Revision as of 06:12, 25 March 2007

Portrait of an American Family is the first album by Marilyn Manson, released on July 19, 1994 by Interscope Records. It was initially called The Manson Family Album, but was retitled prior to release. It is the first and only Marilyn Manson studio album that bassist Gidget Gein plays on. Gein was fired for his drug problem after the production and Twiggy Ramirez, a friend of Manson, was inducted into the band. Ramirez did not play bass on the album contrary to popular belief.

Track listing

1. "Prelude (The Family Trip)" – 1:20
2. "Cake and Sodomy" – 3:46
3. "Lunchbox" – 4:32
4. "Organ Grinder" – 4:22
5. "Cyclops" – 3:32
6. "Dope Hat" – 4:21
7. "Get Your Gunn" – 3:18
8. "Wrapped in Plastic" – 5:35
9. "Dogma" – 3:22
10. "Sweet Tooth" – 5:03
11. "Snake Eyes and Sissies" – 4:07
12. "My Monkey" – 4:31
13. "Misery Machine" – 5:50

Trivia

• 2 minutes and 29 seconds into "Get Your Gunn", there is a sample of a crowd murmuring and a gun shot. This is the audio from the conference in which Bud Dwyer committed suicide in front of an audience during a press conference.
• Although there are technically no hidden tracks on the album, there is some additional audio a few seconds after the end of last track, "Misery Machine", involving a concerned mother who is calling the band's hotline in regards of removing her son's name from the mailing list — threatening to use legal action.
• Bassist Gidget Gein was fired after the production of this album.
• Daisy Berkowitz helped compose music for all of the songs except "Prelude (The Family Trip)" and "Sweet Tooth".
• "Snake Eyes and Sissies" was originally planned as the lead single but never released; "Get Your Gunn" was released instead.
• The album's original title was The Manson Family Album.
• The phrase "We gotta ride to the Abbey of Thelema" in the song "Misery Machine" is a reference to Aleister Crowley's Abbey of Thelema, which was used as the Headquarters from which the doctrines of Thelema would be spread throughout the world.
• The song "Filth" was deleted from the album prior to release, and has never been officially released.
• The track "My Monkey" borrows certain lyrics from a Charles Manson song called "Mechanical Man"; the lyrics of "My Monkey" are credited simply to "Manson".

Personnel

• Marilyn Manson — vocals, producer, brass, loops, artwork
• Daisy Berkowitz — guitars
• Madonna Wayne Gacy — calliope, Hammond organ, saxophone, theremin, brass, overdubs, loops
• Sara Lee Lucas — drums, sound effects
• Gidget Gein — bass
• Twiggy Ramirez — live bass (in an often misunderstood pun, Twiggy is listed in album artwork as "base tendencies", due to the fact that Gidget Gein played bass on the album)
• Trent Reznor — producer, executive producer, digital editing, programming, mixing, brass, guitar
• Robin Finck — synthesis, keyboards (uncredited on album, however Manson has confirmed his involvement)
• Roli Mosimann — engineer
• Sean Beavan — assistant producer, programming, digital editing
• Alan Moulder — assistant producer, engineer, mixing
• Charlie Clouser — drums, drum programming, editing
• Chris Vrenna — percussion, programming, assistant engineer
• Tom Baker — mastering
• Chris Meyer — engineer
• Barry Goldberg — assistant engineer
• Brian Pollack — assistant engineer
• Brian Scheuble — assistant engineer
• Mark Gruber — assistant engineer
• Hope Nichols — saxophone, vocals
• Robin Perine — photography
• Jeffrey Weiss — photography
• Gary Talpas — packaging