Box Set

Instead of disappointing fans with a brand new album, the Jesus & Mary Chain have wisely compiled their past non-album material into one all-encompassing box set. Released by reissue experts Rhino, The Power of Negative Thinking: B-Sides & Rarities is an immaculate collection of 82 tracks on four CDs recounting their history in chronological order. Though it includes most of their three previous compilations, everything is in here, from a never-heard 1983 cassette demo to acoustic takes of Psychocandy revealing there was much more to the Reid brothers than depraved feedback. Best of all is a gorgeously bleak hardcover gatefold shell, filled with brooding transparency pages, insightful liner notes, rare photos, and a detailed foldout "family tree” poster with a handwritten account of their career. A candid look at a band that hid behind curly fringes and walls of noise.