U2 was right about one of their mistakes...

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djerdap

djerdap

Rock n' Roll Doggie ALL ACCESS
Joined
Jun 8, 2004
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It's called Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses.
All this bullshit about Pop being a failure is so untrue and stupid that we had to take a mediocre effort like ATYCLB. But, let's stick to the topic.
Wild Horses had the potential of being one of the greatest U2 songs ever. The Morning Child sessions on the Salome Outtakes are simply amazing. Edge's guitarwork is incredible and Adam's bass is definitely one of the better ones I've heard from the man. But, someone or something destroyed the song and we got this mess we have. Now, Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses is just another song and definitely one of the weak spots on AB.
What a shame.
 
What more are you looking for in that song? The emotion and delivery of great lyrics by Bono and an otherworldly backdrop make for a great pop/rock song. Great songwriting.
 
Well, I'm gonna tell you a few problems I have with the song:
- muddy guitar, without any strong melodies and completely contrary to beautiful Morning Child guitarwork
- very cheesy chorus
- the ending too anticlimactic

That said, I do like this song. I just think that it could have been so much more.
 
:eyebrow:

I love that song... :wink:

Was suprised to hear the guys weren't that happy with it. :shrug:
 
I love"wild horses", as far as the U2 catalogue goes, it might not rank too high in my book. But U2's 150th best song, is still miles ahead of all contemprory music.

As far as it's place on AB, I rank it just ahead of Trying to Throw Your Arms around the World for least favorite on the album.
 
Really? I find that opinion very rare... I think that Tryin' was massacred in the production process, only to be resurrected live. The Stockholm June 1992 version is fantastic...
 
Never had a problem with Whose Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses album version, the Temple Bar version is even better and one of my favourite tracks, and if it was such a mistake to U2 they wouldnt have put it out as a single.
 
I prefer the Temple Bar version, and I do like the song quite a bit. The video, not so much.
 
"Tryin'..." is awesome.

I always skip "Who's Gonna Ride...", although I think it's a good song (go figure). They should've released "Until the End of the World" as a single instead (I read that it charted higher anyway).
 
I love the album version of that song, I hated the versions that appeared on the single.

I love the album version because of the haunting intro.. I like the whole "Deeper I spin part" it's one of my favorite songs ever.
 
Just because it maybe could have been better doesn't mean the version we have was a mistake.
 
Ah, perfection. Where is it, anyway? I like it the way it is.

It's amazing they could record such a complicated, multi-layered album on *tape*. Not digital. AFAIK, Achtung Baby was recorded on tape.

Correct me if I'm wrong...?
 
Hey djerdap, Pop was a commercial failure, and by the boys standards too. They are the first to admit they rushed the album and didn't finish it completely. And ATYCLB is mediocre? That's your opinion. I like that album a lot of people on this board like it and the band certainly likes it. Sure it's a bit on the slow, softer side, but the songwriting is top-notch (in my opinion) and the tunes played out well in concert.

WGRYWH is a good song, not great, not special...but that's only me folks. I think it could've been mixed better personally.
 
djerdap said:
It's called Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses.
All this bullshit about Pop being a failure is so untrue and stupid that we had to take a mediocre effort like ATYCLB. But, let's stick to the topic.
Wild Horses had the potential of being one of the greatest U2 songs ever. The Morning Child sessions on the Salome Outtakes are simply amazing. Edge's guitarwork is incredible and Adam's bass is definitely one of the better ones I've heard from the man. But, someone or something destroyed the song and we got this mess we have. Now, Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses is just another song and definitely one of the weak spots on AB.
What a shame.
Click to expand...

Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses is one of the 15 greatest U2 songs of all time. It is perhaps the best song on Achtung Baby and although I like the outtakes, I'll take what they put down on the record any day over them.
 
I'm not a huge fan of WGRYWH. But I will say that it is very important to Achtung Baby as an album. It helps unify a lot of the themes on the album. AB is incomplete without it.
 
'Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses' is U2 grappling with their past and their future. Aside from a few 'experimental' sounds added to it, this song could have been straight from Joshua Tree. The anthemic chorus, the nature imagery... This song is an example of the band trying to grow out of their former selves, and not fully succeeding. It's the weakest track on the album for that reason. But as a song by itself, outside of the context of that particular album, it's quite a good song. As an 'Achtung Baby' song, it's one of the worst because it's not very far from what U2 were trying to get away from.

Just to say it again - good song on its own, bad song in context. One of my favorite U2 songs, but I'm trying to be objective for the sake of the thread. I think I'll go listen to it now. :)

-Miggy D

P.S. - Bono and other members of the band have expressed in interviews their displeasure with this song. I believe Edge has called it his least favorite of the album. Bono, in retrospect, didn't care for it much because he felt it never came together the way they wanted it to,
 
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Maybe its just me, but I always thought that Wild Honey sounds ('feels'?) almost exactly like Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses....

goat
 
I've seen a lot of favouritism towards City Of Blinding Lights... interesting that melodically it is quite similar to Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses (in my opinion, of course).

:sexywink:
 
lanois said somewhere there is a mix of Wild Horses that he preferred and still prefers. I'd love to hear it, in fact I was hoping it would have been on the iTunes set.
I hope when the massive "Anthology" type book comes out in March we get a bonus disc!
 
I think it's a brilliant song as their are no weak spots on AB.

"You're dangerous cause your honest..."

what a line to start a song. Bono's voice is incredible.
 
I have to admit, it's my favorite song off AB. I really like the lyrics and feel during the bridge, especially the turn around falsettos.

I know that it's two songs fused together, much like Walk On, and I probably would have preferred the song containing the bridge part. Still can't beat it for me.
 
Nothing wrong with horses except the Temple Bar Remix' which took out about half the original mixing for a steel strung acoustic sound..... ugh!
 
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