…And popular music was never the same again. That’s how this story began for anyone following the career of Marilyn Manson, though few can claim to have seen it coming except for the star himself. Surely if you asked him, he visualized, created, dreamed and willed his ugly, beautiful, heavy baby into existence with Portrait of an American Family (Nothing/Interscope). His real-life nightmare/snuff film/acid trip/Satanist/Nietzche manifesto on the psyche of the modern world gave birth to a legion of fans and imitators the same way his heroes Bowie, KISS, Alice Cooper, Black Sabbath, Arthur Brown, The Doors, Iggy and the Stooges, and more did. Continue reading →