TheEdge58
The Fly
If you could make any changes to any album U2 has ever released, what would the changes be?
Make Changes to any Album
- Thread starter TheEdge58
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If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
BVS
Blue Crack Supplier
I would change the release date of Songs of Ascent to March 2010
Steved1998
Rock n' Roll Doggie
I would eliminate Wild Honey, Peace on Earth, Grace, Yahweh, One Step Closer, Stand Up Comedy, and All Because of You...and Stuck and In a Little While would be unplayable live
dan_smee
ONE love, blood, life
Steve, you are wrong. I like One Step Closer, therefore it is a great song.
Fuck you man!
Fuck you man!
Steved1998
Rock n' Roll Doggie
But we may have had Fast Cars or something!
Mercy04 is controversial so I didn't mention it. ... or maybe I just did shit.. Ok Mercy04 too.
Vlad n U 2
Blue Crack Addict
- Joined
- Jul 6, 2008
- Messages
- 28,386
1. Hold U2 hostage and force them to release 4 albums in the space of an hour.
2. Put all band members + McGuinness in boot.
3. Realise McGuinness is too fat, order delivery van.
4. Unload McGuinness at fitness centre.
5. Drive band members to my house.
6. They play 3 hour show in my alfresco.
7. Force them to play songs from Pop and deeper cuts from Passengers.
8. Keep food at a notable distance away from Bono.
9. After show, lock band in cellar.
10. Profit???
2. Put all band members + McGuinness in boot.
3. Realise McGuinness is too fat, order delivery van.
4. Unload McGuinness at fitness centre.
5. Drive band members to my house.
6. They play 3 hour show in my alfresco.
7. Force them to play songs from Pop and deeper cuts from Passengers.
8. Keep food at a notable distance away from Bono.
9. After show, lock band in cellar.
10. Profit???
Steved1998
Rock n' Roll Doggie
FAIL. You forgot to tape the show.. Go back to 1 and try again
Vlad n U 2
Blue Crack Addict
- Joined
- Jul 6, 2008
- Messages
- 28,386
Yeah, but nobody else needs to hear it but me. Your opinions all suck and I want to have those 4 masterpieces to myself. 
Niceman
Rock n' Roll Doggie VIP PASS
That's really all I want.......
An Cat Gav
Rock n' Roll Doggie Band-aid
I'd remove Miracle drug from existance, or at the very least move it towards the end of the album, whoever thought putting it at number 2 straight after Vertigo needs serious help..
PhilsFan
Blue Crack Addict
Nearly every album probably could have had the album tracks and B-sides chosen better and the tracklistings done better.
Example: The Unforgettable Fire. Drop 4th of July and Elvis Presley to B-Side status and don't close with MLK. Add Boomerang II, Three Sunrises, Love Comes Tumbling, and maybe Bass Trap if you really want an instrumental in there.
Example: The Unforgettable Fire. Drop 4th of July and Elvis Presley to B-Side status and don't close with MLK. Add Boomerang II, Three Sunrises, Love Comes Tumbling, and maybe Bass Trap if you really want an instrumental in there.
Steved1998
Rock n' Roll Doggie
Stop talking in Ron Swanson's voice goddamnit
cobl04
45:33
Saying that just gave him a semi.
Earnie Shavers
Rock n' Roll Doggie VIP PASS
Pop - One month extra. No need for any massive changes. Songs are great, arrangements great etc, and I don't like the Best Of/Single versions of any of them over what's on the album. Just take more time with the mixing and editing (this is where the rush job shows) and take more time with Staring at the Sun. I don't think Pop ever had a chance in the US, it was effectively D.O.A it seems. But Discotheque was a huge single everywhere else, and Pop was initially a massive album. It only showed signs of not being quite what people are used to from a U2 album when it showed it didn't have the momentum they usually have. If Staring at the Sun was the 'song of the summer' Bono wanted it to be, Pop would have been an undeniable monster on par with albums previous. That song is in there somewhere, it just seems to be buried in confusion.
ATYCLB - Elevation on the album is dull, but the Tomb Raider mix is fucking awful. I think there's a more loose, funky version somewhere beyond the album version. You can hear it in there. And Stuck in a Moment, claw it back from the 'over produced' album version a notch or two, bring more of the gospel side of it forward.
HTDAAB - Where do you start. Scratch the lot and start again? So much crap. I actually wish they'd gone with the earlier 'four guys in a room', guitar based/rock album that they were working on. Native Son is a work in progress that while not being - and never standing a chance of being - as good a single as Vertigo, could have definitely been developed into a better song than Vertigo. I like Fast Cars, but I love how Xanax and Wine really sounds like it's just them, no bells and whistles, like they just busted it out there and then. A raw All Because of You, where the whole song sounds like the last third of the album version, would also be a massive improvement. A lot of those other Bomb songs would be a lot better if less slick and shiny. SYCMIOYO would have been better if more... something, or less... something. Instead of being an oh-so-emotive, desperate to be an anthem, overblown thing, it could be a great song if aimed at being what generally sits around spot seven or eight on a U2 album. And sell Original of the Species to someone like Robbie Williams and watch the royalties fly. Great song for someone like him, pure cheese from U2. And sell Miracle Drug to Coldplay, would have fit perfectly on X&Y.
NLOTH - Middle three. Middle three. Middle three. Shit songs that serve zero purpose on the album aside from just giving it a jarring interlude of rubbish, and, evidently, two of them were utterly useless as singles, so really were pointless. Just ditch them, swing in those leftovers that were held off to form the basis of the original SoA idea, shuffle the tracklist a bit, and make it a seamless 'album' album. That could have been an album as good as their best.
ATYCLB - Elevation on the album is dull, but the Tomb Raider mix is fucking awful. I think there's a more loose, funky version somewhere beyond the album version. You can hear it in there. And Stuck in a Moment, claw it back from the 'over produced' album version a notch or two, bring more of the gospel side of it forward.
HTDAAB - Where do you start. Scratch the lot and start again? So much crap. I actually wish they'd gone with the earlier 'four guys in a room', guitar based/rock album that they were working on. Native Son is a work in progress that while not being - and never standing a chance of being - as good a single as Vertigo, could have definitely been developed into a better song than Vertigo. I like Fast Cars, but I love how Xanax and Wine really sounds like it's just them, no bells and whistles, like they just busted it out there and then. A raw All Because of You, where the whole song sounds like the last third of the album version, would also be a massive improvement. A lot of those other Bomb songs would be a lot better if less slick and shiny. SYCMIOYO would have been better if more... something, or less... something. Instead of being an oh-so-emotive, desperate to be an anthem, overblown thing, it could be a great song if aimed at being what generally sits around spot seven or eight on a U2 album. And sell Original of the Species to someone like Robbie Williams and watch the royalties fly. Great song for someone like him, pure cheese from U2. And sell Miracle Drug to Coldplay, would have fit perfectly on X&Y.
NLOTH - Middle three. Middle three. Middle three. Shit songs that serve zero purpose on the album aside from just giving it a jarring interlude of rubbish, and, evidently, two of them were utterly useless as singles, so really were pointless. Just ditch them, swing in those leftovers that were held off to form the basis of the original SoA idea, shuffle the tracklist a bit, and make it a seamless 'album' album. That could have been an album as good as their best.
Rattle & Hum. Get rid of all the live tracks and distracting interludes, and make it a six or seven song studio EP. It would have been good.
Alas, HTDAAB is completely beyond repair. And I agree with Earnie Shavers, the middle three of NLOTH needs to be placed into an iron casket and buried out at sea.
Alas, HTDAAB is completely beyond repair. And I agree with Earnie Shavers, the middle three of NLOTH needs to be placed into an iron casket and buried out at sea.
coolian2
Blue Crack Supplier
make rattle and hum an ep.
prosper.
prosper.
Salome
you are what you is
October -
Write a different closer
Rattle & Hum -
axe 10 - 15 minutes somehow
Zooropa -
While I don't think Some days ... is bad,
if it had something memorable there it would perhaps be their best album
re-record / reproduce Stay
POP -
burn the tapes with If God ... and Playbos Mansion on it
completely rewrite Last Night on Earth and Staring at the Sun
do something about Gone
Write a different closer
Rattle & Hum -
axe 10 - 15 minutes somehow
Zooropa -
While I don't think Some days ... is bad,
if it had something memorable there it would perhaps be their best album
re-record / reproduce Stay
POP -
burn the tapes with If God ... and Playbos Mansion on it
completely rewrite Last Night on Earth and Staring at the Sun
do something about Gone
ooh ooh 
let's see.
boy: uh idk. i gotta admit i like this one the way it is.
october: make them take a couple more months to work on songwriting. drop stuff like with a shout and rejoice. don't know what would go in its place but hopefully better songs.
war: get rid of the dated production. studio sbs blows balls.
the unforgettable fire: studio bad needs to suck less. everything else is okay. though i guess if some of the b-sides were worked in that'd be cool, but then there'd be no b-sides which would suck.
the joshua tree: fix studio bullet, get rid of trip.
rattle and hum: separate the studio and live tracks - make it two eps, two sides of an album, burn the live tracks, i don't care. if the tracks are burned though you can just throw in love rescue me too.
achtung baby: lose one. that is all.
zooropa: have the wanderer have bono on vocals instead.
passengers: either release it as u2 or at least issue a press statement saying "yes guys, it's a u2 album".
pop: the album is fine as is but they should've just postponed the tour a couple months. had the tour started just a couple months later (and using sats as the first single possibly) would've made all the difference.
all that you can't leave behind: just don't even release it.
how to dismantle an atomic bomb: release the version that leaked instead.
no line on the horizon: don't even bother with boots. crazy tonight can stay only because the remixed version is so awesome. release nloth as first single instead.
let's see.
boy: uh idk. i gotta admit i like this one the way it is.
october: make them take a couple more months to work on songwriting. drop stuff like with a shout and rejoice. don't know what would go in its place but hopefully better songs.
war: get rid of the dated production. studio sbs blows balls.
the unforgettable fire: studio bad needs to suck less. everything else is okay. though i guess if some of the b-sides were worked in that'd be cool, but then there'd be no b-sides which would suck.
the joshua tree: fix studio bullet, get rid of trip.
rattle and hum: separate the studio and live tracks - make it two eps, two sides of an album, burn the live tracks, i don't care. if the tracks are burned though you can just throw in love rescue me too.
achtung baby: lose one. that is all.
zooropa: have the wanderer have bono on vocals instead.
passengers: either release it as u2 or at least issue a press statement saying "yes guys, it's a u2 album".
pop: the album is fine as is but they should've just postponed the tour a couple months. had the tour started just a couple months later (and using sats as the first single possibly) would've made all the difference.
all that you can't leave behind: just don't even release it.
how to dismantle an atomic bomb: release the version that leaked instead.
no line on the horizon: don't even bother with boots. crazy tonight can stay only because the remixed version is so awesome. release nloth as first single instead.
Mrs. Garrison
Rock n' Roll Doggie ALL ACCESS
PoP really needed Holy Joe
NLOTH is a total fucking mess. Wipe out the "middle three" songs and replace them with Mercy and one other song (every breaking wave?) and there you go.
NLOTH is a total fucking mess. Wipe out the "middle three" songs and replace them with Mercy and one other song (every breaking wave?) and there you go.
I could make changes to each U2 album but I'll choose the biggest two.
Release The Two America's instead of The Joshua Tree. If it had been a double album it would have been even better which shows just how great the b-sides are.
Cut Crazy and Stand Up Comedy from NLOTH. I think Boots can work between Unknown Caller and FEZ-BB. It would have been an amazing 9-song album. This one is very obvious of course.
Release The Two America's instead of The Joshua Tree. If it had been a double album it would have been even better which shows just how great the b-sides are.
Cut Crazy and Stand Up Comedy from NLOTH. I think Boots can work between Unknown Caller and FEZ-BB. It would have been an amazing 9-song album. This one is very obvious of course.
Niceman
Rock n' Roll Doggie VIP PASS
Achtung: Include Lady with the Spinning Head after Mysterious Ways
Zooropa: Bono sings Wanderer (on the album.) Add in HMTMKMKM. Make the buzzing alarm at the end of the album its own track, and not part of The Wanderer.
POP: Give them another month, but no more than that.
ATYCLB: make Elevation as good as the live version. Drop New York, Walk On, WILATW, and Grace. Drop the final verse of Kite. Get to work adding some new songs.
HTDAAB: Record and mix it properly! Add the final 3 tracks: Fast Cars, AYGWF, and then Mercy.
NLOTH: Give us the double album that they almost did, including the SOA songs.
Release a 2010 album.
Release a 2011 album.
Skip Spiderman.
Zooropa: Bono sings Wanderer (on the album.) Add in HMTMKMKM. Make the buzzing alarm at the end of the album its own track, and not part of The Wanderer.
POP: Give them another month, but no more than that.
ATYCLB: make Elevation as good as the live version. Drop New York, Walk On, WILATW, and Grace. Drop the final verse of Kite. Get to work adding some new songs.
HTDAAB: Record and mix it properly! Add the final 3 tracks: Fast Cars, AYGWF, and then Mercy.
NLOTH: Give us the double album that they almost did, including the SOA songs.
Release a 2010 album.
Release a 2011 album.
Skip Spiderman.
No spoken words
Blue Crack Supplier
This thread is funny.
Mrs. Garrison
Rock n' Roll Doggie ALL ACCESS
beachball
Refugee
I would hypnotize all four band members into thinking that POP is perfect and make them love it so much, they would not care about what people say about it. They would love the album so much, they wouldn't want to change a thing and agree to play songs from the album every tour for the rest of their lives! 
ozeeko
Refugee
I would try to find a way to put "Deep In The Heart" on JT. It's still a flawless album, but it would be even more flawless (i realize that made no sense) if that song was somewhere, maybe right after Running To Stand Still, serving as a weird haunting escapist intermission fantasy before getting back to business with Red Hill Mining Town.
POP - put "I'm Not Your Baby" (with Sinead) there instead of "If God Will Send..." (that being the one song I usually skip)... have Holy Joe there (somewhere...in place of Miami maybe?)in all its garageband glory, somewhere towards the beginning of the album...have Bono's vocals (somehow, miraculously) on the level of AB and Z, and have "Discoteque" absolutely soar, with a less murky production...smoother...if Miami had to be there, hold back the distorted guitars and make it more hiphop, more weird sounds, less rock.
ATYCLB - i kinda like it the way it is...maybe have Levitate (without freedom has a scent line)
BOMB - burn it (not to disc). shred it. beat it up Office Space style. Instead, release 6song EP: Native Son (made better, less preachy)...Xanax and Wine (I finally prefer this to Fast Cars...used to be other way around)...Crumbs (with lyrical rewrite)...Original Of The Species (with a new less cheesy chorus)...Mercy (in its original form)...Electrical Storm (Orbit Mix...the way it is...with the line reading "heavy as a drug")
NLOTH: Write an actual chorus for title track...Magnificent (completely rework, make it a slowly building stadium pounder, but all ambient and heavenly...and rocking...not clubbing...have Bono's vocals more unapollegetically Bono)...UC (more of a psalm like in the making of clips...less technospeak, or at least find a way to make it cool)...CT (rewritten as a dark punk song about needing to go crazy or ELSE)...Boots (would seem ok now that Vertigo doesn't exist)...SUC ( )...yes I refuse to speak about that one...Breathe (have it be a Bside)...add Every Breaking Wave (this would be the single)...add Winter (the original...with no buttered toast)...have SOON be the closer...write another song that totally kills live (in a UTEOTW way)
I'm done I guess.
POP - put "I'm Not Your Baby" (with Sinead) there instead of "If God Will Send..." (that being the one song I usually skip)... have Holy Joe there (somewhere...in place of Miami maybe?)in all its garageband glory, somewhere towards the beginning of the album...have Bono's vocals (somehow, miraculously) on the level of AB and Z, and have "Discoteque" absolutely soar, with a less murky production...smoother...if Miami had to be there, hold back the distorted guitars and make it more hiphop, more weird sounds, less rock.
ATYCLB - i kinda like it the way it is...maybe have Levitate (without freedom has a scent line)
BOMB - burn it (not to disc). shred it. beat it up Office Space style. Instead, release 6song EP: Native Son (made better, less preachy)...Xanax and Wine (I finally prefer this to Fast Cars...used to be other way around)...Crumbs (with lyrical rewrite)...Original Of The Species (with a new less cheesy chorus)...Mercy (in its original form)...Electrical Storm (Orbit Mix...the way it is...with the line reading "heavy as a drug")
NLOTH: Write an actual chorus for title track...Magnificent (completely rework, make it a slowly building stadium pounder, but all ambient and heavenly...and rocking...not clubbing...have Bono's vocals more unapollegetically Bono)...UC (more of a psalm like in the making of clips...less technospeak, or at least find a way to make it cool)...CT (rewritten as a dark punk song about needing to go crazy or ELSE)...Boots (would seem ok now that Vertigo doesn't exist)...SUC ( )...yes I refuse to speak about that one...Breathe (have it be a Bside)...add Every Breaking Wave (this would be the single)...add Winter (the original...with no buttered toast)...have SOON be the closer...write another song that totally kills live (in a UTEOTW way)
I'm done I guess.
An Cat Gav
Rock n' Roll Doggie Band-aid
I particuarly like your changes to NLOTH, though would you scrap Cedars from the line up? for me it's the perfect closer.
nirniva
Rock n' Roll Doggie Band-aid
This is my new favorite smiley.
Okay, let me take a shot at this (starting with UF, as I admittedly haven't listened to the first three albums enough to form an opinion on how to change them):
The Unforgettable Fire: Either drop, shorten, or finish EP&A.
The Joshua Tree: Try to get Streets closer to how it sounds live.
Rattle And Hum: Maybe split it into two EPs - one containing the studio tracks and the other focusing on live stuff.
Achtung Baby: ...Yeah, I've got nothin'.
Zooropa: Someone else mentioned adding HMTMKMKM. I'll second that, solely because HMTM deserved more than to be a promotional single for a Batman movie.
Pop: Add Holy Joe, keep Miami (but in an incarnation more like its awesome live version), and avoid booking the tour ahead of time so as to be able to take your time with mixing. Oh, and bring back Discotheque in full on 360! (I know that's not really a change to the album, per se, but it needed to be said.)
All That You Can't Leave Behind: Cut Grace and add Stateless as the new closing track.
How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb: Replace Yahweh with Fast Cars, add Mercy 1.0 somewhere, and use the alternate mix of All Because Of You.
No Line On The Horizon: Cut SUC (but release it as a B-side), add Every Breaking Wave, release the remix of Crazy as the "real" version, and keep the Moroccan influences from the early demos of Magnificent.
theFly51
New Yorker
War: Treasure (Whatever Happened To Pete The Chop?) included in album
Rattle and Hum: Omit live tracks
Zooropa: Kept The First Time in its original form
Pop: Holy Joe and reworked Miami and Playboy Mansion
Rattle and Hum: Omit live tracks
Zooropa: Kept The First Time in its original form
Pop: Holy Joe and reworked Miami and Playboy Mansion
zooropop40
Refugee
A reorganization of U2's albums
Hello Interference. I wanted to share with you something my friend (lets call him John) did regarding U2s albums.
John wanted to essentially rewrite the albums of u2s career, making them as he would and narrowing it down to 8 albums of his 90 favorite songs. These are the albums he reworked, each with a sort of coherent sound and theme (especially the last). I was skeptical of this at first as the songs included solo projects and were taken from all different decades, but when listening to some of these reworked albums I was surprisingly taken on a dark and meditative journey. These new 'rewritten' albums have given me a new appreciation of U2 and their ambient and 'experimental' (yes, experimental is a throwaway word that means nothing, but I will use it in this context) side.
I know many on Interference will think of this as pointless and stupid, so if you do simply ignore this post. However, if you have an open mind, I would invite you to listen to the albums (more like playlists) John has created, and see what you think. To me, it brought my appreciation of U2 to a new level. So take this as you want, I know many will argue against it, but I just thought it would be interesting to share.
Here is how John listens to U2, as these are his 90 favorite songs reorganized into 8 albums:
1st Album:
Sunday Bloody Sunday
Seconds
New Years Day
I Will Follow
Drowning Man
Gloria
Tomorrow
Two Hearts BAO
An Cat Dubh/ Into the heart
Surrender
40
2nd Album:
A sort of Homecoming
Pride
Stateless
Heartland
Promenade
4th of July
Bad
Hawkmoon 269
Elvis Presley and America
All I want is You
MLK
3rd Album:
Joshua Tree (remains the same)
4th Album:
Achtung Baby (remains the same)
5th Album:
Zooropa
Babyface
Numb
Lemon
Stay
Daddys gonna pay
Some days
Hold me thrill me
The First Time
Dirty Day
The Wanderer
6th Album:
Discotheque
Do You Feel Loved
Bass Trap
Staring at the sun
Alex descends into hell
Gone
Please (single)
One minute warning
Rowenas theme (edge solo from 'captive)
Wake up dead man
7th Album: (definitely the least organized one, but somehow still works)
Soon
Breathe
One Step Closer
Moment of Surrender
Mofo
In a little While
Beautiful Day
Spanish eyes
If you wear that velvet dress
Fez-being born
The ground beneath her feet
Cedars of Lebanon
8th album (my personal favorite):
Always forever now
magnificent
walk to the water
slug
electrical storm
your blue room
The unforgettable fire
Beach Sequence
Miss sarajevo
_______
So, give them a listen if you like the slower more ambient side of U2. I would especially listen to the last one. If this whole project isnt blasphemy, I would like to know what Interference thinks
Hello Interference. I wanted to share with you something my friend (lets call him John) did regarding U2s albums.
John wanted to essentially rewrite the albums of u2s career, making them as he would and narrowing it down to 8 albums of his 90 favorite songs. These are the albums he reworked, each with a sort of coherent sound and theme (especially the last). I was skeptical of this at first as the songs included solo projects and were taken from all different decades, but when listening to some of these reworked albums I was surprisingly taken on a dark and meditative journey. These new 'rewritten' albums have given me a new appreciation of U2 and their ambient and 'experimental' (yes, experimental is a throwaway word that means nothing, but I will use it in this context) side.
I know many on Interference will think of this as pointless and stupid, so if you do simply ignore this post. However, if you have an open mind, I would invite you to listen to the albums (more like playlists) John has created, and see what you think. To me, it brought my appreciation of U2 to a new level. So take this as you want, I know many will argue against it, but I just thought it would be interesting to share.
Here is how John listens to U2, as these are his 90 favorite songs reorganized into 8 albums:
1st Album:
Sunday Bloody Sunday
Seconds
New Years Day
I Will Follow
Drowning Man
Gloria
Tomorrow
Two Hearts BAO
An Cat Dubh/ Into the heart
Surrender
40
2nd Album:
A sort of Homecoming
Pride
Stateless
Heartland
Promenade
4th of July
Bad
Hawkmoon 269
Elvis Presley and America
All I want is You
MLK
3rd Album:
Joshua Tree (remains the same)
4th Album:
Achtung Baby (remains the same)
5th Album:
Zooropa
Babyface
Numb
Lemon
Stay
Daddys gonna pay
Some days
Hold me thrill me
The First Time
Dirty Day
The Wanderer
6th Album:
Discotheque
Do You Feel Loved
Bass Trap
Staring at the sun
Alex descends into hell
Gone
Please (single)
One minute warning
Rowenas theme (edge solo from 'captive)
Wake up dead man
7th Album: (definitely the least organized one, but somehow still works)
Soon
Breathe
One Step Closer
Moment of Surrender
Mofo
In a little While
Beautiful Day
Spanish eyes
If you wear that velvet dress
Fez-being born
The ground beneath her feet
Cedars of Lebanon
8th album (my personal favorite):
Always forever now
magnificent
walk to the water
slug
electrical storm
your blue room
The unforgettable fire
Beach Sequence
Miss sarajevo
_______
So, give them a listen if you like the slower more ambient side of U2. I would especially listen to the last one. If this whole project isnt blasphemy, I would like to know what Interference thinks
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