david
ONE love, blood, life
Is The Fly from this collection a prior remix or something? I never heard it before.. it’s got some swagger.
Songs of Songs, Books & Fat Puns - New Album Discussion #8
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OP
OP
It's a rerecorded version
dan_smee
ONE love, blood, life
I’ve listened to the whole of the first few chapters and the best example of what I want to explain is Iris:
It’s a live version from E+I. It comes after he’s been talking about finding his voice and the thrill of playing live, and it leads into him talking about doubting it’s place on the album. I think the version they used was important to show it’s importance and impact. Throughout the chapter there’s little musical “bits” that seem to be from a version of Iris stylistically aligned with the other tracks. So I’m sure it exists and will be on the album.
Does that make sense?
dan_smee
ONE love, blood, life
Yeah - I’m not convinced this will be what ends up on the album. Like someone said earlier, a lot of this is cut together and edited specifically for the audiobook. It’s entirely possible that that is just a live version and there will be a full on reworking on the album.
dan_smee
ONE love, blood, life
Songs of Songs, Books & Fat Puns - New Album Discussion #8
Also - the more I listen, the more I realise how nuanced and thoughtful these “re-imaginings” are. This isn’t the SOI bonus disc. This is a proper effort to present these songs in an interesting way.
Now - whether people “like” them is an entirely different idea, but it would be hard to construct an argument that this is lazy or boring.
Also - the more I listen, the more I realise how nuanced and thoughtful these “re-imaginings” are. This isn’t the SOI bonus disc. This is a proper effort to present these songs in an interesting way.
Now - whether people “like” them is an entirely different idea, but it would be hard to construct an argument that this is lazy or boring.
OP
OP
Appreciate the insights!
The John Tree
War Child
First of all, thank you Dan for these snippets. While I may be disappointed with the result, it’s always exciting to hear anything recorded by U2, even if it’s a re-recording.
A disclaimer: obviously I haven’t heard anything beyond the snippets that Dan graciously shared, so I’m basing my assessments on a few seconds of a song. This is all just a snap judgment, so spare me the “you haven’t even heard it yet!” defenses.
That said, this is pretty much what I thought: some of these are somewhat interesting, but only a few are interesting enough where I even care about hearing the whole thing.
As I said before, the more drastic reinventions are the ones I’m actually really intrigued by: Stories For Boys and The Fly, in particular, sound wild. And, while it’s not a totally drastic reinvention, 11 O’Clock Tick Tock sounds great - and that was one where I was wondering how the hell they’d do it. I’m actually quite excited to hear that one. I also thought Invisible really worked in this arrangement.
The rest of them? Eh. We’ll see. This is at least a somewhat promising rendition of One - and I didn’t think Bono’s current voice can pull off One anymore - and to be honest with you, I don’t know if there’s any recorded version after 1995 that does the trick for me, live or otherwise. There was just something in his voice from 1991-1995, when he still had that bass in his voice, that really pulled it together. Maybe this version will be better. So far, I like what I hear.
What’s really weird is that I *know* Bono can still sing a damn good version of Sunday Bloody Sunday live…but he can’t seem to do it acoustically for some reason. His vocal choices don’t work in the verse here.
“Out of Control” and “I Will Follow” are interesting enough efforts to make then different enough…I just don’t see myself ever revisiting them in these forms.
“Vertigo,” “Miracle Drug,” are big ‘no thank you’s from me. Pride sounds boring. ISHFWILF is that whispery, speak-singy Bono that I don’t like.
I’m also not really a fan of Bono revising his lyrics - it’s usually a bit too on the nose.
But lastly, the one thing that sums up the whole project to me is “Get Out Of Your Own Way.” They thought they had a hit on their hands for SoE. It failed. Here, they have another crack at it, another chance for the song to achieve its potential and…*that’s* the vocal?! I don’t care if it’s only a few seconds long - those are 10 very bad seconds. Yikes.
A disclaimer: obviously I haven’t heard anything beyond the snippets that Dan graciously shared, so I’m basing my assessments on a few seconds of a song. This is all just a snap judgment, so spare me the “you haven’t even heard it yet!” defenses.
That said, this is pretty much what I thought: some of these are somewhat interesting, but only a few are interesting enough where I even care about hearing the whole thing.
As I said before, the more drastic reinventions are the ones I’m actually really intrigued by: Stories For Boys and The Fly, in particular, sound wild. And, while it’s not a totally drastic reinvention, 11 O’Clock Tick Tock sounds great - and that was one where I was wondering how the hell they’d do it. I’m actually quite excited to hear that one. I also thought Invisible really worked in this arrangement.
The rest of them? Eh. We’ll see. This is at least a somewhat promising rendition of One - and I didn’t think Bono’s current voice can pull off One anymore - and to be honest with you, I don’t know if there’s any recorded version after 1995 that does the trick for me, live or otherwise. There was just something in his voice from 1991-1995, when he still had that bass in his voice, that really pulled it together. Maybe this version will be better. So far, I like what I hear.
What’s really weird is that I *know* Bono can still sing a damn good version of Sunday Bloody Sunday live…but he can’t seem to do it acoustically for some reason. His vocal choices don’t work in the verse here.
“Out of Control” and “I Will Follow” are interesting enough efforts to make then different enough…I just don’t see myself ever revisiting them in these forms.
“Vertigo,” “Miracle Drug,” are big ‘no thank you’s from me. Pride sounds boring. ISHFWILF is that whispery, speak-singy Bono that I don’t like.
I’m also not really a fan of Bono revising his lyrics - it’s usually a bit too on the nose.
But lastly, the one thing that sums up the whole project to me is “Get Out Of Your Own Way.” They thought they had a hit on their hands for SoE. It failed. Here, they have another crack at it, another chance for the song to achieve its potential and…*that’s* the vocal?! I don’t care if it’s only a few seconds long - those are 10 very bad seconds. Yikes.
OP
OP
Yes I mean my largest takeaway if that they sound interesting enough to listen further... and sure, some of the clips sound more promising than others, but holy hell they're 10 to 20 second snippets. I'm not going to declare anything great or awful until I can, ya know, hear the full song.
The closest to a full song we got is 40 and it sounds lovely.
The closest to a full song we got is 40 and it sounds lovely.
OP
OP
And the download isn't working on Google play
The John Tree
War Child
I’m not declaring anything great or awful until I hear the whole song - I gave first impressions based off of what I was able to hear.
It’s sort of like a movie trailer. I can’t always tell if a 2 hour movie is for me based off of a 3 minute trailer…but I can certainly say what I’m excited to see and what I’m not.
Irvine511
Blue Crack Supplier
They sound great to me, and have put me in a wistful, melancholic mood.
Love these songs. Soundtrack to my life.
Love these songs. Soundtrack to my life.
ascender_RS
Refugee
If anybody is in any doubt about whether to buy the audiobook version of this, I can't recommend it highly enough. I'm only a few chapters in, but the narration is just as good as I hoped it would be and the use of music in it (U2's own and others) is brilliant.
Gonna Run 2 U
New Yorker
dan_smee
ONE love, blood, life
So if an announcement is today we are, what, between 2 and 6 hours away?
mikal
Blue Crack Addict
I don’t think it’s today. I think they’ll let the book breathe for at least a couple days and then either release it or announce that it’s coming out.
prbiker15
Blue Crack Addict
Anyone received the U2.com email? Is this the first time they confirm the “newly recorded, reimagined versions” of the songs? “Glimpsed for the first time”?
mikal
Blue Crack Addict
I’d say announcement either late in the week or no announcement at all and just an album drop in a couple weeks.
ascender_RS
Refugee
I guess there will be some sort of announcement to allow people to order the physical versions and then maybe a track a week released digitally or something for a few weeks?
ascender_RS
Refugee
His radio 2 interview can be heard here. It has some extracts from the audio book and seems to be more different in tone to some of the other ones I've heard so far.
It's much more relaxed, free-form and while there's also music throughout the 45 minutes, it's definitely worth a listen. Zoe Ball doesn't just do the "from U2's formation" chronological thing.
It's much more relaxed, free-form and while there's also music throughout the 45 minutes, it's definitely worth a listen. Zoe Ball doesn't just do the "from U2's formation" chronological thing.
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The John Tree
War Child
Part of me thinks that the lack of an announcement re: the album is smart, at this point.
It's just an album of rerecorded songs. It's not going to have a big radio hit. It's not the 'next U2 album.' And the media cycle just moves so fast that, if they announced it last month, any buzz would probably be gone by now. Better to just announce it and then, a week or two later, there it is.
It's just an album of rerecorded songs. It's not going to have a big radio hit. It's not the 'next U2 album.' And the media cycle just moves so fast that, if they announced it last month, any buzz would probably be gone by now. Better to just announce it and then, a week or two later, there it is.
OP
OP
my guess remains Thursday.
JamietheEdgefan
Refugee
U2songs said at one point from what they heard, a surprise release was also a possibility.
So there's a very small chance the whole thing just gets dropped on Friday (or Nov 18).
So there's a very small chance the whole thing just gets dropped on Friday (or Nov 18).
mikal
Blue Crack Addict
I'm leaning more towards this.
OP
OP
JamietheEdgefan
Refugee
Between the initial rumours that a lot of this would not be acoustic, that they'd done a version of Streets very similar to the original (i.e. full band), sent it out to DJs as a single to be remixed, and the recordings of Bono's performance that seemed to be quite electronic and almost a bit dancey at times with WoWY and CoBL, I had anticipated that they'd made something a little bit ambitious, with which they may want to get some radio play.
But after listening to the snippets - and, fully admitting that's all we've heard, so I may be wrong - the music all feels much more understated, built more for an atmosphere with which to read the book, rather than to chart whatsoever.
If that's the case, a surprise - and understated - release would make much more sense than a single and a lot of fanfare. I get the impression that this isn't music made to go very far (I don't mean that in a bad way, it just seems designed to not occupy the same kind of space as U2's usual music).
But hey, maybe the actual songs will have slightly different edits/mixes, closer to what was originally reported/performed...
But after listening to the snippets - and, fully admitting that's all we've heard, so I may be wrong - the music all feels much more understated, built more for an atmosphere with which to read the book, rather than to chart whatsoever.
If that's the case, a surprise - and understated - release would make much more sense than a single and a lot of fanfare. I get the impression that this isn't music made to go very far (I don't mean that in a bad way, it just seems designed to not occupy the same kind of space as U2's usual music).
But hey, maybe the actual songs will have slightly different edits/mixes, closer to what was originally reported/performed...
david
ONE love, blood, life
Listening to this now. So glad I’m working from home today.
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