1. I think I will always have a soft spot for Rattle & Hum, but having said that, I'm not unaware of its shortcomings. It not really a cohesive album, and I don't really think is was intended to be. I know that many people have expressed this, but I would have preferred a full album of new studio tracks instead of the live songs. I do love the energy U2 had at this point, though, and many of the studio cuts are excellent (Hawkmoon, Van Diemen's Land, Desire, Angel of Harlem) and All I Want is You is one of U2's greatest songs in my opinion.

    There's also a bit of revisionist history that surrounds R&H. There was a backlash against it and U2 at this time, but the backlash was primarily from music critics, not the public at large, at least not here in the US. I was a Freshman in college when it came out, and I remember the singles being all over the radio. It was definitely a one-shot deal, though, and it was definitely time for a radical change, which of course led to the brilliance of Achtung Baby.
  2. Yeah, the backlash about R&H sounds to me like it was definitely not commercial. All the singles did well, and if I remember correctly, Niall Stokes (I think?) wrote something to the tune of 'Rattle and Hum's reception by critics had been an embarrassment, and it had sold so well that it was almost embarrassing.'

    This one was a real slow builder for me, but after having it around for several years, it's slowly grown from my least-favourite U2 album to one I deeply enjoy and respect.
  3. This is a very interesting insight into the early stages of Rattle And Hum and about how the band felt during the Joshua Tree Tour:

    https://www.atu2.com/news/band-on-the-run.html

    As the Edge astutely remarks: "Most average Americans don't really know about the heritage on their own doorstep. The music that's big in America is the Top 40 album, whatever's on radio. Our contemporaries and younger bands, have a very patchy understanding. So what we're finding, and I know it's bizarre, is that what we're now playing with is as new to our audience as it is to ourselves. We're not playing this music to people who know this stuff, although it's on their own doorstep, under their very noses."

    He readily confesses he was the band's most reluctant convert. As a teenage guitarist, he'd reacted intensely against the older generation of Dublin players, with their squalling, posturing, hard rock vulgarization of the blues. "All that shit was like dirt. I'd purged myself of all that," he says. "So, coming back to that now was like visiting something laid and buried. It was like opening the coffin and I resisted a little. For instance, we disagreed vehemently about what songs should go on the album. If Bono had his way, The Joshua Tree would have been more American and bluesy and I was trying to pull it back."

    That compromise led to the later flood of new B-side tracks. Bono will argue that "the album is almost incomplete. 'With or Without You' doesn't really make sense without 'Walk to the Water' or 'Luminous Times.' And 'Trip Through Your Wires' don't make that much sense without 'Sweetest Thing'."

    Live, there hasn't always been such a neat resolution of the band's inner conflicts either. Last night in Baton Rouge, Bono admits, "was a bad show. Not so much the band as myself. I completely lost myself. Being on a stage for me doesn't get any easier. Even in the middle of 'Pride,' the oddest thoughts come across me. I just want to pack up and go home.

    "We're a snake who hasn't fully shed its skin," he believes, accepting that the creative U2 of '87 is co-existing uneasily with the U2 the fans want to hear. "That preys on me a lot. I don't know how to sing 'New Year's Day' now."

    He looks up and laughs: "Now you're talking. All the other stuff, they aren't problems. This is the problem and what a problem!"
  4. Originally posted by PageU2:When a release date for the R&H Anniversary is set, I would love to get my hands on a deluxe edition:

    Disc 1: Remastered original album
    Disc 2: B-Sides, remixes and out takes (A Room at the Heartbreak Hotel, God Pt 2 Remixes, etc.)
    Liner notes by The Edge

    As for the Super Deluxe edition:

    All those mentioned above but plus a complete DVD of the entire Point Depot New Years Eve Lovetown show, music videos from this era, various R&H non-tour performances, etc.

    Can we have this for the 30th anniversary
  5. Lets get this thread started in five years again.
  6. Edge and Adam showed up at the Savoy today.
  7. Originally posted by LikeASong:This is a very interesting insight into the early stages of Rattle And Hum and about how the band felt during the Joshua Tree Tour:

    https://www.atu2.com/news/band-on-the-run.html

    As the Edge astutely remarks: "Most average Americans don't really know about the heritage on their own doorstep. The music that's big in America is the Top 40 album, whatever's on radio. Our contemporaries and younger bands, have a very patchy understanding. So what we're finding, and I know it's bizarre, is that what we're now playing with is as new to our audience as it is to ourselves. We're not playing this music to people who know this stuff, although it's on their own doorstep, under their very noses."

    He readily confesses he was the band's most reluctant convert. As a teenage guitarist, he'd reacted intensely against the older generation of Dublin players, with their squalling, posturing, hard rock vulgarization of the blues. "All that shit was like dirt. I'd purged myself of all that," he says. "So, coming back to that now was like visiting something laid and buried. It was like opening the coffin and I resisted a little. For instance, we disagreed vehemently about what songs should go on the album. If Bono had his way, The Joshua Tree would have been more American and bluesy and I was trying to pull it back."

    That compromise led to the later flood of new B-side tracks. Bono will argue that "the album is almost incomplete. 'With or Without You' doesn't really make sense without 'Walk to the Water' or 'Luminous Times.' And 'Trip Through Your Wires' don't make that much sense without 'Sweetest Thing'."

    Live, there hasn't always been such a neat resolution of the band's inner conflicts either. Last night in Baton Rouge, Bono admits, "was a bad show. Not so much the band as myself. I completely lost myself. Being on a stage for me doesn't get any easier. Even in the middle of 'Pride,' the oddest thoughts come across me. I just want to pack up and go home.

    "We're a snake who hasn't fully shed its skin," he believes, accepting that the creative U2 of '87 is co-existing uneasily with the U2 the fans want to hear. "That preys on me a lot. I don't know how to sing 'New Year's Day' now."

    He looks up and laughs: "Now you're talking. All the other stuff, they aren't problems. This is the problem and what a problem!"
    Wow, that's a great read. Thanks for sharing.
  8. Happy 31st birthday!
    1988 october 10...
    i bought it this day... memories
  9. Still waiting for a remastered release with bonus material. The Denver and Tempe concerts in all their glory would be exceptional. The footage is out there. Some of it has leaked onto YouTube.
  10. Originally posted by LikeASong:This is a very interesting insight into the early stages of Rattle And Hum and about how the band felt during the Joshua Tree Tour:

    https://www.atu2.com/news/band-on-the-run.html

    As the Edge astutely remarks: "Most average Americans don't really know about the heritage on their own doorstep. The music that's big in America is the Top 40 album, whatever's on radio. Our contemporaries and younger bands, have a very patchy understanding. So what we're finding, and I know it's bizarre, is that what we're now playing with is as new to our audience as it is to ourselves. We're not playing this music to people who know this stuff, although it's on their own doorstep, under their very noses."

    He readily confesses he was the band's most reluctant convert. As a teenage guitarist, he'd reacted intensely against the older generation of Dublin players, with their squalling, posturing, hard rock vulgarization of the blues. "All that shit was like dirt. I'd purged myself of all that," he says. "So, coming back to that now was like visiting something laid and buried. It was like opening the coffin and I resisted a little. For instance, we disagreed vehemently about what songs should go on the album. If Bono had his way, The Joshua Tree would have been more American and bluesy and I was trying to pull it back."

    That compromise led to the later flood of new B-side tracks. Bono will argue that "the album is almost incomplete. 'With or Without You' doesn't really make sense without 'Walk to the Water' or 'Luminous Times.' And 'Trip Through Your Wires' don't make that much sense without 'Sweetest Thing'."

    Live, there hasn't always been such a neat resolution of the band's inner conflicts either. Last night in Baton Rouge, Bono admits, "was a bad show. Not so much the band as myself. I completely lost myself. Being on a stage for me doesn't get any easier. Even in the middle of 'Pride,' the oddest thoughts come across me. I just want to pack up and go home.

    "We're a snake who hasn't fully shed its skin," he believes, accepting that the creative U2 of '87 is co-existing uneasily with the U2 the fans want to hear. "That preys on me a lot. I don't know how to sing 'New Year's Day' now."

    He looks up and laughs: "Now you're talking. All the other stuff, they aren't problems. This is the problem and what a problem!"
    As the Edge astutely remarks: "Most average Americans don't really know about the heritage on their own doorstep. The music that's big in America is the Top 40 album, whatever's on radio. Our contemporaries and younger bands, have a very patchy understanding. So what we're finding, and I know it's bizarre, is that what we're now playing with is as new to our audience as it is to ourselves. We're not playing this music to people who know this stuff, although it's on their own doorstep, under their very noses."

    Holy shit. And THIS is why U2 went on to make Achtung Baby lmao.
  11. Originally posted by RattleandHum1988:[..]
    As the Edge astutely remarks: "Most average Americans don't really know about the heritage on their own doorstep. The music that's big in America is the Top 40 album, whatever's on radio. Our contemporaries and younger bands, have a very patchy understanding. So what we're finding, and I know it's bizarre, is that what we're now playing with is as new to our audience as it is to ourselves. We're not playing this music to people who know this stuff, although it's on their own doorstep, under their very noses."

    Holy shit. And THIS is why U2 went on to make Achtung Baby lmao.
    I think I am going to break down and pickup a used copy on vinyl.