Sometimes we get lost trying to explain stuff on the Internet so let's just agree to disagree or just say we don't understand each other and still be friends.
Ok.
A new perspective:
Instead of thinking the b-sides weren't good enough, think of them as the ones DT wrote that the LABEL meddled with and/or rejected.
Except that Scotty explained that 2 of the 5 songs wouldn't have been written had the label. Extrapolating from what Scotty wrote, had the label not intervened in the creative/writing process, FII would have included "Raise the Knife," "Where Are You Now" and "The Way It Used to Be" and would not have included "Trial of Tears," "Hollow Years" and "New Millennium." Swapping out NM for any of RTK, WAYN or TWIUTB wouldn't have made any difference to me because I regard NM as the worst song on the album. However, I regard TOT and HY as either the two best or two of the three best songs on the album, so losing those two in lieu of to of the rejected songs would have made FII markedly worse in my opinion.
As I've said now multiple times, I simply don't like CME, STM, RTK, WAYN or TWIUTB, and that opinion has nothing to do with the songs' status as "b-sides" or rejects or whatever.
So, essentially, most of CotC is more indicative of what DT wanted for the official release than the official release was which means the official FII release is ACTUALLY mostly the rejected songs as rejected by DT.
I think we can safely assume that JP would not agree with this, and I'm not sure even MP would agree. What songs on FII were "rejected by DT"? I can't think of a single one.
I'll also preface this by saying that, in my view, (1) the best songs on FII (in the order that they appear on the album), are You Not Me, Hollow Years, Hell's Kitchen, Anna Lee and Trial of Tears; and (2) You Not Me is notably better than You or Me.
Again, assuming the accuracy of what Scotty wrote, and factoring in MP's statement that, "originally Anna Lee and You Not Me [or You or Me] weren't going to be on the record," it sounds like a meddle-free FII would have looked something like this:
1. Raise the Knife
2. Where Are You Now
3. The Way It Used to Be
4. Peruvian Skies
5. Burning My Soul (with Hell's Kitchen middle section)
6. Lines in the Sand
7. Take Away My Pain
8. Just Let Me Breathe
In my opinion, that would have been a
terrible album.
According to Scotty, the label rejected the first three songs, so they got dropped and replaced by Trial of Tears, Hollow Years and New Millennium. Coupled with Hell's Kitchen becoming a separate song, that "meddling"
massively improved the album IMO. Again, according to MP, Kevin Shirley's "chopping" gave them room to squeeze in You Not Me (which had, by then, evolved from "You or Me") and Anna Lee. That's more improvement, and I find it notable that, when presented with 10 1/2 minutes of "squeeze" room, they chose AL and YNM,
not Cover My Eyes or Speak to Me.
My understanding from everything I've read is that Metropolis Pt. 2 was not part of the original plan, which presumably means that the double album idea was also not part of the original plan.
All that being said, while I can appreciate how frustrating the label's meddling was, IMO, it resulted in vastly better end product.