By the People, For the People

Comprised of tracks picked by Mudvayne fans and versions of those tunes picked by the band, By the People, For the People hardly comes off like a smash-and-grab affair. Loaded with rarities--demos, live versions, and two new tracks ("Dull Boy" and a cover of the Police classic "King of Pain")--plus brief spoken word interludes to introduce each cut, the collection proves cohesive and fascinating. Demos for "Silenced" and "Death Blooms" almost overshadow the finished album versions (from The End of All Things to Come and L.D. 50, respectively), while the inclusion of wholly unbridled readings of "On the Move" and "Happy?" demonstrates why both have become fan favorites. The live cuts ("World So Cold," "Dig," and "-1") are both noisy and forgettable, but neither distracts from the overall wow factor of this collection. --Jedd Beaudoin