Achtung Baby and Rattle & Hum remastered ... when?

[chocky]

I think it's obvious that the Salome/Hansa leaked tracks are far from complete. And there is nothing on those bootlegs that resembles One, Mysterious Ways, Zoo Station etc so it's possible a lot of new work started at Windmill Lane (even if the inspiration started in Berlin).

But the fact they went back to the studio to re-record "Houses of Love" as "Salome" for a b-side AFTER Achtung Baby was released, and included a demo (Where Did it all Go Wrong) as a b-side, suggests to me that there were no other finished tracks from either Hansa or Dublin worthy of being released in 91/92.

I'd LOVE a complete/finished version of Wake Up Dead Man (Hansa) but I think we probably already have the best versions they've done. And I DON'T want a version with 2011 re-recorded vocals.

Maybe we'll get some good unreleased stuff but it's possible the band doesn't have that much they WANT us to hear (Bono did call Hansa recordings "gobbledygook" that fans shouldn't have heard).

 

[The_Edge89]

And there is nothing on those bootlegs that resembles One, Mysterious Ways, Zoo Station etc so it's possible a lot of new work started at Windmill Lane (even if the inspiration started in Berlin).

Perhaps not as evident as say I Was Lost -> Unknown Caller but there are quite clear traces to be sure.

1. Zoo Station - Take You Down and Salome, the drumming and percussion of some versions in particular for the latter.
2. Even Better Than The Real Thing - Instrumental version
3. One - No full version, but there is something out there with slightly different vocals but it is not from these tapes.
4. Until The End Of The World - Chances Away and also in I Feel Free (official working title The Fat Boy)
5. Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses - Morning Child and Don't Say Goodbye
6. So Cruel - No direct equivalent but Sick For Love (Woman) a.k.a. Back Mask U2 supposedly has the same feel and the lyric "between the horses of love and lust I'm trampled underfoot."
7. The Fly - Take You Down (Guitar solo)
8. Mysterious Ways - No direct equivalent but Where Did It All Go Wrong has a similar guitar sound going on...
9. Tryin' To Throw Your Arms Around The World - Going Down South has the general music down - sans Enoesque siren-loop and also Track 4 on CD 4 features a rough and different take on the song, where we can hear Lanois saying "Is this Woman?".
10. Ultra Violet (Light My Way) - Take You Down (General feel and guitar riffs - re-used for No Line On The Horizon?). Also, in Sick For Love (Woman) Bono sings the line "A promise comes to this house, Where no one can sleep.".
11. Acrobat - Different take with Bongolease lyrics
12. Love Is Blindness - No direct equivalent.

In addition there is an early version of North And South of The River with The Edge on vocals (Take Today). Then there are some others that remained demos from what I can tell as well as musical and lyrical starting points for Zooropa (Lemon, Wake Up Dead Man) and finally 3 discs consisting solely of drum tracks.

 

[Rachel D.]

I think there's a good chance that we could see an AB remaster this Christmas. Weren't all the other remasters released at Christmastime? And since this year is its 20th anniversary, it would be good timing. Achtung Baby is 20!

And I would love to see an R&H remaster that includes the movie because, for one, my BETA tape recording wore out (that's right, I said BETA), and the DVD they have available now has no bonus material at all (as far as I know), which is really pathetic. So I'm holding out on buying a DVD until they release a good one.

 

[Galeongirl]

I don't remember which one, but one was actually released early summer. BOctoWar perhaps? Though I do expect AB for holiday season myself as well.

 

[theedgeu2]

BOctoWar was summer. I actually want a Christmas release. I probably won't have money for a box set if its released any other time of the year.

 

[nirniva]

BOctoWar was summer. I actually want a Christmas release. I probably won't have money for a box set if its released any other time of the year.

Seems like that's the best possibility, given that:
1) They seem to be planning a new album for spring/summer 2011, and
2) The anniversary for AB is in November, and they might want to use that to promote it.

 

[Rachel D.]

I don't remember which one, but one was actually released early summer. BOctoWar perhaps? Though I do expect AB for holiday season myself as well.

Oh yeah, that's right. I forgot about that. Those were in 2008 and I was working at a horrible job that summer. I've tried to wipe that time period from my memory.

 

[arzcrack]

I wanna hear an early version of one. A documentary on the band at the time would also be fascinating, particularly in Berlin, where things were apparently not going well until edge invented the One riff.

Why not two new shows? One indoor (Stockholm the obvious choice) and another outdoor from US (which one?).

 

[chocky]

I think it's obvious that the Salome/Hansa leaked tracks are far from complete. And there is nothing on those bootlegs that resembles One, Mysterious Ways, Zoo Station etc so it's possible a lot of new work started at Windmill Lane (even if the inspiration started in Berlin).
.

but there are quite clear traces to be sure.

1. Zoo Station - Take You Down and Salome, the drumming and percussion of some versions in particular for the latter.
3. One - No full version, but there is something out there with slightly different vocals but it is not from these tapes.
8. Mysterious Ways - No direct equivalent but Where Did It All Go Wrong has a similar guitar sound going on...

Not sure why you're trying to disagree with me (and why you're shrugging my comment?) but I think you're splitting hairs without realising the point I'm making.

My statement was (I thought quite clearly) referring to the point that it's "quite possible" substantial new work was done on at least some AB songs after Hansa (namely One, MW & ZS). Detailing how there are similarities in 9 other songs that I didn't even mention doesn't really prove me wrong does it?

(FWIW: The alternate One is not a Hansa recording, it was a different vocal take of the album version accidently released on a promo cassette and MW/WDIAGW are no the same songs, both were released).

 

[theedgeu2]

For the outdoor show I think Yankee Stadium would be really cool.

 

[dazzledbylight]

thanks for those songs breakdowns simon-- it'll help me go to the songs i first that I still haven't listened to yet!

I did absolutely did hear the main UTEOTW guitar riff underlying "I Feel Free"
I think IFF is actually as good as UTEOTW *ducks brickbats*
it's got a majestic, transcendent quality about it.

I haven't caught the similarity between the guitar solo in(Blow your House) Take You Down
BUT
there's a 3 or 4 note bass riff that matches the one in The Fly- right after the "it's no secret" line
==============

E 89> the Yankee Stadium show !?

That's the one me & my friends were trying to get tickets for (we're all NYCr's), and we couldn't!
Luckily though we did see ZOO-TV at Giants Stadium!
3/4 of the way back and 7/8th of the way UP! (scary- so high/steep stairs! )

In fact I ened up in GS in almost the very same spot - a few rows down for 360° in 2009!
Luckily I wasn't as scared of the steepness as much as previously!

 

[KhanadaRhodes]

10. Ultra Violet (Light My Way) - Take You Down (General feel and guitar riffs - re-used for No Line On The Horizon?). Also, in Sick For Love (Woman) Bono sings the line "A promise comes to this house, Where no one can sleep.".

fyi it's silence, not promise.

 

[The_Edge89]

Not sure why you're trying to disagree with me (and why you're shrugging my comment?) but I think you're splitting hairs without realising the point I'm making. My statement was (I thought quite clearly) referring to the point that it's "quite possible" substantial new work was done on at least some AB songs after Hansa (namely One, MW & ZS). Detailing how there are similarities in 9 other songs that I didn't even mention doesn't really prove me wrong does it?

I shrugged because I didn't understand your reasoning. What I reacted to was how you said: "There is nothing on those bootlegs that resembles" those three songs. That was my main objection.
Just like yourself, I see these as demos, inspiration and early starting points for most of the songs, including those three.

U2 have their habit of working on songs for a while and now that you've clarified your statement I understand your point.

Yes, Hansa was the starting point and obviously they must have done some work after the recording of those sessions that were leaked for it to sound like the end result since there are dramatic differences in some songs - perhaps the most so in the three you pointed out. I agree.

But even so, I can still hear hints in these tracks of most songs that ended up on Achtung Baby (hence the list), and that qualifes as "resemblance" to me. Similarity and resemblance are synonymous with one another as far as I'm concerned though. To say there is no resemblance to those three is not something I agree with tough. Then again, English is not my native tongue so perhaps I need to find myself a dictionary.

Even U2 themselves commented on the Hansa tapes a couple of years ago and how for instance Zoo Station, Ultra Violet, The Fly and Lady With The Spinning Head came from one and the same song. Evidently, Zoo Station and Lady With The Spinning Head are vastly different in sound, but if they say there might be a common ancestor for both in Take You Down, then I have not reason to doubt it.

Moreover, I also think that there are no really alternate versions of those three songs (as for instance with Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own/All Because of You/Yahweh) on the Hansa Tapes - if that is what you meant, then we can agree, I hope.

(FWIW: The alternate One is not a Hansa recording, it was a different vocal take of the album version accidently released on a promo cassette and MW/WDIAGW are no the same songs, both were released).

That's right, that version is not from the Hansa tapes. However, I had forgotten about where it came from though, thanks for reminding me!

I never said Mysterious Ways and Where Did It All Go Wrong were the same songs, just that it had similar guitar sounds. Beautiful Day and Always aren't to be seen as one and the same song because they sound alike, right?

Look, I'm not trying to be arrogant, all right? This is my point of view and I'm glad you clarified yours. I hope mine is a little bit clearer as well.

thanks for those songs breakdowns simon-- it'll help me go to the songs i first that I still haven't listened to yet!

You're welcome. Behind the scenes/outtakes/alternate versions is something I take great interest in. It's fun to see how things progress and songs develop.

fyi it's silence, not promise.

I just quickly copy/pasted whatever it said from the Sira Vista Achtung Baby Working Tapes compendium. Of course, I knew it's "silence" in Ultra Violet love, but Bono has his ways of changing lyrics over time when working on songs and I haven't listened to that demo version for a while so that's why.

 

[U2girl]

I agree with the above post, R&H definitely hasn't been ditched.

Joshua Tree came first and people weren't suggesting the'd ditched Boy-October-War. Also UABRS got remastered and that was only ever a 60 minute concert video and mini album, much less than R&H.

R&H is without doubt a full album. It has 9 new tracks, 2 unreleased covers and a live version of a previous b-side. So plenty of fresh material on it. And that period also gave us 2 pretty good b-sides, 4 great covers (incl Jesus Christ), and unreleased tracks such as Sun Studios Mystery Girl, original She's Gonna Blow Your House Down etc etc. It NEEDS a remaster, with or without the film.

They could drop the film for a Lovetown show DVD ?

 

[gareth brown]

We live in hope!! haha
a Lovetown show would be the BEST thing they could put on a bonus DVD with Rattle and Hum.

that's if they even DID include a DVD. I don't think it would make any sense to include the movie with it if they did though. there's just no point, it's been out on dvd for years, anyone who wants it's gonna already have it probably by now and you'd need something particularly great to make people shell out the extra cash for a 3-disc box. I remember the leap in price for the 3 disc set for The Unforgettable Fire compared to the Joshua Tree was crazy!

I think it would be amazing if they managed to get permission to release some unused footage though. Live performances at least would be great as well as some more offstage stuff that didnt make the film. Working on that song and so on maybe that demo will end up on the bonus disc? who knoooooows?

 

[U2girl]

They probably have lots of leftover footage from Rattle and Hum, although technically they could just remaster the album and leave the movie as is.

Still, 1989 Dublin or Sydney on DVD would be sweet. And that's just the stuff we know for sure they filmed...who knows what else they have in their vaults ?

 

[gareth brown]

They probably have lots of leftover footage from Rattle and Hum

There's quite a lot!
AchtungBootlegs.com �|�Rattle And Hum Outtakes
YouTube - rattle and hum outtakes
happy viewing! that's if you're at all interested haha

 

[mirrorballman]

Perhaps not as evident as say I Was Lost -> Unknown Caller

Offtopic but: Say what now? Just interested as I haven't heard many NLOTH demos. Or are we talking about the youtube FEZ sessions. Where did the title come from though?

On topic: Achtung Baby makes absolute sense in November 2011. It's the perfect 20th anniversary of one their greats. And that baby (no pun intended) does need some remastering!
If they do a glorious remaster package like JT or UF (= + unreleased concert), that'd be great, obviously. I doubt they will though.

 

[Rachel D.]

If they do a glorious remaster package like JT or UF (= + unreleased concert), that'd be great, obviously. I doubt they will though.

I bet they will! It's one of their most well-known albums, probably more popular than UF (at least among casual fans and the general public). I hope they make a super deluxe version in a nice box like the others.

 

[The_Edge89]

Offtopic but: Say what now? Just interested as I haven't heard many NLOTH demos. Or are we talking about the youtube FEZ sessions. Where did the title come from though?

Yeah, that's what I meant, I think it might be more commonly known as the "raw" version of Unknown Caller.

There has been speculation that the working title for the song was "I Was Lost" based on a list hanging on the wall inside Hanover Quay over Edge's head. The first verse starts out with that lyric so I suppose that was how the connection was made and it made enough sense for me to use it in that way.

 

[nirniva]

If they do a glorious remaster package like JT or UF (= + unreleased concert), that'd be great, obviously. I doubt they will though.

They'd have to be crazy not to. Like Rachel D. said, Achtung's basically one of the U2 albums, paralleled only by JT in the mind of the public. If they went all out for UF, they're going to go all out for AB.

 

[Galeongirl]

If we're not getting a major fancy package deal with AB's remaster, I'm handing in my U2 fan card. That would be UNFORGIVABLE!

 

[chocky]

If we're not getting a major fancy package deal with AB's remaster, I'm handing in my U2 fan card. That would be UNFORGIVABLE!

Absolutely. It deserves equal treatment to Springsteen's new Darkness set (remaster+outtakes+DVDs+BluRays+book).

 

[BVS]

Guys, I think mirrorball man was saying he doubts they'll add an unreleased concert, not that he doubted getting the full special package. At least I hope that's what he was saying because that part is just a given.