Throughout Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds‘ four decade-long career, the band have released several albums worth of music — and have written much more than that. The band compiled some of the songs that didn’t make it on their albums for the 2005 LP B-Sides & Rarities, and they’ve now returned to announce a second iteration.
Sharing the previously-unheard version of “Push The Sky Away” live with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds announce a massive undertaking with B-Sides & Rarities Pt. II, which consists of 27 rare and unreleased tracks from 2006 to 2020. On top of that, the band plans to combine both B-Sides & Rarities LPs into a massive, seven-vinyl box set, which is slated for a release later this month.
In a statement about the new undertaking, Cave admitted that he likes B-Sides & Rarities more than any of this other albums:
“I always liked the original B-Sides & Rarities more than any of our other albums. It’s the only one I’d listen to willingly. It seems more relaxed, even a bit nonsensical in places, but with some beautiful songs throughout. There is something, too, about the smallness of certain songs that is closer to their original spirit.
B-Sides & Rarities Part II continues this strange and beautiful collection of lost songs from The Bad Seeds. I love the final side of the last disc because it reveals the small and fragile beginnings of some of my favorite Bad Seeds songs. ‘Waiting For You’ complete with bizarre ‘canning factory’ rhythm track, a gorgeous ‘Life Per Se’ deemed too sad for Skeleton Tree, and ‘Earthlings’ that some consider the finest track of the Ghosteen sessions.”
Listen to “Push The Sky Away” above and find Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds’ B-Sides & Rarities Part I & II cover art and tracklist below.
Part I Vinyl 1:
A1. “Deanna (Acoustic Version)”
A2. “The Mercy Seat (Acoustic Version)”
A3. “City Of Refuge (Acoustic Version)”
A4. “The Moon Is In The Gutter”
A5. “The Six Strings That Drew Blood”
A6. “Rye Whiskey”
A7. “Running Scared”
B1. “Black Betty”
B2. “Scum”
B3. “The Girl At The Bottom of My Glass”
B4. “The Train Song”
B5. “Cocks ‘N’ Asses”
B6. “Blue Bird”
Part I Vinyl 2:
A1. “Helpless”
A2. “God’s Hotel”
A3. “(I’ll Love You) Till The End Of The World”
A4. “Cassiel’s Song”
A5. “Tower Of Song”
A6. “Rye Whiskey”
B1. “What Can I Give You?”
B2. “What a Wonderful World”
B3. “Rainy Night In Soho”
B4. “Lucy (Version #2)”
B5. “Jack The Ripper (Acoustic Version)”
Part I Vinyl 3:
A1. “The Ballad Of Robert Moore And Betty Coltrane”
A2. “The Willow Garden”
A3. “King Kong Kitchee Kitchee Ki-Mi-O”
A4. “Knoxville Girl”
A5. “There’s No Night Out In The Jail”
A6. “That’s What Jazz Is To Me”
B1. “Where The Wild Roses Grow”
B2. “O’Malley’s Bar Pt. 1”
B3. “O’Malley’s Bar Pt. 2”
B4. “O’Malley’s Bar Pt. 3”
B5. “O’Malley’s Bar Reprise”
Part I Vinyl 4:
A1. “Red Right Hand”
A2. “Time Jesum Transeuntum Et Non Riverentum”
A3. “Little Empty Boat”
A4. “Right Now I’m A-Roaming”
B1. “Come Into My Sleep”
B2. “Black Hair”
B3. “Babe, I Got You Bad”
B4. “Sheep May Safely Graze”
B5. “Opium Tea”
Part I Vinyl 5:
A1. “Grief Came Riding”
A2. “Bless His Ever Loving Heart”
A3. “Good Good Day”
A4. “Little Janey’s Gone”
A5. “I Feel So Good”
A6. “Shoot Me Down”
B1. “Swing Low”
B2. “Little Ghost Song”
B3. “Everything Must Converge”
B4. “Nocturama”
B5. “She’s Leaving You”
B6. “Under This Moon”
Part II Vinyl 6:
A1. “Hey Little Firing Squad”
A2. “Fleeting Love”
A3. “Accidents Will Happen”
A4. “Free To Walk (With Debbie Harry)”
A5. “Avalanche”
A6. “Vortex”
B1. “Needle Boy”
B2. “Lightning Bolts”
B3. “Animal X”
B4. “Give Us a Kiss”
B5. “Push The Sky Away (Live with The Melbourne Symphony Orchestra)”
Part II Vinyl 7:
A1. “First Skeleton Tree”
A2. “King Sized Nick Cave Blues”
A3. “Opium Eyes”
A4. “Big Dream (With Sky)”
A5. “Instrumental #33”
A6. “Hell Villanelle”
A7. “Euthanasia”
A8. “Life Per Se”
B1. “Steve McQueen”
B2. “First Bright Horses”
B3. “First Girl in Amber”
B4. “Glacier”
B5. “Heart That Kills You”
B6. “First Waiting For You”
B7. “Sudden Song”
B8. “Earthlings”
B-Sides & Rarities Part II is out 10/22 via Goliath Enterprises. Pre-order it here.
