djerdap
Rock n' Roll Doggie ALL ACCESS
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Fuck Mercy. Bloated, uninspiring, cheesy.
Rumor: 55 unfinished songs?
- Thread starter Super Yo
- Start date
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lazarus said:There may be some lame lines in the song, but they're excused by the brilliance of "you wanted violins/and you got Nero", which is better than pretty much anything that made the actual album, or the album before it.
And Acrobat, I agree. Nothing on The Bomb matches Mercy IMO. Only COBL comes close, and it could have been executed/produced better.
For any of the jackasses who are thinking of coming in here and disputing the notion that the old version of Mercy was completed, let's refresh everyone's memory with that old Blender article:
We have convened today to discuss the state of the U2 nation, their intriguing take on the world, and their eleventh studio album, How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb. But before we can contemplate the latter and its bewildering title, U2 has some business to attend to and politely invites Blender to sit in on an impromptu band meeting.
"We're not fully agreed on what to do here," Bono explains, "so maybe you should vote, too."
The problem, if it can be called that, lies in the album's running order. After numerous attempts, U2 have yet to find a satisfactory flow, leading them to believe that there may be too many songs. So, right now, they must decide which tunes should be sacrificed.
As it stands, the album is three seconds shy of an hour and, as Bono says, "too much of a good thing is a bad thing," so drastic measures need to be taken.
"I have a theory," Mullen begins, and a reverential silence descends as the drummer -- traditionally the first band member to be shouted down in these situations -- states his case. After just five minutes, it has been unanimously decided that the track "Mercy," a six-and-a-half-minute outpouring of U2 at its most uninhibitedly U2-ish, must go.
Hence a song that any self-respecting band would be proud to call a single becomes what Bono immediately anoints "the best B-side you've ever heard."
Later, another more experimental candidate entitled "Fast Cars" ("an Irish/Mexican vibe") gets evicted, and the album becomes a lean and lithe 11 tracks.
Sounds like Fast Cars and Mercy were both finished at this point if they were simply deciding on the track order. Let's also take this opportunity to shout another giant FUCK YOU to Larry for ruining everything.
The problem, of course, is that the version of Mercy we have came from a CD that a member of interference got before the release. We never really got to the bottom of where the CD actually came from, and how early a copy it was.
So while the song it's self was finished, we really don't know for sure if the copy we have is that finished version. It certainly doesn't appear to have been properly mastered, which would make it "unfinished."
And kudos to Larry for dumping this meandering, bloated, boring pile of monkey crap.
Sincerely,
Idiotic jackasses
silkensky
War Child
There are parts of the original Mercy that give me goosebumps in much the same way songs like Streets, Bad and Zooropa do, so it's certainly not all bad. There was something there and I do lament that they never released it as a b-side at least (original studio form). The 360 version was exciting at first, but now just seems lame in comparison.
An Cat Gav
Rock n' Roll Doggie Band-aid
Mercy is a little like Winter in that it's slightly over long and in need of some tweaking, but not too much, and like Winter it would have been one of the better song on it's album had it been finished and released.
theedgeu2
Rock n' Roll Doggie Band-aid
The original Mercy is better than about 90% of Atomic Bomb and NLOTH. And Atomic Bomb is one of my top 5 U2 albums! U2 really fucked up when they left Mercy off and I feel like Winter was a fantastic tune. A real shame that was left off NLOTH, considering I'm not a big fan of NLOTH. Mercy haters can suck it! 
I guess I'll turn in my fan card now...
I guess I'll turn in my fan card now...
LemonMelon
More 5G Than Man
Mercy is easily better than everything on HTDAAB, save COBL. I don't think it would have been a great fit though, maybe Smile--->Mercy--->Yahweh could have worked to close the thing out.
We've discussed it a thousand times, but there's a reason why people care so much about Mercy, and it's not its unreleased status. Nobody cares this much about Levitate. No, there's something inherently inspired and ragged about it that sets the song apart from everything else from the period.
We've discussed it a thousand times, but there's a reason why people care so much about Mercy, and it's not its unreleased status. Nobody cares this much about Levitate. No, there's something inherently inspired and ragged about it that sets the song apart from everything else from the period.
doctorwho
Rock n' Roll Doggie VIP PASS
We're still debating "Mercy"? Hmm...
Well, if we must, I always felt HTDAAB could have been a true U2 masterpiece had they left in "Mercy" and "Fast Cars" and dumped "One Step Closer" (excellent b-side to "Sometimes..." as they deal with similar themes) and "A Man and a Woman". The latter song was not even played in concert, if I recall. I believe the one and only performance was for a special Bill Clinton event. Again, that song could have been a b-side.
As for blaming Larry, he just suggested it. The rest of U2 agreed. So blame them all.
Since "Mercy" didn't make it on HTDAAB, I do believe it earned a spot on NLOTH. It seems to flow a bit better with that album. Perhaps U2 felt with MOS, "Mercy" would have been too much, but why sacrifice a strong "Mercy" and keep on nonsense like "Crazy" (at least the concert remix of "Crazy" was good) or a few other tracks?
Regardless, now that "Mercy" was released on WAIE, I'm not sure we'll ever see a "real" version of the song on any album. So those of you who hate, there you go. For those of us who love, we at least have the "bootleg" version (which I feel is better than the one on WAIE, anyway).
lazarus
Blue Crack Supplier
I'd say the running time matches what is mentioned in the article. So while a "mastered" version would sound better, it probably wouldn't have sounded different.
And I'm trying to figure out what you're basing it being unmastered on? Is it possible that because it's a bootleg, it just wasn't copied in very high quality?
It's a bingo!
lazarus
Blue Crack Supplier
Also, if the band themselves didn't hold it in such high regard, it would have been a b-side or appeared on that live and rare release.
They knew they had something great; unfortunately they decided to fuck with it five years later and cut some of the best parts out.
They knew they had something great; unfortunately they decided to fuck with it five years later and cut some of the best parts out.
purpleoscar
Rock n' Roll Doggie ALL ACCESS
Both versions have flaws. I still like the newer one a little better since the original turns into cringe inducing heart urination. Larry does make some good decisions. If they are not going to work on it then some release of the original should be made since there are still so many fans.
400,000 views is pretty good following for a b-side:
U2 - Mercy - YouTube
400,000 views is pretty good following for a b-side:
U2 - Mercy - YouTube
cobl04
45:33
"Larry makes some good decisions."
We got Vertigo, Miracle Drug, Sometimes, Love and Peace, City of Blinding Lights, All Because of You, A Man and a Woman, Crumbs, One Step Closer and Yahweh instead of Mercy.
We got Vertigo, Miracle Drug, Sometimes, Love and Peace, City of Blinding Lights, All Because of You, A Man and a Woman, Crumbs, One Step Closer and Yahweh instead of Mercy.
purpleoscar
Rock n' Roll Doggie ALL ACCESS
Those songs are epic!
lazarus
Blue Crack Supplier
Y U NO LlKE FAST CARS??
LadySpinHead
Refugee
I love me some Fast Cars.
zoocarolina
Refugee
Mercy is going to go down as one of the all time U2 what ifs, I think the 2004 version is extremely good and with some slight tinkering would have been one of their best songs ever. It meanders a bit, but it is so powerful. The 2010 version is good, but lacks some emotional umph. They must see something in it to play a reworked 2010 version, will be fascinating to see if it's next incarnation makes the next album or eventually it is on the ultimate box set, 2004 hopefully finished version. I'm just thankful it's seen the light of day, how much U2 material is sitting in the vaults, good or bad, must be amazing.
lazarus said:
This wasn't a track from the 90s...
It wasn't exactly difficult to rip a song from a CD in 2004. So I'm giving the benefit of the doubt that the original poster of the song wasn't a complete moron.
And the running time of many of the Chris Thomas versions of the song that we later got are similar to that of the finished products... so again, it's all assumptions. Even the thought that its unmastered because it was very easy to rip a song from a CD is just an assumption.
Gonna Run 2 U
New Yorker
No love for sometimes you cant make it on your own? Great lyrics!
chrissybaby
Refugee
Would still love to get to the bottom of that story.
I was on here when we first got it 8 years ago and it's as much of an enigma now as it ever was.
Bono gave it to a an Interference member and it was track 12 on the CD? It's possible we were given a low quality rip so the tradability of the original was kept in tact? No beef intended.
dan_smee
ONE love, blood, life
I remember the same as digitize - I thought it was a cassette, and it would explain the hiss in the background
popacrobat
Rock n' Roll Doggie FOB
no, it was a CD I'm pretty certain.
lazarus
Blue Crack Supplier
Who knows? Unless the member can tell us that the other tracks on the CD sounded perfect and Mercy didn't, we can only assume it was a copy just made casually? Or maybe when the person uploaded it they didn't rip it at very high quality?
So, we're going to suppose now that the Interference member got an earlier version of Mercy from the Chris Thomas sessions? Unfortunately, the chart inside the Special Edition book shows that Mercy was the final song recorded of the bunch (in 2004), and there may not have even been a Chris Thomas-produced version. Either way, an earlier version of Mercy would be an even more obscure thing for some random fan to get a hold of, and you think this is a more likely scenario?
Ok, dude. You think what you want.
Probably not intentionally low quality but a lower quality rip nonetheless, and as I said above, we don't know how the member herself ripped this before uploading.
Danny Boy
Rock n' Roll Doggie FOB
Pretty sure the version of Mercy floating around was sourced from a cassette tape and then ripped to 128 kbps WMA.
This may have been the "final" version and it's a good track, but it still sounds like it needs some work to me.
This may have been the "final" version and it's a good track, but it still sounds like it needs some work to me.
dan_smee
ONE love, blood, life
It was a cd - here's the proof:
http://www.u2interference.com/forum...e-w-achtung-bab-mercy-102136.html#post1855315
http://www.u2interference.com/forum...e-w-achtung-bab-mercy-102136.html#post1855315
Danny Boy
Rock n' Roll Doggie FOB
Yes, but I remember reading that she got the CD from a friend that worked at a radio station and it was sourced from a cassette. Sounds like it, too.
BVS
Blue Crack Supplier
Why would anything be sourced from a cassette in mid 2000s?
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