[2] Spurred by their version of the Eurythmics's "Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)", the band's first EP, Smells Like Children (1995), became a commercial success, selling over a million copies in the US alone.

Their third studio album, Mechanical Animals (1998), was a commercial and critical success, reaching number one on the Billboard 200,[3] as well topping the charts in as Australia and Canada.

Mechanical Animals was later followed by their first live album, The Last Tour on Earth (1999), which included the promotional single "Astonishing Panorama of the Endtimes".

Their fifth studio album, The Golden Age of Grotesque (2003), was a modest commercial success in their native US, debuting at number one with sales of 118,000 copies.

Their ninth studio album, The Pale Emperor, was released on January 15, 2015, debuting at number eight in the US with their highest first-week sales since Eat Me, Drink Me in 2007.