I REALLY question the band's decesion on something.

[U2Soar]

Good call on the comparison to Luminous Times.

[boosterjuice]

My major concern lies with ABOY.

I love the alternate verse WAY better than the album verse. That verse sounds so fresh and melodic. I find it very inventive.

[IrishDawg]

These guys have been doing it for about 25 years now? It may seem crazy that Mercy was left out, but I'm sure they had a reason.

[youtwohearts]

Some of my favorite U2 songs are B-sides. I think being a B-side makes a song rarer and not played out. Spanish eyes and Love comes tumbling (my favorite song) are both B-sides.

[shart1780]

The reason I care that these songs were left out even though I already have them is because I believe some these songs would be classics if they got more attention.

[djerdap]

Gorman, my man. I agree with everything you said. Alternate Yahweh is better, but everything else is much inferior to the album songs.

[Wowy23]

Originally posted by youtwohearts
Some of my favorite U2 songs are B-sides. I think being a B-side makes a song rarer and not played out. Spanish eyes and Love comes tumbling (my favorite song) are both B-sides.

Bingo; I can't wait for the next previously unreleased bunch. Bring on the B-sides.

[Wowy23]

Originally posted by shart1780
The reason I care that these songs were left out even though I already have them is because I believe some these songs would be classics if they got more attention.

I couldn't agree more! Don't worry though, X&W will be a classic in our inner circle, who cares about the rest of the world!

[JOFO]

you know, they've been listening to these songs alot longer than us. (what have we had them for? a week?) so they're in a better position to decide. you can't decide on what song is better than what until you live with it for a long time.
it's like when the beutiful day single came out and I heard always. I said "damn this is better than beutiful day". now, after considerable time has passed, I realize beutiful day is the better song.

[shart1780]

I recieved much better quality clips that weren't cut up and quiet and now I must say I'm much more satisfied than I was. I'm not so bitter anymore. It's like I got a little EP of new U2 songs in addition to HTDAAB. Man I love these guys. Awesome stuff!

[Yahweh]

I think this album is fine the way it is and couldnt have been made any better by these outtakes.

There is something to be said about album flow and thats I am sure what the band was going for.

[dabiggestu2fan]

Going back to the first post... If mercy was on the album it would be by far the weakest song outhere. I dont like mercy. The other unreleased songs like smile, levitate xanax and win and so on are okey but i like that they are unrealesed because they don't seem album worthy. The only one that strikes me although somewhat repitetive is are you ganna wait forever that one would have done alrite in the album IMHO as a 12th or 13th track

[petethechopp]

I think Mercy would have been a weird fit on Bomb, but who cares really? Its a great, great song with a lot of depth. I think someone said earlier about U2 over producing some songs. On this album, I think they may have over-thought some of these songs. Just b/c a song isn't radio friendly or has a repetitive tone doesn't make it a weak song. Who woulda thought of WOWY as radio friendly before it was released, and who wouldn't consider BAD repetitive.
Including Mercy might have made the album less seamless, but I think it would have been worth it.

[Shade]

Originally posted by ponkine

Mercy is far, I mean, FAR BETTER than A Man And A Woman or One Step Closer

Wow, I must be an alien. 'A Man And A Woman' and 'One Step Closer' are my first and second favorite songs from the new album. I do love that 'Mercy', though.

[Shade]

Originally posted by youtwohearts
Some of my favorite U2 songs are B-sides. I think being a B-side makes a song rarer and not played out. Spanish eyes and Love comes tumbling (my favorite song) are both B-sides.

I agree about B-sides. I often find I like them better than album tracks, perhaps because they are so vastly different from the rest of the music that comes out. 'The Three Sunrises' and 'Walk to the Water' have both been in my top ten favorite U2 songs for years.

On that same subject, I've always loved The Cure's B-sides better than their album tracks. 'Harold & Joe', 'The Exploding Boy', 'This Twilight Garden', 'Halo' - those were all solid gold songs, far more interesting than their A-sides.