Pop (yes, again)

[ozeeko]

The thing about Joshua Tree is that it's like a moodpiece. WUDM is a better written song, but MOTD makes up for that in atmosphere.

I don't think JT has the best songs of U2's career (although it does have Running To Stand Still...IMO the best song they ever wrote)...but it transports me more than any other album, and it's an album that once it's on, I must listen to the end. This is why it's my favorite album by them. It seduces me everytime.

 

[intedomine]

What what? Okay, TTYW is quite weak compared to the rest of TJT, but One Tree Hill >> Exit (!) >> MOTR ? That's got to be my favorite ending of an U2 album, except maybe Achtung Baby's.

What I personally like so much about POP, is how the atmosphere goes from Discotheque down to Wake Up Dead Man. In my opinion, it's one of their most diverse albums.

Well, that's the thing, I want to love TTYW, One Tree Hill, Exit and Mothers, but I just don't enjoy that sequence much at all. In fact, I'll listen to TTYW and sometimes skip the next two songs so that I get to Mothers (my favourite of that final four). Exit in particular has never done much for me. How fucked up am I?

North and South of the River is an interesting song from the period. Could it have been included on Pop? I'm glad it wasn't, a good song in it's own right, but it just wouldn't fit with the overall mood of the album I don't think.

 

[AdamThomasU2]

North and South of the River is an interesting song from the period. Could it have been included on Pop? I'm glad it wasn't, a good song in it's own right, but it just wouldn't fit with the overall mood of the album I don't think.

The only version of North & South I have is from the 1990-2000 double disc, are there any others going around? Based on that version I don't think I would have wanted it on Pop at all, I think it is so much better suited in the format Christy Moore performs it, fantastically Irish!

 

[djerdap]

The only live version of North and South of the River they did is beautiful and much better than the studio version:

YouTube - U2 - North and South of the River

 

[alanah]

I've always loved that live version of NASOTR..brilliant performance!

 

[AdamThomasU2]

Thanks for posting that, I've never seen or heard a version like that before. Not sure how well known Christy Moore's version is, I'm a big fan of his music and was really interested to hear him talk about his U2 collaboration. A little bit of background to the song from Christy here:

"I was flying out of Toronto Airport in 1985 and I met Bono in the check-in area. We got straight into it and I liked him from the start. We cross paths occasionally and I played before U2 in Croke Park in 1987 and enjoyed the experience tremendously...Anyway in Toronto we agreed to try and sing together and then we met up again at The Dubliners tribute show, I showed Bono a song I was working on, and we sat down and the song became this (North And South). Edge wrote the music and we recorded it with various other people in various places. The first verse is all that survived intact from the original lyrics, and a lot of ideas from the first draft are still there for the cutting...Working with Bono was joy itself as he just bubbles with enthusiasm and ideas and I learnt a lot from the experience. He has the magic and he has the spirit of art within him and I admire him greatly."

And for anyone that's interested who doesn't already know, this is how Christy plays it - hard to imagine it alongside MOFO and LNOE in THIS format!

YouTube - North and South - Christy Moore [2/21/

 

[jacobus]

POP imo is their second best work. AB is first forever.

 

[gareth brown]

The only live version of North and South of the River they did is beautiful and much better than the studio version:

YouTube - U2 - North and South of the River

whoa! never knew this is what that "Take Today" demo from the salome bootlegs turned into! something was nagging me in the back of my head when i was listening, and then when those god-awful brass samples started it hit me instantly!
how weird, i've only ever heard the version off the Staring At The Sun single which obviously bears no resemblance

 

[The_Pac_Mule]

Heres a higher quality video of the MTV performance of Please:

YouTube - U2 Please 1997 MTV Video Music Awards

 

[ultraviolet92]

I would rank MOTD comfortably in the bottom bracket of their closers, though I do like the song.

Shadows & Tall Trees > MOTD

i always eject or stop listening to the album after exit, never liked that song

as for pop its my third favourite u2 album so different to their others and as someone said before i love the roughness about it