A brief defense of the album version of 'Please'...

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namkcuR

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The album version of 'Please' has a bad name around here because of the lack of the solo at the end. I admit that I love that solo.

However, in listening to the album version for the first time in a while...I have to say...there's something really fucking...great...about the interplay of Bono's vocal from 'so love is big/bigger than us/but love is not/what you're thinking of/it's what lovers deal/it's what lovers steal/you know I found it hard to recieve/'cause you my love/I could never believe' and Edge's four-note backing vocal that is NON-EXISTENT IN ANY OTHER VERSION OF THE SONG. It gives the whole thing a really gritty feel, almost an entirely different vibe than the backing-vocal-less big-drama guitar solo single and live versions. In fact, the album version of the song almost 'fits' with songs like Discotheque, Do You Feel Loved, Last Night On Earth, Gone, Miami, etc, more than the others do.

I don't know.

The album version of Please is not the piece of crap that many might say it is.

I think, depending on the mood you're in, it keeps the soul of the song alive but within a much more intimate vibe.

Just a thought.
 
The album version is creepy and atmospheric, and sounds amazing next to Wake Up Dead Man. Solo or not, the single version wouldn't sound as good in that context.
 
I listened to it the other day for the first time in two years, and yeah, it's not that bad. The thing that really stands out is how hard the bass is down in the mix; the whole song has a staccato kind of driving rhythm that is entirely absent from the single and most live versions.

I think what happened was they tried to make "Please" sound like a Pop techno-dance arrangement on the LP, and then later realized that it was one of their best songs and they had to let the song come out from behind the production. Hence, it became another big U2-anthem (which is fair -- it's better that way).

Does anyone know why they didn't (with a couple of rare exceptions) play "Please" on the 2001 or 2005-6 tours? It seems like it would be an obvious winner...
 
It gives the whole thing a really gritty feel, almost an entirely different vibe than the backing-vocal-less big-drama guitar solo single and live versions. In fact, the album version of the song almost 'fits' with songs like Discotheque, Do You Feel Loved, Last Night On Earth, Gone, Miami, etc, more than the others do.

The album version is creepy and atmospheric, and sounds amazing next to Wake Up Dead Man. Solo or not, the single version wouldn't sound as good in that context.

I think what happened was they tried to make "Please" sound like a Pop techno-dance arrangement on the LP, and then later realized that it was one of their best songs and they had to let the song come out from behind the production. Hence, it became another big U2-anthem

Yeah I think I agree with all of this.
 
In fact, the album version of the song almost 'fits' with songs like Discotheque, Do You Feel Loved, Last Night On Earth, Gone, Miami, etc, more than the others do.
definitely

it's something I feel is missing in a lot of discussions on U2 albums here
in the context of the album the song is on a lot of decisions they made do make sense
 
The album version IS better. The live solo (and Larry's drums behind it) is great, but that's the only element that really marks an improvement. I really don't like Bono's yelling at the end either.
 
Totally agree. I like the album version much better.

The "love is hard, love is tough" section is what totally makes the song for me, and in my opinion, it's much better on the album version. Also the "it's what lover's deal, it's what lovers steal" is my favorite part of the song and it loses its momentum coming in after that solo and that yelling.

Album version is truly awesome in my eyes.
 
The live version of Please on Popmart was by far the best version of the song. Does that make the album version bad? No. You could also argue that Streets on Popmart was one of the best versions of that song. What I'm getting at is that Popmart was a reinvention of so many songs. The Popmart version of the song is great but it doesn't make sense on the album. Wake Up Dead Man wouldn't make sense after it.
 
It's my favourite song on Pop, and one of my favourite U2 songs. I like the album version better than all live versions I've heard.
 
I have always preferred the album version to the single, and I think I'm the only person on here who doesn't like it live. Album version all the way.
 
I have always preferred the album version to the single, and I think I'm the only person on here who doesn't like it live. Album version all the way.

Without the transition into Streets I'd agree with you. The Elevation and Vertigo versions were terrible. To me live Please without Streets is like An Cat Dubh without Into The Heart or October without New Year's Day.
 
For me, after listening to the live rendition for so long, the album version sounds a bit half-baked and confused, but I think, as with so many U2 songs, its about approaching each version with different expectations.

As others have said the studio cut makes much more sense within the context of the album, its all about mood and atmosphere, you can't just jump straight into the despair of Wake Up Dead Man, you need to lay the ground work a little and Please does that brilliantly, slowly building that sense of frustration and fear, preparing the listener for the final track.

The live version is more about scope and drama, its without doubt my favourite rendition of the song, it just seemed to realise its full potential (much more than the single version, despite the bands best efforts), it seemed much more complete on stage. I love how it takes us from quiet anger, through desperation, to melancholy and then into the dawning hope of Streets, it may well be my all-time favourite live moment of the nineties.
 
Live/Single > Album. If there's one U2 song that truly benefited as a single, it's Please.
 
Imo, the single version of Please is just an evolved version of the album version. I agree that the album version fits better on the album and certainly has some elements that are missing on the single version, but all in all, I guess the album version is just to weird. I mean, Adams bassline is deliberately out of tune, but that makes it sound so off key that I always skip the song on the album.

And of course, being Dutch, I'm a bit proud of the Dutch strings that are on the single version :up:
 
Does anyone know why they didn't (with a couple of rare exceptions) play "Please" on the 2001 or 2005-6 tours? It seems like it would be an obvious winner...

AGREE.

They should think about changing Bullet the Blue Sky or Sunday bloody Sunday, two are played almost in every concert, for Please. And bring wake Up Dead Man back too!!!
 
No need to defend the album version of Please, it's perfection.

Agree 100%. It's got that intense feel of desperation and comes off as a pretty dark song...you won't get that with any of the other versions; they may rock harder, but a song like Please doesn't need to.
 
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