B Sides and other rarity collections: C or D?

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What is with this kind of crap? Scraping the bottom of the barrel or real bits of musical history?

― monkey shiner, Thursday, 12 June 2003 10:08 (twenty-two years ago)

Sometimes the B-side compilations end up being better than the real albums... e.g. Suede's Sci-Fi Lullabies, and the SPZ Volume 1 is MILES better than their last album, f'rinstance. And the Stereolab compilations, well, it's only kindness considering how they ream us with their rarities and obscure releases...

Punters will ignore them. Fans delight. Record collecting scum suffer! Everyone wins!

― kate (kate), Thursday, 12 June 2003 10:11 (twenty-two years ago)

Bikini Kill "The Singles" is classic.

The Killing Joke remixes collection is better than some of their albums.

They usually leave off the one track the record collectors really want anyway.

― mei (mei), Thursday, 12 June 2003 10:16 (twenty-two years ago)

In addition to sharing the schizo tendency to release separate "hard" and "soft" records simultaneously, Juliana Hatfield and Paul Westerberg's best solo material is generally found on their CD singles.

― Chris Clark (Chris Clark), Thursday, 12 June 2003 12:44 (twenty-two years ago)

The Stone Roses B-sides collection, "Turns into Stone", though missing a few essential tracks like "Sally Cinnamon" and "Across the Sands", is bloody amazing. It's right up there with the debut.

(if you're interested in hearing these songs, "The Complete Stone Roses" is probably a better buy, since collects all of the b-sides from "Turns into Stone" plus a few more great tracks as well. However, it also has some bad remixes of stuff from the debut.)

― King Kobra (King Kobra), Thursday, 12 June 2003 13:49 (twenty-two years ago)

madness did a nice boxset which collected lots of the extras/b-sides etc. but they then linked all tracks with a running commentary from the band/hangerson .. spolit it completely for me as a lot of madness b-sides were damn fine and in line with the a-sides.
hey ho ...

― mark e (mark e), Thursday, 12 June 2003 13:53 (twenty-two years ago)

Barbed Wire Kisses - JAMC was pretty fantastic

― ActionJackson, Thursday, 12 June 2003 14:03 (twenty-two years ago)

gorillaz - g-sides was a good all encompassing collection of the bands b-sides aswell actually. but for some reason they had the idea to have differetn tracklistings for uk//usa versions .. baffling . as the lp was not that long. why not just shove the lot on there .. but anyway - the packaging was rather splendid (some may say better than the actual music). but then i am biassed.

― mark e (mark e), Thursday, 12 June 2003 14:11 (twenty-two years ago)

The Killing Joke remixes collection is better than some of their albums.

Don't make me bludgeon you with one of your sawed off limbs! If you're talking about Alchemy and/or Wardance, you are verily smoking some very palpably potent weed, as both are nigh on unlistenable and have precious fuck-all to do with the majesty of the definite article.

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Thursday, 12 June 2003 14:16 (twenty-two years ago)

For what it's worth, Sarah McLachlan's b-sides collection -- the oh-so-imaginatively titled Rareities, B-sides & Other Stuff -- is invariably the most consistently entertaining single disc of music from her entire catalog.

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Thursday, 12 June 2003 14:18 (twenty-two years ago)

holy fuck. i was just about to say that 'jenny: a portrait of' (b side to sweetest girl) is my favourite madness track, and was when i was a pre-adolescent Madness fan in the 80s...

xxx

― stevie (stevie), Thursday, 12 June 2003 14:20 (twenty-two years ago)

The Cure's "Concert/Curiosity" tape was a fantastic fave of mine in high school

― Fabrice (Fabfunk), Thursday, 12 June 2003 14:20 (twenty-two years ago)

The Cure's "Concert/Curiosity" tape was a fantastic fave of mine in high school

Oooh. Good one. A crying shame Curiosity was never properly released on disc (I have it as a bootleg on disc, though), as "All Mine" is pure, gobsmacking, celestial godhead.

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Thursday, 12 June 2003 14:26 (twenty-two years ago)

there were a lot of hidden gems on madness b-sides. just a major shame folks only know the worn to death a-sides. there was day i would be able to list them all in chrono order .. but the grey cells are an insipid offwhite colour these days .. but Crying Shame (Embarrasement b-side) stands out from the masses.

― mark e (mark e), Thursday, 12 June 2003 14:27 (twenty-two years ago)

>>"Oooh. Good one. A crying shame Curiosity was never properly released on disc (I have it as a bootleg on disc, though), as "All Mine" is pure, gobsmacking, celestial godhead. "

Yo, Alex. I'd love a copy of that bootleg. I played that thing all through high school (cassette). Remember I had a poster of its cover, too. The Cure as a caterpillar.

Their singles collection on cassette, with all the B-sides, was great, too.

― Jay Vee (Manon_70), Thursday, 12 June 2003 14:31 (twenty-two years ago)

Jay....perhaps I could rip some Mp3s of it fo'ya.

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Thursday, 12 June 2003 14:34 (twenty-two years ago)

My homemade Pavement B-side comp = yards better than any album they put together. My homemade Boo Radleys B-sides comp = a great box set. Etc.

Officially released comps of such things that I lurv not yet mentioned here are the second disc of New Order's Substance and zer Pumpkins' Pisces Iscariot.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Thursday, 12 June 2003 14:39 (twenty-two years ago)

Royal Trux's 'Singles, Live, Unreleased' is, as I've said a few times, my favourite release of theirs. This is good, as I bought it w/out ever having heard them cos it looked so fucking cool. I like Saint Etienne's 'Interlude' a lot too, it's got 'Shoot Out the Lights' on it!

― Andrew Thames (Andrew Thames), Thursday, 12 June 2003 14:42 (twenty-two years ago)

>>"Jay....perhaps I could rip some Mp3s of it fo'ya. "

Yessir. Please do.

― Jay Vee (Manon_70), Thursday, 12 June 2003 14:43 (twenty-two years ago)

>Sarah McLachlan's b-sides collection is invariably the most consistently entertaining single disc of music from her entire catalog.

Ibid Tori Amos.

>zer Pumpkins' Pisces Iscariot.

Ibid the post-Mellon Collie megabox.

― Chris Clark (Chris Clark), Thursday, 12 June 2003 14:44 (twenty-two years ago)

Seek ye.....

http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B00008VFEK.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg and http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B000003RUU.01._PE_SCMZZZZZZZ_.jpg

Avoid at all possible costs like the fuckin' plague......

http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B0000286TX.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Thursday, 12 June 2003 14:46 (twenty-two years ago)

I was OF COURSE talking about Wilful Days, which I appreciate is not _just_ a remix compilation.

Never even heard of that Wardance one, don't think it's out over here.

― mei (mei), Thursday, 12 June 2003 15:50 (twenty-two years ago)

It's all "trance" remixes for Youth's Butterfly label that have absolutely no resemblance to the original tracks save for song titles. The closest approximation I can come up with would be U2 during their ham-fisted Pop era. Desperately trying to slot themselves into a re-defined world where their lumbering, "rockist" former selves were increasingly finding little relevance, the band ill-advisedly tried to re-cast themselves as Eurodiscophiles, going as far as releasing multiple "dance remixes" (which left hardened U2 fans confused and alienated and which serious dance music fans wouldn't touch with a ten-foot barge-pole). Ultimately, it didn't work -- no one really bought the transision. Their next trick? They stripped away the artifice and returned to what they did best. And everyone lived happily ever after (apart from those who hate U2, of course).

Casting Killing Joke as "trance" artists is a similarly ludicrous conceit.

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Thursday, 12 June 2003 16:21 (twenty-two years ago)

Sounds a bit like all those remixes onthe singles for Democracy, Exorcism etc.

My Brother loves them.

They're okay, but very little to do with the originals

― mei (mei), Thursday, 12 June 2003 18:21 (twenty-two years ago)

out spaced by the super furries is great

― robin (robin), Friday, 13 June 2003 00:15 (twenty-two years ago)

the galaxie 500 outtakes and rarities disc is wunnerful. they should have included the peel session stuff though

― electric sound of jim (electricsound), Friday, 13 June 2003 00:17 (twenty-two years ago)

Barbed Wire Kisses is truly wonderful of course. I like the original Jam b-side/demo comp except for some of the later horny bits. er, the songs with that awful 80's brass that P.W. seemed to love so much. it's worth it just for the demo of thick as thieves.

― scott seward, Friday, 13 June 2003 01:01 (twenty-two years ago)

Pisces Iscariot is wonderful.

― Curt1s St3ph3ns, Friday, 13 June 2003 01:04 (twenty-two years ago)

Barbed Wire Kisses is classic alone for the 4-track demo version of On The Wall.

― Mike Taylor (mjt), Friday, 13 June 2003 01:09 (twenty-two years ago)

there were a lot of hidden gems on madness b-sides.

True Dat! Luckily for the world the Madness "The Business" 3CD box includes all of their A and B sides. A truly excellent purchase indeed.

On the other hand you have bands like Depeche Mode who release big old 'Singles' collections and then promptly fail to include the B-sides, which is CRAP CRAP CRAP and FUCKING INTOLERABLE.

Such is life. B-sides = some of the best music out there in the world. I do believe the entire concept of 'collector scum' is a result of this fact, I really do.

― Millar (Millar), Friday, 13 June 2003 01:17 (twenty-two years ago)

saint etienne's b-side collection "fairfax high" is better than "good humor" from whence the b-sides came... not that the album isn't very good as well.

as noted in other threads, however, they have big collector scum issues with no less than three fan-club only albums plus japan-only releases, french 7"s, etc.

― fortunate hazel (f. hazel), Friday, 13 June 2003 02:04 (twenty-two years ago)

a friend from a few years back was offered $1000 aussie dollars for his copy of "I love to paint". shudder.

― electric sound of jim (electricsound), Friday, 13 June 2003 02:11 (twenty-two years ago)

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