The first two performances of the Rock Is Dead Tour were canceled after Manson suffered a hairline fracture on one of his ankles during the final show with Hole at The Forum in Los Angeles . The tour was resumed on March 17 , 1999 . The tour , however , would stagger yet again following the Columbine High School massacre on April 20 , 1999 . In the ensuing aftermath , the band was accused of being a cause of the tragedy in Littleton , prompting the group to cancel their remaining North American engagements out of respect for the victims , explaining , " It 's not a great atmosphere to be out playing rock 'n' roll shows , for us or the fans . " The album received acclaim from most music critics . Analyzing the album 's intentions , Barry Walters of '' The Village Voice '' noted , " '' Mechanical Animals '' celebrates sexy celebrity in a typically Mansonian bacchanalia of contradictions . He 's said all along that dirty media dominance is the cleanest and closest thing to divinity in a world that crucified the god in itself and replaced it with blind faith . Now he understands first-hand that stardom sucks , yet while he lifts a platform boot against its phony fat ass he still ca n't help reveling in the excess . '' Antichrist Superstar '' critiqued fame in order to make him famous . Having been there/done that , Manson wants more because more is the American way he 's hell-bent on subverting — even as he 's soaking in it . " Of the record 's musical direction Walters noted , " Flexing far more range than rage , Manson 's feminization shifts his vocal power center from a diseased gut to a broken heart . ... Guitars roar and whine , bass booms , drums race , and synths twitter with a tweeness that 's gon na turn Durannie grannie Nick Rhodes 's gray roots green . " '' USA Today '' praised that " Manson and producer Michael Beinhorn have rediscovered the adrenalin in '70s glam-rock , sprinkling Gary Glitter and Ziggy Stardust over Gothic theatrics . " Jon Wiederhorn of Amazon observed that " '' Mechanical Animals '' is a brash , decadent , and glittery display of self-indulgent hooks and melodramatic vocals that sounds like Aladdin Sane-era David Bowie and T. Rex at their most boisterous crossed with the more modern sounds of today 's industrial nation . " According to Ann Powers of '' Rolling Stone '' , " '' Mechanical Animals '' gets its cavelike spaciousness from goth influences and tweaks them with an industrial crunch ... He and his band approach its terrain the way a 1960s rocker like Eric Clapton approaches the blues , with respect and a sense of entitlement . " Annalee Newitz of '' Salon '' noted the band 's shift from a " dour preoccupation with religious fascism and toward space-age genderfuck chic . The creamy synth sound and drugged-out lyrics that dominate Manson 's latest CD prove that two antithetical '80s musical genres — heavy metal and new wave — can indeed be fruitfully combined . " David Browne of '' Entertainment Weekly '' wrote , " Looking back in mascara 'd anger , Manson and producer Michael Beinhorn have fashioned music steeped in glam rock and concept-album bombast but updated with a crunching intensity ... He layers the songs with cooing backup singers , electronica burbles , skulking guitars , and synths at their most decadently new wavy . The effect is often spectacular . " Lorraine Ali of the '' Los Angeles Times '' commented " songs swagger with lipstick-wearing attitude , have fun with sleazy subject matter and actually convey some ( gasp ) human emotion ... This album is the first time we actually experience Manson as a band , not a phenomenon filtered through Reznor 's mixing board wizardry or a freak show accompanied by a soundtrack . An album that 's powerful from start to finish is far more surprising than any controversial Manson high jinks ... this record ensures his further infiltration of teenage America and earns him a new spot in the annals of great , big , pompous pop albums . " David Browne describes that the sound of the album " is often spectacular : a lurid cabaret-rock revue for the post-global-economy meltdown . " According to '' NME '' , '' Mechanical Animals '' " marks a total shift in Manson 's assault . Where the Antichrist Superstar game plan was about gaining notoriety through outrage , rather than winning souls over on musical grounds , Mechanical Animals aims straight for the singalong heart of stadium-land . And rips it out , and holds it aloft in triumph ... Of the 14 tracks here , ten could be singles . On this evidence alone , ' Mechanical Animals ' is an unashamedly crass bid for total world domination ... they already have the goth kids . Now , their sights have turned on everyone else . " However , not everyone gave the album a positive review . Music critic Robert Christgau criticized " the feebleness of La Manson 's vocal affect " and dismissed the album as a whole as " one more depersonalizing production device with which to flatten willing cerebella sic whilst confronting humankind 's alienation , amorality , and failure to have a good time on Saturday night . " He concluded that " not every icon deserves a think piece . " '' Spin '' magazine noted the record is " essentially mining the same agitprop territory and ' premillenial ' confusion that hipster , highbrow heroes such as Alec Empire and Tricky take for granted . Manson shares with Empire a preference for destroying the master 's house with the master 's tools . Like Tricky , Manson uses gender confusion as a coping mechanism , less identity politics than identity evasion . " Joshua Klein of '' The A.V. Club '' was unconvinced with the sudden musical shift by the band and pointed out that neither will longtime fans . However , he conceded that the album is " more musical than anything Manson has done ... His music packs both industrial muscle and anthemic conviction , even as it playfully steals from the Bowie songbook " while lamenting that thematically the album played it safe , with lyrics lacking , " any sense of wit , as songs doggedly hammer at safe taboos like drugs , sex , drugs , stardom , drugs , and death . And drugs . " Like '' NME '' , Klein concluded the record will , nevertheless , help the band pick up new fans . Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic described the record as " a big , clean rock record " and praised it as a " welcome change of pace " and " more tuneful than his clattering industrial cacophony . " However , he also noted that devoid of " the cartoonish menace that distinguished his prior music ... Marilyn Manson seems a little ordinary ... Manson should have remembered — demons are never that scary in the light . " Despite this , Greg Burk of '' LA Weekly '' went on to call '' Mechanical Animals '' " one of the greatest albums of its decade . " According to Acclaimedmusic.net '' Mechanical Animals '' is the 44th best reviewed album of 1998 , the 426th greatest record released during the 1990s and the 2209th greatest of all-time . '' Spin '' ranked '' Mechanical Animals '' the seventh best album on their 1998 End of Year List . Online music magazine '' Addicted to Noise '' ranked '' Mechanical Animals '' 25th in their 1998 list of the " Albums of the Year " . '' The Village Voice '' ranked '' Mechanical Animals '' 40th in their 1998 list of the " Albums of the Year " . '' Kerrang ! '' ranked '' Mechanical Animals '' second on their 1998 list of the Albums of the Year . '' Q '' magazine listed '' Mechanical Animals '' among their picks for their 1998 Recordings of the Year list . Dutch magazine '' Muziekkrant OOR '' ranked '' Mechanical Animals '' 18th in their 1998 '' Albums of the Year '' list . The record ranked second in the Critics Top 50 and 10th in the Popular Poll of German magazine '' Musik Express/Sounds '' in their 1998 " Albums of the Year " list . In 1999 , American music journalist Ned Raggett listed '' Mechanical Animals '' 78th in his " The Top 136 Albums of the Nineties " . Also in 1999 , Australian magazine '' JUICE '' ranked '' Mechanical Animals '' 84th in their '' 100 Greatest Albums of the '90s '' . In 2006 , sister British magazines '' Classic Rock '' and '' Metal Hammer '' included '' Mechanical Animals '' in '' The 200 Greatest Albums of the 90s '' . Also in 2006 , Dutch public radio broadcaster VPRO included '' Mechanical Animals '' in their '' 299 Nominations of the Best Album of All Time '' . The French edition of the British magazine '' Rock Sound '' ranked '' Mechanical Animals '' 56th in their '' Top 150 Albums of Our Lifetime ( 1992 – 2006 ) '' and second in their 1998 '' Albums of the Year ''
Columbine High School massacre
Columbine High School massacre
Mechanical Animals