When Marilyn Manson's One Assassination Under God – Chapter 2 debuted at No. 41 on the Billboard 200, Forbes described the result as a new career low for the controversial musician. In terms of the Billboard 200 itself, that description is accurate. Chapter 2 became Manson's first traditional studio album since his debut to miss the Top 40, falling one position short of the threshold that every other regular studio album had reached since Portrait of an American Family . His previous album, One Assassination Under God – Chapter 1 , had reached No. 32 in 2024, while We Are Chaos had reached No. 8 in 2020. It would therefore be pointless to argue that the No. 41 position somehow does not represent a decline. It plainly does. What deserves closer examination, however, is what that decline actually tells us about Manson's audience and his current position within the music industry, because the Billboard 200 is only one measurement of an album's performance. When the oth...
Love and Rockets Concert Poster from March 1996 In the journal section of Marilyn Manson's autobiography The Long Hard Road Out Of Hell , he describes his first meeting with the band members of Bauhaus and Love and Rockets - Daniel Ash, Kevin Haskins and David J. It is dated January 29, 1997 and says it was written in San Diego at 7 A.M. It is an interesting description of their first meeting. It basically begins with Daniel Ash wanting to hang out with Manson, Manson showing hospitality to his guests and musical idols, and him kissing Manson's ass and wanting to remix a Manson song. But then Daniel Ash takes a 180 turn out of nowhere and starts making accusations against Manson based on rumors and tells him his career is going nowhere. Manson seemed to be very disappointed with the fact that a musical idol of his turned on him over a bunch of false rumors that he was a devil worshiper and rape advocate. When you read this in light of the accusations brought against Manson to...