Filter’s greatest-hits package, The Very Best Things, argues that the industrial-rock band may not have been consistent hitmakers, but they were capable of highly melodic, musically aggressive material that expressed disillusionment with impressive skill. And although Filter’s commercial peak occurred a decade ago, The Very Best Things offers a tidy 14-track summary of some of the group’s most durable moments. Despite legitimate quibbles about some questionable inclusions and exclusions from the track list, this best-of is an ideal place for the curious to start their Filter exploration.
Vulnerability and Volume
Filter came together in the mid-‘90s as a collaboration between Richard Patrick and Brian Liesegang, who became friends through their mutual work with Nine Inch Nails. Not surprisingly, Filter bore traces of NIN’s sound – metal guitars teamed with industrial rhythms and frenzied vocals – but once Liesegang left the band after their first album, 1995’s Short Bus, Patrick began to explore a wider sonic template. The Very Best Things shortchanges that evolution somewhat to focus on hits, but what comes across most clearly here is that, while some may remember Filter as an NIN-lite band, the group did a great job tying angst to accessibility in songs that were approachable without being lightweight, demonstrating that vulnerability and volume could coexist in polished, dynamic hard rock.A Slightly Skewed Retrospective
Be advised that the album title’s timeframe is a little misleading since only three songs in the collection are from this decade. Consequently, The Very Best Things definitely feels like a product of the 1990s’ commercial alternative-rock era, and there’s no question that a few tracks sound dated. But this best-of proves to be a worthy time capsule for that period. Filter’s two biggest songs, “Hey Man Nice Shot” and “Take a Picture,” hold up surprisingly well after all this time, and they represent two sides of Patrick’s songwriting style. “Hey Man Nice Shot” is a seething slab of industrial rock that owes a debt to Nine Inch Nails’ The Downward Spiral, while an acoustic guitar drives “Take a Picture,” a lilting melody about public drunkenness and personal demons. In both cases, though, Patrick uses catchy, conventional songwriting approaches to examine introspective topics: identity, fear, frustration. As Filter entered the 21st century, Patrick would temper his louder moments with streamlined mid-tempo rock, although the albums from this decade (The Amalgamut and last year’s superb Anthems for the Damned) retained some of the demon energy of earlier records. It’s a shame, then, that those two albums get such short shrift on The Very Best Things. Though understandable in a way – neither album was much of a commercial force – this decision fails to present a full portrait of the band’s creative development.Soundtracks and Extras
Greatest-hits collections will try to tempt hardcore fans to purchase familiar songs they already have by including new tracks and rarities. There aren’t any new songs on The Very Best Things, but this best-of does make room for Filter material that previously only appeared on soundtrack albums. Of these, “Thanks Bro” (from Songs in the Key of X, a soundtrack tied to the X-Files TV show) is probably the most rewarding, a slow, menacing acoustic number brimming with barely-contained resentment. Sadly, too many of the other soundtrack offerings feel like leftovers and afterthoughts that may appeal to dedicated Filter followers but don’t quite qualify as the band’s “very best things.”Filter's 'The Very Best Things' – Best Tracks:
“Hey Man Nice Shot” (Purchase/Download)“Take a Picture (Radio Edit)” (Purchase/Download)
“Where Do We Go From Here (Single Edit)” (Purchase/Download)
“Thanks Bro” (Purchase/Download)
“The Only Way (Is the Wrong Way)” (Purchase/Download)
Release date – March 31, 2009
Reprise Records/Rhino
