So, Winter's been rerecorded (streaming link inside)

[mikal]

this just in.

i listened to the first 90 seconds of With Or Without You, and i think it's horrible. from that 90 seconds, i can tell that it has no build at all. what a horrible song. i am so upset by this.

 

[Niceman]

Niceman,

Perhaps you're right about some people flip-flopping. I will point out though that I loved the Linear version from the start. I actually thought it was among the 2 or 3 strongest tracks I heard from the NLOTH sessions.

And for what it's worth, I thought Native Son paled in comparison to Vertigo.

Opinions are awesome aren't they?

Tim,

Sure. And a generalization is not meant to apply to every case. Some people will genuinely have opinions like yours, and I respect that!

For myself, I thought the Linear version showed a lot of promise, but had a number of serious problems. I am delighted to see that a nuanced and delicate re-invisioning of the song now exists! I cannot wait to hear the whole song!

 

[mikal]

Tim,

Sure. And a generalization is not meant to apply to every case. Some people will genuinely have opinions like yours, and I respect that!

For myself, I thought the Linear version showed a lot of promise, but had a number of serious problems. I am delighted to see that a nuanced and delicate re-invisioning of the song now exists! I cannot wait to hear the whole song!

exactly! i actually loved the Linear version too, and i think i'll love this version. it kind of reminds me of "Leave" by R.E.M., how we had two completely different takes on the song.

 

[Swan269]

at least most of us will have two complete versions of the song...how cool

 

[Niceman]

Wouldn't it be cool if they made both versions B-sides to Moment of Surrender???

 

[BEAL]

i liked it. curious to see where it goes, but aside from the cool sounding guitar (though it does just drone on...) the 1st version was very raw.

glad they changed it around from what i've heard

 

[LemonMelon]

this just in.

i listened to the first 90 seconds of With Or Without You, and i think it's horrible. from that 90 seconds, i can tell that it has no build at all. what a horrible song. i am so upset by this.

God, even I can stop being a smartass for 10 minutes.

I hated the original Winter, and a Quaalude-addled take on it with a worse vocal and the same terrible lyrics is unlikely to be an improvement. Sorz for not being thrilled by the prospect of wasting my time on the full version when it couldn't be more obvious that it isn't going to do anything for me.

 

[iota]

U2 is in desperate need of people who will tell them how things sound before they embarrass themselves by releasing stuff like this. Bono still thinks he can hit notes he just can't anymore without making people's ears bleed. He's definitely singing like a bird on this one. A crow.

The music is great, though. I feel sorry for Larry, Adam and Edge for putting in consistantly inspired performances only to have Bono dub his painfully out-of-tune scratchiness over it like a bad night at Karaoke.

The thing that gets me is how great the vocal sounded on the original version, even if the music was a little lethargic. It boggles the mind how U2 can go from brilliant to complete crap...more and more often.

 

[corianderstem]

I'm glad I'm not the only one who was making the face at the vocal.

I want to hear the full version, if only to hopefully discover that a) in the context of the full song it makes more sense; and b) that it's not as wonky as I thought from this short clip.

 

[iota]

this just in.

i listened to the first 90 seconds of With Or Without You, and i think it's horrible. from that 90 seconds, i can tell that it has no build at all. what a horrible song. i am so upset by this.

I think they hired a professional singer to sing on WOWY. They should have done the same for Winter.

 

[powerhour24]

U2 is in desperate need of people who will tell them how things sound before they embarrass themselves by releasing stuff like this. Bono still thinks he can hit notes he just can't anymore without making people's ears bleed. He's definitely singing like a bird on this one. A crow.

The music is great, though. I feel sorry for Larry, Adam and Edge for putting in consistantly inspired performances only to have Bono dub his painfully out-of-tune scratchiness over it like a bad night at Karaoke.

The thing that gets me is how great the vocal sounded on the original version, even if the music was a little lethargic. It boggles the mind how U2 can go from brilliant to complete crap...more and more often.

Stylistic choice. Bono's vocals certainly didn't sound like a 'crow' on NLOTH or 360.

 

[LemonMelon]

Stylistic choice. Bono's vocals certainly didn't sound like a 'crow' on NLOTH or 360.

Uh, is the character in the song supposed to be tone deaf?

 

[jay canseco]

This thread is starting to get good! The sycophants vs. the trolls!

 

[theedgeu2]

This thread is starting to get good! The sycophants vs. the trolls!

I just LOL'd.

 

[LemonMelon]

This thread is starting to get good! The sycophants vs. the trolls!

Takes one to know one.

(Of the two possible options, I am proud to be among the trolls.)

 

[Catman]

Initial reaction - better than the demo, but surely Bono can sing better than this.

From those that have heard the song, though... it seems that, aside from the "butter on toast" lyric, my major complaints with the demo have been rectified (ixnay on VLV intro, wonky chorus, keep the opera and falsetto... but also love the addition of the piano in the verses).

Excited to hear the rest, actually.

 

[mikal]

God, even I can stop being a smartass for 10 minutes.

aww....that was nice!

thanks!

 

[LemonMelon]

aww....that was nice!

thanks!

It was a compliment, of course. You're going to break a record one of these days!

 

[alanah]

Check out Scatter O' Light (scatterolight) on Twitter and listen to "full bootleg version" of Winter.

 

[alanah]

at least most of us will have two complete versions of the song...how cool

 

[popacrobat]

ooh, can't wait till we get a clean version of that. I think those "dallas" strings are definitely throughout the song.

 

[Aygo]

Hum... after listening to it in loop over and over...
I'm sorry, but I prefer the original.

I mean: to be honest, I didn't dislike this excerpt.
The vocals are much much better on this except - still raw, but more clearer, more emotional, more expressive, more intense.
The new lyrics seem interesting too and better than those lines that had a doubtful taste.
I'm not fond on this stripped-down instrumental. The melody seems to be more perceptible/audible, but this seems too synthetic for me, specially after having heard the Linear version.

I'm one of those that liked mst of the Linear version.
I don't have anything against the Coldplay-ish strings and, in fact, I think they work very well as the intro - it just had to be polished and a little reworked. The initial guitar riff works very well too through the whole song, it's simple but effective and has texture.
Some lyrical lines were not very happy either, but that wouldn't be hard to rework (Bono could easily do it with some inspiration).

Just do not ever (!) erase that bridge (3:34-4:15 - I love the chord progressions of the synths here mixed with Bono's lyrical speech) and don't EVER delete or switch the outro of this song (at least the main idea) - those group singing "Ooh's" are so simple, but combined with that chords, they're so powerful that just give me chills.

I believe that the Linear version of "Winter" is the material for something big, maybe one of U2's best songs, but it has to get some work done.

Done this, I'd prefer a rework of Linear's version, than this new (maybe the original...) version.

 

[digitize]

Okay... fuck... that's gorgeous.

 

[popacrobat]

Okay... fuck... that's gorgeous.

I tend to agree, but still not distributing full judgment till I hear the song with a good clean version, but I think when we hear all the production and whatnot it'll be a very good song.

 

[mobvok]

One could assume from the CONTINUING lack of official release that U2 still isn't finished with this song. Why a 90 second clip without any option to purchase it? Sounds more like they're doing the minimum to give U2 fans the heads up. Although that'd be kind of weird if they were being nominated for a version of a song they weren't done with...

Hmmm, anywho, I dislike the complete "full bootleg". It's actually kind of interesting comparing the different "oohs" at the end, there's a subtly different take on them.

 

[digitize]

I would like to see this as the last song of NLOTH, after COL.

 

[popacrobat]

I would like to see this as the last song of NLOTH, after COL.

nah, I think Cedars is a great way to end the album. As somebody has alluded to, I think they are saving Winter for SOA...given how it's not getting a proper soundtrack release, which is curious since they wrote the song for the movie. But Eno wanted them to put it on NLOTH, and it wouldn't shock me to see it show up on SOA...or whatever the next album is.

 

[Gonna Run 2 U]

Still think the original version will be better than this new one.

 

[Niceman]

I would like to see this as the last song of NLOTH, after COL.

Interesting...

 

[U2girl]

I liked the resounding silence re: the "horrible" vocals on the Linear version. The same way of singing - nice consistency.