I'm not as turned off by their acoustic performances as some of you are.
In fact, I think some of them are really great.
I want to mention the "Kindergarden" recordings of One and Tryin' To Throw Your Arms Around The World. I thought they both worked really well. I love that version of One(although admittedly, by the end it's not all acoustic anymore, but still, the first half of the song shows that it can be done well), and I might actually prefer that version of Tryin' to the Achtung version.
I also think Edge's acoustic solo of Love Is Blindness in From The Sky Down is haunting.
Bono's acoustic solo of So Cruel from the same film.
And I know it's not the album version, but I really dig the acoustic Hershey soundcheck performance of Acrobat.
I also really like the Bono and Edge's acoustic Please performances from the Elevation tour.
I also really enjoy the acoustic Mandella version of Breathe. I always liked Breathe, but some have said over the years how it's one of the No Line tracks that sounds most like it could be a Bomb track, and I think this acoustic version, without the bombast and with some altered lyrics, alleviates that.
I also love "White As Snow", although, I'm not certain it's pertinent to the discussion since there's no alternative.
I take issue with this notion that all U2 songs sound like crap when done acoustically.
I will grant you that a lot of them don't work so well acoustically in an arena or (especially) stadium setting. I get that. But I just gave a list of some really great-sounding (imo) acoustic U2 tracks. I think that if U2 were ever to play the smaller types of venues that they don't play anymore and probably will never play again, they could work really well. Please note that I'm not suggesting that the acoustic Please from Elevation is better than full-band Please from Popmart or that Edge's solo Love Is Blindness is better than the full-band ZooTV version(although it's really fucking haunting in its own right). I'm just saying acoustic versions can be very, very good, and I think they often could benefit from being played in smaller venues.
I've always thought that if U2 agreed to do an MTV Unplugged type thing(just play along and pretend we're living in a world where MTV still gives a damn about music) and really put their minds to it, it could be really special and interesting. It would be one show to a relatively small crowd, so they could experiment with those tracks that feel don't fit in their full live show, as well as a certain number of hits that be played acoustically. Since it's acoustic, it would tend more toward balladry, but still. They could do lesser-known stuff like
Tomorrow
Seconds
Drowning Man
Promenade
Love Comes Tumbling
Luminous Times
Van Dieman's Land
So Cruel
Tryin' To Throw Your Arms Around The World
Acrobat
Love Is Blindness
The First Time
If God Will Send His Angels
Please
The Ground Beneath Her Feet
A Man And A Woman
White As Snow
as well as hits and better-known stuff:
Two Hearts Beat As One
A Sort Of Homecoming(I bet they could do it!)
I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For
With Or Without You
Running To Stand Still
Trip Through Your Wires
Desire
Angel Of Harlem
All I Want Is You
One
Horses
Stay(Faraway, So Close)
Staring At The Sun
Stuck In A Moment
Kite(maybe?)
Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own
Crumbs From Your Table
Fast Cars
Moment Of Surrender
Breathe
Anyway, I just wanted to say that. I'm sure most if not all of you will disagree.
Though I still prefer ZooTv Desire to Lovetown.
I really enjoy acoustic versions of
