B'Sides Themselves | ||||
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Compilation album by | ||||
Released | 4 January 1988 (CD) June 1988 (vinyl LP, cassette) | |||
Recorded | 1982–1987 | |||
Genre | Neo-prog | |||
Length | 59:42 | |||
Label | EMI | |||
Producer | Chris Kimsey, Nick Tauber, Simon Hanhart/Marillion | |||
Marillion chronology | ||||
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Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
Allmusic | [1] |
B'Sides Themselves is a compilation of single B-sides by the British neo-prog band Marillion, which was released on CD only in January 1988. This was the first time that those B-sides were made available in the then still relatively new Compact Disc format (with the exception of "Tux On", which had featured on a limited edition CD single of "Sugar Mice" that was only sold at concerts). However, vinyl LP and cassette versions were issued in June 1988.
The compilation includes "Market Square Heroes", originally the A-side track for Marillion's 1982 debut single release, but here is included because it was re-recorded for the B-side of "Punch and Judy" (1984). "Three Boats Down From The Candy" was originally the B-side of "Market Square Heroes", but the version on this album is the re-recorded B-side of "Punch and Judy".
Also included is the 17-minute epic "Grendel", originally a B-side on the 12" version of the 1982 A-side "Market Square Heroes" single.
B'Sides Themselves would turn out to be the last Marillion record to be released while singer Fish, who left in October 1988, was still in the band.
The cover artwork was created by permanent contributor Mark Wilkinson. It is a collage combining fragments of front and back-cover artwork from previous singles:
All tracks are written by Marillion
No. | Title | Original release | Length |
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1. | "Grendel" | "Market Square Heroes" 12" single, 1982 | 17:15 |
2. | "Charting the Single" | "He Knows You Know" single, 1983 | 4:48 |
3. | "Market Square Heroes" (Edited re-recording) | "Punch and Judy" single, 1984 | 3:56 |
4. | "Three Boats Down from the Candy" (Re-recording) | "Punch and Judy" single, 1984 | 4:01 |
No. | Title | Original release | Length |
---|---|---|---|
1. | "Cinderella Search" (Edited version) | "Assassing" single, 1984 | 4:21 |
2. | "Lady Nina" | "Kayleigh" single, 1985 | 3:43 |
3. | "Freaks" | "Lavender" single, 1985 | 4:04 |
4. | "Tux On" | "Sugar Mice" single, 1987 | 5:12 |
5. | "Margaret" (Live at the Edinburgh Playhouse, 7 April 1983) | "Garden Party" 12" single, 1983 | 12:17 |
Total length: | 59:42 |
Not all the B-sides of the singles that had been released at that point were included. Missing are "Chelsea Monday" from "Heart of Lothian" (1985), as well as "White Russian" and "Incommunicado" from "Warm Wet Circles" (1987), as these were live versions of album tracks.
The B-side of "Incommunicado" (1987), "Going Under" is also not included, despite having a different mix (it contains an extra piece of lead guitar) than the one contained on the original Clutching at Straws CD. The version of "Going Under" from the B-side of "Incommunicado" did eventually appear on the bonus disc of the 1999 remastered edition of Clutching at Straws.
"Cinderella Search" also differs between the CD and vinyl releases – the CD edition contains the short 7" version, while the vinyl edition contains the full-length 12" single version.
Album
Year | Chart | Position |
---|---|---|
1988 | UK Album Chart | 64 [2] |
Clutching at Straws is the fourth studio album by the British neo-prog band Marillion, released on June 22, 1987. It was the last album with lead singer Fish, who left the band in 1988, and is a concept album.
Misplaced Childhood is the third studio album by the British neo-prog band Marillion, released in 1985. It is a concept album loosely based on the childhood of Marillion's lead singer, Fish, who was inspired by a brief incident that occurred while he was under the influence of LSD.
Script for a Jester's Tear is the debut studio album by British neo-prog band Marillion, released in the United Kingdom on 14 March 1983 by EMI Records. The album reached number seven and spent 31 weeks in the UK Albums Chart, eventually achieving a platinum certificate, and produced the Top 40 single "He Knows You Know" and the Top 20 single "Garden Party".
"Market Square Heroes" is the debut single by the British neo-prog band Marillion, released in October 1982 with "Three Boats Down from the Candy" as the B-side. The 12-inch single included an additional track, the 17:15-minute-long "Grendel".
Seasons End is the fifth studio album by British neo-prog band Marillion, released in 1989. The album was the first to feature current lead vocalist Steve Hogarth, following the departure of former vocalist Fish in late 1988. It reached number 7 on the UK Albums Chart.
Best of Both Worlds is a two-disc compilation album by British neo-prog band Marillion released in 1997 by EMI Records, who the band had been signed to from their debut in 1982 until being dropped in 1995. The title refers to Marillion's two distinct "eras" with lead singers Fish (1980—1988) and Steve Hogarth. By the time this compilation was released, both line-ups had recorded four studio albums each. The second best-of since the 14-track one-disc compilation A Singles Collection from 1992, this one additionally contains material from Brave (1994) and Afraid of Sunlight (1996). Two different covers were created for the compilation, one by Mark Wilkinson, who had worked for the band during the Fish years, and one by Bill Smith Studio, who took over after Fish's and Wilkinson's departure. The booklet was printed so that either of the covers could be displayed in the jewel case according to personal preference. The track list, comprising 29 songs, was put together by Lucy Jordache, then the manager responsible for the band in EMI, in close collaboration with the band's fans' mailing list, "Freaks". Jordache also motivated singers Fish and Hogarth to contribute liner notes—at a time when both camps were not yet on friendly terms again—by telling each of them the other had already agreed to do so.
The Thieving Magpie (La Gazza Ladra) is a double live album by the British neo-prog band Marillion. It was named after the introductory piece of classical music the band used before coming on stage during the Clutching at Straws tour 1987–1988, the overture to Rossini's opera La gazza ladra, which translates as "The Thieving Magpie". The album was released shortly after singer Fish's departure from the band (and before Steve Hogarth's arrival) and was intended to document the "Fish years". It complements the band's first live album Real to Reel insofar as there are no overlaps. The Thieving Magpie is not a continuous live recording, but a compilation of tracks recorded at different times and places, with audible gaps between them and different moods on the individual tracks. However, the double vinyl version does include the first side of the UK number one concept album Misplaced Childhood (1985). The CD and cassette version includes the full album, as well as the track "Freaks" – originally the b-side to "Lavender", it was used as the lead single for The Thieving Magpie peaking at no. 18 in the UK.
"Punch and Judy" is a song by the British neo-prog band Marillion. It was the first single from their second studio album Fugazi. The lyrics of the song are about a marriage gone bad.
Yin and Yang are the titles of two separate compilation albums by Fish co-released in 1995. They are a retrospective on Fish's four solo albums and four albums with Marillion.
Real to Reel is the first live album by the British neo-prog band Marillion, released in November 1984. It was co-produced by Simon Hanhart who had mixed the first two studio albums and co-produced the studio version of "Cinderella Search".
Brief Encounter is a compilation EP by the British neo-prog band Marillion. It contains two studio and three live tracks that EMI's American label Capitol Records released there in 1986, coinciding with the band's tour of the U.S. and Canada that year. The band was Rush's support act on the Power Windows tour and also played headline gigs at smaller theatres. The "mini album" contained five tracks: the band's European breakthrough single "Kayleigh" ; its b-side "Lady Nina"; "Freaks", released in Europe as the b-side of the follow-up single "Lavender"; and live recordings of the first two albums' title tracks, Fugazi (1984) and Script for a Jester's Tear (1984).
"Incommunicado" is a song by British neo-prog band Marillion. It served as the lead single from their fourth studio album, Clutching at Straws (1987). Released on 11 May 1987, it reached number six on the UK Singles Chart, becoming the band's third top-10 hit and their last until 2004's "You're Gone". It also became a top-40 hit in Ireland, the Netherlands, Switzerland, and West Germany, as well as on the US Album Rock Tracks chart. It has been described by music writer Paul Stenning as "the most original commercial composition of all time."
Live from Loreley is a live album by the British neo-prog band Marillion, recorded at a concert at the Freilichtbühne Loreley Loreley, St. Goarshausen, Germany on 18 July 1987. The recording, made during the first leg of the 1987 Clutching at Straws tour, documents the band at the peak of their commercial success in the 1980s when they had original frontman Fish on vocals. The show was attended by an audience of 20,000; support acts were Magnum, The Cult (cancelled), and It Bites. It comprises songs from the four studio albums they released up to that point, i.e. Script for a Jester's Tear (1983), Fugazi (1984), Misplaced Childhood (1985), and Clutching at Straws (1987). The non-album debut single "Market Square Heroes" is also included.
Recital of the Script is a live album by Marillion, recorded at a concert at the Hammersmith Odeon, London on 18 April 1983. The recording was made on the final date of the tour promoting their 1983 debut album Script for a Jester's Tear. Featuring former members Fish on vocals and Mick Pointer on drums, it comprises songs from that album as well as all tracks of the 1982 debut EP "Market Square Heroes" and the b-side of "He Knows You Know" (1983).
Early Stages is a box set containing live recordings of Marillion with their former singer Fish. The recordings were made by the BBC for radio broadcast, and are from five concerts performed by the band in the UK between 1982 and 1987. The packaging was designed by Mark Wilkinson, who had designed all Marillion covers of the 1980s and went on to work with Fish after his departure. The set was released to retail by EMI on 17 November 2008.
The Singles '82–88' is a three-CD box set containing the first twelve singles by the British neo-prog band Marillion, all from the period they were fronted by Fish. It was released by EMI Records on 16 October 2009. The musical contents is identical to the 2000 box set of the same title, which contained 12 individually packaged CD singles in "replica" mini-slip covers, each with the original cover art by Mark Wilkinson. This set re-uses a part of Wilkinson's contribution to the 1995 compilation The Best of Both Worlds for its front cover.
"Heart of Lothian" is a song by British neo-prog band Marillion. It is the fifth track on the 1985 concept album Misplaced Childhood. The song was released as the third single from Misplaced Childhood on 18 November 1985 in the UK, the Netherlands, West Germany, Canada, South Africa and Australia. "Heart of Lothian" became the third Top 30 UK single from Misplaced Childhood, peaking at number 29. The song also peaked at number 51 on the German singles chart.
"Welcome to the ‚Garden Party‘" is a 1986 single by British neo-prog band Marillion released exclusively in West Germany to accompany a series of concerts the band played at festivals in that country as second bill to Queen, following their commercial breakthrough with the album Misplaced Childhood and the hit singles "Kayleigh" and "Lavender" the year before. The single was released on 7" and 12" vinyl; neither version contained any new or previously unreleased material. The 7" and 12" versions contained completely different recordings from each other. The A-side, "Garden Party", originally the second single from the band's debut album, Script for a Jester's Tear, had reached #16 on the UK Singles Chart in 1983, but—like all Marillion singles before "Kayleigh"—had failed to chart in Germany. However, the single received little airplay and failed to enter the German top 100.
Sugar Mice is a song by British neo-prog band Marillion. It was released as the second single from their fourth studio album, Clutching at Straws (1987). Released on 13 July 1987, it peaked at number 22 in the UK Singles Chart, becoming the band's eighth top-30 hit in a row. Outside the UK, it charted in the Netherlands and West Germany.
"Freaks" is a song by British neo-prog band Marillion. First released in 1985 on the B-side to the number five UK hit single "Lavender", in November 1988 it was released in a live version on a double A-side single together with the band's 1985 number two hit, "Kayleigh". The single was intended to promote the forthcoming double-live album The Thieving Magpie, which documents the band's history with singer Fish, who had left the band in October 1988; as such, this was Marillion's last single to feature Fish on vocals and cover art by Mark Wilkinson, who would go on to collaborate with Fish.