spanisheyes
Forum Moderator, The Goal Is Soul
This afternoon while reading a review of 'Electrical Storm', the critic referred to U2 latest offering as a 'b-side' calibar song, good, but not great, and it got me to thinking.
The term b-side has always been an enigma to me, especially in reference to the songs in U2's cannon of compositions that have been relegated to a b-side song. Especially when in 1987 in the months following the release of The Joshua Tree, U2 released 3 singles that included the b-sides Luminous Times (Hold on to Love), Walk to the Water, Spanish Eyes, Deep In The Heart, Race Against Time, Silver and Gold, and The Sweetest Thing. It was reported that U2 where thinking of including these songs on the album and that The Joshua Tree would have been a double album. So in the mind of the band, these songs were at first considered A-side type songs.
At what point does U2 begin a song, work on it as strenerous as any other song that makes an album, and then when it is finished, it is seen as a b-side song?
Does anyone else find it interesting that some of U2's b-sides are as good as some songs that make it on an album, but are still viewed as b-side material? (Keep in mind for the sake of argument, that I love all of U2's material on their albums for the most part)
Do you think U2 sets out to make b-side or good material for their a-side songs, or do they see each song that they begin as being great enough to be included on a future album they are working on?
For me, what sets U2 apart is that they simply make great music, and their are many songs they make that just don't have the feel within a list of songs for the current album they are working on, but the band still wants to have their fans experience these songs produced by the band. I've just found myself moved with such songs as A Celebration, Boomerang II, The Three Sunrises, Love Comes Tumbling, Spanish Eyes, Salome, Lady with the Spinning Head, and Summer Rain just to name a few that have become personal favorites. It appears that many of U2's b-sides are songs that for other bands would be a-side songs, but not necesserily in the standards that U2 share in for each song.
So, in going back to the beginning, Electrical Storm is an awesome song that simply shows U2 doing what they do best, and that is always setting out to make the most passionate, alluring, complex music possible for the enjoyment of themselves and their fans, and heres to those many great songs, that even though appear to be on the back burner of many great U2 singles and a-sides, are just as worthy of praise for the power and poise they hold within them.
Chris
The term b-side has always been an enigma to me, especially in reference to the songs in U2's cannon of compositions that have been relegated to a b-side song. Especially when in 1987 in the months following the release of The Joshua Tree, U2 released 3 singles that included the b-sides Luminous Times (Hold on to Love), Walk to the Water, Spanish Eyes, Deep In The Heart, Race Against Time, Silver and Gold, and The Sweetest Thing. It was reported that U2 where thinking of including these songs on the album and that The Joshua Tree would have been a double album. So in the mind of the band, these songs were at first considered A-side type songs.
At what point does U2 begin a song, work on it as strenerous as any other song that makes an album, and then when it is finished, it is seen as a b-side song?
Does anyone else find it interesting that some of U2's b-sides are as good as some songs that make it on an album, but are still viewed as b-side material? (Keep in mind for the sake of argument, that I love all of U2's material on their albums for the most part)
Do you think U2 sets out to make b-side or good material for their a-side songs, or do they see each song that they begin as being great enough to be included on a future album they are working on?
For me, what sets U2 apart is that they simply make great music, and their are many songs they make that just don't have the feel within a list of songs for the current album they are working on, but the band still wants to have their fans experience these songs produced by the band. I've just found myself moved with such songs as A Celebration, Boomerang II, The Three Sunrises, Love Comes Tumbling, Spanish Eyes, Salome, Lady with the Spinning Head, and Summer Rain just to name a few that have become personal favorites. It appears that many of U2's b-sides are songs that for other bands would be a-side songs, but not necesserily in the standards that U2 share in for each song.
So, in going back to the beginning, Electrical Storm is an awesome song that simply shows U2 doing what they do best, and that is always setting out to make the most passionate, alluring, complex music possible for the enjoyment of themselves and their fans, and heres to those many great songs, that even though appear to be on the back burner of many great U2 singles and a-sides, are just as worthy of praise for the power and poise they hold within them.
Chris