Hollow Island
New Yorker
- Joined
- Jan 16, 2011
- Messages
- 2,947
First of all, a lot of talk about this: maybe, maybe too much talk...hehe...
Both of these albums contain material that is among U2's strongest and could have been among their classic records (I know some people think they are), but for various reasons they are not what they could have been. The major problem for both is lack of cohesion. Neither flow all that well, and it's a massive problem. Another problem is the length. Both records are quite long, and are mainly made up of 5 minute songs (there's more variety on No Line, but 2 songs are over 6 minutes), and that's a lot of intense U2 to sit through, regardless of how good the songs are. So I've trimmed both down to 10 songs, added 2 non-album tracks to each, and fiddled with the list. Both work well on CD and in vinyl settings (the latter takes a bit of imagination, but you'll see what I mean), and good songs were left off Pop, but it's in the service of the whole.
NO LINE (a variation on the Linear track list, and probably my second favourite U2 album in this order).
Soon
No Line
Fez-Being Born
Unknown Caller
Breathe
Winter (Linear version)
White As Snow
Magnificent
Moment of Surrender
Cedars of Lebanon
(vinyl would be 3/2/2/3)
POP (I'd put this version 3 or 4)
Discotheque
Mofo
Gone
Staring at the Sun
Do You Feel Loved
Holy Joe (Guilty Mix)
I'm Not Your Baby (Skysplitter Dub)
Velvet Dress
Please
Wake Up Dead Man
(2 sides, light and dark.)
If God..., Miami, Playboy Mansion, and N+S of the River would make a good EP.
BTW, anyone notice how much Miami sounds like Autechre? I've never seen that mentioned before. It's a shame those guys never remixed it.
Both of these albums contain material that is among U2's strongest and could have been among their classic records (I know some people think they are), but for various reasons they are not what they could have been. The major problem for both is lack of cohesion. Neither flow all that well, and it's a massive problem. Another problem is the length. Both records are quite long, and are mainly made up of 5 minute songs (there's more variety on No Line, but 2 songs are over 6 minutes), and that's a lot of intense U2 to sit through, regardless of how good the songs are. So I've trimmed both down to 10 songs, added 2 non-album tracks to each, and fiddled with the list. Both work well on CD and in vinyl settings (the latter takes a bit of imagination, but you'll see what I mean), and good songs were left off Pop, but it's in the service of the whole.
NO LINE (a variation on the Linear track list, and probably my second favourite U2 album in this order).
Soon
No Line
Fez-Being Born
Unknown Caller
Breathe
Winter (Linear version)
White As Snow
Magnificent
Moment of Surrender
Cedars of Lebanon
(vinyl would be 3/2/2/3)
POP (I'd put this version 3 or 4)
Discotheque
Mofo
Gone
Staring at the Sun
Do You Feel Loved
Holy Joe (Guilty Mix)
I'm Not Your Baby (Skysplitter Dub)
Velvet Dress
Please
Wake Up Dead Man
(2 sides, light and dark.)
If God..., Miami, Playboy Mansion, and N+S of the River would make a good EP.
BTW, anyone notice how much Miami sounds like Autechre? I've never seen that mentioned before. It's a shame those guys never remixed it.
