UnforgettableLemon
Rock n' Roll Doggie ALL ACCESS
Maybe the remake of Pop could be an album featuring Lawrence on lead vocals backed by only the drumkit.
Shade said:
Like the single version of 'Please'. It maintained its energy when they performed it live, but that single version is atrocious, with the smoother bass playing and disco strings and the now-stereotypical descending U2 ending. The album version of 'Please' was raw and mean, unsympathetic, like a punch in the face, the way it needed to be. It was so unlike U2 - that's why it was an interesting song in the first place!
I hate it that they want to go back and change things that should be left as they are. I know they're not serious about it in this particular case, but it happens all the time with this band - tinkering with older songs that don't need it, when fans are just going to listen to the original recordings anyway. In a way, they're becoming the George Lucases of rock and roll. In fact, I think all further remakes should henceforth be known as the 'Greedo Shoots First' mixes.
UnforgettableLemon said:I really don't think the best of mixes compare with the changes made on the single versions of IGWSHA, Please, and LNOE. The singles had some minor structural and aesthetic changes, but still sounded like they belonged on that album. I liked the "Gone" remix on the best of, but SATS and "Discotheque" lost their soul to me. I like to put on headphones and get lost in the sounds. I think a remix somewhere between the best of and the album version for Disco might work, add the boom-chas back in, a few more layers of guitar, but leave the spacy intro. Staring at the Sun should have just been left as it was on the album.
Shade said:
Since we're talking about it, can anybody explain the out-and-out butchery done to 'Numb' on the Best Of... album? What the hell was that all about? It's like somebody woke up in a cold sweat in the year 2001 and said, 'Oh, God, there's not enough Bono and Larry in Edge's song! We gotta pull them UP! UP! UP! and add more Fat Lady! And all the background samples need to be arbitrarily shifted around! And let's throw in some Edgy guitars at the end so people don't forget it's U2 by the time it's over! I can't live with this unless it's changed!' On a song that was perfectly fine in 1993, when it was a hit for them. It cost them money to go make the 'Greedo Shoots First' mix of 'Numb', and at the end of it all, it's inferior to the classic mix that's on Zooropa. There was no reason for this.
jick said:This just affirms what I thought all along, U2 aren't satisfied with POP. It doesn't matter if fans insist POP is great, that is precisely why they are called fans - because of "blind worship." If U2 would make tracks of each member farting, these blind fans would still consider it innovative, ambitious, gutsy and the antithesis of safe sound.
Whether POP is great to a fan or not is purely subjective. But what is perfectly objective information is that we know that U2 aren't satisfied with POP. Bono called it unfinished. Now Larry wants to take his turn at fixing it. Eno called it disjointed. And U2 as a whole only put 3 POP songs in the Best Of (and only 2 of out of the 5 songs off POP that were released as a single!). And all 3 songs were remixed to sound better than their originals.
I guess this closes the POP debates.
melon said:
I really could give a rat's ass what U2 thinks about "Pop." I guess what makes me a (bad?) fan is that I like it despite what they think of it. Dare I say it, I think that "blind worship" would require me to change my mind about the album on the basis of U2 saying they dislike it. As for the three remixed songs:
1) The original "Discotheque" is better. Bono himself can't change my mind on that.
2) "Gone" is brilliant both ways. I really love that song.
3) "Staring at the Sun" makes me ambivalent both ways. I've never gotten strong feelings either way about it.
The next time you make generalizations about U2 fans and "Pop," please keep my comments in mind.
Cheers...
Melon
rjhbonovox said:
Abso-totally-fuc#ing-lutely. They made a complete asswipe of that remix. Numb was great on Zooropa so leave the song alone man!
Agree with that totally. I tend to listen to the Jools Holland Duet, or the Mexico Popmart versions instead.Flying FuManchu said:I hate the fact that Velvet Dress, I have to turn up the volume a lot to actually hear the song.
Flying FuManchu said:I hate the fact that Velvet Dress, I have to turn up the volume a lot to actually hear the song.