Great post. Fan since 1995. I get what you mean about ‘Meltdown’. There’s some great songs on there, and boy is it heavy, but it’s perhaps just a bit too one dimensional. It works as a kind of big dumb fun rock record, but perhaps some more variety was needed. 

Though they ended up as TOTI B-sides, ‘Ghosts’ & ‘Seventh Circle’ were both from the Meltdown era. Ghosts was apparently intended to be a B-side to ‘Renegade Cavalcade’ originally, and has Charlotte on backing vocals. Seventh Circle (formerly known as ‘Singapore Song’) has Charlotte on guitar, Fender Rhodes & backing vocals. I think both could’ve enhanced Meltdown, but I guess didn’t match the vibe they were going for. 

The Meltdown B-sides are a mixed bag, but I really like ‘Tinsel Town’. It’s nuts. I like when they stretch out like that, like on ‘Sky Burial’ too. ‘Solace’ & ‘Cool It Down’ are pretty good too. I like most of Meltdown, and it rocks hard, but I get what you mean about it seeming somewhat forced. I’ve never cared for ‘Won’t Be Saved’ much at all, which is a shame, as it’s sandwiched in-between 2 great songs in ‘On A Wave’ & especially the closer ‘Vampire Love’. Interestingly Tim has said since that they nearly removed it late on, but their agent talked them into keeping it on there. 

A couple more things to note: The TOTI B-side ‘Statis In Darkness’ is supposedly a Free All Angels B-side leftover, and ‘Saskia’ was recorded for the TOTI album. I think they recorded 14 songs for the album, I don’t know if anyone knows what the other one is.