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  1. Boy it's been a long time since I started a topic! Don't let the title throw you off though. I'm not saying "what if U2 released a rap album?" - I'm asking what you guys would think if U2 did the same sort of release as Kanye did for Life of Pablo.

    For the uninitiated, Kanye West released LoP slowly, and continued to make changes to the album post-release. He added songs, edited mixes, changing it to the point where people were telling those who only listened to the release version and moved on to return to the album again because of how different it had become. The album you can find on the various streaming platforms now is not the one that people heard when it was first released. The downside is (for some people) there still hasn't been a physical release because of this. After all, how could there be?

    So what if U2 did something similar? What if they realized that they could take advantage of modern release methods and continue working on an album after they've put it out there? The quick and easy answer is "No! We all know U2 over-produce and over-work their music until it sounds awful, we need them to take LESS time on it!" - which I can agree with. There are however, exceptions.

    Shortly after SoI was released, Bono made a couple of off-hand comments saying that post-release, he thought SoI sounded too structured, and sort of promised that SoE would be a little more radical in terms of its production. I think we can all agree that it was sort of relieving to hear Bono say this, as much as some of us love(d) SoI. Take those comments and combine them with what U2 was able to do with various Pop songs after that album released (new mixes, single versions, live versions, etc.), and to me you have a different outcome. What if U2 was able to visit SoI a couple months later and say "you know, we could probably make this a little better" and they changed things? Would the Iris intro be different on the album? Would those chorus harmonies on Raised by Wolves be there on the album? Would songs like Sleep like a Baby be cut entirely?

    So what do you think? Would having the option to pull a George Lucas be a good thing for U2? Would their music benefit from it, or would it be a hazard? Like I said, I know the quick and easy answer is to say "no, it would be bad" - but I'm not so sure. I think it would be super interesting for a band like U2 to put an album out, start touring it, and then go back and make little edits throughout the tour based on changes they made in playing it live.

    What do you guys think?

    TL/DR: Would U2 benefit from being able to go back and change an album after it's already been released?
  2. I bet they'd like to do (or would have liked to to) that for almost all of their albums
    Nah, it sounds like a terrible idea to me. At least for U2.
  3. Even I appreciate the Star Wars Special Editions cause i grew up watching those, they're things the Lucas changed that I didn't like like Han not shooting first, Cgi rock next to R2, Jedi Rocks song, and Vader saying Noooo in Episode 6.
    I would want U2 changing the albums. In that case they already done that during Pop, when the single for Please came out and the new mixes of Discotheque and Gone. But have it as a bonus track. Don't make it a permanent song in the album in future releases. What I'm trying to say is that if they do pull a Lucas, have both versions available unlike the Theatrical Version of the Original Trilogy is not available, well on blu ray atleast. They gave a horrible quality copy back in 2006 aka "GOUT".
  4. I think it's a great idea for the sole fact you've mentioned U2 being prone to (sometimes) over-producing their songs. For example, I was ecstatic hearing 'Baby' Until The End Of The World from the AB's '11 re-release, and while I still find the final version without the acoustic guitar ultimately better, then again I love hearing different Bono's vocals on the 'Baby' version.

    If someone, somehow missed out on it, I recommend you checking out the whole 'Baby' Achtung Baby.
  5. Didn't they already do that with an album called Pop? I can understand the confusion as we don't really like to talk about how they tried to fix it post-release.
  6. Putting U2 and Kanye in the same sentence is bad enough...
  8. They are kinda doing this already in my opinion, with their live shows and live performances of those new songs. Since U2 are at their best live, I think that's kind of the(ir) way to go with ''improving/changing'' songs from an album.

    But it would be interesting to see.
  9. Originally posted by bartajax:They are kinda doing this already in my opinion, with their live shows and live performances of those new songs. Since U2 are at their best live, I think that's kind of the(ir) way to go with ''improving/changing'' songs from an album.

    But it would be interesting to see.
    Agreed here, and one of the best things about following U2 live - hearing and appreciating all of the ways, musically and lyrically, that they reinterpret their own music from tour to tour.

    But yes, this kind of innovative album release strategy is exactly the kind of thing I think the band (Bono in particular?) wants to pursue, maybe for SOE...
  10. Like it was said, U2 change the songs and develop them live, to a point. While we all know U2 is great live, they also tend to get lazy live. Giving up on Staring At The Sun, and taking countless other songs the acoustic route show they don't want to spend the time with the more difficult songs. Probably why we never hear Acrobat. Honestly, the real challenge would have been to play both Joshua Tree and Achtung in full at the same show with just 2-4 songs in the encore each night. I suggested that ten years ago, lol. But with all their warts, issues, etc...they are still U2, and I absolutely love them, but like a brother...and a critical one at some time!
  11. TLOP wasn't released sowly per say. H said it was coming out at the Yeezy show and he played it but no release. Then we waited all weekend with false starts...but you're pretty close.

    I like the idea of it BUT aside from listening to the new version of Wolves feat. Sia (which I wanted after hearing an earlier version of that song) and added Saint Pablo to what I already had downloaded.

    I tried to listen to the new version but I stuck with the one I got the first day it came out.