The Psychedelic Furs - Here Came the Psychedelic Furs: B-Sides & Lost - Music & Performance - CD

Includes liner notes by Arthur Levy.

HERE CAME THE PSYCHEDELIC FURS collects 14 tracks initially released as flip sides to their singles and one, "Badman," from a promotional-only release. Naturally, for a group that lasted as long as the Furs, this really only scrapes the surface of their copious backlog of material--however, what is here makes a surprisingly cohesive (and long, at more than 74 minutes) album. Of the tracks here, six are remixes (in one way or another) of album tracks, two are live, and the rest are true b-sides, tracks recorded during the album sessions but omitted for one reason or another.

The Furs' b-sides collected here are unusually strong. In most cases, it is difficult to guess why they were left off of their respective albums--except for the predictably dancey "Another Edge" (which swipes a chunk of the lyrics to the Furs' "Alice's House") and a cover of the Weill/Brecht classic "Mack the Knife" (which, while a credible version, really wouldn't have fit on any of the band's albums). Standouts include a vicious dance mix of "Aeroplane," complete with a schizophrenic saxophone; "Badman," which is clearly good enough to have been on BOOK OF DAYS; and a scorching Shep Pettibone remix of "Shock."