The Golden Age of Grotesque is the fifth studio album by American rock band Marilyn Manson. It was released on May 13, 2003, by Nothing and Interscope Records, and was their first album to feature former KMFDM member Tim Sköld, who joined after longtime bassist Twiggy Ramirez amicably left the group over creative differences. It was also their final studio album to feature keyboardist Madonna Wayne Gacy and guitarist John 5, who would both acrimoniously quit before the release of the band's next studio album.
The record was produced by Marilyn Manson and Sköld, with co-production from Ben Grosse. Musically, it is less metallic than the band's earlier work, instead being more electronic and beat-driven. This was done to avoid creating music similar to hip-hop influenced forms of nu metal, a then-predominant genre that the vocalist considered cliché. Despite this, the album's sound has been compared to the likes of several nu metal bands, notably Slipknot and Korn. Manson collaborated with artist Gottfried Helnwein to create several projects associated with the album, including Doppelherz, a 25-minute surrealist short film which was released on limited edition units of the record as a bonus DVD. The Golden Age of Grotesque was also the title of the Manson's first art exhibition.
The album's lyrical content is relatively straightforward, and was inspired by the swing, burlesque, cabaret and vaudeville movements of Germany's Weimar Republic-era, specifically 1920s Berlin. In an extended metaphor, Manson compares his own work to the Entartete Kunst banned by the Nazi regime as he attempts to examine the mindset of lunatics and children during times of crisis. Several songs incorporate elements commonly found in playground chants and nursery rhymes. "Mobscene" (stylized as "mOBSCENE") and "This Is the New Shit" were released as singles, and a controversial music video was released for "Saint" (stylized as "(s)AINT").
The record received mixed reviews from mainstream music critics: some praised its concept and production, while others criticized its lyrics and described the album as uneven. Despite this, it was a commercial success, selling over 400,000 copies in Europe on its first week to debut at number one on Billboards European Top 100 Albums. It also topped various national record charts, including Austria, Canada, Germany, Italy, Switzerland and the US Billboard 200. It was certified gold in many of these territories. "Mobscene" was nominated in the Best Metal Performance category at the 46th Annual Grammy Awards in 2004. The album was supported by the Grotesk Burlesk Tour.
Background and recording After the band completed work on what became their triptych of albums (2000's Holy Wood (In the Shadow of the Valley of Death), 1998's Mechanical Animals and 1996's Antichrist Superstar), the band was free to begin a fresh project. In late 2001, the eponymous vocalist worked with composer Marco Beltrami and former KMFDM multi-instrumentalist Tim Sköld to create an original score for the 2002 film Resident Evil. This was the second project on which Manson collaborated with Sköld, after the band's cover of "Tainted Love", which became an international hit when released as a single from the Not Another Teen Movie OST in 2001. The Resident Evil OST was released in March 2002, and included a remix of "The Fight Song" created by Slipknot drummer Joey Jordison. The soundtrack to Queen of the Damned was also released that month, which featured Manson performing lead vocals on the Jonathan Davis-composed track "Redeemer". On May 29, Sköld became an official band member when Twiggy Ramirez amicably left the group, citing creative differences.
The album was produced by Manson, Sköld, and Ben Grosse. It was recorded at Ocean Way Recording and the band's own Doppelherz Blood Treatment Facility in Los Angeles, as well as Grosse's The Mix Room in Burbank, California. Most of the songwriting effort was shared between Tim Sköld, John 5 and Manson, with the latter describing it as the most focused record in the band's discography. During the album's early stages of development, Manson indicated that both Jordison and Canadian musician Peaches had contributed to material, although neither artist appears on the album. Several songs on the record feature backing vocals by Andrew Baines of Tennessee, a 16-year-old fan who had been diagnosed with a terminal illness. This collaboration had been facilitated by the Make-A-Wish Foundation, with Manson saying that he "wanted to make Andrew a permanent part of history, sealed up in distortion and megabytes of plastic."
"Para-Noir" contains a distinctive guitar solo from John 5, who performed it in one take using an unfamiliar, out-of-tune guitar whilst blindfolded. "Ka-Boom Ka-Boom" was the final song composed for the record, and was written in response to criticism made by the head of the A&R division of Interscope Records, who said that the album "had no kaboom". In a 2008 interview with a now-defunct fansite, Manson claimed to have performed the majority of the keyboards and synthesizer on the album, and not the band's longtime keyboardist Madonna Wayne Gacy. According to Manson, Gacy displayed little interest in contributing creatively, and eventually detached himself from the rest of the group to such a degree that he refused to attend studio sessions when informed that recording was to begin in June 2002. As a result, Manson received musical composition credits for eleven of the fifteen tracks on the record, in addition to his usual lyrical credits.
Musically, the album is more electronic and beat-driven than preceding releases, with reviewers commenting that its sound is at times reminiscent of KMFDM. This has been attributed to Sköld, who was a member of that band immediately prior to his arrival in Marilyn Manson. It is also not as metallic as their earlier work, with Manson explaining to MTV that he wanted to create music which was dissimilar to the nu metal being played on radio at the time. He also noted the influence of early industrial rock acts such as Ministry, Big Black and Nitzer Ebb on the material. Early twentieth-century German composer Kurt Weill was also claimed as an influence, along with the lucid dreams Manson was having during the album's production, elaborating that he would "wake up and say, 'I want to write a song that sounds like a stampeding elephant' or 'I want to write a song that sounds like a burning piano'."
Themes and artwork
The vocalist would later describe the period surrounding The Golden Age of Grotesque as being one of his most creative. He was inspired by then-girlfriend, burlesque performance artist Dita Von Teese, into exploring the decadent swing, burlesque, cabaret and vaudeville movements of Germany's Weimar Republic-era, specifically 1920s Berlin. He explained to Kerrang! that the album's content was inspired by "the lengths that people [in pre-Nazi Germany] went to in order to live their lives to the fullest and to make their entertainment as imaginative and extreme as possible." He also found inspiration in the flamboyance of Dandyism, along with the cultural and artistic movements of Surrealism and Dadaism, the life of the Marquis de Sade, and the theater of the grotesque.
Eschewing the lyrical depth and volume of symbolism found on Holy Wood (In the Shadow of the Valley of Death) (2000), the album is relatively straightforward: its lyrical content primarily deals with relationships, and, in an extended metaphor, Manson compares his own often-criticized work to the Entartete Kunst banned by the Nazi regime. The record utilizes the narrative mode of stream of consciousness as Manson attempts to examine the response of the human psyche during times of crisis, particularly focusing on the mindset of lunatics and children. These were of particular interest to the vocalist, as "they don't follow the rules [of society]." Several songs incorporate elements commonly found in playground chants and nursery rhymes, which Manson would "pervert into something ugly and lurid."
Manson began his long-term collaboration with Austrian-Irish artist Gottfried Helnwein in May 2002, collaborating on several projects associated with the album. In addition to the album artwork, the pair created large-scale multi-media installation art pieces that would go on to be exhibited in various galleries throughout Europe and the United States. These were also displayed at the album's launch party at The Key Club in Los Angeles. They also worked together on the music video to lead single "Mobscene" (stylized as "mOBSCENE"), as well as images which accompanied Manson's essay for The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum. Helnwein later expressed disappointment that the latter was not selected as the album cover. Many of the images found in the album artwork were inspired by illustrations found in Mel Gordon's 2000 book Voluptuous Panic: The Erotic World of Weimar Berlin. Concerned that Gordon might take issue with use of the book's material, Manson called Gordon, who said he could not imagine a greater compliment than a popular music album based on an academic book. The Golden Age of Grotesque was also the title of Manson's first art exhibition, which took place in September 2002 at the Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions Center.
Release and promotion
On February 18, 2003, Manson revealed the album's release date and track listing via the band's official website. The album was preceded by the release of its lead single, "Mobscene", which was serviced to mainstream and alternative rock radio formats on April 21. Its music video was directed by Manson and Thomas Kloss. The single was backed by a remix of the song created by The Prodigy vocalist Keith Flint. The song became one of the band's biggest worldwide hits, peaking in the top 20 of numerous national record charts, and at number one in Portugal. It peaked at number 18 on Billboards Mainstream Rock Chart, making it their best-performing single on that chart since "The Dope Show" reached number 12 in 1998. The song was nominated in the Best Metal Performance category at the 46th Annual Grammy Awards in 2004, losing out to Metallica's "St. Anger".
A series of unique launch parties titled "Grotesque Burlesque" took place in advance of the album's US release on May 13. The first of these occurred in Berlin on April 4, followed by several more shows throughout Europe. The final event took place at The Key Club in Los Angeles on May 12. These shows featured large-scale artwork by Helnwein and Manson, a burlesque performance by Von Teese, and an acoustic set from Manson backed by two female pianists. Limited edition copies of the album included a DVD entitled Doppelherz (Double Heart), a 25-minute surrealist short film directed by Manson which featured art direction by Helnwein. The film's audio consists of a repeating loop of album opener "Thaeter", accompanied by a stream-of-consciousness spoken-word recitation from Manson.
On May 16, the band performed both "Mobscene" and "This Is the New Shit" on Jimmy Kimmel Live!. The latter was released as the album's second single, and its music video was shot in Belgium on June 17 and featured over 100 fans. A controversial music video was independently produced for the song "Saint" (stylized as "(s)AINT"). Directed by Asia Argento and containing scenes of violence, nudity, masturbation, drug-use and self-mutilation, Interscope considered it "too graphic" and refused to be associated with the project, although it was later included on international editions of the Lest We Forget: The Best Of bonus DVD. NME referred to the video as "one of the most explicit music videos ever made", and both Time and SF Weekly included it on their respective lists of the 'Most Controversial Music Videos'.