Well...here it is.
G. Moses | Men...Of...The...Sea! | 07/19/2003
(4 out of 5 stars)
"We've been clamoring for a b-sides collection lo these many years, and...here we have it. And at thirty-five tracks, a pretty impressive one at that. I was set to give it a lower rating, because it is missing a truly breathtaking assortment of good tracks in favor of, in my opinion lesser material. Honestly, how could they POSSIBLY leave off the likes of 'Black Garden,' 'Too Cold Here,' 'Dead Passive,' 'Black Holes For The Young,' 'Buildings for Dead People,' and of course that all-time classic ode to teenage self-absorption, 'No One Knows What It's Like To Be Me.' Fair enough if ALL the tracks here were also great, but, no--there's also okay but not world-class material like 'Sorrow 16,' 'Democracy Coma,' 'We Her Majesty's Prisoners,' and an entire disc of covers, which, though perhaps conceptually pleasing, is unnecessary--at most a half dozen of these are worth having: 'We Are All Bourgeois Now' (even if it IS a hidden track on Know Your Enemy), Rock and Roll Music (a truly scorching cover), 'Take the Skinheads Bowling,' 'Been a Son,' 'Didn't My Lord Deliver Daniel'...and that's all really. Also Alice Cooper's 'Under My Wheels,' which is inexplicably absent. Do we REALLY need the Manics' stylings on 'Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head,' 'Last Chrismas,' and 'Can't Take My Eyes Off You?' No, we do not. Gah.However, I would like to make an effort to emphasize the positive here: they DID, somewhat to my surprise, include 'Horses Under Starlight,' a totally uncharacteristic but quite lovely wordless little number. Huzzah! Also, 'Mr. Carbohydrate' remains hilarious, 'Dead Trees and Traffic Islands' is one of their best, and, out of all the Know Your Enemy b-sides, they had the presence of mind to choose 'Just a Kid,' by far the best (along with 'Didn't My Lord...,' also present). The new tracks (I'd never heard them before, at any rate) '4 Ever Delayed' and 'Judge Yr'self' aren't bad either.I can't lie; my ideal track listing for this collection would have been radically different than this. But there's enough quality music here that I can't complain TOO much. It's certainly enough to remind you why the Manics are good...mind you, as unlikely as the prospect seems, I'd still LOVE a companion volume featuring all the great stuff they left out; still, I suppose it's a testament to the band's consistency that they could throw out so much and still have such a consistent product. Hokay."
Track Listings (20) - Disc #1