Great non-'proper' albums

Albums which are composed of rarities, material that didn't make the cut and/or b-sides that are amongst the artists' best. Three spring to mind:

Roots Manuva - Alternately Deep
Nirvana - Incesticide
System of a Down - Steal This Album!

The Smiths - Hatful of Hollow
The Smiths - The World Won't Listen
The Fall - The Peel Sessions Box
The Jesus and Mary Chain - Barbed Wire Kisses

the clash - 'super black market clash'
would the clientele's 'suburban light' count?

I love this kind of thread. No-one else on ILM likes 10,000 Maniacs as I've discovered to my cost, but I nominate their Hope Chest.

Also, Cowboy Junkies - Rarities, B-Sides & Slow, Sad Waltzes
Bruce Springsteen - 18 Tracks
Pink Floyd - Relics
Einstürzende Neubauten - Strategies Against Architecture Vols 1-3
Low - A Lifetime of Temporary Relief
Tortoise - A Lazarus Taxon

and loads of Stereolab compilations.

Suede's Sci Fi Lullabyes

And it also occurs to me that a lot of Mr Twin's work got its most familiar airing this way...

Aphex Twin - Classics
Caustic Window - Compilation

..spring to mind, though I'm sure some fanboy will correct me.

Can, "Unlimited Edition"
Velvet Underground, "VU"

... latter is great, former is not bad

Not really a big fan but...

The Cure - Japanese Whispers

Lee Perry - Arkology
James Brown - In the Jungle Groove

Julian Cope - Skellington + Droolian

^ prefer these to most of his proper albums

Six Organs of Admittance – RTZ

theres a few lee perry ones - 'produced and directed by the upsetter'

Jethro Tull's Living in the Past. Prog as proto-twee!

Tom Waits - Orphans: Brawlers, Bawlers & Bastards

the rolling stones - 'metamorphosis'

Belle & Sebastian: Push Barman To Open Old Wounds

The Cure - Join the Dots: B-Sides and Rarities 1978-2001

Smashing Pumpkins - Pisces Iscariot: A great album of b-sides and rarities, reflecting a softer, more psychedelic side to the band.

prince, 'the b-sides'

Opal - Early Recordings

super furry animals - out spaced

The Clean - Compilation
The Chills - Kaleidoscope World
The Verlaines - Juvenilia
The Bats - Compiletely Bats
Morrissey - Bona Drag
Talulah Gosh - Rock Legends v69 / They've Scoffed the Lot / etc
Delta 5 - Singles & Sessions 1979–1981
Orange Juice - The Heather's On Fire / The Glasgow School / etc
Cabaret Voltaire - Living Legends / The Original Sound of Sheffield '78/'82 / etc

I'd say yes to the Clientele; not sure why that's widely perceived as their 'debut album' proper.

Built to Spill - The Normal Years

Smashing Pumpkins - Pisces Iscariot: A great album of b-sides and rarities, reflecting a softer, more psychedelic side to the band.

agreed. it's probably the only one i listen to these days.

the only SP

Pavement - Westing By Musting and Sextant: manages to out slant and enchant their debut.

Pet Shop Boys -- Alternative (probably my favourite of their records overall)

Black Flag "The First Four Years"
and hell yeah to the Verlaines "Juvenilia." Love that record so much.

Elvis Costello and the Attractions: Ten Bloody Marys & 10 How's Your Fathers

foetus : sink

after pipers, rhapsody in pink is probably my fave pink floyd album. though its not an official album. it should be though. and even though its all live, and its a bootleg, it actually sounds better than any of their studio albums. and, just as an album experience, i think it beats the actual albums that came later. (you need the vinyl though, cuz you get more songs then on the cd version.)

http://www.hokafloyd.com/CDHOKA/rhapsody_in_pink/front.jpg

Archers of Loaf: The Speed of Cattle

Talking Heads - Stop Making Sense. If you're gonna get one TH album, make it this one really, een though it's live.

Elvis Costello - Taking Liberties
The Who - Odds & Sods

odds & sods was the first who album i ever bought. when i was a kid. i probably haven't heard it since then. it was always in the bargain bins. only a band like the who could have had a throwaway like long live rock. would have been the highlight of other people's careers.

"Little Billy"!

That Costello comp was originally released in the UK as Ten Bloody Marys & Ten How's Your Fathers, the US version is practically identical

Shoegaze was good for this:

Ride - Smile
Lush - Gala
Curve - Pubic Fruit

probably more...

that reminds me, Slowdive – Blue Day. Was all EPs with that lot innit.

does 'in the jungle groove' count?!

It's a compilation of unreleased stuff, alternate takes and the odd single so why not? It's not a straight-up album anyhow.

and yet it's one of my two most-listened-to james brown albums

"Shoegaze was good for this:"

catherine wheel one was good too. one of their best albums!

and yet it's one of my two most-listened-to james brown albums

Oh yeah, me too, but it only came out in the 80s.

surprised the boo radleys never released one of these. i guess the reissues are doing the job right now, but it would be nice to have an official comp.

MBV and AR Kane need the same too imo.

The Boo Radleys did release one of these, it was called Learning To Walk.

oh yeah! how could I forget - I count that as a proper album and always forget it's a comp.

did Blur ever do an official one? or was it just the singles box set and the odd Japan-only thing?

Reminds me. Aphex - Chosen Lord.

T. Rex - Light of Love. Nifty US disc on Casablanca culled from 'Zinc Alloy & the Hidden Riders of Tomorrow' and 'Bolan's Zip-Gun.'

What Was Music? - Harry Pussy
You'll Never Play This Town Again - Harry Pussy

The Mekons Story
Scritti Politti-Early
Bill Fay-From The Bottom Of An Old Grandfather Clock
Lithops-Queries

Tindersticks have done two of these. The Donkeys compilation and then the bonus disc on the Working for the Man comp.

There must be a record by the Fall for this thread, but I have a mindache right now.

the great lost kinks album

Robyn Hitchcock has two amazing ones - Invisible Hitchcock and You & Oblivion. Sadly, both are now confined to the dustbin of history.

Hefner - Boxing Hefner
They Might Be Giants - Don't Let's Start (fuck Miscellaneous T etc.)

I guess you could count Slates for the Fall. The Peel Sessions box was already mentioned.
Do ep's count? Do singles? Singles collections make sense here.

Myonga's Early Bob Seger CDR!

18th Dye - Left

Archers of Loaf was a good call.

Singles collections make sense here.

That wasn't really what I was going for - more albums that contained stuff deemed not good enough or just not right to be included on proper releases. Singles collections will have songs that are on other albums already.

There are a lot of non-album singles out there...

Well chuck em on, interpret it your own way. I'd draw the line at greatest hits though.

The Fall also had the following for collecting 'non-album' material (although some are close to redundancy in the CD-reissue-with-a-dozen-bonus-tracks era):

77–Early Years–79
Hip Priest And Kamerands
Palace of Swords Reversed
458489 B Sides

Shonen Knife - The Birds and the B-Sides
Either/Orchestra - Across the Omniverse (one of my favorite albums of the '90s, actually)

No, the best Fall non-album is the bonus disc with all the 90s collaborations that came with "A World Bewitched".

Rolling Stones - Around and Around
Ween - Shinola, Vol. 1

Oasis-- The Masterplan

Agree with R. Hitchcock and Great Lost Kinks...

Also:
Kink Kronikles
Elliott Smith- New Moon
Dylan- Biograph and Bootleg Series 1-3
Dukes of Stratosphere- Chips From The Chocolate Fireball

Broadcast - Work and Non-Work and The Future Crayon
The Human League - The Golden Hour of the Future
R.E.M. - Dead Letter Office (although some would no doubt disagree that it's 'great')
The Wedding Present - Tommy

I pretty much think Anthrax's "Attack Of The Killer B's" is easily their best album

That band was the absolute best when they were having fun

Mac McCaughan is the king of rarities comps:

Superchunk - Tossing Seeds: Singles 89-91
Superchunk - Incidental Music 1991-95
Superchunk - Cup of Sand
Portastatic - Some Small History

the latter two being double CDs

two of my very favourites are:

Bark Psychosis - Independency (Which I like a lot more than Hex)
and Plaid - Trainer (Can't say I've liked any oftheir proper albums, really)

Hendrix - First Rays of the New Rising Sun

XTC - Rag & Bone Buffet

Nurse With Wound - A Sucked Orange

Coil - Gold Is The Metal (With The Broadest Shoulders)

Myonga's Early Bob Seger CDR!

― ithappens, Wednesday, June 30, 2010 12:33 PM (2 days ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

OTM!

Pete Townshend's Scoop collections

The Kinks' Kinkdom

The Beatles' Second Album

Past Masters 1 and 2?

came here to post superchunk, good call

incidental music and tossing seeds are probably their best works IMO

"incidental music and tossing seeds are probably their best works IMO"

otm!

Bob Dylan Bootleg Series 1-3 is his best album no question.

^truth.

R.E.M. - Dead Letter Office (although some would no doubt disagree that it's 'great')
Side one is great. Side two is much less so.

I love that Stereolab BBC sessions disc.

Flying Saucer Attack - Distance
Beatles - Magical Mystery Tour

Beach Boys - 20/20

MBV - Unreleased & Rarities

which doesnt really count b/c it's never been pressed on any sort of anything. But holy shit does it have some of the catchiest songs in their repertoire.

came here to post superchunk, good call

incidental music and tossing seeds are probably their best works IMO

― the reverend dr. william wiggins (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Friday, July 2, 2010 12:11 PM (5 hours ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

i'm more into their later stuff than most people are, but Cup Of Sand is pretty awesome, too, some amazing songs in there

first rays of the new rising sun is seriously great

Coil - Unnatural History

Was looking for this thread the other day to post Push Barman To Open Old Wounds which has been mentioned upthread. Would also vote for The Beatles Second Album.

Fugazi "13 Songs"
Changesonebowie
DJ Shadow "Preemptive Strike"
Modest Mouse "Building Something Out Of Nothing"

The Beta Band - The 3 EPs
Palace Music - Lost Blues and Other Songs

Feel like maybe greatest hits albums shouldn't be here but other kinds of singles collections should, such as Singles Going Steady- The Buzzcocks

Think Marshall Crenshaw had a good one, but I can't remember what it was called

No, I think I'm thinking of a multi-artist thing. Never mind

Pavement - Westing By Musket and Sextant

This is my most played Pavement record

Huggy Bear "Taking the rough with the smooch"
James "Village fire" (maybe alone in thinking it's 'great' tho)
OMD "The BBC sessions"

Oh yeah,
The Peel Sessions- The Only Ones

Arthur Russell: World Of, Calling out of Context, Love is Overtaking Me

The Fall's Slates, as it was a 10"

On another hendrix tip, Blues is awesome

Cocteau twins - pink opaque