Antichrist Superstar performed its intended purpose -- it made
Marilyn Manson internationally famous, a living realization of his fictional "antichrist superstar." He had gained the attention of not only rock fans, but the public at large; however, many critics bestowed their praise not on the former
Brian Warner, but on
Trent Reznor,
Manson's mentor and producer. Surely angered by the attention being focused elsewhere, he decided to break from
Reznor and industrial metal with his third album,
Mechanical Animals. Taking his image and musical cues from
Bowie,
Warner reworked
Marilyn Manson into a sleek, androgynous space alien named Omega, à la Ziggy Stardust, and constructed a glammy variation of his trademark goth metal. With pal
Billy Corgan as an unofficial consultant and
Soundgarden producer
Michael Beinhorn manning the boards,
Manson turns
Mechanical Animals into a big, clean rock record -- the kind that stands in direct opposition to the dark, twisted industrial nightmares he painted with his first two albums. It can make for a welcome change of pace, since his glammed-up goth is more tuneful than his clattering industrial cacophony, but it lacks the cartoonish menace that distinguished his prior music. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine