release date: Nov. 29, 2000
format: 2 cd
[album rate: 4 / 5]
producer: various
label: RCA Victor / BMG Sweden - nationality: Sweden
Track highlights, Disc 1: 5. "Noll" - 7. "Bas riff" - 8. "Din skugga" - 10. "Längesen vi sågs" - 11. "December" - 12. "Utan dina andetag" - 13. "På nära håll" - - Disc 2: 1. "Livrädd med stil" - 2. "Verkligen" - 6. "Rödljus" - 9. "Den osynlige mannen" (Kazoo version) - 10. "Slutsats"
2 disc compilation album by Kent compiling all of their B-side singles from 1995 to 2000. Given the title this is of course fan material, and as such a very nice release. My only complaints here are the incomplete project and the running order: A minor 'fault' is how they have tried to order songs according to release date, but in reverse order. That is a bit annoying but still you may add: it's kind of chronological; however, more grave is the incompleteness. "Kevlarsjäl" was released Sep. 2000 with "Insekter" as B-side - that song is left out on the album. Of course it was included on Hagnesta Hill (1999) but also "Den osynlige mannen" and "Pojken med hålet i handen" were album releases and still find their way to this album as B-side releases. What's a more openly bad decision, is the fact that the first two tracks were never even actual B-sides! "Chans" was released to promote this compilation as an A-side single (with "747" in a remix as the B-side, which isn't here), and "Spökstad" was planned for a second A-side release, but it was retracted by the record label only after the first pressing had hit the stores [which makes it quite rare]. That's truly an odd choice to have an album titled "B-sides..." starting off with two non-B-side singles. It's just... when you announce an album of this sort, you better do it right, and I think it could have been better and more accurate.
All this aside, the album is a nice release, where several songs shine as A-side material, and the booklet comes with detailed information about the songs, the singles released and the recording sessions. The album peaked at number #2 on the national albums chart list and two singles were released: "Chans" (rel. Nov. 22) reaching number #14 and "Spökstad" (rel. early 2001), which didn't result in a chart list entry.
Not essential but definitely fan must-have material.
Also in 2000, a documentary "Så nära får ingen gå – ett år med Kent" was made by Mathias Engstrand and Per Sinding-Larsen, who followed the band in Sweden and throughout Europe for a whole year. The film premiered on SVT [Sveriges Television] (the national Swedish Television) in May 2001.
