Lest We Forget (the best of Marilyn Manson)

[Corey]

[size=1][center][img]http://www.otakuboards.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=21378&stc=1[/img][/center]

Though I've only been a Manson fan for a year or two, I've developed a deep love for his music, new and old alike.
Most of his songs are so deep and personal that it can just rip apart any doubt you have that Marilyn Manson is average. He is anything but.

This compilation of songs is a definite tribute to a beautifully successful carreer.
It includes two songs previously unreleased on any Manson album, a cover of Depeche Modes 'Personal Jesus' and a cover of the classic 'Tainted Love'.
It has songs from nearly every album. For a bit more cash, you can get a DVD with great music videos aswell.

Thoughts? Comments?[/size]

[Epitome]

[size=1][color=sienna]I have only been a Manson fan for about a month. My brother introduced me to the cover of "Tainted Love" and then I started listening to more of his music and it began to basically, pull me in. Another cover that I like of his is "You Spin Me Right Round." Thats probably my favorite or second favorite song by him. The other in contention would have to be "The Fight Song."

But I will most likely NOT by the album. I have an iPod so I most likely will download the music.

But even though most people blame Marilyn Manson for the Columbine shootings, and that his music is "sick and demented," I see him as an idol. He expresses what he wants to express, and says what he wants to say. And I think that he is great because of it.[/color][/size]

[Guest Kyda]

I love Marilyn Manson. His voice is so different from other singers. I don't have any of his albums due to my mother finding his music repulsive and "self destrictive" as she would like to say. But I am going to go out with my friend sometime alone and buy one of his CDs then *evil laugh*

[Godelsensei]

[COLOR=Gray][FONT=Courier New]Call me crazy, but I find MM entirely boring.

I just don't like the sound to most of his songs, despite the fact that one or two of them do manage to be pretty good by my standards.
His image doesn't appeal to me, either--once again, it's gotten dull. Back in the day, it may or may not have been considered new and unusual, but now it seems pretty well, "Eh."

As far as I'm concerned, John Five (or whatever strange use of phoenetics he applies to his name, if any) will always just be "that pale guy." [/FONT][/COLOR]

[Mitch]

Ah, where's Tony when you need him. . .

Anyway, [i]Lest We Forget[/i] is a waste of time for me. I own most of the albums which have the songs this compliation has on it. Except for the new song, anyway.

Marilyn Manson is a great musician, though. Few people do give him a chance. . .they always consider he's bad, since he's gotten that kind of a rap from the Columbine Shooting and et cetera.

I guess this compilation is good for those who haven't heard any Manson nor given him a chance, though. Pick it up if you want to actually give him a chance. You'll be surprised, I guarantee.

[Semjaza]

Being one of my favorite groups, I tend to be rather defensive about Marilyn Manson. However, this is largely due to the fact that being a fan of this band also leads to a large amount of insults and snobby remarks. Far more than any other musician I listen to, even ones I would consider "worse" in many regards. I guess this is mostly because Manson managed to bring these things to the general public in ways other similar groups have not managed.

I would say that a lot of people have a problem with this group as a whole (particularly the frontman for obvious reasons), but most of the time it's almost completely unfounded or cannot be backed up with much factual information. If you're just not into the sound then whatever, no one is going to change your mind... but I find that 95% of the people I talk to that have some problem with the group know so little of their music, image and history that there's nothing even worth discussing.

Image is obviously something the band is known for. The typical person seems quick to compare them to Alice Cooper, another artist known for his "image". Even Alice Cooper himself seems to think that he created this theatrical aspect for reasons I've never been able to figure out. How a middle-aged man wearing eye make-up and walking around with a snake while singing songs about turning eighteen and getting out of school in the summer is comparable to the depth of what Marilyn Manson has accomplished is just beyond me. Cooper's image was arbitrary, it had no real purpose nor explanation and, for the most part, what he sang about didn't even fit with the "evil" ideals he tried to convey for himself through this image. He just wanted to look dark, end of story. For all the genius the man seems to think he possesses, he still has not managed to change or alter this image in any way over his lifespan.

In comparison, I think the only true likeness to the group at this point is David Bowie. Not in the sense of how good or important they may be, but certainly in the sense of their approaches. Bowie created entire characters that had their own histories and destinies. Between Ziggy Stardust, Aladdin Sane and Halloween Jack, I really don't know of a single other band that managed to combine the imagery and the music so well.

Of course, to people who don't bother to look into these things or really give them a chance, he just looks like a goofball with lots of make-up, glittery clothes and bright hair. There's so much more to it than this and I believe the same of Marilyn Manson. If nothing else, you should appreciate that Marilyn Manson has pretty much single handedly kept the idea of a concept album and theatrical performances alive in modern rock (decent performances... not GWAR style nonsense). They were more or less dead in the early 90s following grunge.

I find a lot of people seem to think that the group dresses is "gothic" looking things and that's the end of it. Yet, to someone who actually keeps up and pays attention, there have been several distinct looks for the group. Not only in dress, but in writing, sound, theatrics and attitude. Even today, there are other bands that do these ideas, but generally there is very little purpose behind it other than to look "cool". A lot of Japanese rock bands latched on to this idea at some point. The only reason I would think that this idea would be considered "old" or "worn out" is simply because so many other copy-cat groups popped out following this time period, just like with anything in music or media.

Originally there was a very heavy reliance on child-like ideals and Willy Wonka in writing, imagery and such. This moved on to the Antichrist Superstar era that most people seem to think the group has and always will be in. Yet, at this point, there was such a change in their approach and imagery that a lot of former fans were turned off. The same happened with the next album, Mechanical Animals, which had a heavy reliance on glam rock and electronica. It too had different imagery and even lead to the creation Omega and The Mechanical Animals and also Coma White, obviously an homage to Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars that Bowie had created. These things go on and on, leading to at least another two or three separate looks and attitudes in subsequent releases.

Of course, to everyone else this is just seen as the same old stuff. For me, that attitude is just incomprehensible. This is also ties directly in the music (particularly the writing), which changed substantially between each new release. If the group was only interested in attracting the same people over and over again, I really don't know why they would significantly alter their approach like this. In fact, the release of Mechanical Animals was probably the most self dentrimental thing the band had done in its history.

So despite all the imagery and such, the reason I keep up with the band so heavily is really Marilyn Manson's writing ability. In the genre, it is really unmatched in many senses (although there have been some songs I don't like at all) and I think it is some of the best writing out there in music today, if one is objective and ignores their personal issues with the subject matter. One of my favorite abilities of Marilyn Manson has always been his creation of new words that actually make sense, not only in context, but in and of themselves. It's also incredibly intelligent and makes an insane amount of references, most of which are lost on the average listener... but if you already are interested in the same subject material or bother to hunt it out, there's probably more to his words than 95% of the lyricists out there today.

Anyway, I could go on and on (I just did), but I'll stop there. There's a lot to say about the different musicians involved (hell, even the mentioned John5 is an amazing guitarist who has played with countless other bands and recently released his own album... Manson kicked him out for unknown reasons though lol). I just wish people would put their assumptions aside and just listen to these things. I think, on a whole, people respect my opinions on music. I certainly don't think I would talk so often and so passionately about a band that really wasn't worth the time.

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Lest We Forget seems not worth a purchase for the general Marilyn Manson fan, I would say. I originally didn't really want to buy it, but the inclusion of Personal Jesus and a music video collection DVD kind of persuaded me. The DVD is missing the video for Tainted Love for whatever reason, but on a whole it's interesting and decently produced. It was nice seeing some of those old videos, particularly from Portrait of an American Family... The sad part is that (s)AINT isn't on the retail copy. It wound up getting banned here and the only way to get it is to order the set off the official site. Lame. It's on the internet though.

The CD also has different mastering than the originals. This is probably most obvious in The Beautiful People, which has instruments and such coming to the front that were almost inaudible in the original cut on Antichrist Superstar. Plus, some of the singles included on this collection were previously only included on soundtracks (Another Teen Movie, for example) that I would never have bothered to buy or overpriced import singles .