Marilyn Manson Album: “Lest We Forget: The Best Of [PA]”

Being a moderate fan of Manson (I have all his CDs, but he's not my favorite or anything, though I do consider him extremely talented), I bought this CD upon its release day but I bought the version with the DVD because I basically have all the songs already except for "Personal Jesus" and "Tainted Love". The DVD version costs a few extra bucks, but considering it features all of Manson's videos, what's a few bucks?

As I said before, I have all of Manson's CDs, therefore I have basically all the songs on here, so if you already have all of Manson's CDs then you're waisting your money and basically buying all the same songs again. However, this is a perfect place for new fans to start as it covers his entire career and fans can pick their favorite songs, find out what album they're from, and check that particular album out. Or, if you're lookig for just one Manson CD to buy, this'll do (though I highly suggest picking up his other CDs because some of his best songs were not 'hits').

PROS:

-ALL OF MANSON'S HITS ON ONE CD!

-Again, a good starting place for new fans

-"Tainted Love", which I did not have before

-"Long Hard Road Out of Hell" is on this CD, so you don't have to go out and buy the pretty much crappy "Spawn" soundtrack to get it (like I did)

-An FBI "Anti-piracy" sticker to scare off thieves! (*sarcasm*)

CONS:

-ALL OF MANSON'S (already released) HITS ON ONE CD!...

-...except for his cover of Depeche Mode's "Personal Jesus", which is pretty dull and defintly not worth buying the CD for just that one song. However, if you want a good, hard-rockin' cover of "PJ", check out Lollipop Lust Kill's one (and only) album "My So-Called Knife". They too cover the song. It's #10 on that CD and I like it way more than Manson's version.

-The booklet is unsatifying. When Rob Zombie released "Past, Present & Future" he released it with a huge CD booklet full of old and new pictures, artwork, etc., whereas this basically has six or seven pages of Manson photos, no song information, no lyrics, basically no nothing.

-One of the few pictures in the booklet (it might only be on the DVD/CD version because that comes in a digipak and it's on the digipak sleve) shows two girls with "Marilyn" and "Manson" carved on their chests. SERIOUSLY, how much more like ketchup could that "blood" look?

So would I buy this CD if it were DVD-less? Definetly not. I recommend buying the DVD version to hardcore fans definetly and even new fans, as it has everything this version does PLUS all his vidoes (except "Astonishing Paranoia of the End Time" (sorry if I didn't get that song title right), "Tainted Love", "Personal Jesus", and the quote excluse unquote, highly talked about video for "(s)AINT". You can't only get "(s)AINT" if you order the CD/DVD package directly off his website from what I've heard, a pisser for me because I thought it came on all CD/DVD versions. Oh well...)

Were you unsure if you liked Manson? or were you just looking for a place to start? Look no further as this is the collection for you.

If you are a hardcore fan like me, you bought this cd for the great remake of "Personal Jesus", even though you have all of the songs already.This is what happens to you once you get swept up in the greatness that is MM's music.

The best thing about this collection is how all of the era's are included from the beginning "Lunchbox" all the way to "This Is The New Sh**" and it's a flawless listen that flows from each great song to the next.

I know this isn't called the 'singles' but there are alot of great songs that should have been included, among them "Coma White" which also has one of Manson's best videos to date.

So, if you like what you hear here, go and buy the individual albums as none of them will dissapoint.

To the "author" who reviewed this, step down off your pedestal and relax, you're not writing a novel here...you just like to read what you wrote and admire all the big words and "intelligent reason" behind your words. Smells Like Children and Portrait of an American Family are the reasons he got such negative feed from the religious right. If not for those preceeding albums, Antichrist would never have had the impact it did. Those prior albums, along with his earlier works, paved the way for the teen population to really get behind antichrist. He admits himself in interviews that Antichrist was an evolution for him...he evolved and came out a different person in the end, going on to write Mechanical Animals... If Antichrist had been the only album and the others were not inconsequential, then no one would have blown a religious a-bomb over it.

Now for the guy who "dates himself"... Piercing dates back to long before Marilyn Manson, and since you obviously don't know his work or are even remotely knowledgable about him, I'll let you in on a secret...he doesn't have all kinds of exotic jewelry in places you won't mention to you momma even today. He didn't promote stabbing your body with rings and he didn't glorify it at all. And I guess Alice Cooper is your choice since you referenced it...but Alice was the O.G. evil dude of the late 70's and early 80's. Kiss, Alice Cooper, GnR, etc all caught flack for being evil and ruining the young kids minds LONG before Manson hit the scene. Catch a clue people...

In 2004, Marilyn Manson released his ninth album entitled, LEST WE FORGET: THE BEST OF. Before this album was released, John 5 made his departure from the band.The lineup now features:

MARILYN MANSON (Origin of Marilyn Monroe + Charles Manson): All Vocals

TIM SKOLD: Bass + Guitars

MADONNA WAYNE GACY (Origin of Madonna + John Wayne Gacy): Keyboards + Synthesizers

GINGER FISH (Origin of Ginger Rogers + Albert Fish): Drums

This album is another one of the greatest albums from Marilyn Manson. The song features all of Manson's greatest hits, like "Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This)" (Eurythmics cover), "Lunchbox", "Get Your Gunn", "The Beautiful People", "Tourniquet", "The Reflecting God", "Long Hard Road Out Of Hell", "The Dope Show", "Rock Is Dead", "Disposbale Teens", "The Nobodies", "The Love Song", "The Fight Song", & "Tainted Love" (Soft Cell cover). The album has one newly recorded track entitled, "Personal Jesue" (Depeche Mode cover), and is the only single from the album. An awesome album.

Clearly, there are a lot of reviewers who don't like Marilyn Manson, so why they chose to review a collection they probably never even listened to is beyond me. It seems like they need to have less time on their hands; perhaps more time at church, or more time watching the 700 Club is warranted.

If you are a Manson fan, this is a terrific collection. The sequence is perfect and it gets the blood flowing in the morning when you are on your way to work. Everything is there: The old, the new, and the terrific remakes of The Eurythmics, Depeche Mode and Soft Cell that really round out the collection.

Manson ALWAYS seems to get a bad rap, but the truth is, if you cannot see past the stage persona, you are probably someone who reads the Enquirer and believes everything in it. There is a difference between real life and the stage. Does anyone remember David Bowie...Alice Cooper? Hello! These are all people who are brave enough to be outrageous. It doesn't mean they are crazy or satanic, only that they are good actors. Only the truly ignorant choose to scapegoat performers like Manson for all that's bad in the world. It's just an album and the overwhelming majority of listeners are smart enough to distinguish fantasy from reality. If one does not know the difference, you can bet there is a parenting issue at the root of the problem.

Marilyn Manson (Brian Warner) is a wonderfully intelligent and well-spoken man (if one does some research and stops assuming like a jackass) and as far as I am concerned, while the music might not be up for a grammy anytime soon, it's FUN.....people who take it too seriously should not have the privilege of listening to music of any kind.

The album rocks, end of story.