Songs which should NOT have been a single release

[intedomine]

Personally, I didnt think MYSTERIOUS WAYS was a good choice of single, considering ultraviolet and acrobat are more complete and powerful songs....

STUCK IN A MOMENT also never seemed to be the most ideal and logical single release, as well as not bein one of my personal favourites.

ANGEL OF HARLEM, I STILL HAVENT FOUND WHAT IM LOOKING FOR and STAY have never really been songs which deserved single release in my opinion, and this stems mainly from the songs which could have proved more beneficial for u2's incresaing popularity and album sales ( as well as the message which is trying to be conveyed....

 

[Axver]

Mysterious Ways and ISHFWILF not good choices? Are you mad? Half the people I know happen to know U2 mainly because of those two songs. They were brilliant choices.

Stuck In A Moment was perfect for the time, though I feel it's not a song worthy of single status and Kite or The Ground Beneath Her Feet should've received the honours.

Fire probably wasn't the world's most fantastic choice, and when you have Surrender, the same goes for Two Hearts Beat As One.

Personally, I think most of U2's single releases were pretty good, and if anything, they just should have done more, especially off UF and October.

 

[The_acrobat]

"I still haven't found what I'm looking for" not a good choice for single? That song was a huge success, and it's still one of the top 5 U2 songs I hear on the radio. I usually hear it a few times a week. It's a classic. It was a very good choice for a single if you ask me. It's still doing it's job to this day.....it's still pursuading people to buy the Joshua Tree album. Ditto "Mysterious ways" for Achtung Baby, and "Stuck in a moment" for ATYCLB. Say what you want about the songs (not among my favorites) but they were very good choices for singles.

"When love comes to town" shouldn't have been released as a single, I don't think. "Numb" was probably not the best choice to market Zooropa with.

"Discotheque" wasn't a good choice, either.

 

[~*Buffalo*~]

Indeed, Discoteque probably wasn't the best song to take from Pop. I'm also not very keen on The Fly ... well, there were too many singles from Achtung Baby anyway.

 

[Axver]

In regards to Pop, Gone should have been the first single. It would've been the perfect song to market the album with.

 

[jick]

Discotheque
Last Night On Earth
Please
Mofo

 

[intedomine]

the reason i dont think ISHFWILF shouldve been a single is essentially because i think one tree hill and running to stand still could have done a lot better than ISHFWILF....

...just a personal opinion

 

[Axver]

One Tree Hill was a single in New Zealand, and I think it was in Australia as well.

 

[MrBrau1]

Discotheque. Would've been a great album track. It's a terrible single.

 

[antietam]

I think that the following should not have been singles

last night on earth
please (good song, but not radio friendly)
lemon
when love
and everything before JT

 

[U2girl]

Numb and Lemon, instead First time and Babyface. Gone instead of Last night on earth and Kite/In a little while instead of Walk on/Elevation. *edit* Until the end of the world instead of Who's gonna ride your wild horses.

 

[Numbology]

Are you people insane?!Lemon and Numb are so single songs..Numb especially-it presents Edge (and the band) in a whole new light and the song is perfect!btw,Kite instead stuck,The Wanderer instead Stay(maybe..)The Playboy mansion instead If God.acrobat instead Horses,though it was a good single and still is

 

[Axver]

and everything before JT

So you're saying Out Of Control, Another Day, the great 11 O'clock Tick Tock, A Day Without Me, Fire, Gloria, A Celebration, New Year's Day, Two Hearts Beat As One, Sunday Bloody Sunday, 40, Pride, and The Unforgettable Fire shouldn't have been released? Woah, madness.

 

[antietam]

So you're saying Out Of Control, Another Day, the great 11 O'clock Tick Tock, A Day Without Me, Fire, Gloria, A Celebration, New Year's Day, Two Hearts Beat As One, Sunday Bloody Sunday, 40, Pride, and The Unforgettable Fire shouldn't have been released? Woah, madness.

well maybe Sunday and Pride, but I think U2's songs have evolved so much. I like the songs with a lot of production. I compare it to buying either a log cabin or a mansion?

 

[Dr_Macphisto]

1) Red Hill Mining Town instead of In God's Country
2) Heartland instead of When Love Comes To Town
3) Ultraviolet instead of The Fly
4) Do You Feel Loved instead of Last Night On Earth
5) Kite instead of Elevation

 

[Zoocoustic]

People forget that Discotheque went to #10 on the Billboard US Hot 100 Chart and is the last (and one of only a few) top 10 US singles U2 has ever had. This song was HUGE in the US and nothing by the band has been quite that big since (BD was close, but only hit #21, I believe). Maybe it hasn't aged well for some of you, but it was clearly an excellent choice for a single as it did so well. I remember how overplayed that song was on radio at the time.

Also, everyone says LNOE was a bad choice, but I don't think so. Maybe the video was lame, but the song was one of the few tunes off of Pop that worked as a single.

IMO, Please was a HORRIBLE choice - DYFL or even Gone would have been much better. Please is a horrible single and is NOT radio friendly, and I think it really turned a lot of people off to U2 at the time, as they were coming off of Discotheque, and SATS (big radio hits) and LNOE (moderate radio hit). I think I heard Please ONCE on the radio, and that was it.

 

[yertle-the-turtle]

Fire

 

[Jack In The Box]

Stuck in a moment...
Mofo
The unforgettable fire
Please
...

 

[adenoid_hynkel]

my pic

Who's gonna ride your wild horses. A good song, but achtung baby had many, many better choices available for the final single

 

[adenoid_hynkel]

discotheque

"People forget that Discotheque went to #10 on the Billboard US Hot 100 Chart and is the last (and one of only a few) top 10 US singles U2 has ever had. This song was HUGE in the US and nothing by the band has been quite that big since (BD was close, but only hit #21, I believe)."

don't forget that all U2 singles since pop have only been release as imports to american fans.

if beautiful day had a domestic release and a lower price, it would have went to #1 without question. #21 on airplay alone is no small feat

 

[BigMacPhisto]

MOFO
Last Night on Earth
Please

Sensing a trend here?

 

[Jack In The Box]

was A Sort Of Homecoming single?

If was like that ... what a bad decision

 

[MrBrau1]

Disco may have been a top ten single, but BD got a million times more airplay.

 

[Zoocoustic]

Disco may have been a top ten single, but BD got a million times more airplay.

I disagree. It was hard to go an hour without hearing Discotheque on the radio when it was released, for several months.

BD on the other hand, was mildly popular, faded quickly, then came back stronger after it won three Grammy's. It may have had a longer life on the radio, but at no time was it played more heavily than Discotheque was during it's run.

 

[Axver]

I have never heard Discotheque on the radio. In fact, I never heard anything from Pop on the radio. During 1997-98, I would hear stuff like Sweetest Thing, New Year's Day, and With Or Without You, but I simply can't remember a thing from Pop. OK, so I was only a casual fan at the time and might not have known it was by U2, but I have a very vivid memory and nothing on Pop rang any bells when I first heard it.

was A Sort Of Homecoming single?

If was like that ... what a bad decision

It wasn't according to the list I posted, however I do happen to have a music video for it (if I remember right, it's actually the live WAIA performance).

 

[Salome]

even now I hardly comprehend why "Even better than ..." was put on a U2 album
let alone why they thought they should release this one as a single

 

[t8thgr8]

hey shut your mouth, even better than the real thing is a great song. achtung baby shouldnt even be touched in this thread, achtung baby had truly 12 singles on it even if only 6 or 7 saw daylight so they couldnt make a bad choice if they wanted to. the even better video is my favorite u2 video hands down.

now, to the fool that said every song before joshua tree, pffff put down the pipe bebe, that was the most retarded thing ive heard in a good week, thanks for raising that bar.
if you wouldve thought out that reply, you wouldve thought about the crap songs that the singles u2 put out in the period of 80-86 had to contend with. i know i know, electric avenue was such a tough song to go toe to toe with .

 

[Numb1075]

IMO, BD had a lot more airplay than Discoteche.

I often feel that U2 put out some "off the wall singles". Discoteche, not a very rock n roll song, Numb, doesn't even sound like U2, even Mysterious Ways was a bit dancier than anything they've ever put out at that time (circa 1991). Some odd choices to lure people into buying their records