Rumor: 55 unfinished songs?

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lazarus said:
Who knows? Unless the member can tell us that the other tracks on the CD sounded perfect and Mercy didn't, we can only assume it was a copy just made casually? Or maybe when the person uploaded it they didn't rip it at very high quality?

So, we're going to suppose now that the Interference member got an earlier version of Mercy from the Chris Thomas sessions? Unfortunately, the chart inside the Special Edition book shows that Mercy was the final song recorded of the bunch (in 2004), and there may not have even been a Chris Thomas-produced version. Either way, an earlier version of Mercy would be an even more obscure thing for some random fan to get a hold of, and you think this is a more likely scenario?

Ok, "dude." You think what you want.

OK dude... where did I say Mercy was from the Chris Thomas session? Please, show me exactly where I said that. I'd love to read it.

What I said was that the finished versions of songs that were on Bomb were similar in length to the much earlier Chris Thomas versions... which the point there is that just because it was printed in Blender that Mercy was 6 minutes long, and the track we got was 6 minutes long... doesn't mean that the track we got MUST be the final version of the song that got cut last second.

We simply don't know. It could be that version and it was just ripped horribly, or it could be some demo version, or it could be an unmastered version. We honestly don't know... so to claim that anyone who isn't sold that the "original" Mercy rip is the finished product is idiotic is fairly idiotic.
 
BVS said:
Why would anything be sourced from a cassette in mid 2000s?

"in the words of Talking Heads, stop making sense. It's not allowed in this part of the forum".
 
I actually owned HTDAAB on cassette - my first car was a second hand one that only had a tape deck. I made heaps of tapes of my U2 cd's
 
Sure, but why would Bono be carrying around a cassette is the question.

maybe someone simply copied the track from the CD onto cassette and shared that version?

i remember when the story broke, but don't know how the poster actually got hold of the cd or who gave it to her though...

how do we know it was a cassette version anyway? i always thought it was straight from the cd?
 
maybe someone simply copied the track from the CD onto cassette and shared that version?

i remember when the story broke, but don't know how the poster actually got hold of the cd or who gave it to her though...

how do we know it was a cassette version anyway? i always thought it was straight from the cd?

I remember the story being that the source audio was a CD. It make little sense to me that someone was handed a CD, then made a tape of it, but then put the tape version out as an mp3.
 
I'm pretty sure the guy who gave the CD to U2SJ posted in here at some point, or maybe it was another forum. Anyway, I remember him saying he got it on cassette because that explained the tape hiss and poor dynamics on the track. He never did say how he obtained it that I can recall.

The myth has become that Bono gave a CD directly to a fan (U2SJ), but that clearly isn't the case.
 
I remember the story being that the source audio was a CD. It make little sense to me that someone was handed a CD, then made a tape of it, but then put the tape version out as an mp3.

me too, but maybe they wanted to keep the best version for themselves? lol

ps- i don't buy this whole cassette conspiracy btw, i think it was a cd lol

eta - just seen Danny Boy's post - blimey, i've never heard that cassette story before! wow, ok... who knows then!
 
Trying to find that thread where the guy talks about getting the song on cassette.

ETA: Here it is...

http://www.u2interference.com/forums/f288/mercy-edge-answers-170434-10.html#post4163912

skott100 said:
I got HTDAAB about a week and half before it came out from an friend in the music business with Interscope connections. (It was on a cassette of all formats!) I went to my bass players house and we converted it into digital so we could go about learning the songs early (we play in Zoo Station, a Northern California U2 Tribute Band) and get the songs to our bandmates. ... Anyway, Mercy was on that advance copy.
 
OK dude... where did I say Mercy was from the Chris Thomas session? Please, show me exactly where I said that. I'd love to read it.

What I said was that the finished versions of songs that were on Bomb were similar in length to the much earlier Chris Thomas versions... which the point there is that just because it was printed in Blender that Mercy was 6 minutes long, and the track we got was 6 minutes long... doesn't mean that the track we got MUST be the final version of the song that got cut last second.

We simply don't know. It could be that version and it was just ripped horribly, or it could be some demo version, or it could be an unmastered version. We honestly don't know... so to claim that anyone who isn't sold that the "original" Mercy rip is the finished product is idiotic is fairly idiotic.

Trying to find that thread where the guy talks about getting the song on cassette.

ETA: Here it is...

http://www.u2interference.com/forums/f288/mercy-edge-answers-170434-10.html#post4163912

Headache, the point remains: what's more likely, that an earlier version of the song somehow slipped out of the band's camp and onto a CD with all the other songs, through the record company, and to a fan? Or that the album was completed, a temporary track order was used and the album given to someone at Interscope, and then made it to a fan?

You're letting your belief dictate your theory instead of using logic.

And, you know, if none of the other songs on that CD sounded different from the finished version, it makes your scenario even less likely. And guess what? We haven't heard from these people about alternate versions of the other tracks, which would have shown up by now.
 
lazarus said:
Headache, the point remains: what's more likely, that an earlier version of the song somehow slipped out of the band's camp and onto a CD with all the other songs, through the record company, and to a fan? Or that the album was completed, a temporary track order was used and the album given to someone at Interscope, and then made it to a fan?

You're letting your belief dictate your theory instead of using logic.

And, you know, if none of the other songs on that CD sounded different from the finished version, it makes your scenario even less likely. And guess what? We haven't heard from these people about alternate versions of the other tracks, which would have shown up by now.

Well, we know a CD of a preliminary version of the album that belonged to The Edge went missing a few months before the album was released.

Oh, did we forget about that? Oh yea.

I never said that this song was from the Chris Thomas sessions. I've also said that I consider an unmastered track to be unfinished. For some reason you keep harping on the idea that I only believe that this song is absolutely from the Chris Thomas and/or early recording sessions. I never said that. Only said that we do not know what version it is, nothing more.

But you're right... and I've already said... its entirely possible that its just a low quality version of the finished song.

In which case, thank god they cut that meandering pile of dog crap.
 
They can't win. Everything is either over-thought and over-produced, or it's a meandering pile of dog crap.

Fuck me, they won't be around forever, let's just enjoy that they are still out there, giving it everything to give us new music when they are rich enough that their great-great grandkids will never have to get their hands dirty.
 
I liked Mercy, I was unhappy it did not become a B side at least for HTDAAB.

I remember how it got out. I believe it was an actual member of this site that go ahold of it and I think she got a copy of one of the early pressings of the album from a DJ who was friends with the band and it still had Mercy on it. She uploaded it in low bit rate MP3 form. That is the reason for the lower quality. She kind of disappeared after that and never uploaded a better version.
 
Fuck me, they won't be around forever, let's just enjoy that they are still out there, giving it everything to give us new music when they are rich enough that their great-great grandkids will never have to get their hands dirty.



stop with this crazy talk and rational perspective. i'm still mentally and emotionally living in 1993 and i want them there with me.
 
^she shows up once in a while to laugh at us.. but never posts...

Well, tell her thanks! :love:

I've enjoyed the track for years now and wish it was on HTDAAB. But hey, the album as is sold brilliantly and won tons of awards - so what do I know? I'm just happy to hear this track in its "original" form (the version on WAIE is good, but I like the first version more).
 
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