A-side and B-side

The terms A-side and B-side refer to the two sides of 78 and 45 rpm phonograph records, whether singles or extended plays (EPs). The A-side usually featured the recording that the artist, record producer, or the record company intended to receive the initial promotional effort and then receive radio airplay, hopefully, to become a "hit" record. The B-side (or "flip-side") is a secondary recording that has a history of its own: some artists, notably Elvis Presley, Little Richard, the Beatles, Chuck Berry, and Oasis, released B-sides that were considered as strong as the A-side and became hits in their own right. Creedence Clearwater Revival had hits, usually unintentionally, with both the B-sides of their A-side releases. Others took the opposite track: producer Phil Spector was in the habit of filling B-sides with on-the-spot instrumentals that no one would confuse with the A-side. With this practice, Spector was assured that airplay was focused on the side he wanted to be the hit side.

18 (Moby album)

18 is the sixth studio album by American electronica musician Moby released in 2002. The most successful single from the album was "We Are All Made of Stars", which reached number 11 on the UK Singles Chart. A notable single on the album is "Extreme Ways" which appears on The Bourne Identity. The album features guest appearances by Azure Ray, MC Lyte, Angie Stone, and Sinéad O'Connor. A collection of the album's B-sides and video footage was released a year later on 18 B Sides + DVD.

Critical response to the album was positive to mixed, with many critics feeling it was too much of a retread of his previous releases and lacked inspiration. The album debuted at number 1 in the UK and many other European countries. It also peaked at number 4 in the Billboard 200. 18 earned gold and platinum awards in over 30 countries, and sold more than five million copies worldwide, which was a respectable number for an electronica album, even though it didn't sell half as many copies as its predecessor Play.

B-Sides

B-Sides may refer to:

See also