Complete U2 iTunes boxset - Buy/'Steal'? (particularly unreleased and rare tracks)

The friendliest place on the web for anyone that follows U2.
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.

gareth brown

Rock n' Roll Doggie VIP PASS
Joined
Nov 17, 2003
Messages
6,593
Just out of interest, who has actually shelled out all the money for the 'The Complete U2' digital boxset, in particular the 'Unreleased and Rare' portion.

Those who bought it
- Was it worth the money? [particularly if you had a lot of the material already]
- What convinced you to buy it?

Those who have nabbed the 'Unreleased and Rare' bonus tracks elsewhere for free
- Did you feel U2 including a hoard of material such as this exclusively in a package, which entailed buying the band's entire back catalogue as well, unfair?
- Did you feel it was perfectly reasonable to avoid buying the complete set and just downloading these tunes for free?

This is out of sheer curiosity. I'd just like to see how many people have gone about getting the set via iTunes I'm not taking a stab at anyone. I myself received the tunes free of charge thanks to a friendly member here [good thing to find in your inbox after being woken up by an open window at 5AM on a freezing cold Christmas Morning last year!!] and am not in the financial position to be buying things on the internet.

Thoughts/replies welcome! :up:
 
i shelled out the money.
i had ALL the material already with the exception of:
Live In Boston
Live At The Point
Unreleased And Rare (But I did already have Christmas (Baby Please Come Home) and Stateless)
the DEMOS
U23

What really convinced me to buy it?
1. The inclusion of the above material, particularly the unreleased B Side tracks: Levitate, Love You Like Mad, Flower Child, Smile, Beautiful Ghost etc...
2. The EARLY singles + B sides in remastered DIGITAL format (11 o CLock Tick Tock, Another Day, Boy/Girl, Touch, etc). before this, most of these were never released on cd or any other digital format, and the ones i had were ripped from vinyl and downloaded from napster and sounded horrible (HISSING)
3. There was a wealth of remixes that i didn't have (mofo mixes previously only on the vinyl 12'' for example)
4. The idea of having the entire U2 set on my ipod (and then getting the U2 ipod) and getting rid of cds once and for all (i have a direct connection ipod hookup in my car now too)

was it worth it?
DEFINITELY. The best purchase I have made in a long time. No regrets whatsoever. U2 put together a hell of a set with this one (with the "discs" in chronological order and an exclusive booklet with liner notes)

by the way, there is a way to get itunes for free without hurting the band.

1. buy $1 dvds from the dollar store. take them to a national chain that has a (really dumb) used dvd policy: trade in 4 used DVDs get 1 New DVD valued at up to 29.99.
2. Find the DVD box sets that cost 29.99.
3. Take those sets to other retailers and trade them for store credit.
4. Use that store credit to buy iTunes giftcards.
5. use those iTunes giftcards and the 50.00 coupon from the U2 ipod to get the complete U2. iTunes gets all their money. U2 gets all their money. Big business pays for my music. And it is all perfectly legal and allowed by the return policies of the retailers.

The Complete U2 Box Set = 1 U2 iPOD coupon + 3x4 used Dvds (12 dollars)

I'm not saying I know anyone that did that. :wink:
 
Clawgrabber----ingenius, and yet...insane...:wink:

I didn't buy the set. I've acquired most of the Unreleased & Rare stuff that I want---mainly the alternate versions & the unreleased studio session stuff. I'm not as into the random live material, though I have some of it.

The main reason I didn't shell out the money (besides the fact that it was a lot of money) is that I have most of what was offered. The quantity of the other stuff wasn't enough for me to justify spending the money.

That said, I do have the U2 iPod. I figure I paid the extra $50 over the same-quality 20gb ipod, so that's my payment for the songs I got. :wink:
 
I hope this isn't too off-topic. Please delete if it is.
I have heard some of the "unreleased and rare" songs that people have been kind enough to make available through the internet. I've done this because I don't have an ipod, and with a dial up internet connection and minimal computer skills, I'm unlikely to get one anytime soon. So, I don't really have a legit option. I would be more than willing to pay for a CD release of the unreleased and rare stuff; and I would be less enthusiastic, but still quite willing to pay for a box set of CDs that matched the itunes digital box set. Soooo, my "problem" isn't reluctance to shell out the money -- it's that the "Complete U2" is only available in a format that I can't cope with --yet.
 
I got the Unreleased & Rare tracks off a website... :drool:

There was no way in hell I was paying $150 for albums, singles, etc. that I already had. And I DO think it was unfair for them to include the Unreleased and Rare stuff with that package and not release it elsewhere--the people who are going to buy the Complete U2 would *probably* be ones who don't have all their albums/singles etc. and, I would think, would care less about having the rarities. :shrug: So that bothered me.
 
It was an easy decision for me.

I had already just gotten an iPod for my birthday.
I had about 98% of the stuff they were offering in the digital boxed set.

I couldn’t see myself paying X amount of $$$ more for an iPod I basically already have, just with new colors and autographs etched into the back. I couldn’t justify paying X amount of $$$ more for songs I already own in the form I want to own them in.

I did want the unreleased stuff and I did want some of the early demo stuff.
But I knew that if I waited around long enough, they’d surface up on the net and I would have them.
I got everything I wanted and I honestly don’t feel like I took anything out of anybody’s pocket.
The amount of $ I’ve spent over the years on the CDs, the magazines, the books, the videos, the DVDs, the audio tapes (back in the day), the concert tickets, the tour programmes, the t-shirts, the vials of Bono and Edge sweat…OK…that last part’s not true…but you get the idea…the amount of $ I’ve spent justifies what I did, at least I think it does.

They release a new CD – I’m gonna buy it. Pure and simple. That’s what I do. That’s one of dozens of ways I support my band.
But if they release something I have or I have to re-buy things I already have to get the goodies…well, that changes things.

My hope is that someday down the road, they’ll release a physical boxed set with the unreleased stuff and Son of Unreleased Stuff and More Unreleased Stuff all together. That I’d pay for.
 
I bought the box set on its release. It was economically cheaper than buying all the CDs. Considering my CDs sit on my shelf largely unlistened to since all my music is on the computer anyways, I figured I wouldn't miss much.
 
I bought it and I don't regret it. If you just take a look at how much you would spend just getting all of those early b-sides on vinyl, it's actually a bargain. Of course, it's not a bargain compared to downloading them for free...

If U2 ever does release a CD box set, it will be no different. It will still contain a bunch of tracks everyone here already has, and only a handful of real rarities.

Two points that people STILL seem to be confused about:

1. You can buy The Complete U2 without buying a new iPod. The tracks work just fine with any iPod you already have.

2. You don't need an iPod to listen to The Complete U2. You can burn any or all of the tracks to CD, or connect your computer to your stereo.
 
Last edited:
Can someone please explain how this iTunes and Complete U2 works? (Still haven't gotten my iPod yet) After I purchase the whole digital box set, how long would this whole process take to DL on dial up? Do I have to DL the whole set at once or can I just skip around and DL the tracks I do not already have? Would I be better off paying some kind individual to burn a few cds?

I'd really love to have the boxset when I get my iPod at the beginning of the year, but I'm not sure I should buy it knowing high speed internet will not be likely available in my area anytime soon.
 
I really don't think it's worth it to buy the iTunes box set if you already have all the albums. I sure as hell wasn't going to buy it. If they had have remastered the early tracks, I might have considered doing so...but they basically didn't offer much incentive. I downloaded the really rare tracks (alternate tracks, mainly) and I didn't feel guilty in the slightest. I've replaced my Achtung Baby CD FOUR TIMES, for goodness' sake. I've also bought Zooropa twice and UF twice. That's almost $150.00 right there. U2 have earned enough money on my behalf. Who the hell is going to spend $150.00 to basically get two bootlegs, a couple of remixes, and a digital booklet? So yes, I think it's terribly unfair of U2 to expect the die-hards who've already purchased 97% of their official material TO RE-BUY ALL OF IT just for a few songs.

That said, I did purchase some of the individual B-sides from singles I didn't have. Accidentally bought the Boy/Girl live track twice.
 
MandyMarie said:
Can someone please explain how this iTunes and Complete U2 works? (Still haven't gotten my iPod yet) After I purchase the whole digital box set, how long would this whole process take to DL on dial up? Do I have to DL the whole set at once or can I just skip around and DL the tracks I do not already have? Would I be better off paying some kind individual to burn a few cds?


Well the total file size of the set is just under 2 gigs (445 songs) and you can't skip around or choose which parts you'd want. Yeah you might be better off doing that. :(


As for the set, I bought it in January, it was my birthday gift to myself. :D I love it and I've never regretted it, Clawgrabber already listed many of the reasons why. :) However I did have a $50 off coupon from someone who wasn't using the one that came with their iPod, and I used 2 $15 iTunes gift cards I got for Christmas, so that made the price a lot better.
 
I downloaded the B-Sides & Rares, I'm far too cheap to shell out all that money (not to mention I don't have any money at the moment - damn Christmas)

Some of the songs are amazing, but admittedly, some are a bit crappie... :huh:
 
I got the complete set for my birthday in March. I'm a new fan I guess compared to many people on here and I only had 4 of their albums. It seems worth it for someone like me really interested in U2 whos just a beginner. I must listen to it nearly everyday!

Although as Bono once said about CDs now being the hard-backs of music I would love to actually own all th CDs and see the artwork. I've promised myself when I'm rich and famous I'll treat myself. :)
 
:|

Got the iPod for Christmas. $50 off the box set. So $99 for 20 remastered versions of old stuff that was previously on vinyl, 18 new and rare songs, quality versions of the LoveTown and Boston shows (34 songs in all) -- a total of 72 songs -- almost $1 dollar a song, same as the per-song rate in iTunes...didn't mind at all.

If you don't have a lot of the albums, it's even more worth it.
 
Back
Top Bottom