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--Metal
Edge - October 2000
MM:"With Holy Wood...what I've done is not only finish the story
that I started, but to analyze and question the evolution of mankind
and where it's going. The idea that humans are predestined to destroy
themselves, and what can you as a listener do to change that, what
can you do to make that stop? The story is about an innocent - much
like Adam in the Garden of Eden - who, if ignorance were bliss,
would have the opportunity to just live his life and never want
anything different. But in my story, I've created these two metaphorical
places - one being Death Valley, and one being Holy Wood - and Death
Valley is where the disenfranchised, the unwanted and the imperfect
are, and Holy Wood is where everything that is held up as being
great and perfect exists. And the main character - which it isn't
fair to call a character, because it's so autobiographical - wants
to be a part of that bigger world, wants to fit in, and thinks that
he could make that work, so he tries and tries his entire life to
become a part of something he thinks is right, the world of "Coma
White," the world of everything that he's obsessed with, that he
thinks will make him happier. And when he gets there, he realizes
that the people in this world where the grass is greener are the
people that treated him like the weed, and that manifests itself
as such a bitter resentment that he tries to create a revolution.
He is so naive and idealistic that he thinks 'I can change this.'
Any revolutionary thinks they can change the world, and what happens
is, his revolution - while it starts out strong - becomes another
product. That is what I was trying to say with the character Omega,
sort of a hollow representation of the sarcastic version of me.
And on Mechanical Animals, the other seven songs from Omega's perspective
are more of the internal feelings of what's going on. In the story-line,
by the time he realizes that he's been sold out, he's sold his soul
to the wrong person. He's become everything that he's always tried
to fight against, it's too late, and he knows the only answer of
how to stop this is to destroy himself, and that's Antichrist Superstar."
--Edge 102 - October 16, 2000
MM:"The record kind of represents a bigger part of a trilogy. But
this one itself, I created two metaphors that were what was surrounding
me where I live. Holy Wood kind of represented the perfect world,
the status quo, what everyone thinks that they should fit into.
And Death Valley was sort of a metaphor to represent the unwanted,
disenfranchised folks like ourselves. So when you get the record
you’ll get the story line a little bit more."
--NYrock.com - September 2000
MM:"The album Holy Wood is a declaration of war. In a way, I am
declaring war on the United States. Not on everybody, but I am attacking
the shallowness of the entertainment industry, their self-congratulatory
attitude, their beliefs that they can never do wrong, that they're
always right, that they're the center of the universe. It is a clear
attack on the entertainment industry. And I am living right in the
middle of the entertainment industry here in Hollywood."
--Radio 1 - October 17, 2000
MM:"Holy Wood is very obsessed with trying to discover where man's
behavior really comes from."
--Kerrang - August 2000
MM:"God Eat God is the beginning of the story. The character is
contemplating things from Death Valley, which is a metaphor for
the outcast and the imperfect of the world."
--Kerrang - August 2000
MM:"The Fight Song is about someone who always thinks the grass
is greener on the other side, but when he is finally a part of this
perfect world he realises that it's worse than where he came from.
It's about creating a revolution with music."
--Kerrang - August 2000
MM:"Disposable Teens is a signature Manson song. Teenagers in this
country are underestimated. This song is a way of reminding people
that they do have a voice."
--Kerrang - August 2000
MM:"Lamb Of God is my homage to John Lennon, which people will understand
when they hear the lyrics."
--Kerrang - August 2000
MM:"A Place In The Dirt was definitely influenced by the desert,
or Death Valley in particular. I wanted to capture the sound of
the place and I think it's something that I accomplished."
--Real Groove - October 2000
MM:"A subtler part of the statement of Holy Wood is that mankind
has gone backwards - and we are still going backwards on the chart
in some ways?"
--Metal Edge - October 2000
MM:"Holy Wood takes that subject of violence and why mankind behaves
the way that it does, and does not pull any punches. It's not as
simple as they think that entertainment is bad, it's a problem that
parents are raising their kids to feel like they are dead already
and they have nothing to live for. They are raising their kids to
feel like they are not good enough no matter what they do, and it's
only going to get bad results. And that's why I was saying that
this record is important, because people are in need of spirituality
of some sort. As an artist it reinforced in me that I had to go
out there and make an even more powerful statement that reaches
people and makes them feel like somebody else understands the way
they feel."
--Rolling Stone - July 26, 2000
MM:"This story can be interpreted on a number of levels, but one
of the simplest ways is about a boy who wants to become part of
the world that he doesn't feel adequate for, and the bitterness
and rage becomes a revolution inside him, and what happens is that
the revolution becomes just another product. When he realizes it's
too late, his only choice is to destroy the thing he has created,
which is himself."
--Kerrang - August 2000
MM:"One way of looking at Holy Wood, in particular, is that it's
about someone innocent who is given the forbidden fruit. It's much
the same as the biblical sense, the whole Garden Of Eden thing.
Once having that knowledge, this innocent tries to get idealistic
and uses it to better his surroundings by becoming a revolutionary.
But what happens is the revolution itself becomes another product
of the things he is fighting, so in the end he realizes that he's
fighting himself."
--Dazed and Confused - August 2000
MM:"It's a story about someone innocent who is given the apple of
knowledge, and has the naivete to think that they could create a
revolution and take on the world. What happens is that the revolution
becomes just another product. The world just chews it up and spits
it back out as something more polished. Then that person finally
realizes what he's done. Unfortunately, it's too late, and the only
way to destroy that world is to destroy himself, because he created
it. As the saying goes, it takes one bullet to kill the whole world
because it's all in your head."
--Voxpop - September 2000
MM:"Disposable Teens is about the fact that particularly in America,
even in other parts of the world, that if you're growing up and
you're not a consumer, not old enough to vote and not old enough
to be treated as an adult, then you're often considered unimportant
and worthless. And that's how I felt looking back, and it's how
I even feel now when people consider my opinion out of the matter
in some ways. And I think I can relate to a lot of the anger that
a lot of people have now trying to do something in this world."
--Alternative Press - October 2000
MM:"Wormwood also tied into the album on a couple of weird levels,
because it was supposed to be the poison that God sent down to taint
the waters to punish mankind. And it's related to King Solomon,
who
-- as legend has it
-- had a ring which, when unleashed, could supposedly devour the
world. Just like the serpent in Ragnarok, forever eating its own
tail."
--Alternative Press - October 2000
MM:"But just to use the status quo of morality, the Bible is very
violent. And I started thinking about that during Holy Wood, thinking
about films being blamed. And the Zapruder film, which we all saw
growing up, constantly on the news, well, there will never be anything
more violent or shocking than that. To me, it's the only thing that's
happened in modern times to equal the crucifixion of Christ. So
what I assert on a lot of the record is, Holy Wood is a place where
an obituary is just another headline. Where if you die and enough
people are watching, then you're famous."
--Alternative Press - October 2000
MM:"What you've seen in my year-long absence is a lot of mediocrity
- a lot of rap music and a lot of people thanking God. But I came
to acknowledge God in a different way on this record, and not in
the way that I had in the past. God definitely exists in what you
create, or in the magic that you discover within yourself. And I
think Christ was a magician in that sense, and someone that I found
I could really relate to, in his being a revolutionary and sacrificing
himself for it. There's a strange glimmer of hope in my trilogy.
There's a bitterness and hatred toward a world that's too stupid
to accomplish certain things, simple forms of evolution. But there's
also hope, because I'm not a complete pessimist. And that's a lot
of the point of the new record - mankind is predestined to destroy
itself. But can we change that? It's in your hands, kids - what
are you going to do to change it?"
--Alternative Press - October 2000
MM:"I started thinking about the idea that pro-lifers have, where
they're trying to determine when a soul begins to exist. But in
Holy Wood, and how I see America now, kids aren't even considered
to have souls until they're 18, until they're a valid consumer,
until they can vote. They're just pets, almost. Which is why I see
this tension and backlash arising with teenagers - you're like,
'Why are these kids acting like this? They have no reason to complain!'
Well it's because you're treating them like they're dead. So I'm
very impressed with the idea that kids have the opportunity now
to genuinely cause a revolution if they want to. Because they are
in charge - they just don't know it yet."
--Real Groove - October 2000
MM:"Holy Wood is distinguished from previous efforts by a tone of
bitterness, of resignation, and a feeling of being engulfed by your
anger. Those people who hate my music, I hope they hate this more."
--New Music - October 2000
MM:"The album's title refers not just to the Hollywood sign, but
also to the tree of knowledge that Adam took the first fruit from
when he fell out of paradise, the wood that Christ was crucified
on, the wood that Oswald's rifle is made from and the wood that
so many coffins are made of."
--Metal Edge - October 2000
MM:"With this album I want to combine elements of the previous two,
and it works out that way. It's very difficult for me to be interested
in doing heavy songs, because it's my nature to go against the grain.
So on this record, I tried to do heavy songs in a new and ironic
way. This record has a lot of dynamics where it's heavier than anything
I've ever done and makes the song Antichrist Superstar seem like
a lullaby, then it's heavy in a different way - it's heavy as a
piano song, it's heavy because of its lyrics and its mood. There's
more to being heavy than just going all out, and that's a tough
line" |
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