Since the release of "Answers Come in Dreams", the band has kept something of a low profile. However, they have not been entirely dormant, self-releasing a couple of EPs and playing select live dates. Rumors persist of a new album being in the works, though to date, nothing has been announced. After the success of "Antichrist Superstar", Marilyn Manson entered the studio with much mainstream attention to record their third full-length album, "Mechanical Animals". Unlike their first two albums, "Mechanical Animals" would not be shepherded by Trent Reznor, who had shifted his focus back to Nine Inch Nails. Instead, the band enlisted Michael Beinhorn as principal producer, co-producing the record with Marilyn Manson, with Sean Beavan providing additional production duties. During this time, the band would also relocate from Fort Lauderdate, Florida, to Los Angeles, California, where recording commenced on the album. Inspired heavily by David Bowie's "Diamond Dogs" album, "Mechanical Animals" shifted away from the industrial rock style of the band's earlier work, instead emulating a 1970s glam rock sound, epitomized by artists of that decade such as Bowie, Queen and T. Rex. Conceptually, the album delved into Manson's own struggles with fame and alienation. Manson described the album as being about "someone who feels like they're in a place where they're not accepted or don't belong. It's more from that perspective. It's much more vulnerable music that I'm making on this new album. Both sonically and lyrically, it's about the depression of alienation, rather than the aggressiveness of it. It's about the emptiness." The album was a rock opera and concept album, continuing an overarching story concept, which began with "Antichrist Superstar", while the events of "Mechanical Animals" precede it. "Mechanical Animals" was released on September 14, 1998 on Nothing / Interscope Records. The cover art depicted an androgynous Manson, naked with breasts, six fingers and airbrushed genitalia, which stirred up more controversy for the band. One month before the album's release, the three largest retailers in the United States at the time—K-Mart, Wal-Mart and Target—refused to stock the album, citing the cover artwork and its Parental Advisory sticker. In spite of this, the album debuted at number one on the "Billboard" 200, with first-week sales of 223,000 units, making it the first Marilyn Manson album to top the charts.