Erkenntnistheorieby Filter

Filter's demo tape "Erkenntnis Theorie" is where it started for the band when musicians Richard Patrick and Brian Liesegang left Nine Inch Nails in 1994. The four tracks are very purposefully lo-fi, with heavy static between each track. Opener Hey Man Nice Shot and follower Dose are very similar to what they would sound like in the following proper album, "Short Bus". The next two tracks, however, are very early versions of what they would become on the next release and sound wildly different. Take Another is presented as what could be called post-new wave with much less guitar focus than its successor, and Cracker Dicta, which would later be known as White Like That on Short Bus, is completely stripped down to Patrick strumming an acoustic guitar and almost whispering into a cheap Dictaphone. All in all, this release is a great piece of history for Filter fans, but not completely essential.