Why isn't mercy on the new album

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lazarus said:
This is the problem I have with your timeline/reasoning:

I'm theorizing that the reason it wasn't released as a b-side was because the band felt it was strong enough to be on an album. For whatever reason, the direction No Line took meant that it didn't really fit anymore, so it was passed over again. Does anyone here think it would have made sense on that album? Maybe more than Stand Up Comedy or Crazy Tonight, but still.

They still were interested in the track, but because of the time passed knew it would eventually have to be re-recorded for any future endeavor. And then the tinkering began. I don't think this equates to "they weren't happy with it yet", but rather that the moment had passed (stylistically, thematically, whatever) for that version.

None of us should be shocked at the suggestion that the band spending too much time with something could lead to a negative result. They had a finished track, and should have left it as is. The nature of its recording, omission, leak, and resurfacing is as you said a strange one in the band's history, but not too difficult to understand given all the information.
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You make a good point, that maybe they thought it was too good to be a b-side. But then, if you feel it's that good, but that you're not going to be making an album that it would make sense on, then just keep it in the vault and release it as a bonus track with something in the future. Or, even just release it stand-alone on iTunes.

The tinkering was unnecessary imo.

BTW, do you buy the common story about Bono accidentally giving the track away with a burned copy of HTDAAB before its release? Because I have a very hard time believing it. Though I really don't know the alternative would be as far as how the track got out.
 
namkcuR said:
BTW, do you buy the common story about Bono accidentally giving the track away with a burned copy of HTDAAB before its release? Because I have a very hard time believing it. Though I really don't know the alternative would be as far as how the track got out.
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Well that's the mystery we may never solve, unless that Interference member comes back and explains her story again.
 
bobsaget77 said:
Mercy would've been the best song on the album. And the jack knife mix of Fast Cars would've been a top 5 song on the album as well. They absolutely belonged on Bomb. Should've replaced All Because Of You. 12 song album is great.
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No. A free flowing song like Mercy on an album with "11 singles" ? Arabic flavoured Fast cars on an album fully loaded with 80's U2 sonical influences ?
 
Mercy? Never heard of her.

Sent from my SGH-I337M using U2 Interference mobile app
 
Why isn't Bass Trap on this album?

Sent from my SGH-I337M using U2 Interference mobile app
 
U2girl said:
No. A free flowing song like Mercy on an album with "11 singles" ? Arabic flavoured Fast cars on an album fully loaded with 80's U2 sonical influences ?
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One Step Closer is a single?

City Of Blinding Lights doesn't have a long buildup?

The album only has occasional 80s touches.

Sonically, the album was pretty all over the place. The glam-rock of Love And Peace Or Else, the Motown-wannabe A Man And A Woman, the One Tree Hill nod on Yahweh, the Unforgettable Fire vibe of COBL, the Beatlesque Original Of The Species, etc.

Neither song would have been out of place.
 
I agree with everyone that says that the original version is better than the WAIE live version. The Wide Awake In Europe version was utter shit!
 
If you want a new version of Mercy, buy the remastered deluxe version of HTDAAB. That's the album it belongs on. That's the album which included the lyrics in the liner notes. That's the one and only place you'll see the song again.
 
Considering Mercy is better than most (if not all) the songs on HTDAAB, I'd say it deserved a spot. Also, Fast Cars is pretty good, and, let's not forget, if any song lyrically belongs to "How To Dismantle an Atomic Bomb," it's that one.
 
DomCobb said:
Considering Mercy is better than most (if not all) the songs on HTDAAB, I'd say it deserved a spot. Also, Fast Cars is pretty good, and, let's not forget, if any song lyrically belongs to "How To Dismantle an Atomic Bomb," it's that one.
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In a similar way, the Cure song featuring the lyrics, "Kiss me kiss me kiss me" was cut from the first edition of the CD for Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me because of space issues. You had to buy the tape or LP to hear it.
 
I think the produced live version could have been on the album. I loved it. i hope they will include it on the next record.

Btw. am I the only one who liked the live performance better? In the studio recording there are too much verses, I miss a bit the bridge, but it didn´t fit for live performances The live chorus is way better, especially the chorus ending. The last part of the studio version seems to be a bit messy to me and the song gets too long.
 
thavidesco said:
I think the produced live version could have been on the album. I loved it. i hope they will include it on the next record.

Btw. am I the only one who liked the live performance better? In the studio recording there are too much verses, I miss a bit the bridge, but it didn´t fit for live performances The live chorus is way better, especially the chorus ending. The last part of the studio version seems to be a bit messy to me and the song gets too long.
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Honestly, the song is 6:30 run time and it feels more like 3 minutes. It's just that good. And the end on the studio version is just way better imo.
 
thavidesco said:
I think the produced live version could have been on the album. I loved it. i hope they will include it on the next record.

Btw. am I the only one who liked the live performance better? In the studio recording there are too much verses, I miss a bit the bridge, but it didn´t fit for live performances The live chorus is way better, especially the chorus ending. The last part of the studio version seems to be a bit messy to me and the song gets too long.
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Probably not the only one, but I think you're in the minority. Nothing wrong with that. I thought the live version was an insult to the demo but that's just my :twocents:
 
I think it is similiar case like Every breaking wave, there was something grand about the raw versions, but the final cut just works better...

What I didn´t like about Mercy is that cheesy piano tones in the verses, which unfortunately remained in live versions. The Edge´s arpeggios during the versions sounds also a bit boring and predictable. At least there is Adam´s "horse riding" rhytm :)
 
Mercy would be one of the weakest songs on this album. And I think Mercy is great, which only proves how amazing SOI is.
 
lazarus said:
"I have a theory," Mullen begins, and a reverential silence descends as the drummer -- traditionally the first band member to be shouted down in these situations -- states his case. After just five minutes, it has been unanimously decided that the track "Mercy," a six-and-a-half-minute outpouring of U2 at its most uninhibitedly U2-ish, must go.

Hence a song that any self-respecting band would be proud to call a single becomes what Bono immediately anoints "the best B-side you've ever heard.".
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Larry Mullen Jr is my hero.

#LMJ4Eva




Sent from my ass crack
 
gvox said:
Larry Mullen Jr is my hero.

#LMJ4Eva




Sent from my ass crack
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Exactly.
That studio version is like neverending story. It´s kinda self absorbing. I just recently listened to the Wade awake live version again, I forgot how the solosection fits perfectly, the choruses works better and that wailing mess at the end is omitted :)

Hope they will record this live version in studio one day!
 
I hate Larry Mullen Jr :angry:

Mercy studio version is pure gold (Live version was pure crap).

Just give us a clean recording of the original as a b-side and call it a day. If they re-record it for the next album and destroy it, I will never forgive them.
 
Never got around to enjoying Mercy as much as many people do, but I prefer the studio version over the live version.
 
Just listened to the WAIE version of Mercy. And I actually loved it. Much better than the original.
Just kidding, its awful. I like that they played it, but the chorus is awful and they cut the ending. Seems to get even worse over time for me.
 
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