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  3. New guy to the forum. I actually registered because I read through this old thread after doing some searching for POP outtakes. I haven't found any per se (if anyone else would be willing to share what they've got, please DM me!) but I thought I'd add this to the existing pile of information.

    I can't post links yet as I'm too new, but go to YouTube and then add the following to the URL: watch?v=Kx3XfLHjYm4

    There are a couple of interesting tidbits contained in this incredible--but all too short--video. First, the video opens with one minute and forty seconds of an alternate version of "Mofo" that I've never heard before. It's much more rock-based in its instrumentation, and the Edge's "747 effect" comes screaming in over a bassline that sounds to me like it later evolved into "Last Night on Earth."

    Once that song is faded out and the Edge bangs on a piano, we hear a meandering bass part that starts to cohere as the rest of the band joins in. At around 2 minutes and 5 seconds, we hear a heavy, loping riff take over and the visual starts to incorporate a housefly in the center of the picture. This leads me to speculate that we're hearing the track that had the working title "Return of the Fly."

    At around 2:48, that track fades into another, trippier song that for all the world reminds me of something Radiohead would've been doing around the same time. (The vocal part in particular has a hint of "Talk Show Host.")

    Finally, at 3:22, we hear what is perhaps an early version of "Do You Feel Loved." The guitar riff and main drum loop from the album version, at least, are intact and easily identifiable. The vocal is completely different, though, with Bono delivering one of his mid-90s beatnik raps.

    Finally, at 4:04, we hear the track that would become "The Playboy Mansion." Most of what would end up on the final version is there, but with the addition of some keyboard strings on the verse and minus a few of the detailed guitar bits that gave it the final flavor. The main lyric is "Don't let me down." Could be a title clue there.

    I'll be adding to this post shortly. Apologies if it's not kosher to revive an old thread at this board, I kind of just want a place to store my POP archaeology and if someone else finds it interesting, then so much the better.

    Edit: Alright, a few more thoughts. It was stated much earlier on this thread that U2 scrapped an album prior to POP. I'm not sure I'd describe it that way--I think it's more likely that they started the record that would become POP, but were dissatisfied with the results and decided to table it for awhile.

    The Wikipedia article about POP states, "U2 began work on Pop in mid-1995... In September, the band moved the recording sessions to Hanover Quay in Dublin to a studio the band had just converted from a warehouse. These sessions lasted until December 1995, and around 30–40 pieces of music emerged during this period." Larry was then sidelined for back surgery in November, returning to the studio in February of 96. It sounds like the period that followed was one of exploration of new technology and techniques, but less so of settling on ideas.

    This may be an apocryphal story, but ages ago I read about U2 inviting electronica act Underworld into the studio for a collaborative attempt that involved Bono wandering around the Dublin streets outside Hanover Quay studio with a wireless microphone, feeding his vocals remotely back into the studio environment where the members of both bands improvised a musical backdrop around his rambling observations. I've been unable to find corroboration for this story until today (I'll post the link later, once I'm confirmed to be a non-spammer). Anyway, the website where I found the story sets the date of this session in 1996 but gets no more specific than that. Wikipedia notes, "Nellee Hooper left the sessions in May 1996 due to his commitments to the Romeo + Juliet film score. The recording sessions changed radically in the last few months..." I'm willing to bet that U2--feeling not terribly excited about the rock-based material they'd thus far come up with, but potentially inspired by the incorporation of then-current dance music production and technology--called in Karl Hyde, Rick Smith, and (presumably) Darren Emerson to see if working with electronic musicians could help carry the project forward. Bono was allegedly delighted with the results, but nobody else was, so the song was shelved. Bono described the recording thusly: "It sounds incredible but we recorded a piece of music together outside. We were trying to perform out on the streets, for the sound of the streets, and we had to face down some cement trucks. I kept singing and I wasn’t on the headphones. I was lying down in the middle of the road, and this truck driver drove right to the point of running me over, but didn't. But what’s interesting is, we stayed in time and key! Cut off from the mothership!"

    I suspect this session put some wind into the band's sails and gave them the confidence to continue with the more experimental approach that yielded electronica-influenced pieces such as "Mofo," but once the tour was booked with the album nowhere near the finish line, it was doomed to be regarded as a failure by the band forever after. Which is a shame, because there are some really interesting things going on on POP.

    Random Notes This section of my post is devoted to little bits and ephemera that I've noticed in the past 20 years of listening to POP that I want to share in hopes that it will help deepen others' love for this sadly neglected and criminally underrated album.

    -At around 32 seconds into "Last Night on Earth," there's a little percussive sound in the background. It sounds to me like a chopped and rearranged sample of a sound that appears at 2:32 in Andrea True Connection's "More More More" (again, search on YouTube). If, uh, true, the sample was uncredited, possibly because the sound was used but the actual rhythmic pattern was not.

    -The vocal melody for the first half of the verses on b-side "Holy Joe" reminds me subtly of the chorus melody for "Please." It's obviously sung in a higher register, and it's by no means exact, but one thing I've always loved about listening to U2 b-sides and unreleased takes is locating where strong ideas first appear, and then tracing them through to where they finally find their place.

    -Speaking of "Holy Joe," check out Edge's guitar solo at 2:31. It sounds like it's either a slide on a 12-string, or more likely, a 6-string run through an octave-up effect. This is a pretty effective sound, first making it's appearance on "Mysterious Ways" (which was definitely a 12-string, and not an effect box).

    More to come as I think of it, if anyone wants it...

  4. For reference:


    The 'Hong Kong' mixes.

    And you're perfectly fine reviving old threads, so long as they're Pop related
  5. THANK YOU, yes. That's the video

    And you're perfectly fine reviving old threads, so long as they're Pop related


    Hahaha, I'm glad I've found this forum and thread, then. I adore this album and really don't get the opportunity to geek out with anyone else over it!
  7. Originally posted by nikfarr:New guy to the forum. I actually registered because I read through this old thread after doing some searching for POP outtakes. I haven't found any per se (if anyone else would be willing to share what they've got, please DM me!) but I thought I'd add this to the existing pile of information.

    I can't post links yet as I'm too new, but go to YouTube and then add the following to the URL: watch?v=Kx3XfLHjYm4

    There are a couple of interesting tidbits contained in this incredible--but all too short--video. First, the video opens with one minute and forty seconds of an alternate version of "Mofo" that I've never heard before. It's much more rock-based in its instrumentation, and the Edge's "747 effect" comes screaming in over a bassline that sounds to me like it later evolved into "Last Night on Earth."

    Once that song is faded out and the Edge bangs on a piano, we hear a meandering bass part that starts to cohere as the rest of the band joins in. At around 2 minutes and 5 seconds, we hear a heavy, loping riff take over and the visual starts to incorporate a housefly in the center of the picture. This leads me to speculate that we're hearing the track that had the working title "Return of the Fly."

    At around 2:48, that track fades into another, trippier song that for all the world reminds me of something Radiohead would've been doing around the same time. (The vocal part in particular has a hint of "Talk Show Host.")

    Finally, at 3:22, we hear what is perhaps an early version of "Do You Feel Loved." The guitar riff and main drum loop from the album version, at least, are intact and easily identifiable. The vocal is completely different, though, with Bono delivering one of his mid-90s beatnik raps.

    Finally, at 4:04, we hear the track that would become "The Playboy Mansion." Most of what would end up on the final version is there, but with the addition of some keyboard strings on the verse and minus a few of the detailed guitar bits that gave it the final flavor. The main lyric is "Don't let me down." Could be a title clue there.

    I'll be adding to this post shortly. Apologies if it's not kosher to revive an old thread at this board, I kind of just want a place to store my POP archaeology and if someone else finds it interesting, then so much the better.

    Edit: Alright, a few more thoughts. It was stated much earlier on this thread that U2 scrapped an album prior to POP. I'm not sure I'd describe it that way--I think it's more likely that they started the record that would become POP, but were dissatisfied with the results and decided to table it for awhile.

    The Wikipedia article about POP states, "U2 began work on Pop in mid-1995... In September, the band moved the recording sessions to Hanover Quay in Dublin to a studio the band had just converted from a warehouse. These sessions lasted until December 1995, and around 30–40 pieces of music emerged during this period." Larry was then sidelined for back surgery in November, returning to the studio in February of 96. It sounds like the period that followed was one of exploration of new technology and techniques, but less so of settling on ideas.

    This may be an apocryphal story, but ages ago I read about U2 inviting electronica act Underworld into the studio for a collaborative attempt that involved Bono wandering around the Dublin streets outside Hanover Quay studio with a wireless microphone, feeding his vocals remotely back into the studio environment where the members of both bands improvised a musical backdrop around his rambling observations. I've been unable to find corroboration for this story until today (I'll post the link later, once I'm confirmed to be a non-spammer). Anyway, the website where I found the story sets the date of this session in 1996 but gets no more specific than that. Wikipedia notes, "Nellee Hooper left the sessions in May 1996 due to his commitments to the Romeo + Juliet film score. The recording sessions changed radically in the last few months..." I'm willing to bet that U2--feeling not terribly excited about the rock-based material they'd thus far come up with, but potentially inspired by the incorporation of then-current dance music production and technology--called in Karl Hyde, Rick Smith, and (presumably) Darren Emerson to see if working with electronic musicians could help carry the project forward. Bono was allegedly delighted with the results, but nobody else was, so the song was shelved. Bono described the recording thusly: "It sounds incredible but we recorded a piece of music together outside. We were trying to perform out on the streets, for the sound of the streets, and we had to face down some cement trucks. I kept singing and I wasn’t on the headphones. I was lying down in the middle of the road, and this truck driver drove right to the point of running me over, but didn't. But what’s interesting is, we stayed in time and key! Cut off from the mothership!"

    I suspect this session put some wind into the band's sails and gave them the confidence to continue with the more experimental approach that yielded electronica-influenced pieces such as "Mofo," but once the tour was booked with the album nowhere near the finish line, it was doomed to be regarded as a failure by the band forever after. Which is a shame, because there are some really interesting things going on on POP.

    Random Notes This section of my post is devoted to little bits and ephemera that I've noticed in the past 20 years of listening to POP that I want to share in hopes that it will help deepen others' love for this sadly neglected and criminally underrated album.

    -At around 32 seconds into "Last Night on Earth," there's a little percussive sound in the background. It sounds to me like a chopped and rearranged sample of a sound that appears at 2:32 in Andrea True Connection's "More More More" (again, search on YouTube). If, uh, true, the sample was uncredited, possibly because the sound was used but the actual rhythmic pattern was not.

    -The vocal melody for the first half of the verses on b-side "Holy Joe" reminds me subtly of the chorus melody for "Please." It's obviously sung in a higher register, and it's by no means exact, but one thing I've always loved about listening to U2 b-sides and unreleased takes is locating where strong ideas first appear, and then tracing them through to where they finally find their place.

    -Speaking of "Holy Joe," check out Edge's guitar solo at 2:31. It sounds like it's either a slide on a 12-string, or more likely, a 6-string run through an octave-up effect. This is a pretty effective sound, first making it's appearance on "Mysterious Ways" (which was definitely a 12-string, and not an effect box).

    More to come as I think of it, if anyone wants it...

    This is a bit of a monster post and I guess many people will move on and not read it at all, but I have taken 5 minutes and read it and, well,



    The amount of work and dedication you've put into this is amazing.


    PLEASE give us the link that "corroborates" this piece of WTF-story :

    This may be an apocryphal story, but ages ago I read about U2 inviting electronica act Underworld into the studio for a collaborative attempt that involved Bono wandering around the Dublin streets outside Hanover Quay studio with a wireless microphone, feeding his vocals remotely back into the studio environment where the members of both bands improvised a musical backdrop around his rambling observations. I've been unable to find corroboration for this story until today (I'll post the link later, once I'm confirmed to be a non-spammer). Anyway, the website where I found the story sets the date of this session in 1996 but gets no more specific than that.
  8. Originally posted by LikeASong:[..]
    This is a bit of a monster post and I guess many people will move on and not read it at all, but I have taken 5 minutes and read it and, well,

    [image]

    The amount of work and dedication you've put into this is amazing.


    PLEASE give us the link that "corroborates" this piece of WTF-story :

    This may be an apocryphal story, but ages ago I read about U2 inviting electronica act Underworld into the studio for a collaborative attempt that involved Bono wandering around the Dublin streets outside Hanover Quay studio with a wireless microphone, feeding his vocals remotely back into the studio environment where the members of both bands improvised a musical backdrop around his rambling observations. I've been unable to find corroboration for this story until today (I'll post the link later, once I'm confirmed to be a non-spammer). Anyway, the website where I found the story sets the date of this session in 1996 but gets no more specific than that.
    Here? http://forum.atu2.com/index.php?topic=29273.0n
  10. Keep it coming, guys. I’m loving all this Pop-lore!
  11. Also, just a note from that video, regarding the early version of Do You Feel Loved - it sounds MUCH more like the Naked Funk song it samples, Alien Groove Sensation. If they'd released it like that... the talk people have about them sampling stuff on SOE would be tame by comparison.
  12. Fun facts: U2 have been posting about Pop on Twitter the last few days and also the Underworld guy is actually the Switch remixer of gooyow.