Trilogy 2013/2014

[IrelandCalling4]

Spent the weekend listening to the entire list of 37 tracks from the RTF/Futurology era; when you think about it, an astonishing amount of songs to release.

On my ipod it's 3 albums; the 12 bonus/B Sides from both albums I have as one stand-alone album, and I must say, the quality is tremendous. Songs like 'Last time I saw Paris', 'Kodawari', 'Whatever happened to the Blue Generation', 'Blistered Mirrors'..etc; these are great songs!

What would be the feeling here toward the 12 bonus tracks from the sessions?

[MoMoney MoJunk]

I've only listened to around 7/8 of the tracks, but they're all been fantastic. Personal favourites are Caldey and Antisocialmanifesto. Melancholyme is also brilliant.

It's unfortunate that b-sides don't matter as much nowadays as I think if the band were to ever play a b-sides gig they would just go for the Generation Terrorists to This is My Truth era. Some of the recent ones are right up there with their best.

Slightly off-topic, but I just found Nicky covering Ocean Rain which I never knew existed!

[IrelandCalling4]

Agreed, Melancholyme is excellent, AntiSocial Manifesto also. I think the album flows very well; the 12 B Sides.

Death of a Digital Ghost, Caldey, Kodawari; seriously good stuff.

The Manics are one of THE great B Side bands methinks; more than half of their studio albums have 10 or more bonus tracks to make a second album. PFAYM for instance, really loved the album, I think the 15-track B-Side is even better; tracks like 'Lost Voices', 'Red Rubber', 'Ostopolitik' (one of their best instrumentals), 'Evidence Against Myself'...

[UEF]

I wish there was some easy way to obtain all the b-sides as a download. I feel like there's whole half of this band I have almost no exposure to.

[allisvanity]

Originally Posted by MoMoney MoJunk

Slightly off-topic, but I just found Nicky covering Ocean Rain which I never knew existed!

This is a hidden track on I Killed The Zeitgeist. At least on the version I have!

[IrelandCalling4]

Originally Posted by UEF

I wish there was some easy way to obtain all the b-sides as a download. I feel like there's whole half of this band I have almost no exposure to.

I felt exactly the same way UEF; reading about all of these great B Sides before I was exposed to them, an alternate history really of the band. And it really is almost half the story; the 7 B Side albums on my ipod I see as 'albums' same as the official releases. PFAYM is a great example as I mentioned above, I think it's 15 B Sides, an entire albums' worth, and for me anyway, the quality is very high.

Unless I am wrong, the following albums had 10 or more B Sides/Bonus tracks and thus an 'album' - GT, EMG, KYE, Lifeblood, SATT, PFAYM, RTF/Futurology.

Aswell as those, there are many others of course from the other albums, maybe not 10, but quite a few each.

I was so envious reading about all of these, I simply went out and got them - the 2-disc Japanese 2009 (?) reissues, which were an excellent source. I bought the singles for PFAYM (5 bonus tracks per single I think it was). There were a few I had to seek online and download, as I had no other way of obtaining them without spending quite a bit of money.

Well worth it, I love having these extra albums of bonus tracks; YouTube the PFAYM bonus I listed in an earlier post; they are excellent!

[IrelandCalling4]

PS UEF, if you're really stuck, send me over a USB stick, I'll help you get started; as the B Side Manics discography is essential!

[Porco]

Originally Posted by UEF

I wish there was some easy way to obtain all the b-sides as a download. I feel like there's whole half of this band I have almost no exposure to.

Given there's been two 'A-sides' compilations in Forever Delayed and National Treasures, I think it's high time we had another Lipstick Traces - type album… there is more than enough material for a similarly-sized release of B-sides and rarities since mid-2003.

[IrelandCalling4]

Good point Proco, certainly more than enough material; and an absolutely killer B Sides album could be made up of the best from 2004 - 2014.

I like having them all; maybe not all of the covers, but certainly the originals.

It's interesting to dream up what a compilation of the best would include from the last decade; we're spoilt for choice really with the Manics, as they have put out so many quality tracks as bonus' with albums and singles.

[slop101]

Originally Posted by UEF

I wish there was some easy way to obtain all the b-sides as a download. I feel like there's whole half of this band I have almost no exposure to.

Quoting again for the Truth. Some albums have a whopping 12+ songs worth of B-sides. Lipstick Traces is just barely the tip of the iceberg. I don't understand why they can't just release ALL their studio B-sides in one comprehensive box-set/package? They've already been recorded, their cost in releasing such a package would be minimal. Heck, just make all the songs available to download, putting them together and sell them FLAC one by one, or all together at a discount. The trick is putting all the B-sides together at one place - there's lots on iTunes, but not even close to everything, and what is there, is a pain to find.

Although getting the Japanese 2CD re-issues have been great in revealing what a goldmine these B-sides are (with SATT and Lifeblood being the treasure troves). But there's still all these newer songs from Postcards, Futurology and so on.

[Automatik]

UEF is correct that the b-sides represent a 'whole half of this band' that many don't get any exposure to, and it's a real pity, as their b-sides and other tracks are often better than a lot of the stuff on the albums. I listen to more b-sides than album tracks and have for many a year.

slop101 is correct, too, about the sheer amount of material: for nearly every album, there's a shadow album or at the very least EP that I make a playlist out of (I name the playlist after the working title of the original album, so that e.g. EMG's b-sides are 'Sounds In The Grass').

It's like a Bizarro MSP discography but the parallel universe playlists do make for really enjoyable listening, usually of very high quality. Even throwaway/giveaway tracks like Unitled Instrumental and Ghost Of Christmas have their charms and one-offs like Leviathan and Vision Blurred are outstanding.

I'd like to see a full b-side and remixes compilation but given Lipstick Traces already provides a questionable version of this it's highly unlikely.

[gabo86]

As some of you may know, I compiled (and just updated) a list with all the B-sides, in chronological order, sorted by era.
It's here:

http://www.foreverdelayed.org.uk/for...ad.php?t=50667

[Automatik]

Originally Posted by gabo86

As some of you may know, I compiled (and just updated) a list with all the B-sides, in chronological order, sorted by era.
It's here:

http://www.foreverdelayed.org.uk/for...ad.php?t=50667

Always a useful with a list. Thanks for posting this.

[gabo86]

You're welcome.

(I know that Rewind The Film and Futurology have been recorded in the same "era", but they are very different and so are their b-sides. That's why I created two different playlists for them)

[ron the little seal]

What's the best place to purchase manic bsides?