Is it too late to stop "Discotheque" from being put on the Best of 1990-2000?

[Bonochick]

Re: Re: GOOD NEWS!

Of course it will. "Discotheque" was U2's last Top 10 hit in the U.S. It also was only the second U2 single to go Gold ("Desire" being the first). While U2 have had bigger hits, in terms of chart rankings, only "Desire" and "Discotheque" sold well enough to go Gold in the U.S. "Discotheque" also went to #1 in many other countries, like the U.K., Canada, Ireland and Australia. With that type of success, the song will DEFINITELY be included on the second "Best Of."

Wow! I didn't know that, doctorwho!

 

[jick]

Re: Re: GOOD NEWS!

1. Of course it will. "Discotheque" was U2's last Top 10 hit in the U.S.
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2. I received the impression that U2 really fancied this song and have no intention of remixing it.
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3. Also, don't over-interpret the word "remix."
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4. Why does U2 appear to be focusing only on "Pop" and not songs from other 90's albums?
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5. "Pop" was an unexpected set-back for U2 and maybe now they are taking another look at that album, to see if they can give these wonderful, yet sadly overlooked, songs a new life.
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6. Regardless, I wil be stunned not to see "Discotheque" on the next "Best Of."
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7. All of that said, I do think U2 hurt themselves choosing "Discotheque" as the first single from "Pop".

1. Whoever equates chart success with a songs being one of the "Best Of" must be on crack.

2. Impressions are deceiving and don't reflect reality. And it's not even an impression your formed since you admittedly just received it.

3. Over-interpreting a "remix" is equating it with a "single version" or an "edit". A remix is a remix plain and simple, but when it is the band themselves who undertake to remix the song and not some DJ, then that should say something.

4. They focus on POP because they are stumped on how to make it presentable to be represented in either a b-side capacity or some cameo appearance in the best of. They don't need to focus on their brilliant 90's work, they can throw anything in and the public would hail them as geniuses, but for POP it's another story.

5. You took the words right out of my mouth, Pop was a "set-back".

6. Prepared to get stunned, unless they put in a "remix" of Discotheque.

7. If single selection is what your attribute to POP's horrendous quality and lack of any redeeming musical or lyrical value whatsoever, then you must be naive.

Cheers,

J

 

[wertsie]

Re: Re: Re: GOOD NEWS!

7. If single selection is what your attribute to POP's horrendous quality and lack of any redeeming musical or lyrical value whatsoever, then you must be naive.

Cheers,

J

I think it's time to open up a can of whoop-ass!

 

[doctorwho]

Re: Re: Re: GOOD NEWS!

1. Whoever equates chart success with a songs being one of the "Best Of" must be on crack.

This is a "Best Of" release. "Best Of" albums ALWAYS encompass past hit songs, several fan and artist favorites and one or two new songs designed to promote the album. "Best Of" does not mean J's personal list of his favorite U2 90's era songs. With "Discotheque" being such a huge hit, there is little question that it will be featured on this album.

Also, the fact that this song was such a huge hit shows that clearly it was enjoyed by many, making it one of U2's "best." The fact that YOU hate it means little.

2. Impressions are deceiving and don't reflect reality. And it's not even an impression your formed since you admittedly just received it.

What?

3. Over-interpreting a "remix" is equating it with a "single version" or an "edit". A remix is a remix plain and simple, but when it is the band themselves who undertake to remix the song and not some DJ, then that should say something.

You seemed to have ignored the fact that U2 have remixed many of their past songs themselves. Were all of those songs "disasters" as well?

Also, MANY artists have released albums containing nothing BUT remixes - and these were remixes of some of their most popular tunes. I'm not just talking about the P. Diddy's or the J.Lo's of the world either - I also mean such 80's alternative artists like The Cure. It is VERY popular for artists to remix or redo previously released tracks for a "Best Of" compilation, remix album or charity album.

U2 are releasing previously released material. You can choose to be ultra-negative, which you clearly are, and state that it's only because "Pop" was so poor that U2 are remixing these songs - OR - you can view these remixes as U2's way of giving us something new so that we aren't just buying the "same old/same old" again. The first "Best Of" featured material that was, at the time, at least 10 years old. As such, that collection did not require remixes as the goal was to remind fans of this older material. But this second "Best Of" contains material that is but a few years old. U2 may want to remix some songs to put a new spin on something that was recently released. In other words, they are doing this to entice more people into buying the album. Maybe it is just a marketing ploy, but it's an excellent one. Instead of giving fans the exact same version of a song they have on another album, why not present something slightly different and make the purchase worthwhile?

All of that said, even I acquiesced that U2 may also be doing this for their ego. "Pop" was a slight set-back (if you can call an album that sold 6 million copies worldwide and a tour that grossed over $170M a "set-back") and perhaps U2 are reviewing this work to see if they can improve upon it. Life rarely presents this opportunity to reflect upon the past. I'm glad U2 is pursuing it.

4. They focus on POP because they are stumped on how to make it presentable to be represented in either a b-side capacity or some cameo appearance in the best of. They don't need to focus on their brilliant 90's work, they can throw anything in and the public would hail them as geniuses, but for POP it's another story.

This is ALL your opinion. I don't feel that "Pop" was this *disaster* of an album. U2 said early on that they "rushed" the album. Well, now that they have an opportunity to examine these songs again, why not fine tune them?

Plus, I hardly doubt we'll hear any major changes to any of these songs - just a few tweaks as we did with the singles. If U2 are planning to release a few "Pop" tracks as b-sides, then slight remixes might be perfect.

5. You took the words right out of my mouth, Pop was a "set-back".

Yes, compared to the 18 million copies JT sold, the 11 million copies R&H sold, the 14 million copies AB sold and the 11 million copies ATYCLB has sold to date, "Pop" was a setback. Clearly U2 are used to monster-selling albums. That didn't happen with "Pop." But as even Madonna once said, an album that sells 6 million copies worldwide is hardly a failure.

6. Prepared to get stunned, unless they put in a "remix" of Discotheque.

I think it is YOU who should get ready to be stunned. I cannot imagine U2 releasing a 90's "Best Of" without one of their biggest 90's hits on it.

7. If single selection is what your attribute to POP's horrendous quality and lack of any redeeming musical or lyrical value whatsoever, then you must be naive.

I'm not even sure what that poorly written sentence means, so I won't address it fully other than to say that "Pop" was an artistic treasure. Some songs didn't work, some did - that's the nature of art. To say that it lacks any redeeming musical or lyrical value only demonstrates your own naivete and limited appreciation of music.

 

[wertsie]

Re: Re: Re: Re: GOOD NEWS!

I'm not even sure what that poorly written sentence means, so I won't address it fully other than to say that "Pop" was an artistic treasure. Some songs didn't work, some did - that's the nature of art. To say that it lacks any redeeming musical or lyrical value only demonstrates your own naivete and limited appreciation of music. [/B]

I love you, doctorwho!

 

[KhanadaRhodes]

This is a "Best Of" release. "Best Of" albums ALWAYS encompass past hit songs, several fan and artist favorites and one or two new songs designed to promote the album. "Best Of" does not mean J's personal list of his favorite U2 90's era songs. With "Discotheque" being such a huge hit, there is little question that it will be featured on this album.

only one thing can sum this up:

not having discotheque on this greatest hits would've been like having pride on the 80-90 one. i know some fans don't like pride. they think it's overplayed. or something else. but it HAD to go on there, because it was one of the first songs that really broke them into mainstream, at least as far as america was concerned. most americans hadn't heard of U2 before 1984. of course, by 1987, everyone knew who U2 was.

anyway, like it or not, some songs will have to be on the greatest hits. whenever atyclb is put on a greatest hits package (be it this one or the 00-10 one) beautiful day will be on it. some people like always better, but we all know beautiful day and stuck in a moment will be put on there. why? because they're synonymous with U2's fame as of late: they've become classics.

btw, leave it to doctorwho to know it's one of two U2 singles to go gold here. it's funny that it's desire and discotheque. if you had told me they'd only had two gold singles and asked me to pick the two, i would've said probably wowy and ishfwilf. (if singles were still big here, i would've probably said ishfwilf and beautiful day) i didn't really think desire was that big, and i remember hearing about how discotheque didn't do too well chart-wise. i guess it just goes to show you can sell 500k at #1 and at #30!

 

[Hawkmoon1021]

Re: Re: Re: Re: GOOD NEWS!

This is a "Best Of" release. "Best Of" albums ALWAYS encompass past hit songs, several fan and artist favorites and one or two new songs designed to promote the album. "Best Of" does not mean J's personal list of his favorite U2 90's era songs. With "Discotheque" being such a huge hit, there is little question that it will be featured on this album.

Also, the fact that this song was such a huge hit shows that clearly it was enjoyed by many, making it one of U2's "best." The fact that YOU hate it means little.
[/B]

I'd say it's a good chance that Discotheque will be on the Best Of. It was a successful single on the charts, but I feel it's success was probably due more to the fact it was the 1st single from U2's 1st album in 4 years, rather than everyone being knocked out by the song. I love it, but let's face it, a lot of fans saw it as a disappointment. They may have even bought the single for Holy Joe! That's one reason I can see it being kept off of the BO. Another would be if U2 wanted to get a different song from POP out there to be rediscovered, like Gone or Mofo. If they are going to base the new BO similiar to the last one & just concentrate on the singles, probably not. But who knows, they may just surprise us all and throw us a few curveballs. Having 2 new songs outside the 1991-1997 era is definitely a surprise, albeit a nice one. I think some 90's singles will definitely be excluded. Even the 1st Best of missed several "classic" U2 singles like 11 O'Clock, Gloria, 2 Hearts Beat, In God's Country....Guess we'll wait & see....

 

[superape]

Wow! Looks like I?ve found the right forum site! To think I?ve been wasting my time at Zootopians! I must say I was little worried when the first nibble I got for this post was :

we arent the ones in charge of everything, u2 will decide what goes on.

see it works best that way.

i mean think of it this way, after i see you post such a stupid and redundant thread like this, it makes me wish i had the powers to restrict your posting priviledges. but i cant. cause im not in charge. so im not going to worry about it.

Fortunately, the rest of these replies haven?t been nearly as caustic.

No matter what, it probably is too late for those of us who preferred that ?Discotheque? make room for other classics. Of course I can?t tell U2 what to do, but I do hope that people at least feel that as fans we could have SOME say about these things. These places are great for raising all sorts of fuss (you should see the stuff that goes down on DVD sites!)

One hint of what to come may be that poll that U2.com did a while back. ?Please? and ?Gone? were voted the top two fav?s off of POP by site users. I couldn?t the song rankings anymore to see where Discotheque was positioned.

BTW, I like the song ( and I love POP). Just like most everyone here. It?s just not nearly their ?Best? in my book (as opposed to ?Greatest Hits? like some of you guys have pointed out). The problem with the track for me is that it approaches a self-parody of the Achtung/Zooropa U2. ?Lemon? was a U2-dance song. It was smart, beautiful, and damn fun. ?Discotheque? is like a stripped-down, Hollywood version of ?Lemon.? I love the music to it, but with those lyrics it comes to symbolize where they went off a bit on POP. To me, having ?Discotheque? represent U2 of the 90?s would be like having ?A Room at the Heartbreak Hotel? represent the Joshua Tree/Rattle & Hum era of U2.

I guess we?ll see soon enough. And they can?t put every POP song on the new BEST OF, right? (unless that remix rumor is true )

Once, again, this forum kicks ass!

 

[doctorwho]

btw, leave it to doctorwho to know it's one of two U2 singles to go gold here. it's funny that it's desire and discotheque. if you had told me they'd only had two gold singles and asked me to pick the two, i would've said probably wowy and ishfwilf. (if singles were still big here, i would've probably said ishfwilf and beautiful day) i didn't really think desire was that big, and i remember hearing about how discotheque didn't do too well chart-wise. i guess it just goes to show you can sell 500k at #1 and at #30!

Just a slight clarification....

"Discotheque" reached #10 on Billboard's Hot 100 chart. This is the same chart where "Beautiful Day" reached #21, "Desire" reached #3 and "With or Without You" hit #1.

For a song like "Desire", the big sales are no surprise. U2 were coming off the hugely successful JT and "Desire" was the first single from a new release. It was a big radio hit as well as a popular sales item, even though it didn't quite hit #1.

"Discotheque" - while a radio hit at first - quickly lost its radio audience. It peaked at #10 thanks in part to the huge sales and early radio surge. It was the first "new U2" music since 1993's "Zooropa." Granted, there was "Hold Me...Kill Me" (which also was a good hit, reaching #16 on the charts) and OS1 (which few people in the U.S. knew of), but those seemed more like side projects as opposed to a brand new U2 album. "Discotheque" represented that "new U2 album" people had waited for 4 years to hear. Hence why it was so popular. However, if "Discotheque" was the second or third single, I don't think it would have come close to the Top 10.

These days, the Hot 100 chart is VERY heavily influenced by radio play. The top selling CD single will easily be on the Hot 100 chart, but unless its also receiving heavy air play, it will not be the #1 song. This is why people can have #1 songs with no CD single available.

 

[wertsie]

See, if I were going to pick my personal "best of" for 1980-1990, for example, since we already definitely know the track listing there, it would have included One Tree Hill, In God's Country, and at least couple tunes from October (besides the "hidden" track) for crying out loud! So who knows?

 

[bullet the blue sky]

I always thought that the "Best Of" albums were different to "Greatest Hits" ones... that way, artists can put on songs that weren't necessarily big hits or even released as singles, but are certainly among the best works in their musical cannon.

In that case, why was I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For on the Best Of 1980-1990?

 

[KhanadaRhodes]

"Discotheque" reached #10 on Billboard's Hot 100 chart. This is the same chart where "Beautiful Day" reached #21, "Desire" reached #3 and "With or Without You" hit #1.

i seriously had no idea discotheque and desire did so well.

i knew wowy reached #1 as did ishfwilf, but i have another question, billboard god. did sats ever reach #1? i was watching a pop-up video once (not of that song, it was the verve pipe song "freshmen") and they made it sound like it did. but i never remember it doing that well.

 

[doctorwho]

i seriously had no idea discotheque and desire did so well.

i knew wowy reached #1 as did ishfwilf, but i have another question, billboard god. did sats ever reach #1? i was watching a pop-up video once (not of that song, it was the verve pipe song "freshmen") and they made it sound like it did. but i never remember it doing that well.

You must come to the dark-side and read more "Peeling Off Those Dollar Bills" threads.

SATS peaked at #26 on the Billboard Hot 100. However, it did hit #1 on the Modern Rock charts.

 

[Michael Griffiths]

The question I've always had, is how could The Best Of 1980-90 NOT have 'Running To Stand Still'? RTSS just might be the most beautiful, fragile and tender song U2 have ever recorded. Maybe that's why they chose to leave it off?

 

[SkeeK]

The question I've always had, is how could The Best Of 1980-90 NOT have 'Running To Stand Still'? RTSS just might be the most beautiful, fragile and tender song U2 have ever recorded. Maybe that's why they chose to leave it off?

There is a very very long list of songs that I'd rather were on there instead of When Love Comes to Town

 

[Sevikins]

I dunno... I know that was an opinion question but it's really not up to us to decide what goes on their album. Whatever U2 wants on that new best of's album is what they're going to pick, not us... unless they add a poll in their site or something... oh well. I liked Discotheque though anyway, even if it's going to be or not going to be the new album.

 

[wertsie]

In that case, why was I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For on the Best Of 1980-1990?

What do you mean? Didn't it do really well?

Ah, I was just reminded of something...I played JT for my college roommate freshman year. She didn't recognize Streets at all, but when ISHFWILF came on, she said, "Okay, I know I've heard this one!"

 

[bullet the blue sky]

I will let someone else explain it to you.

 

[doctorwho]

There is a very very long list of songs that I'd rather were on there instead of When Love Comes to Town

I agree - R&H was WAY over-represented on the first "Best Of." They could have easily tossed in "Gloria" or any other song from the 80's instead (or in addition to).

While I like "Pop", I hope that U2 also don't have "Pop" dominate the second "Best Of" the way R&H dominated the first. "Pop" has some good songs, but given that it's a fairly recent release and that it wasn't *that* popular, I think U2 should make sure this second "Best Of" is a bit more even, with more tracks from "Zooropa", OS1 and some side projects (not to mention AB, of course).

I always thought that the "Best Of" albums were different to "Greatest Hits" ones... that way, artists can put on songs that weren't necessarily big hits or even released as singles, but are certainly among the best works in their musical cannon.

In that case, why was I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For on the Best Of 1980-1990?

I think in theory that you are right, but in reality usually "Best Of" is just another name for "Greatest Hits". Only if an artist has NUMEROUS "Greatest Hits" packages already released will a true "Best Of" come out. Of course, even then there will be redundancy as clearly some of the "best" songs will have been a "greatest hit" as well. Nonetheless, given that U2 has only one "Best Of" release to date, it's not surprising to see it full of most of their hits (with a few exceptions...).

As for "I Still..." I feel it is a "best of" and certainly belongs in the collection. In contrast, "When Love Comes to Town" should have been left off.

 

[wertsie]

AB should dominate the new Best Of!

 

[stagman]

I Think it would be a brave move to put Discotheque on the Best Of Album, They could stick it up the critics who hate it and gain some respect for the Song.

 

[wertsie]

I Think it would be a brave move to put Discotheque on the Best Of Album, They could stick it up the critics who hate it and gain some respect for the Song.

That would be cool! Another thing they could do, if the "remixing" rumors are true, is re-release the single with a new music video where they're not looking so much like the Village People...