Audio CD review:
U2 - Rattle and Hum

U2 - Rattle and Hum

Band: U2 Title: Rattle and Hum Rating: Release Date: 1990-06-15 Media: Audio CD Tracks: 1: Helter Skelter - U2, Lennon, John 2: Van Diemen's Land - U2, Edge [1] 3: Desire - U2, U Two 4: Hawkmoon 269 - U2, Bono 5: All Along the Watchtower - U2, Dylan, Bob 6: I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For - U2, U Two 7: Freedom for My People - U2, Mabins, Macie 8: Silver and Gold - U2, Bono 9: Pride (In the Name of Love) - U2, U Two 10: Angel of Harlem - U2, Bono 11: Love Rescue Me - U2, U Two 12: When Love Comes to Town - U2, Bono 13: Heartland - U2, Bono 14: God, Pt. 2 - U2, Bono 15: The Star Spangled Banner - U2, Key, Francis Scott 16: Bullet the Blue Sky - U2, Bono 17: All I Want Is You - U2, Bono

Toss the live tracks insert a few b-sides and you have a classic! Could be nice if U2 gave it a makeover in a future extended cd version. After having read a lot of the mid to negative reviews of Rattle & Hum I must confess that many of them are right about several things. They could for instance put the live tracks on one CD and add some more of those from the movie and make 1 CD of the studiomaterial+some of the b-sides from that period. I have played a litle with the tracklisting and a studio album of Rattle & Hum could look like this: Desire Angel of Harlem Hallelujah (Here she comes) (B-side) Hawkmoon 269 Van Diemen's Land (Complete version without the early fade please!!) Silver and Gold (studio version b-side Joshua tree period) Love come rescue me When loves come to town Heartland Dancing Barefoot (B-side) God part II A room at the heartbreak hotel (B-side) All I want is you Unchained Melody (b-side) This order makes for a dark americana album and is quite a ride and perhaps gives a little more of an underplayed version of the whole "discovering america in a flagwaving position", instead giving the album more of a coherent flow and the point still comes across but in a more subtle way that I personally think gives it a whole new life. The live version of the disc? Haven't got a clue to that since I'm not to keen on that side of U2. . . at least not in this period. . . Rattle and Hum. A U2 CLASSIC! LIVE! A great LIVE cut for this band. This album is one of their best. Bono's passion for what he sings ignites the audience. The Edge and the rest of the band putting forth extraordinary energy in every note. Buy this and enjoy it for years. helter skelter..... Get motley Crue and the BEatles up there to kick bono's arse. U2 don't deserve to be allowed to cover that awesome song. "This song Charles Manson stole from the Beatles, now were steeling it back". Bono "singing" Helter-Skelter sounds incredibly unprofessional, he can't seem to get the timing or the lyrics right. "This song Charles Manson stole from the Beatles, now were steeling it back". Check it out if you get a chance it is ridiculous! In my opinion remaking a Beatles song is a sin! The pompous moron who calls himself Bono is the last person who should be remaking Beatles songs. Bono has always compared his inept, politically motivated band, U2 to the Beatles. If U2 were going to be the next Beatles they missed their window back in the Eighties! The Beatles did it in 7 Years; U2 has had 28 years to do it! Compare the two bands total Number 1 singles. U2, 4 UK and 2 US Billboard Hot 100. Yet the Beatles have released a 79 minute album called Beatles 1. This album contains 27 Number One Hits from a band that released their first studio album in 1963, Please Please Me, and their last studio album in 1970, Let it be. The Beatles had 7 years total time releasing original studio recorded music not 30! . Not as bad as I expected. (3.5) This is basically the work they did in the mid and late '80s in particular and I always felt at once like it was ill-fated and arrogant. You know, there was a time when I really hated U2's more "Americanized" phase. I hadn't yet touched this album, either. And then later on I recognized some of it wasn't bad at all. The Joshua Tree was the greatest thing the guys had done by the point it was out but for awhile I always was more into the post-punk early records and the electronic later work, and some of the new stuff too. The band has shown though that they can pull that type of thing off and that it's really even entertaining at times. Most U2 stuff is. I heard a lot of bad rap about the album. So when I found it recently for only FIVE bucks used, I was somewhat skeptical. Only "somewhat" because I was aware of "All I Want Is You" which is one of my favorite U2 songs and "Desire" and "Angel of Harlem" were pretty good songs as well. I don't really consider this a studio album, if that makes any sense. It's a compilation of sorts, with some being live and some studio, and two interludes that technically aren't even U2. There's enough studio work to make a long EP or a short album, which the album could have done if that was what they wanted to. And also it may have been more effective with the length. Although I would have liked less of the gospel choir in the song I otherwise found the live "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" to be fantastic, and the live "Pride (In the Name of Love)" is pretty well done as well. Although not included I think they could have put a version of something like "Trip Through Your Wires" since the song itself sounds like something that would appear on here. They also do a B-side and a cover, but those are both awfully performed on here. "Helter Skelter" and "Silver and Gold" have better versions available and the commentary on both of those songs is pretty embarassing. Not really perfect. Also, there's other ill-fated moments like the failed John Lennon response song "God, Part II. " Its intentions were probably good but everything else about the song is just failed, in general. Oh, the live "All Along the Watchtower" wasn't special either, not on par with Dylan and especially not as good as the Hendrix version. Speaking of which one of those "interludes" I mentioned was his rendition of "The Star-Spangled Banner," probably the band's nod to Americanism, but I don't mind since it's a cool rendition. "Bullet the Blue Sky" (which inspired the project's name) isn't really my favorite but it's about as good performed live as it is on "The Joshua Tree. " Oh, and "All I Want Is You" is just an amazing way to close the album. It's probably the song that makes the record worth owning, with a very emotional performance that shows they were pretty good with the more personal songs as well. "Desire" is the really big single from the album and is nice to listen to even now. More of a western feel than most of it but not bad. "Angel of Harlem" is a nice melodic piece reminiscent of "The Joshua Tree" even if not particularly special. A lot of the album is really in between. It's an interesting record, though. For example you do get one song with the Edge on the vocals and it's a pretty decent song, too ("Van Diemen's Land"). The only studio song that was really pretty bad was "Hawkmoon 269"; I guess it's just too bad that one was on the earlier half of the record. This record is definitely not for everyone and it's a mixed bag in pretty much any definition of the term, but I recommend this to people who are willing to get into more U2. As a guy who wasn't conceived until a few months following "Joshua Tree"'s release, there's some younger fans who may seek this. It goes in all directions but if you don't mind any of the types of songs that are in here even in spite my warnings I suggest you give it a try and you may enjoy it. You can see a complete list of all U2 discography, or go back to the U2 tabs