[AdamWill]

Well, just had this idea for a thread...which are your favourite b-side bands? There's some bands who don't put much effort into b-sides or who, even more annoyingly, fill them up with third-rate remixes by Fatboy Slim. And then there's bands who release fantastic songs that could easily be on albums, or singles themselves. So which are your favourites? My picks:

Ash - I'm listening to my collection of their b-sides right now. 56 tracks, three and a quarter hours, and there's hardly a bad one in there.
Blur - more uneven, but they've released a huge volume of tracks and some of them have been wonderful (a lot of people were surprised by how good Think Tank was, but if you'd heard the great Music Is My Radar and its equally great b-side Black Book the year before, it was less shocking).
Pixies - Complete 'B' sides is a great album, showing how many good songs got lost in obscurity...
Skunk Anansie - in their early days they released several four-song singles which almost count as EPs. Some excellent tracks, too. On their last album they succumbed to remix disease a little, but also released some great stuff like Feel and Breathing.
Belle & Sebastian - another band who appreciates the value of the single and the short EP. They've released gems like Take Your Carriage Clock and Shove It and This Is Just A Modern Rock Song on short-form discs.
Placebo - modern-day masters of the jokey b-side, like Miss Moneypenny, and interesting covers.
Radiohead - you can make up an album that any other band would be proud to release from Radiohead's b-sides - Maquiladora, Talk Show Host, Bishop's Robes and many others. The Amnesiac and Hail To The Thief b-sides weren't all great, but there was some interesting stuff in there.

 

[GuineaMcPig]

I agree about Radiohead, the "Airbag: How am I driving" EP from OKC would be a solid album on its own (of course leading off with the song "Airbag" couldn't have hurt). Likewise the My Iron Lung EP from The Bends has some very strong stuff.

 

[djgustashaw]

I know I answer too many of these music forum threads with The Verve, but they really are a great B-side band. I've been hunting down as many of their old singles as I can and I'm consistently amazed at the quality of music on them. The "Bitter Sweet Symphony #2" single has some amazing stuff with the extended version of Bitter Sweet Symphony, So Sister, and Echo Bass. And of course you have to mention their early stuff, "All in the Mind" and "She's a Superstar" are two singles that are sometimes held in as high regard as their full-length albums.

 

[AdamWill]

guineamcpig: I didn't even include the EPs (apart from the ones you mentioned, there's Drill and Itch) in Radiohead, heh. (Usually I see EPs as something separate again from albums and b-sides - bands usually make a conscious decision to make an EP, so by all rights they *ought* to be good...b-sides are more of a free bonus). But as you say, they're excellent. BTW, My Iron Lung was released in 1994, between Pablo Honey and The Bends. Fans tend to see it as being something of a transition between the two in terms of style and musical maturity.

 

[DarkAngel]

AW is right on.........Pixies B Side collection is very good

Quote:

Originally Posted by GuineaMcPig I agree about Radiohead, the "Airbag: How am I driving" EP from OKC would be a solid album on its own (of course leading off with the song "Airbag" couldn't have hurt). Likewise the My Iron Lung EP from The Bends has some very strong stuff.

Yes combine those two Eps and may have best Radiohead album they ever made........unfortunately this does not exist unless you make you own EP collection

SUEDE - SciFi Lullabies
Oh my where to start, this odds/ends collection could be best album group ever did.

OASIS - Masterplan
I would rate this odds/ends collection as 3rd best album by Oasis, it is great stuff, you must own this

OMD - Navigation B Sides Collection
Collects odds/ends material from early years, 19 tracks with some very strong material.

CURVE - Pubic Fruit
Collects 1st three EPs together, rivals MBV best offerings and maybe best album by Curve.

JAMC - Barbed Wire Kisses
Wow, you thought Jesus and Mary Chain PsychoCandy had some heavy tracks check this out, has many essential tracks. Few years later released another odds/ends collection called Speed of Sound also good

 

[mr_superlove]

Gomez - they're prolific with their b-side output. There are a good number of mediocre and throw-aways, but some of there best songs are b-sides. "Step Inside" and "Dire Tribe" to name a couple. At least 45 b-sides in four albums.

The Afghan Whigs - Big R&B fans and a good number of theirs are covers. "Creep" by TLC, "Band of Gold", "My World is Empty Without You" by the Supremes, and the finest "Mr. Superlove" by The Ass Ponys.

 

[zotjen]

Prince used to have awesome B-sides. Just to name a few:

Horny Toad
17 Days
She's Always In My Hair
Erotic City
Hello
La, La, La, He, He, Hee
God
Violet the Organ Grinder

 

[AdamWill]

actually, thinking about Radiohead EPs further, Airbag / How Am I Driving? ought to be included, as it's just a compilation of UK b-sides. I tend to forget that.

 

[mr man]

The Amnesiac B-Sides were brilliant. I love them.

 

[Jahn]

Most successful B-side ever? "Ice Ice Baby" by Vanilla Ice. A-side was "Play that funky music white boy" lol.

I think 1963 by New Order was a damn good B-side. So was Route 66 by Depeche Mode. And the Cure always put out some damn fine efforts on their B-sides.

 

[remilard]

Bruce Springsteen [and the E Street Band] had some great B-Sides.

 

[SunShip]

Quote:

Originally Posted by DarkAngel OASIS - Masterplan I would rate this odds/ends collection as 3rd best album by Oasis, it is great stuff, you must own this

Totally agree, I'd say masterplan is one of my favourite albums, just behind definitely maybe.

Radiohead too, like lots of people are saying release great B-sides. A great song is Big ideas: Don't get any.

Bjork has released many great b-sides: Generous Palmstroke, I miss you, So Broken, I go humble, Visur Vatnsenda-Rosu etc.

The Jam did some great B-sides too, Tales from the riverbank, butterfly collector, A bomb in wardour street, Smithers Jones. I like b-sides to offer a different sounds that the band are exploring, kind of like a nice repose.

 

[AdamWill]

sunship - Big Ideas (Nude) was never a b-side. It was played on a few dates on the OK Computer tour (Tokyo and New York are usually considered the best versions), then once more in one of the near-legendary Salamanca shows in 2002. It's never been officially released. They tried to make a studio version - there's a sequence in the Meeting People Is Easy DVD which shows them trying to mix it in the studio - but apparently it never came together.

 

[MikeB06]

I'm surprised no one has mentioned Pearl Jam yet. They have large collection of b-sides, many of which are true gems. If you didn't know they released a 2-disc compilation of b-sides and rarities, entitled "lost dogs." Some of my favs include the legendary "yellow ledbetter," "down," "sad," "hard to imagine," "footsteps," "wash", and "fatal". I guess when you're a legendary band with a catalog of like 110 songs or better, including 7 albums, soundtrack appearances, and several covers, your going to have a lot of great b-sides included in that bunch. Hehe, PJ rocks

.

 

[SunShip]

Quote:

Originally Posted by AdamWill sunship - Big Ideas (Nude) was never a b-side. It was played on a few dates on the OK Computer tour (Tokyo and New York are usually considered the best versions), then once more in one of the near-legendary Salamanca shows in 2002. It's never been officially released. They tried to make a studio version - there's a sequence in the Meeting People Is Easy DVD which shows them trying to mix it in the studio - but apparently it never came together.

Cheers for the info