NEW STUDIO MIX of Even Better than the Real Thing

[Bonogirl777]

Here's the AAC audio extracted directly from the video.

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[Danny Boy]

I just checked and it's working now. Megaupload can be a bit wonky at times.

 

[theedgeu2]

Thank you so much Danny Boy!

 

[U2girl]

Should have recorded the 360 version in the studio.

 

[Earnie Shavers]

Double-tracked vocals always sound like crap. Crumbs, Discotheque, All Because of You...

Never noticed it being especially bad on EBTTRT though.

The trend is pretty much that they're getting worse. It's the near equal mixing and the expanding distance between low Bono and high Bono.

EBTTRT (original) is all good, complementary and it sounds like high Bono is in the next room or something. For Crumbs, ABOY, and this EBTTRT '360 Mix', it's like you've got two Bono's standing either side of you, low Bono yelling at you in one ear, high Bono yelping at you in the other.

 

[Registered Dude]

if you scratch he wont dissapear..

 

[nielsgov]

The vocals are meh. The rest is very good.

 

[gareth brown]

bit weird sounding those triple-tracked vocals so up front. i don't like how the main one seems to have been re-done.

really don't like this mix though, sounds really hollow compared to how it sounded live. never liked The Edge's slide solo at the beginning and (just like the perfecto mix) it suddenly goes horrendously out of time.

bit redundant in my opinion, but hey that's just me. I know there's a lot of people here who probably love it! not my cup of tea though to be honest and will definitely skip this each time I play the Achtung Baby bonus disc

 

[beachball]

if you scratch he wont dissapear..

I love listening to this while watching the video with the new images. I have a feeling that U2 will gain a new young audience with this and the Spiderman Rise Above video.

But, personally, if I should listen to the audio alone, I would soon get tired of it, as I do with many remixes. I prefer the original or the live versions.

I wonder if 'the two Bonos' sound like that, just because they've taken away the sound effect from Bono's vocal and given it a more dry sound.

I forget what the sound effect is called. But sort of, if you take 'Stay' and give it 'The Cedars Of Lebanon' treatment. Instead of having Bono in a big hall, he's standing right next to you singing in you ear. Sounds funny if there's two of them

 

[theedgeu2]

The effect called 'Reverb'?

 

[beachball]

The effect called 'Reverb'?

Thanks!

I had it on the tip of my tongue, was so frustrated and thought about calling it 'the bathroom effect'

 

[JUSTinPUSHPLAY]

only shame is that it's in mono =/

 

[bono_man2002]

Blow your nose Bono!

 

[Bonogirl777]

I just checked and it's working now. Megaupload can be a bit wonky at times.

Thank you!

 

[Batfink27]

The drums at the start do go with the guitar, what a mess!

 

[An Cat Gav]

Hate the ABOY-esque double vocal, but love the rest of it. Great to have this. I don't think this version gets anywhere near competing with the original, but it's still fantastic. Ending is a bit weird.

And getting a proper look at the Hirst visuals is cool too - loved them on the night, on the huge screen they made for a fantastic backdrop. Although, would've been cool if that video ended with the 'Everything You Know Is Wrong'.

Agreed.

I wonder if they would release this(or something similar) as a single to co-incide with the AB remaster? But I guess that would be the 3rd time they've released a version of EBTTRT as a single. But then why not? It is that good.

 

[kenny_a]

Actually I do like this new remix!
I think it attracts more younger fans, my girlfriend isn't a U2 fan but even she says she likes this version better.

 

[Earnie Shavers]

Agreed.

I wonder if they would release this(or something similar) as a single to co-incide with the AB remaster? But I guess that would be the 3rd time they've released a version of EBTTRT as a single. But then why not? It is that good.

Third time? What was the second?

Don't think they would (release it as a single). I guess if they've bothered to properly re-do it like this, it means it's a good chance to appear on there (and I wonder if they've done it for anything else - e.g. they've always said that they felt they never got the Fly quite right on the album - Bullshit! I say - and they, obviously, play it quite differently live, so maybe?), but I would think, and hope, that if they release something it will be something 'new' from that era.

And this is a cool different version for 'us', but I don't think this version comes even close to being as good as the original. And - IMO - that might be something a lot of people would agree with? i.e. releasing it might just run the risk of it just being another point scored for 'U2 ain't what they used to be'.

 

[bazza]

no where as good as the original

 

[nirniva]

Third time? What was the second?

Perfecto Mix, I'd guess.

 

[coolian2]

just a thought, is it possible to find out how close this new mix of even better than the real thing matches up with what was labelled as the perfecto mix being rehearsed in barcelona in 2009?

 

[trevgreg]

e.g. they've always said that they felt they never got the Fly quite right on the album - Bullshit! I say - and they, obviously, play it quite differently live, so maybe?

Well, David Bowie was the one who put that thought in their head to redo it, so it's not exactly the band's fault there!

I agree that the double vocal is a bit annoying, but I think the rest of its pretty good. It doesn't have to become a definitive version of the song, but if they want to include it on the remaster this fall as something extra, I'd have no problem with that.

 

[mikal]

i do like the new mix, but gosh those drums just seem off in the intro.

 

[An Cat Gav]

Third time? What was the second?

Don't think they would (release it as a single). I guess if they've bothered to properly re-do it like this, it means it's a good chance to appear on there (and I wonder if they've done it for anything else - e.g. they've always said that they felt they never got the Fly quite right on the album - Bullshit! I say - and they, obviously, play it quite differently live, so maybe?), but I would think, and hope, that if they release something it will be something 'new' from that era.

And this is a cool different version for 'us', but I don't think this version comes even close to being as good as the original. And - IMO - that might be something a lot of people would agree with? i.e. releasing it might just run the risk of it just being another point scored for 'U2 ain't what they used to be'.

perfecto mix was released in the Uk and did "even better than the real thing" in the charts.

 

[Earnie Shavers]

Gotcha. Thought you were saying there some other release for Even Better somewhere in between. I can't remember how it was released in Australia. I mean, it was just the b-side to Even Better, but I assume on vinyl they released it on it's own, and they had that separate clip, I suppose it might have done it's own run at least on the dance chart. No idea if it did anything on the main chart.

i do like the new mix, but gosh those drums just seem off in the intro.

That intro is weird. I don't know what to make of the whole thing really. On the one hand it sounds roughly cobbled together enough that I'd just think it's something they put together for the visuals crew - they obviously would have needed a very tight/clear/good version to work with to get those perfect - but then why bother with the double vocals? That suggests you've got a wider audience in mind. But then, why is the intro fucked? That doesn't make sense either way.

 

[JoRu]

but then why bother with the double vocals? That suggests you've got a wider audience in mind.

Well, the double vocals was as mentioned already there in the original version so that wouldn't be much bother. They seem to have just put the old vocals there and made it higher in the mix.

However, it is still strange with that intro if they're intending to actually release this in some way to a wide audience. I'm a perfectionist, so if I were involved in this I'd be ashamed to release it with such a messed-up intro.

 

[nathan1977]

The live version sounds like a mix of the V16 Exit Wound and the Perfecto to me.

 

[zoocarolina]

Thanks so much!

 

[morgan1098]

i do like the new mix, but gosh those drums just seem off in the intro.

People keep saying the intro drums are "off," but that is surely intentional. In the original version the drums come in on the 1st and 3rd beats, and on this they're shifted to the 2nd and 4th beats, or something like that. It creates a totally different effect that can be disorienting, but I think that's the idea. There's probably a technical name for this technique, maybe someone with drumming experience can chime in?

The drums/intro on this new mix sound "off" in exactly the same way they sound in all the live versions lately. So either Larry has been "off" every single night of the 360 Tour (no snarky comments, please), or the "off" drums are totally intentional. I kind of like it.

 

[rennowba]

Great video and tune.all though the version i heard at glastonbury was all over the place when the song kicked in i couldnt work out what version they were playing.the redemeed themselves with the fly though