 First edition cover | |
| Author | Marilyn Manson Neil Strauss |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Autobiography |
| Publisher | ReganBooks (HarperCollins) |
Publication date | 1998 |
| Media type | Hardcover, paperback |
| Pages | 269 |
| ISBN | 978-0-06-039258-1 |
| OCLC | 38417510 |
The Long Hard Road Out of Hell is the autobiography of Marilyn Manson, leader of the American rock band of the same name. The book was released on February 14, 1998 and co-authored by Neil Strauss.
Sometimes I thought about people's feelings but most of the time I thought that, for the sake of entertainment, brutal honesty was best [...] I wrote it without describing how I felt, because a lot of the times I wasn't feeling anything. I also thought if I described the events well enough, with a lot of detail and sarcasm, then people would feel how I felt and I wouldn't have to tell them. They'd feel it for themselves.
—Marilyn Manson [1]
The book follows Manson's life from when he was a child, born Brian Hugh Warner, until the events of the band's controversial Dead to the World Tour. It also details his grandfather's sexual fetishes (including bestiality and sadomasochism) to the forming of Marilyn Manson and the Spooky Kids, to the recording of Antichrist Superstar . Its last pages are the journal of the band's touring, documenting backstage events and people's reactions. The book includes many references to his life of drugs, sex and dysfunctional relationships which he attributes as causal to his current status quo. It also features his journalism works, including an article about a dominatrix he interviewed for 25th Parallel .
The autobiography goes in-depth into the break-ups in the band's history. It follows several members through becoming friends and musicians with the band to angry and sometimes bitter leavings, some band members detested being fired so badly that lawsuits have been filed against Manson by his own crew members.
Along with the book are numerous pictures, some of which are familiar to long-time Manson fans, with the center pages including everything from the Slasher Girls to Manson performing "Antichrist Superstar" with a Bible in his hand. The book incorporates illustrations from a public domain edition of Gray's Anatomy , originally drawn by Henry Vandyke Carter. For example, the ribcage in the cover image (which also appears in the liner note artwork for Antichrist Superstar) is taken from Gray's Figure 115. Also scattered throughout the pages are documents of such things as girlfriends, legal documents of claims made by the American Family Association about his shows that were proven to be false, [2] [3] [4] and band landmarks, to the rarer, such as Manson with Anton LaVey.
Neil Strauss, a rock critic and reporter for The New York Times , met Marilyn Manson through his work for Spin and Rolling Stone . [5] Strauss initially perceived Manson as a "phony" who had gotten on the gothic rock bandwagon very late; he later came to see Manson as a "really interesting, really intelligent artist" with many talents. [6] He went to talk to Manson at a Holiday Inn in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Manson asked Strauss to join him in a hot tub, commenting "This is going to be an important piece of press." Strauss wrote a cover story about Manson for Rolling Stone, which in the view of the Chicago Reader 's Jim DeRogatis "legitimized Manson's emergence as one of the most notorious entertainers of the 90s and an enthusiastic bogeyman for the right". Following the publication of the article, Strauss became Manson's business partner. Later, Manson and Strauss got a deal to write the singer's autobiography for ReganBooks, an imprint of HarperCollins founded by Judith Regan, who was behind Howard Stern's Private Parts (1997). [5] The autobiography shares its title with the Marilyn Manson song "Long Hard Road Out of Hell" (1997) [7] and features an introduction written by film director David Lynch; Manson had previously contributed two songs to the soundtrack of Lynch's film Lost Highway (1997) and would later collaborate with the director on a coffee table book titled Genealogies of Pain (2011). [8]
On February 21, 1998, Manson held a two-hour in-store book signing at the San Francisco Virgin Megastore. The event was attended by an estimated 700 fans. [9]
Contemporary reviews of The Long Hard Road Out of Hell were mixed. In The Austin Chronicle , Marc Savlov hailed the book as "a terrific rock & roll saga in the epic vein....Like Manson's gooney-harsh music and Danzig-on-goofdust lyrics, the book sucks you in and never lets you go until the final appendices are past." [10] Tucson Weekly 's James DiGiovanna found the book "quite good" and praised its opening chapters for insightfully "illustrating the mesmerizing and disquieting effect such images can have on the young. This alone gives the book interest far beyond its status as a celebrity's story." [11] Jason Morgan of The Washington Post said that the book's prose is "surprisingly polished and even beautiful on occasion," it sometimes succumbs to "lush writerly excess" reminiscent of William Faulkner's work. [12] SF Weekly said that "The Long Hard Road Out of Hell isn't a bad read at all" but it left "essential ground...uncovered." He found the book's narrative reminiscent of both Franz Kafka's The Metamorphosis (1915) and F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby (1925). [13] In Entertainment Weekly , Rob Brunner never explained why Manson grew into the man that he did and featured numerous boring passages about debauchery. [14] People said that the "tell-too-much autobio reveals that beneath the weird makeup, noisy music and parent-enraging act beats the heart of...a boring guy from Ohio." [15]
Retrospective reviews were more positive. Greg Burk of LA Weekly said that the book stood as "the most self-abasing and funny piece of rock mythology ever written." [16] Emily Barker of NME deemed The Long Hard Road Out of Hell one of the "juiciest" rock star memoirs of all time and praised it for being revealing. [17] Rolling Stone called the book "engrossing" [18] while Grantland 's Steven Hyden said that it is Manson's "most interesting work." Hyden added "One of the great 'tawdry' rock books, The Long Hard Road reads like an Oliver Stone adaptation of Hammer of the Gods , taking all the tropes of rock exposés — the excessive drug use, the gross-out groupie debauchery, the studio-bound infighting — and pushing them to bizarre, sickening, and compulsively readable extremes." [19] Craig Hlavaty said that the book is one of the greatest "Rock Tell-All Autobiographies" of all time. [20] In an article describing Manson as a reactionary comparable to Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher, J. R. Moores of Drowned in Sound said that "The Long Hard Road Out of Hell is Ayn Rand for people with pentagram thumb-rings." [21]
Craig Hlavaty of the Houston Press questioned whether the book was entirely factual, [20] as did SF Weekly. [13]
Marilyn Manson is an American rock band formed by namesake lead singer Marilyn Manson and guitarist Daisy Berkowitz in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, in 1989. Originally named Marilyn Manson & the Spooky Kids, they gained a local cult following in South Florida in the early 1990s with their theatrical live performances. In 1993, they were the first act signed to Trent Reznor's Nothing Records label. Until 1996, the name of each member was created by combining the first name of a female sex symbol and the last name of a serial killer, for example Marilyn Monroe and Charles Manson. Their lineup has changed between many of their album releases; the eponymous lead singer is the only remaining original member.
Portrait of an American Family is the debut studio album by American rock band Marilyn Manson. It was released on July 19, 1994, by Nothing and Interscope Records. The group was formed in 1989 by vocalist Marilyn Manson and guitarist Daisy Berkowitz, whose names were created by combining the given name of a pop culture icon with the surname of a serial killer: a naming convention which all other band members would conform to for the next seven years. The most prominent lineup of musicians during their formative years included keyboardist Madonna Wayne Gacy, bassist Gidget Gein and drummer Sara Lee Lucas.
Antichrist Superstar is the second studio album by American rock band Marilyn Manson. It was released on October 8, 1996, by Nothing and Interscope Records. It was recorded at Nothing Studios in New Orleans and produced by the band's eponymous vocalist along with Sean Beavan, former Skinny Puppy producer Dave Ogilvie and Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails. The recording of the album was marred by excessive drug use, which provoked a high level of antagonism between band members. Consequently, it was their last release to feature contributions from founding guitarist Daisy Berkowitz, who was acrimoniously fired partway through recording.
Mechanical Animals is the third studio album by American rock band Marilyn Manson. It was released on September 15, 1998, by Interscope Records. The album marked a major shift from the industrial metal and alternative metal styles of the band's earlier efforts, into an experimentation with 1970s glam rock with industrial rock and electronic rock styles. As their first release following the success of their breakthrough album, 1996's Antichrist Superstar, Mechanical Animals' themes primarily deals with the trappings of fame and drug abuse.
Smells Like Children is the first EP by American rock band Marilyn Manson. It was released on October 24, 1995, by Nothing and Interscope Records. Produced by Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails, it represents an era of the band full of drugs, abuses, tours, sound experiments, and references to the Child Catcher, a villain from the 1968 musical film Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.
Brian Hugh Warner, known professionally as Marilyn Manson, is an American rock musician. He came to prominence as the lead singer of the band that shares his name, of which he remains the only constant member since its formation in 1989. Known for his controversial stage personality and public image, his stage name was formed by combining the names of two opposing American cultural icons: actress Marilyn Monroe and cult leader Charles Manson.
Stephen Bier, formerly known by his stage name Madonna Wayne Gacy and by the nickname Pogo, is an American musician who was the keyboard player for Marilyn Manson from 1989 to 2007. His stage name came from the names of the singer Madonna and the serial killer John Wayne Gacy.
"The Beautiful People" is a song by American rock band Marilyn Manson. It was released as the lead single from the band's second studio album, Antichrist Superstar, in September 1996. Classified as alternative metal, the song was written by frontman Marilyn Manson and Twiggy Ramirez, and was produced by Trent Reznor, Dave Ogilvie and Manson.
"Coma White" is a song by American rock band Marilyn Manson. It is the last track from the album Mechanical Animals. "Coma White" is a hard rock ballad written by the band's eponymous vocalist, Twiggy Ramirez, Madonna Wayne Gacy, Zim Zum and produced by Manson and Michael Beinhorn. It was inspired by Manson's relationship with Rose McGowan and the numbness that his drug use caused him to feel. The track features a snare drum, cymbals, guitar, piano and keyboard bass in its instrumentation. Critics offered varied interpretations of its meaning, ranging from a song about a drug-addicted woman to a critique of celebrity culture. The song garnered a mostly positive response from music critics, with some critics deeming it one of the greatest songs of the band's career.
"Lunchbox" is a song by American rock band Marilyn Manson. It was released as the second single from their debut album, Portrait of an American Family (1994). A heavy metal song that features elements of death metal, industrial music and punk rock, "Lunchbox" was written by the band's eponymous vocalist, Daisy Berkowitz, and Gidget Gein, and produced by Manson with Trent Reznor. According to Berkowitz, the track was written as the frontman's plea to be left alone; it was also inspired by a time where Manson defended himself from bullies with a Kiss lunchbox. The track features elements of "Fire" (1968) performed by Arthur Brown, a musician who influenced the band.
"Tourniquet" is song by American rock band Marilyn Manson. It was released as the second major-label single from their second studio album Antichrist Superstar. The image this song conveys is that of the main character in a world of sorrow and self-pity, prior to his transformation into the Little Horn. It was written by frontman Marilyn Manson, co-founder Daisy Berkowitz and longtime bassist and guitarist Twiggy Ramirez. Like many other songs from Antichrist Superstar, the song's lyrics are based on a dream Manson had.
"Rock Is Dead" is a song by American rock band Marilyn Manson. It was released as the third single from their third studio album, Mechanical Animals (1998). It was written by the band's eponymous frontman, along with bassist Twiggy Ramirez and keyboardist Madonna Wayne Gacy, and was produced by Manson, Michael Beinhorn and Sean Beavan. A glam rock and heavy metal track with elements of electronic music and grunge, the song features electric and bass guitars, keyboards, and live drums in its instrumentation. The song was featured on the soundtrack of the Wachowskis' film The Matrix (1999).
"Man That You Fear" is a song by American rock band Marilyn Manson. It was released as the second promotional single from their second studio album, Antichrist Superstar, and is the final song on the album.
"Long Hard Road Out of Hell" is a song by American rock band Marilyn Manson and British trip hop band Sneaker Pimps. It was released as a single from the soundtrack to the 1997 motion picture Spawn. An arena rock and gothic rock song, "Long Hard Road Out of Hell" was written by Marilyn Manson and Twiggy Ramirez and produced by Manson and Sean Beavan. Its lyrics are about self-loathing and its title is derived from John Milton's Paradise Lost (1667). After the track was written, the Sneaker Pimps' Kelli Ali was recruited to perform background vocals on it, as the Spawn soundtrack featured collaborations between hard rock artists and electronic music artists. The Sneaker Pimps were dissatisfied with the final track and wanted a remix of it to be released as a single instead; conversely, Manson deemed it a personal favorite.
The Dead to the World Tour was a worldwide concert tour by the American rock band Marilyn Manson. Staged in support of their 1996 album Antichrist Superstar, the tour visited theaters, nightclubs, arenas and stadiums from 1996 to 1997. The Dead to the World Tour was the band's fifth tour, counting their early independent touring and their supporting roles for Nine Inch Nails' Self Destruct Tour and Danzig's Danzig 4p Tour. It is also their first tour to span over several legs, eight in total, that alternated between multiple venues both in North America and internationally.
The Dirt: Confessions of the World's Most Notorious Rock Band (ISBN 0-06-098915-7) is a collaborative autobiography of Mötley Crüe by the band – Tommy Lee, Mick Mars, Vince Neil and Nikki Sixx – and New York Times writer Neil Strauss. First published in 2001, it chronicles the formation of the band, their rise to fame and their highs and lows.
The Self Destruct Tour was a concert tour in support of industrial rock band Nine Inch Nails' album The Downward Spiral, which took place in early 1994, running until mid-1996, and was broken into eight legs.
The Beautiful Monsters Tour was a North American concert tour co-headlined by American rock bands Hole and Marilyn Manson. Launched in support of each band's respective third full-length studio LPs, 1998's Celebrity Skin and Mechanical Animals, the tour was planned to run from February 28, 1999, until April 27, with 37 shows confirmed. However, due to a highly publicized altercation between the bands' respective lead vocalists, the tour only visited arenas until March 14, for a total of 9 shows before Hole withdrew from the bill. The tour garnered a large amount of media attention and was billed by MTV as a "potentially volatile mix" due to the public feud between each band's outspoken vocalist.
The Manson Family Album is the first studio recording by American rock band Marilyn Manson and a precursor to their debut studio album, 1994's Portrait of an American Family. It was produced by Roli Mosimann and is composed of original takes and mixes of songs which were later found on their debut album. However, the band and its eponymous vocalist were unhappy with Mosimann's production, claiming it to be poorly representative of their established sound and calling it too "smoothed and polished". The majority of songs on The Manson Family Album were later re-recorded or remixed by Nine Inch Nails personnel Trent Reznor, Sean Beaven and Alan Moulder at the Record Plant in Los Angeles. The album's title is a double entendre; it also relates to the commune of cult leader Charles Manson.
The End Times Tour was a double bill North American concert tour, co-headlined by American rock bands Marilyn Manson and The Smashing Pumpkins, with Cage opening. It was launched as a supporting 'tour within a tour' for Marilyn Manson's The Hell Not Hallelujah Tour. The End Times Tour supported both Manson's ninth studio album The Pale Emperor (2015) and the Smashing Pumpkins' tenth studio release, Monuments to an Elegy (2014).
