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| Deciding that the entire band name was too much to swallow, they sliced their moniker down to, simply, Marilyn Manson. This didn't seem to confuse their fans a bit, and during the summer of 1993, they racked up five more Slammie nominations and won the hefty honor of Band of the Year. More importantly, Trent Reznor dished them up a recording contract with his Nothing Records label and the chance to open for Nine Inch Nails in the spring of 1994. Manson accepted both offers, and the troop laid down its first full-length album, Portrait of an American Family, which was released in July 1994. |
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| The Nine Inch Nails tour started giving the Mansons the exposure they craved. Twiggy Ramirez had come on board as the new bassist, replacing the drug-addled Gidget Gein, and the tour generated several episodes that have gone down in Marilyn Manson lore. Banned by the Delta Center in Salt Lake City, Utah, Manson was invited up onstage by Reznor during NIN's set, at which point he proceeded to rip apart a copy of the Book of Mormon, which led to a frenzied trashing of the dressing rooms. In October 1994, he arranged a meeting with Dr. Anton Szandor LaVey, founder of the Church of Satan, who bestowed upon Manson the title of "Reverend." |
| The EP Smells Like Children was released in October 1995, and Marilyn Manson's cover of the Eurythmics classic "Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)" grabbed airplay, MTV, and media attention. Suddenly, it became cool to dig Marilyn Manson. A five-month weather-bludgeoned tour followed; highlights included Manson shoving Berkowitz off the stage on New Year's Eve and a snowed-in night in Allentown, Pa., during which the Mansons found themselves trapped in the same hotel and the same bar as the touring company of "Sesame Street Live" and the Orlando Magic basketball team. |
Upon its return to Florida, Berkowitz quit the band, and although he's credited in the liner notes, some insiders claim he doesn't actually appear on Marilyn Manson's 1996 LP, Antichrist Superstar. He would later sue Manson, claiming to be owed substantial sums in unpaid royalties. To replace Berkowitz, the band placed an ad in the Village Voice to find a new guitar player, and after sifting through 150 responses, it finally settled on a Chicagoan dubbed Zim Zum. Antichrist Superstar, which was released in October 1996, debuted at the No. 3 spot on Billboard's charts and garnered general critical acclaim. The songs were lyrically deeper and far more intense than the band's earlier carnival-style efforts; it was a far more "serious" effort than the Mansons had yet produced. |