RRU: landslide, Crowded House, velleity, Lemon, tune, HTDAAB reissue
~ OMG, the guy and his dog having to outrun a beach hut after the latest landslide in Bournemouth!! A whole bunch of them just got scattered like Monopoly houses!
~ Assorted bits of banter + Misirlou from the Crowded House gig at the BIC:
And a few songs (It's Only Natural, Four Seasons In One Day, Better Be Home Soon, and parts of Into Temptation, Weather With You and All That I Can Ever Own):
Plus some more full songs:
Weather With You and Teenage Summer
World Where You Live
Fall At Your Feet
Whispers And Moans
Black Water, White Circle
Four Seasons In One Day (plus a random burst of Hair)
Pineapple Head (with snippet of I Feel Pretty)
The Howl
It's Only Natural, Some Greater Plan (For Claire), Better Be Home Soon and Into Temptation ♥
There is also a bit of Liam Finn's support slot if you're into that kind of thing...
~ Only a few months after I learned the great word "velleity" whilst reading Paradise Illustrated, I was amused to see it come up on QI in one of their "obscure words beginning with this letter" rounds! Funny how things tend to show up repeatedly in different contexts within a short space of time.
~ I've watched the Lemon remix video a bunch of times in the past (and screencapped it a while back), but it wasn't until I made a GIF of this clip that I realised it's not just random patterns over the top, it's concept art for the video with a drawing of Adam in his sleeveless jacket on the left!
~ I had the instrumental part of a song randomly stuck in my head for days and it was driving me mad as I couldn't figure out what song it was from, and there was no way of Googling it! I thought it might be something by Wings, like maybe Live And Let Die or Band On The Run, but I checked them both and no joy. *Eventually* I brought to mind just enough of the next part to identify it as Something In The Air by Thunderclap Newman! (It was the piano solo from about 2:17 to 2:56.) Funnily enough their guitarist was later in Wings so there was some connection with my initial guess!
~ This Random Round-Up has been hanging around for weeks as I decided to wait until I'd heard all the new HTDAAB bonus tracks before posting it. I will not be purchasing the anniversary box set - it costs about £100 so that was an instant nope, and I wasn't impressed by the pointless re-edit of Xanax & Wine (what was wrong with it before?) or the boring new song Country Mile (which might have its origins in the HTDAAB era but had clearly been recorded more recently). The next release Happiness didn't do much for me either, more rapped than sung and with some very strained vocals and blah lyrics, but at least it's trying to be more fun.
Not sure why they've changed the title of Smile when it's still exactly the same track. I was never terribly impressed by the alternate version of All Because Of You (reviewed here) and I'm not sure the new Edge backing vocals do much to improve it, though I note they've added in the "I am" lyric after I complained about its absence back then!!
Then we have yet another new version of Mercy, now retitled Luckiest Man In The World. I've just listened to the original version for the first time in years and god almighty, I'd forgotten how long it is - it would be a decent song if it were more concise but it just goes on forever. I much preferred the rewrite they performed on the 360° Tour, of which I wrote: "And he's changed some of the lyrics too... sounds like a considerable improvement on the original song. I'm pleased. I think it's finally earned the hype that always surrounded it! They've trimmed out all the dodgy metaphors and aimless meandering, kept all the good bits, and given it some punch on the chorus. Whoo, I like the new Mercy! You can stick it on an album now and I won't complain. :)" Well, they finally have stuck it on an album, but instead of it being the new good version, for some reason they've reversed back to the old long one and then weirdly tinkered with it. Bono has obviously decided to adjust some of the lyrics (why does this keep happening...) so he's had to record new vocals, but they're just inserted along with the original vocals and sound *completely* different, so it's kind of a jarring mess. And the extra vocals on the chorus really detract from the soaring main vocal. Just... nope. Should've stopped when you got it right in 2010!
The last new songs to be revealed are Evidence Of Life and Treason - saving the best for last? Neither of them blow my mind but they are definitely the most interesting tracks. The former has a nice bassy intro and some good energy. No idea why Edge is singing it - has he suddenly decided he wants to be a frontman, with all these recent lead vocals after decades of hardly doing any?! I quite like the "little of what you love" outro. And Treason is a different sound altogether, musically rich and all rather intriguing. Lots of nice stuff going on with the vocals, including a falsetto-y bit! ♥ I don't know that it needed Edge doing a fast shouty rap, though it's certainly something we've never heard before! This wouldn't have fitted on HTDAAB at all but it would sound good over the end credits of a film.
So yeah, not really a fan of this so-called "shadow album" - it shows they picked all the right songs for the original album! - but it's good that they're finally releasing some material that's new to us, and that last song is a pretty cool experiment.
This article discussed the HTDAAB box set and work on the next album. Bits that stood out:
-- I'm unsure why the interviewer counts Theme From The Batman among the tracks that "sat unheard in the vault" for 20 years when it was literally the theme from a TV show so anyone who was interested will have heard it at the time!
-- I inwardly groaned a bit when Edge revealed that the recent recording session was "just Bono and myself". I really don't want another Songs Of Surrender, thanks!
-- "Each U2 album is a kind of reaction to the one that's come before." I do wonder if that's why they alternate between ones I love and ones I'm less keen on!
-- "When I heard 'Country Mile' for the first time, my reaction was, 'Why the hell didn't that make the record?'" Probably because it's crap...
-- "'Are You Gonna Wait Forever' goes back to the All You You Can't Leave Behind sessions with Eno and Lanois." Well, that explains why it always sounded terrible.
-- "I think the guitar will be a big part of the next record, but I don't think it's going to be a heavy rock album." So much for what Bono's been saying ever since the EI Tour about how it's going to be a balls-to-the-wall rock album capturing that e-stage energy!! They always get people excited about this stuff and then just go "Actually, nah". (Only a few months ago the album was meant to be almost finished, and suddenly they're back to "that phase of just experimenting"...)
-- "We're looking forward to getting out and seeing our fans and going to where they are. I think that would be an important thing rather than them travelling to us." Well, there's some good news at least! (Let's hope they give us some of the Achtung Baby rarities most of us didn't get the chance to see live.)
-- Surprised that Edge thinks a Pop box set is "quite likely" at some point. "I remember that very fondly" - since when?! I was dismayed by him slagging off every track on the album in U2 By U2! :P
~ Assorted bits of banter + Misirlou from the Crowded House gig at the BIC:
Click to viewAnd a few songs (It's Only Natural, Four Seasons In One Day, Better Be Home Soon, and parts of Into Temptation, Weather With You and All That I Can Ever Own):
Plus some more full songs:
Weather With You and Teenage Summer
World Where You Live
Fall At Your Feet
Whispers And Moans
Black Water, White Circle
Four Seasons In One Day (plus a random burst of Hair)
Pineapple Head (with snippet of I Feel Pretty)
The Howl
It's Only Natural, Some Greater Plan (For Claire), Better Be Home Soon and Into Temptation ♥
There is also a bit of Liam Finn's support slot if you're into that kind of thing...
~ Only a few months after I learned the great word "velleity" whilst reading Paradise Illustrated, I was amused to see it come up on QI in one of their "obscure words beginning with this letter" rounds! Funny how things tend to show up repeatedly in different contexts within a short space of time.
~ I've watched the Lemon remix video a bunch of times in the past (and screencapped it a while back), but it wasn't until I made a GIF of this clip that I realised it's not just random patterns over the top, it's concept art for the video with a drawing of Adam in his sleeveless jacket on the left!
~ I had the instrumental part of a song randomly stuck in my head for days and it was driving me mad as I couldn't figure out what song it was from, and there was no way of Googling it! I thought it might be something by Wings, like maybe Live And Let Die or Band On The Run, but I checked them both and no joy. *Eventually* I brought to mind just enough of the next part to identify it as Something In The Air by Thunderclap Newman! (It was the piano solo from about 2:17 to 2:56.) Funnily enough their guitarist was later in Wings so there was some connection with my initial guess!
~ This Random Round-Up has been hanging around for weeks as I decided to wait until I'd heard all the new HTDAAB bonus tracks before posting it. I will not be purchasing the anniversary box set - it costs about £100 so that was an instant nope, and I wasn't impressed by the pointless re-edit of Xanax & Wine (what was wrong with it before?) or the boring new song Country Mile (which might have its origins in the HTDAAB era but had clearly been recorded more recently). The next release Happiness didn't do much for me either, more rapped than sung and with some very strained vocals and blah lyrics, but at least it's trying to be more fun.
Not sure why they've changed the title of Smile when it's still exactly the same track. I was never terribly impressed by the alternate version of All Because Of You (reviewed here) and I'm not sure the new Edge backing vocals do much to improve it, though I note they've added in the "I am" lyric after I complained about its absence back then!!
Then we have yet another new version of Mercy, now retitled Luckiest Man In The World. I've just listened to the original version for the first time in years and god almighty, I'd forgotten how long it is - it would be a decent song if it were more concise but it just goes on forever. I much preferred the rewrite they performed on the 360° Tour, of which I wrote: "And he's changed some of the lyrics too... sounds like a considerable improvement on the original song. I'm pleased. I think it's finally earned the hype that always surrounded it! They've trimmed out all the dodgy metaphors and aimless meandering, kept all the good bits, and given it some punch on the chorus. Whoo, I like the new Mercy! You can stick it on an album now and I won't complain. :)" Well, they finally have stuck it on an album, but instead of it being the new good version, for some reason they've reversed back to the old long one and then weirdly tinkered with it. Bono has obviously decided to adjust some of the lyrics (why does this keep happening...) so he's had to record new vocals, but they're just inserted along with the original vocals and sound *completely* different, so it's kind of a jarring mess. And the extra vocals on the chorus really detract from the soaring main vocal. Just... nope. Should've stopped when you got it right in 2010!
The last new songs to be revealed are Evidence Of Life and Treason - saving the best for last? Neither of them blow my mind but they are definitely the most interesting tracks. The former has a nice bassy intro and some good energy. No idea why Edge is singing it - has he suddenly decided he wants to be a frontman, with all these recent lead vocals after decades of hardly doing any?! I quite like the "little of what you love" outro. And Treason is a different sound altogether, musically rich and all rather intriguing. Lots of nice stuff going on with the vocals, including a falsetto-y bit! ♥ I don't know that it needed Edge doing a fast shouty rap, though it's certainly something we've never heard before! This wouldn't have fitted on HTDAAB at all but it would sound good over the end credits of a film.
So yeah, not really a fan of this so-called "shadow album" - it shows they picked all the right songs for the original album! - but it's good that they're finally releasing some material that's new to us, and that last song is a pretty cool experiment.
This article discussed the HTDAAB box set and work on the next album. Bits that stood out:
-- I'm unsure why the interviewer counts Theme From The Batman among the tracks that "sat unheard in the vault" for 20 years when it was literally the theme from a TV show so anyone who was interested will have heard it at the time!
-- I inwardly groaned a bit when Edge revealed that the recent recording session was "just Bono and myself". I really don't want another Songs Of Surrender, thanks!
-- "Each U2 album is a kind of reaction to the one that's come before." I do wonder if that's why they alternate between ones I love and ones I'm less keen on!
-- "When I heard 'Country Mile' for the first time, my reaction was, 'Why the hell didn't that make the record?'" Probably because it's crap...
-- "'Are You Gonna Wait Forever' goes back to the All You You Can't Leave Behind sessions with Eno and Lanois." Well, that explains why it always sounded terrible.
-- "I think the guitar will be a big part of the next record, but I don't think it's going to be a heavy rock album." So much for what Bono's been saying ever since the EI Tour about how it's going to be a balls-to-the-wall rock album capturing that e-stage energy!! They always get people excited about this stuff and then just go "Actually, nah". (Only a few months ago the album was meant to be almost finished, and suddenly they're back to "that phase of just experimenting"...)
-- "We're looking forward to getting out and seeing our fans and going to where they are. I think that would be an important thing rather than them travelling to us." Well, there's some good news at least! (Let's hope they give us some of the Achtung Baby rarities most of us didn't get the chance to see live.)
-- Surprised that Edge thinks a Pop box set is "quite likely" at some point. "I remember that very fondly" - since when?! I was dismayed by him slagging off every track on the album in U2 By U2! :P