Mechanical Animals (album)
- This article is about the album. For other uses, see Mechanical Animals (song) and Mechanical Animals (tour).
| Mechanical Animals | |||||
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| Studio album by Marilyn Manson | |||||
| Released | September 14, 1998 | ||||
| Recorded | 1997–1998 at the White Room, Westlake Recording Studios in West Hollywood, California and Conway Studios | ||||
| Genre | Alternative rock, glam rock, industrial rock | ||||
| Length | 62:38 | ||||
| Label | Nothing, Interscope | ||||
| Producer | Michael Beinhorn, Marilyn Manson | ||||
| Professional reviews | |||||
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| Marilyn Manson chronology | |||||
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Mechanical Animals is the third studio album by Marilyn Manson, released on September 14, 1998 by Interscope Records. It is somewhat of a concept album, and the second of a trilogy along with Antichrist Superstar and Holy Wood (In the Shadow of the Valley of Death). It spawned four singles ("The Dope Show", "Rock Is Dead", "I Don't Like the Drugs (But the Drugs Like Me)" and "Coma White").
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Contents
Packaging
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Reception
Mechanical Animals is Manson's best selling and most critically-acclaimed work. Despite its success, the album was marred by controversy and is notorious for its shocking imagery. Initial sales were extremely strong, but it was virtually blacklisted when Manson became the main scapegoat for the Columbine high school shootings of 1999, (despite the fact that Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold were not fans of the band) with unit sales halting very close behind the figure for its predecessor, Antichrist Superstar.
Arguably, this album's most successful song is "The Dope Show", which fared extremely well on both video and single charts in the United States and abroad. It continues to reign as the band's most commercially successful song. "The Dope Show"'s music video debuted the band's controversial new, androgynous glam rock image to the world. It is inspired by Alejandro Jodorowsky's The Holy Mountain, a controversial art film, as well as the David Bowie film, The Man Who Fell to Earth. Again, Bowie's influence has been enormous on this album, though each influence has been noted publicly by Manson himself.
When released on September 15, 1998, the album was immediately boycotted by the Wal-Mart corporation, citing "obscenity" in the album's cover artwork. To combat this, Nothing Records issued another edition, featuring the album's title superimposed over Manson's "breasts". Wal-Mart still refused to sell the album, and consequently pulled all previous albums by Manson in light of the Columbine tragedy on April 20 1999 (after the release of Mechanical Animals, and after the cover controversy). To this day, Wal-Mart's corporate website states that Manson's work, among the work of other artists, will not be sold in their stores, but 2003 saw the mass sale of Manson's fifth album, The Golden Age of Grotesque in nearly all Wal-Marts; representatives claim they chose to sell this latest album by the "shock-rocker" because it was to be "commercially viable" and was "on the Top Ten charts". Likewise, before the release of the album, a number of groups raised concerns about the track "Great Big White World" possibly being a racially-motivated reference until Manson himself cleared up the rumors by stating that it was about cocaine.
Track listing
- 1. "Great Big White World" – 5:01
- 2. "The Dope Show" – 3:46
- 3. "Mechanical Animals" – 4:33
- 4. "Rock Is Dead" – 3:09
- 5. "Disassociative" – 4:50
- 6. "The Speed of Pain" – 5:30
- 7. "Posthuman" – 4:17
- 8. "I Want to Disappear" – 2:56
- 9. "I Don't Like the Drugs (But the Drugs Like Me)" – 5:03
- 10. "New Model No. 15" – 3:40
- 11. "User Friendly" – 4:17
- 12. "Fundamentally Loathsome" – 4:49
- 13. "The Last Day on Earth – 5:01
- 14. "Coma White" – 5:38
- "Untitled" (Multimedia track) – 1:21
B-sides
- "A Rose and a Baby Ruth" (A George Hamilton IV cover) – 2:18
- "Coma White" (Acoustic Version) – 5:33
- "Get My Rocks Off" (A Dr. Hook & the Medicine Show cover) – 3:05
Album credits
ALL TRACKS: dinger & ollie music, administered by dinger & ollie music, BMI ©1998 all rights reserved / MANSON: all tracks, songs of golgotha music / RAMIREZ: all tracks except 12, blood heavy music / GACY: all tracks except 2,3,8,9 & 10, DCLXVI music / ZIM ZUM: only tracks 1,3,5,6,9,11,12 & 14, violent delight music
DISASSOCIATIVE (lyrics:manson/music:ramirez,gacy,zum) vocals: manson, rhythm guitars and bass: ramirez, lead guitar: zum, keyboards: gacy, live and electric drums: fish / THE SPEED OF PAIN (lyrics:manson/music:ramirez,gacy,zum) vocals and vocoder: manson, background vocals: john west, lynn davis, nikki harris, alexandra brown, acoustic guitar and bass: ramirez, keyboards,shaker and mellotron: gacy, arp synthesizer: manson, beinhorn, lead and synth guitar: zum, drums: fish / MECHANICAL ANIMALS (lyrics:manson/music:ramirez, zum) vocals: manson, bass, acoustic and rhythm guitars: ramirez, ryhthm and lead guitar: zum, piano and other keyboards: gacy, drums: fish / ROCK IS DEAD (lyrics:manson/music:ramirez,gacy) vocals: manson, all guitars and bass: ramirez, keyboards: gacy, drums: fish / FUNDAMENTALLY LOATHSOME (lyrics: manson/music:gacy, zum) vocals: manson, bass: ramirez, piano and other keyboards: gacy, lead and rhythm guitar: zum, drums: fish / THE DOPE SHOW (lyrics:manson/music:ramirez) lead and background vocals: manson, bass, rhythm and lead guitars: ramirez, piano: gacy, syncussion and electric drums: manson / I WANT TO DISAPPEAR (lyrics:manson/music:ramirez) vocals: manson, all guitars and bass: ramirez, drums: fish,samples: gacy / POSTHUMAN (lyrics:manson/music:ramirez,gacy) vocals: manson, rose mcgowan, bass and rythm guitar: ramirez, electric percussion and keyboards: gacy, drums: fish, additional lead guitar: zum / NEW MODEL NO.15 (lyrics:manson/music:ramirez,manson) vocals: manson, background vocals: kobi tai, dyanna lauren, guitars, bass and bass synth: ramirez, keyboards: gacy, drums: fish, pitifully predictable guitar solo: zum / USER FRIENDLY (lyrics:manson/music ramirez, gacy, zum) vocals: manson, pornography: dyanna lauren, guitars, bass, bass synth and noise: ramirez, piano and keyboards: gacy, scratching:dj neil strauss, drums: fish / GREAT BIG WHITE WORLD (lyrics:manson/music: ramirez, gacy, zum) vocals: manson, acoustic, rhythm guitar and bass: ramirez, keyboards: gacy, drums: fish, lead guitar: zum / COMA WHITE (lyrics:manson/music:ramirez,gacy,zum) vocals and piano: manson,lead and rhythm guitars and bass: ramirez, keyboards and mellotron: gacy, acoustic and leadguitar: zum / I DON'T LIKE THE DRUGS (BUT THE DRUGS LIKE ME) (lyrics:manson/music:ramirez, zum) vocals: manson, background vocals: john west, lynn davis, nikki harris, alexandra brown, rhythm guitars and bass: ramirez, clavinet, strings and programming: danny saber, keyboards: gacy, outro guitar solo: dave navarro (spread entertainment, inc.), additional lead guitar: zum, drums: fish / THE LAST DAY ON EARTH (lyrics: manson/music:manson, gacy, ramirez) vocals and vocoder: manson, bass synth and all keyboards: gacy, lead and acoustic guitar: ramirez, lead guitar: manson, drums: fish / management: tony ciulla / nothing: john a. malm, jr. / special thanks to: danny saber, billy corgan, dust bros., jeff anderson, tom whalley, john ciulla, alex kochan, jay sendyk, david codikow, zepp, aaron and everyone / engineered by barry doldberg and sean beavan / programming & digital engineering by sean beavan / recorded at the white room, westlake and conway studios / westlake: michael parnin, charity lomax / conway: rob brill, wes seidman / record plant: jan fairchild, gordon fordyle / mastering: ted jensen, sterling sound / make-up: devra kinery, angela garcia / hair: alex dizon, jay / gold suit: jason farrer / reconstructive plastic surgry: dr. sm george / portrait photography: joseph f. cultice - one @ 212.925.1111 / john5 & coma white photography: marilyn manson / object photography & digital illustration: chaos@buda.com / art direction & design: prbrown@bauda.com [bau-da design lab, nyc]
Produced by Michael Beinhorn and Marilyn Manson
Additional production by Sean Beavan
Mixed by Tom Lord-Alge
Marilyn Manson Is:
Marilyn Manson: vocals
Twiggy Ramirez: all guitars & bass
M.W. Gacy: keyboards & synthesizer
Ginger Fish: drums
John5: live guitarist for mechanical animals
www.marilynmanson.net
AOL Keyboard: marilynmanson
© 1998 Nothing/Interscope Records. All rights reserved.
Cover gallery
Slipcase front 
Slipcase back 
Front cover 
Back cover 
Disc 
Inlay 
Traycard 
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Booklet, page 14
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Chart positions
Album
| Year | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|
| 1998 | Billboard 200 | 1 |
Singles
| Year | Single | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1998 | "The Dope Show" | Mainstream Rock Tracks | 12 |
| 1998 | "The Dope Show" | Modern Rock Tracks | 15 |
| 1999 | "I Don't Like the Drugs (But the Drugs Like Me)" | Mainstream Rock Tracks | 25 |
| 1999 | "I Don't Like the Drugs (But the Drugs Like Me)" | Modern Rock Tracks | 36 |
| 1999 | "Rock Is Dead" | Mainstream Rock Tracks | 28 |
| 1999 | "Rock Is Dead" | Modern Rock Tracks | 30 |
Release history
| Region | Date | Label | Format | Catalog |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Australia | September 14, 1998 | Interscope Records | Compact disc | — |
| France | September 15, 1998 | Interscope Records | Compact disc | — |
| Germany | September 15, 1998 | Interscope Records | Compact disc | — |
| North America | September 15, 1998 | Interscope Records | Compact disc | — |
Personnel
- Marilyn Manson – vocals, producer, vocoder, photography
- M.W. Gacy – piano, drums, keyboards, synthesizer, drums (electric), sampling, mellotron, shaker
- Twiggy Ramirez – guitar (acoustic), bass, guitar, bass (electric), guitar (rhythm), noise
- Zim Zum – guitar (acoustic), guitar, guitar (rhythm), keyboards, guitar synthesizer
- Ginger Fish – drums, vocals, vocoder
- John 5 – live guitar
- Michael Beinhorn – producer
- Billy Corgan – consultant
- Tom Lord-Alge – mixing
- Sean Beavan – programming, producer, engineer, editing
- Barry Goldberg – engineer
- Rob Brill – assistant engineer
- Ted Jensen – mastering
- Danny Saber – keyboards
- John West – background vocals
- Alexandra Brown – background vocals
- Dyanna Lauren – background vocals (or, as the liner notes state, "pornography") on "User Friendly"
- Kobe Tai – background vocals
- Lynn Davis – background vocals
- Nikki Harris – background vocals
- Rose McGowan – background vocals on "Posthuman"
- Dave Navarro – outro guitar solo on "I Don't Like the Drugs (But the Drugs Like Me)"
- Joseph Cultice – photography
- Devra Kinery – makeup
- Angela Garcia – makeup
- Alex Dizon – hair stylist
