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

Holy Wood is the fourth studio album by American rock band Marilyn Manson. It was released on November 11, 2000 by Nothing and Interscope Records. It is the final installment of a triptych that also included Antichrist Superstar and Mechanical Animals. In the aftermath of the Columbine High School massacre on April 20, 1999, the band were widely reported to have influenced the killings. The album was released as their first release after the massacre.

About Holy Wood (In the Shadow of the Valley of Death) in brief

Holy Wood is the fourth studio album by American rock band Marilyn Manson. It was released on November 11, 2000 by Nothing and Interscope Records. It is the final installment of a triptych that also included Antichrist Superstar and Mechanical Animals. In the aftermath of the Columbine High School massacre on April 20, 1999, the band were widely reported to have influenced the killings. The album was released as their first release after the massacre, and was described by the vocalist as a \”declaration of war\”. It was written in the singer’s former home in the Hollywood Hills and recorded in several undisclosed locations, including Death Valley and Laurel Canyon. In 2010, Kerrang! published a 10th-anniversary commemorative piece in which they called the album \”Manson’s finest hour … A decade on, there has still not been as eloquent and savage a musical attack on the media and mainstream culture . still scathingly relevant a credit to a man who refused to sit and take it, but instead come out swinging.  “Holy Wood” was certified gold in several countries, including Canada, Japan, Switzerland and the UK. It became their most successful album internationally, debuting in the top twenty of numerous national charts. Three singles were released from the record: \”Disposable Teens\”, \”The Fight Song\” and \”The Nobodies\”, and the band embarked on the worldwide Guns, God and Government Tour. It has been described as the band’s finest work, and multiple publications ranked it as one of the best albums of 2000.

The group’s music and imagery outraged social conservatives. Numerous politicians lobbied to have their performances banned, citing false and exaggerated claims that they contained animal sacrifices, bestiality and rape. Their concerts were routinely picketed by religious advocates and parent groups, who asserted that their music had a corrupting influence on youth culture by inciting \”rape, murder, blasphemy and suicide\”. In the late 1990s, Marilyn Manson became a culture war iconoclast and a rallying icon for alienated youth. Despite this, the group were widely criticized by religious, political, and entertainment-industry figures. On April 29, 2000, ten US senators sent a letter to Edgar Bronfman Jr. – the president of Seagram – requesting a voluntary halt to his company’s distribution of children’s products. Later that day, the remaining North American shows were cancelled. Later, Manson published his op-ed piece for Rolling Stone titled “Columbine: Whose Fault Is It? It’s America’s Fault? Where he castigated America’s gun culture where he castigates America’s youth?” He later wrote that the actions of Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold reflect that of Marilyn Manson, and later that day the band cancelled their remaining American shows, the last five North American tour dates out of respect for the victims and their families. Later reports revealed that the two were not fans of the band, and, on the contrary, had disliked their music.

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