TUF "Full" album?

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Jarvio

War Child
Joined
Jun 29, 2003
Messages
692
Does anyone agree with me that TUF just doesn't seem like a "full" U2 album?

Let me explain...

First of all, we do indeed have a bunch of U2 songs on there, ASOH, Pride, Wire, TUF, Bad, ISS. That's 6 of the 10 songs, and to me, they seem like the only 6 that actually feel like "full" u2 "songs".

Let's look at the other 4:

4th of July - Instrumental and very interludey (I do like it though)
MLK - Barely any instruments, and again seems like an interlude
EPAA - Just Bono singing over a backing track
Promenade - This one could be considered a full song, but to me it still seems interludey

Does anyone know what I mean here?

I'm not dissing the album. I'm just saying, it doesn't seem like an "album-album", if that makes any sense.

The addition of The Three Sunrises and Love Comes Tumbling would have fixed this however.
 
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the unforgettable fire is the best thing U2 ever made.

you are a lunatic and an impostor. i denounce you, sir.
 
the unforgettable fire is the best thing U2 ever made.

you are a lunatic and an impostor. i denounce you, sir.

I'm not dissing the album. I'm just saying, it seems too short, because those other 4 songs I mentioned seem interludey to me.

TUF as a song is one of my all-time favourites, and ASOH is up there too.
 
I love the sort of unfocused nature of TUF. It's like an abstract painting, everyone can listen to it and get something different from it.

Also, I have added love comes tumbling, three sunrises, bass trap, yoshino blossom and the boomerangs to my TUF album, kinda helps it feel like a more complete piece of work.

A good way to look at it is that it's in fact the first Passengers album, with Eno and Lanois being equal contributors.
 
I'm not a huge fan of the album, despite admiring its transitional and experimental distinction. And I do agree that it's a bit slight in terms of actual songs.

But I do think you're wrong about Promenade. Beautiful track with a legitimate lyric and a really passionate vocal.

And EPAA is certainly an unorthodox approach, but it's over 6 minutes and certainly constitutes a demonstration of artistic expression, even if it's more improvisational.

I do think the b-sides would have helped it.
 
I agree with both sides of this thread. UF has for a long time been my favourite U2 album. Lately I've started to question that and suspect that Boy has passed it in my rankings, but this would not have even entered my mind if the tracklist were more, so to speak, complete.

This is the custom one I use:

1. A Sort of Homecoming
2. The Three Sunrises
3. Boomerang II
4. Wire
5. The Unforgettable Fire
6. Promenade
7. Bass Trap
8. Bad
9. Indian Summer Sky
10. Love Comes Tumbling
11. Elvis Presley and America
12. MLK
13. Pride

In this, MLK functions as an intro, and 4th of July is replaced by a much less slight instrumental to act as a bridge from Promenade to Bad. EPAA sticks around because it's a bold experiment for the band and I love the ending, but if you cut it the album works just as well really. The haziness and unfocused nature of the album is not compromised - if anything made stronger by sequestering Pride as the big anthemic closer - but the whole package feels more complete.
 
I'm going to give that a go, Ax. It's likely my favorite as well, which may be why I liked half of NLOTH so much.
 
I really love this record - it's my favorite of the catalog. It's a bit of an impressionist piece for sure. You have four great anchor tunes spaced well throughout the record : ASOH, TUF, Pride, Bad...interspersed between some really nice mood pieces....Promenade, Indian summer sky, wire, MLK, etc....and some under appreciated experimental stuff...EPIA, 4th.

I love the album art....I like how the album is put together....the song sequencing is good...I feel like it's very unique and unlike anything any other rock band was doing at that time.

Also, I think it is a pivotal album for the band...they could have just continued doing the post-punk Boy/October/War stuff but they would have run out of steam a lot more quickly without evolving. TUF is a really big evolution for them.
 
it seems too short, .
One thing to remember is CDs were still in their infancy so albums were basically still being recorded for vinyl at the time, so there were time limitations in order not to lose sound quality, that is a big factor in its 42 minute + run time. Had they recorded this a few years later they may well have included a couple of the B sides on the album.
 
I'm going to give that a go, Ax. It's likely my favorite as well, which may be why I liked half of NLOTH so much.

Hope you enjoy. Yeah, Fez in particular has a pretty decent UF vibe. I wish the band had pursued that angle more.

Also, I think it is a pivotal album for the band...they could have just continued doing the post-punk Boy/October/War stuff but they would have run out of steam a lot more quickly without evolving. TUF is a really big evolution for them.

Dead right. Everybody talks about the shift from JT to Achtung, but frankly the shift from War to UF is way bigger, and happened much quicker.

On the other hand there was not the same jump live. UF Tour bootlegs sound like a logical extension of the War Tour. Hell, that first leg in Australia and New Zealand is really the War Tour under a different name. You could hoax gullible fans by taking any show from that tour and claiming it's a War show with performances of UF songs when they were unreleased. On the other hand, ZooTV was a near-total break with U2's previous shows. You could never trick somebody into thinking they're listening to a Lovetown show.
 
I agree with both sides of this thread. UF has for a long time been my favourite U2 album. Lately I've started to question that and suspect that Boy has passed it in my rankings, but this would not have even entered my mind if the tracklist were more, so to speak, complete.

This is the custom one I use:

1. A Sort of Homecoming
2. The Three Sunrises
3. Boomerang II
4. Wire
5. The Unforgettable Fire
6. Promenade
7. Bass Trap
8. Bad
9. Indian Summer Sky
10. Love Comes Tumbling
11. Elvis Presley and America
12. MLK
13. Pride

In this, MLK functions as an intro, and 4th of July is replaced by a much less slight instrumental to act as a bridge from Promenade to Bad. EPAA sticks around because it's a bold experiment for the band and I love the ending, but if you cut it the album works just as well really. The haziness and unfocused nature of the album is not compromised - if anything made stronger by sequestering Pride as the big anthemic closer - but the whole package feels more complete.

Nice! I'm going to give this a try.
 
I'm not a huge fan of the album, despite admiring its transitional and experimental distinction. And I do agree that it's a bit slight in terms of actual songs.

But I do think you're wrong about Promenade. Beautiful track with a legitimate lyric and a really passionate vocal.

And EPAA is certainly an unorthodox approach, but it's over 6 minutes and certainly constitutes a demonstration of artistic expression, even if it's more improvisational.

I do think the b-sides would have helped it.

I did think I was being a bit strict with Promenade. That is the one song of the 4 I mentioned that I was torn on.

I like the 4th of July, but MLK will just never grow on me.
 
I got into U2 with War so this was a big album for me, the first I bought on release day and the first time I saw them live;
Played the album to death and still never tire of it.
I love the fact that it isn't a traditional '10 rock songs' album
 
I love EPAA. The "backing track" is still U2! And compared to the over-production in recent releases, it showcases a nice raw side to the band.

Promenade is awesome. It may be short but so is Desire and that's no interlude.

MLK is a far better closer than Grace or Yahweh or Is That All or The Wanderer in my opinion.

As for 4th of July.... well I have to agree that any of Three Sunrises, Love Comes Tumbling or Boomerang II would be better options. I even prefer 60 Seconds in Kingdom Come over 4th of July.
 
Promenade was mentioned... that song may be short, but it is just so gorgeous for every second of its short duration.

Truth is that I wouldn't change TUF a bit; it works so well even with several interlude-y songs. But it's great to also have a treasure trove of excellent non-album songs from the era to go with it.
 
I agree with both sides of this thread. UF has for a long time been my favourite U2 album. Lately I've started to question that and suspect that Boy has passed it in my rankings, but this would not have even entered my mind if the tracklist were more, so to speak, complete.

This is the custom one I use:

1. A Sort of Homecoming
2. The Three Sunrises
3. Boomerang II
4. Wire
5. The Unforgettable Fire
6. Promenade
7. Bass Trap
8. Bad
9. Indian Summer Sky
10. Love Comes Tumbling
11. Elvis Presley and America
12. MLK
13. Pride

In this, MLK functions as an intro, and 4th of July is replaced by a much less slight instrumental to act as a bridge from Promenade to Bad. EPAA sticks around because it's a bold experiment for the band and I love the ending, but if you cut it the album works just as well really. The haziness and unfocused nature of the album is not compromised - if anything made stronger by sequestering Pride as the big anthemic closer - but the whole package feels more complete.



Love it - I'd just slot Yoshino Blossom between EPAA and MLK
 
I can see where you're coming from, but why I wouldn't have it any other way. It's the slightness of some of the tracks that gives the album it's charm, for me.

While I don't really want to reimagine TUF, I'll give Ax's playlist a crack. MLK into Pride just seems so sensible as a finale. That said, I do love the (probably) coincidental fade out of MLK and fade in of Streets if both TUF and TJT are played back to back.
 
What about Disappearing Act (I know it has more recent vocals) or Sixty Seconds in Kingdom Come? No love?



I like Disappearing Act, but it just can't go on a complete TUF, the new vocals are just too jarring with the other stuff. 60 seconds is good, but too many interludes.
 
What about Disappearing Act (I know it has more recent vocals) or Sixty Seconds in Kingdom Come? No love?

Disappearing Act is a great song, but it wouldn't fit on TUF unless it was recorded and sang around that time. But in reality, I think it's a fairly new recording?

Kingdom Come is not very good IMO, and is pure b-side material. The title however, would be very fitting for the album due to the castle artwork. Castles, medieval, kingdoms, etc.

If I could choose to edit TUF, I'd remove MLK, add The Three Sunrises, Love Comes Tumbling, and Boomerang I (just named Boomerang), to make a 12 track album.

I like Bass Trap, but I feel that 2 ambient instrumentals on the same album would be a bit much, and I'd want to keep the controversial 4th of July. Boomerang would fit better as it's a different sort of instrumental.
 
Disappearing Act is a great song, but it wouldn't fit on TUF unless it was recorded and sang around that time. But in reality, I think it's a fairly new recording?

Kingdom Come is not very good IMO, and is pure b-side material. The title however, would be very fitting for the album due to the castle artwork. Castles, medieval, kingdoms, etc.

If I could choose to edit TUF, I'd remove MLK, add The Three Sunrises, Love Comes Tumbling, and Boomerang I (just named Boomerang), to make a 12 track album.

I like Bass Trap, but I feel that 2 ambient instrumentals on the same album would be a bit much, and I'd want to keep the controversial 4th of July. Boomerang would fit better as it's a different sort of instrumental.

Remove MLK?!

Blasphemy! Sacrilege!

:D
 
No instruments? It's so hard to take you seriously.

I'm genuinely confused by this post. Yes there are no instruments. Well, a synth in the background that is very subtle, and Bono's voice. I'm sure you knew what I meant.
 
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