Favorite Back Tracks/B-sides/Demos comp release?

Alot of bands have been throwing together collections of nothing but unreleased tracks, demos, live tidbits, b-sides, unfinished stuff, interviews, etc and releasing them as "albums". These are usually pretty low on my priority list, but there have been a few that I have found very enjoyable. What is your fav?

For me:

DBC - Unreleased
Metallica - The Apocalypse Boxset
King Kobra - Lost Years
Saxon - Diamonds & Nuggets [not so much for the production, but for sentimental reasons]
Tora Tora - Bombs Away
XYZ - Forbidden Demos
Loudness - Loud n Rare
Rough Cutt - Anthology

Not Metal:
Sugar - Bsides
Bent Backed Tulips - Looking Through

First few that came to mind:
U.D.O. - Celebrator (massive b-side collection)
Accu§er - Confusion Romance (only a 6 song EP, but one I listen to frequently)
Megadeth - Hidden Treasures
Dirty Looks – The Worst of Dirty Looks (sort of a best of the indie years with a handful of live songs)

Iron Maiden - Best of the B Sides

Were talking single or double discs, not box sets, right?

Some I like:
Armored Saint - Nod to the Old School
The Beatles - the Anthology collections
Danzig - The Lost Tracks of Danzig
Foo Fighters - Medium Rare
Great White - Burning House of Love
Hanoi Rocks - Tracks From A Broken Dream
Warrior Soul - Odds & Sods

While not an "official" release, I've always enjoyed WASP's B-Sides Themselves. I think most of the tunes on it have surfaced on the WASP re-issues, but it's still nice to have them all on one cd.

2 bands that I wish would do something like this is Anthrax and Tesla. They've both done some cool covers and b-sides over the years. Most of them have sprung up on comps or re-issues, but I'd still like them all on one collection.

There was talk years ago of a Tesla box set with all kinds of goodies, but I think that idea went up in flames when their studio/warehouse burned up.

First two that came to mind (that weren't already mentioned) were:

Raven - Raw Tracks
Bad Biscut - We Still Believe the Hype

Stalk-Forrest Group - St. Cecilia: The Elektra Recordings - pre-Blue Oyster Cult recordings from the band.
Jimi Hendrix - Hear My Music
Jimi Hendrix - Morning Symphony Ideas
Jimi Hendrix - Burning Desire
Jimi Hendrix - The Baggy's Rehearsal Session

Y&T Unearthed Volume 1 and 2.

Rage - Metal Meets Classic Live, which is an oddball DualDisc thing...super thick chunk of plastic....one side is this DVD full of rare live videos and stuff and then the actual music is a bunch of B-sides from that decade (1990's).

Half of my favorite stuff are demos on long-forgotten tapes. Like these:

Orion Crystal Ice wrote:

Rage - Metal Meets Classic Live, which is an oddball DualDisc thing...super thick chunk of plastic....one side is this DVD full of rare live videos and stuff and then the actual music is a bunch of B-sides from that decade (1990's).

I don't believe you. So you must send it to me for inSPECtion.

Amon-Feasting the Beast

Vexer6 wrote:

Y&T Unearthed Volume 1 and 2.

Yes! Those two are outstanding.

Bruce Springsteen's Tracks box set. 4 discs of rarities that are better than most other artists' final album material.

And if you don't want to count box sets, then I say Bruce Springsteen's 18 Tracks CD, which is a budget-priced single disc with 15 of the songs from Tracks, and 3 other rare tracks.


I am also partial to the various demo comps Pretty Boy Floyd has released. Even though they vary (severely) in sound quality, I still love them. Leather Boyz is my all time favorite record, and while I have come to terms with the fact that almost nothing they have recorded will ever be as good as that, I still enjoy the rest of their output.

Also, Anthrax' Attack of the Killer B's.

BearOnUnicycle wrote:

Half of my favorite stuff are demos on long-forgotten tapes. Like these:

I'd never heard that Titan Force demo before. That song was pretty damn good, though.

AC/DC- ' 74 Jailbreak

manny wrote:

AC/DC- ' 74 Jailbreak

A kid in my study hall class in 7th grade gave me that cassette. Through the years, I have always had a memory of it, and what was on the cover, but not what the actual music consisted of.

Never looked it up or sought to re-buy it...just had it floating in the back of my head.

Well, now I know what it was.

Wurthless wrote:

BearOnUnicycle wrote:

Half of my favorite stuff are demos on long-forgotten tapes. Like these:

I'd never heard that Titan Force demo before. That song was pretty damn good, though.

I see there are 4 songs on this demo, Yeah!! Thanks for the info.

I think Def Lep's Retro-Active has some really cool tracks on it. Being a lifelong Helix fan, hearing Elliot sing his own song [She's Too Tough], after knowing it by heart for so many years, was unique.

some of the ones that I listen to fairly regularly, except for the Extol abum. I don't listen to that one unles I am in the mood for some br00tal death metal.

Stryper - The Roxx Regime Demo's
Guardian - The Yellow and Black Attack is Back
Factor 150 - Happy End
Extol - Paralysis
Def Leppard - Retro-Active
Def Leppard - First Strike
In Flames - Subterranean
Jani Lane - PhotoGraph
MC Lars - The Laptop E.p.

UNCLE SAXON'S KICKASS CDS wrote:

I think Def Lep's Retro-Active has some really cool tracks on it. Being a lifelong Helix fan, hearing Elliot sing his own song [She's Too Tough], after knowing it by heart for so many years, was unique.

That track was what introduced me to Helix, because I wanted to hear their version of it.

UNCLE SAXON'S KICKASS CDS wrote:

Not Metal:
Sugar - Bsides

Yes! One of my favorite albums. Most of the songs are just as good as the ones on Sugar's albums which are incredible. "Anyone," for example, is an awesome song. Wish David Barbe sang better, though.

I don't know if a b-sides compilation was ever made (he has a ton of compilations out there already), but another non-metal artist with high quality b-sides is Gary Numan.

thejokeriv wrote:

Iron Maiden - Best of the B Sides

Ever notice that not all of the singles are on this.

Porcupine Tree - Recordings

An excellent collection of songs that wouldn't fit on Stupid Dream and Lightbulb Sun, even though it's a compilation it works perfectly as a standalone album.

journeyman wrote:

thejokeriv wrote:

Iron Maiden - Best of the B Sides

Ever notice that not all of the singles are on this.

Which is why it's called "best of".