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  1. Seem to be getting off topic here, which sometimes happens, but I can't resist commenting.

    Just as 'under a blood red sky - the budget priced LP and subsequent Video and also Live Aid can be defined as career defining moments.......Releasing GOYB as a first lead off single from NLOTH was a catastrophic error which U2 will never recover from. Had they have released Magnificent first, it would have been oh so different.
  2. I still cringe when I think back to the Brit Award performance with the eye liner... Breathe would have been a better first single.
  3. Originally posted by zooropa93:I still cringe when I think back to the Brit Award performance with the eye liner... Breathe would have been a better first single.

    Virtually anything taken from the album would have.

    I agree with paulc. And I hope they don't do the same mistake again.


    Doing an analogy... Choosing GOBY as No Line's lead single was like if they had chosen Trip Throu Your Wires as The Joshua Tree's main single or Trying To Throw Your Arms Around The World as Achtung Baby's. Hurts to say but it's the most direct comparison I can think of. It was a big mistake.


    /offtopic
  4. I agree with Trip Through Your Wires, but not Tryin'.
  5. Get On Your Boots was representative of NLOTH in that NLOTH was not very good.

    There are certainly better songs than it on the album, but not a single song would have done better on radio. I stand by that with Magnificent. I think the evidence lies in the abundance of radio play that it did not receive.
  6. In the U2 community, so by that I'm talking here and several other fan sites, it got overrated if I'm brutally honest. People were saying that it was brilliant, which as Matt has pointed out it wasn't. It wasn't that adventurous as they were going for a mix of anthemic and ambient with that mid-section of 'Get On Your Boots' and 'Stand Up Comedy' offering a 'Vertigo'-esque rocker. It was perhaps inconsistent, 'Breathe' stood out like a sore thumb at the penultimate track, 'Fez' had an intro at track 8 meaning they should have taken the palpable route of sticking it as the album opener and possibly following it with 'No Line'. 'Cedars of Lebanon' was drab. Yes, it sounds the archetypal album closer but it just sounded bland and sort of wanted you to end the album just that little earlier. It had flaws, it didn't really have the tracks you were hoping for. Yeah, it had great tracks – 'No Line' is a personal favourite of mine, 'Magnificent' was great live, 'Fez' was that sort of song that reminded you of the wonderful The Unforgettable Fire – but it was erratically structured in terms of track listing, and maybe not equipped with the best work they could have went with (I'm saying that because they had loads more work on the offering which never got released on that album that was supposed to be Songs of Ascent.)

    It's totally interpretive, though. I personally felt it got overrated, but when a band is your favourite, you instantly jump the gun and think it is some of their best work. Unbelievably it is five years since NLOTH was released and, in my opinion, it hasn't stood the test of time. It just makes you wish, damn, I really want a new album. Then the process will start again: "yeah, this is the greatest thing since slice bread." You love it at first, continuously listen to it, you pick you favourites but you still love every song, and then it eventually fades away. Hearing some fresh U2 will be exciting, interesting but equipped with some uncertainty – e.g. why did this album take so bloody long?

    Just my two cents, but for that I really need to get to bed. I'm talking some shite. Always tend to get thoughtful, sometimes philosophical, before I go to bed.
  7. Back then I used to say that NLOTH 2 (that remix) should've been the lead single and it should've hinted at the direction of an album different than NLOTH.

    Maybe we'll see a bit more of that knowing Epworth has had his hand in the new album.
  8. Been listening to Mercy a lot lately (the original leaked version). Can't decide if I want to ever hear this song on a new album because I'm afraid they'd tamper with it, this version is just perfect and beautiful the way it is.

    I can't remember if the band have ever spoken about why they took it off Bomb at the last minute, but I wish they hadn't. If it weren't for the quality of the only recording and the "unfinished" nature of it, it could very well be my favourite song.
  9. Originally posted by EyesWithPrideB3:I was fucking ecstatic to see Boots performed on the Grammys, and it didn't disappoint as far as I' was concerned. The staging was amazing. Not to take anything away from the 360 staging, obviously, but I think the song's live performances plummeted on that tour. Grammys will always be my favorite version of it live. It was more intense and a little bit caged in.


    I was pointing at the studio version, actually. Drumbeat, cringeworthy lyrics.. for me it was a big disappointment. It got a new vibe when played live. But it never came near of being a favourite.
  10. Originally posted by RattleandHum1988:Been listening to Mercy a lot lately (the original leaked version). Can't decide if I want to ever hear this song on a new album because I'm afraid they'd tamper with it, this version is just perfect and beautiful the way it is.

    I can't remember if the band have ever spoken about why they took it off Bomb at the last minute, but I wish they hadn't. If it weren't for the quality of the only recording and the "unfinished" nature of it, it could very well be my favourite song.

    It is one of my favourites as well. I remember the day my cousin played it for me for the first time. Crumbs? Man and a Woman? How the hell did this amazing track not make in onto HTDAAB?

    I agree with the critism of GOYB. There was just something lacking in that initial single with this release. I think it is a song that works in the album as a whole but it is not representative at a "lead" single. Plus the video was terrible. Magnificent would have been a far better choice as the first single.
  11. The quality of HTDAAB would have been greatly increased with the inclusion of Mercy -- not to mention AYGWF.
  12. Originally posted by zooropa93:I still cringe when I think back to the Brit Award performance with the eye liner... Breathe would have been a better first single.

    Breathe is only a good song when I'm drunk.

    Sorry, I don't mean to be too harsh.

    Breathe is only a good song when I'm completely hammered.
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U2start is run by fans for fans. Help us reduce personal costs. Consider to make a donation to support us.
U2start is run by fans for fans. Help us reduce personal costs. Consider to make a donation to support us.