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A revealing set of B-sides and rarities that uncovers the more contemplative, Talk Talk-like side of Catherine Wheel. --Jeff Bateman
Customer Review: Not really a "B-sides" album at all
Maybe when I hear what purports to be a "B-sides" album, my expectations are lowered, but I truly enjoy "Like Cats and Dogs," quite a bit more, in fact, than Catherine Wheel's uneven prior album, "Happy Days." The only portions of "Like Cats and Dogs" that have a "B-sides" feel to me are the beginning, namely, Heal 2 (wasn't Heal 1 enough?) and a decent cover of "Wish You Were Here" (with the clever inclusion of a harmonica); as well as the "hidden track" at the end (which consists of three harder rockers, including a faithful rousing cover of Rush's "Spirit of Radio"). Everything in between holds up as a full-blown original studio album which, for the most part, shows off the quiter side of CW. Standouts for me are "Mouthful of Air" and "Saccharine." My favorite song on the album is "Harder than I am," which might have fit nicely into either "Happy Days," or CW's subsequent album, "Adam and Eve," where it would have been perfectly placed after the incredible song "Broken Nose." For all you CW fans, "Like Cats and Dogs" isn't a mere curiousity, but an indispensible part of your CD collection.
Customer Review: MUCH MORE THAN A B-SIDES ALBUM
Bands generally release `B-sides' or `rarities' non-albums as albums, when they don't have enough material to release a full-length proper studio album. Such albums are strictly meant for fans, as they contain desultory songs, without being paid much attention to. As a matter of fact, everything suffers in such albums, right from the packaging and artwork, to the songs themselves. Probably that is why such albums have names like "B-SIDES AND ODDITIES", or "DEAD LETTER OFFICE", etc., to make their contents obvious. "LIKE CATS AND DOGS", is a very different album. It is different in the manner that it has been treated by CATHERINE WHEEL (CW) like a normal studio LP. It is actually supposed to be a B-sides album, though it is unlike one. This particular album is as good as any other CW album. Generally B-sides albums sound a bit like every preceding album by the artist, since such albums contain residues of the previous albums. As with "LIKE CATS AND DOGS", however, it has a totally fresh sound, something CW never sounded like before. Moreover, the sound in this album seems to have evolved from its immediate predecessor, "HAPPY DAYS". The sound of "HAPPY DAYS" seems like an obvious evolutionary result of its immediate predecessor, "CHROME". So, in a way, this album is actually a proper studio album! This album has a much milder feel to it than "HAPPY DAYS". After the guitar-wrenching "Heal-2": the shorter version of "Heal" from "HAPPY DAYS", the album enshrouds itself within poignancy. What follows is a string of moody tracks, made beautiful by Rob Dickinson's voice and the minimal use of any other musical instrument except for the ambient-producing ones. It is in this lull, where one of the best-done cover-versions can be found: the simplistic version of PINK FLOYD's "Wish You Were here", sung passionately by Rob pays an apt tribute to the great band, which probably has a great influence over CW. As if conceptually done, the second half of the album is much less moody and much more grungy; the sound, CW is best known for. In spite of every track being a standout, noteworthy are tracks, "Mouthful Of Air"(from the lull side of the album) and "Tongue Twisted" (from the noisy side of the album.) Right from the songs themselves, their arrangement, down to the really smart cover and the artwork, "LIKE CATS AND DOGS" is indeed an album of `album' songs, rather than an album of `non album' songs. The small note in the lyrics booklet, by the band and the band manager, starts with the lines, "It's always been important to us that the extra tracks we record for singles be as good as anything we do" - a description, which best fits "LIKE CATS AND DOGS".


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