Miggy D
War Child
U2 was riding high in the early 1990s. They had created a new sound with Achtung, Baby, and were critical and commercial darlings. They were in the middle of a massively successful tour, and were adored worldwide.
But from 1993 onward, things should have happened differently. This is how the decade should have been:
1993: U2 releases Zooropa as a EP, including only the most experimental songs from their midtour sessions:
1. Zooropa
2. Babyface
3. Numb
4. Lemon
5. Daddy's Gonna Pay For Your Crashed Car
6. The Wanderer
They save the more mainstream tracks, like Stay (Faraway, So Close!), Dirty Day, and The First Time, Wake Up Dead Man, and If God Will Send His Angels for the next album.
1994: U2 takes the year off after a long, exhausting tour. Larry and Adam take musical lessons in New York. Edge and Bono relax in Dublin. They convene again in November of 1994 to begin work on their new album.
1995: U2 continues to work on their new album. They create a catchy new song entitled Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me and consider using it for the upcoming Batman film, but decide to save it for their upcoming album. They refine the songs leftover from the 1993 sessions. The album begins to shape up retaining some of the experimental flavorings of the Zooropa EP, but in many ways is more rocking than Achtung, Baby. They re-tune the songs from the 1993 sessions to fit more cohesively with the new tracks. A song list begins to form:
Gone
Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me
If God Will Send His Angels
Dirty Day
Do You Feel Loved
Stay (Faraway, So Close!)
Please
Last Night On Earth
Staring At The Sun
Wake Up Dead Man
The First Time
Revisiting a song from 1993 tentatively called Some Days Are Better Than Others, the band decides that the song's bass line is strong, but the lyrics are weak. Bono writes new lyrics around a similar theme and Edge constructs a new, more rocking guitar around Adam's original bass line. The song's title is shortened, and is now simply called Some Days. It is the last track to be added to the album before completion.
A few songs - Mofo, Discotheque, Miami, and Playboy Mansion - begin to form, but are left off the album. The band decides that the first two songs do not fit musically with the rest of the album, and decide to use them for the next one. They throw the other two away, and Brian Eno burns the masters.
U2 releases Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me on October 28, 1995 as the first single off of their new album Wake Up Dead Man, which is released in early December, more than 4 years after Achtung, Baby.
1996: Gone is released as the second single. U2 begin their new tour in March. They tour until the end of December.
1997: U2 takes the year off. The band members devote time to side projects and personal matters. Bono campaigns for several causes.
1998: U2 meets up in January, and begin work on their new album. Using Discotheque and Mofo as inspiration, they create an album flavored and laced with dance grooves and trip hop beats but still very much rooted in rock and roll sensibilities. U2 releases the first single in August, and their new album, POP in September. Bono suggests that they dress up as The Village People in the first music video. He is shot down.
1999: PopMart hits the road in late February. It is a massive spectacle which includes a large screen positioned behind the band that projects magnificent imagery. A gigantic metallic lemon and a huge olive are considered as campy stage props, but the band eventually decides against them. The tour comes to a close in early December.
2000: The band takes most of the year off, but meet back up in October to begin work on their newest album, which is to be released in the summer of 2001. The band decides to return to a more traditional sound, of 'four guys playing in a room.' Bono suggests the album title: All That You Can't Leave Behind.
But from 1993 onward, things should have happened differently. This is how the decade should have been:
1993: U2 releases Zooropa as a EP, including only the most experimental songs from their midtour sessions:
1. Zooropa
2. Babyface
3. Numb
4. Lemon
5. Daddy's Gonna Pay For Your Crashed Car
6. The Wanderer
They save the more mainstream tracks, like Stay (Faraway, So Close!), Dirty Day, and The First Time, Wake Up Dead Man, and If God Will Send His Angels for the next album.
1994: U2 takes the year off after a long, exhausting tour. Larry and Adam take musical lessons in New York. Edge and Bono relax in Dublin. They convene again in November of 1994 to begin work on their new album.
1995: U2 continues to work on their new album. They create a catchy new song entitled Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me and consider using it for the upcoming Batman film, but decide to save it for their upcoming album. They refine the songs leftover from the 1993 sessions. The album begins to shape up retaining some of the experimental flavorings of the Zooropa EP, but in many ways is more rocking than Achtung, Baby. They re-tune the songs from the 1993 sessions to fit more cohesively with the new tracks. A song list begins to form:
Gone
Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me
If God Will Send His Angels
Dirty Day
Do You Feel Loved
Stay (Faraway, So Close!)
Please
Last Night On Earth
Staring At The Sun
Wake Up Dead Man
The First Time
Revisiting a song from 1993 tentatively called Some Days Are Better Than Others, the band decides that the song's bass line is strong, but the lyrics are weak. Bono writes new lyrics around a similar theme and Edge constructs a new, more rocking guitar around Adam's original bass line. The song's title is shortened, and is now simply called Some Days. It is the last track to be added to the album before completion.
A few songs - Mofo, Discotheque, Miami, and Playboy Mansion - begin to form, but are left off the album. The band decides that the first two songs do not fit musically with the rest of the album, and decide to use them for the next one. They throw the other two away, and Brian Eno burns the masters.
U2 releases Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me on October 28, 1995 as the first single off of their new album Wake Up Dead Man, which is released in early December, more than 4 years after Achtung, Baby.
1996: Gone is released as the second single. U2 begin their new tour in March. They tour until the end of December.
1997: U2 takes the year off. The band members devote time to side projects and personal matters. Bono campaigns for several causes.
1998: U2 meets up in January, and begin work on their new album. Using Discotheque and Mofo as inspiration, they create an album flavored and laced with dance grooves and trip hop beats but still very much rooted in rock and roll sensibilities. U2 releases the first single in August, and their new album, POP in September. Bono suggests that they dress up as The Village People in the first music video. He is shot down.
1999: PopMart hits the road in late February. It is a massive spectacle which includes a large screen positioned behind the band that projects magnificent imagery. A gigantic metallic lemon and a huge olive are considered as campy stage props, but the band eventually decides against them. The tour comes to a close in early December.
2000: The band takes most of the year off, but meet back up in October to begin work on their newest album, which is to be released in the summer of 2001. The band decides to return to a more traditional sound, of 'four guys playing in a room.' Bono suggests the album title: All That You Can't Leave Behind.
