Every Breaking Wave - has the full band version from the album ever been played live?

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hatrickpatrick

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I've more or less been in love with this song ever since the unfinished 2009 versions from Helsinki and Vienna were posted online, and absolutely adored the revamped version which appeared on the Songs of Innocence album. As most here will know, the "standard" live version of this song is a stripped back, piano-backed version featuring Bono and Edge singing it on their own. I'm just wondering, has there ever been an instance - even maybe a bootleg from a rehearsal before it was ditched for the tours - of the band playing the rocked-up version live, with the whole band and the electric guitar?

I would sell my soul to hear how it sounded, if indeed it was ever done. Searching online is quite difficult because looking for the full band version turns up page after page of covers (my own included!) and as such finding out if and when U2 themselves played the full version in any kind of live setup seems to be next to impossible.

I'm inclined to take this as an indication that such a recording doesn't exist, and even potentially that such a performance has never happened, but can anyone here confirm whether or not this is true?
 
Nope, it’s always been the acoustic arrangement. I wondered whether the full band arrangement would require too much on tape for them to be comfortable, but on the other hand they did Lights Of Home that way…
 
Yes. The one that actually has some energy to it and a guitar instead of that cheesy sound that replaced it.

I haven't listened to the original version since 2015 and replaced it on my custom tracklisting with this one.
 
Yes. The one that actually has some energy to it and a guitar instead of that cheesy sound that replaced it.

I haven't listened to the original version since 2015 and replaced it on my custom tracklisting with this one.

Really? The last 2/3rds of this track sounds really unfinished & truncated to me.

If you combined the best elements of both versions you might get something cool.
 
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Must be my personal taste--EBW is my least favorite track on SOI and worse than everything on ATYCLB and Bomb (saving maybe Sometimes, another track I'm in the minority on), and I'd only put Crazy Tonight and Stand Up Comedy below it from No Line.

I don't like Adult Contemporary U2.
 
Such a great song. I rate this their best song since 'Beautiful Day'.

I like that alternate mix, above, but it's lacking some nice melodic touches after each chorus that are on the LP version. It also seems Bono isn't singing the "in love with defeat" line (or did I miss it?), which is one of my favorite lines of post-millennial U2. For these reasons, I prefer the LP version.

I've no problem with adult-contemporary U2. What I can't stand is pop-U2 and operatic-U2... Ugh.
 
Yes. The one that actually has some energy to it and a guitar instead of that cheesy sound that replaced it.

I haven't listened to the original version since 2015 and replaced it on my custom tracklisting with this one.

I find the piano version of EBW with Bono crooning over it to be toe curlingly cheesy, seemed like they were trying to make it a song that is sung every week on X Factor.
 
Must be my personal taste--EBW is my least favorite track on SOI and worse than everything on ATYCLB and Bomb (saving maybe Sometimes, another track I'm in the minority on), and I'd only put Crazy Tonight and Stand Up Comedy below it from No Line.

I don't like Adult Contemporary U2.

I don't hate it quite like that, but it's extremely lazy, and a pretty staid, obvious retread of With or Without You, and everything about it is overproduced.

My opinion is a lot of people here (yourself include) overrate a lot of the No Line on material because you're so desperate to like a modern U2 song, but you put these songs up against their older material and about 5% of the tracks stand up.

(Of course, you could make the opposite argument that I underrate the songs because I'm so desperate to hate them, but I'd say you're wrong.)
 
I find the piano version of EBW with Bono crooning over it to be toe curlingly cheesy, seemed like they were trying to make it a song that is sung every week on X Factor.

Indeed. It's beyond overwrought. For some reason Stuck never sounded that bad, and easily could have.

I don't hate it quite like that, but it's extremely lazy, and a pretty staid, obvious retread of With or Without You, and everything about it is overproduced.

My opinion is a lot of people here (yourself include) overrate a lot of the No Line on material because you're so desperate to like a modern U2 song, but you put these songs up against their older material and about 5% of the tracks stand up.

(Of course, you could make the opposite argument that I underrate the songs because I'm so desperate to hate them, but I'd say you're wrong.)

Well, I give a little more credit to Eno and Lanois and thought they legitimately captured some magic in Morocco (how much of it they subsequently jettisoned we'll never know). I understand how many would have issues with something as clunky as Unknown Caller or Breathe, though for me what's good about them outweighs the bad.

But I really don't see how people could take issue with the title track, MOS, Fez, Cedars, even White As Snow (which is quite subtle compared to EBW and uses the French Horn tastefully, and less forced vocal). Those are all impeccable and varied to my ears, from the lyrics to the instrumentation to the arrangements.
 
For whatever your opinion on the first two albums of the 2000s, they were at the very least consistent. Bomb may not flow, but it's hard to make the argument that they over thought anything.

Everything since has been a series of near misses. Songs and albums that have very high highs but ultimately suffer from their indecisions around direction.
 
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