Favorite "new" tracks off of the remastered albums?

[trevgreg]

So I was doing a little shopping on iTunes last night, and I was finally getting around to checking out some tracks by others artists from some remasters I had put off buying for awhile. It got me thinking how I haven't had a chance to check out any of the 80's re-releases that U2 put yet, and I was wondering if I was missing something from those? I did check out most of the Achtung Baby re-release, but from Boy up to the Joshua Tree, I'm still out of a loop so to speak!

So does anyone recommend any tracks that stand out from those? I'm not even sure how much "new" stuff was on those albums, but I would curious to hear some of them right now. And for the record, I do have most of the single edits, remixes, and b-sides that were released prior to them!

 

[Blue Room]

My only suggestions would be the Joshua Tree unreleased songs Desert Of Our Love and Rise Up. They are sort of rough sketches but I enjoy both of those songs. Besides the Achtung Baby new stuff those are the only other two "new" re-release songs that I listen to on any kind of consistant basis.

I also like the A Sort Of Homecoming remix by Lanois on the Unforgettable Fire re-release, gives it a Peter Gabriel vibe and a more upbeat vibe on the song.

Really if you are diehard you should get most if not all of the unreleased songs on the re issues, "most" of them are at least decent.

 

[PookaMacP]

Wave of Sorrow from Joshua Tree and Disappearing Act from Unforgettable Fire are the two I'd go for. Other than that, I don't think anything is *essential*, except the US remixes from the War period, but then you already have those. Everything else is worth hearing for historical value primarily.

But then, these are the words of a fan from the 90s, so it probably depends on your own preferences too.

 

[purpleoscar]

Disappearing Act - Addictive and if they put more work into it then it could have been an A side on an album.

 

[JoRu]

Wave of Sorrow and Rise Up from the JT-remaster, as well as the suprisingly nice remix by Daniel Lanois of ASOH from the TUF-remaster, are the ones I enjoy the most. The rest is mostly okay, but nothing spectacular IMO.

 

[An Cat Gav]

Disappearing Act, Yoshimo Blossom from TUF and Oh Berlin and From The Island from AB for me.

If songs of that quality are on the next record I will be very happy.

The different version of ASOH was interesting too.

Wave of Sorrow and Angels too tied to the ground didn't do it for me though at all.

 

[LemonMelon]

Disappearing Act

Saturday Night

 

[trevgreg]

Checking out the tracks on Spotify right now. Disappearing Act will definitely get a download (it does sound like it had potential to be something album-worthy). Wave of Sorrow, the Lanois remix of ASOH, and the Yoshimo Blossom instrumental aren't too bad either!

 

[Blue Room]

Disappearing Act, Yoshimo Blossom from TUF and Oh Berlin and From The Island from AB for me.

If songs of that quality are on the next record I will be very happy.

Wave of Sorrow and Angels too tied to the ground didn't do it for me though at all.

It is amazing how diverse U2 fans are with their music. The only two new tracks I did not care for much from AB were Oh Berlin and From The Island. I liked the rest of them. Especially Down All The Days, much better than what it became (Numb).

I guess Wave Of Sorrow bothers me a little because it is current Bono over a 1986 track. That is why I like Desert Of Our Love and Rise Up better because it is Bono from 1986. Kind of my problem with Disappearing Act as well. Neither are bad, but I do not listen to them much and I think that may be why.

I should have included Yoshimo Blossom, that is a good instrumental track, I'm glad they did not ruin it by putting current Bono vocals in the mix.

 

[Tyagu_Anaykus]

Especially Down All The Days, much better than what it became (Numb).

blasfemy! go away you demon!

 

[Super Yo]

Wave of sorrow by far.

 

[GirlsAloudFan]

Yeah. I'd have to go with Wave of Sorrow as well. Love the imagery in the lyrics. The Fat Man was arguably at the peak of his poetic prowess on The Joshua Tree, and this song taps right into that vivid, widescreen, dusty desert vibe.

 

[trevgreg]

Yeah. I'd have to go with Wave of Sorrow as well. Love the imagery in the lyrics. The Fat Man was arguably at the peak of his poetic prowess on The Joshua Tree, and this song taps right into that vivid, widescreen, dusty desert vibe.

Quite true. Interesting to hear these unreleased tracks that are in the JT-era vein of sorts.

Just downloaded Disappearing Act (whose intro reminds me a lot of the live version of ISHFWILF) and probably doing the other three I mentioned later on. Might be saving the rest for when I actually buy the physical releases, but we'll see!

 

[DGP00666]

I'm still so disappointed that they didn't include the Hansa version of "She's Gonna Blow Your House Down". What they included in the Achtung Baby remaster doesn't make any justice to the awesomeness of those early demos. Actually, I try to forget about the new butchered arrangement.

 

[Rachel D.]

Wave of Sorrow? Seriously? Avoid it like the plague, unless you enjoy cringing.

 

[dan_smee]

I'm probably the only one who loves Angels Too Tied to the Ground. I actually really enjoy all of the 'new; songs off the remasters. Only disappointment for me was that Speed of life is instrumental.

Yoshino Blossom is good. Disappearing Act is great. Wave of Sorrow is really good. Oh Berlin is awesome. Saturday Night kicks Fire's arse.

 

[Blue Room]

blasfemy! go away you demon!

Sorry you consider it "blasphemy" , I have never been a fan of Numb. I did not think it was great even when Zooropa came out. Everyone has different opinions and tastes which is quite clear from this thread.

 

[elevated_u2_fan]

Numb was cool for the collective "WTF" it caused when it was released as the lead single, the video is also pretty cool.

That being said, Down All These Days is a much more interesting song and other than Bono pretty much improvising for the last minute and a half I think it is superior to Numb.

 

[cobl04]

Heaven and Hell and Everybody Loves a Winner were the best off the remaster. Don't know why everyone frothed to Oh Berlin. Overrated.

 

[Rachel D.]

I don't really care for Oh Berlin, either, and I agree that Down All the Days is excellent, even though its ending rambles on a little and makes it sound unfinished. Blow Your House Down is a fun song and Heaven and Hell has some of Bono's best lyrics ever. Angels Too Tied to the Ground is an overall good song, but it just doesn't make any sense. What does that even mean?

The bonus disk for TUF has a lot of good songs, like Disappearing Act, Love Comes Tumbling, The Three Sunrises, Bass Trap, and Sixty Seconds in Kingdom Come. The live version of A Sort of Homecoming on there is really good, too.

 

[corianderstem]

Numb is all right, but man, Down All the Days is fantastic.

I like the mixed-meters going on in Oh Berlin, and the chorus is really nice, but the lyrics are stupid. And I don't usually care about lyrics, so that's really saying something.

 

[lazarus]

Shame about the 2011 vocals and lyrics on some of those outtakes.

Down All The Days = 10x everything else

 

[shart1780]

Never buy anything from iTunes. Why pay 99 cents for a song in horrible 128kbps "quality".

 

[trevgreg]

Never buy anything from iTunes. Why pay 99 cents for a song in horrible 128kbps "quality".

Well, it's actually 256 in AAC format now, and that's pretty much the equivalent of 320 in MP3 format (without the variable factor, like amazon has). I hate to make this is a sound quality thread all of a sudden, but unless your ears can tell the difference between lossless and a high-quality mp3 or if it's playing on a high quality speaker system, it won't really come through in the end.

Listening to Down on the Days as we speak too, btw.

 

[U2girl]

Blow your house down wins in the "new lyrics with old music" part.

As for leftovers from original sessions, Down all the days easily. Much better than Numb.

 

[bethere]

So I was doing a little shopping on iTunes last night, and I was finally getting around to checking out some tracks by others artists from some remasters I had put off buying for awhile. It got me thinking how I haven't had a chance to check out any of the 80's re-releases that U2 put yet, and I was wondering if I was missing something from those? I did check out most of the Achtung Baby re-release, but from Boy up to the Joshua Tree, I'm still out of a loop so to speak!

So does anyone recommend any tracks that stand out from those? I'm not even sure how much "new" stuff was on those albums, but I would curious to hear some of them right now. And for the record, I do have most of the single edits, remixes, and b-sides that were released prior to them!

Definitely the Unforgettable Fire. You need to get the full boxset. Its fantastic. The songs : Disappearing Act and Yoshino Blossem. I do not know how U2 kept these two tracks hidden all this time, why they were not released on the album, or at least as a B-side? This is easily the best remastered album with previously unheard tracks!

 

[bono_212]

Rise Up. Fo Sho.

 

[nathan1977]

Shame about the 2011 vocals and lyrics on some of those outtakes.

Down All The Days = 10x everything else

Down all the days and Disappearing act are both great - not a surprise that both were contending for a spot on ACHTUNG. (Lanois said as much in 91...something to the effect that they kept bringing Disappearing Act/ White City out of storage and trying it out.)

IMHO, Blow Your House Down is a complete missed opportunity. The lyrics fall into the current "too many words stuffed into verses" thing that Bono's doing. He did not improve over the late 80s lyrics, which were honing in on a rich man who really has nothing, and who's undone by a woman.

 

[trevgreg]

After listening to Disappearing Act again tonight, I can't help but wonder what would've happened if the band had completed it a few years earlier and included it on one of the more recent albums. I fear that if had been included on the same album as Mercy and they were both introduced as new songs at the same time, the U2 community might've exploded as a result!