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Japanese CD of the day / The Other Side Of The Moon: The Cardigans

By Paul Sinclair

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The Cardigans / The Other Side Of The Moon
The Other Side Of The Moon was released in Japan and Australia only

Released in 1999, The Other Side Of The Moon, is a Japan/Australia b-side/rarities compilation from Swedish band The Cardigans. The moon reference is in relation to their 1996 album First Band On The Moon, which contained Lovefool, something of a breakthrough hit for the band.

Nasty Sun Beam, Iron Man (First Try), Blah Blah Blah, Losers (First Try) and Country Hell were all included as extra tracks or b-sides on Moon singles and all feature on this CD. Most of the other tracks are from the Emmerdale/Life album single releases (Rise and Shine, Sick and Tired, Carnival) including their version of Thin Lizzy’s The Boys Are Back In Town. The compilation ends with the Life instrumental medley – lounge stylee – that is Cocktail Party Bloody Cocktail Party.

It’s a superb compilation, with excellent design and photography. It’s not cheap to pick up, but worth seeking out.

A cheaper alternative is to seek out the 2CD version of Best Of The Cardigans, which contains a bonus disc that covers some of the same ground (not all) with the advantage of including b-sides from the later albums, including the excellent Long Gone Before Daylight and Super Extra Gravity.

The Other Side Of The Moon track listing

  • “War (First Try)”– 4:09 [from the single “My Favourite Game”]
  • “I Figured Out” – 2:05 [from the single “Black Letter Day”]
  • “Plain Parade” – 3:31 [from the single “Sick And Tired”]
  • “Laika” – 1:20 [from the single “Sick And Tired”]
  • “Pooh Song” – 3:15 [from the single “Sick And Tired”]
  • “Mr. Crowley” – 2:35 [from the single “Carnival”]
  • “Emmerdale” – 2:25 [from the single “Carnival”]
  • “The Boys Are Back in Town” – 4:04 [from the single “Hey! Get Out of My Way”]
  • “Carnival (Puck Version)” – 2:52 [from the single “Hey! Get Out of My Way”]
  • “Nasty Sunny Beam” – 2:54 [from the single “Lovefool”]
  • “Iron Man (First Try)” – 3:39 [from the single “Lovefool”]
  • “Blah Blah Blah”– 3:00 [from the single “Been It”]
  • “Losers (First Try)” – 3:16 [from the single “Been It”]
  • “Country Hell”- 2:47 [from the single “Your New Cuckoo”]
  • “After All” – 2:37 [from the single “Rise And Shine”]
  • “Cocktail Party Bloody Cocktail Party”  – 15:47 [from the single “Rise And Shine” (re-release)]

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Jon J

How strange that you’ve posted about this. I was listening to this only the other day.

I picked it up about 10 years ago – think mine is an Australian copy. It’s quite a cohesive little collection in its own right and covers pretty much all the B-sides from the first few albums (the only track missing that springs to mind was a ‘Puck version’ of Lovefool). Strangely enough, I much prefer the ‘first try’ versions of Iron Man and Losers to the finished versions. And the artwork is suitably leftfield for a Scandinavian band.

Kind of lost track of the Cardigans after this period. Some of Gran Turismo was OK but I didn’t like the singles from Long Gone Before Daylight and then kind of lost interest. But those 1990s singles will always be an integral part of my teenage years!

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probablyrustin

I loooooove this compilation. What a surprise to see you covering this out of the blue! It’s rare to come across big Cardigans fans, as you clearly are.

One thing I like about “The Other Side of the Moon” versus the best-of disc is the inclusion of the cover versions released as b-sides (“Mr. Crowley,” “The Boys Are Back In Town” and “Iron Man”) plus “Cocktail…”. These were excluded on the latter collection presumably to save on licensing and allow room for more late-period b-sides, but I like them better than some of what ended up making the cut. I felt like it left the story incomplete, and was one reason the best-of collection was underwhelming (sure, a reasonably complete tracklisting, but not much new to offer longtime fans/collectors).

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SDE Hall of Fame

Yes, we love The Cardigans! I saw them live a few times in London the 1990s, once before The First Band on the Moon had been released and ‘Lovefool’ was their ‘new song’. You make good points about this compilation versus the 2-disc best of. I have a fair few of the early CD singles but not all of them – I love the artwork and design on The Other Side Of The Moon!

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