Rattle & Hum should have been a double album

[LemonMelon]

I was reading U2 At The End of The World last night, and noticed them bashing the record, and it made me think "they're exactly right!". It could have been so easily improved. It's a very good record as is, but the hodgepodge mixture of studio tracks, live tracks, and random stuff they recorded while walking down the street is a weak concept for the record at best.

The trick to making this a great record is to separate the studio and live tracks onto separate discs with proper sequencing.

Disc 1: Rattle
1. Hawmoon 269
2. Van Diemen's Land (complete long version, crossfades into...)
3. Desire
4. Silver and Gold (studio version)
5. God Part II
6. Angel Of Harlem
7. Heartland
8. Love Rescue Me
9. When Love Comes To Town
10. Hallelujah, Here She Comes
11. A Room at the Heartbreak Hotel
12. All I Want Is You

Disc 2: Hum
1. Where The Streets Have No Name
2. Trip Through Your Wires
3. I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For
4. Sunday Bloody Sunday
5. Exit
6. In God's Country
7. Helter Skelter
8. Bad
9. Pride (In The Name Of Love)
10. Star-Spangled Banner/Bullet The Blue Sky
11. Running To Stand Still
12. With Or Without You
13. "40"

(All audio taken from Mountains & Deserts: U2 live in Denver 11/7/87)





So, what do you think?

 

[Zoots]

I prefer the live version of Silver and Gold to the studio version.

Also, does the "complete long" version of VDL even exist??? I've been trying to find it for years!

Otherwise I like your collection.

Mountains and Deserts

 

[Popmartijn]

Rattle And Hum was a double album.

 

[LemonMelon]

Rattle And Hum was a double album.

My copy isn't.

 

[BVS]

Rattle And Hum was a double album.

The Record company try to sell it as one, just because it had 17 tracks on it...

 

[ahittle]

R&H gets unfairly slammed. I like the mixed bag/travelogue feel of it, but I would've been OK with a few more key live tracks in there.

 

[coolian2]

I think it would have been better as a big EP without the live stuff

 

[dr. zooeuss]

I already think of it as a double album as well.

I like the listing you made; who can argue with adding more material?

Of course, hindsight is usually 20/20.

I'd like to see them release a double studio album next. ;-) Something they've never done, and they always seem up to challenges.

Plus Bono really talks about wanting to get back to the music. ;-)

 

[Allanah]

I really like R&H, but yeah, there's room for improvement. If nothing else, I think it's a shame that the live SBS didn't make it on the album (I thought their reluctance to even put it in the movie was well-intentioned and understandable, if slightly misguided.) Best version of that song, ever.

If R&H had added that, as well as Exit, Bad, and WOWY -- it'd probably be my favorite album.

 

[ahittle]

I already think of it as a double album as well.

I like the listing you made; who can argue with adding more material?

Of course, hindsight is usually 20/20.

I'd like to see them release a double studio album next. ;-) Something they've never done, and they always seem up to challenges.

Plus Bono really talks about wanting to get back to the music. ;-)

I was just thinking the same thing. Seems like they are good at building media-friendly backstories into their recent records - their return to their roots, their take on stripped down rock, etc.

A double album with room to stretch out would be fantastic. They could work in their potential singles while pleasing older fans with more esoteric material. Win-Win-Win.

 

[topplehatU2]

The thing is, if the second disc is solely live tracks then it hardly serves its purpose as part of a "double album" and just seems like a bonus tack-on.

 

[Aygo]

Of course it shoud have been a double album, although I like a lot R&H as it is!

my suggestion was (for instance)...

Disc One
1. Hawkmoon 269
2. Van Diemen's land
3. Desire
4. When love comes to town
5. Angel of Harlem
6. Heartland
7. Love rescue me
8. God part II
9. A room at the heartbreak hotel
10. All I want is you
(* Similar ideas Lemon Melon )

Disc Two
1. Where the streets have no name
2. All along the watchtower
3. In God's country
4. Silver and gold
5. MLK / Pride (in the name of love)
6. I still haven't found what I'm looking for
7. Running to stand still
8. The star spangled banner / Bullet the blue sky
9. With or without you

 

[martha]

Rattle And Hum was a double album.

Vinyl

That's how I bought mine back in the dinosaur days.

 

[MrPryck2U]

I like it the way it is!

 

[Screwtape2]

I like it the way it is!

Rattle & Hum was meant to be a tour diary for the fans and a way to capture a moment in time. In that way, I think it worked perfectly.

 

[kingofsorrow]

r&h works because off the way it is put together. that's what makes it unique. might be crap to some, but it is still unique.
preferably i would have liked a double live album off the JT tour and they could've thrown the "R&H" studio material out as an EP

 

[U2girl]

Either make it a big live JT tour album or make it a proper studio album. (kick out the live songs/covers/stuff like Star spangled banner and Freedom for my people and add She's a mystery to me and Slow Dancing on the album.

 

[elevated_u2_fan]

Vinyl

That's how I bought mine back in the dinosaur days.

Vinyl

Am I one of the only people here who has all the albums on CD and Vinyl as well?

 

[dietcokeofevil]

I think that the album worked. The movie did more harm than good.

 

[LarryMullen's POPAngel]

Rattle And Hum was a double album.

The first words in my head when I read the thread title.

 

[LemonMelon]

I think that the album worked. The movie did more harm than good.

The movie is much better than the album. More live tracks, fun demos, amusing interviews...it's just better.

 

[mandrake]

I wouldnt have cut One Tree Hill out. That was recorded, but should have stayed in

 

[martha]

Am I one of the only people here who has all the albums on CD and Vinyl as well?

I only have the vinyl ones I bought originally. AB was the first one I bought on cd when it came out.

 

[dietcokeofevil]

The movie is much better than the album. More live tracks, fun demos, amusing interviews...it's just better.

Maybe....but the filler material killed it. The interviews...the visits to Graceland...

 

[martha]

Yeah, but that version of SBS!

Why wasn't that on the album anyway?

 

[socceroo]

As a general comment, I'll say that it was an album that turned me off them for awhile. The hodgepodge state of it annoyed me. I would've made it a double album with a studio album & a separate live album. I really didn't like the cover of All Along the Watchtower because Hendrix did the ultimate cover that blows anything away.
What kind of offended me was a band that made a point of not playing traditional music did somewhat of an 180 turn & did just that. Stylistically it was all over the place. But now I have got my head around that it was a soundtrack & not a cohesive album.