A rock opera concept album, it is the second installment in a trilogy which includes Antichrist Superstar and Holy Wood (In the Shadow of the Valley of Death). After the release of "Holy Wood", Manson said that the overarching story within the trilogy is presented in reverse chronological order; Mechanical Animals, therefore, acts as the bridge connecting the two narratives and remains constant whether the trilogy is viewed in reverse or not.

This Is My Truth Tell Me Yours is the fifth studio album by Welsh alternative rock band Manic Street Preachers. It was released on 14 September 1998 by record label Epic.
Like its 1996 predecessor Everything Must Go, This Is My Truth Tell Me Yours was a commercial and critical success. The album debuted at number 1 in the UK Albums Chart, selling 136,000 copies, going Gold in the first week. It sold well in the United Kingdom, Europe and Asia, and represented a change in the sound from the furious alternative rock sound to a more melodic and tender approach. By March 1999 the album was Triple Platinum in the UK alone and since its release it has sold more than five million copies worldwide. It earned the band further nominations and accolades at the BRIT Awards in 1999.

The Holy Bible is the third studio album by Welsh alternative rock band Manic Street Preachers. It was released on 30 August 1994 by record label Epic. At the time the album was written and recorded, lyricist and rhythm guitarist Richey Edwards was struggling with severe depression, alcohol abuse, self-harm and anorexia nervosa, and its contents are considered by many sources to reflect his mental state. The songs focus on themes relating to politics and human suffering. The Holy Bible was the band's last album released before Edwards' disappearance on 1 February 1995.

Postcards from a Young Man is the tenth studio album by Welsh alternative rock band Manic Street Preachers, released on 20 September 2010. The Manics began recording the album (provisionally titled It's Not War – Just the End of Love) in October 2009 at their Faster Studio in Cardiff and finished in June 2010. The album was intended by the band as "one last shot at mass communication".
The album reached the number 3 spot on the UK charts and was supported by the Manics' most extensive tour of the UK to date.

Lifeblood is the seventh studio album by Welsh alternative rock band Manic Street Preachers. Recorded in 2003, it was released on 1 November 2004 by record label Sony Music UK.
The album was met with generally positive reviews from critics, yielding two singles, "The Love of Richard Nixon" and "Empty Souls". The album peaked at number 13 in the UK Album Chart.

Journal for Plague Lovers is the ninth studio album by Welsh alternative rock band Manic Street Preachers, released in May 2009 by record label Columbia. Recorded between October 2008 and February 2009 and produced by Steve Albini and Dave Eringa, it features exclusively posthumous-published lyrics by Richey Edwards, who disappeared on 1 February 1995 and was presumed deceased in 2008. It is the only Manic Street Preachers album in which the lyrics for every song were written solely by Edwards.
The album received a very positive critical reception and debuted at number 3 in the UK Albums Chart.

Gold Against the Soul is the second studio album by Welsh alternative rock band Manic Street Preachers. It was released on 21 June 1993 by record label Columbia.

Generation Terrorists is the debut studio album by Welsh alternative rock band Manic Street Preachers. It was released on 10 February 1992 through record label Columbia.
On the back of significant media attention and a "disproportionately high press profile" generated by the band's previously released single "Motown Junk" from 1991, Generation Terrorists was long-awaited by critics thanks to the members' proclamation that their debut would be the "greatest rock album ever" and sell around sixteen million copies around the world, "from Bangkok to Senegal". Recorded between July and December 1991 and released in February 1992, the album did not meet these sales figures but it was nonetheless ultimately certified Gold in the United Kingdom and also charted within the Top 100 in Japan.

Liberation Transmission is the third studio album by Welsh rock band Lostprophets.
This is the first Lostprophets album recorded without original drummer Mike Chiplin. Josh Freese drummed at the request of Bob Rock, but the band's first choice was Travis Barker. Ilan Rubin also played drums for the songs "Everybody's Screaming!!!" and "For All These Times Son, for All These Times".

Meteora is the second studio album by American rock band Linkin Park. It was released on March 25, 2003 through Warner Bros. Records, following Reanimation, a collaboration album which featured remixes of songs included on their debut studio album Hybrid Theory. The album was produced by the band alongside Don Gilmore. The title Meteora is taken from the Greek Orthodox monasteries sharing the same name.

Hybrid Theory is the debut studio album by American rock band Linkin Park, released on October 24, 2000, through Warner Bros. Records. As of 2017, the album has been certified diamond by the RIAA for sales in the band's home country of United States, with over eleven million units, peaking at number two on the US Billboard 200, and it also has reached high positions on other charts worldwide, with 30 million copies sold, making it the best-selling debut album since Guns N' Roses' Appetite for Destruction and the best-selling rock album of the 21st century.

Mother is the only album of British band Kubb. It was released on 14 November 2005 in the UK on the Mercury Records label. It reached a peak of 26 the week of 13 February 2006. The album was never released in the US, although some versions have surfaced stateside (these versions removed the track "Bitch", bringing the album down to 11 tracks).

Franz Ferdinand is the debut studio album by Scottish indie rock band Franz Ferdinand, first released on 9 February 2004 through the Domino Recording Company. It was recorded during 2003 at Gula Studios in Malmö, Sweden, with Tore Johansson, who produced the majority of the album, with two tracks produced by the band themselves. It entered the United Kingdom album charts at number three in February 2004 and contains the UK top ten singles "Take Me Out" and "The Dark of the Matinée" as well as UK top 20 hit "Michael".