I've been working on an alternate version of HTDAAB for a while now, and finally got it down to something I liked:
HOW TO ASSEMBLE AN ATOMIC BOMB
01. All Because of You
02. Vertigo
03. Sometimes You Can't Make it on Your Own
04. Love and Peace or Else
05. Electrical Storm
06. Smile
07. One Step Closer
08. A Man and a Woman
09. Are You Gonna Wait Forever?
10. City of Blinding Lights
11. Xanax and Wine
Thought process? I tried to maintain that rougher feeling the album lacked when U2 included tracks like Miracle Drug and OOTS and chose a more stock guitar sound for Sometimes. In this approach, AYGWF was a natural for inclusion and so was Xanax in lieu of Fast Cars. (Y'know, punk rock from Venus and all that.) My version of ABOY is a hybrid of the album and alt mixes - it's alt until the bridge, where it turns into the album mix. Same with SYCMIOYO. There's a few other differences: Vertigo has a different intro, LAPOE ends sooner, COBL is sped up a bit. I also attempted to make Electrical, Smile, AYGWF, Xanax and the alt sections of ABOY & Sometimes sound like the rest of the real album. Which pretty much meant smushing out dynamics and turning up bass.
ABOY + Vertigo makes a kickass one-two punch. I included both songs about Bono's father, considering they give the album some identity. The lover's quarrel from the end of LAPOE continues through ES and Smile before another song about his dad. The heaviness is lifted with a couple throwaway songs before the big album highlight, the album's big journey. Then some garage rock and we're done. I like to think the narrator is a little neurotic, easily overwhelmed, hurt by love and doing his best to expand his borders. Which only makes him crazy-neurotic.
tl;dr - much more rawk and very better.
I wanted to share this album on interference, but I'm kind of a file-sharing noob. I put all the files up on megaupload, so if anybody wants to hear my version, just leave your e-mail in this thread or whatever. I'll e-mail you the links.