Uber-pop!

[WalkOn21]

Well, fair enough. We're straying off-course here anyway, the thread being about a Pop reissue.

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

what amazes me is that the majority of people see a greatest hits album as a shameless paul mcguinne$$ money grab, yet a reissue of pop after 15 years for $125 bucks would be fantastic.

 

[Galeongirl]

That's because there's no hits on Pop.

 

[mad1]

Surely Pop is its own album, Greatest Hits is a era variety

Pop is like spending a day at a huge Fairground trying just about every ride there is.

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

but does anyone actually believe that these reissues aren't straight money grabs?

and let me say that i have no issue with the reissues, nor do i with the greatest hits albums... the hits albums aren't directed at me. they're directed at the casual fan or non-fan as a way to get them into the band. i've become a fan of many the older act through first listening to their greatest hits albums and then expanding into the rest of their collection.

but they're all money grabs... it just seems like these money grabs are okay because the hardcore fans think they're cool.

 

[Galeongirl]

Ofcourse they're money grabs. They're releasing old music in a new suit. But at least they make it even slightly worth the money by adding stuff we don't have yet.

Though I'm still pretty disappointed with the inclusion of the Sydney DVD and Zooropa. Had we gotten a new DVD of a 1992 show it'd be a pretty good deal.

 

[KhanadaRhodes]

i want super city mania. oh, and return of the fly. i don't even know what these songs became, if they even did become something we've heard on an album, but i just like the titles.

if they decide to "remix" the album, that's fine with me as long as they give us the original too. even if they did just give us a remixed/retouched/whatever album i'd still have the original, but still. it certainly wouldn't be the first time a band i like came out with a remaster that had shit changed around. i'd probably hate the remixed version (that's not me hating on current-day u2, but just because they're in a totally different headspace now) but oh well.

i'd just want lots of rarities. hell, i want lots of rarities and demos for all their albums. i'd love it if they decided to give fans one big vault raid after they call it a day and give us demos for all the albums.

 

[namkcuR]

i want super city mania. oh, and return of the fly. i don't even know what these songs became, if they even did become something we've heard on an album, but i just like the titles.

I think Super City Mania eventually became City Of Blinding Lights.

if they decide to "remix" the album, that's fine with me as long as they give us the original too. even if they did just give us a remixed/retouched/whatever album i'd still have the original, but still. it certainly wouldn't be the first time a band i like came out with a remaster that had shit changed around. i'd probably hate the remixed version (that's not me hating on current-day u2, but just because they're in a totally different headspace now) but oh well.

If they release a finished album, they should include the original, release a new version without the original would be a George Lucas thing to do.

i'd just want lots of rarities. hell, i want lots of rarities and demos for all their albums. i'd love it if they decided to give fans one big vault raid after they call it a day and give us demos for all the albums.

That would be sweet...I want The Wanderer w/Bono's vocals, the Zooropa versions of If God Will Send His Angels and Wake Up Dead Man, more Achtung outtakes, the original 2003 Bomb in its entirety, all of the stuff from the NLOTH sessions that didn't get released(including earlier versions of what's on the album)...a vault raid would be cool.

 

[lemonfly]

Sadly, I don't think they'll ever be a unber-Pop or even a mere reissue or anything like that. They seem thoroughly ashamed of that era, like it was a mis-calculation that could have finished them off as a commercial force.
But there's a pretty decent chance the next boxset will be AttyClub 20th anniversary in 2020. So we have that to look forward to. Oh joy. /sarc

 

[theedgeu2]

I love the reissues for the fact that we get a lot of stuff on the deluxe editions that had never previously been released and other cool shit that I don't have. I like that just as they started coming out with the remasters/reissues I was just becoming a hardcore U2 fan. If you have a lot of this shit then, yes, I can understand you thinking it's a money grab but for someone who doesn't have a great majority of the Bonus disc content, then this is a perfect opportunity! Also the remastering on the albums (up to Joshua Tree) and the "tweaking" and boosting on AB and Zooropa is quite nice. There's improvement on these reissues, sound wise, IMO.

 

[theedgeu2]

I would love a "finished" version of Pop as a bonus disc by the way. And if you don't like it, well then... fuck off. You've always got the original to go back to if you don't like the "finished" version. Yes, U2, please bring on a Pop reissue with a re-recorded version of Pop as a bonus disc.

 

[BigMacPhisto]

Pop deserves a single disc remaster at most. Just to make it good.

 

[Niceman]

Pop deserves a single disc remaster at most. Just to make it good.

Bare minimum I want a second disc. They didn't give us a lot of B-sides, and I want the songs sitting in the vault!

 

[corianderstem]

If the second disc is nothing but 10 remixes of Happiness Is a Warm Gun, I will shoot myself in the head.

Spoiler

It's okay; I've never held a gun and would probably miss.

 

[Niceman]

If the second disc is nothing but 10 remixes of Happiness Is a Warm Gun, I will shoot myself in the head.

Spoiler

It's okay; I've never held a gun and would probably miss.

Logically, does that mean you'd be happy?

Are you a girl who misses much, do de do do do?

 

[buddhabone]

They need to make the uber version cost USD$50,000. As a joke about consumerism, of course.

They already did.

http://www.amazon.com/Achtung-Baby-...3A/ref=sr_1_14?ie=UTF8&qid=1320366600&sr=8-14

 

[Diemen]

I'd love to see a "finished" Pop, but only if it was finished by the band in it's 1997 state of mind. Their new mixes for the Pop songs on the Best of 1990s-2000s were all worse than the originals to me. I think they've got so much mixed up emotions with that record I don't think I could trust them to "finish" the music without altering it's character (like turning Discotheque into a straightforward rock song) too much.

One of the reasons I like Pop so much is there is a certain rawness to it that I find unique in the U2 catalog. Now that may have been a product of the band struggling to finish it in time for the tour, but I think it forced them to make choices they may not have made had they had plenty of time to figure it all out - and I think the album is a little more daring because of it. Seeing as this was pre-Pop, maybe with more time the album would've simply been finished without losing its edge - but that's what worries me about the prospect of U2 going back to finish it now. I'd be worried they'd polish it to a glaring sheen and cover up every exposed nerve and every bit of rawness on the record. Hell, they already did a good enough job in '98 of turning Please into an over-produced and sedated version of itself for the single.

But if they could somehow clear their heads of all their (mostly self-induced) Pop-drama and approach the music as faithful to the original vision as they could, hey, I'd love to hear it.

 

[Niceman]

I'd love to see a "finished" Pop, but only if it was finished by the band in it's 1997 state of mind. Their new mixes for the Pop songs on the Best of 1990s-2000s were all worse than the originals to me. I think they've got so much mixed up emotions with that record I don't think I could trust them to "finish" the music without altering it's character (like turning Discotheque into a straightforward rock song) too much.

One of the reasons I like Pop so much is there is a certain rawness to it that I find unique in the U2 catalog. Now that may have been a product of the band struggling to finish it in time for the tour, but I think it forced them to make choices they may not have made had they had plenty of time to figure it all out - and I think the album is a little more daring because of it. Seeing as this was pre-Pop, maybe with more time the album would've simply been finished without losing its edge - but that's what worries me about the prospect of U2 going back to finish it now. I'd be worried they'd polish it to a glaring sheen and cover up every exposed nerve and every bit of rawness on the record. Hell, they already did a good enough job in '98 of turning Please into an over-produced and sedated version of itself for the single.

But if they could somehow clear their heads of all their (mostly self-induced) Pop-drama and approach the music as faithful to the original vision as they could, hey, I'd love to hear it.

I agree 100%. When I listed it as possible Uber-contents. I did so because I know the band has talked about it numerous times, and that WOULD be the place for it. But, I don't think the band of the 00s understands what it did at the end of the 20th century. the Hedges mixes were terrible!

 

[digitize]

Pop is fairly close to perfect in my book, not in spite of, but partially *because of* its perceived flaws. Generally, and undercooked album is not a good thing, but the production of Pop fit the tone and theme of Pop perfectly. I love that album. And while I'd love to hear new takes on Pop songs, and I'm sure they'd all be awesome in their own way, I don't even think that a re-done Pop could even be considered Pop, because a portion of the songwriting is in the production, though perhaps unintentionally.

 

[namkcuR]

If they were going to do it, how many changes would they really need to make?

Discotheque - Great as is.

Do You Feel Loved - Great as is.

Mofo - Make it more like the rockier live versions. Also, add the 'move me a mountain' outro from the live versions.

If God Will Send His Angels - I'd replace the outro vocals with those from the single version(but keep the long instrumental outro from the album version), but other than that, it's great as is.

Staring At The Sun - Bono flubs the delivery of the word 'sun' in the first chorus, so that could be fixed, but other than that, it's great as is.

Last Night On Earth - U2 have said that this was the last track to be completed, that they were laying down vocals for it just hours before the album was given to the label, and that Bono was having trouble with his voice, that's why Edge's vocal is more prominent in the chorus of the album version, so that could be fixed if they so desired, although I don't think it's that big of a deal. And maybe the instrumental outro could be made like the live version.

Gone - Maybe Edge's 'downs' from the live performances could be added to the chorus, but other than that, near perfect.

Miami - Make it more like the explosive live versions.

Playboy Mansion - Great as is.

If You Wear That Velvet Dress - Great as is, except maybe turn Bono's vocals up a little.

Please - Add the live solo in but while keeping the album version's grittiness and intimacy, unlike the single version. But the album version is also great as is, and the last part of it has a certain intimacy that is kind of lost when the solo is added in, as incredible as the solo is(especially live).

Wake Up Dead Man - Great as is.

And of course there are probably technical things they'd want to fix, i.e. cuts, instrumentations, arrangements.

All told though, they wouldn't have to do that much imo, and the only tracks that I'd think would need any kind of major makeover are Mofo and Miami.

Finally, if they were to do this, I would hope they would open up the master recordings and work from there, rather than making new recordings from the ground up.

 

[Globo14]

I wouldn't mind hearing them do a version of Discotheque exactly like the version they played on the Vertigo Tour. I know some people didn't like it because it was too much rock, but I think it kicked ass. I'm not a big fan of pop music, which is probably why I don't like Pop much. Though Discotheque is pretty good as is.

 

[WalkOn21]

I'm not a big fan of pop music, which is probably why I don't like Pop much.

Pop is not an album of pop music. It's a rock album with electronic music influences which parodies pop culture. Or tries to do that anyway.

 

[Globo14]

Pop is not an album of pop music. It's a rock album with electronic music influences which parodies pop culture. Or tries to do that anyway.

I know, it's not straightforward pop. I'd rather listen to Pop than many other artists' albums, but I still don't like it much. I don't like the parody of pop culture and the electro style. I like rock U2 better.

 

[WalkOn21]

I know, it's not straightforward pop. I'd rather listen to Pop than many other artists' albums, but I still don't like it much. I don't like the parody of pop culture and the electro style. I like rock U2 better.

Pop *is* a rock album, despite the electronic influences. I take it, therefore, that by 'rock' you mean classic rock without any experimental stuff going on.

How did you like Achtung Baby?

 

[Globo14]

Pop *is* a rock album, despite the electronic influences. I take it, therefore, that by 'rock' you mean classic rock without any experimental stuff going on.

How did you like Achtung Baby?

That it may be, but it just didn't strike me very much.

Achtung Baby is the best album of all time, and I agree that it is experimental. But there's something about Achtung Baby that just grasped me right away, while Pop didn't. Maybe I'll try to give it another chance soon enough, but at this point, I'm not digging it. Though Last Night On Earth is .

 

[TheEdge25]

I think on a POP re-issue Miami should be removed from the album altogether

 

[digitize]

I wouldn't mind hearing them do a version of Discotheque exactly like the version they played on the Vertigo Tour. I know some people didn't like it because it was too much rock, but I think it kicked ass. I'm not a big fan of pop music, which is probably why I don't like Pop much. Though Discotheque is pretty good as is.

I'd be up for that. The Vertigo version of Discothèque was pretty awesome, even though it was straightforward rock-y than the PopMart version. They still did a good job of capturing the sort of... manic nature of the song. And the light show was epic.

I think on a POP re-issue Miami should be removed from the album altogether

God no. I love that song. I'm so glad that U2 wrote Miami.

 

[TheEdge25]

God no. I love that song. I'm so glad that U2 wrote Miami.

I don't know. I maybe don't listen to it enough. But I've never been able to get into it.

 

[morgan1098]

As others have noted, a "finished" Pop would likely just sound like the mixes Mike Hedges did for the Best of 90-00. In other words, U2 would engage in some revisionist history and try to convince us that Pop was meant to sound like ATYCLB. No thanks.

I like the original album, flaws and all. It's messy and awesome. If a super deluxe version ever happens (and I'm 99% sure it won't), I'd rather have a Disc of "baby" Pop songs than "finished" Pop songs.

 

[digitize]

I don't know. I maybe don't listen to it enough. But I've never been able to get into it.

Do yourself a favor and watch some of the pro-shot live performances on YouTube, if you haven't.. Las Vegas and Edmonton are wonderful, and there's a third that's great, but I can't remember which.