divad23's Full Review: The Best of 1990-2000 [Limited] by U2
I've been on a bit of a U2 kick lately. Love 'em or hate 'em, you've gotta admit that the Irish foursome was one of the most influential bands (if not the most influential band) of the 80's. And probably the 90's as well, though that decade was a bit dicey for some U2 fans as their favorite stadium-ready rock band started to tinker around with weird electronics and more introspective, less politically charged lyrics. While there's no denying the power of early U2, I've found that it's their more recent work that keeps me coming back - even to the songs that honestly weren't that great - to see if I missed anything. Aside from the eerily prophetic collection of songs known as All that You Can't Leave Behind, hardly anything U2 put out in their second decade of work sounded remotely like their glory days from the 80's. Following up on a hotly contested Best-of collection released in 1998 that chronicled that first decade, Universal Records has decided to cobble together a mishmash of some of U2's most beloved (or most tolerated, depending on who you ask) songs of the 90's and 2000, throwing in a few new songs and non-album tracks along the way.
We all saw this one coming. What we didn't expect were the glaring omissions and new mixes. Come on, I'm sure you've heard everyone complaining about it by now. "Where's 'Elevation' and 'Walk On'?" Those are probably the most significant complaints, both being excellent and inspiring tracks from All that You Can't Leave Behind that technically didn't make it to radio until 2001. Chalk their omission up to either that or the fact that U2 changed record labels after their much-maligned 1997 album Pop, moving over from Island to Interscope. Perhaps there was some power playing regarding what tracks could be reused on this disc - after all, record companies don't like to risk hurting the sales of their artist' more recent albums. It should come as no surprise, then, that this collection is heavy on tunes from the first half of the 90's.
But even disregarding the newest material, which admittedly sounds a bit out of place alongside the experimental and highly ironic electronic tinkering that characterized the band for most of the decade, there are still a number of things left for even casual U2 fans to scratch their heads about. Unlike the 80's collection, which had only one obvious omission ("Bullet the Blue Sky"), you're not gonna get all the hits here. Sure, you'll get most of 'em, and if you're one of the typical fans who thinks Achtung Baby and ATCYLB were masterpieces and everything in between was a disaster, you'll probably be reasonably satisfied with this collection. You'll get the hits from those in-between albums - Zooropa and Pop - without having to wade through the rest of the weird stuff. Heck, they even remixed most of that stuff to make it more palatable for those of you who slapped U2 on the hands for trying to not sound like typical, good Christian U2. Don't you feel loved?
Well, I don't. I think this record was assembled by fools out to make a few bucks in the lull between U2 albums. Let's face it, the band's popularity has hit another peak, which has seen fans who were alienated during the 90's come running back in droves. Funny, I just became a big fan, and while I appreciate that so many people have been inspired by their more obviously uplifting songs, I happen to enjoy the ironic, brooding, questioning side of U2's personality a little more than that.
[SARCASM]
(Hmmm... I must not be a good wholesome Christian after all.)
[/SARCASM]
Anyway, I could rattle on for hours about the spiritual implications of U2's most encouraging and most disillusioned moments, or the bravery shown by the band for being willing to play with their sound when they could have recorded 5 more The Joshua Trees and made a killing, but I should get back to the task at hand, which is evaluating this so-so Best-of disc. I won't do my usual in-depth song reviews, because at some point I'll work my way back through the band's catalogue and address each album on its own terms, rather than plucking the songs out of context as they are here. For now, I'm concerned with the form in which the songs are presented, and the reasonableness of their inclusion on this album. So with that, let the trip down (fuzzy) memory lane begin.
Even Better than the Real Thing
Starting off with this dance-rock hit from Achtung Baby makes good sense. It's fun, it's upbeat, and anyone who had a radio in the early 90's will probably remember it. While the highly processed style of The Edge's guitar and the half-cryptic, half commercial-jingle lyrics from Bono were probably strange to fans still coming down from the high of the late 80's, they're unmistakable, vintage U2 now. Definitely a strong start.
Mysterious Ways
Another huge hit from Achtung Baby here - I remember hearing this song long before I could've ever guessed it was U2. (Actually, I think my first exposure to the song was watching the Mickey Mouse Club in my teen years - it was being sung by JC of N*Sync fame... shudder). Despite the song's mass exposure for its groovy, almost sexy overtones and Edge's killer synthetic guitar riffs, I think a ton of people missed the message in the line "She moves in mysterious ways", taking it to be about an evasive girl who had caught Bono's attention or something like that. I'll get to the real meaning some other time - in any case, I always felt like it was weird to have the song buried in the back half of Achtung, so it's kinda nice to have it upfront here. Though is it just me, or is the percussion on this song a little tinny? Oh, well, it was produced over ten years ago. But a little remastering wouldn't have hurt if they were gonan fool with some of the other songs anyway.
Beautiful Day
The sudden jump from 1991 to 2000 seems a bit jarring here - I certainly understand the need to put the band's biggest hit from their recent album early in the track listing, but something isn't quite right about the transition. I guess I see this kinetic, contagiously optimistic song about counting your blessings in the face of global tragedy as something of a response to the many doubts and grievances Bono aired out in the mid-90's - it felt like the joyous nature of this song had been earned after coming out of a dark valley and seeing the sun again. Anyhow, it's an obvious choice and I suppose it shouldn't have been buried too far back in the track listing, so no major complaints.
Electrical Storm (William Orbit Mix) If the sky can crack, there must be some way back
To love and only love...
Here's one of the new songs, currently tearing its way up the charts. I've really taken a liking to this one even though it seems some fans have had mixed reactions. It opens up quietly, with bells and atmospheric sounds swirling around Bono's muted singing, and from there an acoustic guitar joins the mix, followed not long after by The Edge, delivering the kind of tasty electric guitar hooks we've come to expect over the years, though with a more angular melody than something like "Beautiful Day". As its name would suggest, the song takes you from a calm moment into the midst of a desperate conflict - but interestingly, despite Bono's attempts to write a poignant song about conflict in a post-9/11 world, the song ended up sounding about something a lot more personal - a conflict between two lovers. I guess I hadn't heard a "relationship song" out of the band for a while, and Bono's imagery really struck me, evoking mental pictures of an estranged couple with their backs to each other, trying to get some rest on a humid evening as a summer storm drenches their house. Bono shows us that he's still got it in the falsetto department on the delicious, ascending chorus ("E-lec-tri-cal Sto-ORM!"), which is a relief, since his voice cracked enough times on ATYCLB to really hurt my appreciation for that album.
One
Duh, another obvious choice. The first true ballad on the project is probably the most famous song U2 put out in the 90's (and a song many fans probably wish the first Best-of collection had been extended to include). It actually fits well after "Electrical Storm" despite the fact that we've just whiplashed back to Achtung Baby again - the song also deals with conflict of some sort. I've heard way too many theories on this one to get into it right now, but Bono's emotional observation "we get to carry each other" obviously resonated with a lot of different folks in a lot of different situations. No complaints about the song selection so far - wall-to-wall classics and a sweet new tune.
Miss Sarajevo
Now here's one I wasn't familiar with, so I can't really speak to how popular it ever got. Taken from the highly experimental project Original Soundtracks that U2 recorded with producer Brian Eno under the guise of The Passengers, this is a fairly soft (and cryptic) ballad that features an unexpected cameo by opera singer Luciano Pavarotti. Again, I'd think it were just a song about a girl if this wasn't U2, but obviously the title leads me to wonder if it was about the political unrest in said city. In any case, Pavarotti's Latin singing really doesn't seem to fit the song at first, and I have to wonder why this one was placed so early on the disc, but I'm sure that U2 completists will be happy to have this non-album track mixed in with the other hits.
Stay (Faraway, So Close!)
Ballad #3 in a row is the first track from the Zooropa album to appear here. It actually sounds fairly ordinary by U2 standards, with its mid-tempo drum and guitar intro, and becomes more passionate later as Bono's voice soars in a plea to a fallen angel to take refuge with him from an apparently abusive relationship. The song was recorded for the film named in the parenthetical title, and since it was one of the few radio-ready tracks from Zooropa, and featured on the movie soundtrack, my guess is that it became a hit by default.
Stuck in a Moment You Can't Get Out of
I thinhk we're stuck in a tempo we can't get out of! I really like this little chunk of blue-eyed soul (or whatever you would call it) from ATYCLB, but honestly, after 3 slow song, things are getting a bit sleepy. This album clearly lacks the solid flow that the 80's collection had going for it. Not a bad song, but I think would have served better as a follow-up to "Numb", which appears much later.
Gone (New Mix)
The first song to appear from Pop (finally) gets retooled in order not to bring back nightmares for those of you who didn't like the blatantly electronic direction that album took. Personally, I think the new mix cuts a good deal of passion out of the song. A lot of the electronic quirks I loved so much have been scaled back, and even Bono's vocal seems to miss the mark, being more syncopated and breaking with the mechanical feel of the song. Thankfully, the tell-tale, siren-like guitars that lead off the song are still there. It's funny, this was one of my personal favorites from Pop, and I never knew it was even a single. I was very surprised that this one made it over "Please".
Until the End of the World
Someone in the sequencing department finally got things right - the animal-like guitar squeal that opens the song works nicely after "Gone" fades out. This energetic tale of Jesus' betrayal at the hand of Judas is probably one of those fan favorites that few fans actually understand. I certainly didn't understand it until it was explained to me! Anyway, The Edge is all over this one guitar-wise, and even though it isn't as menacing as "The Fly", it's nice to see that it made the cut.
The Hands that Built America It's early fall, there's a cloud on the New York skyline
Innocence dragged across a yellow line...
The record falls back down into tranquil ballad mode for the last time until the ending - once again, we have a song that could be political, or it could be romantic, much like "Electrical Storm". The second of two new songs starts off with a compelling, atmospheric piano, and expands to include a little bit of acoustic guitar, some strings (arranged by The Edge), and a maddening aquatic keyboard effect that mars an otherwise pretty song. It's a good soundtrack piece - it will be featured on the upcoming Scorsese film Gangs of New York, but it doesn't have the shot at being a modern classic that "Electrical Storm" does, I'm sad to say.
Discotheque (New Mix)
Now this just ticks me off. One of my very favorite U2 tracks (yes, I actually like it as much as I like "Where the Streets Have No Name" and "Pride") gets totally immasculated here. Apparently someone didn't understand that part of the point of the song was to poke fun at the hedonistic culture from which the song's title and musical style are derived. Somehow, real, un-processed drums just don't cut it for this one. No offense to Larry Mullen, who is one of the best in the biz, but something's just missing here. The beat doesn't even kick in until The Edge's so-catchy-it-should-be-illegal guitar riff breaks in after the first chorus, and the sweet fade-in that opened the Pop album is, well, "gone". Also missing are the ironically amusing "Boom-cha!"s from the original mix. I guess I'm the only one who thought that was cool...
Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me
U2's contribution to one of the Batman soundtracks shows-up here - this is another hotly sought-after U2 track that appears here for the first time on an all-U2 disc. I didn't much care for this one at first, but its menacing electronic swagger has grown on me, despite the mildly disturbing and ripped-off title. Singer Kevin Max (of dc Talk fame), who is known for being a bit obsessed with U2, has been known to cover this one in concerts, much to the chagrin of conservative Christian fans. Anyway, I'm sure U2 fans will be "thrilled" to finally have this one on a U2 disc, though in my opinion, it should have appeared much sooner.
Staring at the Sun (New Mix)
The last of three causalties from Pop (wow, somebody really didn't like that album the way it was!) appears here, and I guess this is the least tragic of the three, because the song was never one of my faves to begin with. It's a good song, and due to its mix of electronic effects and acoustic guitar and its ironic message about blind faith, I can see why it was a hit, but honestly, some of the lyrics in this one are kinda lame. This version gets a somewhat plodding beat underlaid through most of it, which kills some of the dynamic of the original version, but otherwise, it's pretty much the same. What was the point of remixing it at all?
Numb (New Mix)
Here's another one that made me angry - another of my favorite U2 tracks gets buried way far back in the album, and gets a rather pointless partial makeover. In this song's case, rather than doing something useful and remastering it to make Adam Clayton and the rest of the lower end that helps define the song's groove stand out more clearly, they just added some odd sound effects and crowd cheering, and brought Bono's falsetto a little farther up in the mix. Bono was clearly in love with his falsetto in those days, and while I don't mind it, it kind of steals the show from The Edge's monotone lead vocal. This song irritated a lot of U2 fans and so they probably won't care, but it looks like I'm gonna have to do some sonic tinkering of my own to get a mix of "Numb" with some decent bass and none of the extra crap. Sigh... maybe one day they'll release Zooropa (and like eleven people will buy it).
The First Time
Speaking of Zooropa, two of the three tracks from that album are crammed in at the end. I wasn't aware that this quiet ballad was ever a hit! Don't misunderstand me - it's a lyrical hidden gem in the U2 catalogue due to its candid retelling of the prodigal song story, but it certainly doesn't surpass "Lemon" or the song "Zooropa", or pretty much any of the other painful omissions. My guess is they stuck it here because they didn't have a good track to end on (this one only barely sets the mood right for a final song), as it basically sounds like a redux of "All I Want Is You", which closed out both Rattle and Hum and the 80's collection.
In short, this album is a mess. It was thrown together with about as much of a sense of overall purpose as, well, Zooropa. I've been told that one of the most dearly missed songs on this record, "The Fly", was a bonus track on the European release (as if that makes any sense), but it's nowhere to be found here. Neither is "Please", or the aforementioned "Elevation" and "Walk On", the latter of which would've closed out the album with bold style and grace.
If you're not feeling like this album was disjointed enough, you can always get the double disc with the B-Sides, which I guess has a right to be disjointed, wavering back and forth between some truly interesting tracks such as the "Junk Day Remix" of "Dirty Day" and the original version of "Electrical Storm" (which is more guitar-heavy; not sure yet which one I like better), and some truly irritating remixes of songs like "Numb" and the somewhat rare "Salome".
I guess this disc is a decent place to start for a U2 newbie looking to learn a little of their history. While the electronic trilogy of albums the band put out in the 90's makes for an interesting study, a good deal of it can be off-putting to someone who hasn't already developed an appreciation for their work. Maybe I just tend to gravitate towards any band's "grow-on" albums more than I do the bona fide classics, but I really feel like some genuine hits and some personal favorites got short-changed because this album was rushed out.
Oh, well, we can always hope the band survives until 2010, and whatever record label they're on at that point has the decency to put out a better collection than this one. I reccomend it, but not at full price, and not if you already own all of U2's 90's albums and ATYCLB.
ALBUM WORTH:
Even Better than the Real Thing $1.50
Mysterious Ways $2
Beautiful Day $2
Electrical Storm $2
One $1.50
Miss Sarajevo $1
Stay (Faraway, So Close!) $1
Stuck in a Moment You Can't Get Out of $1
Gone (New Mix) $1.50
Until the End of the World $1.50
The Hands that Built America $.50
Discotheque (New Mix) $.50
Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me $2
Staring at the Sun (New Mix) $1
Numb (New Mix) $1
The First Time $.50 Exclusion of "The Fly"-$2 Exclusion of "Lemon"-$1.50 Exclusion of "Please"-$2 Exclusion of "Elevation"-$1.50 Exclusion of "Walk On"-$1 TOTAL: $12.50
Band Members:
Bono: Vocals, guitar
The Edge: Guitar, keyboards, vocals
Adam Clayton: Bass
Larry Mullen, Jr.: Drums, percussion
Website: http://www.u2.com
Random Side Note: I can't claim credit for the witty pun in the title. I got that one from Vlad! The Armored Assault Duck. (Don't ask.)
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