Album running orders

[Rafiennes]

I’m always seeing people put up new running orders for albums, hell, I’ve even participated in a few of them. And while we do it for fun, what I wanna know is, are there any albums you can’t listen to in their regular running order? Are there any albums you have to change things around – whether the order of the songs or adding songs?

I have a running order for Zooropa I love with Slow Dancing and HMTMKMKM added, but I can still listen to the album as it is.

ATYCLB is the only album that gives me a problem. ATYCLB’s running order bugs me. It seems very disjointed. The original running order they had listed flows so much better, I wish they hadn’t have changed it.

How about you?

 

[namkcuR]

I can listen to all but Bomb in their original orders. Bomb's running order is not good.

Pop is tricky. I can listen to the original, but I can make better running orders for it. Mofo should have opened. Please single is better.

But my running orders for Pop are improvements, while my running orders for Bomb are fixes. There's a difference.

 

[Tombola]

Joshua Tree

Where The Streets Have No Name
Trip Through Your Wires
I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For
Bullet The Blue Sky
Running To Stand Still
Exit
In God's Country
Red Hill Mining Town
One Tree Hill
With Or Without You
Mothers Of The Disappeared


Rattle & Hum (studio tracks only)

Hawkmoon 269
Angel Of Harlem
When Love Comes To Town
Love Rescue Me
Van Diemen's Land
Desire
Silver And Gold
Heartland
God Part II
All I Want Is You


Achtung Baby

Zoo Station
The Fly
Even Better Than The Real Thing
Mysterious Ways
One
Until The End Of The World
Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses
Tryin' To Throw Your Arms Around The World
So Cruel
Ultraviolet (Light My Way)
Acrobat
Love Is Blindness


Zooropa

Daddy's Gonna Pay For Your Crashed Car
Lemon
Babyface
Stay (Faraway, So Close!)
Dirty Day
Numb
Some Days Are Better Than Others
The First Time
Zooropa
The Wanderer


Pop

Mofo
Do You Feel Loved
Gone
Last Night On Earth
Staring At The Sun
If God Will Send His Angels
Miami
Please
The Playboy Mansion
Discotheque
If You Wear That Velvet Dress
Wake Up Dead Man


All That You Can't Leave Behind

Beautiful Day
Elevation
When I Look At The World
Kite
Stuck In A Moment You Can't Get Out Of
In A Little While
Wild Honey
Peace On Earth
New York
Grace
Walk On


How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb

Love And Peace Or Else
Vertigo
Crumbs From Your Table
Miracle Drug
Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own
City Of Blinding Lights
All Because Of You
Fast Cars
A Man And A Woman
One Step Closer
Original Of The Species
Yahweh

 

[Clawgrabber]

there are some that cannot be touched:

ACHTUNG BABY
BOY
POP
HTDAAB

there are some that are fun to mess with

THE JOSHUA TREE
RATTLE AND HUM
THE UNFORGETTABLE FIRE

and there are some that work better in other running orders

ATYCLB (their original running order is much much better)

my thing is this...

U2 is still really good at making "albums"
i say albums in the sense of the perfect running order...

but they need to stop having the first single from the album be the first track on the album:

DISCOTHEQUE
BEAUTIFUL DAY
VERTIGO

all good songs.... but to me a true "just push play" album needs something more....

to me ZOO STATION and ZOOROPA are PERFECT album openers. it should set the mood and the tone without giving too much away...

i think albums with the singles spread out are stronger anyway...

i.e.
Achtung Baby
Pop
HTDAAB

are stronger than

ATYCLB

because they don't front load all the singles...

i think HTDAAB works...

but i think TOMBOLA has a point in starting the album out with Love And Peace...

something to set the mood NOT A SINGLE, something a bit darker (kind of like ZOO STATION)

and more importantly, something that will make me think (what they hell is U2 up to) when i bring home the cd and listen to it for the first time (for me that is always the best part of a new u2 album)

 

[gareth brown]

I agree fully with what you say about the first single being the first track on the album, it's as if they have to get people's attention IMMEDIATELY with the radio hit, whereas U2's greatest track (no arguments please ) Zooropa was the perfect opener for the album and really set the mood. I was really hoping 'Bomb' would have a proper 'opening' track rather than 'Vertigo' that kind of annoyed me, it would have been a good second track, but first is just rubbish...

 

[Miricale_Drug]

city should open the bomb... possibly even a slightly extended mix, with the live guitar

Vertigo as track 2 because it is punchy and would be near the fron of any album

Lets take things down a bit now:

Miracle Drug
Smile

then out of nowhere 'Yahweh' to end the side off


THe B Side
opening with LAPOE before
ABOY
Sometimes
Oriignal of the Species
Love you Like Mad
Mercy.

 

[U2girl]

I'd switch Heartland and Trip through your wires on their albums and put Hold me thrill me... on Zooropa.

In a more "debate" way,

lose Miami on Pop, Levitate and Flower child for WILATW and POE on ATYCLB. Falling at your feet for Grace. Drop Zoo station off AB. Another song for A man and a woman on Bomb.

 

[pacemaker]

I can see wanting Mofo opening Pop and Zooropa NOT opening Zooropa....

But when you put Discotheque and Zooropa later in the albums, do you take into consideration their long ass intros? These would need to be taken care of, as a 1.5 minute intro as the second to last track of Zooropa would ruin any flow, IMO.

 

[God Part III]

I like Zooropa's track order best.
I think Boy and Pop does well as well.
Achtung - not perfect, but The Fly stays. It has to be the 7th song.

The rest is a bit blurry for me at the moment.

 

[underscore]

i'm listening to coldplay atm, just shoot me please...

Anyways, this is the 2nd thread i read about a more or less same topic.

i must say i have never thought of changing song/track order.
U2 made their choice and that's it.

love all U2 albums as they are, had a problem with zooropa, but that problem is solved and wasn't a trackorder anyway, i do however have Pink Floyd's "the wall" in a wrong order on my mp3 player and that is really annoying

Thank you for reading another useless msg from me

_Underscore

 

[gump]

Very difficult for those used to listen to the vinyl....
But I do agree that COBL should open HTDAAB and LAPOE should open the B-side instead of ABOY, followed by ABOY and Fast Cars.

 

[Tombola]

I can see wanting Mofo opening Pop and Zooropa NOT opening Zooropa....

But when you put Discotheque and Zooropa later in the albums, do you take into consideration their long ass intros? These would need to be taken care of, as a 1.5 minute intro as the second to last track of Zooropa would ruin any flow, IMO.

I agree that in some cases you'd have to tweak certain songs, particularly with bits like the transition from The Playboy Mansion to IFWTVD if you want to break them up. But a long intro on a song doesn't necessarily make it limited to the first track - LAPOE and COBL both have fairly long intros, and neither open the album.

The song Zooropa could work at the end of the album, particularly after a slow song like The First Time. The way I see it, the album comes to a sort of ending, before coming back with an epic finish. In the order I gave above, I tacked on The Wanderer afterwards, but if you remove the alarm from the end, it could go somewhere else, making Zooropa the last track.

 

[chocky]

Boy:
--------
I like to add the early singles & b-sides to the start of the album and play it in chronological order (ie U2:Three, Another Day, 11'O Clock, Touch then the album)


October/War/Unforgettable Fire/Zooropa:
----------------------------------------------------------
all perfect


Joshua Tree/Achtung Baby:
----------------------------------------
I love the tracklistings as released on both these albums. But sometimes I play it with the b-sides mixed in. But the album tracks don't change order - there are just other songs between them


Rattle & Hum:
--------------------
I play the studio tracks only but add the b-sides (Heartbreak Hotel, Hallelujah, Everlasting Love, Unchained Melody, Dancing Barefoot) and Jesus Christ into the mix


Pop:
-------
Very tough. I always start with PopMuzik (edit version) into Mofo. After that it varies with each listen. I include HMTMKMKM with Pop and (technically) Big Girls are Best is a Pop track. And with the other b-sides and side projects (Hallelujah, Save the Children, Tomorrow) you can have fun with this album.


ATYCLB:
--------------
This album loses puff in the middle. New York saves the 2nd half of the album. My least-listened-too album.

For a darker album try replacing Beautiful Day, Elevation & Wild Honey with Stateless, Never Let Me Go, Dancing Shoes and Slide Away

For a lighter album try replacing In A Little While, Peace on Earth, When I Look at the World & Grace with Big Girls are Best, Beat on the Brat, Children of the Revolution and Levitate


HTDAAB:
--------------
COBL, Yahweh (alternate), Crumbs, SYCMIOYO, ABoY, AMaaW, Vertigo, Miracle Drug, One Step Closer, LAPOE, Original, Fast Cars (remix), AYGWF, Mercy

 

[Axver]

I can't listen to Achtung unless I use my "blasphemous" alternate list.

I also am quite fond of my expanded UF, but that's an expansion.

 

[cobl04]

I expect some flak here, but am I the only one who doesn't like Where the Streets Have No Name as an opener? It's probably because I had already heard it prior to getting it but I think it would work further down. I just think the tracklisting to the Joshua Tree could have been a bit better in my opinion. But then, what other song from the Joshua Tree could really open the album?

 

[the tourist]

I made a mix recently that I called Welcome To The Zoo.

Zoo Station
Even Better Than The Real Thing
One
Until The End Of The World
Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses
So Cruel
The First Time
Zooropa
Babyface
The Fly
Dirty Day
Mysterious Ways
Trying To Throw Your Arms Around The World
Daddy's Gonna Pay For Your Crashed Car
Ultraviolet
Acrobat
Love Is Blindness

Sadly, it didn't fit onto a cd....

 

[LMP]

I can't listen to Achtung unless I use my "blasphemous" alternate list.

I also am quite fond of my expanded UF, but that's an expansion.

I thought the bashing about that was pretty crap by the way, it's your own personal opinion, you're not forcing them to listen to it are you?

Well, I would add/subtract the following songs from these albums

Boy

+ 11 O'Clock Tick Tock
+ Another Day
+ Touch
- Another Time, Another Place

War
+ A Celebration

The Unforgettable Fire
+ The Three Sunrises
+ Love Comes Tumbling
+ Bass Trap
- Elvis Presley and America
- 4th of July

The Joshua Tree
+ Luminous Times (Hold onto Love)
+ Silver and Gold
+ Sweetest Thing
+ Race Against Time
+ Deep in the Heart
+ Heartland
- Trip Through Your Wires

Rattle and Hum
+ Trip Through Your Wires
+ Hallelujah Here She Comes
+ Everlasting Love
- All of the live tracks, on a seperate EP

Zooropa
+ Slug
+ Miss Sarajevo
+ Your Blue Room
+ Always Forever Now
+ Slow Dancing
- Babyface
- Somedays are Better Than Others

PoP
+ Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me
+ North and South of the River
- Wake Up Dead Man
* Replace If God... and Please with the single versions

ATYCLB
+ Levitate
+ The Ground Beneath Her Feet
+ Stateless
+ Flower Child
- Peace on Earth
- Wild Honey
* Replace Elevation with the single version

HTDAAB
+ Fast Cars
+ Electrical Storm (William Orbit Mix)
+ Mercy
- One Step Closer
* Replace ABoY with the single version

 

[pacemaker]

I just made my first ever alternate playlist...for Zooropa:

1. Zooropa
2. Numb (New Mix) - Although I'm going to replace it with the original
3. Babyface
4. Dirty Day
5. HMTMKMKM
6. Stay
7. Lemon
8. SDABTO
9. First Time
10. Daddy's...
11. Wanderer


Admittedly, I'm only up to the beginning of Stay, but so far its flowed really well. Although, as I stated above, the New Mix of Numb does little for me on its own, even less in the context of an album... I just wanted to mix it up a bit more than switching the order and adding Hold Me... and I didn't want to use "remixes."


**Edit** Oh yea... and I unabashedly love Babyface... For what was going on at that time - Adam and Naomi - I think Bono came up with a great way to immortalize the situation and the toy-pianoesque melody always holds my attention.

 

[Exit thru Wire]

HTDAAB
I dont like the way HTDAAB plays despite having some great songs. This is what I currently listen to. No AMAAW or OOTS.

1. Native Son
2. All Because of You (Alternate)
3. Electrical Storm (William Orbit Mix)
4. City of Blinding Lights
5. Sometimes You Cant Make It On Your Own
6. Are You Gonna Wait Forever
7. Miracle Drug
8. Crumbs From Your Table
9. Mercy
10. Love and Peace or Else
11. One Step Closer
12. Ave Maria (Jacknife Lee Mix)
13. Neon Lights
14. Fast Cars
15. Smile
16. The Hands That Built America
17. Yahweh
18. Vertigo

 

[U2girl]

Desire
God part II
Hawkmoon 269
Silver And Gold (instead of it being a B-side from JT; it deserved more IMO)
Angel Of Harlem
Van Diemen's Land
Love Rescue Me
When Love Comes To Town
Trip through your wires
She's a mystery to me
All I Want Is You

Live songs on a separate disc.

 

[Joey788]

Achtung Baby

1. Zoo Station
2. The Fly
3. Even Better Than The Real Thing
4. Mysterious Ways
5. One
6. Until the End of the World
7. WGRYWH
8. Tryin To Throw Your Arms
9. Ultraviolet
10. Acrobat
11. So Cruel
12. Love is Blindness

Zooropa

1. Daddy's Gonna Pay For Your Crashed Car
2. Lemon
3. Stay
4. Zooropa
5. Babyface
6. Numb
7. Dirty Day
8. Somedays Are Better Than Others
9. The First Time
10. The Wanderer

 

[the tourist]

Boy (1980)

01. I Will Follow
02. The Ocean
03. 11 O'Clock Tick Tock (different than the single version)
04. The Fool
05. Magic Carpet
06. Out Of Control
07. Stories For Boys
08. Things To Make And Do
09. Touch
10. A Day Without Me
11. The Cry
12. Shadows And Tall Trees


October (1981)

01. Gloria
02. Twilight
03. An Cat Dubh
04. Into The Heart
05. Fire
06. Tomorrow
07. October
08. The Electric Co.
09. Another Day
10. Another Time Another Place
11. Scarlet


Here (1982)

01. A Celebration
02. I Fall Down
03. Rejoice
04. I Threw A Brick Through A Window
05. With A Shout
06. Stranger In A Strange Land
07. The Endless Deep
08. Red Light
09. Is That All?
10. Trash, Trampoline, And The Party Girl


War (1983)

01. Sunday Bloody Sunday
02. Surrender
03. New Year's Day
04. Like A Song
05. The Refugee
06. Seconds
07. Treasure
08. Two Hearts Beat As One
09. Drowning Man
10. 40


The Unforgettable Fire (1984)

01. A Sort Of Homecoming
02. Pride
03. Wire
04. Boomerang II
05. Indian Summer Sky
06. The Unforgettable Fire
07. Promenade
08. Bad
09. The Three Sunrises
10. Love Comes Tumbling
11. Elvis Presley And America
12. MLK


Wind EP (1985)

01. Sixty Seconds In Kingdom Come
02. Boomerang I
03. 4th Of July (extended)
04. Bass Trap


The Two Americas (1987)

01. Where The Streets Have No Name
02. One Tree Hill
03. In God's Country
04. Red Hill Mining Town
05. Race Against Time
06. Bullet The Blue Sky
07. Running To Stand Still
08. Exit
09. I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For
10. Deep In The Heart
11. Mothers Of The Disappeared


The Joshua Tree (1988)

01. Beautiful Ghost
02. Hawkmoon 269
03. Walk To The Water
04. Angel Of Harlem
05. Luminous Times
06. With Or Without You
07. Heartland
08. God Part II
09. Desire
10. Spanish Eyes
11. All I Want Is You


Rattle And Hum (1989)

01. Van Diemen's Land
02. When Love Comes To Town
03. Silver And Gold
04. Trip Through Your Wires
05. Love Rescue Me
06. Hallelujah Here She Comes
07. A Room At The Heartbreak Hotel
08. Slow Dancing
09. The Sweetest Thing
10. She's A Mystery To Me


The Howling Wind (1990)

01. All Along The Watchtower
02. Helter Skelter
03. Paint It Black
04. Fortunate Son
05. Knocking On Heaven's Door
06. Maggie's Farm
07. Everlasting Love
08. Unchained Melody
09. Night And Day
10. Satellite Of Love
11. People Get Ready
12. Help!
13. Dancing Barefoot
14. Can't Help Falling In Love

 

[the tourist]

Achtung Baby (1991)

01. Zoo Station
02. Even Better Than The Real Thing
03. Mysterious Ways
04. The Fly
05. Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses?
06. One
07. Salome
08. Where Did It All Go Wrong?
09. Lady With The Spinning Head (the extended version)
10. She's Gonna Blow Your House Down
11. Acrobat
12. Love Is Blindness

Zooropa (1993)

01. Zooropa
02. Ultraviolet
03. Lemon
04. Numb
05. Some Days Are Better Than Others
06. Trying To Throw Your Arms Around The World
07. So Cruel
08. Until The End Of The World
09. Dirty Day
10. Heaven And Hell
11. The Wanderer (Bono on vocals)


Zoostralia (1994)

01. Zoostralia
02. Babyface
03. Your Blue Room
04. Daddy's Gonna Pay For Your Crashed Car
05. Always Forever Now
06. Corpse
07. Miss Sarajevo
08. Stay
09. Beach Sequence
10. The First Time
11. A Different Kind Of Blue


Soundtrack Of The Stars (1996)

01. Viva Davidoff
02. United Colours Of Plutonium
03. Theme From Let's Go Native
04. Bottoms
05. Plot 180
06. Theme From The Swan
07. One Minute Warning
08. Ito Okashi
09. Elvis Ate America
10. Theme From Mission Impossible
11. I've Got You Under My Skin


POP (1997)

01. Pop Muzik
02. Discotheque
03. Slug
04. I Feel Free
05. If God Will Send His Angels
06. North And South Of The River
07. The Sweetest Thing
08. The Playboy Mansion
09. Two Shots Of Happy, One Shot Of Sad
10. If You Wear That Velvet Dress
11. Please


ROCK (1998)

01. Hold Me Thrill Me Kiss Me Kill Me
02. Gone
03. Miami
04. Holy Joe
05. Last Night On Earth
06. Staring At The Sun
07. Do You Feel Loved
08. MOFO
09. I'm Not Your Baby
10. Wake Up Dead Man

 

[the tourist]

All That You Can't Leave Behind (2000)

01. Beautiful Day
02. Stuck In A Moment You Can't Get Out Of
03. Flower Child
04. Walk On
05. In A Little While
06. Summer Rain
07. Wild Honey
08. Peace On Earth
09. The Ground Beneath Her Feet
10. Stateless
11. Grace


Who You See When You Walk In The Clouds (2002)

01. Elevation
02. Electrical Storm
03. The Hands That Built America
04. New York
05. When I Look At The World
06. Kite
07. Are You Gonna Wait Forever?
08. Big Girls Are Best
09. Levitate
10. Love You Like Mad
11. Smile


How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb (2004)

01. City Of Blinding Lights
02. Vertigo
03. Crumbs From Your Table
04. Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own
05. A Man And A Woman
06. One Step Closer
07. Love And Peace Or Else
08. All Because Of You
09. Miracle Drug
10. Original Of The Speices
11. Yahweh

(unreleased 2006 album, Mercy, Treason, Northern Star, Saturn's Rings, Fast Cars)

 

[liamcool]

You, sir, are insane.

And I love it.

Yeah, I mixed up Boy a fair bit, but I don't fool with U2 album orders.

 

[the tourist]

You, sir, are insane.

And I love it.

Yeah, I mixed up Boy a fair bit, but I don't fool with U2 album orders.

I can't do it enough, for some reason. And I have no idea why.

 

[LMP]

I can't do it enough, for some reason. And I have no idea why.

I love most of the playlists and ideas

Have you heard any of Edge's Captive soundtrack?

I was thinking Rowena's Theme would be sweet for The Joshua Tree

 

[the tourist]

I have never heard any of the Captive soundtrack.

 

[Axver]

I have never heard any of the Captive soundtrack.

I would be happy to help you. What's your e-mail address?

 

[the tourist]

ostentatioustourist@hotmail.com