A better title for this topic would've been "No More U2 Remasters????"
Ok, so Rattle And Hum is the only old-school U2 album not to get a Deluxe Treatment. Zooropa and Passengers are on the outskirts of this discussion, and Zooropa's inclusion in the Achtung Baby Box seemed like a Death Blow to its chances for a nice reissue.
Rattle And Hum could be the best possible Super Deluxe Version if they cared about it, but it may be another one of my U2 Pipe Dreams.
The main problem? CD sales continue to get weaker by the day, and there has even been a report that some of the major labels are considering not pressing up cds anymore, or at least planning an exit strategy for the next 2-5 years.
Using U2 as an example, recent trips to over 10 Best Buy locations in the Orlando/Tampa areas in Florida show an awful lot of Boy, October, JT, and Achtung Baby 2 disc sets collecting dust.
Rattle And Hum could be a huge boon for fans of that era, as there were tons of shows recorded. A Super Duper Uber Deluxe with tons of Cds and Dvds of concerts could be simply amazing. I'd easily pay $250 for a huge set of properly mastered concerts. I'm just afraid we'd get a bunch of "Fish Out of Water," or "This is another stupid prefix to the remix title" etc...I always hated the dumb names people give remixes.
As a huge Pop fan, I'd love for the orginal version of the album that was scrapped, and a baby version that I like to call "Diet Pop." (Yeah, just as dumb as the remix titles.) I can only imagine a 10 CD 5 DVD set for Pop, but it is not likely.
For example, the 20 year anniversary of Pop is 2017, and CD production may still be going strong, but sales should be at least 50% or further down where they are now...not a good sign if U2 doesn't release it now.
I simply think that if we don't get any other remasters by the end of 2014, they will simply not do it, unless some fanatic like me actually gets to talk to the band and try to convince them. I've got about as much of a chance to meet Bono as I do The Pope. Not good.
Believe me, I hope I'm wrong, and hope they get to it now, before the economics of such a thing become senseless. Unless of course, they come out with a high quality download format that my cheap computer can actually use. FLAC may as well be Rocket Science for me. If it doesn't download easy, and quickly transfer to a CD, it ain't for me.
If you think that a fan meeting the band can infuenciate them in the most minimal way to release or not to release a remaster... well, good luck
I don't think there are any more planned remasters. The band and their management are still despising Rattle And Hum 24 years later, and I doubt they change their mind anytime soon. And I really don't mind how many times they say "Pop could have been great, bla bla... It has got some of my favorite songs, bla bla...", I thikn that they actually feel the same about Pop than about R&H. They won't release that one either.
