Antichrist Superstar by Marilyn Manson

Antichrist Superstar, the second Marilyn Manson album, crawled out on Nothing and Interscope on October 8, 1996. It was cut at Nothing Studios in New Orleans, with Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails producing alongside Manson himself, Sean Beavan and ex-Skinny Puppy producer Dave Ogilvie. The sessions were soaked in drugs and bad blood, and founding guitarist Daisy Berkowitz was fired partway through, his last appearance on a Manson record.

It's a rock opera, the opening chapter of a trilogy, about a creature who strips humanity of its power and uses it to bring the world down, a nightmare parable aimed straight at the Christian right and conservative America. The music grinds and lurches like industrial machinery with a pulse, and "The Beautiful People" stamps it all into a playground chant. It entered the Billboard 200 at number three, moved almost two million copies in America alone, and at least one critic credited it with knocking grunge off its throne.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.