecording at the Record Plant in L.A., they heard the new versions for the first time. And Daisy’s opinion was not high on their list of worries. “We got into the studio, and they played us the remixes, and they didn’t seem really concerned as to what I thought.”

Two years later, when Marilyn Manson were opening for Danzig on the road, Reznor commented to Berkowitz that he’d been very disappointed that the guitarist had seemed so nonplussed upon hearing the new renditions. “I felt like, ‘Okay, you remixed ‘em, you didn’t even call me or anything.’ And I felt really excluded. Here they were, just playing me the remixes. I knew that they would not change anything based on me saying, ‘Well, I know this should be redone and...’ It would have been a lot more work to change something that I thought needed to be changed, so I didn’t say anything. “I was glad they were done, but don’t throw me a bone…”

— Marilyn Manson by Kurt Reighley

I mean... yeah. In this case, though, it’s very difficult to even hazard a guess of which of their perceptions were closer to the objective reality and, unfortunately, we’re not likely to ever get a statement from either Trent or John Malm on what they were actually both thinking.

In any case, this book feels a lot less edgelordy and grimy than the autobiography, but is also sadly less unintentionally humorous. There are some exceptions, though.

The section of the book discussing Daisy’s departure from the band is very strong on the “bitter divorce” vibes, from both sides, complete with them disagreeing on who loves their baby (e.g. the band and especially its fans) more and with Twiggy Ramirez playing the role of the homewrecking temptress.

[Linden · Rating 4 out of 5]

Given that this was the "unauthorized" biography, I wondered if the content was going to be particularly critical of Manson. Instead, I discovered what felt to be a fairly balanced and realistic picture of a person. Following the ups and downs of the rock scene, the challenges of turning personal philosophy into something marketable, and navigating personal relationships. Marilyn Manson is depicted as neither a good guy that's just misunderstood nor a villain to be reviled.

I'm really glad I read this, and I would recommend it to anyone who has been curious about the man or the band over the years.

[Katelyn Phillis · Rating 4 out of 5]

While this book did provide information that Manson had overlooked in his auto-biography, I feel that the author allowing Daisy to provide his insight created a lot of biased throughout the book. While what he was saying could have been true, it might also have been exaggerated due to his harsh feelings towards the band.

[Moemoe · Rating 5 out of 5]

i loved this book i use to be very big in him and i whanted to know every thing there is on him and the band i would recmend it if your a fan and ya'll wanna no more on the band

[Chris Chaos · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book that is slightly different than the rest and provides a different viewpoint than is usually talked about.