Please vs. Please(Single)

[namkcuR]

I cannot make up my mind about which version I like better. The single version obviously has the spectacular guitar solo at the end and the string arrangement all the way through, however....the album version has a more defined precussion section and during the last 1/3 of the song, there is a repetative, octave-alternating Edge backing vocal that is just as well. I don't think I've ever seen two versions of one song that are both so brilliant in different ways.

Edge's solo or Edge's backing vocals? WHICH EDGE GENIUS IS BETTER?!

 

[Miggy D]

I prefer the single version. In this form, the song becomes a true classic. It reaches such a climax when Edge rips on his guitar after Bono sings,

"But love is not what you're thinking of"

After hearing the single version, I felt like that's how the song was always intended to be. The album version is much bleaker, which is, in many ways, appropriate, but I like the climatic feel of the single mix. So that one wins.

You should have made this a poll!

-Miggy

 

[RademR]

single version as well. But if you own the single, the live version in Rotterdam is the ultimate.

 

[namkcuR]

I prefer the single version. In this form, the song becomes a true classic. It reaches such a climax when Edge rips on his guitar after Bono sings,

"But love is not what you're thinking of"

After hearing the single version, I felt like that's how the song was always intended to be. The album version is much bleaker, which is, in many ways, appropriate, but I like the climatic feel of the single mix. So that one wins.

You should have made this a poll!

-Miggy

I can't. I'm not a premium member.

 

[namkcuR]

So you guys don't care about Edge's backing vocals in the last 1/3 of the album version?

 

[FullonEdge2]

Edge's backing vocals in the last 1/3 of the album version are very haunting. I love it! I've only heard a clip of the single version, though, so I wouldn't know if I like it better. The live version is sheer bliss.

 

[phanan]

I like the groove of the album version through the first part, but I prefer Edge's guitar solo on the single version.

So, I put the two together. I use the original version up to the break at 3:17, and then I switch over to the single version (at the 3:00 mark) and go the rest of the way with that one.

OK, so I'm weird, but I like it.

 

[WinnieThePoo]

the original , more sounds , single is also great , edge plays solo

 

[zoopop]

I have to say the single version. It is more emotional and the production is great. I'm a proud U2 fan when I hear Please live. Such a powerful song and another great tune off of Pop.

 

[bcrt2000]

the best live versions are the MTV Europe Awards & Popmart Mexico (which i think beats rotterdam hands down)

 

[Canadiens1131]

If you're just looking at which song version is better, it's the single version.

But if you mean which fits better into the album, I have to go with the album version. The album version sends you much more effectively into a shame spiral that lands you smack dab in the intro to Dead Man.

EDIT: Yes, yes I said shame spiral. Or perhaps despair corridor.

 

[Zooropa]

The album version is rawer, more intensely emotional. The single version is more streamlined (hence a single), more accessable. I'll take the album version by a smidgen...

 

[bathiu]

I like the album version better.
It's a "Larry's song" on the album, just like SBS or Bullet The Blue Sky... drums, drums, and more drums, loud and clear...


"There's Edge's solo on the single version, so it's better."
I do not agree with this. There is no solo on album versions of Mysterious Way or on BTBS (not as long at least).
That's why it's so great to hear them live. You have the surprise, they're diferent, uniqe.
What's the point of making album versions of the songs the same as live versions? It's boring.

 

[miss becky]

I like the album version better. It's haunting.

 

[Aygo]

I prefer the single version, but I think the album version is very good too. Before I hear the single version, I only knew the album version and I already loved it. I think the intro and the outro / "cause you my love I could never believe line" sound better, but in the single version, the better production, the guitar solo, the synthetizes background sound the Bono vocals are so beautiful that mede love the single mix...

 

[Canadiens1131]

Plus you can't beat Bono squirting a little in the video, so cute

 

[Aardvark747]

Plus you can't beat Bono squirting a little in the video

*coughs* - pardon?




Single version for me.

 

[boystupidboy]

*coughs* - pardon?




Single version for me.

Get back in your box aardvark,we dont need THAT sort of 'humour' around here

 

[Aardvark747]

 

[U2girl]

Single version.

 

[adb280z]

The single is more like the live version. I don't even think its close. To me part of the problem with pop is the songs evolved so much live, kinda shows that they rushed it a bit.

 

[Palace_Hero]

Someone make a mix of the two.

Now.

 

[Zoots]

Plus you can't beat Bono squirting a little in the video, so cute

I've never seen crying described like that!

 

[TheRooster]

Album version but just barely. The single version drops Larry too much and flattens out the overall contrast in volumes. Also the strings are nice but don't really convey the tragic sense of the well as well as some of the synthesizer noises they used on the album, like that weird explosion like sound during Bono's countdown of months. But I like the solo in the single version. I think the strings are a little to cliche when you want to be tragic and moving. I actually like Edge's backing vocals better in the Single version, every few seconds he harmonizes with Bono, and its sounds chilling, then Bono goes off into his own and Edge his own. It really adds to this swirling feeling like a shame spiral.

 

[lazarus]

Agree with the above. The strings, as usual, are unnecessary and hammer you over the head. I think the only U2 song that NEEDS the strings is All I Want Is You, and that's for obvious reasons.

It's really sad to me how many people prefer the single versions of the POP songs. While most of them have good elements that aren't found on the album versions, doesn't anyone realize that they are all attempts to make the songs more commercial and mainstream? How can you not see this? What the hell do you think "single version" means?

POP was a very ambitious album, especially when it was released, and to temper that ambition for the marketplace seems like a bit of a compromise to me. While U2 certainly wants to reach a large audience, it's difficult to say that these single versions are what the songs would have become had they completed the album on their own timeline. When you finish an LP and hand it in, you are out of that creative maelstrom, in a different zone. Who's to say that when the band went back to remix and add to these songs that they were in the same place artistically? I don't believe that.

The songs on POP aren't broken and don't need fixing. They were streamlined for mass appeal, that's it. If they weren't touched up people would NEVER be on here claiming what they are now, that certain album versions were "missing the big guitar solo" or whatever.

The single version of Please is certainly the most successful of the single versions, not to mention the abominable new mixes. But it does lessen Larry's work on the album, which is up there with his best. That people would trade that brilliance in for a nice solo and some strings is just pathetic. "It's all about the drums." On this song, he was right.

 

[U2girl]

Problem is, the single versions are not about what fans want, but the band. If the songs' versions were as good on their own, they wouldn't change them. (like most of their singles)

 

[TheRooster]

Actually its the opposite way around. Single versions are for what the fans want. Hence why they didn't record any "single versions" for songs that weren't officially released. A single is to help boost album sales and to sell...singles. Thats why many singles versions are shortened to be more radio friendly. If anything the fact they only changed the songs they released as singles supports the argument that they tried to make the songs more fan friendly.

 

[babyman]

the single version is simply breathtaking, all the violins arrangements turned the song into a dream, and bono sings much better

 

[ponkine]

First half of the song ( until "So love is big, is bigger than us..." )
ALBUM VERSION

From "September..." until the end: SINGLE VERSION

I love both versions

 

[cmb737]

I am on my way to the opening show and don't have my cd sleevs with me. Just curious, where they mixed by different people? Anyone know?