Best of, 1990-2000 - terrible selection?

[geography]

I saw someone post in another discussion that they loved "Best Of 1990-2000".

I for one do NOT like it and I was wondering if anyone concurs with me.

I had read that Edge was in-charge of selecting the songs to go on Best Of 1990-2000. I read that he left off "The Fly" because he "wasn't sure" if it had aged well.

Yet, he chose "Even Better Than the Real Thing" and REMIXES of "Gone" and others. He chose "The First Time" over "The Fly" and "Zoo Station". IMHO, no songs from POP should've been included on the Best Of album! Frankly, they didn't *need* a Best Of 1990-2000 since Achtung Baby was the *real* Best Of for that period. Add a couple from Zooropa ("Zooropa" and "Stay") and ATYCLB, and that would've done the trick!

For the B-sides, they included too many remixes and not enough actual B-sides, like the original "Lady With Spinning Head", or "Night and Day" (from Red, Hot & Blue), or "Slow Dancing", or songs from the Million Dollar Hotel soundtrack! They also left off POP B-sides ("Holy Joe") and ATYCLB B-sides ("Always").

Terrible, terrible selection!! Imagine if you've never really listened to U2, so you buy their Best Of 1990-2000 album to sample their best...you would HATE U2!!

 

[madamadam]

POP was one of the reasons why i kept listening to U2. After buying ATYCLB, i wanted to know what else the band was about so i went out and bought POP and Best of 1980-1990. I was amazed by how different the band could sound. I agree that some of the remixes shouldnt be on the album, but the whole thing isnt all that bad. Give it another listen and skip some tracks, and give it another chance.

 

[ZigZag]

It's not the best selection, but it's a far better selection of songs for a decade than their first "Best of" was.

And I honestly don't see what everyone's beef is with the new mixes. Especially "Staring at the sun"...all they did was add a single beat and a slightly longer ending. It made the song sound just a tad bit more complete, and yet people reacted like it was Satan's attempt at a record deal.

But with a band as huge as U2, they have so many ultra hit songs that even including anything that isn't a hit song would be seen as "terrible" by a ton of people.

 

[~*Buffalo*~]

I like the Best of. Yes, the B-sides were a bit lacking and there were too many remixes. But the Best of itself was quite a good record and I think it's important that U2 did include songs from Pop. Sure, AB is clearly the best album of the decade, but it's not the only album and there is some merit in U2's experimentation with different styles as they did on Pop. I do like the new mixes of SATS and Gone, almost better than the original versions! And Electrical Storm and Hands are fantastic as well.

 

[U2girl]

True there were a lot of remixes instead of B-sides, but I thought the main selection of songs was good. (putting some gems like Gone and Until the end of the world, First time and even Miss Sarajevo)

 

[Popmartijn]

I agree with almost everything except the very first post in this thread.



Marty (prefers The First Time over The Fly most of the time)

 

[bedouin fire]

it was not a best of, it was a greatest hits.

 

[Popmartijn]

Nope, it is a Best Of.

 

[Salome]

It's not the best selection, but it's a far better selection of songs for a decade than their first "Best of" was.

And I honestly don't see what everyone's beef is with the new mixes. Especially "Staring at the sun"...all they did was add a single beat and a slightly longer ending. It made the song sound just a tad bit more complete, and yet people reacted like it was Satan's attempt at a record deal.

yep

it isn't the compilation I would have made
but it still is a very enjoyable record to listen to

more so than the first best of, which in my opinion has far better songs on it but doesn't work as an album at all

 

[Axver]

What the zark is up with the first post? I'm a fanatic today because of that compilation, and it's turned my friend into a fan.

Even Better Than The Real Thing was a FANTASTIC choice. All the songs from that era that I grew up with were on there. The remix of Gone is one of the best songs ever made. I wouldn't have picked exactly that tracklisting, but it's still very solid and a wonderful representation. I do prefer the original SATS, Discotheque is naked without "Boom-cha!", and Stuck was a bad choice, but otherwise, I can't think of much to complain about. My personal tastes would probably have a vastly different tracklisting, but Alex Descends Into Hell doesn't sell records!

I was unimpressed with the b-sides CD, though. After the fantastic one that came with the first Best Of, you'd expect more than a pile of remixes, most of which I dislike. Alex Descends Into Hell should've been on there! Or at least a few more b-sides instead of remixes.

 

[Flaming Friar Sr]

actually their nineties singles were mostly about remixes so its kinda of not misleading to include them on the b-sides disc!

 

[U2Soar]

1. Even Better Than the Real Thing (3:39)
2. Mysterious Ways [Best of Edit] (4:02)
3. Beautiful Day (4:05)
4. Electrical Storm (William Orbit Mix) (4:37)
5. One (4:35)
6. Miss Sarajevo (Radio Edit) (4:30)
7. Stay (Faraway So Close) (4:58)
8. Stuck in a Moment (4:31)
9. Gone (Best of Mix) (4:32)
10. Until the End of the World (4:38)
11. The Hands that Built America (4:57)
12. Discotheque (Best of Mix) (4:40)
13. Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me (4:44)
14. Staring at the Sun (Best of Mix) (4:48)
15. Numb (Best of Mix) (4:21)
16. The First Time (3:44)
17. The Fly (4:29)

A. Hands did not belong there
B. ATYCLB songs did not belong there
C. Band Version of Electrical Storm rocks
D. It appears that Hands / ATYCLB material / Orbit Mix of ES + possibly the new Pop versions was an attempt at ?damage control? / appeasing 80s fans / and appealing to new ATYCLB fans.
E. A clunker of a track order ? tracks 4 through 8 = 5 straight slow songs!
F. Three albums + Passengers album + Batman song = plenty of material

The Best Of 90s (For U2 Fans)

1. The Fly (4:29)
2. Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me (4:44)
3. Stay (Faraway So Close) (4:58)
4. Electrical Storm *(Band Version)* (4:26)
5. One (4:35)
6. Staring at the Sun (Best of Mix) (4:48)
7. Until the End of the World (4:38)
8. Gone (Best of Mix) (4:32)
9. Discotheque (Best of Mix) (4:40)
10. Even Better Than the Real Thing (3:39)
11. Mysterious Ways [Best of Edit] (4:02)
12. Lemon (6:56)
13. Your Blue Room (5:28)
14. Numb (Best of Mix) (4:21)
15. Miss Sarajevo (Radio Edit) (4:30)
16. Please (Single Version) (5:47)
17. The First Time (3:44) (the hidden track)

Approx. Time: 79:47 (which may not fit on a 80 minute CD? The Lemon Edit could be used)

Lemon (Promo Edit) (4:39)
Your Blue Room (Promo Edit) (4:34)
Please (Promo UK Single Edit) (4:26)

With these 3 Edit versions it would have an approx. time of 75:45

 

[U2Soar]

The Best Of 90s Bonus Disc Of B-Sides (For U2 Fans)

1. Lady With A Spinning Head (Extended Version)
2. Salome
3. Holy Joe
4. Slug
5. Can?t Help Falling In Love (Triple Peaks Version)
6. Slow Dancing
7. North And South Of The River
8. Alex Descends?
9. I?m Not Your Baby
10. Where Did It All Go Wrong
11. Night And Day
12. Paint It Black
13. Satellite Of Love
14. Pop Muzik
15. Happiness Is A Warm Gun
16. Two Shots Of Happy?

I don?t mind remixes at all. Maybe they could have made a second Bonus Disc Of Remix B-Sides and given it away during the first week of the Best Of 90s DVD (a limited edition DVD)?

 

[mofo82]

U2 Soar- i like your list of 90s hits...i really miss lemon on the 90-00 album...it just beongs, as does please (single) i was dissappointeed with the b-sides selection, and wheres the ground beneath her feet???

the only real tweeking i wouldve done with the official release would change up the order (songs 4-8 are slow- agreed) and possibly replace stuck- its such a hot/cold song for me-never know if i want to hear it

 

[U2Soar]

The Best Of 90s Bonus Disc Of Remix B-Sides

1. Bottoms (Zoo Station Instrumental Remix) (4:11)
2. Numb (Gimme Some More Dignity Mix - Best of Edit) (5:50)
3. Discotheque (Hexidecimal Mix - Best of Edit) (5:45)
4. Last Night on Earth (First Night in Hell Mix) (5:50) (Instrumental)
5. MOFO (Phunk Phorce Promo Edit) (5:20) which is on the Best Of 90s DVD?
6. Lemon (Perfecto Mix) (8:57)
7. Even Better Than The Real Thing (Perfecto Mix) (6:38)
8. Mysterious Ways (Perfecto Mix) (7:07)
9. Salome (Zooromancer Remix - Best of Edit) (5:51)
10. Staring at the Sun (Brothers in Rhythm Club Mix) (9:42)
11. If God Will Send His Angels (Big Yam Mix) (5:42)
12. Dirty Day (Junk Day Mix) (4:40)
13. Night And Day (Steel String Mix) (7:00)

Approx. Time: 82:33 (either an edit of the SATS Brothers Mix is needed or another mix of SATS)

 

[stammer476]

IMHO, no songs from POP should've been included on the Best Of album

Argh! Will the Pop bashing never cease?? It may not have been "normal U2," but it was an incredible album. Lyrically, their best yet.

Hey U2Soar, nice B-side list. Due to the many songs left off of the official CD, I've had to make my own. Your list makes me wonder if I need to tweak mine a little . . .

I've got no major problems with the selections of the "Best of" CD, it's really the track listing that throws me off. As mentioned, there's too many sloooow songs in a row, plus Beautiful Day seems too abrupt where it's at. It's a great opening song to a CD, but anywhere else just seems out of place.

 

[david]

I wish the Best of would have just been one 56 minute version of Salome where Bono only sings the chorus...

SHAKE SHAKE SHAKE IT SALOME!!

 

[Zoocoustic]

This album was terrible.

The a-sides were a joke. Where are "The Fly" and "Lemon"? Two songs which followed and defined the group through the entire 90's are nowhere to be found. And "The First Time"? This song doesn't belong on this album at all! Its inclusion was an obvious attempt to make the album a bit more listener-friendly to the casual fan.

And don't even get me started on the b-sides. When you're talking about the "best of", you don't include re-mixes. Re-mixes aren't your music, they are another artist's INTERPRETATION of your music. That and the fact that most U2 remixes suck, makes disc 2 even worse than disc 1.

 

[mofo82]

thats a great point Zoocoustic about the remixes. Look at 80-90 b sides and they are all original U2 works or covers, whereas 90-00 is almost completely the same material put under the knife. you just gotta wonder how much work theyve kept out of the public that wouldve filled up the 90-00 b sides the way 80- 90 was.

 

[smileplease1974]

There was an almost identical thread on this topic earlier on this forum, prompted by someone wondering why commercially, the Best of CD hadn't been hugely success.

What we tend to forget is that the album isn't for the likes of your and I - harcore fans - but casual fans, who like U2's music, but wouldn't really by their albums, i.e. your mate's dad, or your cousin.

Therefore, they should have picked their well known stuff much of which released as singles (incl. Wild Horses, Lemon, Last night etc), not album tracks like Gone, Until, Hands, First Time, etc.

Someone reminded me that it was a 'Best of' rather than 'Greatest Hits' but that missses the point. For Christmas stocking filler releases (which this undoubtedly was) they should have played safe. And the CD would have been better for it.

The remixing of tracks also undermined everything the band stood for during the 90s (experimenting etc). If Achtung Baby was the sound of them chopping down the Joshua Tree, then the Best of was the sound of them rebuilding it.

I also agree with the Pop knocking. The album is great. IMO, the grief it took was actually a hang over from Zooropa, which was far more of a 'diffult/challenging' album for people to digest.

 

[geography]

This album was terrible.

The a-sides were a joke. Where are "The Fly" and "Lemon"? Two songs which followed and defined the group through the entire 90's are nowhere to be found. And "The First Time"? This song doesn't belong on this album at all! Its inclusion was an obvious attempt to make the album a bit more listener-friendly to the casual fan.

And don't even get me started on the b-sides. When you're talking about the "best of", you don't include re-mixes. Re-mixes aren't your music, they are another artist's INTERPRETATION of your music. That and the fact that most U2 remixes suck, makes disc 2 even worse than disc 1.

FINALLY...someone who agrees with me! I am a HUGE and long-time U2 fan, but I can be objective...and this best-of album SUCKS!

Most bands aren't very good at evaluating their own work, and U2 has proven to be perhaps the most inept! They should've let some outside people put it together.

 

[Popmartijn]

 

[isabelle_guns]

I didn't buy it 'cause I thought that some of the tracks chosen weren't good ones myself. I have all the U2 albums so I didn't really have to worry about the second best of disk. I liked the first one 'cause it had b-sides on it. The bonus disk for the second best of was poor.

 

[U2girl]

There was an almost identical thread on this topic earlier on this forum, prompted by someone wondering why commercially, the Best of CD hadn't been hugely success.

Someone reminded me that it was a 'Best of' rather than 'Greatest Hits' but that missses the point. For Christmas stocking filler releases (which this undoubtedly was) they should have played safe. And the CD would have been better for it.

I would have to say any kind of 90's songs selection would have a hard time to sell, as the 80's is the better-known era in the general public. Also their music in the 90's was harder to digest for a casual listener.

Exactly, Best of - it's not the same like Greatest hits. I think the 80's Best of was done the way most Greatest hits compliations are - all the best known songs (to the public). With the second, I think it was nice that they didn't play it safe and made some really nice additions (the earlier mentioned Until the end of the world, The first time, Gone, HMTMKMKM) while picking up the other more known songs. (wasn't the Fly a hidden track anyway?)
The only songs that I personally could live without on that CD are Miss Sarajevo and Numb, and they could have added Ground beneath her feet.

 

[BrownEyedBoy]

"Stuck In a Moment..." could only belong in a Worst Of CD. I say give that attempt of a song the axe and include "Lemon".

Wow, I'm pretty harsh with that song. ....