Rumor: 55 unfinished songs?

[gvox]

What rhymes with jemima?

Vagina?

 

[gvox]

What a completely random fight we've got going on in here.

I've got my money on Gabe. Registered Dude has had his face in his palm for so long his eyes will need a minute to adjust.

FTR: I'm not fighting anyone over this (?) matter of fact not even sure what it's about, really.

That last sentence was admittedly pretty funny, tho

 

[Registered Dude]

#openseyes

 

[LemonMelon]

Yeah, I have no idea what you guys were fighting about either. Some gigging mumbo jumbo I don't know about because nobody wants to see my band

 

[elevated_u2_fan]

Wow Mel, clearly you are no expert in determining what constitutes a fight around here. I, on the other hand, am an expert having been in several before...

In fact, I feel so confident in my expertise I think I will post several more goading/passive-aggressive posts directed at your original false statement!

 

[LemonMelon]

Fuck off, mountie.

Spoiler

It's really, really dull around here.

 

[elevated_u2_fan]

I mean, what the hell were you thinking? Have you ever been in a fight before?

 

[gvox]

You guys are literally starving for content

 

[LemonMelon]

CANADIAN DICTIONARY OF CANADA

Fight
n.
1. An altercation resulting from a dwindling supply of maple syrup and/or Molson
2. An opportunity for foreigners to care about hockey

 

[Registered Dude]

...and so we've come full circle

 

[gvox]

CANADIAN DICTIONARY OF CANADA

Fight
n.
1. An altercation resulting from a dwindling supply of maple syrup and/or Molson
2. An opportunity for Americans to call themselves hockey players

Fixed.

 

[digitize]

What the fuck is happening

 

[gvox]

Only elfa knows, apparently! :bliss:

 

[Niceman]

You guys are literally starving for content

Maybe if we argue long and pointlessly enough.... we won't remember that Songs of Ascent is three years late????

 

[gvox]

I tried that previous to the last 2 albums, to no avail..

 

[bethere]

Well, lets see we know about:

1. Stingray guitar
2. Glastonberry
3. North Star
4. Every Breaking Wave
5. Mercy
6. Winter

What else?

 

[U2DMfan]

3 of those on that list, Mercy, North Star, Winter are already 'out'. No point in putting them on a brand new album. 2 of those only released in a movie, but it's the same idea.

 

[popacrobat]

Glastonbury is going nowhere fast. They didn't even play it at the festival they wrote it for.

Stingray was an option for U22. Not happening for a future album.

North Star and Every Breaking Wave are the only two that might see the light of day in the future. And i'd bet North Star would be tacked onto some type of compilation release before it's tacked onto a new album.

 

[LemonMelon]

I do think Mercy will see a studio release someday. I have no idea what the context would be, but I can't imagine they would throw that one in the trash with its history.

EBW can and should make it onto an album.

 

[lazarus]

If there's one good thing about this whole album delay, it's that the new version of Mercy may never have received a proper recording. So my hope is that some rarities disc down the line actually gives us the version that was left off The Bomb at the 11th Hour instead of its disabled, mutated cousin.

You know, the version that a bunch of morons here on Interference seem to think wasn't finished just because the sound quality of a BOOTLEG track doesn't sound optimum.

 

[theedgeu2]

If there's one good thing about this whole album delay, it's that the new version of Mercy may never have received a proper recording. So my hope is that some rarities disc down the line actually gives us the version that was left off The Bomb at the 11th Hour instead of its disabled, mutated cousin.

You know, the version that a bunch of morons here on Interference seem to think wasn't finished just because the sound quality of a BOOTLEG track doesn't sound optimum.

I agree with ya Laz 100%. And the quality isn't "unlistenable" but I just hope they give that version (the one from the Bomb sessions) an official release (which should of course be in better quality). There's a lot to like about Mercy. It's U2 at it's most U2-ishness. Sure, some lyrics are utter cheese but I like some of that utter cheese. I used to think Mercy was the best thing I'd ever heard and I actually had it on repeat for several days.

 

[The_acrobat]

I'm somebody who LOVED "Mercy" and still do very much. The problem was I already possessed that song by the time HTDAAB was released, and everything on that album paled in comparison to "Mercy" for me, so it was a letdown.

 

[lazarus]

There may be some lame lines in the song, but they're excused by the brilliance of "you wanted violins/and you got Nero", which is better than pretty much anything that made the actual album, or the album before it.

And Acrobat, I agree. Nothing on The Bomb matches Mercy IMO. Only COBL comes close, and it could have been executed/produced better.

For any of the jackasses who are thinking of coming in here and disputing the notion that the old version of Mercy was completed, let's refresh everyone's memory with that old Blender article:


We have convened today to discuss the state of the U2 nation, their intriguing take on the world, and their eleventh studio album, How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb. But before we can contemplate the latter and its bewildering title, U2 has some business to attend to and politely invites Blender to sit in on an impromptu band meeting.

"We're not fully agreed on what to do here," Bono explains, "so maybe you should vote, too."

The problem, if it can be called that, lies in the album's running order. After numerous attempts, U2 have yet to find a satisfactory flow, leading them to believe that there may be too many songs. So, right now, they must decide which tunes should be sacrificed.

As it stands, the album is three seconds shy of an hour and, as Bono says, "too much of a good thing is a bad thing," so drastic measures need to be taken.

"I have a theory," Mullen begins, and a reverential silence descends as the drummer -- traditionally the first band member to be shouted down in these situations -- states his case. After just five minutes, it has been unanimously decided that the track "Mercy," a six-and-a-half-minute outpouring of U2 at its most uninhibitedly U2-ish, must go.

Hence a song that any self-respecting band would be proud to call a single becomes what Bono immediately anoints "the best B-side you've ever heard."

Later, another more experimental candidate entitled "Fast Cars" ("an Irish/Mexican vibe") gets evicted, and the album becomes a lean and lithe 11 tracks.


Sounds like Fast Cars and Mercy were both finished at this point if they were simply deciding on the track order. Let's also take this opportunity to shout another giant FUCK YOU to Larry for ruining everything.

 

[cobl04]

Worst decision ever.

 

[Pearl]

Ugh, I have to agree.

Mercy is not only my all time favorite U2 song - but my all time song by anyone. It's #1 on my iPod/iTunes and will always be.

 

[lazarus]

 

[The_acrobat]

What's wrong with an album being an hour long? Too long for what? or whom? POP is a little bit over an hour long, and Achtung Baby is pretty close if I can remember correctly. I've certainly never though that either of those albums were any bit too long!

 

[nielsgov]

Wow it's awful if you read it like that. They kept a song like -insert almost every song on HTDAAB- and got rid of Mercy?

 

[cobl04]

Larry threatened to quit the band when they dropped In a Little While for Zooropa.

 

[U2girl]

I'm somebody who LOVED "Mercy" and still do very much. The problem was I already possessed that song by the time HTDAAB was released, and everything on that album paled in comparison to "Mercy" for me, so it was a letdown.

Mercy is a very strong song.

Just not something that belongs on a record loaded with singles.

Always thought it would have been a strong starting point for NLOTH.