offbalance: (Bono fly)
offbalance ([personal profile] offbalance) wrote2007-11-21 10:01 am

Remember, I was a U2 Fangirl First.

So, I just got an email about this.

And it's nice. Don't get me wrong, it's a very good set, and a really well-done package.

However.

There's part of me that has to pfft at the whole thing, and I know that my fellow fangirl [livejournal.com profile] pizanite is going to be right there with me.

Any U2 fan worth their salt is going to already have everything on the "OMG SEEKRIT B-SIDES!!11" disc (or at the very least, everything worth having) because they got the U2 set when the U2 ipod came out. Or, they may have spent time and money in places like Tower Records, Virgin Megastore, and Sam Goody thumbing through rack after rack of cd singles and actually discovering these b-sides by the sweat of their own brow. Such industrious fans know that the live version of "Silver and Gold" found on Rattle & Hum is FAR superior to the album version. The album version has no Bonologue, which is, in my opinion, the best part of a rather simple song. Some of the tracks on disc two are definitely worth a listen (I've always been partial to "Spanish Eyes," "Walk to the Water," and "Luminous Times.") And some I'm not sure I've heard, but as I've discovered with many, many other B-side collections (U2 and otherwise), most tracks wind up on the cutting room floor for a reason. It's neat to see how a track develops into other tracks (like "Lady With the Spinning head" pretty much was the mother of Achtung Baby and a good bit of Zooropa), it just gets monotonous after awhile. For every gem, there are several lumps of carbon, to say nothing of the re-runs. (Sweetest Thing" became a hit single when it was included in the first Best Of collection, so I hardly see how it qualifies to be here, but oookay.)

Also, while I really like The Joshua Tree, and admit it's one of U2's finest, it was never one of my favorites (that honor has always belonged to Achtung Baby, and nothing has come close to challenging it.)

I'm just going to sit here and wait patiently for another 4 years for the release of Actung Baby's 20th anniversary set. Even though I am certain I will have everything on it already, including whatever live DVD they decide to add in (although a full version of the MSG concert that aired in a severely edited format on FOX in 1992 might be nice).

There's really nothing new. What I'd really like is another new album, and maybe, I dunno, a tour. And for them to release U2 by U2 in a format that I can read without having to rest that monstrous book on a table. *sigh*

[identity profile] wendywoowho.livejournal.com 2007-11-21 03:05 pm (UTC)(link)
We were cleaning out the props and costume closets. We found a double-cassette boom box. They were going to chuck it, until someone thought it might still have a use. And, hey, there's a cassette in it!

"What's the cassette?" I asked.

"Oh, just some mix tape. 'Actung Baby' -- how pretentious!" the 20something said.

I facepalmed, and corrected her mistaken impression.

[identity profile] offbalance.livejournal.com 2007-11-21 03:10 pm (UTC)(link)
'Actung Baby' -- how pretentious!" the 20something said.

Wow. And what does she consider to be good music? Fall Out Boy? ::barf::

As a 20-something, I am embarrassed for her. Poor thing has no taste at all. That album is a classic. (and far less pretentious than some of the other things U2 has done. I have a list somewhere...)
Edited 2007-11-21 15:10 (UTC)

[identity profile] quodlibetic.livejournal.com 2007-11-21 03:18 pm (UTC)(link)
Achtung Baby is almost 20 years old?

Pardon me while I sit here and feel very, very old.

(I was 17 when it was released. Eek.)

[identity profile] offbalance.livejournal.com 2007-11-22 08:22 pm (UTC)(link)
I wasn't that much younger than you!

::clinks your prune juice cocktail::

Music was better back then - better than what those damn kids are listening to nowadays.

[identity profile] lwoodbloo.livejournal.com 2007-11-27 01:00 am (UTC)(link)
As I sit and listen to the Replacements, I am TOTALLY with you.

[identity profile] dar-actually.livejournal.com 2007-11-21 05:20 pm (UTC)(link)
Yeah, samehere, but I suppose the fact that Xmas is within spitting distance probably makes it the ideal gift for the casual U2 fan.

[identity profile] offbalance.livejournal.com 2007-11-27 01:56 am (UTC)(link)
Or the newly minted U2 fan.

[identity profile] dotsomething.livejournal.com 2007-11-21 08:15 pm (UTC)(link)
*remembers when songs on the Joshua Tree were new on the radio*
*feels old*

I'm waiting for a new album. Are they working on one? Any rumors?

[identity profile] offbalance.livejournal.com 2007-11-27 01:55 am (UTC)(link)
According to this month's Blender Magazine, they are in the studio with Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois, hard at work on their new album, which should debut in 2008!!

[identity profile] offbalance.livejournal.com 2007-11-27 03:32 am (UTC)(link)
I know!!! I squeed when I read that. So exciting!