jick
Refugee
Blue Room said:
Second paragraph, I agree that alot of them are snippets and unfinished work. But they are not all just snippets. Salome' and Where Did It All Go Wrong are definately there pretty much complete. Also, the versions of Wake Up Dead Man on there are complete songs musically. Are they essential? As far as the casual U2 fan, no. But for any hardcore fan of the band (which is most people here) I think the outtakes are a must have. It really gives you a feel for how they work in the studio and there are some decent raw songs there.
Third paragraph, if you apply your theory from your second paragraph you are contradicting yourself. The early demos were just that. They were not intended for public release either. They were done to try to get a record contract. A bootlegger released those as well and I have seen those songs mislabeled by bootleggers also. Are those a must have? No more than the Actung Baby outtakes are. Its interesting to see how far U2 have come but some of those early demos are rougher than some of the material on the AB outtakes.
So there you go, you just said that Salome outtakes are not essential. This thread is about "essential" material so Salome outtakes don't below.
There is a difference from Salome and the Early Demos. The early demos were for consumption - they were for the record execs or whoever they are. So U2 intended them for release back then. They were for all intents and purposes finished (although rough) - whereas Salome contains unfinished snippets. Even Bono is instructing his lackeys on the chord changes in mid-song in the outtake provisionally called "Heaven and Hell." Something like that would never be caught on a demo tape they'd give to a record exec.
But I completely agree - Salome Outtakes are definitely a must-have for the hardcore U2 fan.
Cheers,
J