Now that we know the Best Of track list, what would you wish for as a hidden track?

[Bono's shades]

I'm hoping for either Please or Ground Beneath Her Feet as a hidden track.

[ultraviolet7]

Originally posted by Blue Room

I wasnt trying to start an argument or anything.

OK. No hard feelings.

Originally posted by Blue Room

My point was the Best Of is "mainly" for the general public. U2 put a "couple" of songs on there that are lesser known so the general public might discover them as the die hards have. But you listed about 7 or 8 songs that would be considered obscure to the general public. No way is that going to happen.

I realise that it isn't going to happen - even many fans don't like them either! . It was only wishful thinking aloud. In fact I knew from day one that this compilation would be far from what I would have liked it to be. In any case I never expected it to be such a messy one (more about this later on). My idea of Best of 1990/2000 was of a Best of 90s i. e.: that only material from AB, Zooropa and Pop were to be included as well as non album singles like HmeTmeKmeKme, but only original tracks, one new song for marketing purposes as a bonus track and that would be it.

Originally posted by Blue Room

Numb was released as single, it was all over the radio here when it came out. So people are more familiar with it than Acrobat or definately Miami! So I disagree with your statement about that.

Mmmm... I don't know a single person who's not a U2 fan that knows of Numb. I agree that they don't know either of Acrobat or Miami. But they don't know either of Gone or Until The End Of The World. The "couple" of lesser known songs are four, but anyway. Not that I have a problem with them since Numb and Gone would have definitely made "my" compilation. The other two are OK but I'd chosen something else from AB and definitely not The First Time since I don't see it as representative of the Zooropa period.

Originally posted by Blue Room

I also disagree with you vehemently about the re-worked stuff. In fact, I think it supports your very own point more about Best Of maybe not being for the general public mainly (I still think it is though). Who else would care about re-worked songs other than the die hards?

I don't see the two facts linked necessarily since it's very possible that the new mixes were thought out with a more commercial idea in mind which would make them more attractive for the general public and many "Pop-hating fans" . In fact it's the Pop songs the ones remixed - curiously those off an album which did not sell well, was disliked by many fans and was demolished by the critics.

What I mean is that it is more than possible that the Best Of album was thought with the idea of encompassing the greatest audience possible: make it attractive for non-U2 fans with some of their greatest hits and for fans at the same time by giving them favourite songs like Gone and Until The End Of The World and some new material. However, I believe that diehards would have bought it anyway new stuff or not and that a Best Of should reflect the best moments of the band during the period it is supposed to cover. This is obviously a difficult task since what's "best" to some people is not "best" to others. Maybe it could've been simplified to a "Greatest Hits" which would have resulted in less arguing and would have undoubtedly sold equally well among the fans and the non-fans. In my opinion, the proposed list is halfway between an album intended for the fans and an album aimed at general public, not fulfilling either objective.

Originally posted by Blue Room

I cant wait to hear them personally. Why put out a U27 to compete with your own Best Of? The record company would not do that. You have to be realistic about this stuff. Not to mention alot of the flack some of the fans around here game them for having Target release it. Are you suggesting they seek sponsorship like that again? I know alot around here who would hate that (although it doesnt bother me really)

I did not say that another album should be put out simultaneously to compete with their own!! I 'm certainly aware that the company would not do that nor the band would want it either. FYI I work in the music business and have a more or less clear concept of what the marketing policies the companies usually apply are. In this case I'm talking about staggered releases. Best Of could have been postponed till later, in fact Best Of 1980/90 was released in 1998 and we could have had now a mini album/EP or whatever it may be called U2 7 style with remixed material and a couple of new tracks. I did not suggest in any way that they sought the sort of sponsoring they did for U2 7, in fact such an album could have very well been released by their company or even independently and sold for instance via the Internet off the official U2 site in the fashion Prince did a few years ago. If to make this separate release constituted too much of a problem then the re-worked material could have been included with the B-sides and remixes CD - a more logical choice IMO.

Originally posted by Blue Room

Lets just be happy we are getting new tracks and "most of us" will be happy getting the re-worked stuff also.

I'm certainly for new material and re-worked tracks too but as I said, not on a Best Of album. You may say who cares what album they are on, which could be considered a legitimate argument to a certain extent, however I believe it's not much of an effort to call things by their own name.

In my opinion this "Best Of" album is only partially what it claims to be, not particularly because of the individual tunes chosen or the ones left out since this is a matter of strict personal taste, but because there are too many "anomalies" for a compilation album which is meant to portray a selection of the work done during the last decade and from which curiously there's a lot to choose. In fact I think it's rather a messy jumble:

a) a partial inclusion of ATYCLB - not too reasonable IMHO - either it is included or it isn't. Particularly I'm for no, but if the decision was yes, how can Elevation (and Kite or Walk On) be left out? This is not personal taste, Elevation was a major hit and if I'm not mistaken Walk On did fine too and it is a fans fave!

b) Miss Sarajevo is a great song, it's unmistakably in the U2 tradition, Original Sountracks is a fantastic album, but it wasn't an official U2 release but a Passengers one - this is a U2 Best Of. In that line of reasoning, the Million Dollar Hotel soundtrack, Bono's solo contribution to In The Name Of The Father or the Bono/Sinatra collaboration could have been considered for inclusion too.

c) The re-worked material may be great but it wasn't released in that format in the covered period.

d) Two entirely new tracks.

This can hardly be called a U2 Best of 1990/2000!!

On another account, my "complaint" stems from the fact that I don't see the album as doing U2's brilliant musical production of the last decade enough justice. I'm not one of those who support the "they should have done this, they should have done that". I believe it's artists' perogative to put out what they consider they have to and our prerogative as public to say yea or nay. In this case this album is a nay for me and I won't probably buy it - maybe I'll later change my mind or maybe someone's going to give it to me . Simply I'm stating what I would have liked a Best Of the 90s to be.

[ultraviolet7]

Originally posted by DaveC


Please GOD...tell me you didn't just say Miami...

I did, I did. Miami is U2's most underrated song IMHO - it's absolutely brilliant. Sorry to disappoint you!

[Swan269]

It could be October backwards!

[madonna's child]

the hidden track should be Mofo (explicit remix)

[ultraviolet353]

TGBHF or PLEASE

[walkon11]

Just to address the "Numb" issue brought up within the post, I know quite a few people outside of the "U2 fanbase" who know that song...and most of these feel it's their best song to date (one friend was upset when I told them that they didn't play it on the Elevation Tour!)...plus, the Edge performed it on one of the MTV awards ('93 I think), so it is somewhat known...

Back to topic, I would choose TGBHF also...it's a beautiful song, well worth the recognition.

[Achtung Bubba]

On The First Time:

It makes sense it would make the cut, seeing that it was on TWO releases: Zooropa and the M$H soundtrack.

[lady lemonade]

Lemon

or

WGRYWH

or

Please

or

TGBHF

Can we have more than one hidden track?