Singles should have been:
No Line on the Horizon - released in January
Crazy Tonight - released with debut of NLOTH the album
Magnificent - released with the start of the tour
Breathe - released late summer when the tour hits the USA
Im only speculating here, as these releases would have made sense to me at least. Those four songs might have done better commercially. Then again i like Unknown Caller probably as well as any of those songs.
I'm fairly confident this line up of single releases would have done worse in the charts than the present. No Line, while my current favorite song on the album, doesn't seem to be winning any polls for best song even among the U2 fans. I think the band would have gotten more critical praise for the song/album than GOYB, but it doesn't translate very well to the current radio formats and lacks the pop hooks that normally propel songs up the charts. In fact, I don't think this song should even be a single at all, not even in the same vein as The Fly.
But in retrospect, Get On Your Boots maybe wasn't the best choice for a lead off single even though it's (debatably) the most pop and catchy of the album. It suffers from the problem of being too closely akin to Vertigo. I personally don't hear it, but I've read numerous posts on here, newspaper reviews, and friends accounts (small sample) that relate the two together. Since Vertigo was arguably their last major hit, that's what most lay people will be comparing the new single with. Crazy Tonight also suffers from the same problem as Vertigo, it's undoubtedly a great, classic, stock U2 song, but not the best for a lead off single when the band is trying something new to differentiate from the last two albums. But as mentioned by other people, Crazy Tonight will make a great 3rd single hit on triple A and HOT AC charts to steady album sales. I'm hoping for a Walk On type success with that song.
Magnificent probably should have been the lead off single for the album with some GOOD remixes. Not the *mostly* crap ones that were put together.
GOYB would have been a great second single for the summer. I think the song would have translated better to this time period (much like elevation). I just feel summer in both those songs. It too has an amazing potential for a dance/trance remix utilizing the "you don't know/how beautiful you are" portion of the track. A remix with that could have fared much better in clubs than the lame Justice and DJ Amerigo mixes we got. And this is coming from someone who usually listens to the remixes.
In the end, I really do hope U2 get one major single off this album as it's by far their best album of the decade and deserves one. I love to share U2 music, and it's a great feeling when everyone knows and loves a song you love too. People know Vertigo and Beautiful day, and they know them well. Look at the reaction of the crowd on Letterman and Fordham University when Beautiful Day and Vertigo are played. The people are crazy for it! The fact that U2 can play songs that are popular from the 2000s is a very powerful tool that keeps them TIME RELEVANT. They don't need to keep reverting back to Joshua Tree songs to get crowds going. This keeps them very relevant and really builds up the U2 name. DoctorWho pointed out that U2 is selling out STADIUMS without a hit song from this album. I'm not so sure this would be possible without the smash hits of Beautiful Day and Vertigo.
I've followed this thread since it's inception (never posting, only reading
) But thanks to all those who post here... DoctorWho, beLIEve, popmartin, and all the others!
