Achtung Baby/ Zooropa remaster/ reissue - Part V/Five

[dudeman]

Interesting differences:
UTEOTW - great vocals
WGRYWH - Sounds almost like a Cure version or Echo and the bunnymen. Different melodies. The opening guitar sounds a little like how Coldplay copies.
The Fly - You can hear the falsetto a little better in this one as well as Danny's bongos.
TTYAATW - Country, folk? Interesting.
LIB - Reminds me of Echo and the bunnymen (even the guitar).

BTW I would really love to hear "Baby" versions of NLOTH, especially Breathe. Hint, hint U2!

definitely hear the Echo and the Bunnymen in WGRYWH - do I hear some horn stabs in there?

also love all the acoustic guitars scraping through UTEOTW.

Like Y2K said, they definitely got the mixes right on the final album, but WOW! what a fun ride this is...

 

[Y2K]

Someone definitely told U2 they were living in Rattle and Hum world if they kept the "baby" version of "Trying to Throw Your Arms Around the World".

 

[Catman]

BTW I would really love to hear "Baby" versions of NLOTH, especially Breathe. Hint, hint U2!

 

[mikal]

on to the unreleased material:

both She's Gonna Blow Your House down and Heaven And Hell are solid.

Oh Berlin is wonderful! who would have thought the B-Side material to AB could get even richer?

 

[EdgeFest]

Someone definitely told U2 they were living in Rattle and Hum world if they kept the "baby" version of "Trying to Throw Your Arms Around the World".

Maybe I'll actually like it now.



(Seriously, I LOVE AB, but I've always disliked this song. The rest of the album is perfect though!)

 

[dan_smee]

While I still like the released Ultraviolet more, man this baby version fits the final disc so much better! It is darker and less poppy. Incredible

 

[digitize]

I'm just now listening to tracks, basically in order of interest to me. Wild Horses... very interesting listen, though I prefer the album version by a lot. I feel that this is like the Hansa demos vocally... Bono's voice is halfway between R&H and AB, and it's almost weird to hear.

 

[mikal]

While I still like the released Ultraviolet more, man this baby version fits the final disc so much better! It is darker and less poppy. Incredible

i'm warming up to the Baby version as well. nothing will ever beat the original for me, but this is a nice alternative to have.

 

[dan_smee]

"Your head feels like a cabbage,
hahaha savage"

Gold.

 

[RioRhodes]

OK I'm just starting and going track by track.

Bono sounds so good on Baby Until The End of The World.

 

[digitize]

Wow. Love Is Blindness... wow.

 

[trojanchick99]

Finally got to listen to the Unreleased stuff.

Down All The Days and Oh Berlin are amazing.
The instrumental is lovely.

 

[digitize]

"Your head feels like a cabbage,
hahaha savage"

Gold.

Wouldn't be out of place on Bomb

 

[Aygo]

Thank God that any of the final versions of Achtung Baby are far miles superior than any of the Kindergarten versions, even though these last ones bring very interesting versions and aspects that are the proof that these 12 songs and this album is a masterpiece.
I was afraid to listen to a stripped down "One"... But I liked it. The acoustic guitars in UTEOTW were curious and interestng too.
Of the 12, WGRYWH is the best. For some it reminds Echo And The Bunnymen or The Cure. To me, it immediately reminded of some of the Madchester bands (maybe James or The La's or something by The Stone Roses... I don't know...).
Ultraviolet is darker here, but I miss the guitar riffs of the final version.
Am I the only one who immediately associated this Love Is Blindness version to the soundscapes in The Million Dollar Hotel slow paced and atmospheric sounscapes? There's still something very traditional that was kept here as well.

About the outtakes... I have to say I'm disappointed. Maybe I had huge expectations, but I'm not impressed at all by any of the songs. I'd say that all the real b-sides ("Salome", "Lady With The spinning Head", "Alex/Korova 1", "Where Did It All Go Wrong", etc.) are far far superior to what I just heard now ("Down All The Days" it's not that is bad, it's not, but "Numb" makes it sound mediocre)...
"Blow Your House Down"... I know this one was composed first, but the last thing I was in the mood for was the prototype of "Vertigo", ABOY and GOYB... And these three are better, IMO.
"Heaven And Hell"... I was never a fan of this track. Always was that one I skipped on the Hansa Tapes recordings. It's not a very dynamic song at all and it sounds like it was composed by Prince somehow.
"Near The Island" and "Oh Berlin"... Didn't even cause a reaction on me (it's not a good sign).

 

[theedgeu2]

"Your head feels like a cabbage,
hahaha savage"

Gold.

What's that from?

 

[RioRhodes]

Ultraviolet is darker here, but I miss the guitar riffs of the final version.
Am I the only one who immediately associated this Love Is Blindness version to the soundscapes in The Million Dollar Hotel slow paced and atmospheric sounscapes? There's still something very traditional that was kept here as well.

Nope, I'm just listening to it right now for the first time and that thought popped into my head right before I read through your post. Great minds think alike.

 

[popacrobat]

What's that from?

Tryin' to throw your arms around the world

 

[Chill Mike D]

I'm listening to the Kindergarten album now after listening to the B-sides. This stuff is great. They really were firing on all cylinders and chasing every thing that came their way when they were recording that album.

 

[Niceman]

It seems that they did A LOT of work on all of these tracks in 2011. This explains why there's no "new" album. They really dove back into Achtung!

 

[KhanadaRhodes]

i'm really liking the kindergarten disc. none of the songs are better than the final product, which i'm glad about personally. though that's just me. i only wish the dates (or range, whatever) each song was worked on was listed in the liner notes.

 

[TheEdge25]

"Johnny take a break, you've been staring at the sun..."

"If you wanna turn her on, then say how you feel..."

"You wanna eat and still be skinny, you want the prize without the winning..."

I really like all these different lyrics. Really interesting, really cool

 

[dabiggestu2fan]

Anyone here have a link to the leak? I am dying to hear it, I put my e-mail on the request thread. Please oh please I can't take it anymore LOL. thank you!

 

[TheEdge25]

Heaven and Hell sounds....oh, so beautiful. I love this version of it. I can't believe it never made it onto the album and was only a B-side.

Edge's guitar solo in this...is...oh...

 

[lazarus]

If someone can merge these two images, it may be the perfect interference pic.


Emperor McGuinne$$.

 

[lazarus]

So how many of the unreleased songs have new 2011 Bono vocals? Just one?

 

[mirrorballman]

Generally speaking: The right versions landed as the final cut on the album! None of these are superior to the originals! While they're interesting to listen to, they're not really exciting me.

 

[JUSTinPUSHPLAY]

So how many of the unreleased songs have new 2011 Bono vocals? Just one?

i think both Blow Your House Down and Heaven And Hell have new vocals on them, the other outtakes sound a bit more like achtung era Bono, which btw i have to say for new vocals, he did a nice job of getting is tone to a similar place of that era, his voice is stronger is many areas today then it was then, save for the falsetto. nice to have some new/old/new U2

 

[alanah]

Wow. Love Is Blindness... wow.

Amazing..

 

[Sken]

"Your head feels like a cabbage,
hahaha savage"

Gold.

Best line ever! Pure gold

 

[Melon50]

i think both Blow Your House Down and Heaven And Hell have new vocals on them, the other outtakes sound a bit more like achtung era Bono, which btw i have to say for new vocals, he did a nice job of getting is tone to a similar place of that era, his voice is stronger is many areas today then it was then, save for the falsetto. nice to have some new/old/new U2

I'm pretty sure Oh Berlin has 2011 vocals as well. Even the lyrics are sort of "looking back" at the Berlin phase. Down all the days and Everybody loves a winner have original vocals as far as I can hear. There probably weren't any real lyrics on a 1990 vocal for the others.