As I'm in Dublin now, I thought about going to the midnight sale at HMV--actually, I might very well have done so, but I have a bad cough these days and I've been staying up too late anyway and I didn't want to make it worse. But I'm kind of sorry now I didn't because the Big Heads made an appearance. However, I went to Tower Records on Monday and got it there for 5 E less than I would have at HMV, so...
Here are a few of my thoughts on this best of:
-the line change in Mysterious Ways is just weird; I want to hear an explanation. I don't really mind, because of course I have the original, but it's certainly not an improvement.
-the new version of Gone seems like a bit of a missed opportunity. I think that the original is a really, really good song, with great lyrics, and it had potential to be a great song. Although there are some things about the new version I like more, overall I don't think it's much better, if at all.
-remix of Numb is probably worse, but I never liked it anyway, except as a performance piece--the video is so funny.
-remix of SATS is another missed opportunity. The drums sound fiddly. I really think I prefer the original, except the Edge harmonies are good.
-remix of Discotheque comes close to making me like the song! I still don't like it a lot, except in bits, but it's much less of a mess.
-Compared to the B-sides disc of the 80's best of, this B-sides disc makes me think that U2's creativity was not as high as so many people say it was in the 90's. It's almost all remixes. Most of them, as tends to be the case with remixes, are not actually improvements. Look at the 80's b-sides disc; all new songs, most of them not covers, and admittedly not all are amazing, but then there are incredible songs like Love Comes Tumbling, Three Sunrises, Luminous Times, and Walk to the Water.
-I am actually angry at the fact that they included two songs off Passengers and that on the 80's package there was just one song off October and that one a hidden track.
Guys, why don't you just pull October out of circulation? You obviously despise it. As for the two Passengers tracks, Miss Sarajevo really isn't that strong, though it has moments. But Your Blue Room is beautiful and very sensual, much more so than If You Wear That Velvet Dress.
-I'm glad to have this new package, but it's not as strong as the 80's package.