Lest We Forget: The Best of Marilyn Manson
The Verdict: Manson’s greatest hits album delivers classic moments from his career, but misses a few of the highlights.
3 1/2 stars out of 5 stars
In plenty of time for Halloween, Marilyn Manson has released his latest stab at the music industry.
“Lest We Forget: The Best of” contains the greatest hits from the notorious shock rocker’s 10-years of fame and controversy. It even includes one previously unreleased tune, as well as a couple of songs only released on soundtracks.
Earlier Manson albums, from 1994’s “Portrait of an American Family” up to the recent “Golden Age of Grotesque,” held themes and often included offbeat selections that only the bravest of fans could sit through. They were meant to be listened to from beginning to end, and they were mostly likely to be enjoyed by self-professed “Mansonites” sitting in dimly lit rooms.
Contrary to that, “Lest We Forget” is perfect for people who fall into the broader audience and enjoy the group’s signature hits but want them without the weird stuff.
Manson made no attempt to create an obvious theme or order to the latest release, and “Lest We Forget…” surprisingly stays true to the tone of the original albums because of this.
Listeners will find themselves feeling like they are on a goth and glam-inspired journey through anger, love, despair and reflection.
It seems like it would be hard to pick the best songs from an artist who hasn’t exactly had tons of No. 1 singles to pick through. Rather than being a collection of chart-topping hits, the CD is mostly made up of mainstream Manson favorites like “The Beautiful People,” “Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)” and “The Dope Show.” Also included are some songs not as well known, but just as catchy, like “mOBSCENE,” “The Nobodies” and “Rock is Dead.”
A few songs are suspiciously missing from the album though. “The Man That You Fear,” which received heavy rotation on MTV, as well as “Don’t Like the Drugs” and “Coma White,” are not on the “best of” album.
Only two songs are taken from 1998’s glam-infused “Mechanical Animals,” an album many considered a betrayal to the group’s goth industrial beginnings. The majority of songs come from the group’s return to their darker tone with 2000’s “Holy Wood.”
Others included on the disc are “Long Hard Road Out of Hell” and “Tainted Love” from the Spawn and Not Another Teen Movie soundtracks, respectively.
Manson’s previously unreleased contribution- a cover of Depeche Mode’s “Personal Jesus” has the same catchy drive to it, with a “Beautiful People”-inspired beat.
Diehard Manson fans probably won’t feel the need to buy “Lest We Forget…” unless they get the collector’s edition, which comes with a DVD of Manson’s videos. But those who have a guilty pleasure for the dark rocker will certainly enjoy.