# Portrait of an American Family
**Portrait of an American Family** is the debut full-length studio album by the American rock band [Marilyn Manson](https://www.edgepedia.org/marilyn-manson), released on July 19, 1994 through Nothing Records and [Interscope Records](https://www.edgepedia.org/interscope-records)[1](https://www.manson.wiki/Portrait_of_an_American_Family) • [2](https://www.nin.wiki/Portrait_of_an_American_Family). The 13-track album runs 1 hour 1 minute and was the first release on Nothing Records, the label founded by Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails[3](https://music.apple.com/us/album/portrait-of-an-american-family/1440867162) • [4](https://los40.com/2026/10/08/30-anos-de-antichrist-superstar-cuando-marilyn-manson-se-convirtio-en-la-pesadilla-de-estados-unidos/). It introduced a band that had spent years as a Florida live act called Marilyn Manson & the Spooky Kids, whose name joins [Marilyn Monroe](https://www.edgepedia.org/marilyn-monroe) and Charles Manson[5](https://lyricsweb.com/album/marilyn-manson/portrait-of-an-american-family) • [4](https://los40.com/2026/10/08/30-anos-de-antichrist-superstar-cuando-marilyn-manson-se-convirtio-en-la-pesadilla-de-estados-unidos/).
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Artist and role | Debut studio album by Marilyn Manson, then still a band rather than the personal project of vocalist Brian Warner (Mr. Manson)[6](https://www.allmusic.com/album/portrait-of-an-american-family-mw0000115824) |
| Released | July 19, 1994 (AllMusic lists July 12, 1994); 13 songs, 1 hour 1 minute[1](https://www.manson.wiki/Portrait_of_an_American_Family) • [3](https://music.apple.com/us/album/portrait-of-an-american-family/1440867162) • [6](https://www.allmusic.com/album/portrait-of-an-american-family-mw0000115824) |
| Labels | Nothing Records and Interscope Records; ℗ 1994 Interscope[2](https://www.nin.wiki/Portrait_of_an_American_Family) • [3](https://music.apple.com/us/album/portrait-of-an-american-family/1440867162) |
| Producers | Trent Reznor and Mr. Manson; Sean Beavan and Alan Moulder as assistant producers[7](https://musicbrainz.org/release/731373ca-7a3c-4fbb-9d63-cb8d45219d80) |
| Recording | Criteria Studios, Miami (summer 1993, Roli Mosimann); re-recorded and mixed in Los Angeles, including Le Pig in Beverly Hills[8](https://manson.wiki/Interview%3A2014/07/20_Marilyn_Manson_-_Portrait_of_an_American_Family_-_20_Year_Anniversary) • [6](https://www.allmusic.com/album/portrait-of-an-american-family-mw0000115824) • [9](https://lib-www.jsu.edu/archives/chanticleer/1994/Chanticleer-September-29-1994.pdf) |
| Band lineup | Marilyn Manson (vocals), Daisy Berkowitz (guitar), Gidget Gein (bass), Madonna Wayne Gacy (keyboards), Sara Lee Lucas (drums)[10](https://www.universal-music.co.jp/marilyn-manson/products/uicy-25380/) |
| Recognition | Ranked on Rolling Stone's 2017 list of the 100 greatest metal albums; MusicBrainz records the position as number 68, while an AllMusic user review gives 69[11](https://musicbrainz.org/release-group/ad6ca69e-07f2-397e-a32d-a0cf95f60fb4) • [6](https://www.allmusic.com/album/portrait-of-an-american-family-mw0000115824) |
## Background and recording
The band formed as Marilyn Manson & the Spooky Kids in Florida in December 1989, when vocalist Marilyn Manson met guitarist [Daisy Berkowitz](https://www.edgepedia.org/scott-putesky) at the Reunion Room, a small Fort Lauderdale nightclub[5](https://lyricsweb.com/album/marilyn-manson/portrait-of-an-american-family). Recording sessions for the album began in July 1993[1](https://www.manson.wiki/Portrait_of_an_American_Family). The record was first cut entirely at Criteria Studios in North Miami Beach with producer Roli Mosimann, known for his work with Swans[8](https://manson.wiki/Interview%3A2014/07/20_Marilyn_Manson_-_Portrait_of_an_American_Family_-_20_Year_Anniversary) • [1](https://www.manson.wiki/Portrait_of_an_American_Family).
The band and the sessions' executive producer, [Trent Reznor](https://www.edgepedia.org/trent-reznor), judged the result unsatisfactory. The abrasive rawness Mosimann had brought to other groups had failed to materialize, and Reznor felt the recordings poorly represented the band's live performances[1](https://www.manson.wiki/Portrait_of_an_American_Family). In October 1993 Reznor committed fully to the project, taking the band and its tapes to studios in Los Angeles, where, with help from live members of [Nine Inch Nails](https://www.edgepedia.org/nine-inch-nails), the old material was re-recorded and reworked until the band was satisfied[1](https://www.manson.wiki/Portrait_of_an_American_Family). A 1994 college newspaper account states that half of the album was mixed at the house on Cielo Drive in Beverly Hills where the [Manson Family](https://www.edgepedia.org/manson-family) murders had taken place, which Reznor had converted into a studio[9](https://lib-www.jsu.edu/archives/chanticleer/1994/Chanticleer-September-29-1994.pdf); AllMusic lists the recording locations as Criteria in Miami, Le Pig in Beverly Hills, and several Los Angeles studios[6](https://www.allmusic.com/album/portrait-of-an-american-family-mw0000115824).
**Cover art.** The album is notable as the band's only studio album whose cover does not feature an image of Manson[1](https://www.manson.wiki/Portrait_of_an_American_Family).
## Music and themes
AllMusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine, a staff critic at the site, describes the album as a goth-industrial hybrid with horror-show schlock as a bigger element than in later Manson records, placing its style close to a Nine Inch Nails meets W.A.S.P. meets [Alice Cooper](https://www.edgepedia.org/alice-cooper) formula[6](https://www.allmusic.com/album/portrait-of-an-american-family-mw0000115824). An academic study of American metal reads the album as dealing with the ingress of violence into childhood and depicts the playground as a site of conflict between bully and bullied[12](https://theses.gla.ac.uk/644/1/2009thomasphd.pdf). A scholarly article in the *European Journal of American Studies* identifies its themes as outsider angst and anti-authority sentiment, with Manson criticizing ideological constructs such as the nuclear family, arguing the concept is often used to justify violent pro-life activism[13](https://doi.org/10.4000/ejas.12098).
**Notable songs.** "Lunchbox" narrates how a bullied school-age child, awaiting the day he will be grown, turns his lunchbox into a weapon to strike back and dreams of becoming a rock star who no one can intimidate.[1](https://www.manson.wiki/Portrait_of_an_American_Family) "Get Your Gunn" was released as a single and reached number 11 on the Billboard Canadian Singles Chart[1](https://www.manson.wiki/Portrait_of_an_American_Family). "Cake and Sodomy" opens the album proper after the 1:21 intro "Prelude (The Family Trip)", and the closing track "Misery Machine" runs 13:09[3](https://music.apple.com/us/album/portrait-of-an-american-family/1440867162). "My Monkey" samples and reworks a [Charles Manson](https://www.edgepedia.org/charles-manson) song[14](https://stereogum.com/1693203/portrait-of-an-american-family-turns-20/reviews/the-anniversary).
## Critical reception
Upon release the album met with mixed reviews. Erlewine's AllMusic review was favorable but noted that even a few years on, the record began to sound dated, since the formula it sketches was fully realized on the follow-up album *Antichrist Superstar* (1996)[6](https://www.allmusic.com/album/portrait-of-an-american-family-mw0000115824). Rolling Stone gave a negative review, writing that Manson's debut "isn't the sharply rendered cultural critique of America he'd like you to think it is"[1](https://www.manson.wiki/Portrait_of_an_American_Family). Sputnikmusic reviewers have more recently treated it as an underrated 1990s record whose production ranks among the best in the band's catalog[15](https://www.sputnikmusic.com/review/84512/Marilyn-Manson-Portrait-of-an-American-Family/).
## Releases
The album appeared on CD in 1994 in Germany, the United States, and Europe, with the US release on Nothing Records bearing catalog number INTD-92344; later versions include a 1999 UK double vinyl on Simply Vinyl and a 2013 Japanese SHM-CD reissue on Interscope[11](https://musicbrainz.org/release-group/ad6ca69e-07f2-397e-a32d-a0cf95f60fb4) • [10](https://www.universal-music.co.jp/marilyn-manson/products/uicy-25380/). Associated singles include "Get Your Gunn", "Lunchbox", and "Dope Hat"[11](https://musicbrainz.org/release-group/ad6ca69e-07f2-397e-a32d-a0cf95f60fb4).
## References
1. [Portrait of an American Family (album), The Marilyn Manson Wiki](https://www.manson.wiki/Portrait_of_an_American_Family)
2. [Portrait of an American Family, nin.wiki](https://www.nin.wiki/Portrait_of_an_American_Family)
3. [Portrait of an American Family, Apple Music](https://music.apple.com/us/album/portrait-of-an-american-family/1440867162)
4. [30 años de 'Antichrist superstar', Los40](https://los40.com/2026/10/08/30-anos-de-antichrist-superstar-cuando-marilyn-manson-se-convirtio-en-la-pesadilla-de-estados-unidos/)
5. [Portrait of an American Family tracklist and story, LyricsWeb](https://lyricsweb.com/album/marilyn-manson/portrait-of-an-american-family)
6. [Portrait of an American Family review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine, AllMusic](https://www.allmusic.com/album/portrait-of-an-american-family-mw0000115824)
7. [Portrait of an American Family release, MusicBrainz](https://musicbrainz.org/release/731373ca-7a3c-4fbb-9d63-cb8d45219d80)
8. [Interview: 2014/07/20 Marilyn Manson – Portrait of an American Family – 20 Year Anniversary, The Marilyn Manson Wiki](https://manson.wiki/Interview%3A2014/07/20_Marilyn_Manson_-_Portrait_of_an_American_Family_-_20_Year_Anniversary)
9. [The Chanticleer, September 29, 1994, Jacksonville State University](https://lib-www.jsu.edu/archives/chanticleer/1994/Chanticleer-September-29-1994.pdf)
10. [ポートレート・オブ・アン・アメリカン・ファミリー [SHM-CD], Universal Music Japan](https://www.universal-music.co.jp/marilyn-manson/products/uicy-25380/)
11. [Portrait of an American Family release group, MusicBrainz](https://musicbrainz.org/release-group/ad6ca69e-07f2-397e-a32d-a0cf95f60fb4)
12. [Subjectivity In American Popular Metal (PhD thesis, University of Glasgow, 2009)](https://theses.gla.ac.uk/644/1/2009thomasphd.pdf)
13. ["I Am Your Faggot Anti-Pope": An Exploration of Marilyn Manson as a Transgressive Artist, European Journal of American Studies](https://doi.org/10.4000/ejas.12098)
14. [Portrait Of An American Family Turns 20, Stereogum](https://stereogum.com/1693203/portrait-of-an-american-family-turns-20/reviews/the-anniversary)
15. [Portrait of an American Family review, Sputnikmusic](https://www.sputnikmusic.com/review/84512/Marilyn-Manson-Portrait-of-an-American-Family/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Music › Musical works and recordings › Albums and recorded releases › Studio albums › Metal and hardcore albums › Nu metal and alternative metal albums*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license