B'Sides Themselves is a compilation of single B-sides by the British neo-progressive rock bandMarillion, which was released on CD only in January 1988. This was the first time that those B-sides were made available in the then still relatively new Compact Disc format. However, vinyl LP and cassette versions were issued in June 1988. The compilation includes "Market Square Heroes", originally the A-side track for Marillion's 1982 debut single release, but here is included because it was re-recorded for the B-side of "Punch and Judy". "Three Boats Down From The Candy" was originally the B-side of "Market Square Heroes", but the version on this album is the re-recorded B-side of "Punch and Judy". Also included is the 17-minute epic "Grendel", originally a B-side on the 12" version of the 1982 A-side "Market Square Heroes" single. B'Sides Themselves would turn out to be the last Marillion record to be released while singer Fish, who left in October 1988, was still in the band.
Cover art
The cover artwork was created by permanent contributor Mark Wilkinson. It is a collage combining fragments of front and back-cover artwork from previous singles:
The spades-shaped head of the central is taken from the back cover of "Assassing", a reference to that single's b-side "Cinderella Search",
The blue-lipped mouth is from the front cover of the single "He Knows You Know", in reference to its b-side "Charting the Single",
The suit and tierefer to "Tux On", the b-side of the single "Sugar Mice", which had a similar back cover illustration,
The fragments on the left of the face are from the front cover of the singles "Market Square Heroes", the back covers of "Kayleigh" and "Incommunicado"; the fragments on the right side are from "Incommunicado", "Kayleigh" and The Video EP.
Track listing
"Grendel" – 17:15
"Charting The Single" – 4:48
"Market Square Heroes" – 3:56
"Three Boats Down From The Candy" – 4:01
"Cinderella Search" – 4:21
"Lady Nina" – 3:43
"Freaks" – 4:04
"Tux On" – 5:12
"Margaret" – 12:17
Tracks 1–4 and 9 produced by Nick Tauber; Track 5 produced by Simon Hanhart and Marillion; Tracks 6–8 produced by Chris Kimsey.
Missing tracks and variations
Not all the B-sides of the singles that had been released at that point were included. Missing are "Chelsea Monday" from "Heart of Lothian", as well as "White Russian" and "Incommunicado" from "Warm Wet Circles", as these were live versions of album tracks. The B-side of "Incommunicado", "Going Under" is also not included, despite having a different mix than the one contained on the original Clutching at Straws CD. The version of "Going Under" from the B-side of "Incommunicado" did eventually appear on the bonus disc of the 1999 remastered edition of Clutching at Straws. "Cinderella Search" also differs between the CD and vinyl releases – the CD edition contains the short 7" version, while the vinyl edition contains the full-length 12" single version.
