Editing Interview:1998/12 CMJ Omega Man
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In a decade that’s seen the very idea of the rock star blasted apart by bands and artists raised on the anti-celebrity gospel of punk, [[Marilyn Manson]] has emerged as the first of his kind: a larger-than-life sex, drugs, and rock ‘n’ roll star ready, willing, and able to fate the end of the century in full make-up determined to march toward the 21st century in his own version of high-heeled boots leading an army of fans. It says a lot about the 90‘s and what these years have lacked that Manson has become such an object of fascination for the media, that his relatively straightforward artistic statements have become the subject of such frantic deep analyses. As rock stars must, he’s drawn inspiration primarily from the most universal of archetypes, from the scatologically obsessed vampire-boy of his early years (the Unholy Undead), to the Antichrist of Antichrist Superstar (Satan in S&M pants), to his latest creation, the Starman Omega (Major Tom with breasts), his most literal and modern metaphor yet.<br> | In a decade that’s seen the very idea of the rock star blasted apart by bands and artists raised on the anti-celebrity gospel of punk, [[Marilyn Manson]] has emerged as the first of his kind: a larger-than-life sex, drugs, and rock ‘n’ roll star ready, willing, and able to fate the end of the century in full make-up determined to march toward the 21st century in his own version of high-heeled boots leading an army of fans. It says a lot about the 90‘s and what these years have lacked that Manson has become such an object of fascination for the media, that his relatively straightforward artistic statements have become the subject of such frantic deep analyses. As rock stars must, he’s drawn inspiration primarily from the most universal of archetypes, from the scatologically obsessed vampire-boy of his early years (the Unholy Undead), to the Antichrist of Antichrist Superstar (Satan in S&M pants), to his latest creation, the Starman Omega (Major Tom with breasts), his most literal and modern metaphor yet.<br> | ||
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| − | “I was imagining Omega to be the most exaggerated | + | “I was imagining Omega to be the most exaggerated extention of what the [[Antichrist Superstar]] was, everything that glam rock has ever been and then some,” says Manson. “To me glam rock has always meant a very sarcastic and over-the-top flamboyant image that was hiding something that was darker and more depressing underneath. That was always the irony of glam rock to me. A lot of people never really looked beneath that. Even in the ‘80‘s music there was that. To me, ‘70‘s glam rock went on to become the ‘80‘s new wave and there’s been a real void in the ‘90‘s since grunge music sort of put rock to sleep for a while. I’ve always been trying to bring it back as much as I could. I think the last great rock bands were Jane’s Addiction and Guns ‘N’ Roses. It’s been really quiet since then.. A lot of people approach it as a product, and I just want to remind people that it’s an art form. Because when there’s one band doing something it raises the standards for the rest of them. I think we’re on the brink of a great period of music after being in a really shitty one. I’d like to see people take music more seriously and be more involved as artists. I think rap music has been doing that, but that rock music has been kind of lazy in that regard.” |
Listen to [[Mechanical Animals]] and you’ll hear the obvious strains an allusions to the ghosts of glam-rock past, Marc Bolan, Mott The Hoople and, mainly, Bowie’s Ziggy Stardust. (Manson’s not the first former metalhead who talks way too much about drugs to pilfer this past: Stone Temple Pilot Scott Weiland was trying to pull and Aladdin Sane earlier this year until he got busted for putting his money where his mouth was in Alphabet City.) Read the lyrics to the album’s 14 tunes and you’ll hear a familiar story, that of the androgynous alien android undergoing a painful transformation of Earth, learning to be human, wrestling with the new sensations and emotions, seeing the corruption and hypocrisy of our world with unblinded eyes. It’s as if Manson began by reinventing himself as Bowie’s Major Tom, strung-out in heaven high hitting an all time low (“ A dead astronaut in space,” as Manson puts it in “[[Disassociative]]”), and then threw caution to the wind and decided to rewrite The Man Who Fell To Earth as a rock opera.<br> | Listen to [[Mechanical Animals]] and you’ll hear the obvious strains an allusions to the ghosts of glam-rock past, Marc Bolan, Mott The Hoople and, mainly, Bowie’s Ziggy Stardust. (Manson’s not the first former metalhead who talks way too much about drugs to pilfer this past: Stone Temple Pilot Scott Weiland was trying to pull and Aladdin Sane earlier this year until he got busted for putting his money where his mouth was in Alphabet City.) Read the lyrics to the album’s 14 tunes and you’ll hear a familiar story, that of the androgynous alien android undergoing a painful transformation of Earth, learning to be human, wrestling with the new sensations and emotions, seeing the corruption and hypocrisy of our world with unblinded eyes. It’s as if Manson began by reinventing himself as Bowie’s Major Tom, strung-out in heaven high hitting an all time low (“ A dead astronaut in space,” as Manson puts it in “[[Disassociative]]”), and then threw caution to the wind and decided to rewrite The Man Who Fell To Earth as a rock opera.<br> | ||
