Marilyn Manson - Pre-Reznor Portrait Mixes

I have a love/hate relationship with Marilyn Manson, mostly hate at this point. I loved the first three MM albums (that's including Smells Like Children since it's technically an EP, albeit an insanely long EP) but I think he started to believe his own hype way too strongly. Yeah, there are some cool things that came out of his post-Reznor period (recording with Dyanna Lauren and Kobe Tai, check! some disgusting footage of a fake autopsy and messing with real Siamese twins, check!), but most of it is forgettable, at least to American audiences.

Jump back a few years and we find a great day when Daisy Berkowitz (real name Scott Putesky) gave an interview and, when asked about the unused original mixes of Portrait Of An American Family, ones created by Roli Mosimann who produced the original sessions, gave a tape to the interviewer or these mixes. The interviewer proceeded to release them online in very high quality and we have been able to compare the mixes since.

Before we go any further, I want to make it clear that the original mixes don't contain any huge revelations apart from a few unreleased tracks and different takes. Trent Reznor has gone on record to say he didn't do too much to the album, he primarily recorded a few more sessions and mixed the final product more to the band's wishes. That definitely earns him a production credit, but Roli Mosimann deserves some credit too. In the album's liner notes he's listed as engineer, which is a little unfair but not completely inaccurate. Manson himself has said that Mosimann was a huge disappointment to work with. Despite his incredible resume (founding member of the Swans, member of Wiseblood, worked with The The, New Order, Celtic Frost and The Young Gods among others), he supposedly focused on making the album a slick and radio-friendly production, which I'm sure everyone who has listened to it knows.


Marilyn Manson - Pre-Reznor Portrait Mixes

01 Snake Eyes and Sissies
02 Lunchbox
03 Get Your Gunn
04 Cyclops
05 Citronella (Dogma)
06 Cake and Sodomy
07 Filth
08 Sweet Tooth
09 Organ Grinder
10 My Monkey
11 Misery Machine
12 Dope Hat
13 Snake Eyes and Sissies (Single Mix/Edit)


PS - The image attached to the files will show a slightly different track order than what I have printed above. This is the order I received the files in so I left them that way. Also, unlike most copies I see of this online, this is a fresh rip from a FLAC sourced rip of the actual cassette procured from Daisy. Big props to the interviewer whose name I wasn't able to find. When I locate his name I'll update the post with it.