B-Sides & Rarities [Box set]

Volume I opens a few years into The Bad Seeds, with acoustic-versions of 'Tender Prey' tracks which featured in Uli Edel's documentary 'The Road to God Knows Where' (& were given away in a limited edition single with 'The Good Son')'The Mercy Seat' is always great, but the version of 'Deanna' - put into a medley with gospel-standard 'Oh Happy Day' - really stands out here. A few of the early-b-sides are a bit formless (but kind of interesting...)- 'The Moon is in the Gutter' belongs to that strange-period where Cave played in a loose-outfit with Marc Almond and J.G. Thirwell (The Immaculate Consumptives); while 'The Six Strings That Drew Blood' is a re-worked version of a Birthday Party-out-take from 'The Mutiny Sessions.' There are further BP-connections with the appearance of their late, mythic bassist Tracy Pew on covers of 'Running Scared' & 'Rye Whiskey.' Things get stronger as the disc progresses- the excellent 'Train Song', a faithful rendition of CSN&Y's 'Helpless', 'God's Hotel' (which I never knew before this) & the amusing cover of Leonard Cohen's 'Tower of Song' - which is edited down from a drunken-generic exercise by The Bad Seeds! The two highlights of this disc remain songs from two average Wim Wenders films- the gorgeous '(I'll Love You) Till the End of the World'- which is easily up there with Tom Waits & was reportedly a fave of crime-writer James Ellroy- & 'Cassiel's Song', which comes from 'Faraway, So Close!' & reunites Cave & Harvey with former Bad Seed Barry Adamson (Cave would later collaborate on the brilliant 'The Sweetest Embrace' on Adamson's 'Oedipus Schmoedipus')...

The second-disc opens with a lost-single, a cover of 'What a Wonderful World' which features Shane MacGowan - co-singing Louis Armstrong's chestnut and singing Cave's 'Lucy' alone (as Cave tackles The Pogues classic 'A Rainy Night in Soho') There's a superior "acoustic" take of 'Jack the Ripper' from 'Henry's Dream' & an epic-take of 'Red Right Hand' intended for the awful 'Scream 3' (which comes after a Dirty Three collaboration from the X-Files album). The version of 'Where the Wild Roses Grow' (Blixa plays Kylie) is more of a curio & the alternate-takes of 'O'Malley's Bar' more for fans of Mark Radcliffe! There are a few lost-murder-ballads (Knoxville Girl, The Willow Garden) & the improvised 'That's What Jazz is to Me' (still one to skip...)- another highlight is the gorgeous 'Sail Away'- how didn't this make 'Let Love In'??? Easily up there with 'Nobody's Baby Now' or 'Ain't Gonna Rain Anymore'...

The third-disc is probably the strongest- covering the period when Cave conquered his demons & offered up several classic-albums in rapid-succession: 'The Boatman's Call', 'No More Shall We Part', 'Nocturama', 'Abbatoir Blues' & 'The Lyre of Orpheus.' These tracks are all easily on a par with anything there- highlights include 'She's Leaving You' (the flipside of 'Nature Boy'), 'Swing Low' (the flipside of 'Bring It On' & features the Blockheads), 'Grief Came Riding' (a 'No More..' out-take that features the McGarrigle sisters), a band-version of 'Black Hair' & the recent b-side 'Under This Moon.'

'B-Sides and Rarities' is great value, packed with alternate joys from The Bad Seeds career - a more expansive alternative to the best of a few years ago. I suppose the next job for Mick Harvey is compiling a box-set of live-performances!!!! One of the compilations of the year, without a doubt...