Rate the Song: Always

[digitize]

It is the very last stretch of this competition. Today, we begin voting on the first of three (planned) rounds of 2000s non-album songs. The list I am looking at right now is:

Stateless
Summer Rain
Always
Levitate
Love You Like Mad
Smile
Flower Child
Big Girls are Best
Electrical Storm
The Hands That Built America
Native Son
Xanax and Wine
Are You Gonna Wait Forever?
Window in the Skies
Soon
Winter
Mercy

That is seventeen songs. If I missed anything, please let me know. Also, remember that The Ground Beneath Her Feet, Fast Cars, and No Line On The Horizon 2 are all considered 2000s non-album songs, but have had their rounds earlier. Today we will vote on the first six songs, Stateless through Smile.

Please rate Always on a scale from 0 to 10, using whatever criteria you feel allows you to best evaluate the song as a whole. I will not set criteria for people to based on, but if you feel like your best evaluation of the merits of a song comes from voting only based on, say, the studio version, go right ahead and vote that way. Full information on the Rate The Song series may be found in this thread.

Have fun! This poll will close in 96 hours.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_L_5RDWPVvw

 

[trevgreg]

Eh... I don't mind the chorus, and it's fun to listen to every so often. Still no BD though. 5.

 

[Nick66]

Remarkable only because it serves as a reminder of how unremarkable this era's b-sides were.

6. And "Always wear your safety belt" may very well be the moment Bono jumped the shark lyrically.

 

[corianderstem]

Thank goodness this later became Beautiful Day.

I can only hope that the safety belt line just stands as proof that the song was a work in progress.

 

[gvox]

I want you
I want you
I want you


lol

Even as a WIP, still a great start

 

[Scorpionac]

The lyrics to this are like a grab bag of random Bono lines, some great, some terrible. I have a hard time seeing this as a U2 song. I just think of it as a demo.

 

[Nick66]

The lyrics to this are like a grab bag of random Bono lines, some great, some terrible. I have a hard time seeing this as a U2 song. I just think of it as a demo.

You're thinking of Mercy.

 

[RioRhodes]

It's good but not great. I do enjoy listening to it enough for a 7 but it's not exactly a U2 best.

 

[flybabe]

It's good. Doesn't hold a candle to BD though. 6.

 

[coolian2]

cute, but nothing great by any means.

 

[Galeongirl]

I love this one, always have. I know it turned into Beautiful Day, but still, VERY strong b-side.

 

[prbiker15]

I like it, though easily not as great as the song it turned into, Beautiful Day. Recycled lyrics, with a mix of crappy ones. Love Edge's random strumming during the calmer bits.

Always wear your safety belt! 6.

 

[lazarus]

You're thinking of Mercy.

You mean the song that was supposed to be on the album along with Fast Cars, and was cut at the last minute at Larry's insistence?

That's not actually a demo but in all likelihood a finished track?

And is better than almost every song the band recorded in the last decade?

Must be a different Mercy.

 

[djerdap]

Heh, the last decade, as disappointing it was, wasn't that bad that a dreck like Mercy was better than almost every other song.

 

[theedgeu2]

Mercy is a pretty damn good song. That studio version that leaked should officially released. Don't make any adjustments, just release it as it is.

 

[FitzChivalry]

Thankful for what it eventually became.

 

[An Cat Gav]

Remarkable only because it serves as a reminder of how unremarkable this era's b-sides were.

6. And "Always wear your safety belt" may very well be the moment Bono jumped the shark lyrically.

I agree.

Not offensive to my ears, but yeah, very dull. Sad too when you remember that they were once the masters of b-sides.
5

 

[gareth brown]

4 from me. and I honestly can't imagine why this song has got a 10 from someone and three 9's??

just seems like a work in progress that I'm assuming was released because U2 thought we'd be more interested to hear where Beautiful Day came from than an actually finished song.

terrible start to the decade for B-side fans at any rate it makes me wonder...by that point and onwards had U2 written loads of good songs but, rather than "waste" them as B-sides, think they can be held off and eventually polished and released on actual albums......?
or are they just not writing that much good material any more and really have to protect the good stuff these days? I mean from the mid 80's to the 90's there was always a surplus of great material, some of which people think is as good as the albums they were left off.

granted, singles aren't about 2-3 tracks on a cd anymore on the whole, but over the last decade with U2 it feels like all you get on a single is remixes, covers or the rare scrap like this which is awful. ...Are You Gonna Wait Forever is of course an exception for me

 

[Nick66]

over the last decade with U2 it feels like all you get on a single is remixes, covers or the rare scrap like this which is awful. ...Are You Gonna Wait Forever is of course an exception for me