Customer Reviews:
  Obviously a b-sides collection... November 14, 2007
First of all, I'm a HUGE Pinback fan. That fact alone does not make this a great album. It is a collection of b-sides and rarities, and thusly has a lot of inconsistencies in production, mood, etc. It does have some really good songs on it, but it isn't that impressive as a whole. If you already have everything else Pinback has to offer and thirst for me (like me) then go ahead and get this, but I'd recommend picking up the regular full-lengths and EPs first as this really is NOT representative of what the band is capable.
The more depressing side of pinback.... January 9, 2007
2 out of 6 found this review helpful
I hate this album, because it is not an album.
An album flows from one track to another.
This is a mash of some of the best, most obscure pinback songs.
Specifically, Messenger, Anti-hu, and Byzantine are three of the most amazing obscure songs Pinback has ever created. The fact that they are put on the same cd as Avignon and Clemenceau bothers me, as it gives the entire cd a sad feel. Clemenceau is the most depressing Pinback song ever created, and it acts as a black hole for the adjacent tracks, sucking dry any residual positive energy left by byzantine or messenger's catchy rhythms.
Then again, it is pinback, and they are brilliant.
And I suppose they need at least one downer album to show they can run the gamut of emotions from unhappy to melancholy.
 oh damn. September 25, 2006
6 out of 6 found this review helpful
So Pinback releases a "filler" album, but even for filler outtakes and B-sides, this album floors me. Every few days I switch my focus on another song on Natical Antiques and think...this is my favorite Pinback song of all time...until I switch songs again and say the same.
It is such a treat to get the two versions of Messenger and Avignon, not to mention the original demo versions of Seville and Concrete Seconds. For a musician, life could not be better. We get to see what these songs were like in their early stages, and the changes they made to them to create the polished pop songs we hear on later records.
To me the standout on this record is "Water Runs". Pinback is a mellow band, but Water Runs is even mellow for them. So mellow it's creepy and haunting. I can't get enough of it.
This album is for Pinback fans. I would even call it a reward for being devoted enough to a band to buy a B-Sides CD. It creates a home for songs that should have been on Blue Screen Life, or This is a Pinback CD. So stop scouring ebay for $50 cds with Anti-hu on them, and pick this up.
 Underrated, if ever a band was. September 13, 2006
4 out of 5 found this review helpful
Pinback is one of those bands that scream oft-overlooked, until the "OC" anyway. (And you thought that show sucked!) But some of the best money you could ever spend, aside from the Decemberists' records, is Pinback's discography.
This one brings "Anti-Hu" to the masses, which is worth the money alone. Why it's not officially released on Amazon is beyond me.
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