Smells Like Children

Operating System: MUSIC CD

Mostly a collection of remixed tracks from Portrait of an American Family and samples swiped from talk-radio dialogue, Smells Like Children is how Marilyn Manson passed the time prior to beginning work on Antichrist Superstar. Of note among the remixes is Tony Wiggins's acoustic country "White Trash" version of "Cake and Sodomy." This is really a keeper, though, for Manson's clever choice of covers, including an authentically creepy interpretation of Eurythmics' "Sweet Dreams" and the shot-in-the-arm he gives to Patti Smith's "outside of society" anthem, "Rock 'N' Roll Nigger." (Attention trivia buffs: Manson's unrestrained reworking of Howling Wolf's "I Put a Spell on You" was later included on the soundtrack to David Lynch's Lost Highway.) --Gail Worley