MANSON'S COVER BLOWN

Two retail chains are balking at the cover art of shock rocker Marilyn Manson's latest album, Holy Wood: In the Valley of the Shadow of Death, MTV News reports. The cover features Manson in a crucifixion pose with his jaw missing and his eyes rolled back in his head. Circuit City is using alternate cover art (an equally frightening close-up of Manson's mug) in its stores, and Best Buy — while stocking the album with its original art — has chosen to go with a "less offensive" cover image in its advertising campaign. "The irony is that my point of the photo on the album was to show people that the crucifixion of Christ is, indeed, a violent image," Manson said in a message posted on his Web site. "My jaw is missing as a symbol of this very kind of censorship. This doesn't piss me off as much as it pleases me, because those offended by my album cover have successfully proven my point." All together now... Huh?