The Experience of my life...musically speaking.
From start to finish this album embodies everything that is U2 and I promise, it won't dissapoint. I was lucky enought to be at the concert in Edmonton where "With or Without You" was recorded and I have to tell you that even 10 years later, hearing the recording off Please, takes me right back to that amazing night.
One of the finest U2 Ep's ever recorded;
Track 1 is the studio version of an uncut 'Please' that goes for almost six minutes but is definitely worth the listen. This U2 EP 'Please' is a standout not because the 5 songs are all Live versions taken from US and continental European concert performances but because these 5 songs are amongst some of the best works from this devoutly popular Irish group. I can see no point in the editation of songs that are of this fine calibre. Track 2 is the song 'Please' again from a live perfomance at Rotterdam. Listen to both songs and you will see a succint but distinctive differance. Track 3 is 'Where The Streets Have No Name' again live from Rotterdam which is one of the finest softer sounding U2 songs and Bono sings the song as if he is truly there at that moment. Track 4 is my personal favourite 'With Or Without You' a firm romantic song that is taken Live from Edmonton, Canada. The weakest track (if there is one in this EP) for me was track 5; 'Staring At The Sun'.
Overall this EP is a classic blend of old and more contemporary U2. Beautiful, hauntingly amazing. .
Lush Remix And Some Impressive Live Takes.
U2 however, are one of those surprising few bands who can re-do a song and come out with something impressive if not better. Many artists make the wrong decision of taking a song that's already good and chop it up and put it back together again into something unrecognizable and eventually inferior to the original. By now it is well known that their 1997 album "Pop" is considered their weakest, it was their too weird for some trip into the world of techno and dance club music. If "Achtung Baby" and "Zooropa" played around with these chemicals then "Pop" snorted, smoked and inhailed all of them. Some hate the album, some like it, but mostly all agree it is not their best. With the "Please" single the band gives you a single worth the money but also a surprisingly good example of how a song doesn't need a definitive version. The single version of the track is superior to the album version, it feels less like a ghostly electronic ballad and more like a real one, The Edge's guitar is more clear and present and Bono's vocals are graced by Craig Armstrong's lush string arrangement that gives the song a power and impact that wasn't there before. The single comes with four live cuts (live tracks are common but fun to have in U2 singles), the first happens to be a live version of "Please" which really brings the song to life with great emotion, Bono's vocals go into beautiful passages and the Edge paints the song with wonderful touches and real skill. The PopMart tour had a futuristic feel to it and this is evident in "Where The Streets Have No Name" which keeps the original guitar licks and drum parts, but this time the song is furnished with some added techno flourishes that give it a strange, almost spacey feel, but it's still the classic arrangement. "With Or Without You" shines live just as much as in "The Joshua Tree," the version here is full of atmosphere and style. "Staring At The Sun" will interest some because this is not the original album arrangement, here we get an acoustic rendition that shows off the song's almost folk feel to nice effect. Now the band is re-igniting the world with their Vertigo Tour to promote "How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb," it's good to go back and find small releases like this. Maybe now that almost a decade has passed since "Pop" was released we can look back and realize it wasn't so bad, this single proves the material had muscle and compared to some of the new bands on radio today, "Pop" sounds pretty darn good. .
Piece of the past
This is what the maxi-CD format is meant for: extra material that the fans want plus a single version of a song (Please). Nice to see this US U2 single still in print.
The sound quality on the live tracks is excellent as expected, and it doesn't sound like they doctored the sound too much, either. It's a crying shame that the US singles market has all but disappeared save for the trendiest R&B and/or pop songs out there. The material on this single was available as an import titled Pop Heart, and there was a second single available for Please as well. (Funny how the European market is still able to maintain a singles scene where every song gets 2 discs that are both short and overpriced. ) The songs here are a very good representation of the POP live sound. It appears that U2 has abandoned any pattern of releasing new singles in America, leaving us to hunt down expensive imports that often split material into separate discs or even repeat material we already have. U2 has always been a solid singles band and there are plenty of oddities out there from these releases: b-sides, live tracks, and remixes. The Please single here represents one of the best jobs they did when it came to culling material from separate import release for the American market. Highly recommended for even the casual U2 fan.
The Power of Live U2
The songs included on this CD are all fantastic selections, but hearing the live versions helps to show how much more powerful U2's music is when played live. U2 is arguably one of the biggest rock bands in the world. This is most likely one of the best U2 singles to own.
You can see a complete list of all U2 discography, or go back to the U2 tabs
|
