All That You Can't Leave Behind - A Tale Of Two Albums

[namkcuR]

Seeing as ATYCLB is currently up in the Suvivor, I thought I'd make a thread about it.

I've always thought that ATYCLB had two conflicting mindsets in it - the "back to roots/four guys in a room" rock mindset, and the "let's make a pop album" mindset.

When I listen to the record, the first four tracks(aka the singles) and New York are cut from a different cloth than the rest. When I make custom playlists for this record, I often find it difficult to create a good 'flow' because there's always invariably a string a quiter pop songs and then BAM a big anthemic song out of nowhere.

I can't help but think that it would make more sense to divide the record in two...an EP consisting of the five 'anthemic' songs and an album consisting of the remaining pop songs from ATYCLB plus a few 'U2' tracks from the Million Dollar Hotel soundtrack...something like this:

"Elevation" EP

1.Elevation
2.Beautiful Day
3.New York
4.Stuck In A Moment
5.Walk On

"Kite"

1.In A Little While
2.The Ground Beneath Her Feet
3.Kite
4.Peace On Earth
5.Wild Honey
6.Summer Rain
7.When I Look At The World
8.Falling At Your Feet
9.Grace
10.Stateless

 

[phillyfan26]

I think what you did there makes sense and so does what you are saying.

However, I would hate both. U2 came up with five good songs, and executed four of them well.

 

[BVS]

ATYCLB would have been one of the best three albums if they had ditched Elevation and wrote a better lyric for NY.

 

[Rob33]

I don't understand the distaste for this album...I actually really enjoy listening to it

 

[nathan1977]

The original playlist for ATYCLB was much better -- a much better flow:

1. BD
2. Elevation
3. Walk On
4. Stuck
5. Kite
6. Peace on Earth
7. New York
8. In a Little While
9. Wild Honey
10. When I Look at the World
11. Grace

 

[LemonMelon]

There are ways to mix the two halves together without there being too many flow issues. I had a playlist...should dig it up here...

 

[No spoken words]

I don't understand the distaste for this album...I actually really enjoy listening to it

I heard a rumor that tastes in music, books, film, art, etc, is subjective.

 

[phillyfan26]

I heard a rumor that tastes in music, books, film, art, etc, is subjective.

Is this confirmed?

 

[phanan]

The original playlist for ATYCLB was much better -- a much better flow:

1. BD
2. Elevation
3. Walk On
4. Stuck
5. Kite
6. Peace on Earth
7. New York
8. In a Little While
9. Wild Honey
10. When I Look at the World
11. Grace

Agreed, but there's only one problem. There are still a few songs on it that suck.

 

[No spoken words]

Agreed, but there's only one problem. There are still a few songs on it that suck.

Quoting the Sox fan for truth.

 

[65980]

namkcuR, your idea is good if we lived in a non-material world, but unfortunately in this one U2 have to make the albums sell. That means they usually try to put as many 'hits' as possible on the LPs. So surely they wouldn't have seriously considered what you suggest (although it may make for a smoother listen).

My tastes on the recent albums seem to differ from a lot of people who post on this site. I really like both ATYCLB and HTDAAB (the latter is a masterwork, imo). I would say that ATYCLB is flawed in its tracklist and running order, and that it somewhat lacks a unifying feeling. But these are minor issues when the songs are all good and the performances up to the usual high standard. I used to listen to that album a lot in 2000-2001 and I would usually delete 'Elevation' (a song I'm not overly fond of in its wimpy studio incarnation) and I seem to remember liking 'Walk On' at the end of the record, since as it is ATYCLB sort of slows down too much as it goes on. (Just for the record, I love the lyrics of 'New York'!)

And a lot of people here seem to be of the opinion that HTDAAB lacks flow or the feel of an 'album', and is more like a collection of singles. I don't agree, but even if it is so, is it a bad thing? U2 are a post-punk band. Their modus operandi is to record a bunch of great songs, not to make pretentious prog-rock statements. I also don't buy the idea that it's a flaw if a few of the songs stand out from the others. I quite like that, to a degree. Given the choice between an hour with a band who sound exactly the same on every song (stand up, Oasis) or a group who at least try to be diverse, I'd always choose the latter.

 

[No spoken words]

For the record, not to get off topic, sorry, but I much prefer HTDAAB to ATYCLB. Not even close for me.

 

[LemonMelon]

For the record, not to get off topic, sorry, but I much prefer HTDAAB to ATYCLB. Not even close for me.

 

[KhanadaRhodes]

Is this confirmed?

yes, it's a rumour.

 

[corianderstem]

For the record, not to get off topic, sorry, but I much prefer HTDAAB to ATYCLB. Not even close for me.

I agree with Bob Loblaw's client.

 

[phillyfan26]

For the record, not to get off topic, sorry, but I much prefer HTDAAB to ATYCLB. Not even close for me.

 

[Scorpionac]

This is my ATYCLB. I'll explain it below:

All That You Can't Leave Behind

1. Beautiful Day
2. Elevation
3. When I Look at the World
4. Peace on Earth
5. Stateless
6. Kite
7. Summer Rain
8. Levitate
9. New York
10. The Ground Beneath Her Feet
11. Grace
12. Walk On

If this looks a lot like Axver's tracklisting in his alternate reality, on the whole, I just tried it out then tweaked it a bit.

The lyrical flow of this is also very cool - with the references to being high in the air, with Levitate, Elevation and Kite. And then the references to being on the ground in Grace, Walk On and TGBHF, and just living with that. Things get more and more dismal through WILTW to Peace on Earth and culminate in Stateless. Finally, it's too much and the pain is all released in Kite. Relaxing, and trying to find a home somewhere in Summer Rain first, then settling down in New York. Finding love in Levitate, losing it in New York, lamenting it in TGBHF, finding God and then the big, cheesy, anthemic ending. And no matter how bad things are, you can never go lower than the surface of the earth. In the end, there's nowhere to go but up. And when the album's over, it just cycles. It's suddenly a beautiful day again: the sky falls, the heavens have come down to you for a day, the heart shoots up through the stony ground and the whole thing repeats.
Ah. I love it.

I see Stuck as a single released shortly after the album. It's an okay song, not bad enough to be relegated to b-side status. Fine one-off single material to maintain the band's relevance for a few more months on music channels.

 

[bathiu]

For the record, not to get off topic, sorry, but I much prefer HTDAAB to ATYCLB. Not even close for me.

this is my "car version" of the album:

1. BD
2. Elevation
3. Levitate
4. Walk On
5. Kite
6. Peace On Earth
7. Stateless
8. Summer Rain
9. New York
10. When I Look At The World
11. The Ground Beneath Her Feat
12. Grace

it's 'alright' to listen to IMO

 

[U2girl]

Drop POE, WILATW and Grace for Summer Rain, Ground beneath her feet and Levitate.

The album loses too much steam after Wild honey, as well as the mood of joy/pop album they tried to do.