U2 Albums Not Living Up To Their Potential

[Zoots]

All That You Can't Leave Behind
Zoots version

1. Beautiful Day
2. Levitate
3. The Ground Beneath Her Feet
4. Walk On (single version)
5. Kite
6. Stuck In A Moment (acoustic version)

7. In A Little While
8. Stateless
9. Peace On Earth
10. When I Look At The World
11. New York
12. Grace


= 3rd masterpiece.

 

[namkcuR]

I've been working on a bunch of these. I will post them all, but not all at once. Here's the first one:

"War"

1.Sunday Bloody Sunday
2.Seconds
3.Treasure(Whatever Happened To Pete The Chop)
4.Like A Song
5.Two Hearts Beat As One
6.The Refugee
7.Red Light
8.Drowning Man
9.Surrender
10.New Year's Day
11.Endless Deep
12."40"

It's just the original ten tracks plus Treasure and Endless Deep. The track order is altered a lot though. I moved NYD and Drowning Man are now on side B with Surrender while Treasure takes its place on side A, and THBAO is also moved up to side A and Endless Deep takes its place on side B. I think this does a lot to even the album out, because once the first six tracks end, you know you still have Drowning Man, Surrender, New Year's Day, and "40" coming. NYD/Endless Deep/"40" go flow together well and make a great ending trio. Treasure fits perfectly between Seconds and Like A Song, while THBAO fits nicely between Like A Song and The Refugee. I almost didn't include Red Light, but The Refugee->Drowning Man wasn't a great segue, and Red Light segues them together wonderfully. I like this a lot.

P.S. I've never heard Angels Too Tied To The Ground, and I've always felt that A Celebration fit better on October, so it'll be on my October list later on.

 

[U2girl]

Swap POE and WILATW for Levitate and Ground beneath her feet and it would improve All that... vastly.

 

[U2girl]

Also ATYCLB needs a better closer than Grace (Falling at your feet I'm looking at you).

 

[Zoots]

Swap POE and WILATW for Levitate and Ground beneath her feet and it would improve All that... vastly.

I kept all 4 and kicked out the silly Elevation and the b-side worthy Wild Honey.

 

[Zoots]

I like your War, nam! Will try it out.

 

[U2girl]

Wild honey works as a companion song to IALW. Elevation, while silly, keeps the pop/joy idea of the album going.

For me POE and WIALTW depress All that... too much, and technically Falling at your feet is a Bono/Lanois song rather than U2, how about closing that album with Statleless ?

 

[Rich79]

War:
Knowing the cheesy Red Light and disaster that is the album version of 40 got on the album over the other tracks from the era has really hurt my opinion of the record. They had no place on the album. They should have opened the album with Treasure, had Angels Too Tied To The Ground after The Drowning Man, put A Celebration between Refugee and Two Hearts and finally end the album with Be There. It becomes a far better album with a lot more depth.

Anyone ever done a "Red Light" appreciation thread? Another vastly underrated song, in my opinion. Now, I understand the trumpet stuff being off-putting, however, this song is one of Bono's best vocal performances (along with most of the War album). It rocks, they just could have cut out the trumpet for a guitar solo and the "da da da" part is kinda goofy, too, but I feel both are easy to get over for its other strengths. I also see nothing wrong with the album version of "40", but that's another topic.

 

[Zoots]

I love the trumpet on Red Light! We have guitar on everything else anyway!

Trumpet solo FTW!

 

[Rich79]

True, true. I could see the song being quite monstrous live.

 

[Zoots]

I especially love the bass-y somewhat atmospheric outro.

 

[namkcuR]

Here's my next one:

"The Unforgettable Fire"

1.The Three Sunrises
2.A Sort Of Homecoming
3.Indian Summer Sky
4.Wire
5.Boomerang 2
6.Pride(In The Name Of Love)
7.Boomerang 1
8.Untitled Instrumental(demo - thanks Screwtape)
9.Love Comes Tumbling(false start version from the best of 1980-1990 b-sides)
10.Sixty Seconds In Kingdom Come
11.Promenade
12.Bass Trap(long version)
13.The Unforgettable Fire
14.Elvis Presley And America
15.4th Of July
16.Bad
17.MLK

Starts off with the up-tempo stuff - The Three Sunrises, ASOH, ISS, Wire, then goes into a long stretch of atmospheric/instrumental stuff(the boomerangs, the untitled instrumental demo, Sixty Seconds In Kingdom Come, Promenade, Bass Trap) with Pride and Love Comes Tumbling in the middle of it, and then ends with the darker stuff - the title track, EPAA, Bad, MLK. I found that the instrumentals are great segues that allow the eclectic tracks from this time period to be connected together in a way that creates a very natural flow. Pride is more pop-ish than anything else on the entire record, and I think the boomerangs do a good job of leading into and out of it, the untitled instrumental does a good job of connecting boomerang 1 to Love Comes Tumbling, and the Sixty Seconds In Kingdom Come/Promenade/Bass Trap trio do a great job of connecting Love Comes Tumbling to the title track. Finally, I used the 'false start' version of Love Comes Tumbling because every time I listen to the other version, it just feels like something is missing to me.

 

[ozeeko]

Here's my next one:

"The Unforgettable Fire"

1.The Three Sunrises
2.A Sort Of Homecoming
3.Indian Summer Sky
4.Wire
5.Boomerang 2
6.Pride(In The Name Of Love)
7.Boomerang 1
8.Untitled Instrumental(demo - thanks Screwtape)
9.Love Comes Tumbling(false start version from the best of 1980-1990 b-sides)
10.Sixty Seconds In Kingdom Come
11.Promenade
12.Bass Trap(long version)
13.The Unforgettable Fire
14.Elvis Presley And America
15.4th Of July
16.Bad
17.MLK

Starts off with the up-tempo stuff - The Three Sunrises, ASOH, ISS, Wire, then goes into a long stretch of atmospheric/instrumental stuff(the boomerangs, the untitled instrumental demo, Sixty Seconds In Kingdom Come, Promenade, Bass Trap) with Pride and Love Comes Tumbling in the middle of it, and then ends with the darker stuff - the title track, EPAA, Bad, MLK. I found that the instrumentals are great segues that allow the eclectic tracks from this time period to be connected together in a way that creates a very natural flow. Pride is more pop-ish than anything else on the entire record, and I think the boomerangs do a good job of leading into and out of it, the untitled instrumental does a good job of connecting boomerang 1 to Love Comes Tumbling, and the Sixty Seconds In Kingdom Come/Promenade/Bass Trap trio do a great job of connecting Love Comes Tumbling to the title track. Finally, I used the 'false start' version of Love Comes Tumbling because every time I listen to the other version, it just feels like something is missing to me.

I just can't accept A Sort Of Homecoming not being the lead off track. I think it serves as the perfect introduction to the atmospheric era of U2. If anything, i would say switch the first two songs, and have Three Sunrises follow ASOH.

1) A Sort Of Homecoming
2) Three Sunrises
3) Love Comes Tumbling
4) Wire
5) 4th of July
6) Bad
7) Pride
8) Boomerang 2 (i always prefered this to the 1)
9) The Unforgettable Fire
10) Promenade
11) Indian Summer Sky
12) Elvis Presley And America
13) Bass Trap
14) MLK

 

[quietguy]

How do we measure or quantify potential?

...qg

 

[Tyagu_Anaykus]

All That You Can't Leave Behind
Zoots version

1. Beautiful Day
2. Levitate
3. The Ground Beneath Her Feet
4. Walk On (single version)
5. Kite
6. Stuck In A Moment (acoustic version)

7. In A Little While
8. Stateless
9. Peace On Earth
10. When I Look At The World
11. New York
12. Grace


= 3rd masterpiece.

I'm kind of bored today so I decided to ressurect the oldest living thread in this part of the forum.

I like Stateless in there. TGBHF as well, but there's still peace on earth, grace and you put Levitate. What's so good about this song?
Anyway, I can't call this album a masterpiece. It is more like a masterdump.

It is funny... in 2000 I would have had orgasms with this album. And... fuck 2000 seems so far far away... I was 16 then! Where does the time goes?

 

[mad1]

I agree on perhaps Stateless on after Kite, and then Wild Honey after that replacing Peace on Earth.

 

[Tyagu_Anaykus]

well I would put anything! But peace on earth needs to go

 

[mad1]

if anything Peace on Earth could have been a b-side to Walk On.

 

[HCL]

Every album could be better when we start to look to another songs released on said album's era. And that's for virtually any album by any band. Hell, even Achtung could be better with Lady With the Spinning Head on it.
So, it's kinda poitless to think of what it could be.

 

[Streets613]

Peace on Earth= The Shit.

Wild Honey= Shit.

If they saved Electrical Storm for HTDAAB, and replaced AMAAW with it, and then put Fast Cars not just in Japan, it'd be insane.

 

[Harry Vest]

No way are those salome outtakes better than what ended up on Achtung Baby!

Anyone who removes "Love is Blindness" doesn't know what they are talking about. Not to be taken seriously at all.

 

[BVS]

Woah, weird bump...

 

[shart1780]

I thought that too until they released NLOTH (not saying it's perfect) which was a huge improvement over the atrocious Atomic Bomb.

But hopefully the two new songs they played aren't any indication of the next album cause they kinda suck.

 

[The_acrobat]

I usually just lump everything U2 does in one era into a single project. In my opinion, Yoshino Blossom is as much UF as Pride or Bad are. Love you like mad is ATYCLB as much as Elevation is, etc.

I am having trouble with what to do with Wave of sorrow, ATTTTG and Disapearing Act. It's NLOTH era Bono voice, but the music of the time. I think I'll stick them on my NLOTH era playlist, since the only other song we got from that era was Winter.

I like all of U2's songs, and I don't think any of them should go. I like long albums. Stadium Arcadium by RHCP is my idea of heaven. So much new music to discover at once.

 

[nielsgov]

Every album could be better when we start to look to another songs released on said album's era. And that's for virtually any album by any band. Hell, even Achtung could be better with Lady With the Spinning Head on it.
So, it's kinda poitless to think of what it could be.

This. An album only lives up to its potential if it is perfect and I don´t think there is one album that is truly perfect.

 

[Zooronaut]

The darkness of the recording sessions should have been better reflected in the album. I removed TTTYAATW and Love Is Blindness

you did WHAT?!?!?!

I have nothing against making homebrew tracklistings, , but how can you 'remove' Love Is Blindness?!
Especially if you're trying to preserve the darkness of the album?

I think Zooropa is one solid song away from greatness, and that song might have been the lovely "Slow Dancing", easily one of U2's best songs of the 90s (actually written in 1989 though). So, that would help that record, but again it's just one measly song.

Slow Dancing is a gorgeous, beautiful song, but I really can't see it fitting anywhere on Zooropa. That's not what the album's about, and that's not what it sounds like. I'm going to go with Zooropa being great already, but you can take it or leave it.

 

[65980]

Slow Dancing is a gorgeous, beautiful song, but I really can't see it fitting anywhere on Zooropa. That's not what the album's about, and that's not what it sounds like. I'm going to go with Zooropa being great already, but you can take it or leave it.

Well, if "Stay" (an acoustic slow burner) and "The Wanderer" (an outlaw country song) can fit, "Slow Dancing" can fit. U2's songs are generally so good that they can make anything sound good in context. I'm definitely in the diversity-is-best camp.

 

[BVS]

Stay is not acoustic, and there is nothing outlaw or country about Wanderer, just because JC sang it doesn't mean it fits into that category.

 

[coolian2]

Stay is not acoustic, and there is nothing outlaw or country about Wanderer, just because JC sang it doesn't mean it fits into that category.

for real. those are on par with trip through your wires being called a rock song.

 

[65980]

Stay is not acoustic, and there is nothing outlaw or country about Wanderer, just because JC sang it doesn't mean it fits into that category.

You're right about the original recording of "Stay" (albeit more recent live performances were done with one acoustic guitar, identically to "Slow Dancing"). To put it in correct terminology, it's mid-tempo and quiet, just like "Slow Dancing". Anyway, my point stands.

And Jesus Christ did not sing "The Wanderer"!


As a piece of songwriting, "The Wanderer" is about as outlaw as it gets. Obviously, it's a fluid "category" as you call it, open to endless interpretations... so your post is sort of pointless (quite a shocker there).