Acoustic Wild Horses--No Thanks.

[lazarus]

1. Listen to the recent electric version of WGRYWH from Amsterdam. Note Edge taking the original guitar solo into sublime, uncharted territories.

2. Listen to a more recent acoustic version of the song, where you get a party/karaoke type feeling from the band and the crowd, and none of the beautiful sadness of the original.

3. Weep for an unearthed gem that has now been ground up into a fine power and sprinkled over the heads of the fans.

I was praying for this song to be played tonight in Los Angeles, but in retrospect, I would have rather heard Stuck acoustic, which doesn't insult the integrity of its full-bodied cousin. There's nothing worse than hearing one of your favorites neutered.

Luckily the show ended with Bad, which, as always, is so transcendent it wipes every smudge away.

But I had to say it.

 

[martha]

Were you pissed when Bono forgot the words?

 

[OpperGoeroe]

Have to agree, I was at Amsterdam III and the Wild Horses version was awesome, Edge's guitar solo was out of these world, I listen to it regularly

 

[bonoz]

Wild Horses is one of my fav. from achtung baby..

and i know it didn't have the melencholy feeling to it, which i love about the song,

but the fact that they sang one of those songs that they havn't played live in over 13 years, was good enough for me..

i konw there might have been few occassions where they played it.

But i know what you mean, the accoustic version really turns that song from what it was, into something completely the opposite.

 

[Jim]

Wild Horses is my least favourite song from Achtung Baby, but when they pulled that song out of the bag at the second Twickenham show this summer I was totally blown away... it was the highlight of the concert and Bono was REALLY into it. I haven't heard the acoustic version but the electric version is, ahem, electric!

 

[babyman]

Wild Horses

 

[randhail]

Any version of Wild Horses is a good version.

 

[blueyedpoet]

Any version of Wild Horses is a good version.

amen, even with the mess up Wild Horses was amazing last night

 

[gvox]

would someone mind posting an mp3 of the amsterdam Wild Horses? or whichever electric one they think is the best one?

MUCH appreciated

 

[theu2fly]

Wild Horses in Minneapolis 9/23 was amazing, it was like a old forgotten song that people remembered. It was a great energy and feeling to hear that song, it had everyone singing along.

 

[Mauwer]

Wild Horses was at Amsterdam.
Was there too , love the solo.

Cheers ,

Mauwer

 

[Clawgrabber]

agreed...

when i saw them play it at CROKE 1 it was sensational.

as a result of this tour, HORSES and ELECTRIC CO have become 2 of my very favorite U2 tracks (and i have been a fan since 1991, so that is really saying something)

but when i saw them play it acoustic in Minneapolis, well... i was having a great time because that was an awesome concert and the crowd was amazing...

but the song didn't work anymore.

The Edge's electric guitar and Larry's hard hitting Bum BA BUM Drums are required for this song to work...

i remember reading that they never felt they got the song right, and that is why they haven't kept it as a live staple...

well, the version i heard at croke could be played at every U2 show until they all pass on and I would be a happy camper.

 

[jrjunior31]

Interesting thread... I felt the same way about Original when I heard their first live rendition (in Northern Cal I believe) it sounded good actually but "nuetered" as another poster describes it. Edge's guitar work on this track (and Crumbs) could be his best since Achtung Baby, why would they even consider unplugging him? I later heard an electric version of OOTS on Conan which was just phenomenal... Why the reluctance to usher in these two powerhouse tracks? They have been played on only the rare occassion this tour? Is it that they just dont feel comfortable with them (not rehearsed enough)?

 

[Clawgrabber]

they seemed to nail Horses in Dublin...

they seemed less confident with the acoustic version, in my opinion

 

[zoostyle]

Not a huge fan of this song, the version on AB was not very stellar BUT, the song improved 10 fold with the video remix (AKA the one played on the video version) I think U2 knows it was better too.

 

[cypress]

I love the song and think it is one of the many reasons AB is such a great album. However, I generally do not like acoustic versions of U2 songs. And I really don't like the trend I think we are seeing from U2 to acoustics either.

To take a kickass song like WGRYWH and strip it down to something slow and basic just does a disservice to the song. Unless the song is slow and plodding to begin with (like "Stuck") I just think you are getting less of a product when U2 does the acoustic version of a song like WGRYWH. I'd much rather hear the full version like they did in Europe.

Just my opinion but from reading comments here I don't think I'm alone.

 

[drt4]

I love the song and think it is one of the many reasons AB is such a great album. However, I generally do not like acoustic versions of U2 songs. And I really don't like the trend I think we are seeing from U2 to acoustics either.

To take a kickass song like WGRYWH and strip it down to something slow and basic just does a disservice to the song. Unless the song is slow and plodding to begin with (like "Stuck") I just think you are getting less of a product when U2 does the acoustic version of a song like WGRYWH. I'd much rather hear the full version like they did in Europe.

Just my opinion but from reading comments here I don't think I'm alone.

Totally agree. It's like Desire acoustic. That is probably their worst acoustic makeover. I'm not so crazy about the Walk On acoustic either.

On a slow song like Stuck or Stay, the acoustic can work allright. Though it helps if it is still the full band, not just the Edge playing.

SATS acoustic was pretty good though.

 

[indy81]

To take a kickass song like WGRYWH and strip it down to something slow and basic just does a disservice to the song.

The tempo of the acoustic version isn't any slower than the electric version. I don't mind the acoustic version, but then again I prefer the Temple Bar remix to the album mix, which is too murky for me, sticking out like a sore thumb on the album.

 

[ShellBeThere]

This is interesting...

I was very happy to hear Wild Horses acoustic for Detroit 2, and I can't wait til someone posts a link to a boot for those shows to hear it again!
But I don't know if I would just have been thrilled to hear any version of it or if I actually liked it done acoustically. It did have a feel of becoming something else to me, not necessarily in a bad way, but definitely transformed from its electric version self. More intimate like that, more conversational scaled down. But there was something odd, I think I felt even in the show, in that form, like the energy of it wasn't wanting to be contained in that format and it didn't have a good escape route..it resisted that gentler petting treatment....
still, very glad to have heard it in any form!
cheerio...

 

[anitram]

I'm not a huge fan of this current incarnation either. I do love the song, though.

 

[bonoz]

everyone goes off about how great electric co was or how great that was or that was...

but see for me..
It just gets toooo hard for me to decide which was the best song of the show...
I LOOOOVE electric co live and the guitar solo just makes you go insane...like i was in GA and i accidentally hit my elbow to this gorgeous girl in front of me.. she was very nice though.

BUt you see my point is.. eEVVVERy U2 song was so satisfactory that night that i struggled figuring out which was the best...

i think wild horses.. but what about ONE??? i think streets but what about WOWY .. i trhink electric co. but what AboUT 40 or BAD..AHOIRGOHIRG IM GOING CRAZY..
it gets very hard for me to pick a favourite..
same with albums.. people ask me whats my favourite album.. i just tell them oh man.. tough question..

they ask me whats your favourite U2 song..
OH MAN another tough question.. i just can't decide.. eaach and every song is just an epic of its own.

 

[lazarus]

I was at the Vegas 1 show, and it was clear that the powers above don't like the acoustic version either. There were TWO guitar malfunctions, and eventually Dallas just brought out an electric for Edge to play. Unfortunately, it was too late for Edge to take that great solo he has earlier in the tour, but it was just funny to watch the acoustic version get bitchslapped.

 

[gvox]

1. Listen to the recent electric version of WGRYWH from Amsterdam. Note Edge taking the original guitar solo into sublime, uncharted territories.

Laz....would you mind uploading this to or something for me? I have the entire show on .shn but for some reason it wont convert..

thanks if you can!

 

[U2Man]

I totally agree. The electric version they did on this tour was stellar and it's a shame it didn't make it to the DVD.

 

[jrjunior31]

I think size of the venues has a lot to do with it also... Acoustic versions can be appreciated in a more intimate setting (ala Nirvana when they popularized MTV's unplugged) ...

But for the big arenas in North America and the huge stadiums in Europe the powerful electric tracks go over much better when not stripped down to acoustic...

For the ballads like Stuck they can pull it off. I saw this new version live at Staples (also watched it on Conan) thought it worked well actually.

Wild Horses, OOTS, Desire etc. are so powerful there's no reason to try and unplug them. The fans who have GA's right by the rail can probably appreciate the acoustic versions of these but thats about it....

 

[phanan]

The electric version at Boston 3 was incredible.

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

they played it at MSG... i thought it was amazing

 

[Chizip]

i dont like it at all

they should have brought back ultraviolet instead

 

[U2mixer]

I remember standing at Glasgow when Edge started to belt out the distorted chords, and I went WOOOOOOOOOOOW! I can't believe it!
And then I looked around me and the majority of 'fans' were talking to each other and going for a beer, and I was thinking "HEY, you lot! Fucking LISTEN will you! They're playing WILD HORSES! HEEEEEEYYYYY!".
But I didn't!
I just 'tripped' to another place (without the aid the drugs ).

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

they should play acoustic mofo