Customer Reviews

Sweetest Thing

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

If all you want is "Sweetest Thing," then at this price, you might as well buy the whole 'Best of 1980-1990' compilation. (The version here is no different.) But for those who are serious fans of the live 'Under a Blood Red Sky' (1983), there are two additional Red Rocks performances not originally included on that record - "Twilight" and "An Cat Dubh".

I've been a long-time "semi"-fan of U2 for as long as I can remember. I never really put much real thought into their music until a year or so ago. While I am sure the live tracks on here are great (I enjoy the Boy versions), I must voice my opinion on "The Sweetest Thing." I first saw the video for this song way back in the day, when MTV was actually still playing good stuff. I was enthralled - here was Bono... on a bus... with flowers... singing this pretty little song! Absolutely brilliant!

When I finally picked up this "single mix" on the 1980-1990 best of set, I was amazed. Here was a band that had, so far, built their eputation as this big, pompous band with "something to say." And they did a good job at that. But what I heard in this track was a group finally stepping back from this legacy they'd built up over the last 9 or 10 years, and putting out one of the prettiest and most emotionally pleasing tracks of their collective career. Bono's lyrics are sweeter than sweet, even if they do illustrate a love gone wrong. "Baby's got blue skies up ahead, but in this, I'm a raincloud/Ours is a stormy kind of love." The vocals are incredible. Edge's guitar is nothing short of perfect - every lick he throws in is tasteful and flawless. Even those introductory piano stabs are enthralling. At only three minutes long, the track feels entirely too short - it could easily stretch into "With Or Without You" length and be just as great.

I actually prefer this single mix to the original version that was released in 1987. Anyway, pick up this tune as soon as possible, especially if you want to hear something "different" from one of the best bands around.

The song itself, is nothing spectacular. U2 rerecorded or remastered this song for their Greatest Hits 1980-1990 compilation, and in my own opinion have made a song that is worse than the original. However, it takes a diehard fan to probably notice the difference. Never-the-less, if "The Sweetest Thing" is all you are interested in, go for the BEst of disc and if you can get the 2 disc version which includes the original B-Sides version and this reworking.

My reason for giving this disc 4 stars is in the live tracks. Here are two tracks from the Red Rocks concert that did not make the Under a Blood Red Sky CD. Yet, these two songs are wonderful U2 songs, and they sound really great live. LIstening to these songs makes me wish they would rework the whole Under a Blood Red Sky album into a full concert CD. That would be awesome. As it is, if you like that concert CD and the U2 studio work before that, especially Boy, these B-Sides should make you happy.

U2 does it once again. After their great success with "Pop", U2 came out with this song which is on "The best of U2" which should have been on "Pop". Bono should take off "Wake up Dead Man" and put "Sweetest Thing" as the last track instead. I love this song so much! It makes me think of my girlfriend all the time! If you're a U2 fan, and you don't have this song, buy it right now!

The two live tracks on this are outstanding for early U2 fans - the Edge solo in Twilight is worth any money you might spend on this CD. Buy it now!

THIS SONG IS YET ANOTHER ONE OF MY FAVORITE U2 SONGS. I ALSO SAW THE VIDEO [WHICH WAS ALSO GOOD] AND THIS SONG DEFINITELY IS AN EXAMPLE OF WHAT GOOD MUSIC REALLY IS. FOR ALL THE BAND'S BEST SINGLES, BUY ''U2; THE BEST OF 1980-1990'' AND ''U2; THE BEST OF 1990-2000''.

It's 1987 re-worked and polished, with a smoother piano rhythem and the addition of Larry, Adam and Edge on backup vocals. This song originally showed up on the B-Side of Where the Streets Have No Name, and now it's worthy of its own single release, along with two b-sides of its own. The Sweetest Thing was written by the lead singer of the band for his wife when he forgot her birthday. It is a song about a love that's turned cruel: "I wanted to run but she made me crawl/eternal fire she turned me to straw/.../ours is a stormy kind of love", a nasty love song dressed up as a ballad that will have you humming along and singing "oh, oh, oh the sweetest thing," again and again. Twilight and An Cat Dubh, both of which are live recordings from U2's earliest days as a band, are reminiscent of the raw, anthemic beginnings of U2 and make a nice contrast to the polished image presented by Sweetest Thing '98. It's a sweet little single and a worthwhile addition to the collection of any U2 fan, or even any music fan in general.