Third time's a charm?

It's certainly been awhile since the last great intrusion of one Mr. Marilyn Manson into the hearts and homes of the average American. The self-glorifying, androgynous Goth rocker at one time was an integral player in the continuing battle to find a name for rock 'n' roll that doesn't reek of corporate buyout. At the very least, he was someone our mothers didn't like. \nHowever, the name for Manson's "new" album -- a "best of" collection that boasts only one actual new track -- reveals a little bit more about Manson than he probably wants us to understand. The title, Lest We Forget, seems to imply that we have forgotten -- forgotten about the picket signs, the tourniquets and Twiggy. A better title might have been, "Why should we remember?"\nThe compilation of tracks from the days when Manson ruled the rock scene with a leather fist reminds listeners that at present he doesn't really seem as necessary as he was in the late '90s. Unfortunately, Manson, an icon who gains his life force from the socio-politico atmosphere surrounding his work, is suffering from the fact that rock's new face is a little shaggier, more retro and wears less lipstick. \nNothing is more indicative of this struggle than his "new" song -- a Manson-esque cover of Depeche Mode's "Personal Jesus." Aside from the fact that it seems sacrilegious even for Manson to cover the track after Johnny Cash had done so on his final album -- arguably much more effectively to boot -- the fact that Manson is returning again to the '80's-pop-song-turned-goth-rock formula that worked so well with "Sweet Dreams" reminds listeners how desperate Manson longs for the past. Furthermore, Manson's version of "Jesus" almost comes across as a straight sample. At least the other two covers found on Lest We Forget, "Sweet Dreams" and "Tainted Love," (which marked the second time he tried to revive the formula -- at least that one got thrown onto a movie soundtrack) felt like reinventions of the old standards.\nHowever, the album is full of Manson's best work, from "mOBSCENE" to "The Dope Show" to "The Beautiful People." Even if the disposable rock star known as Manson doesn't have the cultural clout he once enjoyed, the album serves to bring listeners back to a time when there was danger in the air, when legal guardians trembled at the sound of a blaring stereo and we had a rock star who wanted to scare us.