Favorite ATYCLB B-Side ?

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U2Soar

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In the last couple of days there has been appreciation threads for Always ? Stateless and The Ground Beneath Her Feet. A couple of weeks ago there was an appreciation thread to Summer Rain (page 4 / 02-07). This got me to thinking about a thread to see what would people consider as their favorite B-Side from ATYCLB. Can a Premium member please make a poll for me ?

Stateless
The Ground Beneath Her Feet
Falling At Your Feet
Summer Rain
Always
Don?t Take Your Guns To Town
Electrical Storm
*Big Girls Are Best

In a number of interviews around the release of The Million Dollar Hotel Soundtrack Bono stated that TGBHF and Stateless were meant for ATYCLB but they felt it already had too many ballads. In the book Into The Heart Daniel Lanois stated that Falling At Your Feet was seriously considered for ATYCLB. I?ve read Bono say that the lyrics of Electrical Storm were written to reflect the post 9-11 tension yet I also believe I read that The Edge say during the promotion of the Best Of 90s that the musical ideas of Electrical Storm were from a track recorded during the ATYCLB sessions. Even if I do not remember correctly Edge?s comments I believe it has more in common musically and lyrically with ATYCLB than Big Girls Are Best. The liner notes for Big Girls tip me off that it was leftover from the POP sessions. ?Big Girls are Best: Music by U2. Lyrics by Bono and the Edge. Produced by Howie B and Flood. Assisted by Rob Kirwan. Engineered by Flood. Programming by Howie B. Original mix by Flood. Final mix and additional programming by Tim Palmer at Scream Studios, Los Angeles. ?
 
I?m having a tough choosing one. For today I?ll choose Falling At Your Feet. I find that it would serve as an excellent bridge between the struggle with God expressed in Peace On Earth and When I Look At The World and the peace with God found in Grace.

AB and POP had 12 tracks. ATYCLB was released with 12 tracks in the UK / Australia / and Japan. Where would place your favorite B-Side within the track order of ATYCLB ?

Beautiful Day
Stuck In A Moment
Elevation
Walk On
Kite
In A Little While
New York
Wild Honey
Peace On Earth
When I Look At The World
Falling At Your Feet
Grace
 
There is nothing like driving around on a bright, sunny day with the windows rolled down and listening to "Always".
 
"Falling At Your Feet" (which isn't a B-side, by the way)
 
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TGBHF if you count that as a B-side. Summmer rain is good and Big Girls are Best is a good go for the crotch rocker. I found Always rather lackluster and can see very clearrly why it was left off the album. U2 have ben producing not all that many B-sides since the eighties. AB had the most and since all of Zooropa's B-sides got rehashed and came out later in other forms (If You Wear That Velvet Dress, If God Will Send His Anges and Wake Up Dead man all ended up on Pop, while we all know where HMTMKMKM went). Pop had Holy Joe, North and South of the River and a (great) cover of Happiness Is Warm Gun as it's only original B-sides (unless you count the U2ish version of Pop Muzik)with the rest being remixes.
 
Always is a nice song, but it reminds me of Beautiful Day a bit too much to be a favorite. If I'm not going to count TGBHF as a b-side (and I'm not) I think my favorite is Summer Rain. Although I'm awfully fond of Big Girls as well.
 
I am well aware that Stateless - The Ground Beneath Her Feet - Falling At Your Feet are not technically ATYCLB B-Sides. This is just for fun and I?ve gone with a looser definition of B-Side. We didn?t get too many off of ATYCLB ! As I mentioned earlier the sole criteria that I used was statements from Bono and Lanois where they stated that these 3 songs were seriously considered for ATYCLB. I like Never Let Me Go but I never read anything saying that it was a contender for the album so I didn?t include it. It is true that they are releasing fewer B-Sides since AB whether they be their own original songs or cover songs. I wonder why ?
 
Always.

I think that since they were experimenting in the 90's, they decided to release more remixes instead of B-sides.
 
Sure Don?t Take Your Guns To Town was originally recorded for and aired on a Tribute To Johnny Cash TV Special. And yes as general rule U2 has not included songs written by others on their albums. Also ? more importantly for me - the lyrics have no connection to the lyrics of ATYCLB. However ? I like the song very much ? the vocal harmonies between Bono and Edge and the musical re-interpretation of it. And - aside from it?s dark lyrics - I think the brightness and the sunshine feel of it flows very well with songs such as Wild Honey and Summer Rain. As Night And Day was a precursor to AB one could see the vocals and the music of Don?t Take Your Guns To Town as precursor to ATYCLB. In a way ? maybe the new version of Sweetest Thing was the true predictor of ATYCLB. In hindsight ? didn?t Sweetest Thing / Don?t Take Your Guns To Town / and The Ground Beneath Her Feet reveal the sense of joy that Bono was talking about when describing what ATYCLB would be ? It fascinates me how they could combine so much joy found in songs such as Beautiful Day / Elevation / Walk On / Always / Grace / etc. and even the music of Stuck In A Moment with the heavy and serious themes of suicide (Stuck) ? death (Kite) ? violence (Peace On Earth) ? etc.

As others have pointed out in the past U2 seem to like to work in trilogies (the first 3 = the Irish trilogy ? the next 3 = the American trilogy ? the next 3 = the experimental / European trilogy) maybe ATYCLB is the lead off in what will be coined as the ?pop? trilogy or the ?jubilant U2? trilogy ? The next 2 albums will surely be unique on their own but I wouldn?t be surprised if continues and expands on the traits and themes of ATYCLB > A. More or less mainstream / radio friendly / a more polished U2. B. The ?joy.? C. The ?soul? / Motown / (insert other appropriate descriptions) type of songs such as In A Little While ? Stateless ? Stuck ? and even Bono + Edge + Eno?s version of What?s Going On. It may or may not be my preference for U2 but that?s one of the major reasons why I?m a fan ? their creativity and diversity. Sometimes when I go back and listen to the recordings from the ATYCLB era and I encounter some resistance within me I remind myself that going from JT and R&H to AB wasn?t a breeze either. And I?m not used to U2 being this much ?pop? ? this ?joyful? ? this celebratory vibe - etc. I am more use to them being intense ? aching - anguished ? dark - etc. If someone gave me a song like their cover of Everlasting Love let?s say after Zooropa and told me that they would put out an album in less than 10 years in which had a lot similar type of sounding songs I wouldn?t have believed it.

Probably a better title to this thread would have been ?Favorite Non-Album Song From The ATYCLB Period ?? And I also like the idea of throwing all of them on there ! Too bad the new Sweetest Thing can?t make it. I would?ve put it between In A Little While and Wild Honey

Beautiful Day
Elevation
Walk On
Stuck In A Moment
Summer Rain
Kite
Electrical Storm (Single Version)
New York
The Ground Beneath Her Feet
In A Little While
Wild Honey
Don?t Take Your Guns To Town
Peace On Earth
Stateless
When I Look At The World
Falling At Your Feet
Always
Grace

Approx. time - 78:49
 
So far Always is leading the pack of Favorite Non-Album Song From The ATYCLB Recording Sessions

Always 6 1/2
Summer Rain 4 1/2
The Ground Beneath Her Feet 2
Falling At Your Feet 2
Big Girls Are Best 1
Don?t Take Your Guns To Town
Sweetest Thing (98)
Electrical Storm
 
Do you count "Joy" from Mick Jagger's solo album... it was only Bono, but how can you go wrong with Mick on vocals, Bono with the Chorus, and Townshend with guitar...

I would add that to the list, but I really liked "Always" as well...
 
"Big Girls Are Best" is so rocking-ly, awesomely fabulous.

::runs away before someone realizes that she has posted in EYKIW for the first time in 38 years or so::
 
Am I the only one who actually feels all of U2's recent b-sides are kinda weak?
 
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