The Very Best Things 1995-2008

iTunes Review

A protégé of Nine Inch Nails’ Trent Reznor, Filter’s Richard Patrick delivered the corrosive guitar-led, electronically enhanced hit single “Hey Man Nice Shot” that perfectly reflected the growing industrialization of mainstream rock music in the mid-‘90s. Initially just Patrick and programmer Brian Liesegang, Filter expanded into a revolving line-up of musicians dedicated to bringing the noise to the live stage. This 14-song retrospective offers a varied assortment of textures and approaches. The band’s collaboration with the Crystal Method for “(Can’t You) Trip Like I Do,” featured on Spawn: the Album, works off the their tougher electronic edge, while the radio edit of their hit single “Take a Picture” and the single edit of “Where Do We Go From Here” represent the group’s lesser-acknowledged pop instincts, and “The Only Way (Is the Wrong Way)” further pursues Patrick’s reflective moments. Very Best… includes loose tracks that appeared in soundtracks such as “Jurrasitol” from The Crow: City of Angels and two tunes (Three Dog Night’s “One,” “Thanks Bro”) recorded for two different X-Files albums.