U2 Should Remaster Their Back Catalog...

[namkcuR]

Listening to the back catalog, I think it is obvious that all of it - that's every record up and through Pop - need remastering. It becomes especially apparent when you listen to, say, Stay or Mysterious Ways on Zooropa and AB respectively and then on the Best Of, where they were remastered. I'm not even sure if the tracks on the 80s best of were remastered - they might have been. The point is, these records and songs deserve an updated sound. Now, I also have a twist for this...if you look at Michael Jackson's remastered back catalog - Off The Wall through Dangerous - you see that he added extra songs/b-sides/that type of thing to the end of each record. That is what U2 should do as well. Put the b-sides for each album after the end of the album to give the listener a bonus. I've made these all into playlists in Winamp and each one will fit on an 80-minute CD, even JT with all of its b-sides and the treasure trove that is this version of Boy. I think the b-sides should be stuck at the end though rather than incorperating them into the running order, because people will want the running orders the grew up with, fell in love with. Also, every track is to be exactly the original track, just re-mastered. No 'fixing' like the Best Of mixes. I wouldn't mind some minor alterations though...if they wanted to stick the solo in Please or change the lyrics at the end of If God, that'd be fine with me - no rerecording if you ask me though

Here's what they would look like...

U2 - Boy[Original Recording Remastered] - 1980

1.I Will Follow
2.Twilight
3.An Cat Dubh
4.Into The Heart
5.Out Of Control
6.Stories For Boys
7.The Ocean
8.A Day Without Me
9.Another Time, Another Place
10.The Electric Co.
11.Shadows And Tall Trees
12.Street Mission
13.The Fool
14.Out Of Control(U23 Version)
15.Stories For Boys(U23 Version)
16.Boy-Girl
17.11 O'Clock Tick Tock
18.Touch
19.Another Day
20.Twilight(Demo/Single B-Side version)
21.Things To Make And Do

U2 - October[Original Recording Remastered] - 1981

1.Gloria
2.I Fall Down
3.I Threw A Brick Through A Window
4.Rejoice
5.Fire
6.Tomorrow
7.October
8.With A Shout
9.Stranger In A Strange Land
10.Scarlet
11.Is That All
12.A Celebration
13.Party Girl
14.J.Swallo

U2 - War[Original Recording Remastered] - 1983

1.Sunday Bloody Sunday
2.Seconds
3.New Year's Day
4.Like A Song
5.Drowning Man
6.The Refugee
7.Two Hearts Beat As One
8.Red Light
9.Surrender
10."40"
11.Treasure(Whatever Happened To Pete The Chop)
12.Endless Deep

U2 - The Unforgettable Fire[Original Recording Remastered] - 1984

1.A Sort Of Homecoming
2.Pride(In The Name Of Love)
3.Wire
4.The Unforgettable Fire
5.Promenade
6.4th Of July
7.Bad
8.Indian Summer Sky
9.Elvis Presley And America
10.MLK
11.Love Comes Tumbling
12.The Three Sunrises
13.Bass Trap(Full Version)
14.Pride(In The Name Of Love)(Rare Single Version With Extra Chorus)
14.Boomerang 1
15.Boomerang 2
16.Sixty Seconds In Kingdom Come

U2 - The Joshua Tree[Original Recording Remastered] - 1987

1.Where The Streets Have No Name
2.I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For
3.With Or Without You
4.Bullet The Blue Sky
5.Running To Stand Still
6.Red Hill Mining Town
7.In God's Country
8.Trip Through Your Wires
9.One Tree Hill
10.Exit
11.Mothers Of The Disappeared
12.Luminous Times(Hold On To Love)
13.Walk To The Water
14.Race Against Time
15.Silver And Gold
16.Sweetest Thing
17.Spanish Eyes
18.Deep In The Heart

U2 - Rattle And Hum[Original Recording Remastered] - 1988

1.Helter Skelter
2.Van Dieman's Land
3.Desire
4.Hawkmoon 269
5.All Along The Watchtower
6.I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For
7.Freedom For My People
8.Silver And Gold
9.Pride(In The Name Of Love)
10.Angel Of Harlem
11.Love Rescue Me
12.When Love Comes To Town
13.Heartland
14.God Part II
15.Star Spangled Banner
16.Bullet The Blue Sky
17.All I Want Is You
18.Hallelujah Here She Comes
19.A Room At The Heartbreak Hotel

U2 - Achtung Baby[Original Recording Remastered] - 1991

1.Zoo Station
2.Even Better Than The Real Thing
3.One
4.Until The End Of The World
5.Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses
6.So Cruel
7.The Fly
8.Mysterious Ways
9.Tryin' To Throw Your Arms Around The World
10.Ultraviolet(Light My Way)
11.Acrobat
12.Love Is Blindness
13.Alex Descends Into Hell For A Bottle Of Milk/Korova 1
14.Lady With The Spinning Head(Extended Dance Mix)
15.Salome
16.Where Did It All Go Wrong

U2 - Zooropa[Original Recording Remastered] -1993

1.Zooropa
2.Babyface
3.Numb
4.Lemon
5.Stay(Faraway, So Close)
6.Daddy's Gonna Pay For Your Crashed Car
7.Some Days Are Better Than Others
8.The First Time
9.Dirty Day
10.The Wanderer
11.Slow Dancing
12.Hold Me Thrill Me Kiss Me Kill Me

U2 - Passengers: Original Soundtracks 1[Original Recording Remastered] - 1995

1.United Colours
2.Slug
3.Your Blue Room
4.Always Forever Now
5.A Different Kind Of Blue
6.Beach Sequence
7.Miss Sarajevo
8.Ito Okashi
9.One Minute Warning
10.Corpse(These Chains Are Way Too Long)
11.Elvis Ate America
12.Plot 180
13.Theme From The Swan
14.Theme From Let's Go Native
15.Viva Davidoff
16.Bottoms(Zoo Station Mix)

U2 - Pop[Original Recording Remastered] - 1997

1.Discotheque
2.Do You Feel Loved
3.Mofo
4.If God Will Send His Angels
5.Staring At The Sun
6.Last Night On Earth
7.Gone
8.Miami
9.The Playboy Mansion
10.If You Wear That Velvet Dress
11.Please
12.Wake Up Dead Man
13.Holy Joe(Garage Mix)
14.North And South Of The River
15.Slow Dancing(Willie Nelson Version)
16.Two Shots Of Happy, One Shot Of Sad
17.I'm Not Your Baby(Sky Splitter Dub)

[AtomicBono]

But if they did that I'd have to buy all the albums again... Are you trying to get me broke!?

That would be cool though. However I think U2 should maybe wait a bit to do that... I don't know how involved they would be in it but I want them focused on NEW material!

[Jack In The Box]

yes, I agree, but this would be released as a Box Set

[1stepcloser]

Yep i agree that they do need re-mastering.

[Adam'sbaby]

I like this idea!

[Exit thru Wire]

Yeh I would love this to happen, would be a bit pricey but worth it. The sound quality on some of the earlier cds is poor compared to cds today, for obvious reasons, so remastering would be good. It would be great to see the bsides included as there are some real gems there that should be on albums. I dont see it happenning to be honest though, dunno why. I would also prioritise new material before a set like this would be made.

[Princey]

I think this should happen eventaully, but not while U2 are still able to produce new material for us to enjoy instead...

[Popmartijn]

Originally posted by namkcuR
That is what U2 should do as well. Put the b-sides for each album after the end of the album to give the listener a bonus.

No bonus tracks at the end of the album!
If they want to re-issue those albums, remastered and with bonus tracks, then they should do it like Elvis Costello has done (and also The Cure and now The Stooges and probably some other artists). Make it a 2-disc set, with on one disc the album in its original running order (thus, no bonus tracks there) and one disc of bonus tracks. Keep the original artistic statement and don't dilute it with extra tracks.

[AtomicBono]

Originally posted by Popmartijn



No bonus tracks at the end of the album!
If they want to re-issue those albums, remastered and with bonus tracks, then they should do it like Elvis Costello has done (and also The Cure and now The Stooges and probably some other artists). Make it a 2-disc set, with on one disc the album in its original running order (thus, no bonus tracks there) and one disc of bonus tracks. Keep the original artistic statement and don't dilute it with extra tracks.

I don't think it's really diluting it if the tracks are at the end, it's just like having "Fast Cars" or any other bonus track at the end of an album except more. Also, the second disc would be too short if they did one for each album.

[starvinmarvin]

Originally posted by Popmartijn



No bonus tracks at the end of the album!
If they want to re-issue those albums, remastered and with bonus tracks, then they should do it like Elvis Costello has done (and also The Cure and now The Stooges and probably some other artists). Make it a 2-disc set, with on one disc the album in its original running order (thus, no bonus tracks there) and one disc of bonus tracks. Keep the original artistic statement and don't dilute it with extra tracks.

Agreed. A bonus disc including the b-sides is the better route. Most of the B-sides were cut from the album because they didn't fit into the overall feel of the album. Tacking them on the end just doesn't sound right.

[mobvok]

If it's in a box-set, definitely a single bonus disc of all the B-Sides, just catagorize them in the tracklisting into Boy B-Sides, War, etc.

If this is supposed to be the Ultimate Superior Uber Remastered Final editions that we're supposed to tote around and amaze our friends with, then I'd just want what's on the album and nothing more.

[Azor]

Originally posted by namkcuR
I'm not even sure if the tracks on the 80s best of were remastered - they might have been.

Yeah, they were.

[namkcuR]

I don't agree with the idea of seperate discs for the b-sides. For every physical CD added to this thing, they can and will jack the price up. If it's going to mean saving $10-15, I would gladly take the b-sides at the end of the disc instead.

[innocent_eyes]

Extra disc is the way I'd go!

Like double albums: Boy: the B-sides

very cool, some new artwork for the b-side album `too, lol!

[Bono's shades]

I'm not enough of an audiophile to care, unless they release some previously unreleased material for the extra tracks rather that b-sides and stuff I already have.

[phanan]

The older albums definitely need to be remastered. They sound horrible compared to remasters of other artists' material.

I'm sure U2 would give its stamp of approval on things, but it wouldn't derail them from producing new material.

[starvinmarvin]

Originally posted by phanan
The older albums definitely need to be remastered. They sound horrible compared to remasters of other artists' material.

I'm sure U2 would give its stamp of approval on things, but it wouldn't derail them from producing new material.

Remastering wouldn't be done by U2. Remastering doesn't entail any input from the band other than a rubber stamp - it would simply be a matter of using the latest technology to improve the sound quality of the original recording. It would not prevent the band from working on new material, or take much time away from it.

[Muad'zin]

You could do it yourself. From time to time I make some occasional greatest hits CD from stuff I get from the I-net. One of the biggest differences between old and new songs is volume. Somewhere in the 90's they must have increased it tremendously. In order to create a smooth sounding CD I usually have to normalize old songs to the volumelevels of today.

As for official releases, I prefer if they do one big remastered box when the band finally calls it quits after a long and fruitfull career. Nothing pisses me of more then spending a whole lot of $€$€$ of a remastered box set to current day standards when several years later I have to do it all over again for a reremastered boxset to the standards of future tech.

[starvinmarvin]

Originally posted by Muad'zin
You could do it yourself. From time to time I make some occasional greatest hits CD from stuff I get from the I-net. One of the biggest differences between old and new songs is volume. Somewhere in the 90's they must have increased it tremendously. In order to create a smooth sounding CD I usually have to normalize old songs to the volumelevels of today.

As for official releases, I prefer if they do one big remastered box when the band finally calls it quits after a long and fruitfull career. Nothing pisses me of more then spending a whole lot of $€$€$ of a remastered box set to current day standards when several years later I have to do it all over again for a reremastered boxset to the standards of future tech.

I know, it pisses me off too. For instance, I've bought all of the Stones CD's over the years. I was happy because I was upgrading the sound quality from the cassettes I prevously owned. A few years ago The Stones remastered most of their albums, and made huge improvements in terms of the sound quality, but you know what? I refuse to buy all of them again. I'd love to have them, but I can't justify the cost. I hiope that when U2 remasters their CD's that they wait until they are no longer making new music.

[starsgoblue]

There are some remastered older albums....like War/:

http://www.epinions.com/content_113886924420

Mobile Fidelity Sound also, to my knowledge, remastered Joshua Tree and UF....

Unless you guys are talking about something else and I'm just