Disco de CAKE: “B-Sides and Rarities”

So I love Cake and have been waiting for this release for a long time, but I was sort of disappointed when I finally got it.

I like some of the covers, those are cool, but really, there is not much substance on this disc.

If you are Cake fans, pick it up because this is the first truly indie release by Cake since they got away from a horible record company and I will always support them, but if you are not that big of a fan, this is not a needed disc.

First of all, I'm a big fan of Cake's music. The bass-lines, the guitar riffs, the horns, the throaty vocals that aren't really melodic but somehow seem to fit in just perfectly. It's just a great combination.

Secondly, I love covers. I used to scour the Internet for any cover of any song, just to hear it. If it was a good cover, I'd usually run out and buy a CD buy the cover band. Since I already love Cake, and love cover songs, B-Sides is everything I expected.

The first song is a cover of Black Sabbath's War Pigs, which is a song that I love. Cake takes the song, and delivers it in true Cake fashion. The last song on the disc is also a cover of this song, but a live one. Continuing with covers, they also have Barry White's Never, Never Gonna Give You Up (which was featured on the American Werewolf in Paris soundtrack, and was the only reason I bought that disc), Sinatra's Strangers in the Night, and Mahna, Mahna from the Muppets. (do dooooo do do doo!) They also cover some country songs, such as Ruby, Don't Take Your Love to Town, which has been sung by several artists through the years, and Excuse Me, I Think I've Got a Heartache. The best part about the country covers is that they're REAL country songs, not this Kelly Clarkson stuff that folks are calling "new country." New Country is just rock with a steel guitar, and consists primarily of junk.

So, Cake fans and cover song fans out there, go out and buy this disc. I'm giving it a full five stars.

The main reason to get this is the version of "War Pigs." It's the goofiest thing here, and at least makes sense in the band context. After that, things are a really mixed bag. The number of country covers is telling, but frankly, Cake brings nothing to them in the way they reinvented "I Will Survive" ("Ruby Don't Take Your Love to Town" comes close: see also The Killers' version on Sawdust).

As is the case with most B-Sides collections, the majority of the songs were recorded as larks or left unfinished for a reason. If you're new to the band, stick with

or

. You'll be glad your ears weren't forced to listen to Cake's version of "Manna Manna," which was cute on Sesame Street with muppets, but not by adults.

PS - The Vanilla Icing smell is NASTY.

I love all of CAKE's music, and can't wait to go to a live show.

the live tracks on here were astounding, and awesome. I loved the War Pigs (live) it was great to compare the two versions.

I really wanted a full album of newer CAKE music- but the b-sides and Rarities was good enough and its oddness that I disliked at first grew on me, and now I can't get enough.

"Ruby Don't Take Your Love to Town" is one of my faves - I love CAKE as a country-esque band, its a nice detour.

(My CD case was purple, the grape smell was like the MR.SKETCH marker smell. ew.)

If you like Cake and know what they are about, you will love this CD. It's just plain fun to listen to. They're cover of "Ruby", "Excuse Me, I Think I've Got a Heart Ache", and "Strangers in the Night", are a hoot! But, Black Sabbath fans wil probably not be impressed with Cake's version of "War Pigs".