Line #106 Music/AntichristSuperstar


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/antichrist_superstar_4170.jpg]]
2
3	->''"When you are suffering, know that I have betrayed you."''
4	-->-- "Antichrist Superstar"
5
6	->''"When all of your wishes are granted, many of your dreams will be destroyed."''
7	-->-- "Man That You Fear"
8
9
10	''Antichrist Superstar'' is the second studio album by Music/MarilynManson, released in 1996.
11
12	It is part of a trilogy (or a "triptych") of RockOpera {{Concept Album}}s alongside Manson's two following releases, ''Music/MechanicalAnimals'' (1998) and ''Music/HolyWoodInTheShadowOfTheValleyOfDeath'' (2000). However, since the series' story is told in reverse chronological order, ''Antichrist Superstar'' therefore ends the narrative.
13
14	The central storyline on the album revolves around a supernatural being who seizes all power from humanity and becomes a hate-driven demagogue in order to initiate an apocalyptic end event, with the premise serving as a metaphor for the perceived fascism of conservatism and artificial beauty.
15
16	In retrospect, ''Antichrist Superstar'' has been credited for bringing an end to the {{grunge}} craze within popular music and has been honored as one of the greatest hard rock albums of all time (although its sound is closer to IndustrialMetal). It's best known for the title track and the single "The Beautiful People", which has gone on to become one of the band's {{signature song}}s and be used as the opening theme for ''Wrestling/WWESmackDown'' between 2001 and 2003.
17
18	----
19	!!Tracklist:
20	# "Irresponsible Hate Anthem" - (4:17)
21	# "The Beautiful People" - (3:38)
22	# "Dried Up, Tied and Dead to the World" - (4:15)
23	# "Tourniquet" - (4:29)
24	# "Little Horn" - (2:43)
25	# "Cryptorchid" - (2:44)
26	# "Deformography" - (4:31)
27	# "Wormboy" - (3:56)
28	# "Mister Superstar" - (5:04)
29	# "Angel with the Scabbed Wings" - (3:52)
30	# "Kinderfeld" - (4:51)
31	# "Antichrist Superstar" - (5:14)
32	# "1996" - (4:01)
33	# "The Minute of Decay" - (4:44)
34	# "The Reflecting God" - (5:36)
35	# "Man That You Fear" - (6:10)
36	# "Untitled" - (1:39)
37
38	!!The Beautiful Tropes:
39
40	[[foldercontrol]]
41
42	[[folder:The album as a whole]]
43	* AlbumFiller: Tracks 17 until 98 are all silent tracks.
44	* AntiChrist: The whole album is about the concept of the antichrist coming back to earth, although in a rather metaphorical sense.
45	-->''The time has come, it is quite clear\
46	Our antichrist is almost here... it is done'' ("Antichrist Superstar")
47	* ArcWords: "When you are suffering, know that I have betrayed you" and "When all of your wishes are granted, many of your dreams will be destroyed" only appear in one song as SpokenWordInMusic respectively, but are obviously there to reflect all of the albums themes.
48	* AsTheGoodBookSays: The booklet of the album makes reference to "Revelation", chapter 12, verses one to five.
49	* BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor: The antichrist superstar rises to become the PhysicalGod he always dreamed of being, but crosses the DespairEventHorizon in the process and destroys the earth in a nihilistic rage. The last words of the album are actually "when all of your wishes are granted, many of your dreams will be destroyed" - [[BrokenRecord repeated]] over and over amidst a wall of static.
50	* BiblicalMotifs: The motive of anti-christ as the one who rejects faith, also ''"your apple has been rotten"'' in "Man That You Fear".
51	* BookEnds: The opening and closing seconds of the album include the distorted phrase:
52	-->''When you are suffering, know that I have betrayed you.''
53	* ConceptAlbum: The album deals with society's obsession with artificial beauty as its highest ideal and is divided in three cycles: "The Heirophant" (track 1-4), "Inauguration of the Worm" (track 5-11) and "Disintegrator Rising" (track 12-99).
54	* DownerEnding: The album--and the whole overarching narrative of the triptych--ends with the protagonist transforming into the Antichrist Superstar, whose motivations [[BlueAndOrangeMorality transcend any sense of morality]], as a result of being ostracized by society. They become so nihilistic and disgusted with humanity that they instigate a genocide of the human race that ends with the whole planet being destroyed.
55	* FaceOnTheCover: Marilyn's face is partially shown on the right side of the album.
56	* FadingIntoTheNextSong: "Irresponsible Hate Anthem" → "The Beautiful People", "Tourniquet" → "Little Horn", "Kinderfeld" → "Antichrist Superstar", "The Reflecting God" → "Man That You Fear", "Track 99" → "Irresponsible Hate Anthem"
57	* FromNobodyToNightmare: The overarching storyline, at least from cycle II on (starting with "Little Horn"), the protagonist starts out as pathetic worm, gets his wings and becomes the antichrist superstar.
58	-->''Then I got my wings and I never even knew it,\
59	when I was a worm, thought I couldn't get through it'' ("Wormboy", repeated in "Kinderfeld")
60	* PunBasedTitle: The album title is a pun of ''Film/JesusChristSuperstar''.
61	* RuleOfThree: The album is divided in three cycles.
62	* ShoutOut:
63	** The album title is a parody of ''Film/JesusChristSuperstar.''
64	** Creator/FriedrichNietzsche was a main inspiration for the themes and lyrics.
65	* SubliminalSeduction: Many songs of the album use backmasking to creature bizarre sounds. See [[https://www.mansonwiki.com/wiki/Backmasking_in_Marilyn_Manson_songs here]]
66	* TarotMotifs: The whole album has them, the first cycle is called "The Heirophant" (a typical tarot motif).
67	* TerrorHero: What the hero is, targeting on the deepest fears of TheBeautifulElite. Like Manson said in interviews from this era, his concept was to represent and poke into the biggest fears of the religious right-wing.
68	* {{Ubermensch}}: The antichrist superstar himself. He reaches beyond conventional morality to break the chains of conservatism, religious belief and artificial beauty.
69	[[/folder]]
70
71	[[folder:Individual songs]]
72	* AccentuateTheNegative:
73	** "1996" lists a lot of stuff the antichrist is against, many contradicting themselves.
74	** "The Minute Of Decay" puts the focus on things that are falling apart:
75	--->''I've looked ahead and saw a world that's dead\
76	I guess that I am too''
77	* AcCENTUponTheWrongSylLABle: At one point in "The Beautiful People", Manson pronounces "capitalism" as "ca-PI-ta-LI-sm" to match the cadence of the song.
78	* AddedAlliterativeAppeal: "Little Horn"
79	-->''The worms will wait with baited breath''
80	* AlbumTitleDrop: Happens during "1996" and ''not'', as you might assume, during the title track.
81	-->''Anti-people now you've gone too far...\
82	Here is your antichrist superstar''
83	* AllAmericanFace: Parodied in "Irresponsible Hate Anthem", where being all-American makes you a moron:
84	-->''I am so all-American, I'll sell you suicide\
85	I am totalitarian, I've got abortions in my eyes''
86	* AmbiguousSyntax: In "The Reflecting God", is the protagonist looking at himself ashamed shortly after looking at god or is he already god and is as such watching himself? Also does "reflecting" mean like "pondering" or "in a mirror"?
87	-->''I went to god just to see, and I was looking at me\
88	saw heaven and hell were lies, when I'm god everyone dies''
89	* AnnualTitle: "1996". The same year the album was released.
90	* AntiAntiChrist: Discussed in "1996".
91	-->''Here is your antichrist superstar\
92	(...) Anti Satan\
93	Anti song and anti me\
94	I don't deserve a chance to be''
95	* TheBeautifulElite: Deconstructed in "The Beautiful People", as their so-called beauty is just artificial and hides a huge pile of darkness beneath, as constantly seeing yourself as beautiful makes you fail to see how dirty you really are, almost leading to BeautyIsBad.
96	-->''The beautiful people, the beautiful people\
97	It's all relative to the size of your steeple\
98	You can't see the forest full of trees\
99	And you can't smell your own shit on your knees.''
100	* BirthDeathJuxtaposition: In "Minute of Decay" to show that the downward spiral is inevitable.
101	-->''The minute that it's born, it begins to die\
102	I'd love to just give in, I'd love to live this lie''
103	* BlindObedience: A central theme thoughout the album, people just believe whatever they want to believe (mostly in "Irresposible Hate Anthem" and "Antichrist Superstar").
104	* {{Bowdlerise}}: The radio version of "The Beautiful People" changed "Hate every ''motherfucker'' that's in your way" to "Hate every ''other hater'' that's in your way".
105	* BrokenRecord:
106	** In "Antichrist Superstar" the line "when you're suffering know that I have betrayed you is repeated over and over again.
107	** In "Man That You Fear", the last line is repeated over and over again: [[note]]This line originates from a fortune cookie.[[/note]]
108	--->''When all of your wishes are granted, many of your dreams will be destroyed.''
109	* CallBack: "Beautiful People" has a sample by Tex Watson, a member of the Charles Manson cult. UsefulNotes/CharlesManson was referenced earlier on ''Music/PortraitOfAnAmericanFamily'' (1994) and ''Music/SmellsLikeChildren'' (1995). The sample itself also was used in the Spooky Kids era track "Dune Buggy".
110	* CallForward: The following lines originating in "Cryptorchid" are then reheard six tracks later in "Antichrist Superstar":
111	-->''Prick your finger it is done\
112	The moon has now eclipsed the sun\
113	Angel has spread it's wings\
114	The time has come for bitter things''
115	* CapitalismIsBad: Capitalism is portrayed negatively in "The Beautiful People"
116	-->''Capitalism has made it this way, old-fashioned fascism will take it away.''
117	* CarefulWithThatAxe: Aside from regularly screaming his lines, Marilyn lets out a straight-up scream multiple times in "1996".
118	* ClusterFBomb: The pre-hook of "Irresponsible Hate Anthem".
119	-->''Fuck it, fuck it, fuck it, fuck it''
120	* CoolPeopleRebelAgainstAuthority: Manson criticized society's obsession with organized religion and beauty as the highest ideal. This is further implied in the music video of "The Beautiful People" and manifests the most in "Irresponsible Hate-Anthem":
121	-->''I wasn't born with enough middle fingers\
122	I don't need to choose a side''
123	* DreamWithinADream: One is described in "The Reflecting God", although we can't be sure how it will work out.
124	-->''There is a dream inside a dream, I'm wide awake the more I sleep\
125	you'll understand when I'm dead''
126	* EpicRocking: "Antichrist Superstar", "The Reflecting God", and "Man That You Fear" are all 5-6 minutes long.
127	* EvilLaugh: Marilyn chuckles at the start of the "1996" after saying "light a candle for the sinners/set the world on fire".
128	* FlippingTheBird: In "Irresponsible Hate Anthem", we learn that you can never do enough of this.
129	-->''I wasn't born with enough middle fingers.''
130	* ForeignLanguageTitle: "Kinderfeld" is German and means "children field"
131	* FreudWasRight: In "The Beautiful People" we get a glimpse of what the size of steeples really means.
132	-->''The beautiful people, the beautiful people,\
133	It's all relative to the size of your steeple'' [...]\
134	''It's as anatomic as the size of your steeple''
135	* HatesEveryoneEqually: Invoked in "The Beautiful People":
136	-->''There's no time to discriminate\
137	Hate every motherfucker that's in your way''
138	* HiddenTrack: The album ends with one that follows the final song, "Man That You Fear", after 82 silent 4-second tracks. It has been referred to under multiple names like "Better Messiah", "Dying Years", "Minister", "Empty Sounds of Hate", "Untitled", and "Track 99". If the album is looped, the pacing of "Irresponsible Hate Anthem" matches the distorted recitation of the hidden track, [[BookEnds forming a perfect loop]].
139	* HydraProblem: "Antichrist Superstar" shows that fighting against the rising disintegrator is futile as is just too strong like the hydra.
140	-->''Cut the head off, grows back hard\
141	I am the hydra, now you'll see your star.''
142	* IfICantHaveYou: "Mister Superstar".
143	-->''Hey, Mister Superstar,\
144	I'll kill myself for you.\
145	Hey, Mister Superstar,\
146	I'll kill you if I can't have you.''
147	* IHateSong: "Irresponsible Hate Anthem" is about all that is hateworthy.
148	* ImmediateSelfContradiction: "1996".
149	-->''Anti gay and anti dope\
150	I am the faggot anti-pope''
151	%%* KickTheDog: "Little Horn"
152	%%--> ''Someone better get the dog to kick''
153	* IKnowWhatYouFear: Being confronted with the darkest things in one's own soul, as depicted in "Kinderfeld".
154	-->''This is what you should fear, you are what you should fear.'' [[note]]These lyrics also appear in "Astonishing Panorama of the Endtimes".[[/note]]
155	* ListSong: "1996" lists all kinds of things the protagonist is against.
156	* MagicalAbortion: Used in "Man That You Fear" to make a point how society disguises an abortion to keep up a shiny facade. One line refers to a story in which Manson as a child found a coffee can with something rotting inside. His mother told him it was discarded meat, but later told him that it was actually an aborted fetus.
157	-->''Spread me open, sticking to my pointy ribs\
158	are all your infants in abortion cribs''
159	* MightMakesRight: At least discussed in "The Beautiful People", where the weak only are there for the strong, this also makes references to VirtueIsWeakness:
160	--> ''It's not your fault that you're always wrong'' \
161	''The weak ones are there to justify the strong''
162	* MinisculeRocking: The HiddenTrack that ends the album is around one-and-a-half minutes long.
163	* MisfortuneCookie: The last line in "Man That You Fear" is taken from a fortune cookie but put into a much more destructive context.
164	-->''When all of your wishes are granted, many of your dreams will be destroyed...''
165	* MonsterFanGirl: Parodied in "Mister Superstar", where a female LoonyFan goes crazy about any kind of new "star":
166	-->''Hey, Mr. Superstar, I'll kill myself for you\
167	Hey, Mr. Superstar, I'll kill you if I can't have you\
168	Superstar, superfuck baby''
169	* MushroomSamba: In "Dried Up, Tied and Dead to the World" the hero goes through a heavy one when being high on cocaine:
170	-->''I'll be your lover, I'll be forever\
171	I'll be tomorrow, I am anything when I'm high\
172	Don't you want some of this?''
173	* MyCountryTisOfTheeThatISting: Used in "Irresponsible Hate Anthem" to show how uncritical obedience makes you an idiot:
174	-->''I'm so all-American, I'll sell you suicide, I am totalitarian, I've got abortions in my eyes'' [...] \
175	''America cannot see anything, history is written by the winner, fuck it!''
176	* OffingTheOffspring: In "Man That You Fear" this is done by a desperate parent but can't heal the emotional wounds of the perpetrator.
177	-->''You've poisoned all your children, to camouflage your scars.''
178	* OneManSong: "Wormboy" and "Man That You Fear".
179	* OneWordTitle: "Tourniquet", "Cryptorchid", "Deformography", "Wormboy" and "Kinderfeld".
180	* {{Sampling}}:
181	** "The Beautiful People" contains a distorted spoken-word sample of Tex Watson saying [We would] swoop down on the town...[and] kill everyone that wasn't beautiful."
182	** "Minute of Decay" begins with a heavily distorted sample from a film adaptation of ''Literature/NineteenEightyFour'' that says "From a dead man...greetings".
183	* PrayerIsALastResort: Parodied and deconstructed in "Man That You Fear" as it shows someone (a mother?) who desperately prays to escape her never-ending pain but sadly fails:
184	-->''Pray until you're number, asleep from all your pain\
185	Your apple has been rotting, tomorrow's turned up dead.'' [...] \
186	''Pray unto the splinters, pray unto your fear,\
187	pray your life was just a dream, the cut that never heals.''
188	* RealLifeWritesThePlot:
189	** "Kinderfeld" ("children field") is about Manson's grandfather who had model trains in his basement which he turned on full volume when masturbating in secrecy. One day Manson hid in the basement and witnessed this and became deeply disturbed.
190	** "Man That You Fear" was inspired by an incident during Manson's youth when he found a coffee can with something rotting inside. His mother told him it was discarded meat, but later told him that it was actually an aborted fetus. [[note]]Other sources cite that this song was created, when Brian Warner went to a family gathering, and nobody wanted to talk to him.[[/note]]
191	* RockBottom: Manson backmasked the line ''"This is my lowest point of vulnerability"'' into "Tourniquet". This was not an exaggeration as he admits in his autobiography.
192	* RussianReversal: Used in "Man That You Fear" to show the absurd level of obsession with television:
193	-->''The ants are in the sugar, muscles atrophied\
194	We're on the other side, the screen is us and we're TV''
195	* SelfDeprecation:
196	** "Tourniquet:"
197	--->''You never ever believed in me\
198	I am your tourniquet''
199	** "1996:"
200	--->''Anti song and anti me\
201	I don't deserve a chance to be''
202	* SerialKillerKiller: The idea behind "Irresposible Hate Anthem":
203	-->''I hate the hater, I rape the raper'' \
204	''I am the animal who will not be himself.''
205	* ShoutOut:
206	** "The Beautiful People" was inspired by Marilyn Bender's 1967 book of the same name. Her book dealt with world of scandal within the "jet-set" lifestyle of the 1960's, and the culture of beauty, as it pertained to fashion and politics. The song also has a distorted spoken sample, by UsefulNotes/CharlesManson member Tex Watson and the line: "How does it feel to be one of the beautiful people?" is a reference to the Music/TheBeatles' song "Baby, You're a Rich Man," from ''Music/MagicalMysteryTour.'' "The Beautiful People" has also been found to be related to the book "The Age of Manipulation: The Con in Confidence, The Sin in Sincere," which is also referenced in "Deep Six" off ''The Pale Emperor'' from 2015.
207	** The line ''"when you wish upon your star"'' in "Deformography," references the theme song "When You Wish Upon a Star" from ''WesternAnimation/{{Pinocchio}}.''
208	--->''When you wish upon your star, don't let yourself fall, fall in too hard.''
209	** In the music video of "Man That You Fear", Manson portrays a man who is condemned to die and is "chosen" by random chance. The video features all events of his last day on earth, leading up to his death by stoning in an isolated location of the desert. It is very reminiscent of Shirley Jackson's short story ''Literature/TheLottery''.
210	* TheSongBeforeTheStorm: "Antichrist Superstar" sets everything for the most brutal song on the album, "1996", music-wise and lyrics-wise:
211	-->''Now you'll see your star...''
212	* SubliminalSeduction: "Tourniquet" begins with a backmasked vocal saying "This is my lowest point of vulnerability."
213	* TotalEclipseOfThePlot: In "Cryptorchid" the moon eclipsing the sun foreshadows the coming of the antichrist:
214	-->''Prick your finger it is done, the moon has now eclipsed the sun\
215	The angel has spread its wings, the time has come for bitter things...''
216	* UsedToBeASweetKid: Summing up the whole premise in "Man That You Fear", the boy that everyone loved is now the person everyone is afraid of.
217	-->''The boy that you loved is the man that you fear.''
218	* WishingWell: This is used for a clever wordplay in "Antichrist Superstar" where the protagonist just gives the audience what they wished for, nothing else.
219	-->''You built me up with your wishing hell, I didn't have to sell you\
220	You threw your money in the pissing well, you do just what they tell you.''
221	* WorldOfSymbolism: "Cryptorchid" is the song that uses the most metaphors and figurative language and uses sythies and distorted voices.
222	-->''Each time I make my mother cry, an angel dies and falls from heaven\
223	When the boy is still a worm, it's hard to learn the number seven''
224	[[/folder]]
225
226	[[folder:Music videos]]
227	* BracesOfOrthodonticOverkill: Manson wears a very deformed version of this in the music video of "The Beautiful People" ([[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ypkv0HeUvTc here]]) alongside an old-timey flying hat.
228	* SurrealMusicVideo:
229	** "Tourniquet" features an gallery of grotesque imagery within a dark and surreal environment. It is mostly about an odd humanoid, propped up on wheels to move. Watch it [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MmfQ7gSaJgM here]].
230	** "Cryptorchid" uses scenes from Merhige's 1991 experimental horror film ''Film/{{Begotten}}'', which are black and white surreal collages, with new scenes including Manson pulling out his own intestines and holding them up to the camera. Can be seen [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jj_vCNevsfY here]].
231	[[/folder]]
232

Context Music / AntichristSuperstar