John 5 has had an extremely diverse career – whether that be as a solo artist or working as part of a band, or as a guest or session musician for another artist. With a list of work that includes KD Lang, Meatloaf, Marilyn Manson, Rob Zombie and with artists such as Ricky Martin and Lynrd Skynrd in between, John 5 is certainly one of the more underrated artists due to his diversity and sheer technical brilliance as a guitarist.

Solo:

John 5 released his first solo album in 2004 following his departure from Marilyn Manson. Vertigo was a deeply personal album and it’s title was based around John’s own turbulent past year.  It was a gamble too.  John 5 knew he would be introducing fans to a different side of him – as well as his signature Drop D tuning, fans would hear him play with bluegrass and a few other genres inbetween.  The gamble paid off and John 5 has gone on to produce, to date, 5 solo albums and one remix album of his own work.  He has worked with artists such as Joe Satriani, Eric Johnson and Albert Lee to name a few.

Listen to “The Nightmare Unravels”, the first track from 2010′s from The Art of Malice

Vertigo

31 August 2004 – Mascot Records
1. Needles CA  2. Feisty Cadavers  3. Pulling Strings  4. Sugar Foot Rag  5. Dead Man’s Dream  6. Sweet Georgia Brown  7. Flatlines, Thin Lines  8. Liberty  9. Vertigo  10. 18969 Ventura Blvd  11. Zugg Island Convict  12. Salt Creek 13. Goodnight

Purchase (also available on iTunes) Vertigo

Songs for Sanity

13 September 2005 – Mascot Records
1. Damaged  2. Soul of a Robot  3. Gein with Envy  4. Sin  5. Behind the Nut Love  6. Blues Balls  7. Fiddler’s  8. Gods and Monsters  9. 2 Die 4  10. Death Valley  11. Perineum  12. Denouement

Purchase (also available on iTunes) Songs For Sanity

The Devil Knows My Name

06 April 2007 – Mascot Records
1. First Victim  2. The Werewolf of Westeria  3. 27 Needless  4. Bella Kiss  5. Black Widow of la Porte  6. Welcome to the Jungle  7. Harold Rollings Hymn  8. Dead Art in Plain Field  9. Young Thing  10. The Washing Away of Wrong  11. July 31st (the Last Stand)

Purchase (also available on iTunes) The Devil Knows My Name

Requiem

03 July 2008 – 60 Cycle Hum
1. Sounds of Impalement  2. Heretics Fork  3. NoiseMakers Fife  4. Pity Belt  5. Cleansing the Soul  6. The Judas Cradle  7. Pear of Anquish  8. The Lead Sprinkler  9. Scavengers Daughter  10. Requiem

Purchase (also available on iTunes) Requiem

Remixploitation

14 February 2009 – 60 Cycle Hum
1. Dorsia  2. Monsters and Gods  3. Say Goodnight To Your Soul [Explicit] 4. Sin  5. Eat It Up [Explicit] 6. Unbelievers  7. Shoot the Dog [Explicit] 8. 2 Bullets  9. Plastic [Explicit] 10. How Do You Like It [Explicit]

Purchase (also available on iTunes) Remixploitation

The Art of Malice

11 May 2010 – Rocket Science / 60 Cycle Hum Records
1. The Nightmare Unravels  2. The Art of Malice  3. Ill Will or Spite  4. J.W.  5. Ya Dig?  6. Can I Live Again  7. Portrayed as Unremorseful  8. Steel Guitar Rag  9. Wayne County Killer  10. Fractured Mirror  11. The S. Lot  12. The Last Page Turned

Purchase (also available on iTunes) The Art of Malice

Rob Zombie:

John 5 originally started playing with Rob Zombie as a part time gig, following a performance with Dave Navarro’s supergroup Camp Freddy.  Joining the band on a series of festival tours, John 5 was still working at the time on a solo band project called Loser however due to a conflict of interests John 5 moved over to become a full fledged member of Rob Zombie’s band.  John 5 went on to contribute to 8 of the tracks on Educated Horses and also co-wrote on 2009′s Hellbilly Deluxe 2.  You can also hear John 5 on the first live album Zombie put out called Zombie Live!  John 5 says that being in Zombie is like being home.
Listen to What? from Hellbilly Deluxe 2

Educated Horses

28 March 2006 – Geffen
1. Sawdust in the Blood  2. American Witch  3. Foxy Foxy  4. 17 Year Locust  5. The Scorpion Sleeps  6. 100 Ways  7. Let it All Bleed Out  8. Death of it All  9. Ride  10. The Devil’s Rejects  11. The Lords of Salem

Purchase (also available on iTunes) Educated Horses

Zombie Live

23 October 2007 – Geffen
1. Sawdust in the Blood  2. American Witch  3. Demon Speeding  4. Living Dead Girl  5. More Human Than Human  6. Dead Girl Superstar  7. House of 1000 Corpses  8. Let it All Bleed Out  9. Creature of the Wheel  10. Demoniod Phenomenon  11. Supercharger Heaven  12. Never Gonna Stop  13. Black Sunshine  14. Superbeast  15. The Devil’s Rejects  16. lords of Salem  17. Thunder Kiss  18. Dragula

Purchase (also available on iTunes) Zombie Live

Hellbilly Deluxe 2 : Noble Jackals, Penny Dreadfuls and the Systematic Dehumanization of Cool

02 February 2010 – Roadrunner Records
1. Jesus Frankenstein  2. Sick Bubblegum  3. What?  4. Mars Needs Women  5. Werewolf, Baby!  6. Virgin Witch  7. Death and Destiny Inside the Dream Factory 8. Burn  9. Cease to Exist  10. Werewolf Women of the SS  11. The Man Who Laughs

Purchase (also available on iTunes) Hellbilly Deluxe 2

Hellbilly Deluxe 2 : Noble Jackals, Penny Dreadfuls and the Systematic Dehumanization of Cool

Re-Issue September 2010 – Roadrunner Records (includes new tracks and bonus DVD)
1. Devil’s Hole Girls and the Big Revolution (Feat. Joey Jordison)  2. Jesus Frankenstein  3. Sick Bubblegum  4. What?  5. Theme Of An Angry Red Planet (Feat. Joey Jordison)  6. Mars Needs Women (Without Intro.)  7. Werewolf, Baby  8. Everything Is Boring (Feat. Joey Jordison)  9. Virgin Witch  10. Death And Destiny Inside the Dream Factory  11. Burn  12. Cease to Exist  13. Werewolf Women of the SS  14. Michael (Feat. Joey Jordison)  15. The Man Who Laughs (Feat. Joey Jordison)

HBD2 DVD 1. Mars Needs Women  2. Schools Out (Ft. Alice Cooper)  3. Transylvanian Transmissions (Documentary)

Marilyn Manson

It was in Marilyn Manson that John Lowery became John 5.  Joining the band during post production of Mechanical Animals (1998) John 5 was the live guitarist for the subsequent touring.  He featured as guitarist on Manson’s first first live compilation – The Last Tour on Earth.  It was on 2000′s Holywood that 5′s signature Drop D tuning contributed to the darker, twisted tone.  John 5 wrote extensively on that album and on The Golden Age of Grotesque.  John 5 is also thanked by Manson on the best of Lest We Forget.  As a side note, John 5 mentioned in a recent interview with MM fansite Provider Module about an unreleased project with Manson called “The Factory”.  As he explains: “Next we did a whole other record, it’s all instrumental, but not guitar instrumental. Very orchestral, string and different instruments, called The Factory, not a lot of people know this”.

Mechanical Animals

14 September 1998 – Nothing Records

1. Great Big White World 2. The Dope Show 3. Mechanical Animals 4. Rock Is Dead   5. Disassociative 6. The Speed of Pain 7. Posthuman 8. I Want to Disappear 9. I Don’t Like the Drugs (but the Drugs Like Me) 10. New Model no.15 11. User Friendly 12. Fudamentally Loathsome 13. The Last Day on Earth 14. Coma White 

Purchase (also available on iTunes) Mechanical Animals

The Last Tour on Earth

Live, 1999 – Polydor

1. Inauguration of the Mechanical Christ  2. The Reflecting God  3. Great Big White World  4. Get Your Gunn  5. Sweet Dreams  6. Rock is Dead  7. The Dope Show  8. Lunchbox  9. I Don’t Like the Drugs 10. Antichrist Superstar  11. The Beautiful People  12. Irresponsible Hate Anthem  13. The Last Day on Earth  14. Astonishing Panorama of the Endtimes

Purchase (also available on iTunes) The Last Tour on Earth

Holywood

2000 – Nothing Records / Interscope Records

1. Godeatgod  2. The Love Song  3. The Fight Song  4. Disposable Teens  5. Target Audience (Narcissus Narcosis)  6. President Dead  7. In the Shadow of the Valley of Death  8. Cruci-Fiction in Space  9. A Place in the Dirt  10. The Nobodies  11. The Death Song  12. Lamb of God  13. Born Again  14. Burning Flag  15. Coma Black  16. Valentine’s Day  17. The Fall of Adam  18. King Kill 33º  19. Count to Six and Die

Purchase (also available on iTunes) Holywood

The Golden Age of Grotesque

05 May 2003 – Polydor

1. Intro / Thaeter 2. This Is the New Shit 3. mOBSCENE 4. Doll-Dagga Buzz-Buzz Ziggety-Zag 5. Use Your Fist and Not Your Mouth 6. The Golden Age of Grotesque 7. (S)aint 8. Ka-Boom Ka-Boom 9. Slutgarden 10. Spade 11. Para-Noir 12. The Bright Young Things 13. Better of Two Evils 14. Vodevil 15. Obsequy 

Purchase (also available on iTunes) The Golden Age of Grotesque

Lest We Forget

28 September 2004 – Polydor

1. The Love Song  2. Personal Jesus 3. mOBSCENE 4. The Fight Song 5. Tainted Love 6. The Dope Show 7. This is the New Shit 8. Disposable Teens 9. Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This) 10. Lunchbox 11. Tourniquet 12. Rock Is Dead 13. Get your Gunn 14. The Nobodies 15. Long Hard Road Out of Hell 16. The Beautiful People 17. The Reflecting God 18. (S)aint

Purchase (also available on iTunes) Lest We Forget

With other artists

John 5 has worked with a wide ranging mix of artists over the years.  From KD Lang to Dave Lee Roth, to working with Rob Halford on the shortlived nu-metal venture “2wo”, and having guested on work with Static X, Meatloaf, Paul Stanley and many others, it’s not hard to see why John 5′s work is vast and Steve Vai dubbed 5 “underrated”. John 5 also started a sadly shortlived “radio friendly” rock band after leaving Manson.  Loser, who had a track featured on the Fantastic Four film soundtrack album, toured LA and were ready to release a full album – that you can still find samples of on eBay (though very rare) – when the band were dropped from their record label due to a touring conflict John 5 experienced. The album is still a worthy footnote in John 5′s back catalogue.