Holy Wood (In the Shadow of the Valley of Death)

This article is about the album. For other uses, see In the Shadow of the Valley of Death and Holy Wood (novel).

Holy Wood (In the Shadow of the Valley of Death)
Studio album by Marilyn Manson
Released	November 13, 2000
Recorded	1999–2000 at the Mansion in Death Valley, California
Genre	Alternative metal, heavy metal, industrial metal
Length	68:19
Label	Nothing, Interscope
Producer	Marilyn Manson, Dave Sardy
Professional reviews
Allmusic Template:Rating 4.5 link NME (favorable) link Robert Christgau (dud) link Rolling Stone Template:Rating 3.5 link
Analysis and Interpretations
The Third And Final Beast (Nachtkabarett) Mercury & The Androgyne (Nachtkabarett) Holywood Gun Crucifix (Nachtkabarett)
Marilyn Manson chronology
The Last Tour on Earth (1999) Holy Wood (In the Shadow of the Valley of Death) (2000) The Golden Age of Grotesque (2003)

Holy Wood (In the Shadow of the Valley of Death) is the fourth full-length album by rock band Marilyn Manson. It was released on November 14, 2000 in the US and Australia by Interscope Records. It is a concept album, and the third and final album of a trilogy along with Antichrist Superstar and Mechanical Animals. It also marks a return to the industrial metal style of the band's earlier albums, after the glam phase of Mechanical Animals. It spawned three singles ("Disposable Teens", "The Fight Song" and "The Nobodies") and a novel which remains currently unreleased. According to MTV Spain, the album has sold over 9 million copies worldwide.

Holy Wood was Marilyn Manson's first album since the Columbine High School massacre (April 20, 1999), for which some media outlets, pundits and politicians had made him scapegoat through accusations that his music and "goth" imagery influenced killers Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold. Consequently, much of the album's content addresses the issue and poses several counterarguments investigating the roles the values and culture of Conservative Christian America, parents and the media also play in the exaltation and acceptance into the "mainstream" of wholesale violence. The record explores this by underlining American society's obsession with guns, religion and fame - specifically fame attained through publicly displayed and/or media-romanticized deaths (televised or print) throughout popular culture history resulting in the gaining of "martyrdom" within the national or public consciousness of said people (e.g., President John F. Kennedy, Kurt Cobain and Jesus Christ).

Additionally, as with Antichrist Superstar and Mechanical Animals, the album was released with a cardboard sleeve featuring alternate artwork due to some retailers refusing to stock the album with the original artwork portraying Manson in a crucified pose with a missing jaw. Manson described the move as "censorship" and stated that "those offended by my album cover have successfully proven my point."

Manson claimed that "over 200 songs" had been written during this album's production. "Diamonds & Pollen" remains the only outtake to be released from the Holy Wood sessions, though low quality snippets of "Jack Eats Dinner" and "Compass and the Ruler" were released in a podcast by the band.

Concept

Within Marilyn Manson's album triptych, Holy Wood is the prequel to Mechanical Animals and Antichrist Superstar despite the two latter album preceding Holy Wood in release date. The main character in the over-arching storyline is 'Adam Kadmon', who was previously metaphorically portrayed by Manson as the androgynous alien/rockstar 'Omēga' in Mechanical Animals and 'The Worm / Antichrist Superstar' on Antichrist Superstar. It is worth noting that each album also contains its own storyline distinct from each other but are also linked together abstractly in a fourth larger storyline encompassing all three albums.

Holy Wood follows Kadmon (a character partly based on Kurt Cobain), a rebel from the Valley of Death, which is essentially a dwelling of 'outcasts', who leads a revolution against Holy Wood, which is populated by the rich and famous; referred to in Antichrist Superstar as "The Beautiful People". His revolution is a bittersweet success in that, while he does eradicate Holy Wood, the void assumes the 'rejects' into becoming the mainstream and status quo. The new-found power and influence quickly erode their original guiding principles and they soon devolve into the same fake, profiteering, and hollow monsters as the denizens of Holy Wood. All of this disenchants Adam and leads to his (assumed) suicide and the start of the Mechanical Animals storyline.

The tragic and ill-fated character Coma White (from Mechanical Animals) is paralleled on this album by "Coma Black".

Mechanical Animals then follows the journey, the protagonist now with a new name but essentially the same character as Adam: Omēga - a decadent and sexually ambiguous androgynous alien who, much like David Bowie's Ziggy Stardust, falls down to earth, is captured and then turned into a rock star product. Another lesser character on the album is Alpha who is more Manson like. Omēga, just like Adam, has a love interest for Coma. As a rock star, Omēga becomes increasingly addicted to drugs, emotionally dissociated and nihilistic. All the while his relationship with Coma grows more dysfunctional and falls into disrepair. Just as in Holy Wood, he spirals into breakdown.

Finally the Antichrist Superstar storyline begins. It follows one main character and the two stages of his life; The Worm and The Disintegrator. The Worm is likened to "an insignificant shadow looking for his place in an infinite world of light." His journey to empower himself goes awry and he becomes a repressive, self-destructive and nihilistic fascist tyrant, the eponymous "Antichrist Superstar", known alternatively as "The Disintegrator", who in his vitriol, betrays everything the revolution fought for and along the way destroys everyone and everything around him declaring "When you are suffering know that I have betrayed you".

Reception

After debuting at number 13 on the Billboard, it free-fell off the charts in the weeks that followed. It was also meant to be accompanied by a book and a movie of the same name which further delves into the concept album's backstory. While the book is known to be finished for years, the movie has yet to start production; neither has been released to date. The commercial failure of this album can be attributed to waning interest in Manson's "shock rock" tactics, to which the public had become habituated at this point. However, the album was receive very well by most critics, earning a 4.5/5 star rating from Allmusic.

Track listing

A: In the Shadow

1. "GodEatGod" – 2:34

2. "The Love Song" – 3:16

3. "The Fight Song" – 2:55

4. "Disposable Teens" – 3:01

D: The Androgyne

5. "Target Audience (Narcissus Narcosis)" – 4:18

6. ""President Dead"" – 3:13

7. "In the Shadow of the Valley of Death" – 4:09

8. "Cruci-Fiction in Space"' – 4:56

9. "A Place in the Dirt" – 3:37

A: Of Red Earth

10. "The Nobodies" – 3:35

11. "The Death Song" – 3:30

12. "Lamb of God" – 4:39

13. "Born Again" – 3:20

14. "Burning Flag" – 3:21

M: The Fallen

15. "Coma Black: a) Eden Eye, b) The Apple of Discord" – 5:58

16. "Valentine's Day" – 3:31

17. "The Fall of Adam" – 2:34

18. "King Kill 33°" – 2:18

19. "Count to Six and Die (The Vacuum of Infinite Space Encompassing)" – 3:24

Bonus tracks

20. "The Nobodies" (Acoustic Version) (Bonus track on UK and Japanese versions) – 3:33

21. "Mechanical Animals" (live) (Bonus track on Japanese version) - 4:41

B-sides

• "Diamonds & Pollen" – 3:55
• "Five to One" (The Doors cover) – 4:22
• "Working Class Hero" (John Lennon cover) – 3:42

Autopsy

A short film known as Autopsy could be viewed by running a "START.exe" program included in the disk (in the same way one would run a similar program to listen to the hidden track "Untitled" on the previous album Mechanical Animals. While the video, in which a dead Manson has a fetus removed from his skull during autopsy, was originally hosted on the Insterscope website it is no longer there and can only be viewed as an easter egg on the Lest We Forget (The Best of) bonus DVD.

Album credits

ALL LYRICS BY M. MANSON ·· 1. (music: MANSON) keyboards and bass · synth: Manson · Vocals: Manson · Guitars: John5 · Lead guitar: T. Ramirez · Ambience: M.W. Gacy · Synth: Bon Harris · Noise rhythm guitar: Dave Sardy ·· 2. (music: RAMIREZ., 5) Vocals and ouro-lead guitar: Manson · Guitar and Bass: T. Ramirez · Guitars: John5 · Keyboards and samples: M.W. Gacy · Live drums and siren loop: Ginger Fish · Synth and drum programming: Bon Harris ·· 3. (music: 5) Vocals: Manson · Bass and additional guitar: T. Ramirez · Rhythm and lead guitar: John5 · Keyboards and loops: M.W. Gacy · Live drums: Ginger Fish ·· 4. (music: 5, RAMIREZ) Vocals: Manson · Bass: T. Ramirez · Guitar and synth guitar: John5 · Synth and electronic percussion: Bon Harris · Live drums: Ginger Fish · Keyboards: M.W. Gacy · Pills: D. Sardy ·· 5. (music: RAMIREZ, 5) Vocals and Optigan: Manson · Bass and additional lead guitar: T. Ramirez · All guitars: John5 · Loop and live drums: Ginger Fish · Synth and loops: M.W. Gacy · Drum programming and synth: Bon Harris ·· 6. (music: RAMIREZ., 5, GACY) Vocals, syncussion, and mellotron: Manson · Rhythm Guitar and bass: T. Ramirez · Lead and rhythm guitar: John5 · Loop and live drums: Ginger Fish · Keyboards: M.W. Gacy · Backing Vocals: Alex Suttle ·· 7. (music: RAMIREZ., 5) Vocals and distorted flute: Manson · All Keyboards: M.W. Gacy · All guitars: John5 · Death Loop and live drums: Ginger Fish · Bass: T. Ramirez ·· 8. (music: RAMIREZ., 5, GACY) Vocals and piano: Manson · Rhythm guitar, bass: T. Ramirez · Rhythm and lead guitar: John5 · Live drums: Ginger Fish · Keyboards, loops and ambiences: M.W. Gacy · Insect hi-hat: Bon Harris ·· 9. (music: 5) Vocals and Ambience: Manson · Synth bass and keyboards: M.W,. Gacy · Live drums and loop: Ginger Fish · Bass: T. Ramirez · Acoustic, electric and slide guitars: John5 · Synths, sleigh bells and manipulation: Bon Harris ·· 10. (music: 5, MANSON) electric harpsichord: Manson · Guitars: John5 · Bass: T. Ramirez · Keyboards and ambiences: M.W. Gacy · Drum machine and live kit: Ginger Fish · Vocals: Manson ·· 11. (music: 5, MANSON) Vocals: Manson · guitars: John 5 · Bass: T.Ramirez · Synth bass and electronics: Bon Harris · Loop and live drums: Ginger Fish · Children's choir and canned laughter of dead people unsure of why they are laughing: M.W. Gacy ·· 12. (music: RAMIREZ.) Vocals, piano and pianette: Manson · Bass, lead and Leslie guitar, keys and drum loop: T. Ramirez · Acoustic, rhythm and lead guitar: John5 · Live drums: Ginger Fish · Ambience: M.W. Gacy · Synths: Bon Harris ·· 13. (music: RAMIREZ., 5) Vocals and synth bass: Manson · Bass and verse guitar: T. Ramirez · Guitar and lead guitar: John5 · Keyboards: M.W. Gacy · Drum Programming: Ginger Fish and Bon Harris · Bass and other synths: Bon Harris · Additional loops: Danny Saber · Recorded live February 14, 1997 ·· 14. (music: RAMIREZ., 5) Vocals: Manson Guitar and bass: T. Ramirez · Guitar: John5 · Live drums: Ginger Fish · Organic drum programming: Bon Harris and D. Sardy · Synth and destructive manipulation: Bon Harris · Keyboards: M.W. Gacy ·· 15. a)(music: MANSON, 5, RAMIREZ.) Vocals and clean rhythm guitar: Manson · Bass, warped rhythm guitars and add. lead: T. Ramirez · Phase, lead and rhythm guitar: John5 · Loops and live drums: Ginger Fish · Synths, ambience and keyboards: M.W. Gacy · b)(music: MANSON) Vocals and clean guitar: Manson · Rhythm Guitar: John5 · Bass and lead guitar: T. Ramirez · Loop: Ginger Fish ·· 16. (music: RAMIREZ., MANSON) Vocals and piano: Manson · Bass and noise lead guitars: T. Ramirez · Loop and live drums: Ginger Fish · Lead and rhythm guitars: John5 · Keyboards and mellotron: M.W. Gacy · Synthesizers: Bon Harris ·· 17. (music: RAMIREZ., 5) Vocals: Manson · Acoustic, rhythm and synth guitar: John 5 · Bass and rhythm guitar: T. Ramirez · Live drums: Ginger Fish ·· 18. (music: RAMIREZ) Vocals: Manson · Bass: T. Ramirez · Guitars and synth guitars: John5 · Keyboards and Synth: M.W. Gacy · Live drums: Ginger Fish ·· 19. (music: 5) Vocals: Manson · Synth strings and Ambiences: M.W. Gacy · Piano: Bon Harris ····· Celebritarian™ used by permission

···ALL TRACKS ©2000 EMI BLACKWOOD MUSIC ON BEHALF OF ITSELF, SONGS OF GOLGOTHA MUSIC (BMI), BLOOD HEAVY MUSIC (BMI) & DCLXVI MUSIC (BMI). ALL RIGHTS ADMINISTERED WORLDWIDE BY EMI BLACKWOOD MUSIC INC. · MANSON: ALL TRACKS, SONGS OF GOLGOTHA MUSIC · RAMIREZ: ALL TRACKS, BLOOD HEAVY MUSIC, EXCEPT 1, 3, 9, 10, 11, 15b, 19 · JOHN 5: ALL TRACKS, GTR. HACK MUSIC / CHRYSALIS MUSIC ASCAP, EXCEPT 1, 12, 15b, 16, 18 · GACY: TRACKS 6 & 8 DCLXVI MUSIC ©2000 NOTHING/INTERSCOPE RECORDS. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. PRINTED IN CANADA.

HOLY WOOD CONCEIVED AND ARRANGED BY MARILYN MANSON
PRODUCED BY MARILYN MANSON & D. SARDY · MIXED BY D. SARDY
ENGINEERED BY GRED FIDELMAN · ALL PRO-TOOLS: GREG FIDELMAN · EDITING, PROGRAMMING & PRE-PRODUCTION BY BON HARRIS · ADDITIONAL ENGINEERING BY PAUL NORTHFIELD · RECORDED @ THE MANSION · ADDITIONAL RECORDING @ HOLLY STUDIOS, SUNSET SOUND FACTORY AND WESTLAKE AUDIO · MIXED @ LARRABEE EAST
ASSISTANT ENGINEERS: NICK RASKULINECZ, JOE ZOOK, KEVIN GUARNIERI AND STEVE MACAULEY · MASTERING: MARCUSSION · MANAGEMMENT: TONY CIULLA/CIULLA MANAGAMENT · BUSINESS MGT: JAY SENDYK · LEGAL: JEFFREY TAYLOR LIGHT · AGENT: RICK ROSKIN, CAA · EU AGENT: EMMA BANKS (HELTER SKELTER) · ART DIRECTION: P.R. BROWN AND MARILYN MANSON · PHOTOGRAPHY & DESIGN: P.R. BROWN @ BAU-DA DESIGN LAB [LA]. · MAKE UP: MARILYN MANSON & RALLIS KAHN
CLOTHING: DEBORAH @ T'AINT · OFFICIAL WEBSITE: MARILYNMANSON.COM
INFO: 7336 SANTA MONICA BLVD., #730, LOS ANGELES, CA 90046

Cover gallery

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  Front cover
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  Censored Album Cover
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  Back cover
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  Disc
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  Tray Insert
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  Booklet 1
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  Booklet 2
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  Booklet 3
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  Booklet 4
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  Booklet 5
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  Booklet 6
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  Booklet 7

Charting positions

Album

Year	Chart	Position
2000	Billboard 200	13
2000	Top Internet Albums	10

Singles

Year	Single	Chart	Position
2000	"Disposable Teens"	Mainstream Rock Tracks	22
2000	"Disposable Teens"	Modern Rock Tracks	31

Release history

Region	Date	Label	Format	Catalog
United Kingdom	November 13, 2000	Interscope Records	Compact disc	4908292
Australia	November 14, 2000	Interscope Records	Compact disc	—
North America	November 14, 2000	Interscope Records	Compact disc	490790
Japan	December 5, 2000	Interscope Records	Compact disc	—

Trivia

• The front cover of the demo Big Black Bus features the band's first use of the term "Holy Wood", where the words "HOLYWOOD PROD." can be seen on the side of the school bus. The term was later used in a July 28, 1999 post by Manson on MarilynManson.net's message board, which opened with the line "Hello from the depths of Holy Wood..."
• The term "Holy Wood" was once used in a poem by Aleister Crowley, to whom Marilyn Manson frequently references. It is also used as a mockery of Hollywood, as per the imagery in the album's cover art.
• There are three different covers for this album: The standard cover depicting Manson as The Hanged Man, the censored UK cover depicting "stains" on its cover, and a alternate sleeve release depicting a jawless Manson on the front, and the aforementioned "stains" on the back.
• The album's working title was simply "In the Shadow of the Valley of Death".
• To promote the album in Italy, a promotional CD-ROM called Holy Manson was released to the country in 2001.

Personnel

• Marilyn Manson - arranger, vocals, producer, art direction, concept
• Paul Northfield - engineer
• Dave Sardy - guitar (rhythm), producer
• Twiggy Ramirez - bass guitar, guitar, keyboards
• D. Sardy - producer, mixing
• Bon Harris - synthesizer, programming, editing, electronic percussion
• P. R. Brown - art direction, design, photography
• Greg Fidelman - engineer
• Ginger Fish - drums
• Nick Raskulinecz - assistant engineer
• Joe Zook - assistant engineer
• M.W. Gacy - keyboards
• John 5 - guitar (acoustic), guitar
• Kevin Guarnieri - assistant engineer

See also

• Tarot cards
• The Holywood action figures