namkcuR
ONE love, blood, life
It always seemed like U2 wanted this song to be huge for them, and it never really was. I think there are different ways an artist can approach a song, different ways that song can sound, and I think OOTS could have been a huge hit if approached differently. The way U2 approached it was as a anthemic guitar-based ballad. A lot of people here enjoyed it from that approach, but I never really felt like the song was 'U2's Hey Jude' the way a lot of you did. Oddly enough, I think the approach to this song that was taken in the early parts of the HTDAAB promotional pre-tour and Vertigo Tour, when U2 were still 'figuring out' how to play it live - the sparse, keyboard-based performances - would have served the song much better all around.
Those keyboards were lush, and they bring the melody of the song out so much better than all the guitars and strings in the 'normal' versions(album, single, and later live performances) ever did. Those performances remind me a lot of the way U2 performed Running To Stand Still during the JT Tour and Lovetown. Totally naked, a keyboard, a vocal, and very sparse precussion, in total darkness, spotlight just on Bono and/or The Edge. Every time I listen to the performance on the Chicago DVD(or any other early Vertigo tour performance), I think, 'this is how it should have been recorded in the first place'.
I really think if OOTS had been recorded as that naked keyboard ballad and released as a single, it would have been huge(provided it recieved proper promotion, of course). If approached as a song that needed quiet but intense, passionate but restrained performances rather than as song that needed anthemic, shout it from the rooftop performances, I think the song could have been a different animal. I think the 'normal' versions were somewhat bloated, and I think a recording along the lines of what I have described would have been recieved much differently by a lot of non diehards and even some diehards.
I know I am in the minority here, but I feel strongly about this.
Those keyboards were lush, and they bring the melody of the song out so much better than all the guitars and strings in the 'normal' versions(album, single, and later live performances) ever did. Those performances remind me a lot of the way U2 performed Running To Stand Still during the JT Tour and Lovetown. Totally naked, a keyboard, a vocal, and very sparse precussion, in total darkness, spotlight just on Bono and/or The Edge. Every time I listen to the performance on the Chicago DVD(or any other early Vertigo tour performance), I think, 'this is how it should have been recorded in the first place'.
I really think if OOTS had been recorded as that naked keyboard ballad and released as a single, it would have been huge(provided it recieved proper promotion, of course). If approached as a song that needed quiet but intense, passionate but restrained performances rather than as song that needed anthemic, shout it from the rooftop performances, I think the song could have been a different animal. I think the 'normal' versions were somewhat bloated, and I think a recording along the lines of what I have described would have been recieved much differently by a lot of non diehards and even some diehards.
I know I am in the minority here, but I feel strongly about this.