Best B-sides. 80s,90s or noughties

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gman

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As you prob guess am looking for opinions on the best era for u2 b sides. Am going for 80s. There has been some great b sides in that period, original and covers. Wins hands down!!
 
Man, you are ona roll today!

OK, best B-sides of…

THE 80’s – Things To Make And Do, Luminous Times (Hold On To Love), Walk To The Water, Spanish Eyes, Sweetest Thing, Dancing Barefoot, Unchained Melody, Hallelujah Here She Comes, Everlasting Love,

THE 90’s – Lady With The Spinning Head (extended mix), Satellite Of Love, I’ve Got You Under My Skin, Holy Joe (guilty mix), Two Shots Of Happy…, North & South Of The River, Slow Dancing

THE 00’s – Big Girls Are Best, Don’t Take Your Guns To Town,


I’m sure there are more, can’t think of any…
 
Eighties, thers no contest really.
The 90's had a few, such as salome and lady with the spinning head, as well as some great covers, such as Satellite of love.
The Noughties have been absolutely shocking, abysmal!
 
90's were the best.

Salome...Where Did It All Go Wrong...Paint It Black...Satellite Of Love...North And South Of The River...Lady With The Spinning Head...Holy Joe...:drool:

80's...:up:

00's...:tsk:

But you're still all wrong about 00's, that is, if you count Flower Child, Love You Like Mad, Neon Lights, Smile, Mercy, and Fast Cars (which you should, because Fast Cars was released the same way as Holy Joe, which is considered a b-side)
 
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why do you count Flower Child, Love You Like Mad, Smile, Mercy and Fast Cars as B-sides?? :huh:

The 1980's were the best for U2 b-sides. I love nearly every single one of them and the Unforgettable Fire and Joshua Tree especially. Besides one or two of the Rattle and Hum B-sides (some of the covers) there's not B-side from the 80's I don't enjoy. But I'm rambling here.
The 1990's were a bit up and down. Lady with the Spinning Head (Original and Extended Dance Mix) Salomé and Your Blue Room are the best by far. Lasy Night On Earth (First Night in Hell Mix) ... what the hell is that?!
 
When you come down to it, it's basically

The Three Sunrises
vs.
Lady With the Spinning Head [Extended Mix]
vs.
Mercy

and, for me, Lady With the Spinning Head [Extended Dance Mix] is about as close to U2 perfection as you can get as those strings come in before the last chorus and outro.
 
I always laugh when I see "noughties." We had the Dirty Thirties, the Swingin' Sixties, the...Naughty Noughties? Would certainly apply to the state of music television today.

Anyway. While my favourite U2 B-side (Lady With The Spinning Head) came out in the 90s, I think I prefer the 80s B-sides on the whole.
 
There isn't a contest. The eighties is the only decade whose b-sides aren't drowned in a sea of remixes.
 
gareth brown said:
why do you count Flower Child, Love You Like Mad, Smile, Mercy and Fast Cars as B-sides?? :huh:

Because technically they were all (except Mercy) commercially released, and they weren't on a U2 album, so what would you call them otherwise? :|

And I already told why I thought Fast Cars was a b-side, because Holy Joe is a b-side, and they were released under the same circumstances (Ground Beneath Her Feet doesn't count because it was eventually an a-side).
 
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80's, but purely because deep in the heart is so amazing.
 
LemonMelon said:


Because technically they were all (except Mercy) commercially released, and they weren't on a U2 album, so what would you call them otherwise? :|

Non-album tracks.

A b-side has to be on a single.
 
Axver said:


Non-album tracks.

A b-side has to be on a single.

Well, at least you didn't say "demos". :eyebrow:

In the case you speak of, the 00's still haven't been too bad...not as good as the other two decades, but I really like AYGWF?, Big Girls Are Best, and Summer Rain, so it's not terrible at least.

Also, if you think about it, the era of CD singles is really coming to a close. CD sales are lessening, and single sales are practically dead, so why should they give special attention to them? :eyebrow:
 
LemonMelon said:
In the case you speak of, the 00's still haven't been too bad...not as good as the other two decades, but I really like AYGWF?, Big Girls Are Best, and Summer Rain, so it's not terrible at least.

Not a great quantity of material, though, and Big Girls Are Best is a Pop leftover. Think about it: nine songs have been singles, with some issued multiple times (i.e. the Canadian ABOY single followed months later by a different worldwide ABOY single), and yet we have precious few b-sides to discuss.

Also, if you think about it, the era of CD singles is really coming to a close. CD sales are lessening, and single sales are practically dead, so why should they give special attention to them? :eyebrow:

Well, I think that's a bit beside the point, given that the term "b-side" dates from the days of vinyls, was appropriated for CDs, and now will probably move to have some new meaning - I imagine extra tracks on online singles (i.e. "buy the new single from HTDAAB, Vertigo, and get Are You Gonna Wait Forever for free!"). So maybe there will be less distinction between b-sides and digital-only tracks.

That said, CD singles still sell very well in some parts of the world, and collectors will always buy vinyl.
 
LemonMelon said:


Because technically they were all (except Mercy) commercially released, and they weren't on a U2 album, so what would you call them otherwise? :|

And I already told why I thought Fast Cars was a b-side, because Holy Joe is a b-side, and they were released under the same circumstances (Ground Beneath Her Feet doesn't count because it was eventually an a-side).

Aah right, it's just we got Fast Cars on 'How To...' over here so it's an album track to me.

Basically, what Axver said. Those are really just (leftover) non-album tracks rather than B-sides which are deemed worthy enough to be released even if on the back of a single rather than on an album.
 
The best assortment of b-sides are in the '80s:

Touch
New Year's Day (US Mix)
Treasure (Whatever Happened to Pete the Chop?)
Bass Trap
Luminous Times (Hold onto Love)
Silver and Gold
Everlasting Love

etc.

The '90s has the best b-side ever:
North and South of the River.

and the '00s (??) has a good assortment:

Summer Rain
Always
and many remixes and live tracks and whatnot.
 
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LemonMelon said:




But you're still all wrong about 00's, that is, if you count Flower Child, Love You Like Mad, Neon Lights, Smile, Mercy, and Fast Cars (which you should, because Fast Cars was released the same way as Holy Joe, which is considered a b-side)

Was Holy Joe released as a bonus track on POP? Thats how Fast Cars was initially released... as part of the delux edition of Bomb..
 
david said:


Was Holy Joe released as a bonus track on POP? Thats how Fast Cars was initially released... as part of the delux edition of Bomb..

Holy Joe was a bonus track on the Japanese edition of Pop but initially Discotheque's b-side.

Fast Cars is only an album bonus track, not a b-side; it has not appeared on any single, though a remix appeared on one.
 
80's, no doubt...especially if you count "A Celebration" though it's actually an a-side.

What about the live b-sides? I still say 80's win, though the "Stay" tracks & Popheart tracks were great...
 
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