This is good, solid stuff! It's hard to believe that these are B-sides, although there are some that are much better than others.

What I always liked about Sugar, is that they never got flashy or over-produced. They just play great music, and that's the case with most of this CD too. It definitely has its strong parts: "Needle," "If I can't Change Your Mind," "Believe" but this is worth having.

The funny thing is that this was my first Sugar disc. I built from here, so it was good enough to get me hooked!

Does anyone know what the picture is on the cover of the album?

I've always wondered and cant find an answer...

I think it's just criminal that "Needle Hits E" was left off Copper Blue. It would have made a great album even greater. But at least we finally got it here. Mould also delivers with "Mind Is An Island," "Going Home" and "After All The Roads Have Led To Nowhere." Additionally, "Armenia City In The Sky" is an agreeably groovy cover.

Probably the most illuminating aspect of this album is that it finally gave us a decent look at bassist David Barbe's songwriting abilities. For all the talk of Sugar being something more than just Bob Mould and some hired guns, the band's three proper releases up to this point had been dominated completely by Mould except for Barbe's just-OK "Company Book." Barbe has four songs on Besides, and they're all pretty good. I would argue that "In The Eyes Of My Friends" and "When Diamonds Are Halos" deserved better than a B-sides compilation. Barbe doesn't have nearly the voice that Mould does, but as long as he stays within his limited range, he sings well enough.

I was never able to see Sugar live during the band's limited life, so the bonus live disc (which came with a limited number of copies) is particularly gratifying.

Back in the '80s, Minneapolis was home to some of the best post-punk bands known to mankind like The Replacements, Soul Asylum (before Dave Pirner sold his soul to the devil with "Runaway Train"), Babes in Toyland (Courtney Love has nothing on Kat Bjelland), and Husker Du. After Husker Du broke up, Bob Mould moved on to Sugar. I wasn't a big fan of the band but they did have some solid songs, especially on their debut album "Copper Blue". One of my favorite songs is "If I Can't Change Your Mind", especially the acoustic mix. It received a lot of airplay here in the land of 10,000 lakes.

The other day I was at my local library and came across Sugar's b-side compilation "Besides". I had to check it out because of the solo mix of "If I Can't Change Your Mind" which was Bob Mould on acoustic guitar. I rarely hear the song on my local radio stations nowadays (thank you very much Clear Channel for ruining music diversity on the radio). I found "Besides" enjoyable for the most part but towards the end of the cd, the music began to get on my nerves. Now I know why some of these songs weren't previously released, they were not very good to begin with. I really did enjoy songs such as "Needle Hits E", and "Try Again". The first half of the cd was actually solid. I think Bob Mould should have made this full length album and EP (extended play) and ended the cd somewhere between "Anyone" and "Mind is An Island". For all its flaws, "Besides" is tolerable enough to give it 3.5 stars and it sounds a lot better than a lot of new music today.

Like most b-sides collections, Besides is not for those just diving into the vast, brilliant career of Bob Mould. To get a bit more specific, if I could own only one Sugar recording, it would be Copper Blue. Of course, most bands can only wish that thier best efforts come anywhere close to Sugar's "trash". The raw energy of "Needle Hits E" and the amazing live version of "JC Auto" alone make it worth owning. Also standing out is the live version "The Slim" and the remix of "Believe What You're Saying". The icing for me, though, is the live "Explode And Make Up", which recalls the miserable, agonizing masterpiece of lost love that was Husker Du's "Candy Apple Grey" album.