jick
Refugee
It would only serve to diminish the reputation of U2.
U2 have generally given us good finished product (save for the unfinished POP). Their latest album is a testament to their ability to churn out one hit after another.
But the way U2 comes up with the finished product isn't a pretty sight. They aren't like other bands who come up with a slew of brilliant b-sides and unreleased material. I think even Lilywhite mentions that there is too much democracy in the U2 camp when they make records and it seems to take forever for them to make it.
Stated differently, U2 takes 4 years to make 11 perfect songs and give or take a handful of other outtakes, whereas other bands in a 2 year recording process come up with 40 completed songs and then just select which 14 to put on the album.
My contention is that U2 doesn't have many songs under their vast recording vault or completed or workable demos. For example, the POP album which was supposed to be unfinished proved to be such based of their pitiful productivity (only one legitimate new b-side, Holy Joe). While albums that were finished and painstakingly took forever have a handful of b-sides but still not that many.
The best proof I have now is these 25 unreleased songs that are in the complete U2 collection. These songs cover the JT era (Beautiful Ghost) all the way up to the HTDAAB era (Xanax and Wine). Why only 25? These are perhaps all that could be mustered by the U2 vault diggers that were listenable. But you know what? They are all complete total junk. Their finished products are way way better. These unreleased tracks can't even hold a candle to any of U2's b-sides - (Beautiful Ghost can't touch Luminous Times; Flower Child can't touch Summer Rain).
So we have these 25 tracks that are already carefully selected yet still total junk. If you want to hear 3 cd's of pure junk, try the Salome Achtung Baby Outtakes.
For some unexplainable reason, U2's recoding process is that all their album songs are pure gold and their b-sides are wonderful. Yet, whatever they release is really all they can squeeze of the recording sessions and whatever leftover in their vaults they have is pure junk.
For the sake of U2's reputation and integrity, I think they should never ever release a from the vaults album because if these 25 unreleased junk songs are any indication, can you imagine how awful a 4-disc set of unreleased U2 stuff would be?
If U2 want to release some sort of boxed set, I think they should just do something like the Police's Message In A Box which ws their complete recordings. The Police never released any unreleased or from the vaults collections and their legend is still intact. I hope U2 keeps their legend intact.
Cheers,
J
U2 have generally given us good finished product (save for the unfinished POP). Their latest album is a testament to their ability to churn out one hit after another.
But the way U2 comes up with the finished product isn't a pretty sight. They aren't like other bands who come up with a slew of brilliant b-sides and unreleased material. I think even Lilywhite mentions that there is too much democracy in the U2 camp when they make records and it seems to take forever for them to make it.
Stated differently, U2 takes 4 years to make 11 perfect songs and give or take a handful of other outtakes, whereas other bands in a 2 year recording process come up with 40 completed songs and then just select which 14 to put on the album.
My contention is that U2 doesn't have many songs under their vast recording vault or completed or workable demos. For example, the POP album which was supposed to be unfinished proved to be such based of their pitiful productivity (only one legitimate new b-side, Holy Joe). While albums that were finished and painstakingly took forever have a handful of b-sides but still not that many.
The best proof I have now is these 25 unreleased songs that are in the complete U2 collection. These songs cover the JT era (Beautiful Ghost) all the way up to the HTDAAB era (Xanax and Wine). Why only 25? These are perhaps all that could be mustered by the U2 vault diggers that were listenable. But you know what? They are all complete total junk. Their finished products are way way better. These unreleased tracks can't even hold a candle to any of U2's b-sides - (Beautiful Ghost can't touch Luminous Times; Flower Child can't touch Summer Rain).
So we have these 25 tracks that are already carefully selected yet still total junk. If you want to hear 3 cd's of pure junk, try the Salome Achtung Baby Outtakes.
For some unexplainable reason, U2's recoding process is that all their album songs are pure gold and their b-sides are wonderful. Yet, whatever they release is really all they can squeeze of the recording sessions and whatever leftover in their vaults they have is pure junk.
For the sake of U2's reputation and integrity, I think they should never ever release a from the vaults album because if these 25 unreleased junk songs are any indication, can you imagine how awful a 4-disc set of unreleased U2 stuff would be?
If U2 want to release some sort of boxed set, I think they should just do something like the Police's Message In A Box which ws their complete recordings. The Police never released any unreleased or from the vaults collections and their legend is still intact. I hope U2 keeps their legend intact.
Cheers,
J
