Bono on HTDAAB: "it f-ing annoys me."

[cobl04]

None of you got the best part of the Vertigo Tour, which was 8min Kitewith Tim Moriarty on didgeridoo.

 

[lazarus]

I love this. I was fortunate enough to see them at Rosemont Horizon in Chicago in the little test leg of ZooTV. Just life changing. Then waited 3 days in line to get tickets for Outside Broadcast. Pure ecstasy seeing these shows(and their mind blowing opening acts) as a 16 and 17 year old kid. Saw every tour after multiple times up through 360. 360 being the one show that was sort of meh.

I couldn't get tickets for the Rosemont Horizon inside leg of ZooTV, I just wasn't connected enough or knowledgable enough yet.

When they came back for the Outside Broadcast at the World Music Theatre, I was more hip to the game but was on a family vacation when tickets went on sale, and was devastated. But one of my best friends was a ticket scalper at the time, and after I begged him he begrudgingly sold me two tickets for the second night (during which the band apparently was very hungover) at face value.

I've had my share of luck with big shows in the 90s; I was in the first 5 rows for: Depeche Mode on the Devotion tour, Morrissey touring Your Arsenal, the Lollapalooza with Sonic Youth, Hole, Beck, Pavement, Jesus Lizard, Cypress Hill, and in the first 15 rows for R.E.M. on the Monster tour.

Thank the maker that U2 started doing general admission in the early 2000s, though.

 

[phanan]

So I think with a little order-changes, decision changes about previous releases, and tweaks to versions, this could have been their strongest album after Pop. All of this is fantasyland stuff since some of these things are maybe far-fetched and others don’t exist. It would also include a lot of ignoring half of the songs currently on the album.

01. Vertigo - as is, this is a perfect lead single, album opener, and pop hit. I wouldn’t change a thing about the song or it’s placement.

02. Xanax and Wine - lyrically I like this better than Fast Cars, but marry the lyrical content with the Jacknife Lee version of Fast Cars, and it would be great here.

03. She’s Gonna Blow Your House Down - here’s the first curveball! I think this was one of their best unreleased songs prior to this album. The drum beat is similar to All Because Of You, but the execution and melody is better. It could have scratched that itch. Possibly add in some of the very good guitar lines from All Because Of You, because really to me that song is a mess squarely because of Bono - both lyrically and vocally.

04. Electrical Storm - second curveball! I personally hate when bands release new songs to Best Ofs. It’s ridiculously presumptuous. I’ve always found the band version (eg. not the William Orbit version) would have fit in perfectly on this record. Only change I would make is the stupid heavy as a truck line.

05. Mercy - I’ve long been a guy who has detracted Mercy. Hear me out: it’s 100% due to the production. The version we got is waaaay over limited. Example? The guitar at the beginning is very loud. When the rest kicks in, it immediately gets quiet. That’s just one little example of the production issues in the version we have heard. This always has bothered me. Fix that and it’s a great song. (Note: the changes later were not for the better, it should be the original version)

06. Crumbs From Your Table - remove the clipping and this is a perfectly fine song.

07. Miracle Drug - maybe a better vocal take from Bono on the chorus, or having Edge double him would make it better. And get rid of that stupid freedom has a scent line and replace it with something not terrible.

08. Sometimes You Can’t Make It On Your Own - I don’t really have a problem with this song. It’s not my favorite but I know it’s probably the most important to Bono - but I like this placement better.

09. One Step Closer - no changes except placement.

10. City Of Blinding Lights - I think this is a natural closer/showstopper, so I’d end it with this.

Singles: Vertigo, Electrical Storm, City Of Blinding Lights.

Notable absences of songs I like: A Man And A Woman. I tried to get it to fit. I couldn’t. I think it could’ve been a good non-album single or a good fit for the ditched Rubin album as a complete song. Possibly all of the songs I cut could’ve been in line for that though (Love And Peace Or Else, Original Of The Species, Yahweh, and add in Window In The Skies, All My Life, and A Man And A Woman and you’ve got the backbone of a Rubin album).

Anyway, this is just daydreaming, but I think that fantasyland version of the album flows more musically and thematically.

Interesting list. I agree with some of your decisions, like leaving off Love And Peace Or Else and A Man And A Woman, both decent songs but marred by production (LAPOE) or fit (AMAAW). The live version of LAPOE was SO much better. I hope when they ultimately come around for the 20th anniversary they do a remix of that song.

Other than that, I keep most of the album intact. The two songs I include over those aforementioned ones are Mercy and Fast Cars (Jacknife Lee Mix). Xanax And Wine is held in high regard around this place, but that version of Fast Cars to me is superior.

For Mercy, unless there is a better version circulating that I'm unaware of, I think it has more to do with the copy of the leak we have vs. the production when it comes to the loudness at the beginning.

Also, to me Mercy works best as the penultimate song on the album, followed by Yahweh. It's the perfect place for such a sprawling epic, finishing things up, with Yahweh acting as an epilogue.

 

[AndrewCowley]

None of you got the best part of the Vertigo Tour, which was 8min Kitewith Tim Moriarty on didgeridoo.

I did! It was brilliant.

Heartwarming that they created that arrangement just for the Australasia leg of the tour.

Just had a thought. What the flap occurred to U2 3D? It must surface some day, surely? Likewise the full version of the Milan show.

 

[mikal]

I preferred the Vertigo tour to Elevation.

They actually busted out Gloria and An Cat Dubh, and Electric Co. for the first time in a while.

Plus, Zoo Station put back into heavy rotation.

The visuals were cooler, too.

And they had the benefit of touring an album with better songs.

On paper, absolutely a better tour, but being at both tours in person, even with the inferior setlist, there was just something about being in the building during the Elevation Tour. I saw 4 shows, and all 4 of them rank as probably the best U2 shows I've ever seen. I don't know if it had to do with the fact that I was at the height of my fandom at the time, or with 9/11 (2 of the shows I saw were after 9/11), or the fact that I was really up close to the band, but those shows were magical and haven't been matched in the tours that followed for me.

 

[lazarus]

For Mercy, unless there is a better version circulating that I'm unaware of, I think it has more to do with the copy of the leak we have vs. the production when it comes to the loudness at the beginning.

Also, to me Mercy works best as the penultimate song on the album, followed by Yahweh. It's the perfect place for such a sprawling epic, finishing things up, with Yahweh acting as an epilogue.

Yeah. While I strongly disagree who think the version of Mercy we have is a demo or unfinished, it's a copy of a copy and clearly not mastered in the way that would make it sound more in line with the rest of the tracks.

Mercy is a very good penultimate track, but Yahweh is not your typical closer, which for U2 tends to be a more subtle/moody ballad. Yahweh has more of a One Tree Hill vibe minus the noisy guitar outro. I'm not sure if the transition works. One Step Closer is the quietest track on the album but doesn't really work in that closing spot either so there aren't a lot of options and you have to go atypical to an extent. I think I prefer Mercy ending the album in that case.

On paper, absolutely a better tour, but being at both tours in person, even with the inferior setlist, there was just something about being in the building during the Elevation Tour. I saw 4 shows, and all 4 of them rank as probably the best U2 shows I've ever seen. I don't know if it had to do with the fact that I was at the height of my fandom at the time, or with 9/11 (2 of the shows I saw were after 9/11), or the fact that I was really up close to the band, but those shows were magical and haven't been matched in the tours that followed for me.

Yeah, it was my first time being up that close as well, and the experience was memorable, but I don't have the same attachment to the shows I saw. Maybe because I was already an "older" fan by then, having seen ZooTV and Popmart already. And I was definitely not at the height of my fandom having been relatively disappointed in ATYCLB compared to the 90s albums.

My final Vertigo show is one of my favorites mainly because they closed the encore with Bad into People Have The Power. What a way to go out.

 

[Irvine511]

None of you got the best part of the Vertigo Tour, which was 8min Kitewith Tim Moriarty on didgeridoo.

This is my favorite 21st century U2 moment. It’s exactly the kind of music they should be making right now.

 

[mikal]

Yeah. While I strongly disagree who think the version of Mercy we have is a demo or unfinished, it's a copy of a copy and clearly not mastered in the way that would make it sound more in line with the rest of the tracks.

Mercy is a very good penultimate track, but Yahweh is not your typical closer, which for U2 tends to be a more subtle/moody ballad. Yahweh has more of a One Tree Hill vibe minus the noisy guitar outro. I'm not sure if the transition works. One Step Closer is the quietest track on the album but doesn't really work in that closing spot either so there aren't a lot of options and you have to go atypical to an extent. I think I prefer Mercy ending the album in that case.



Yeah, it was my first time being up that close as well, and the experience was memorable, but I don't have the same attachment to the shows I saw. Maybe because I was already an "older" fan by then, having seen ZooTV and Popmart already. And I was definitely not at the height of my fandom having been relatively disappointed in ATYCLB compared to the 90s albums.

My final Vertigo show is one of my favorites mainly because they closed the encore with Bad into People Have The Power. What a way to go out.

I did see Popmart but the band looked like ants from how far back I was, lol. I did definitely enjoy the Vertigo Tour too. I saw 3 shows. 1 was freaking awesome (Chicago 9/21/05), the other 2 were good but not epic. Really the only 3 shows that I didn't get goosebumps from were Joshua Tree 2017 Chicago, Milwaukee '05 and the 360 Tour 1st night in Chicago. Both weren't bad shows by any means but they just didn't hit me hard like the other ones.

 

[lazarus]

Joshua Tree 2017 wasn't a huge one for me but Running to Stand Still and the dedication to Chris Cornell was powerful stuff, and me & Cobbler freaked out when we got Bad during the encore, and freaked out again when they busted out I Will Follow at the end.

 

[womanfish]

I couldn't get tickets for the Rosemont Horizon inside leg of ZooTV, I just wasn't connected enough or knowledgable enough yet.

When they came back for the Outside Broadcast at the World Music Theatre, I was more hip to the game but was on a family vacation when tickets went on sale, and was devastated. But one of my best friends was a ticket scalper at the time, and after I begged him he begrudgingly sold me two tickets for the second night (during which the band apparently was very hungover) at face value.

I've had my share of luck with big shows in the 90s; I was in the first 5 rows for: Depeche Mode on the Devotion tour, Morrissey touring Your Arsenal, the Lollapalooza with Sonic Youth, Hole, Beck, Pavement, Jesus Lizard, Cypress Hill, and in the first 15 rows for R.E.M. on the Monster tour.

Thank the maker that U2 started doing general admission in the early 2000s, though.

No doubt on the Rosemont gig. I dialed in for tickets for like an hour and then found out the show sold out in under a minute. Luckily a friend of friend had two tickets, and he seemed sort of undecided about going, so I talked him into selling them to me. Double face value, but that was still only 50 bucks. Still probably my favorite show of the 13 I've seen. Pixies and The Sugarcubes opened which was just another bonus. Also the loudest thing I've ever experienced. And not music, but the roar of the crowd when they walked out to Zoo Station. Amazing show.
Saw Outside Broadcast in Madison, WI. slept out for 3 nights, second in line and still only got 12th row. But that show was a close second to Rosemont. The enormity of it all. And just the atmosphere around the stadium the day leading up to the show. Hard to beat.

 

[phanan]

Yeah. While I strongly disagree who think the version of Mercy we have is a demo or unfinished, it's a copy of a copy and clearly not mastered in the way that would make it sound more in line with the rest of the tracks.

Mercy is a very good penultimate track, but Yahweh is not your typical closer, which for U2 tends to be a more subtle/moody ballad. Yahweh has more of a One Tree Hill vibe minus the noisy guitar outro. I'm not sure if the transition works. One Step Closer is the quietest track on the album but doesn't really work in that closing spot either so there aren't a lot of options and you have to go atypical to an extent. I think I prefer Mercy ending the album in that case.

I listened earlier, for the first time in a while actually, and I think the transition definitely holds up. And to your point, it's not like there are many options to close the album out. Yahweh really is the best choice.

On a side note, I hate how much time elapses between songs on this disc. Not sure if they kept it that way digitally, but in some cases there's a good five seconds of silence before the next track starts.

 

[cobl04]

I did! It was brilliant.

Heartwarming that they created that arrangement just for the Australasia leg of the tour.

Just had a thought. What the flap occurred to U2 3D? It must surface some day, surely? Likewise the full version of the Milan show.

I've got fond memories of that. Saw it twice with Axver and Jen and Cin, two former members of this forum. I remember me and Ax jumping around like crazy during The Fly, and the version of Yahweh was really beautiful.

Joshua Tree 2017 wasn't a huge one for me but Running to Stand Still and the dedication to Chris Cornell was powerful stuff, and me & Cobbler freaked out when we got Bad during the encore, and freaked out again when they busted out I Will Follow at the end.

Special night that was

One of my biggest regrets however is that I feel like, despite the fact I was THERE when they played Sort of Homecoming, I don't remember the moment well, because we were pretty far back and they were on the b-stage and it was still light out.

Rating of all the U2 shows I've seen:

1. Vertigo, Melbourne I (my first show, I'm 16, Pa had died a week earlier, still the best night of my life)
2. JT30, Melbourne (sharing U2 with Em)
3. 360, Melbourne I (Mercy-Bad combo)
4. JT30, LA I (first U2 show in eight years, with Laz, overseas, first time seeing RTSS)
5. JT30, Brisbane
6. JT30, LA II
7. 360, Melbourne II
8. 360, Brisbane I (dogshit setlist)

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

i love this album, love this tour, love this era and make zero apologies for doing so.

 

[super fly guy]

i love this album, love this tour, love this era and make zero apologies for doing so.

Same here,I was mid twenties when it came out. Great memories of that time,and the bomb was my soundtrack.

 

[dk42]

I see Bono's point, the album does have a pretty consistent theme and musically doesn't vary too much.

Frankly, the b-sides are quite good, love Xanax and Wine and Fast Cars, in fact, that's a sound I wish they explored on the album.

The whole U2 going, "let's just rock out and make a record like the Buzzcocks" is a worthwhile direction, but it doesn't quite gel here. The production is muddled, with just horrid mastering, that album cover oh my and Bono's hair during this era is a hot mess. However, I really dug the black and red color scheme of the album and tour though.

There are some good tunes here though and this was their last hurrah of pop culture dominance. I mean, I know it also rubbed some people the wrong way, Bono's mixing with Bush, them going corporate with Apple, the U2.com ticket fiasco, Vertigo was everywhere, it might've been too much. I think Vertigo has a great riff and it's got punch (I even like the video). I think Crumbs from Your Table is underrated, it's got a nice hook and clearly pretty personal for Bono. Some memorable moments from this era though, Bono crushed it on Miss Sarajevo and their SNL performance is one of the finest with the impromptu I Will Follow and an emotional Amy Poehler in awe while on stage with them.

I wish we could hear the sessions with Chris Thomas as I really wonder what those sounded like.

Alas, this era has nostalgia for me, but I became obsessively into them on the next album and tour.