Nick Cave B-Sides & Rarities CD

Nick Cave finally gives the dedicated fans what they've desired for years (and have probably amassed in various guises in shoddy bootlegs): an official career-spanning cataloging of the various Bad Seeds odds and ends on three CDs. There are 56 tracks compiled here. There are also some soundtrack offerings ranging from "I'll Love You to the End of the World," "Cassiel's Song," and "I Feel So Good" from various Wim Wenders films to a previously unreleased alternate version of "Red Right Hand," recorded for Scream 3. There are the Bad Seeds' contributions to tribute albums such as Cave's rendition of Neil Young's "Helpless" from the Bridge benefit, and "Tower of Song" from the Leonard Cohen tribute I'm Your Fan. There are familiar covers such as the Cave/Shane MacGowan "collaboration" on "Wonderful World" and the awesome version of Roy Orbison's "Running Scared" that appeared as one of the B-sides of "The Singer" (and yes, "Black Betty" is here, too). (But why is Cave's read of "In the Ghetto" absent?) Real rarities include versions of the traditional "Rye Whiskey" from a flexidisc in Reflex magazine and "Scum," which was only sold at concerts. There is an unreleased version of "Where the Wild Roses Grow" with former Bad Seed Blixa Bargeld on vocals, as well as studio outtakes of "Opium Tea" and "Sheep May Safely Graze." And this is just a smattering. One of the true treasures here is "There's No Night Out in the Jail," recorded for an Australian country music compilation that was never issued. And of course, virtually every B-side is here, including the take of "Nocturama" that was included on the limited-edition 7" single. For Cave fans who have been patiently and exhaustively compiling this stuff in all sorts of dodgy ways, this set is a righteous archivist's gift. ~ Thom Jurek
The rarities box is something of a rite of passage in rock & roll. When an artist achieves a certain stature and/or longevity, a multi-disc compendium of their hard-to-find tracks inevitably rears its head. More often than not, there's an abundance of dross palatable only to the faithful. In the case of Nick Cave, however, B-SIDES & RARITIES makes a convincing three-CD case for the Australian songwriter's consistency of vision. In addition to songs that never made it onto an album, there are radical recastings of familiar tracks (a striking trio of gospel-tinged acoustic versions of TENDER PREY tunes opens the set), revelatory covers (a genre-jumping deconstruction of Leonard Cohen's "Tower of Song," a ragamuffin duet with Shane MacGowan on "What a Wonderful World"), and more. So rich is Cave's catalog, that this set never once looks back to his days with the Birthday Party, instead concentrating solely on the dark-but-fertile field he starting plowing in the early 1980s with his beloved Bad Seeds.

3CD Retrospective Incl.Prev. Unrel.,Deleted,Soundtrack Song

Uncut (p.115) - 5 stars out of 5 - "A thrilling document of souls in thrall and turmoil, clambering for deliverance."
Magnet (p.88) - "[W]hat makes this set so special is its fascinating glimpse at Cave's maturation process from frontman of noise merchants the Birthday Party to one of rock 'n' roll's most sophisticated lyricists and songwriters."
Mojo (Publisher) (p.114) - 3 stars out of 5 - "Cave completists will be amazed to behold a stupendous new version of 'Red Right Hand'....An aptly schizophrenic alternative history."