marik
Refugee
There's been awhile to ponder this now, and I have to admit I don't really agree with the band's comments that they released the wrong first single. (Sorry I dont have reference links, but I know i've heard at least Bono and Adam both echo it somewhere)
I think given the same question 10 times, at least 6-7 times Boots would be the answer for 1st single. Maybe 2-3 times Magnificant would win. And the 1 wild card choice would be Eno's suggestion of MoS.
I think it is the obvious choice becuase it has all the charactistics of past U2 1st singles. You may argue it's not as good, but it does have a similar catchy/repeatable guitar hook to what's found in Vertigo, Discotheque, The Fly. Now you could argue the success of those as 1st single too, but I'm just trying to say that they obvious like that type of song as 1st single choice. (Whereas MoS would have been way out in left-field compared to their past choices)
I think these "wrong 1st single' comments stem more from its lack of success of breaking thru and catching on. Which in some sense, does make it a wrong choice, but it also implies that things could have been better with a different choice. And that's what I guess I'm trying to say I don't agree with.
Bumping Magnificant from 2nd single to 1st single may have made a slightly bigger impact, but if it was truely that powerful of a single I think it would have made a larger dent than it did as 2nd single. Purely as a selfish U2-fan, I could have enjoyed MoS as 1st single just as much as any one else on here. But I doubt it would have commericially/mainstream made a huge impact (which is how they seem to be dictating success of singles). As a comparison, I dont see it being as big as what SYCMIOYO was as 3rd single off Bomb.
No other tracks on NLOTH stand out to me as the answer to being a better choice as 1st single than Boots. Not the album version of Crazy, although the 360 remix version could have been a semi-decent 2 or 3rd single imo.
Sorry for rambling, but interested in any thoughts....
I think given the same question 10 times, at least 6-7 times Boots would be the answer for 1st single. Maybe 2-3 times Magnificant would win. And the 1 wild card choice would be Eno's suggestion of MoS.
I think it is the obvious choice becuase it has all the charactistics of past U2 1st singles. You may argue it's not as good, but it does have a similar catchy/repeatable guitar hook to what's found in Vertigo, Discotheque, The Fly. Now you could argue the success of those as 1st single too, but I'm just trying to say that they obvious like that type of song as 1st single choice. (Whereas MoS would have been way out in left-field compared to their past choices)
I think these "wrong 1st single' comments stem more from its lack of success of breaking thru and catching on. Which in some sense, does make it a wrong choice, but it also implies that things could have been better with a different choice. And that's what I guess I'm trying to say I don't agree with.
Bumping Magnificant from 2nd single to 1st single may have made a slightly bigger impact, but if it was truely that powerful of a single I think it would have made a larger dent than it did as 2nd single. Purely as a selfish U2-fan, I could have enjoyed MoS as 1st single just as much as any one else on here. But I doubt it would have commericially/mainstream made a huge impact (which is how they seem to be dictating success of singles). As a comparison, I dont see it being as big as what SYCMIOYO was as 3rd single off Bomb.
No other tracks on NLOTH stand out to me as the answer to being a better choice as 1st single than Boots. Not the album version of Crazy, although the 360 remix version could have been a semi-decent 2 or 3rd single imo.
Sorry for rambling, but interested in any thoughts....