Rework your own POP album!!!!

[Mauwer]

Friends ,

We all know that the band would`ve liked to rework POP and they might even do that in the future , who knows?

Don`t get me wrong I really like POP , but if I had to rework it , it would be something like this.

01 - Discotheque
( keep the album version , it`s great , I don`t like the Best Of version , sounds too empty )
02 - DYFL
( again keep the album version , don`t change a thing )
03 - Mofo
( I like the album version but it could be better if they used the drums that Larry`s plays live )
04 - IGWSHA
( keep the original version but add the lyrics that were in the single version at the end of the song instead of the scatter vocals that are on the album )
05 - Staring At The Sun
( same as Discotheque keep the original coz I don`t like the Best Of version )
06 - Last Night On Earth
( use the single version of the song it`s a 100 times better , maybe the band could add the solo that they use live at the end )
07 - Gone
( this is tough since I like both POP and Best Of versions , I`d say use the vocals from the Best Of but the music from POP )
08 - Miami
( this stays the same , like it )
09 - The Playboy Mansion
( same as Miami )
10 - If You Wear That Velvet Dress
( it would be cool if it cool sound more like the live version but not as short as the live version )
11 - Please
( this is easy...throw in the single version coz it`s 1000 times better than the album version )
12 Wake Up Dead Man
( this is perfect , don`t change a thing )

Well that`s my rework , now what are yours?
Would you change a little or a lot?
Or even add or drop songs?
I`m very curious Friends.

Cheers ,

Mauwer

 

[DreamOutLoud13]

POP IS PERFECT.

Ahem, okay, so I might change a couple of things. I'd have Bono a bit louder on Do You Feel Loved, because the music almost drowns him out. And it'd be nice to have the 'move me a mountain' outtro added to Mofo. That's it. I really like Pop, and the words 'new mix' annoy me to no end

 

[U2girl]

Best of mixes of Discotheque and Gone, drop Miami and put North and south of the river inbetween Playboy mansion and Please. Please is the closer, drop Wake up dead man. Also, a new vocal take on If you wear that velvet dress instead of the creepy "60 year old chasing 15 year old girls" whisper.

 

[DreamOutLoud13]

Also, a new vocal take on If you wear that velvet dress instead of the creepy "60 year old chasing 15 year old girls" whisper.

That's the best part!

 

[An Cat Gav]

That's the best part!

I agree, also, how can you drop Wake Up Dead man? Its perfect and is the best closer to any U2 album in my humble opinion.

 

[shortfuse]

Discotheque (best of)
Do you feel loved?
Mofo
IGWSHA
Staring at the sun
Last night on earth
Gone (best of)
If you wear that velvet dress
Please (single)
Wake up dead man (i loved what they did on the Slane DVD...so maybe something in that vein)

 

[Zoots]

it'd be nice to have the 'move me a mountain' outtro added to Mofo. That's it. I really like Pop, and the words 'new mix' annoy me to no end

I agree with every syllable of what you posted there.

 

[Zoots]

Also, a new vocal take on If you wear that velvet dress instead of the creepy "60 year old chasing 15 year old girls" whisper.

What utter ridiculousness!!! Can't a 60 year old man sing If You Wear That Velvet Dress to a 60 year old woman? I don't get a 15 year old 'teen' vibe from it at all. And Bono doesn't sound old and creepy in that song! It's one of the best songs on Pop... top 3 material!

 

[ponkine]

Disc One: Pop. Remastered from the original master recordings Discotheque, Do You Feel Loved, Mofo, If God Will Send His Angels, Staring At The Sun, Last Night On Earth, Gone, Miami, The Playboy Mansion, If You Wear That Velvet Dress, Please, Wake Up Dead Man

Disc Two: Pop. Singles & Promos collection. Discotheque, Holy Joe, Staring At The Sun, Last Night On Earth, Please (live EP), Staring At The Sun (live EP), Please, If God Will Send His Angels, Mofo, Pop Musik, Gone (live Hasta La Vista Baby)

 

[trabantland]

Disc One: Pop. Remastered from the original master recordings Discotheque, Do You Feel Loved, Mofo, If God Will Send His Angels, Staring At The Sun, Last Night On Earth, Gone, Miami, The Playboy Mansion, If You Wear That Velvet Dress, Please, Wake Up Dead Man

Disc Two: Pop. Singles & Promos collection. Discotheque, Holy Joe, Staring At The Sun, Last Night On Earth, Please (live EP), Staring At The Sun (live EP), Please, If God Will Send His Angels, Mofo, Pop Musik, Gone (live Hasta La Vista Baby)

 

[jacobus]

cut down DISCOTHEQUE to a shorter, circa 2:30min version. all the other stuff on POP is great

 

[Blue Room]

When I used to record my POP CD to cassette to play in my car back in the day I would make it a double album.

Disc One (the more straight forward rock disc)

Mofo
Discotheque
If God Would Send His Angels
Staring At The Sun
Last Night On Earth
Gone
Do You Feel Loved
Holy Joe (Garage Mix)
Wake Up Dead Man

Disc Two: (more experimental/mellow disc)

Miami
If You Wear That Velvet Dress
Holy Joe (other mix)
Please
North And South of the River
Two Shots Of Happy, One Shot Of Sad
Playboy Mansion
Dreaming With Tears In My Eyes


Works for me, but probably no one else!

 

[U2girl]

What utter ridiculousness!!! Can't a 60 year old man sing If You Wear That Velvet Dress to a 60 year old woman? I don't get a 15 year old 'teen' vibe from it at all. And Bono doesn't sound old and creepy in that song! It's one of the best songs on Pop... top 3 material!

It's called having an opinion actually.

A 60 year old is more than welcome to sing whatever he wants to another 60 year old. What does that have to do with anything?

Bono was going for a sensual vocal but completely missed it. He sounds very, old and tired - creepy. Like a said, old man chasing underage prey.

It is one of the better songs on Pop, not top 3 for me but that's off topic anyway.

An Cat gav: Wake up dead man does nothing for me as a closer, and it doesn't help that what should be a straight forward guitar/rock song is cluttered with 394937 sound effects in it. I just feel Please would do much better.

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

discotheque
do you feel loved
mofo
if got will send his angels
staring at the sun
last night on earth
gone
miami
playboy mansion
if you wear that velvet dress
please
wake up dead man


i think that works

 

[An Cat Gav]

It's called having an opinion actually.

A 60 year old is more than welcome to sing whatever he wants to another 60 year old. What does that have to do with anything?

Bono was going for a sensual vocal but completely missed it. He sounds very, old and tired - creepy. Like a said, old man chasing underage prey.

It is one of the better songs on Pop, not top 3 for me but that's off topic anyway.

An Cat gav: Wake up dead man does nothing for me as a closer, and it doesn't help that what should be a straight forward guitar/rock song is cluttered with 394937 sound effects in it. I just feel Please would do much better.

Ok, i underatand your point. But I think it underlines the dark nature of the album. It starts off with Bono searching for God through all the bright lights and glitterballs etc , his search continues throughout the album until Wake up Dead Man. When for the first time in almost the history of U2, Bono is singing about being totally abandoned by God, almost questioning his existance. This is quite a big moment in my opinion and all the sound effects and creepy noises and backward played tapes just add to the weird vibe and the scary thought that there could be absolutely nothing out there, no God, or at best, one who doesn't listen. Well, its a scary thought to me anyway, and I'm pretty sure to Bono too.
I love that song.

 

[Smilla]

I totally agree--Wake up Dead man is a perfect song about being left alone without anything to hold on to.

 

[Karlonthe2nd]

Easy way to make Pop perfect- banish Miami and The Playboy Mansion to the pits of hell and replace Please with the Single version.

Seriously I love almost every track on that album to bits but I still can't see how Miami and The Playboy Mansion are considered the equal of the other songs. They would barely make the grade as B-sides IMO.

But like i say, the other 10 songs are fantastic so no problems there

 

[mikal]

When I used to record my POP CD to cassette to play in my car back in the day I would make it a double album.

Disc One (the more straight forward rock disc)

Mofo
Discotheque
If God Would Send His Angels
Staring At The Sun
Last Night On Earth
Gone
Do You Feel Loved
Holy Joe (Garage Mix)
Wake Up Dead Man

Disc Two: (more experimental/mellow disc)

Miami
If You Wear That Velvet Dress
Holy Joe (other mix)
Please
North And South of the River
Two Shots Of Happy, One Shot Of Sad
Playboy Mansion
Dreaming With Tears In My Eyes


Works for me, but probably no one else!

i really like this. but is "Dreaming With Tears In My Eyes" from the Pop sessions?

 

[phillyfan26]

Every song as it would have been performed after they "figured them out" on PopMart.

 

[Blue Room]

i really like this. but is "Dreaming With Tears In My Eyes" from the Pop sessions?

Well, technically its not even U2, half of U2 (Bono and Larry). It was recorded in 1995 or 96 and released in 97. So its the same time frame. I just thought/think it ended that disc perfectly.

 

[Aygo]

I'm share U2's opinion. Of course I love the album and just how is it, but despite being huuuuge, Pop it's not perfect. I understand them when they wanted to push the art even further, and I believe that if they had just a little more weeks to polish and to rework what they had already, it could have been even better than what we know.

If Pop was to be released in May, for instance, a tracklist like this one could've serve.

1. Discotheque - as it is, as we know it, because the 'new mix' is good for giving another perspective, but... it's not the original one
2. Do You Feel Loved - this is my favourite track and one of my favourite U2 songs, so no need to explain anything
3. MoFo - I think that the album version is great and it's fine in the album, but the band could've made a 'single version', and then we'd have a studio recording similar to what they used to play live
4. IGWSHA - the 'single version' is sightly better, more structured, more cohesive and a better ending. The stronger bass in the re-recording gives more emotion and intensity
5. Staring At The Sun - 'new mix' made it bad, the album version is cool as it is, I just think that a bit longer ending with fade-out effect could make it even better
6. Last Night On Earth - the 'single version' explains why this song is so good, and it improved what's on the album
7. Gone - although I like the 'new mix' too, it changed the essence of the album version that I think is brilliant. Maybe the 'new mix' could function as a 'sinlge version' in a possible releasement, showing another face of the song
8. Miami - no changes needed. Despite it's not a favourite of mine, it fits in the album as it is
9. The Playboy Mansion - this is the song I put in the bottom of the ranking, but if U2 always intended to include this in the album, it would be with no changes. So it stays.
10. ...Velvet Dress - I love the live version but the album version goes very well after Playboy Mansion and it's cool in that place in the album
11. Please - the album version is very poor IMO. If they were hurried, at least they could have made a better bassline in the right key. Contrasting with this, the 'single version' is great because it captures well some feeling of the live version, and that's what it should have been in the album
12. Wake Up Dead Man - no chamges at all, this song is beautiful, and there's no other way to end this piece of art.

This is just a supposition of that POP could have been if U2 was not hurried and if it was released a few months later, without pressions. This way it would be the greatest thing...

The b-sides are good: Holy Joe is a great song, but I don't think that the "Garage Mix" designation was needed because it sounds like the original and the "Guilty mix" as the... mix.
Good backup of Your Blue Room as b-side that gave another chance to appreciate the song.
North And South Of The River is beautiful. but Bono's vocals seem made in one cut and the version played in Omagh Tribute suplants the studio one.

 

[LMP]

1. Mofo *
2. Discotheque
3. Last Night on Earth *
4. If God Will Send His Angels (Single)
5. Staring at the Sun
6. Gone *
7. Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me
8. Miami
9. Do You Feel Loved
10. The Playboy Mansion
11. If You Wear That Velvet Dress
12. North and South of the River
13. Please *
14. Wake Up Dead Man

1* - The remix Pop Muzik builds and builds until it reaches its peak and blasts into Mofo, "Move me a mountain" outro

3* - PopMart-style vocal intro, extended solo that fades/drifts into IGWSHA

6* - Mixed like the album version, Edge's backing vocals during the chorus

13* - Single version without the strings, keeps Adam's bassline from the album version

That's my perfect POP, what do you think?

 

[mikal]

Well, technically its not even U2, half of U2 (Bono and Larry). It was recorded in 1995 or 96 and released in 97. So its the same time frame. I just thought/think it ended that disc perfectly.

ah. that's right. either way, it fits your tracklist very well.

 

[Mauwer]

Friends ,

Question : wasn`t the song Big Girls Are The Best also from the POP sessions?
I know it`s a b-side from Stuck but it sounds way to much POP than ATYCLB.

Does anyone know?

Cheers ,

Mauwer

 

[Aygo]

I'm surprised that after so many POP apreciation threads, this thread is a bit unpopular againat it, and against the preferences of this forum... It's very suspicious

 

[Blue Room]

Friends ,

Question : wasn`t the song Big Girls Are The Best also from the POP sessions?
I know it`s a b-side from Stuck but it sounds way to much POP than ATYCLB.

Does anyone know?

Cheers ,

Mauwer

It is from the POP sessions.

 

[KhanadaRhodes]

keep it as is, except maybe extend the boom chas on discotheque so disc 1 is just discotheque with like 70 minutes of boom chas, and disc 2 is the rest of the original album.

 

[Mauwer]

It is from the POP sessions.

Thanks Blue Room ,

Cheers ,

Mauwer

 

[Salome]

the potential for it to be near to their best albums is there

that alone depresses me too much to rework it

 

[angelordevil]

keep it as is, except maybe extend the boom chas on discotheque so disc 1 is just discotheque with like 70 minutes of boom chas, and disc 2 is the rest of the original album.

I like the way you're thinking

Along with extended boom chas, I'd rework the lyrics in Last Night On Earth. It's probably not an original thought, but if you insert Bono as the protagonist in the song, instead of the mysterious 'she' that he could be writing behind, the song becomes instantly punchier and more personal: I'm living like it's the last night on earth.