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51 of 53 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
The Best Of U2.....Maybe, Maybe Not!, November 10, 2002
This is a nice disc presented in a nice package, but upon listening to the contents I was left feeling rather disappointed. I will say that the remastered sound is impressive, but why was so many popular favorites left off of this "Best Of" CD? Where is 'The Fly' from the Achtung Baby album, or 'Lemon' from the Zooropa album, or 'Please' from the POP album, or the emmy winning 'Walk On' from All That You Can't Leave Behind???? Why were none of the songs from the soundtrack The Million Dollar Hotel such as 'The Ground Beneath Her feet' or 'Stateless' included here? Puzzling exclusions to be sure. The new songs 'Electrical Storm' and 'The Hands That Built America' are worthy additions to U2's list of hits. I am always glad to get new releases from this band, and I wasn't disappointed. As for the songs that feature a "new mix" is concerned, my vote is split. I like the new version of 'Staring At The Sun', as well as the new mix of 'Discotheque' (actually, I cannot decide if it is better than the original, but it is definitely as good as). My favorite song on the POP album was 'Gone', and I simply do not like the new mix presented here. 'Numb' suffers the most from the new mixes. This version was abysmal and just plain noisy! Overall, I could have stood to get the original versions in place of the new mixes on this album. The B-Sides of this set is a different story. I have always been a fan of U2's great rock music, but have always been put off by their dance remixes. I simply am not a dance/techno music fan in any way. I was dismayed to see the track listing of this set several months ago. I could tell by the titles that lots of dance mixes would be included. This is unfortunate, considering all the wonderful rock versions that were available on countless CD singles. The B-Sides of the Best Of 1980 - 1990 was a wonderful collection of songs that sometimes surpassed anything released on their albums. No such luck here. U2's awesome rock renditions of 'Salome', 'The Lounge Fly', 'Where Did It All Go Wrong', 'Paint it Black', 'Fortunate Son', 'Lady With the Spinning Head', 'Satellite Of love', 'Night And Day', 'I've Got You Under My Skin' (Bono and Frank Sinatra), and 'Two Shots Of Happy, One Shot Of Sad' are destined to never be made very public seeing that this once in a lifetime opportunity was squandered on dance mixes. Oh well, at *least* 'North And South Of The River', 'Summer Rain', 'Happiness Is A Warm Gun' and 'Your Blue Room' was included in all their glory. The B-Sides could have really rocked and appealed to more people had the right decisions been made. The Bonus DVD included here is also a mixed bag. For one, I was not expecting to recieve a mere promotional disc. At least this set wasn't ridiculously over-priced, or I would have been very upset at this bummer of a DVD. It includes four tracks only, the first being a seven minute "History Mix" featuing a barrage of U2 Footage from the past decade. The second track is a two and a half minute advertisment for the upcoming DVD which fails to even mention when it is going to be released. The third track is "The Live Mural Cut of *Please*", featuring a live performance which lasts five minutes. The last track is a video of 'Beautiful day' which features footage shot on location in France (not the version aired on VH-1 or M TV). The last two tracks are pretty good, while the first two are nothing but commercialism in a bag. Overall, this isn't a bad release, but it does fall way short of what could have been. It doesn't even contain a hidden bonus track! If you are a fan of the awesome U2 Best of 1980 - 1990, you may as well prepare yourself for a let down here. Don't expect this new album to be nearly as good as it (the best of 1980-1990) was because sadly, it is not.
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16 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
U2 dodged a bullet in '97, November 25, 2002
Can a band like U2 really get away with putting out compilation albums? Not really; the hardcore fans would never allow them to. There will always be complaints about compilations released by a band of this stature. They always center around the songs that were left off, particularly by those fans who feel this band owes them something. That's the equivalent of a hardcore fan going to see a band, and leaving disappointed because some "obscure album track that was never a hit" wasn't performed just for them. I remember going to PopMart in '97 and some guy next to me being bummed out because "Indian Summer Sky" wasn't on the setlist. Any complaints about this kind of petty thing is ultimately pointless.
What WAS left off were tracks that would have made sense in a compilation like this. The omission of "Please" is almost inexcusable, as the song was a centerpiece of the PopMart tour, much more than "Gone" or even "Staring At The Sun". Considering that the album version of "Please" was incomplete at the time of POP's release (listen to Bono's vocals on the album), we would have all had the definitive version of the song had this included the single version. Also interesting, even if included on the B-Sides cd, would have been "The Ground Beneath Her Feet" and the Clayton/Mullen rework of "Mission Impossible", if only for completists' sakes. Looking at the track list of this "Best of", it's obvious from the various different mixes and the omission of other big tracks ("Walk On", anyone?) that this compilation is intended almost solely for the longtime U2 fans. Any casual fan wanting to pick up the singles they've heard over the years would have been VERY disappointed, "Best of" apparently NOT the same as "Greatest Hits".
What is most alarming about this collection is the work that was done on the tracks off POP, released in 1997. After the album had been out, and considered by many to be a failure, it was revealed that one of the reasons the album was so odd was that with the PopMart tour booked, the album itself was released UNFINISHED just to meet the deadlines. As a result some of the tracks were deemed sub-par by some of the members of U2. If the remixes on here are supposed to be the definitive, COMPLETE versions of these songs, then thank god for the original versions. Who knows what damage an album full of this kind of thing would have done to their career. "Discotheque" and "Gone" sound even more unfinished than the POP versions. "Staring At The Sun", meanwhile, doesn't fare much better. The fact is that the original mix of these songs wasn't the problem the first time around. The songs themselves were the real issue. A thousand remixes couldn't make "Staring At The Sun" sound any less flat and uninspired than it already did. What would have worked better would have been the single versions of these tracks.
On the plus side, the new tracks are brilliant, particularly the gorgeous "Electrical Storm". U2 should consider William Orbit for their next album. He adds a warm, cinematic touch to the song, much like he did for the Madonna "Ray Of Light" album. For those fans who complain about having to get the "Best Of" CD just for two new tracks, the price is more than worth it for these two.
Even with the omissions and the detours, this album is full of brilliant songs that should be a great listen to anyone interested in listening to one of the great bands of all time daring its audience to "see colors that have never been seen, discover places no one else has been".
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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
One Shot of Happy, Two Shots of Sad, November 11, 2002
This "Best of w/ B-Sides 1990-2000" collection is not as fulfilling as the "Best of w/ B-Sides 1980-1990" collection released two years ago, but it does contains some unique and obscure material worthy of your time and money. For those unfamiliar with U2's "Best of" sets, these are the creme of the singles crop, not the creme of the crop of all songs released on albums. If you want the BEST of U2, you will have to buy every album they've produced. If you want a good overview of the band's work, these are a good place to get acquainted; the 1990-2000 set is no exception.One Shot of Happy: This set boasts some of the best songs U2 produced in the last decade: "One", "Stay(Faraway, So Close", "Gone", and "Beautiful Day", among them. It also contains two NEW songs: "Electrical Storm", a song about a fracturing relationship that grows on you with each listen, and "The Hands That Built America", an evocative theme-song for "Gangs of New York" that is a cross between "Heartland" from Rattle and Hum and "Miss Sarajevo" from Passengers: Original Soundtracks. I bought this "Best of" collection for the two new songs, and I'm glad I did. Two Shot of Sad (Part One): I am not a fan of remixes. This set is 50% remixes, if you include the "new mix" versions of some of U2's hit singles. These remixes range from "what's the point" to "very interesting". I always preferred "Staring at the Sun (lab rat mix)" and "Lemon (perfecto mix)" of the remixes I have heard, but they were not included on the album. The "new mixes" are sometimes improvements on the originals, "Numb" a case in point. Two Shots of Sad (Part Two): I found the selection of the creme of the singles to be spotty, and I was NOT pleased with the paltry selection of B-side songs--I don't view remixes as being true B-sides, because they are simply reworkings of songs, not new ones. First, the singles. Where is "The Fly", "Lemon", "Please", "Mofo", "Walk On", and "Elevation"? In particular, "Mofo" always seemed to be the capstone to a trilogy of songs ("Discotheque", "Do You Feel Loved?", "Mofo") in "Pop", and to omit it is to lose the most powerful song in the set; shame, shame, shame. (Given that Bono has said that his whole life is in that song, why would U2 omit it?) "The First Time" was never a single, so it really doesn't belong in this set of "best of" singles; frankly, "The Hands That Built America" doesn't below here either for the same reason, though I'm glad it's here. Second, the B-sides. Forget the remixes. Where are the really good B-side songs, like "Two Shots of Happy, One Shot of Sad", "Always", and "Sunday Bloody Sunday (live from Sarajevo)"?
Where are "Holy Joe", "Pop Muzik", "Where Did It All Go Wrong",
"I'm Not Your Baby", and "Alex Descends Into Hell for a Bottle of Milk"? Maybe they aren't all great, but the B-sides on the 1980-1990 weren't all great either; I was still glad to have them. So, if you want all of those songs, you'll have to try to buy the CD singles. Summary: If you want the new songs and some interesting new takes on classic songs, buy this set. If you are a remix fan, buy this set. If you are new to this period of U2's music, buy this set. It doesn't contain all of the best of their singles, but it's a fine selection. If you only want LOTS of unusual B-sides that aren't simply remixes, then stay away and hunt down the CD singles. For me, this set was merely one shot of happy, two shots of sad. It should have been the other way around.
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