SOI Acoustic Sessions

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AndrewCowley

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Was listening to the SOI acoustic sessions again, struggling through it. I think it's terrible. For mine it highlights that they are writing songs that Bono simply cannot sing any longer. It sounds like a hack singing in the shower. Way too much straining and unable to hold a note. They need to tone it down and stop with this style of songs that have big choruses. Yikes even on some of the verses Bono is struggling. Less is more.
 
Funny... today I listened to this disc for the second time since day 1 (I dismissed it immediately except for EBW).

Well, today I really enjoyed it.
I guess it's because I've listened way too much the real album until finally I got tired of it -I still like it, but now it needs a break- that now I'm enjoying a lot the alternative versions.
I'm including Breathe (Mandela) into the mix.
 
Well, I wouldn´t say it is terrible, but certainly the electric versions from the album are far superior. It shows again where is the strength of the band - in sonic congeniality. The second disc is a good as a bonus. What is a bit upsetting is U2 spends a lot of energy propagating songs in their acoustic versions.

I also agree about tuning the songs down would be helpful for bono.
 
I agree with all that:
*Electric versions are superior
*Second disc is a nice bonus (which I'm just starting to apreciate)
*(when they were promoting) They shouldn't spend so much energy (all of it?) promoting the acoustic versions.
 
I like the acoustic EBW better and I love the RBW acoustic much much better.
I've always been a fan of their acoustics, though; I'm in a massive minority here.


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Any idea if we'll ever hear all of the songs acoustically or just the ones they wanted us to hear?
 
Any idea if we'll ever hear all of the songs acoustically or just the ones they wanted us to hear?


Probably just the ones they gave us. I can't possibly fathom them doing a volcano acoustic or an Iris acoustic. They did 6 acoustics and 2 alternates. So hearing an alternate of 8/11 of the songs is way more than we usually get.
Typically, we just get a bunch of stupid remixes and maybe an acoustic or something; they really spoiled us this time around. Not to mention that we got 2 phenomenal bonus tracks (TCB and Invisible) and a solid rocker (LH) as a bonus as well. And a new tour. And another album.
It's a good time to be a U2 fan again.


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Was listening to the SOI acoustic sessions again, struggling through it. I think it's terrible. For mine it highlights that they are writing songs that Bono simply cannot sing any longer. It sounds like a hack singing in the shower. Way too much straining and unable to hold a note. They need to tone it down and stop with this style of songs that have big choruses. Yikes even on some of the verses Bono is struggling. Less is more.

Agreed but The Crystal Ballroom kicks ass!
 
Yeah I agree. The acoustic versions don't bring much to the table as a whole. EBW Acoustic was almost painful to listen to on the first go. Way too much straining. :down: The Miracle and Cedarwood are okay. RBW is alright though I prefer the album version. I prefer the album versions on all of the songs I think.

And I hate it that the acoustic tracks are sequenced as one long track. :angry: If I wanted to skip, say, EBW and go to the next acoustic track I can't.

The Crystal Ballroom and Lucifer's Hands are nice though clearly sound like B-side material. The alternate versions of Sleep and Troubles are okay but far inferior to the album versions. And Invisible is... decent, but far too little too late.

Overall, I'm quite disappointed with the deluxe version. I specially waited for the deluxe version to hit the stores when I could have bought the instantly available single CD version. But the wait wasn't all that worth it. The liner notes suck beyond belief! They're very likely the worst liner notes I have seen for any album ever! It looks like practically zero effort went into it. To make things worse, many of the acoustic versions and alternate versions are not that great compared to what made the album.

Oh well, at least we got a new album finally. The main album itself is great! My favourite since Pop. But I'm not thrilled about the packaging and the 2nd disc.
 
Most of U2's accoustic versions are terrible (not only the ones from SOI), as their songs are great ideas that usually only make sense with electric guitar.

They have 5-6 songs that are great to hear in accoustic (Stay, Staring at the Sun, A Man and a Woman), but most of the others are terrible. They should stop doing them asap.
 
I was very disappointed by the acoustic studio version of EBW, but I absolutely love the live acoustic versions they've done, especially the one from the EMA's. The production on the acoustic versions on the disk just plain sucks.


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