MY LOVE, SHE THROWS ME LIKE A RUBBER BALL: TPE wonders, in the comments in the Toto thread below, "is there a B-side other than '(Hey Hey) What Can I Do' [A: Immigrant Song], on which we really need to spend eternity?" That song, the sad tale of a man whose woman won't be true and wants to ball all day -- a volatile pair of character flaws, no doubt -- is surely among the greatest B-sides in rock history. It is unfair to the flip side, though, to suggest that there aren't others. When I was a pimply teen, I treasured my Iron Maiden cover of "Cross-Eyed Mary" (a: "The Trooper") and my Metallica covers of "Am I Evil (Yes I Am)" and "Blitzkrieg" (a: "Creeping Death," 12" picture disc). Later, I obsessed over the U2 b-sides ("Sweetest Thing," "A Room at the Heartbreak Hotel"). Today, I know every clattering mistake in the reverby demo of the Decemberists' "Kingdom of Spain" (a: "O Valencia!"), and The Thermals' "There's Nothing You Can't Learn" (a: "I Don't Believe You"), a buoyantly catchy pop-punk anthem, is better than anything on their new album.
I can't be alone here -- surely you have your own favorite b-sides.
