Leftovers week marches on with some b-sides. Okay, my idea was to find a few b-sides off of some of singles I own on vinyl and tell you about them. So I found the first five I could find that sounded interesting and here they are.
Ozzy Osbourne-"Forever"(live version) /b-side to "So tired" seven inch, 1984
This song is labeled as "Forever", but it's really "Journey to the center of eternity" from Bark at the moon. This is a live version recorded in late 1983 and it's quite good as it's faster, more raw and has less keyboards than the studio version.
Alice Cooper-"Fire"/ b-side to "Love's a loaded gun" and a live version of "Eighteen" is also on the b-side, twelve inch single, 1991
This is Alice covering Hendrix's Fire. It always catches me off guard when an established act who has done few covers decides to cover a very well-known song. It's a good version though.
Anthrax-"Bud E. Luvbomb and satan's lounge band"/b-side to "I am the law" and a live version of Madhouse is also on the b-side, seven inch single, 1987
This is a big joke and it's more skit than song. It's funny at first, but a bit rambling after a while. I guess Scott and Charlie thought it was funny and pushed to have it on the single.
AC/DC-"Guns for hire" (live version)/ b-side to "Who made who", seven inch, 1986
No information listed on when this was recorded, but it's a pretty ripping version of this underrated song. Always thought it was an odd choice because nobody much acknowledges this song, but this is a solid recording.
Iron Maiden-"Nodding donkey blues" and "Space station no.5"/b-side to "Be quick or be dead", twelve inch single, 1992
"Nodding donkey blues" is a bit of an odd slow, shuffling song that's about the same topic as AC/DC's Whole lotta Rosie, but far less subtle. The real gem here though is the cover of Montrose's "Space station no.5".
So there is what I found. There was a time when you never knew what you were going to get with b-sides. You might get a song off the album, a live track or you may get a cover song or some crazy stuff.
***Wednesday will be a special "B-side" version of the Heavy Metal Jukebox as"Leftovers week" goes on.
Gotta luv Ozzy=:)
ReplyDeleteI remember Maiden's cover of "Space Station No 5" being very good, but I haven't heard it in years (probably since you first bought it).
ReplyDeletethe lone beader-Well, I used to.
ReplyDeleteBob-Maiden don't do many covers, but when they do they are good.
All great stuff! I could listen to your collection all day. :)
ReplyDeleteSounds like fun stuff, I haven't even heard most of these!
ReplyDeleteI like the B-Sides Ourselves disc from Skid Row--the band does quite respectable versions of Rush's "what You're Doing" and Priest's "Screaming for Vengence," along with a few others.
-- david
A really good B-side that I know of is,
ReplyDeleteDokken "Back For The Attack"!
It did not make the '87 release.
But, it is a really good song!