12 Greatest Ever Hard Rock Solo Artists

As grunge started to die off, metal started to go in a much heavier direction. Influenced by the sounds of Pantera and Metallica, acts were coming out of the woodwork and creating what would become known as nu metal. Just a few paces away though, Marilyn Manson burst onto the scene and terrified the music world.

With the shocking image and occultist tendencies, Manson presented everything grotesque about society and put it at the forefront of his music. Assisted by Trent Reznor, Manson's first few records are an industrial-fueled hellride into the underworld that you won't soon recover from. While there was plenty of electronics and sampling in the music, the songs always held together as some of the most ferocious compositions that the 90's had ever produced.

As his career went on, Manson's sound fluctuated between the more feral work of his early period along with more melodic passages influenced by the likes of David Bowie. Even with controversies following him everywhere, Manson perfectly toed the line of horrid and lovable, which brought him to the upper echelons of the Greatest Villains in Rock and Roll. Complete with a look that was plucked straight from your nightmares, it was only fitting that Marilyn's music followed suit.