Marilyn Manson was designed to be shocking, controversial and to deliver poppy industrial-rock singles. It succeeded on all counts, and nearly had his career cancelled along the way a few times. But there’s no escaping the fact that Manson is one of the most successful artists in alternative rock.
With charges against the singer recently dropped, a new album that’s precisely what you’d expect, and a legacy that’s hard to deny, regardless of attempts to drown it out, it’s time to examine the very best songs.
Note that I’ve left out cover songs. Manson has plenty of successful ones. But he has a lot more strong originals that are worth investigating.
These are Marilyn Manson’s 10 best songs.
Greatest 10 Songs by Marilyn Manson
10. “Dope Hat”
Before Marilyn Manson was a solo artist, it was a band. Originally dubbed Marilyn Manson & the Spooky Kids, the group set out to shock and terrorise Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The tactics? Creating a scary mash-up of children’s cartoons, celebrity fetishism and serial killer obsessions.
“Dope Hat” is the best early track by the band, of which each member had assumed the name of one of the aforementioned serial killers.
It turned the debut album, “Portrait of an American Family”, into a surprise hit, and its video, a horror remake of “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory”, sparked a long love affair with MTV.
9. “Raise the Red Flag”
The more things change, the more they stay the same. Manson seemed all but vanquished in the 2020s. Allegations (later dropped) of sexual abuse were levelled against him, and mainstream media, once again, had a horse to beat.
It’d been a shame for the music, though. Manson had just released a string of his finest albums from 2009 onwards.
Longtime fans were treated to a return to darkness with the typically titled “One Assassination Under God.” The first single was the revenge fantasy of “Raise the Red Flag.”
And while the lyrics are a little on the nose and the vocals don’t ring out quite as loosely, it’s still the sort of song that will keep admirers happy and invested in the never-ending drama of Manson’s career.
8. “mOBSCENE”
In retrospect, the global fascination with Manson’s shtick lasted longer than one would have expected. But that was, in no small part, due to the singer and his band delivering on the promise of danceable, evil music.
“The Golden Age of Grotesque” was the band’s most palatable record. The hooks and image remained strong, and MTV, still a big player at this point, continued to extend its support.
“mOBSCENE” sounded like a derranged pop song from an upcoming era of sins and debauchery. Wouldn’t you know it? This was a colossal hit.
7. “Rock is Dead”
For some, Marilyn Manson was the great hope of 2000s rock. Others thought that the band was bastardising all that rock stood for.
Manson himself, ever clever and astute, claimed that there was no rock music to fight for. Ironically, “Rock is Dead” featured one of the biggest industrial-infused sounds of any single of the era.
The line may have been lifted straight from Jim Morrison. But wasn’t Manson, in his way, a version of the Lizard King himself?
6. “The Fight Song”
Maybe Manson overextended himself. Instead of becoming an even bigger pop star, he’d had the rug pulled from under his feet following press attempts to link him to the Columbine school shooting.
Manson reacted by cutting off the big concepts and returning to his roots – music for alienated teens. This produced one of the most consistent albums in the discography, “Holy Wood,” and a colossal anthem about school violence, “The Fight Song.”
5. “Deep Six”
Just when you think it is all over, Manson tends to make a comeback. Those who hate the singer and his posturing will have been bothered by these twists and turns for the last decades.
In fact, against the odds, in 2015, Manson, working with the great guitarist/producer Tyler Bates, made an undeniably strong album, “The Pale Emperor.”
On “Deep Six,” Manson’s lyrics are clever, the melodies are striking, and the sound feels modern and energised. What will it take to stop this guy?
4. “Disposable Teens”
People will disagree, but I don’t think Manson was wholly cynical in his attempt to win over teenagers to his band’s side. Born Brian Warner, the future Mr. Manson, had been a shy, bookish, and often bullied kid from Florida. He’s reinvented himself as a vengeful, all-powerful rockstar. But he hadn’t forgotten where he started, nor lost sight of who might be impressed by this transformation.
“Disposable Teens” sounds like a marching band drifting into an industrial metal show. There’s no knocking the rhythmic elements, nor Manson’s resonant singing.
It was a song (and video) that frightened parents and thrilled teenagers. It’s part of rock’s never-ending mission.
3. “The Dope Show”
People missed the point of “The Dope Show.” Manson was fashioning himself as a David Bowie-like chameleon, tossing away characters after each album cycle.
“Mechanical Animals” was Manson’s futuristic, industrial-rock “Ziggy Stardust.” It failed to live up to commercial expectations. But the sleazy glam-rock of “The Dope Show” is one of the band’s finest songs.
2. “The Beautiful People”
Is it true that Manson was a drummer first? That’d explain a lot. Inspired by Trent Reznor’s Nine Inch Nails and by bands of percussionists, “The Beautiful People” was an undeniably memorable song.
The fact that the heavy metal sound and Apocalyptic imagery made it onto TVs everywhere turned Marilyn Manson into an anti-hero.
But listen closer, and you’ll discover some clever anti-fascist lyrics that have never been more apt than today.
1. “The Nobodies”
The Marilyn Manson band sang about gruesome things. Then, one day, those happened, and with nobody left to blame, parents turned against the musicians.
The presence of that horror, and the ghosts that lingered after the Columbine Massacre, make their way into “The Nobodies,” an uncharacteristically minimalist arrangement that provides an emotional sucker punch.
Other songs are bigger or more successful, but “The Nobodies” is Marilyn Manson’s shining hour and one of the greatest songs in alternative music.
