MERGED ----> There are too many flaws on best of + Gone/SATS Bastardized! + Sorry...

[bullet the blue sky]

I think what we are maybe seeing here is U2 possibly losing their nerve.

I don't like this trend for "revisionism" in their work. It's like they are backtracking on the 90s.

All the main hits have been left as they are, but the more experimental tracks have been remixed - ie, experimented on again! - and in most cases simply to drag the song back to something more acceptable, more traditional U2, more mainstream.

Imagine someone who hasn't heard Pop before listening to the Best Of... then buying Pop on the basis of it. They are going to wonder what the hell happened!!

The fact is that 99% of remixes and rerecordings are rubbish. The fans hate them because they do not stay loyal to songs they have grown to love, and the dormant record purchaser does tend to steer clear.

That said, the Best Of isn't really a best of at all. They have not put the best songs on (it's nearly unanimous here that Lemon is better than Numb and Please is better than SATS)... merely put on some of their biggest hits and "tasters" for the other albums. That way, people buying the Best Of could be tempted into buying the other albums for these other U2 songs they've heard about.

I do agree that the B-Sides track selection does seem pretty daft. But the free DVD almost makes up for that shortcoming.

 

[Schmeg]

OH DEAR GOD I NEED TO MOVE TO DUBLIN AND BE THEIR FRIENDS!!!!!!

[/QUOTE]


LMAO! I decided this while reading U2@TEOTW and I came to the following conclusions on why I am destined to meet U2: Bill Flannagan lived in Rhode Island...I live in Rhode Island...He can write...I was an English major...Larry likes merchandising...I work at the Gap...Obviously I am their best friend they never met!

::runs to write resume and cover letter to Principle Management::

PS- I am right now putting in my 80-90 CD to listen back to back

 

[rymyx]

Hey Bullet I think you really nailed it with your theory of why Numb and SATS were put on instead of Please and Lemon, pure marketing. As for the remixes I agree that they are bullshit BUT it seems only fitting that on their 90's Best Of the band would go back and experiment some more with previous tunes as in the spirit of the 90's - experiment and take chances except this time it wasn't necessary even if they intended it to be a commentary on their what they were all about in the 90's.

As you pointed out let us not forget that these guys are going to angle every move to maximize income, they are a business as much as they are a band.

 

[MrPryck2U]

Most of what you people have written about this new Best Of is rubbish. Plain and simple.

No one's putting a gun to your head to buy the fuckin' album. I guess I'm some sort of freak for actually liking this collection.

HUGE PET PEEVE: Please stop writing "IMO"! No fuckin' shit it's your opinion! We fuckin' know it's your opinion. It's called being redundant. Look into it! Avoid it! Sound like you have a brain.

Yeah, U2 omitted some good songs on this collection, but I'm sure in a few more years, U2 fans will get all they can stomach when their inevitable box set will be released.

 

[rymyx]

you and you're 196 posts don't scare me, IMO.

Lets hope for a boxset.

 

[MrPryck2U]

They took some of my posts away when the site was changed. I joined this site in June of 2000. I don't post a lot. I post enough.

 

[wertsie]

Most of what you people have written about this new Best Of is rubbish. Plain and simple.

No one's putting a gun to your head to buy the fuckin' album. I guess I'm some sort of freak for actually liking this collection.

I agree with you there.

HUGE PET PEEVE: Please stop writing "IMO"! No fuckin' shit it's your opinion! We fuckin' know it's your opinion. It's called being redundant. Look into it! Avoid it! Sound like you have a brain.

Um...I think that's more than a little rude. You can't expect people to take what you say as credible when you say things like this.

 

[follower]

Why not letting the guys speak for themselves? And I'm not talking about you, and me. I'm talking about the band members. Edge has spoken. I highly recommend for you all to know what the man has to say. They did what they thought it was best, and it seems that he played the main role. Here are his quotes about the 4 new mixes, it's from that Billboard article. You can find the whole text here:

http://forum.interference.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=67848

"Gone" (from 1997's "Pop"):
"That's a tune we did remix and rework for this collection. I think we really finished that song -- the arrangement -- after we recorded and released it and went on the road. When we began playing it live, it took on this whole other dimension. So when we came to picking songs for this collection, it struck me that this is an opportunity to really do that song full justice -- record a version that took advantage of what we learned about the arrangement live. So I re-recorded some of the guitars, but we used an original drum performance of Larry's from when the song was first recorded and it was like the second take. He just turned out this amazing drum performance. And Mike Hedges found it on tape, and we worked on that and that became the backing track. So in some ways it's a mixture of kind of new innovations and back to like the second time we played it. So, it's quite a nice combination of inspiration and the first energy of playing and also taking advantage of some insight into the song and the arrangement and what we learned over the course of playing it for such a long time."

"Discotheque" (from "Pop"): "'Discotheque' is a song again, like 'Gone,' that started to really come through live and so we made a new recording of our new arrangement using an earlier drum track. I redid some of the guitars. I think we used all the original vocals. But it's really pared back. The album version borrowed a lot from dance music and the aesthetics of dance music and what was going on at that time. But this version is back to the band, the essence of what U2 is about. It's more reminiscent of the way that song was performed live. I think it's more to the point."

"Staring at the Sun" (from "Pop"):
"That song started out as just an acoustic guitar tune. I didn't really know where to take it. I played it to Bono and he loved it, but we thought maybe it was a bit traditional. And then we started kicking around some lyric ideas, and the band got very excited about it again. Ya know, it's one of those songs that we struggled with a bit to try and find its identity, musically. We had another go at mixing it for this record. And it's quite abstract in places, this version. But I really think it's a case of supporting the lyric. It's a very simple melody, a very simple arrangement, but it's a very important lyric. And I think this version kind of underpins that in a very successful way."

"Numb" (from "Zooropa"):
"One of the things that makes our band so stable is that no one is interested in competing with anyone else in the band in the area where they are best. So Bono's not trying to be the lead guitar player, and Larry's not trying to be the singer, and I'm not trying to be the singer. So when it came to 'Numb,' at first I wasn't sure if this was gonna work for me, or the band. And I originally recorded the vocal literally because I was gonna play it for Bono and ask him if he would have a go at singing it.

If Bono is the great communicator in the band, and the guy who can be upfront and put across a song and a melody and a lyric, my approach is much more quiet, internal. There's a lot going on, but it's not really on the surface. So in this instance, I think this song was sort of tailor-made for me, in that it's a noncommunication. There's humor there, there's a lot in the lyric, but it's not put over like a lead singer would put over a tune. It's really deadpan; it's really understated. So, if ever there was a song that was kind of designed for me to take the vocal, it was this tune. In a way, it was kind of the anti-communication, anti-frontman, anti-lead singer song. I can't imagine ever doing anything like it again. But during that moment on the 'Zooropa' album, we were really kind of taking a lot of chances and trying a lot of new things. And that was one of the successes, I think, of that record."

 

[Popmartijn]

Follower,

Good post about Edge's comment. Earlier this evening I also read that article. What also struck me were the songs they tried to remix but do not appear on the Best Of as a remix. Like this one:

"Stay (Faraway, So Close)" (from 1993's "Zooropa"):
[...]
But it took a long time to record, because, originally, we had so many guitars and keyboards on the tune, it was really kind of overloaded with ideas. And when it came time to do the final mix, one of the guitars that I had least interest in -- or put hardly any time into -- became the main guitar part in the tune. Ya know, we really kind of stripped it back. Flood just turned out this great mix. And in fact we tried to remix the song for the new collection because we thought, ya know, 'That mix was done so quickly, there has to be an even better mix there if we just put some time into it.' But we couldn't beat it -- it's got such a vibe that's so subtle. Ya know, it's sort of a masterful piece of work. So I was kind of happy in a way that we didn't [remix]. We sort of restored my faith in capturing a moment and how music is really something that has to happen spontaneously. It's not something you can really work on over a long period of time."

So more remixes were planned, but they did not work out well for U2. I think we'll never know what might have been. Nevertheless, the originals are often good enough for us. An excellent remix is then a nice bonus.

C ya!

Marty

 

[follower]

So more remixes were planned, but they did not work out well for U2. I think we'll never know what might have been. Nevertheless, the originals are often good enough for us. An excellent remix is then a nice bonus.

C ya!

Marty

Nicely put Marty, that?s the way I think as well. And what a surprise about Stay! I really think people should read these Edge?s track-by-track coments to understand what were on their minds and what they were trying to acomplish with this so-called revisionism they did.

 

[wertsie]

I listened to an interview with Larry today where he talked about the new Best Of. He said something about how it was nice to revisit those songs, but it was also like they were "saying goodbye" to them, in a way.