Fixing albums

[luna_lovegood]

imo

OOTS and Crumbs are two of the best off HTDAAB. I'd say get rid of the weakest song (One Step Closer or AMAAW) and replace with Mercy.

On ATYCLB NY and WILATW are great tracks, maybe TGBHF instead of Grace.

IGWSHA is on Pop, not AB.

Just my take.

Oops! I actually meant Even Better Than the Real Thing. I get so confused by all the acronyms! I have to stop and stare at them for like 5 minutes before working out which songs they are!

And Grace and One Step Closer are so gentle and heartfelt! I know they split opinion around here, but I am most certainly a fan of both.

 

[Vlad n U 2]

Oops! I actually meant Even Better Than the Real Thing. I get so confused by all the acronyms! I have to stop and stare at them for like 5 minutes before working out which songs they are!

And Grace and One Step Closer are so gentle and heartfelt! I know they split opinion around here, but I am most certainly a fan of both.

I don't mind Grace actually, maybe TGBHF as a 12th track, rather than a bonus?

 

[luna_lovegood]

I don't mind Grace actually, maybe TGBHF as a 12th track, rather than a bonus?

I think Ground Beneath Her Feet is pretty much the strongest song on the album. If you include it on the album as the final track, it makes for a closer in the league of 40, MLK and Love is Blindness. Lifts the quality of the whole album.

 

[Vlad n U 2]

I think Ground Beneath Her Feet is pretty much the strongest song on the album. If you include it on the album as the final track, it makes for a closer in the league of 40, MLK and Love is Blindness. Lifts the quality of the whole album.

And ATYCLB already is a great album, with TGBHF the quality of the album would rise a bit.

 

[MMP]

Hmmm... I don't think that TGBHF works as a closer. As I said before, it would fit very well between WILATW and NY. imo. Actually, of all the songs in the album the one that works best as a closer is Grace. They've nailed that spot when they did the tracklisting.
'Cause to me, albums must close with a quieter, slower track, like
Mothers of the Disappeared on Joshua Tree (U2's best closer, IMO) or with an epic, "bigger than life" song. (The closest U2 ever get to do this was in R&H.) For example, of all the albums I've ever heard the one with the best closing song is Suede's Dog Man Star with the song "Still Life". The ones that've heard this album, if not agree with me, at least will say that this is one great closer. I guess.

 

[U2girl]

Switch Trip through your wires with Heartland and vice versa.

Add She's a mystery to me and Slow dancing on Rattle and Hum (cut the covers and put the live songs on a separate disc).

Put HMTMKMKM on an album.

 

[bram]

Switch Trip through your wires with Heartland and vice versa.

Add She's a mystery to me and Slow dancing on Rattle and Hum (cut the covers and put the live songs on a separate disc).

Put HMTMKMKM on an album.

If Joshua Tree had Heartland on it... What were they thinking by dropping that one?

If R&H were a proper studio album, it could well be a classic. Here's my iTunes R&H tracklist:

1) Van Diemen's Land
2) Desire
3) Hawkmoon 269
4) Heartland
5) Hallelujah Here She Comes
6) Love Rescue Me
7) Angel of Harlem
8) When Love Comes to Town
9) God Part II
10) Dancing Barefoot
11) All I Want Is You

Also, I think at least 50% of the reason October gets the "worst U2 album" nod most often is because of its ending. It's unfortunate because the album actually contains two perfect U2-esque album enders: Scarlet and October. If they had simply rearranged the tracklist, I would bet that it would be given better treatment by fans.

 

[DoctorMacPhisto]

Hmm...if I could fix HTDAAB...

1. City of Blinding Lights
2. Native Son
3. Miracle Drug
4. Sometimes You Can't Make it on Your Own
5. Love and Peace Or Else
6. All Because of You [Alternate Version]
7. Smile
8. A Man And a Woman
9. Crumbs From Your Table
10. Original of the Species [Single Mix]
11. Fast Cars
12. One Step Closer
13. Yahweh [Alternate Version]

 

[SpaceBoy]

This used to be something I would attempt to do all the time. ATYCLB and HTDAAB were my favorites to mess around with.

Can't remember the tracklist I came up with for ATYCLB completely, but I think it went something like this:
Beautiful Day
When I Look At The World
Kite
Elevation
Stuck In a Moment You Can't Get Out Of
Stateless
Flower Child
New York
Walk On
The Ground Beneath Her Feet
Grace
(You can substitute in New York(Nice Mix) and Elevation(Tomb Raider Mix) here, but it flows best sonically using the album versions, imho.)

HTDAAB I can recall pretty much exactly, except City Of Blinding lights and Smile may have been switched in the order:
Native Son
Miracle Drug
Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own
Love And Peace Or Else
Fast Cars (Jacknife Lee Mix)
City Of Blinding Lights
Smile
All Because Of You (Alternate Version)
Crumbs From Your Table
Original Of the Species (Single Mix)
Yahweh (Alternate Version)
Mercy
(Here you can substitute in All Because Of You (Single Mix), Fast Cars (Original Version), and Yahweh (Album Version). The only weakness I feel here is that Mercy does not have a real ending, it just kind of fades out which I suspect was something they planned to change if they decided to use it in the future. But I love the song too much not to include it and I feel overall it provides a very fitting conclusion to the record. Again, this is just my opinion.)


Anybody, please try these out and tell me what you think!

 

[Y2K]

The Unforgettable Fire: take off some of the crap and replace it with legitimately good songs. For example, "Elvis Presley and America" and "Indian Summer Sky" can be ditched in favor of "The Three Sunrises" and "Be There" (although "Be There" probably needs additional treatment to make it more atmospheric and deserving of inclusion with the other songs).

The Joshua Tree: It's hard to improve upon this album, but I've never really been a fan of the last 2 tracks. They kinda make the otherwise spectacular album end on a "meh" note. I would remove "Mothers of the Disappeared" and replace it with "Silver and Gold". Then I would shift "One Tree Hill" into the closer position on the album.

Achtung Baby: another album that's really hard to improve upon, but there's still a few things that can be done. "So Cruel" is absolute crap and is filler on an otherwise killer album. I would replace it with either "Lady with the Spinning Head" or "Heaven and Hell".

Zooropa: I don't know enough B-sides or discarded songs from this era, but I would recommend ditching "The Wanderer" (or at least replacing it with a version that is closer to the live tribute version) and "Numb".

Pop: I love the album versions of "Staring at the Sun", "Discotheque", and "Gone". But I would make a few changes elsewhere. The single version of "Please" HAS TO replace the album version. I don't know what they were thinking when they recorded the album version. "Last Night on Earth" should also use the single version. "Miami" needs to be destroyed and have all recollection forgotten. Don't know that I would put "Holy Joe" in its place, but "Miami" needs to be removed, period. I don't really like "The Playboy Mansion" or "If You Where that Velvet Dress", but I don't have anything to take their place.

All That You Can't Leave Behind: there are some obvious changes to make here. "Elevation" HAS TO be replaced with the Tomb Raider edit. "Grace" is crap and needs to be dumped in favor of "The Ground Beneath Her Feet" so that it properly closes the album out on an emotional note. I would replace "Walk On" with my Hybrid Mix.

How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb: I would use the alternate single versions of "All Because of You" and "Original of the Species", and an acoustic version of "Yahweh" in the fashion they did it live. I would also move "Yahweh" into the middle of the tracklisting and properly close the album with "Mercy". I would redo "Vertigo" do use the vocal cadence of "Native Son", as the vocals are the only thing about "Vertigo" I really hate.

 

[MMP]

^I don't think I ever disagreed with something like I disagree with this.

 

[phillyfan26]

Pop
1. Mofo
2. Gone (Best Of Mix)
3. Last Night on Earth
4. Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me
5. Holy Joe (Garage Mix)
6. Do You Feel Loved
7. Staring at the Sun
8. Discotheque (Best Of Mix)
9. If You Wear That Velvet Dress
10. North and South of the River
11. Please (Single Mix)
12. Wake Up Dead Man

 

[phillyfan26]

The Unforgettable Fire

1. A Sort of Homecoming
2. Pride (In the Name of Love)
3. Wire
4. Indian Summer Sky
5. The Unforgettable Fire
6. Promenade
7. The Three Sunrises
8. Boomerang II
9. Sixty Seconds in Kingdom Come
10. 4th of July
11. Bass Trap
12. Love Comes Tumbling
13. Bad

 

[phillyfan26]

Achtung Baby: Re-record it.

 

[Acrobat51829]

Zooropa:

1. Zooropa
2. DGPFYCC
3. Dirty Day (Bitter Kiss Mix)
4. Numb (Gimme Some More Dignity Mix)
5. Lemon
6. Babyface
7. SDABTO
8. Stay
9. The First Time
10. The Wanderer

Pop:

1. Mofo
2. Last Night on Earth
3. Gone (New Mix)
4. Discotheque (New Mix)
5. Do You Feel Loved
6. Staring at the Sun
7. Happiness is a Warm Gun (Gun Mix)
8. HMTMKMKM
9. Holy Joe (Garage Mix)
10. IGWSHA (Big Yam Mix)
11. IYWTVD
12. Please (single version)
13. Wake Up Dead Man

ATYCLB:

1. Beautiful Day
2. Elevation (Tomb Raider Mix)
2. New York
4. TGBHF
5. Levitate
6. Kite
7. In A Little While
8. Flower Child
9. Stateless
10. Summer Rain
11. Love You Like Mad
12. When I Look At The World
13. Walk On (single mix)

 

[major_panic]

We do this all the time..:

ATYCLB: the Poets' Album

Separated into three groups of four songs in order to give a thematic experience.

1. Levitate
2. Beautiful Day
3. Walk On
4. Kite
5. In A Little While
6. Summer Rain
7. Wild Honey
8. Flower Child
9. When I Look At The World
10. New York
11. Grace
12. The Ground Beneath Her Feet



HTDAAB: Punk Rock From Venus

Marks a return to the LP format, 1-5 are side A and 6-11 are side B. Original Of The Species as a possible bonus track.

1. Love And Peace Or Else
2. Vertigo
3. All Because Of You (alternate mix)
4. Fast Cars
5. Mercy
6. City of Blinding Lights
7. Miracle Drug
8. A Man And A Woman
9. Crumbs From Your Table
10. Smile
11. One Step Closer

 

[edgeplaytheblue]

i always make my own achtung baby

different songs :

the fly (video version)
wild horses (video version)
mysterious ways (solar plex mix --> not the dance remix)

add :

lady with the spinning head (extended dance mix)
salome
where did it all go wrong