HOLYWOOD (In The Shadow Of The Valley of Death) (2000)
SYNOPSIS
Holywood: In The Shadow of the Valley of Death was a two fingered answer to the vile and vitriol and unforgiving witch-hunt the band had endured following April 1999's tragic school massacre at Columbine High School.
After being forced into hiding, Manson and the band came back with a darker, twisted album which was a definite dissection of America, it's society and the media.
It deals with evolution, pop culture references and lends heavily to imagery such as JFK, the celebrity of murdereres and the American fascination, as well as bands such as the Beatles and pursuit of fame.
Holywood was also the third and final part of the tryptych which had begun with Antichrist Superstar. It marks both the end and the beginning of the journey begun in ACSS. It chronicles the story of Adam, who was previously Omega in MA, and The Worm in ACSS. It chronicles his journey through the Valley of Death in a revolution against the fake and ceremony of Holy wood. Although it sits as the third and final part it is infact the beginning of the tryptych or a prequel.
Interestingly the album was originally to be accompanied by a book and film of the same name. One chapter from the book and the artwork were revealed and a director was picked up for the film, but the project never began production. Manson found he also had problems with the publication of the book through possible censorship.
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 outro-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 ambience: 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, Synth, sleigh belts and manipulation: Bon Harris
10. (music: 5, MANSON), electric harpsichord: Manson, Guitars: John5, Bass: T. Ramirez, Keyboards and ambiences: M.W. Gacy, Drums 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: Mason, 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. Live drums: Ginger Fish, Organic drum programming: 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 guitars: 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, Loops 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: John5, 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(tm) used by permission
CD SECRETS
Autopsy is a short bonus easter egg included on the album as a hidden format. The video was hosted at interscope (no longer available), and was accessed from the CD by running START.exe.
The video was reminiscent of the Roswell autopsy video as well as the images from John F. Kennedy's autopsy. The music was by Madonna Wayne Gacy.
TRACKLISTING
1 GodEatGod 2:34
2 The Love Song 3:16
3 The Fight Song 2:55
4 Disposable Teens 3:01
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
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
15 Coma Black 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
REVIEWS
avrev.com review by Bryan Dailey
Musically this album is darker and, in a bizarre way, more sensitive. There are a few songs such as "Lamb of God" and "Coma Black" that could almost be considered acoustic ballads amongst the swirl of gothic and industrial metal crunch. Manson’s band has evolved from a gang of mediocre metalheads, hiding behind bizarre loops and noises, into a talented outfit that now uses samples to enhance appreciation, rather than distract the listener from their performances. The addition of guitarist John 5, formerly of Judas Priest singer Rob Halford’s band, has sped up this evolution and the result is an album that rocks just about as hard as any other this year. They are still behind Rob Zombie in the Goth rock/pop genre, but are closing in quickly.
popmatters.com review by popmatters.com
Musically, Manson’s band is tighter than ever and seems to have found a balance between the abrasive sound of Antichrist Superstar and the glam-rock tendencies of Mechanical Animals. While not terribly original (Ministry and Nine Inch Nails did similar but better work years ago), the music is often effective, as on the searing “The Fight Song” and “Disposable Teens”, which, along with “The Nobodies” comes closest to addressing Columbine head-on in lines like: “We are the nobodies / We wanna be somebodies / When we’re dead / They’ll know just who we are”.
allmusic.com review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine
In 2000, Marilyn Manson not only was recovering from his fans' rejection of Mechanical Animals, he was scarred from Columbine and, worst of all, he was no longer America's demon dog. What was Brian Warner to do, standing on such uneasy ground? As a smart man and savvy marketer, he knew that it was time to consolidate his strengths, blend Omega with Antichrist Superstar, and return with a harsh, controversial, operatic epic: a vulgar concept album to seduce his core audiences of alienated teens and cultural cops. The resulting album, Holy Wood (In the Shadow of the Valley of Death), is intended as the third part of the trilogy beginning with Antichrist Superstar, and its convoluted story line is fairly autobiographical, but the amazing thing isn't the story -- it's that he figured out to meld the hooks and subtle sonic shading of Mechanical Animals with the ugly, neo-industrial metallicisms of Antichrist. Consequently, it's easy to see this as the definitive Marilyn Manson album, since it's tuneful and abrasive. Then again, much of its charm lies in Manson trying so hard, perfecting details in the concept, lyrics, themes, production, sequencing, the tarot card parodies in the liner notes, the self-theft, the self-consciously blasphemous cover art. There's so much effort, Holy Wood winds up a stronger and more consistent album than any of his other work. If there's any problem, it's that Manson's shock rock seems a little quaint in 2000. Eminem's vibrant, surrealistic white-trash fantasias were the sound of 2000, while Marilyn Manson's rock operas, religious baiting, and goth gear are from an era passed. It's to Warner's credit as, yes, an artist that Holy Wood works anyway.