Beautiful Waste and Other Songs is a compilation album by The Triffids

The Triffids

The Triffids were a seminal Australian alternative rock and pop band formed in Perth, Western Australia, in May 1978 with charismatic, David McComb as singer-songwriter, guitarist, bass guitarist and keyboardist. They achieved negligible success in Australia, but greater success in the U.K...

, released in 2008. The album brings together a number of Triffids EPs and singles that have never been previously released on CD.

Specifically, tracks 1-7 were previously released as the Raining Pleasure

Raining Pleasure (EP)

Raining Pleasure by The Triffids was released as a 12" EP in 1984 and reached #95 on the Australian Charts.Although the EP has not been in print for some time, selected tracks appeared on the Love in Bright Landscapes and Australian Melodrama compilations, while all seven tracks were compiled on...

EP and 8-13 as Lawson Square Infirmary

Lawson Square Infirmary

Lawson Square Infirmary was a 12" EP released in 1984. In 2008, all tracks from the EP were included on the compilationBeautiful Waste and Other Songs....

. Tracks 14-16 comprise the contents of 1985's Field of Glass

Field of Glass

Field Of Glass by The Triffids was released as a 12" EP in 1985. All the songs were generally recorded live at BBC Studio 5, Maida Vale, London...

12". Of the remaining compositions, "Dear Miss Lonely Hearts" and "Native Bride" appeared previously on the 12" version of the "Wide Open Road

Wide Open Road (song)

"Wide Open Road" is a single released in 1986 by Australian rock band The Triffids from their album Born Sandy Devotional. It was produced by Gil Norton and written by David McComb on vocals, keyboards and guitar...

" single while "Beautiful Waste

Beautiful Waste

"Beautiful Waste" is a single released by The Triffids in February 1984. Whilst "Beautiful Waste" was not included on any of the band's studio albums or EPs , the B-side, "Property is Condemned", was included on the 1984 EP Raining Pleasure...

" was a 1984 A-side, backed on the 7" by "Property Is Condemned".

The original Lawson Square Infirmary EP was the result of a collaboration between McComb and other Triffids with James Paterson (most closely associated with JFK & The Cuban Crisis). Graham Lee, at that time not a member of The Triffids, was also drafted in to play dobro, bolstering the country sound of the recording, and the EP was released not under the moniker of The Triffids but rather as the work of a distinct eponymous band, Lawson Square Infirmary.

Track listing

All songs written by David McComb

David McComb

David Richard McComb was an Australian rock musician. He was the singer-songwriter of the Australian band, The Triffids.-Early years in Perth:...

 except where indicated.

1. "Jesus Calling" - 3:42
2. "Embedded" - 3:59
3. "St James Infirmary
   St. James Infirmary Blues
   "St. James Infirmary Blues" is based on an 18th century traditional English folk song of anonymous origin, though sometimes credited to the songwriter Joe Primrose . Louis Armstrong made it famous in his influential 1928 recording.-Authorship and history:"St...
   
   " (Traditional/Version by McComb) - 3:37
4. "Everybody Has to Eat" (McComb, James Paterson) - 2:31
5. "Ballad of Jack Frost" - 1:50
6. "Property Is Condemned" - 2:59
7. "Raining Pleasure" - 2:38
8. "Figurine" (McComb, Paterson) - 2:27
9. "When My Heart Breaks" (Paterson) - 3:53
10. "Mother Silhouette" (Alsy MacDonald
    Alsy MacDonald
    Alan MacDonald is an Australian rock musician and lawyer, best known as the drummer of the 1980s band The Triffids, where he performed under his nickname 'Alsy'....
    
    ) - 2:59
11. "Mercy" (McComb, Paterson) - 3:16
12. "Crucifixion Speech" - 2:04
13. "Not the Marrying Kind" - 2:45
14. "Bright Lights Big City" - 3:33
15. "Monkey on My Back" - 3:43
16. "Field of Glass" - 9:10
17. "Dear Miss Lonely Hearts" - 3:53
18. "Native Bride" - 3:37
19. "Beautiful Waste" - 3:19