Rise Against – 'Long Forgotten Songs: B-Sides & Covers 2000-2013'

Rise Against has released the track list for “Long Forgotten Songs: B-Sides & Covers 2000-2013,” a compilation of covers, B-sides and EP songs that didn’t make it onto the group’s full-length albums.

Tim McIlrath pointed out that these songs are not “throw-aways,” saying that below-average tracks were tossed out before being fully produced, Rokonnection reports.

“Common wisdom tells us that the reason is that a B-side is just a song not good enough to make the cut. While I think that logic can apply sometimes, I think it’s shortsighted. See, the songs that really aren’t good enough, you’ll never hear. They never make it outside of our practice space,” McIlrath explained.

“Long Forgotten Songs” consists of 26 songs the band has recorded since 2000. While the track list is diverse, with varying sounds, moods, and topics, every song meets the high quality standards the band members have set for themselves. Nothing about “Long Forgotten Songs” says that these songs were “throw-aways.”

“If we finish a song, bring it to the studio, write lyrics, and see it to fruition, then it becomes one of the children that make up a family of songs. If we weren’t proud of it, it would have been scrapped along the way,” McIlrath (left) said in a reassurance of the album’s quality.

On top of the many B-sides and EP tracks, the group also recorded several covers, ranging from Pete Seeger’s “Little Boxes” to Journey’s “Any Way You Want It” and Nirvana’s “Sliver.” These tracks, which McIlrath and his bandmates managed to make their own, manage to fit seamlessly into “Long Forgotten Songs.”

“We have fast songs and slow songs and political songs. We have personal songs and dark songs and positive songs. We aim for balance on each record,” continued McIlrath, explaining Rise Against’s formula for an excellent album. “Every song is like one of our children; some just get orphaned. The songs are the lost children of Rise Against.”

These “lost children” have been compiled to create an album as well-balanced and moving as any of Rise Against’s traditional full-length albums. “Long Forgotten Songs” will satisfy not only Rise Against fans, but any true lover of music.

Images: Amazon, WikiCommons