Original HTDAAB would have rocked hard

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arturod

The Fly
Joined
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Don't want to start a flame war or anything, but I finally got to listen to some of the unrleased and rare songs like Xanax and Wine, Native Son, All because of You (alternate Version), and Yahweh (alternate). I really think the alternate versions sound better than the album versions and the other two tracks and Mercy could have easily made a great album. I like (like) HTDAAB but I believe that now after hearing the tracks were left out, that the album was TOO overproduced. Reminds me of Electrical Strom and the version that was released as compared to the raw versions that were initially leaked. Too many hands in the pot.

The album is defintely more mellow than many of us expected, I think this was due to some of the rumors about the album being ABII. Just some thoughts. Agreements? Disagreements?
 
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Oops - probably posted in wrong forum

Admin - can this thread be moved to Where the Album has no name. Thanks
 
I prefer all of the finished versions to the originals/alternates. And I don't see how they rocked harder, except for Xanax and Wine vs Fast Cars.
 
Disagree :wave:

First of all, the Orbit mix of Electrical Storm is far superior to that of the Radio 1 leaked version.

Now about the tracks mentioned. Isn't Xanax and Wine basically "Fast Cars" ?? If not, I might have to hear this track :hmm: If so, let's move on...

Concerning the other tracks mentioned, the only one I would agree with would be "Yahweh." But to be honest, I don't care for either version and was totally disappointed in the song regardless :p ALSO, the alternate version of SYCMIOYO is vastly inferior to that of it's Hut Dab counterpart.

And another thing, I personally do not get why so many people here are calling HTDAAB "mellow" or "too slow." Honestly, did *anybody* actually believe Bono when he said the album was going to be their first real "rock" record? C'mon, guys...don't be so naive :drunk: Bono likes to talk up a lot of things, and most of the time it's to get attention and/or boost interest. Me personally, I thought the album would be more in the vain of ATYCLB after what "Bono's Doppleganger" had to say about it. Much to my surprise, however, the album is closest to their 80's material, with a dash of 90's U2 and a fragment of ATYCLB's production (then again, I'm one of those guys that never really saw the connection between ATYCLB and 80's U2).

SOoOOoOooooOoOooOOOOOoo, that's it for now. Please don't take my post as an attack or anything. I just think HTDAAB is a *really* amazing album...one of the band's finest. I was expecting to be disappointed (something like AB/Zooropa - sure "Zooropa" is good and all, but let's face it, it ain't no Achtung Baby ;) ), but hot DAMN I love the album :macdevil: It's everything I wish I didn't know, but you, give me something, I can FEEL! :shifty: The album is amazing. I love it (and I'm not one of those U2 fans who worship everything they do and did...though oddly, I practically *do* love everything U2 have done....with the exception of "October" (though there are a few standout tracks)). "How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb" is everything I hoped it would be, and then some. Amazing :up:

I like to ramble :drunk:
 
yeah its great as it is

There is no "original HTDAAB"
The only HTDAAB is the released version, thats the complete and the real one

In every album produced there are also earlier demos, first versions etc.....
To record and album is a very very tough job and a hard work to do.
Yo have to listen to he songs not 20 times, but 200 times to be sure what tunes to include, to know which ones need a better mixing, sharper vocals etc.

Only U2 ara capable to know when their work is done and finished

So Fuck the past...Kiss the future!
 
Question. Why do people get their panties in a knot whenever someone posts a thread that technically fits better in another room?

I find the immediate whistle-blowing a bit creepy.
 
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All unreleased or alternate songs released on the iTunes Complete U2 Digital Box do not match the songs released on the album. My opinion, and quite a few others too. I hate the version of All Because of You, I think it sounds unformed and very much like a demo. Native Son is just not right and SYCMIOYO doesn't sound right without the falsetto part.
 
I totally concur. The unreleased version of One Step Closer with that awesome guitar solo near the end was so much better.

Alas, U2 have sold out. :|
 
arturod said:
Don't want to start a flame war or anything, but I finally got to listen to some of the unrleased and rare songs like Xanax and Wine, Native Son, All because of You (alternate Version), and Yahweh (alternate). I really think the alternate versions sound better than the album versions and the other two tracks and Mercy could have easily made a great album. I like (like) HTDAAB but I believe that now after hearing the tracks were left out, that the album was TOO overproduced. Reminds me of Electrical Strom and the version that was released as compared to the raw versions that were initially leaked. Too many hands in the pot.

The album is defintely more mellow than many of us expected, I think this was due to some of the rumors about the album being ABII. Just some thoughts. Agreements? Disagreements?




in 3 weeks, tell us if the unreleased tracks are better.
 
I heard NOTHING from the 'Unreleased/Rare' package that I preferred over the final album...

True, some of us did get our hopes up over the said 'Rock Record' but at the end of the day...'How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb' (GOD, why the HELL do people keep saying Hut Dab like it's some awesome "in-joke"?!) was released in that form, it kicks ass in many ways, while some songs COULD have benefited from various things...

Who knows?! And at the end of the day, who really cares?

I'm happy with the album as it is, there's not really much we can actually do is there?!

Xanax and Wine was appalling anyway...the demos all sound half done anyway, so there's really no way of making an educated guess as to how they would have sounded had they not tinkered with the songs, letting them become what they are now...! I think it's best left alone, to be honest...!
 
Mac Phisto said:
Question. Why do people get their panties in a knot whenever someone posts a thread that technically fits better in another room?

I find the immediate whistle-blowing a bit creepy.


:lmao:


because we must all conform to the rigid rules of the great blue crack...no chaos allowed in here....
 
If U2 didn't rework the album, we wouldn't have Miracle Drug. Enough said.


But I do see what you are saying. I think that Xanax & Wine is better than FC, and that alternate ABOY is better that the Lillywhite produced ABOY.
 
The only unreleased version a like a lot better than the final one is ABOY.

I really like the unreleased version and think its ten times better than the final.
 
I'm just about sick of the whole "HTDAAB should have been a rock album!" attitude people have here. If every song on this album were "hard rockin'', you'd all be bitching that every song sounds the same. This album has just the right mix of rockers, mid-tempo, and ballad songs. Check it out:

Up-tempo/rockers
1. Vertigo
2. Love and Peace of Else
3. All Because of You
4. Fast Cars
Mid-Tempo/slow-rockers
1. Miracle Drug
2. City of Blinding Lights
3. Crumbs From Your Table
4. A Man and a Woman
5. Yahweh
Down-Tempo/ballads
1. Sometimes You Can't Make it On Your Own
2. One Step Closer
3. Original of the Species

A couple of the songs, like A Man and A Woman and Original of the Species are a bit harder the place in either bottom catagory, but that's a good thing. Overall I feel this is one of U2's most dynamic album. And it shows. :up:
 
I don't really think that HTDAAB is "mellow"... It has not much down-tempo songs... only One Step cCloser, because Sometimes is mid-tempo ballad. ATYCLB has "In a little while", "Stuck in a moment", "Grace" and "Peace on earth" and POP has "Velvet dress", "Wake up dead man", "Playboy mansion" and "Gone" that are down-tempo songs for example
About the alternate-demo/album versions, I like Xanax and Fast Cars - both are very good cause they present us 2 different styles. Yahweh I love both versions too, cause it's my favourite song on the album. The others (Sometimes, Native son, ABOY) they sound too... demo and unfinished... The alternative riffs of ABOY are very nice too, but Sometimes sounds too empty, and in Native Son and ABOY sometimes you can't really understand what Bono was singing. they sound too "primitive". However, they're very good, and they got quality
 
Mac Phisto said:
Question. Why do people get their panties in a knot whenever someone posts a thread that technically fits better in another room?

I find the immediate whistle-blowing a bit creepy.


It was his own thread, he requested that it be moved. I don't see anyone "whistle-blowing".
 
I have to agree with arturod and in particular with his comment about HTDAAB being over produced. I think ATYCLB was a safe and solid release. I think ATYCLB managed to restore confidence in the band among many who thought Pop was a misfire and were questioning if the band still had it. (I am not saying this was my opinion). I believe the commerical success of ATYCLB put the band in a position to take a chance with this release. Like arturod, I prefer much of what I have heard from the Chris Thomas sessions. I like the raw and less finished quality about them. To me, the lyrics to Native Son are more provocative than Vertigo. I wonder if Bono thought it might not be a wise business decision to have the opening single be critical of the U.S. government when he has previously and I am sure will again lobby them for funding for various projects.
 
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