Bonus Tracks

When I buy an album that has bonus tracks on it, I usually don't listen to them right away. For one, if they're alternate versions or demos of songs on a reissue, most of the time I'm hearing the album for the first time anyway, so I don't need to hear it again. Even if they're songs that don't repeat, like b-sides or outtakes, (this can sometimes be the case for certain "special editions" of new albums) I'll still save them for later, because I don't want my first listen to be diluted by presumably lesser material.
Often when I finally get around to listening to these bonus cuts, it's rare that I will find myself overwhelmed with the quality of the songs (otherwise they would have made the final cut of the album).

There are of course exceptions, most particularly the special edition of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs' synth rocker, It's Blitz! (2009). While the album is a great example of the trio's musical evolution, the greatest progression is on the acoustic takes of four songs featured as bonus tracks. The songs "Soft Shock", "Skeletons", "Hysteric", and "Little Shadow", all get the stripped down treatment, complete with string quartet. With all due respect to the album versions of "Soft Shock" and "Hysteric", which are great, all four of these renditions outdo their counterparts by a substantial margin. Featured here is the somewhat flat album version of "Little Shadow", and the surprisingly punchier, more optimistic, acoustic version.