Pop Demos?

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david said:
Pop full of filler? It's one of their strongest albums from song one until the last song since Achtung Baby.
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Absolutely! Not a skipped track among them, unlike the past 2 albums, whoops pardon my dig at the new stuff......sorry!:wink:
 
rjhbonovox said:


For Fuc#s sake, your gonna try and tell me that the finished versions of these songs were on The Best Of 1990-2000. I have never heard such shit in all my life. ALL the original versions were far superior on the Pop album. How the fuc# anyone can say that the best of version of Staring At The Sun (yeah remember that, what an abortion of a mix that was) was on the best of is beyond me. Last Night On Earth was just a shortened version on the single with a different mid section vocal not as good as the original Pop version also. Please was also ruined on the single, even though it was a decent single version, it just took out all the excellent rawness of the original! The original Pop version sounded like 4 guys in a room playing, without some twat coming along and ruining it with keyboards. If god will send his angels was maybe better on the single but this is only a minor difference. So to say the later versions of these songs is talking out of yer arse and no mistake. Next you will be telling me that the version of Numb on the Best Of is better than the Zooropa version, well if you say that then I WILL KNOW your just taking the piss!

To finish, I couldn't give a fuc# about Mullen & Bono spouting on that Pop was unfinished. Only cos it never sold in there beloved USA is the reason they spout such shit!
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Absolutely. :up:

Jick thinks he knows everything that it is to know even if no one from the band has ever said that those remixes of the POP songs on the Best Of were how they actually wanted the songs to be. He certainly acts like that and as I said before that’s lame! :down:
 
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The Staring at the Sun mix was the most ridiculous cos it added nothing to the original apart from a totally unnecessary out-of-time beat. God, it was awful! And so were the other mixes. Why would Bono change that one line in Mysterious Ways??? Discotheque, I can understand they wanted to remove the boomchas, although I prefer the album version. Why change something that's been released? It's not gonna change people's opinion about the album, whether good or bad in the first place.
 
Pop was well received by the critics in tjhe UK with even the NME praising it. While I think the first post is a bit extreme, U2 have claimed on a number of occasions that the record wasn't finished, hence the remixes on the Best of. So you can see where the poster is coming from. SATS was one of those awkward songs like Horses where U2 took ages to work out how they felt it played best.

But if U2 had taken more time over Pop, who knows what it would have turned out like.

All I know is that, for me, the AB --> Zooropa --> Pop progression was one of the most exciting times to be a U2 fan.
 
TheBrazilianFly said:

If it was full of filler material U2 probably would have done something to stop it’s release and talk to Island records or they simply wouldn’t play 90% of songs from the record LIVE.
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The tour was already booked - from all the venues and everything. So they just had to release an album. When the vocal take is made the day the album was due, and backing vocals were even made in the mastering room - then something it clearly isn't the kind of record where you have time to distance yourself from your material a bit and re-assess your position (just like they did with HTDAAB).

Cheers,

J
 
It seems like everyone here has posted their OPINION that they prefer the POP mixes over the Best Of 1990-2000 mixes. But guess what? It's only an opinion.

The FACT is, U2 did not use the POP album versions for the Best Of songs. My intelligent guess is that U2 preferred the new mixes over the original album mixes. History has shown that U2 aren't stupid. U2 wouldn't jeopardize album sales by putting INFERIOR versions (in their opinion of course) of songs on their latest album if better ones exist. U2 aren't dumb.

So this isn't my opinion versus your opinions. It's your opinion versus U2's opinion. So I am just stating what U2's opinion is --and that is a fact.

Also, when you use logical reasoning to interpret U2's usage of these "new mixes" - it is because in U2's mind, the "new mixes" represent their "best of" that era. And reasoning out further, when U2 chose to exclude the album versions and used the new versions instead, they IMPLIED that the new mixes are the realization of the potential of the old mixes.

It's quite simple, really.

Cheers,

J
 
jick said:
U2 wouldn't jeopardize album sales by putting INFERIOR versions (in their opinion of course) of songs on their latest album if better ones exist. U2 aren't dumb.
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It's not about inferior versions. It's about apologizing for something you created. Pop didn't sell well in the US and so they changed these songs and went against their own creative instincts just so the Best Of will sell in the gazillians. You cannot honestly believe that Bono prefers the SATS mix to the original SATS. Please!
 
I'm reading the UNCUT guide Legends #3 of U2 and I quote Bono saying "The material on that record is up there with our best" before adding "It's just that we didn't finish it". So at least he acknowledged that it was really good.
 
I like how J dropped the argument about "filler material". He can talk all he wants about U2 preferring the Best of mixes (we know how good their judgement is--didn't The Edge say The Fly sounded dated and that's why it didn't make the cut on the best of?), but he has NOTHING to back up his claim that the POP songs are filler, and so he conveniently ignores that part.


laz
 
unnamed_streets said:


It's not about inferior versions. It's about apologizing for something you created. Pop didn't sell well in the US and so they changed these songs and went against their own creative instincts just so the Best Of will sell in the gazillians. You cannot honestly believe that Bono prefers the SATS mix to the original SATS. Please!
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You later post from the Uncut quote sums it up.
Unfinished - that is why they had, even with the singles, 3 different versions and that is why they made new mixes. That is why there was almost a new Playboy mansion mix when they thought they were going to release Hands that built America as a new single.
It was also so finished and thought-out they did the last vocal literally the last day of booked studio sessions, then went to a stadium tour from day one, unrehearsed.

SATS - not that different, though I like more of Edge's voice in the chorus. Like both versions.
Gone and Discotheque, I love those mixes - finally sounds like a real band playing.
 
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unnamed_streets said:


It's not about inferior versions. It's about apologizing for something you created. Pop didn't sell well in the US and so they changed these songs and went against their own creative instincts just so the Best Of will sell in the gazillians. You cannot honestly believe that Bono prefers the SATS mix to the original SATS. Please!
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So, by way of an apology, U2 released new mixes of the songs from POP which they KNEW were worse than the original mixes, purely to sell some more records? Really?:huh:
Seems to me, a strange way of apologising: imagine if they acted in a similar way, to the recent apology over the ticketing debacle? That wouldn't bode well for the next presale would it?
 
TheBrazilianFly said:
Give me a B, a U, an L, another L

now give me an S, an H, an I, a T

what`s that?
BULL SHIT!!!

what`s that?
BULL SHIT!!!

:)
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BULLSHIT BULLSHIT!!!What a bullshit it is!!It's best bullshit i've ever heard.
Jick, now i can die completely, because i see that i don't shit too much,i don't shit the most.
Thank you.
GIVE ME a B, U, L, L, S, H, I, T.
Bullshit.
Jick, why don't you change your name to:-bullshit(oh, no i can't say that) -PopHater so we could know not to read your posts about Pop, eventhou they are funny
 
I've read and heard on many interviews some of the members saying that they wanted for Pop something like they did on the live versions of Popmart. And thinking about it, the live versions sound more complete, and the band feels... safer and happier.
But Pop's great, full of great material, nice instrumentals and billiant lyrics.

The other question is the Best Of and the Single mixes. I don't really know what's wrong with the first ones...
Ok, in my opinion too the extra up-beat in SATS is unecessary, but Discothèque sounds perfect there and even more dancier-rock. About Gone, I like both versions. And I prefer too the single version of Please, but I like both.

I agree that there must be demo's for Pop because the songs didn't come up from the "nothing", there has to be a depart point and ther has do be unfinished versions, demos, for the band to send to the Recording Company for the final agreement. The question is that these demos didn't come out over the internet and the radios (with the exception of an alternate version of Discotheque and Velvet Dress) like it hapenned with the AB outtakes or like now, the HTDAAB alternate versions.
Maybe someday, these Pop demos come up and we have access to them in an especial box or something like that (we hope so...).
 
corner said:


So, by way of an apology, U2 released new mixes of the songs from POP which they KNEW were worse than the original mixes, purely to sell some more records? Really?:huh:
Seems to me, a strange way of apologising: imagine if they acted in a similar way, to the recent apology over the ticketing debacle? That wouldn't bode well for the next presale would it?
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Look, I don't know for a fact if they were genuinely unhappy with the album versions. That quote from Uncut doesn't necessarily mean Bono was genuinely happy with them. He may have just said it so it doesn't look like he is apologizing. But the thing is a band may change something just to please fans and sell more records while all the time wanting the exact opposite. Compromising creative integrity for popularity is not uncommon. I'm not saying U2 did that though.
 
unnamed_streets said:
I'm reading the UNCUT guide Legends #3 of U2 and I quote Bono saying "The material on that record is up there with our best" before adding "It's just that we didn't finish it". So at least he acknowledged that it was really good.
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Of course the material up there was among their best. That is why it made the best of. Then Bono said that they didn't finish it. So to his mind, the finished versions are what appear of the Best Of 1990-2000.

Cheers,

J
 
unnamed_streets said:


It's not about inferior versions. It's about apologizing for something you created. Pop didn't sell well in the US and so they changed these songs and went against their own creative instincts just so the Best Of will sell in the gazillians. You cannot honestly believe that Bono prefers the SATS mix to the original SATS. Please!
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This is a weak argument that puts down U2's legacy by saying that the went against their creative instincts just for the Best Of mixes.

If U2 ever went against their creative instincts, it is when they released POP. Their instincts told them that they needed to work on the songs more, but they had to release it because the tour was already booked. Hence, all the "unfinished" quotes from Bono and Mullen.

About whether I "honestly" believe what Bono prefers, I think actions speak louder than words. It is clear U2 prefer the Best Of 1990-2000 new mixes over the album versions otherwise they would have just put those. I say U2 because I refer to them as a collective whole. Maybe Bono did not prefer that mix of SATS but he could have been outvoted by the rest of the band to include that.

Regardless of what the fans think about the songs (I personally prefer the album mix of SATS), U2's actions and track choices have revealed their decisions/opinions. So my post is presenting what U2's opinion is - but even if it's U2 it's still an opinion. U2 may prefer the new mixes but others may prefer other mixes. The fact is, as supported by various quotes and their song/mix selection for the Best Of, is that U2 prefers those mixes to the other ones.

Cheers,

J
 
But wouldn't the band want to put the songs they feel that most represent their work on the "BEST OF" album?

I don't think a song reworked just for that album represents their 90s work, for many fans the 1st versions were good enough already, and puttin on Electrical Storm and The Hands That Built America on the album wasn't a good idea too IMO, why not just use them as pure singles. And w/ so many gr8 songs from the 90s they fill it up w/ new songs and the "new mixes". That whole idea just doesn't settle well with me.

and yes, I prefer the boomchas :wink:
 
I never could figure out why lots of people say that the Pop version of Gone is "unfinished" and that the "best of" version is better??? I just don't hear it - I think the album version is way better than the so called improved "best of" version. If anyone has the time (and opinion) please explain to me why people think the "best of" version is better.
 
and i think that it is worth noting that edge recently said that the majority of unfinished stuff from pop would not even be noticed by the general listener. that implies that it's more of a production-based shortcoming than a songwriting shortcoming.

james
 
The best of sucks!!!!There's no Fly on it,i'm talking about cd, but there's The first time. Jick, so now, after you can read Bono's mind(that's good, try to sell your knowledge about their next step), will they come to Croatia,eh?
POP is Finished, not in production shit like volume, but the essence of MOFO, Discoteque... is already there.
Jick, you hate Pop. I know why. Because you get hots on Bono when he has a longer haircut.
 
James U2 said:
and i think that it is worth noting that edge recently said that the majority of unfinished stuff from pop would not even be noticed by the general listener. that implies that it's more of a production-based shortcoming than a songwriting shortcoming.

james
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That's very, very interesting. :hmm:
 
Pero said:
The best of sucks!!!!There's no Fly on it
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Aw man that's tragic :(...did they only include the Fly on the 'best of' in certain countries or did it sneak onto my copy by freaky good fortune?:scratch:
 
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