Mechanical Animals is the third full-length studio album by American rock band Marilyn Manson. It was released on September 14, 1998, in Australia and on September 15, 1998, in the US, Germany and France through Nothing and Interscope Records and marked the beginning of the band's brief foray into glam rock, a sharp contrast to the harsh and abrasive industrial rock and metal sound of their earlier and succeeding efforts. It is a rock opera concept album and the second instalment in a trilogy that includes the albums Antichrist Superstar and Holy Wood (In the Shadow of the Valley of Death). After the release of Holy Wood, Manson revealed that the overarching story within the trilogy is divulged in reverse chronological order. Holy Wood, therefore, begins the story, followed by Mechanical Animals, and concluding with Antichrist Superstar. The album has been certified platinum in the US, Canada and New Zealand. It spawned four singles ("The Dope Show", "Rock Is Dead", "I Don't Like the Drugs (But the Drugs Like Me)" and "Coma White"). It debuted at â„– 1 in its first week of sale, making it the first Marilyn Manson album to do so.