Holy Wood was a concept album released by
Marilyn Manson in 2000 following the Columbine High
School massacre and serves as their rebuttal at the accusations leveled at them. Their frontman has described it as "a declaration of war".
The record make numerous allegories to pop culture history to show how everyone had a participating role in Columbine: From
Abraham Zapruder to the JFK Assassination, from the Beatles' White Album to the Charles Manson murders and from the Crucifixion to the Dead Rock Star celebrity worship phenomenon, the band left no stone unturned to give
america a righteous ass-kicking.
Notable themes:
1.Guns, God and Government - rightwing
America's main obsession that, arguably, fucked Klebold and
Harris up more than any 'rock' or 'metal' album.
2.Celebritarianism - a word coined by Manson to describe a devotion to celebrity and celebrity culture. In the album it is a religion that canonizes dead celebrities into saints in the same way the crucifixion canonized Jesus Christ into a superstar messiah and celebrity. In effect, the crucifixion is the root cause of
shit like reality TV, Jersey Shore, TMZ and
Harris and Klebold's desire to become famous by murdering people.
Holy Wood was never a commercial success and received mixed reviews from music journalists who said the band's artistic pretensions overshadowed the powerful lyrical indictment contained in it. Despite this, many people view it as the band's finest hour.
Kerrang Magazine: ...There has still not been as eloquent and savage a musical attack on the media and mainstream culture as Manson achieved with Holy
Wood (In the
Shadow of the Valley of Death).
Me:If you thought what Manson said about Columbine in Michael Moore's documentary was incisive, you should see how Holy
Wood throws his detractors hypocrisies right back into their faces.
