Century Media
2005
Accessories: Rarities & B-Sides
About This Album
Dutch originals the Gathering have built a rabid following over the years, meaning there's every reason to justify a release such as 2005's Accessories: Rarities & B-Sides, which compiles a total of 27 non-album cuts from all stages of the group's remarkably consistent career. However, even the greatest of the band's B-sides, outtakes, and leftovers are still just that: secondary, possibly even substandard goods -- meaning that protracted exposure to a full two discs' worth of them could leave even the most devout followers a little disappointed. Just a warning. Now to the contents: disc one focuses on the Gathering's B-sides, including several live versions of album favorites performed both with ("Strange Machines," "Leaves") and without ("In Motion #1," "Amity," "Leaves" again) the exotic backing of a symphony orchestra; revealing, but hardly life-altering cover versions (of Dead Can Dance, Talk Talk, and Slowdive); and varying degrees of the aforementioned album outtakes, the most satisfying being the aptly named "Adrenaline," an energetic early take of "Third Chance," a rare and wonderfully morose concert performance of "Frail," and vocalist Anneke Van Giersbergen's solo acoustic guitar recording of the hauntingly beautiful "Shrink.
Track List

Disc 1 (try tracks 3 and 11)

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Disc 2 (try tracks 1 and 5)

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