Pet Shop Boys Community

Of course, PSB go without saying. So, what other bands/artists knock out the odd corker of a b-side or even manage them on a consistent basis ? Anyone out there quite as prolific as PSB in terms of quality ?

Anyhow, to get the ball rolling here's a few off the top of my head. Not quite up there with PSB but Blur, Super Furry Animals & Mansun have put out some stunning b-sides. To a lesser degree, Depeche Mode (particularly the PTA b-sides) and Erasure (Waiting for Sex springs immediately to mind).

Not many others leap readily to mind. Its possibly an underappreciated aspect of an artists canon since many skip the singles and buy just the albums. Any other recommendations from you lot ?

I like all the B-Sides Depeche Mode ever released (even "Slowblow" ) but i agree with you, their B-Sides the most of the times are songs that couldn´t fit an album properly (except for "My Joy", "Surrender" and "Newborn" IMO), Pet Shop Boys in the other hand, have an huge set of B-Sides that are incredible strong songs, sometimes much better than the A-Side (for me "Between Two Islands" and "Bright Young Things" are much better than "I Get Along & "Numb" for example)

Another band (much less prolific of course) with a good b-side range is Tears For Fears, i like the B-Sides of New Order´s Get Ready too.

I'm really into Keane b-sides at the moment. They made some really great ones, including Walnut Tree, Fly To Me and He Used To Be A Lovely Boy.

I was going to mention b-sides by Keane and Walnut Tree in particular. Really really good.

When Suede were still good, they had 2-4 brilliant b-sides with every single. their b-side album Sci-Fi Lullabies (1997) is up there with Alternative. Editors's first album Back room had 11 songs and the singles released before and after the album had 17 b-sides in total, nearly all of album quality.

Basically indie bands usually have very strong b-sides, because their audience usually demands quality stuff also on the singles.

Forgot about Sci-Fi Lullabies, never bought it and don't quite know why I didn't pick it up at the time as I was really into Suede back then. Its something I'm going to have to hunt down as thats the only gap in my 'When Suede Were Good' collection. I gave up after Head Music.

I rather liked DM's PTA b-sides, particularly 'Newborn' and 'Free'. And rather perversely, whilst I'm not a huge Keane fan, the one track on my mp3 player is the rather brilliant 'Fly Away'.

The Blur stuff can be very hit and miss, but some of their best tracks can be found hidden on singles, notably 'Tame', 'Peach' and 'Young and Lovely'. A band that definitely took 2 or 3 albums to find their feet. In general, the Super Furry Animal tracks fall into the category of songs too poppy for their albums, which is a rather good thing, not quite as good as PSB in quality but close.

In the case of these two, you really are only hearing half the story if you have only ever listened to the albums.

Smiths, Morrissey, Marc Almond, Erasure and Depeche Mode certainly spring to mind. Okay, there are hits and misses but that certainly also goes for PSB.

All of the mentioned have hidden away many of their best tracks on b-sides.

Frequency wrote:The Blur stuff can be very hit and miss, but some of their best tracks can be found hidden on singles, notably 'Tame', 'Peach' and 'Young and Lovely'. A band that definitely took 2 or 3 albums to find their feet.

Interestingly, I think the first 3 albums (okay, 4) by Blur are by far the best they ever made. The "English Life" trilogy is a landmark of modern British music, IMO. Everything since then has been completely redundant, if you ask me.

I'd have to disagree especially about the first album, I found Leisure to be album of a band vying for their own identity but falling into the trap of halfheartedly aping the 'baggy' sound of that time; not that it is without its moments, of course. I thought Parklife is where they truly come into their own, though MLiR threatened to do so but lacked consistency. That said, some of the b-sides to the MLiR era are some of the best songs they've ever done. How 'Young and Lovely' never made it onto the album, I'll never know.

For me, 2 albums after the trilogy were fantastic especially 'Blur' and, to me, 'Beetlebum' is arguably their finest moment . Think Tank was something of a mixed bag and suffered greatly from Graham Coxon's departure. Its a pity Damon Albarn became so distracted with other projects, particularly the over-rated Gorillaz, as I feel Blur have got a few more great albums left in them, providing they can persuade Coxon to re-enter the fold.

Frequency wrote:I'd have to disagree especially about the first album, I found Leisure to be album of a band vying for their own identity but falling into the trap of halfheartedly aping the 'baggy' sound of that time; not that it is without its moments, of course. I thought Parklife is where they truly come into their own, though MLiR threatened to do so but lacked consistency. That said, some of the b-sides to the MLiR era are some of the best songs they've ever done. How 'Young and Lovely' never made it onto the album, I'll never know.

For me, 2 albums after the trilogy were fantastic especially 'Blur' and, to me, 'Beetlebum' is arguably their finest moment . Think Tank was something of a mixed bag and suffered greatly from Graham Coxon's departure. Its a pity Damon Albarn became so distracted with other projects, particularly the over-rated Gorillaz, as I feel Blur have got a few more great albums left in them, providing they can persuade Coxon to re-enter the fold.

Okay, I actually don't disagree regarding the first album - it is not nearly as good as the next three. However, I think it's a shame that they lost the whole Britpop/Madness vibe with the albums that followed 'The Great Escape'. Everything suddenly became so serious and - in my opinion - boring.

I love Depeche Mode, but I don't think they are a particularly strong b-side band. Despite having released well over 40 singles, they would still struggle to compile a worthy 10-track album from all the b-sides. Sea Of Sin, Surrender and Newborn are excellent and could have been on any DM album. Early b-sides like Ice Machine, Shout! and In Your Memory are as good as the stuff on the early albums, but then again that stuff isn't that good and hasn't dated well at all. Most of DM's b-sides are either remixes, mostly unremarkable instrumentals and clearly throwaway songs (Work Hard, Flexible, Better Days...).

Eldritch wrote:I love Depeche Mode, but I don't think they are a particularly strong b-side band. Despite having released well over 40 singles, they would still struggle to compile a worthy 10-track album from all the b-sides. Sea Of Sin, Surrender and Newborn are excellent and could have been on any DM album. Early b-sides like Ice Machine, Shout! and In Your Memory are as good as the stuff on the early albums, but then again that stuff isn't that good and hasn't dated well at all. Most of DM's b-sides are either remixes, mostly unremarkable instrumentals and clearly throwaway songs (Work Hard, Flexible, Better Days...).

Don't forget 'Fools' and 'But not tonight'.

Joemoz wrote: Don't forget 'Fools' and 'But not tonight'.

Oh yes. I would label But Not Tonight as a true gem, but Fools falls into the "as good as Construction Time Again but not actually very good" category.

Moby has released some good b-sides. His b-side collection of the 'Play' tracks is quite a decent album.

Yeah, some of the Moby stuff is quite good, though over the years I've gone off him a bit. As for the DM stuff, I think Sea of Sin and Happiest Girl of the Violator era were rather good. Not in the same league as, say, PSB but they do have their moments. I guess DM are kinda like Erasure in that regard, not wholly consistent but they do occasionally knock out a brilliant b-side.