Revision as of 00:23, 16 July 2011

This article is about the album. For the tour, see Portrait of an American Family (tour).

Portrait of an American Family
Studio album by Marilyn Manson
Released	July 19, 1994
Recorded	August–December 1993 at Criteria Studios in Miami, Florida, Record Plant Studios in Los Angeles, California, The Village Recorder and Pig
Genre	Alternative metal, heavy metal, industrial metal
Length	61:05
Label	Nothing, Interscope
Producer	Marilyn Manson, Trent Reznor
Professional reviews
Allmusic Template:Rating 3.5 link
Marilyn Manson chronology
The Manson Family Album (N/A) Portrait of an American Family (1994) Smells Like Children (1995)

Portrait of an American Family is the first studio 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. Contrary to popular belief, Ramirez did not play bass on the album.

Portrait of an American Family was re-released by Interscope Records in 2009, as a special edition green vinyl boxset and shirt featuring the front cover. This reissue's featured imagery from The High End of Low on the record's labels, much to the dismay of fans.

Cultural references

The Portrait of an American Family album has an especially wide array of American cultural references. The words "Go on and smile, you cunt" at the beginning of "Cake and Sodomy" are spoken by Marlon Brando in the film Last Tango in Paris. In the song "Dogma", there is a sample from the John Waters film Pink Flamingos, when Mink Stole's character says "Burn, you fucker!" before setting fire to a trailer. Although the clip from Desperate Living is credited in the liner notes, this audio clip is not. Furthermore, John Waters was thanked in the liner notes. The phrase "We're gonna 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 track "My Monkey" borrows certain lyrics from a Charles Manson song called "Mechanical Man;" the lyrics of "My Monkey" are credited simply to "Manson". At 02:29 of "Get Your Gunn", there is a sample of a crowd murmuring and a gun shot. This is the audio from the press conference in which Budd Dwyer committed suicide in front of an audience. The words to "Prelude (The Family Trip)" come from Roald Dahl's book Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Also, the printing of Marilyn Manson on various promos during this time and on the remix album Smells Like Children resemble the printing of the title to the 1971 film version of the novel.

"Killing is killing, whether done for duty, profit or fun" is a quote by Richard Ramirez that is an audio clip at the start of "Snake Eyes and Sissies". "Organ Grinder" features the sample "Lollipops for the kiddie winkies," spoken by the Child Catcher from the movie Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. At the start of "Cyclops" there is a very slowed down and distorted sample of the preacher from Poltergeist II singing "God Is In His Holy Temple". "Dope Hat" contains the samples "the great Hoodoo!" and "Prepare to meet your doom" taken from the Sid and Marty Krofft cult TV show Lidsville. These words are spoken by the actor Charles Nelson Reilly. "Lunchbox" contains the sample "I bring you fire!" from the song "Fire" by The Crazy World of Arthur Brown. "Misery Machine" contains a sample from "Beep Beep" by The Playmates. "Wrapped in Plastic" is influenced by Twin Peaks, referencing the image of character Laura Palmer wrapped in plastic, which was one of the show's most enduring images. It also featured the distorted words "Hallelujah" and "Meanwhile" from the Twin Peaks scene in the Black Lodge. This is followed by the distinctive scream of Laura Palmer.

In Marilyn Manson book, The Long Hard Road Out of Hell, he describes that Wrapped In Plastic is a song that's about his past at his grandfather's basement and the scream in the end of the song is Manson's voice distorted and backwards. The family jams version of the song gives the listener better detail of this fact.

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" – 13:11

Bonus tracks

14. "Down in the Park" (Argentina bonus track) – 5:00

15. "Brown Bag" (Argentina bonus track) – 6:19

Singles

Portrait of an American Family spawned two official singles and one promo-only release:

Official

• "Get Your Gunn"
• "Lunchbox"

Promo only

• "Dope Hat"

Album credits

Cover gallery

Charts and certifications

Album charts

Singles

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Trivia

• 
  "Snake Eyes and Sissies" was originally planned as the lead single but never released; "Get Your Gunn" was released instead. It also was originally 5:09, and had extra lyrics.
• Marilyn Manson created the clay sculpture on the cover of the album.
• Manson had initially wanted to put a nude photo of himself as a child for the album artwork. The record company deemed it would be seen as child pornography, so Manson created the album artwork with the clay figures.
• 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". The sample, "Go home to your mother! Doesn't she ever watch you!? Tell her this isn't some Communist day-care center! Tell your mother I hate her! Tell your mother I hate you!" is spoken by Mink Stole from the John Waters 1977 film "Desperate Living". After this, a telephone can be heard ringing very quietly for several minutes, which is then followed an irate answering machine message, presumably from a parent of a Manson fan.
• 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".
• Roli Mosimann was the original producer of the album, however due to the direction the album was taking the band felt his production was not what they were looking for and Trent Reznor took over the producer role while Mossiman was credited as the engineer.
• The album's original title was The Manson Family Album.
• The song "Filth" was planned to be officially released on Portrait of an American Family but was replaced by "Wrapped in Plastic" instead, and this Reznor-produced version has never been officially released.
• The track "My Monkey" is different from the one on Big Black Bus.
• One of the release parties for the album was held in Fort Lauderdale, Florida on June 29th, 1994.
• One of the release parties for the album was held in Plantation, Florida on July 18th, 1994.
• In late 2009, Hot Topic stores began selling a combination set of a t-shirt baring the album artwork and colored vinyl of the album. The color of the vinyl is green, matching most fonts from the time.

Credits and personnel

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Marilyn Manson^[3]

• Mr. Manson – vocals, producer, brass, loops, artwork, adaptation, composer, logo (credited as "accusations, child manipulations, backwards masking, polaroids")
• Daisy Berkowitz – guitars, acoustic guitars, composer (credited as "psychoacoustical guitars")
• Madonna Wayne Gacy – calliope, hammond organ, saxophone, theremin, brass, overdubs, loops, composer, sound effects (credited as "hammond organ, theremin, saxophone, calliopenis, brass, babies, distorted muzette, loops")
• Sara Lee Lucas – drums, sound effects (credited as "hitting")
• Gidget Gein – bass, composer
• Twiggy Ramirez – "base tendencies" (an often misunderstood pun, which of course, would be different from the bass guitar)

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Production^[3]

• Trent Reznor – executive producer, digital editing, editing, pandora, programming, mixing, brass, guitar
• Robin Finck – synthesis, keyboards (uncredited on album, however Manson has confirmed his involvement)
• Roli Mosimann – engineer
• Sean Beavan – assistant, assistant producer, programming, digital editing, editing, mixing, brass
• Alan Moulder – assistant, assistant producer, engineer, mixing
• Charlie Clouser – drums, African drums, drum programming, digital editing, editing
• Chris Vrenna – percussion, programming, assistant engineer
• Tom Baker – mastering
• Chris Meyer – engineer
• Barry Goldberg – assistant, assistant engineer
• Brian Pollack – assistant, assistant engineer
• Brian Scheuble – assistant, assistant engineer
• Mark Gruber – assistant, assistant engineer
• Hope Nichols – saxophone, vocals
• Robert Pierce – vocals
• Robin Perine – photography
• Jeffrey Weiss – photography
• Gary Talpas – packaging
• Marc Freegard – mixing
• Wade Wright – mood lighting
• Albert Sgambati – tattoos
• Donovan Stringer – tattoos
• Frank Callari – management
• John Tovar – management
• Sioux Z. – publicity
• Melissa Romero – performance

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References

Footnotes

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Bibliography

• Manson, Marilyn; Strauss, Neil (February 14, 1998). The Long Hard Road Out of Hell. New York: HarperCollins division ReganBooks. ISBN 0-06-039258-4. 

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