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U2 - So Cruel
 Album:
Achtung Baby (1991)
  2. Maybe we're on to something for Bono solo. Like maybe a solo little tour in the future...oh wait...
  3. Originally posted by germcevoy:It sounds exactly like Bono’s playing. Very repetitive and jumpy between chords. It sounds competent rather than accomplished. 100% sounds like a solo performance.

    But I know nothing of such things.


    Yes, it is definitely Bono on guitar. I wouldn't trust those liner notes.
  4. Yep. Totally agree
  5. I dont know about liner notes or differetiating between Bono/Edge on guitar. It makes sense though...that this is Bono alone.

    Fab vocal. But is this as far as they went with in terms of lyrics live ?
  6. Originally posted by Sydney_MIke:[..]
    Amen to that. While I will always have Bad as my number one song; So Cruel beats it in terms of lyrics. For me, these are the best he has ever written; multiple brilliant couplets that deserve their time on the big stage. A beautiful acoustic version with Edge, like SATS or Stay would be awesome to hear on tour. This one is just a teaser of what it could be.


    'You put your lips to her lips / to stop the lie' is to date my favourite U2 lyric ever

    fuck its such a beautiful sad song
  7. Full band live. What can u2 make of this one live? The Hersey soundcheck is full band. I like the idea of full band electric with the piano but also with the power chord backing track from the album version. Maybe u2 should being some extra musicians on stage for the (i hope) AB 30 live tour
  8. I reckon this would be flat as a pancake in a full band capacity. Even on record it just meanders around for too long. I still love it but this release is a gem in its own right. I fear it would be another Landlady if they took a proper run at it.
  9. The soundcheck versions from 1992 and then much later were quite good, imho....
  10. Yeah, it’s a brilliant one, that’s for sure. I also love the opening…
    We crossed the line, who pushed who over?
    It doesn’t matter to you; it matters to me

    A beautiful dark cocktail of melancholy, regret and wistful thinking, laid out in just two lines.
  11. Originally posted by germcevoy:I reckon this would be flat as a pancake in a full band capacity. Even on record it just meanders around for too long. I still love it but this release is a gem in its own right. I fear it would be another Landlady if they took a proper run at it.
    This will give you an idea how a full band version would sound:

  12. I think one of the reasons why they might have dropped it for ZooTV is that there was maybe no place in the setlist for a full/ full band version. They already had "Trying to throw your arms", which is roughly the same tempo and sonically similar. They went for the light-hearted "Trying"....
    Or maybe it could have taken the spot of "One", with One being played later in the set - but where?
    The other setlist spot it could have taken is that of BAD, imho, but Bad surely was a highlight on ZooTV (as on all tours) and fitted better.
    Maybe So Cruel suffered from, as Adam put it, "mid-tempo malaise".
    It is one of their best songs, imho, but doesn't fit in most setlists.
    And maybe, and this is just a guess, it doesn't suit them lyrically, anymore - the lyrics are one of their best, also - but don't fit in a show where Bono declares that "Love is bigger than anything in this world".

    On the ZooTV tour, they had the best setlist ever, imho - it's just perfectly crafted.