November 7, 1995: Passengers - Original Soundtracks Vol. 1

[namkcuR]

I meant to post on Sunday, but, Passengers was released 15 years ago this past Sunday.

I maintain that Larry is wrong about it being self-indulgent. It's among the most interesting stuff U2 has ever recorded. I think there are moments of brilliance on it, and I am thrilled to have been at one of the handful of shows Your Blue Room was performed at. Love this record.

YouTube - United Colours - Passengers (U2/Eno) | THX 1138

YouTube - Slug - Passengers (U2/Eno)

YouTube - Your Blue Room - Passengers (U2/Eno)

YouTube - Heat | Always Forever Now - Passengers (U2/Eno)

YouTube - A Different Kind of Blue - Passengers (U2/Eno)

YouTube - Beach Sequence - Passengers (U2/Eno)

YouTube - U2 - miss sarajevo

YouTube - Ito Okashi - Passengers (U2/Holi/Eno)

YouTube - One Minute Warning - Passengers

YouTube - Corpse - Passengers (U2/Eno)

YouTube - Elvis ate America - Passengers (U2/Howie B/Eno)

YouTube - Plot 180 - Passengers (U2/Eno) | Miami Vice

YouTube - Theme from The Swan - Passengers (U2/Eno)

YouTube - U2 - Theme From Let's Go Native

And for good measure:

YouTube - U2 / Passengers - Viva Davidoff

 

[bono_212]

"Viva Davidoff"

 

[Earnie Shavers]

And this little b-side sort-of gem. I love this only because we often get U2 songs that have been held over from a previous, quite different album or session, and we're left to wonder what on earth it would have sounded like (e.g. City of Blinding Lights, in some form, was from the Pop sessions. What the hell did it sound like then?) but with this, you get the reverse. What would Zoo Station have sounded like if it had been held over from Achtung, and then drifted into the sonic territory of Zooropa? Wonder no more...

YouTube - U2 "BOTTOMS" 1995 (audio only)

 

[KhanadaRhodes]

love love love love love this album.

 

[cobl04]

And this little b-side sort-of gem. I love this only because we often get U2 songs that have been held over from a previous, quite different album or session, and we're left to wonder what on earth it would have sounded like (e.g. City of Blinding Lights, in some form, was from the Pop sessions. What the hell did it sound like then?) but with this, you get the reverse. What would Zoo Station have sounded like if it had been held over from Achtung, and then drifted into the sonic territory of Zooropa? Wonder no more...

YouTube - U2 "BOTTOMS" 1995 (audio only)

gotta say i'm pretty glad they didn't hold on to it although that futuristic background guitar is cool.

some great songs on this. You're Blue Room being the best. i would have loved to have been a U2 fan at this time.

just think... where would it rate in 2010, of the albums you've heard? i dare say it'd be top 10. lower reaches, but still.

 

[Earnie Shavers]

I maintain that Larry is wrong about it being self-indulgent. It's among the most interesting stuff U2 has ever recorded.

It is self indulgent. It is in the context of U2 anyway. For a lot of bands/artists (most?) everything is in a way self indulgent, but for U2 there's a responsibility to what is expected of them on multiple fronts. They couldn't have handed that over as the New U2 Album to Island/Polygram. They couldn't have dropped it as the New U2 Album onto a large chunk of the fanbase who damn well want stadium anthems and are already being pushed almost to the limit with Zooropa (and are about to be pushed over with Pop anyway.)

To ignore all that, for U2, is self indulgent. Which is a bit of a shame, because what you are really saying is that for them, on some occasions, to actually noodle with and record the music that is genuinely where their heads or hearts are at, is just not really viable. They're 'not allowed' to do that, in a way. You hate to think that Edge sits in his studio at home late at night, happily fucking around, but wouldn't even consider bringing that stuff to the U2 studio the next day, simply because he thinks there's a sort of box around U2, and if it's outside that, well, it's outside that box.

I doubt that's so much the case anymore, but if it ever is, it's a pity that perhaps more than anything else they don't have the time these days to be self indulgent from time to time, because with the Passengers umbrella, they've got the cover to drop something 'else' out there every now and then without facing the U2 Judgement. If anything, having a semi-regular self indulgent avenue just gives them more room to be completely market indulgent as U2. Have it both ways, rather than trying to compromise in the middle.

 

[cobl04]

How awesome would it be if they dropped something every now and then under Passengers? Of course in this day and age it'd get caught out pretty quick.

 

[Chill Mike D]

I love this album. It's one of my favorites and I don't see it in any different light than other U2 albums. For me it's the end-piece of their nearly flawless run from 1984-1995.

U2 really hit its stride with The Unforgettable Fire, and were firing on all cylinders through Joshua Tree, Achtung Baby, and Zooropa, never repeating themselves, and the Passengers thing was the perfect expression of a band burned down to a cinder, running on fumes after ZooTV. It was the right kind of album for them to make at that point. They had basically exhausted themselves of all energy and everything they knew how to do, so they did something they didn't know how to do, without any plan.

I guess that's why Pop didn't really work, at least for me. To me it sounds like they still were burned out but decided to launch into something huge and ambitious anyway.

 

[corianderstem]

I rarely listen to the whole thing, but a few weeks ago I threw it on the stereo and was really pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed it.

Elvis Ate America excepted, of course.

 

[An Cat Gav]

I love this album so much, it's in my U2 top 5, i even love Elvis Ate America.

 

[purpleoscar]

How awesome would it be if they dropped something every now and then under Passengers?

Eno would pat you on the back.

 

[Chill Mike D]

I love this album so much, it's in my U2 top 5, i even love Elvis Ate America.

I'm pretty much the same.

My top 5 are:

UF
JT
AB
Zooropa
Passengers

In no particular order. It just depends on what mood I'm in.

 

[BVS]

Bought this at a midnight sale, bought probably the only copy ever sold in my college town.

Was it self indulgent? Absolutely! If you can't recognize that you might be slightly blinded by the 90's.

It obviously has some brilliant moments, I've burned a copy down to EP length that I still listen to quite a bit, the rest I can barely listen to...

 

[nathan1977]

It was the first album they released while I was in college. I remember going down to buy it at my local record store, and they'd never heard of it. Had to wait for a return to Newbury Comics in RI to pick it up. A bit of an inscrutable record, that, but there's a haunting aspect to it that stays with me, even if I don't throw it on terribly much.

It is indeed a self-indulgent record. And who says a bit of self-indulgence, every once in a while, is a bad thing?

 

[djerdap]

I guess that's why Pop didn't really work, at least for me. To me it sounds like they still were burned out but decided to launch into something huge and ambitious anyway.

This is one of the main reasons why Pop actually worked for me. They do sound burned out, which only adds to the darkness and hopelessness of the record.

About Passengers, I rediscovered it a couple of years ago, and while it is certainly uneven and has parts that are not that compelling, it has some of their most impressive work - Slug, Your Blue Room and Beach Sequence being at the top. Amazing sonic landscapes created long before Kid A and all that stuff that supposedly revolutionized the mainstream music scene. If Kid A was more consistent, Passengers' heights can easily stand up to the masterpieces on that album.

 

[rjhbonovox]

Slug is magnificent....

 

[trevgreg]

It's one of the band's uneven albums to me, but I usually come back to Your Blue Room and Beach Sequence fairly often. Miss Sarajevo and Always Forever Now occasionally can stand out too, of course.

 

[nielsgov]

I rarely listen to the whole album because I have to be in the mood for it but when I am it's awesome. Mostly I just listen to the best tracks.
Your Blue Room is certainly in my top 10 U2 songs.

 

[mobvok]

Anyone have a decent list of projects that Passengers has been used for? I remember reading some Bono/U2 interview a while back that said Passengers tracks ended up getting licensed for a few different media.

 

[BigMacPhisto]

They said there was enough material for nearly two albums....methinks we deserved a Deluxe Edition/Remastered release given that this is the 15th anniversary....perhaps in 2015?

2011: Achtung Baby (20th Anniversary)
2012: Pop (15th Anniversary)
2013: Zooropa (20th Anniversary) and Rattle & Hum (25th Anniversary)
2014: How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb (10th Anniversary)
2015: All That You Can't Leave Behind (15th Anniversary) and Passengers (20th Anniversary)


Sounds like a great release schedule to me!