:: Filter - The Very Best Things (1995 - 2008)

Filter

Despite having four albums to their name after sixteen years in existence, Reprise Records have decided that now is as good a time as any to put together a best of compilation of Ohio based industrial/alternative rock outfit Filter, entitled ‘The Very Best Things (1995 - 2008)’. Founded by former Nine Inch Nails touring guitarist Richard Patrick, Filter launched themselves onto the scene with their critically acclaimed debut effort ‘Short Bus’ in 1995, which inevitably spawned the hit singles ‘Hey Man, Nice Shot’ and ‘Dose’. Although four years passed before releasing their sophomore effort ‘Title Of Record’, Filter still managed to achieve plenty of chart success with singles such as ‘Welcome To The Fold’, the acoustic beauty of ‘Take A Picture’, ‘I’m Not The Only One’, the dark sounding ‘Skinny’ and ‘The Best Things’. But it’s from this point on where both Filter and this best-of package seem to falter. Obviously the hit singles emerging from Filter seemed to dry up, with the bulk of this album fleshed out with the band’s various soundtrack contributions. While there’s still plenty to enjoy in tracks such as ‘Jurrasitol’, the group’s collaboration with The Crystal Method on ‘(Can’t You) Trip Like I Do’, the simple ‘Thanks Bro’ and the cover of Harry Nilsson’s ‘One’, you can’t help feel that ‘The Very Best Things (1995 - 2008)’ is less like a best-of, and more like a compilation of bits and pieces from the band. Finishing up the set is the single edit of ‘Where Do We Go From Here’ and ‘The Only Way (Is The Wrong Way)’ from 2002’s ‘The Amalgamut’, and the overlooked ‘Soldiers Of Misfortune’ from 2008’s ‘Anthems For The Damned’. For fans that already have everything Filter have released to date, there’s nothing new on offer here. Perhaps if ‘The Very Best Things (1995 - 2008)’ was enhanced with a bonus DVD that compiled the band’s many promotional video clips, or some unreleased material, it would have appealed to true diehard Filter fans. But as it stands, it merely serves as an introduction to Filter’s work over the last sixteen years, and sadly nothing more. Overall, I can’t help but feel that an opportunity was wasted here.