April 16, 2009

Offday Outtakes: U2 - Achtung Baby Sessions


U2 - The Axtung Beibi Outtakes (3 CD)
Recorded December 1990 - Early 1991, Hansa Ton Studios, Berlin, Germany
Disc 1 (65:22):
1. Salome (Version 1) (5:57)
2. Where Did it All Go Wrong (Version 1) (4:03)
3. Where Did it All Go Wrong (Version 2) (3:42)
4. Heaven and Hell (6:44)
5. Doctor Doctor (2:35)
6. Jitterbug Baby (3:55)
7. Got to Get Together (9:14)
8. Salome (Version 2) (5:28)
9. Here Comes The Sunset/Chances Away (14:57)
10. Chances Away (Short Segment) (1:40)
11. I Feel Free (Version 1) (6:35)

Disc 2 (68:05):
1. I Feel Free (Version 2) (4:31)
2. Sweet Baby Jane (2:02)
3. Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses (Version 1) (5:35)
4. Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses (Version 2) (4:00)
5. Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses (Version 3) (4:09)
6. Take Today (Instrumental) (5:31)
7. Even Better Than The Real Thing (Instrumental) (6:29)
8. Blow Your House Down (Version 1) (4:51)
9. Blow Your House Down (Version 2) (7:44)
10. Laughing In the Face of Love/So Cruel (Version 1) (7:38)
11. Wake Up Dead Man/Blow Your House Down (Version 1) (5:33)
12. Take Today (Vocals) (6:32)

Disc 3 (73:56):
1. Calling Out to Someone (1:05)
2. Laughing In the Face of Love/So Cruel (Version 2) (3:11)
3. Acrobat (4:19)
4. Salome (Version 3) (5:56)
5. Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses (Version 4) (5:09)
6. Wake Up Dead Man (Mix Version)
7. Unnamed Instrumental (5:35)
8. Salome (Version 4) (3:50)
9. Salome (Version 5) (13:06)
10. Salome (Version 6) (5:58)
11. Salome (Version 7) (8:04)
12. Salome (Version 8) (12:03)
****

From "The Origins and History of Salome" by Sira Vista:
In the winter of 1990, U2 were hard at work in Hansa Ton recording studios in Berlin, Germany. The ultimate result of this effort would be the November 1991 release of their next album, Achtung Baby. However, in December 1990 that album was a great ways off, because U2 (unlike most other bands) entered the studio with very few lyric or song ideas.

Instead, U2 came into the studio to create as well as record. Here they sought inspirations for songs from playing together. They would etch out ideas while improvising around some basic idea, or riff. Since all this jamming was taking place in a recording studio, even the simplest of ideas was captured on tape. The highlights of these tapes were then edited down and compiled into "working tapes" recorded onto DAT (Digital Audio Tape) cassettes. Tapes of this nature were used to hold possible song ideas, as well as a means for Brian Eno (and others) to hear the band's progress and make suggestions about the music.

In April of 1991, it was announced that the tapes had found their way into the hand's of bootleggers. ... The title (Salome) is believed to have been a working title used during the Achtung Baby sessions, but it's not clear which song it was referring to. ...

Regardless of the superior polish of the finished material released as Achtung Baby, the material found on the bootlegs is fascinating in and of itself. The most compelling aspect of the bootleged material is that, rather than offering slightly alternative versions of tracks found on the finished record, they instead reveal the songwriting process itself. Familiar solos, bass lines, bridges and riffs abound, and there is also a host of interesting songs that didn't find their way onto Achtung Baby.


As you can see from the back cover (art and notes are included with Disc 1), none of these tracks are named. The person putting this set together gave them titles, trying "to reflect the song's contents as best I could".

Enjoy!

14 comments:

allan said...

See The Spiral Staircase for all your live U2 needs.

Anonymous said...

You are freakin' glorious. God bless you.

Zenslinger said...

Despite being a big fan of this band and especially this album, I've never listened to most of this. I have heard finished versions of "Salome" and "Where Did it All Go Wrong" on the "b-side" of CD singles. Also there's a tune called "Lady with the Spinning Head" that has the same guitar solo as "The Fly".

This set is a true classic of the bootleg genre. Maybe it's time I gave it a spin.

Jere said...

The ball-washing of Jeter by Costas/Reynolds right now is horrible. Bob actually used the word "intangibles" un-sarcastically!

They're actually suggesting that there are shortstops in the league who wouldn't have made the play Jeter just made--catching a pop-up and doubling the idiot runner off first by about 20 feet.

Jere said...

CC has thrown C pitches and is working on his second C. In the fifth.

Jere said...

What a glorious day this has become. 10-1 Indians, and the Opening Day crowd at Eau de Toillette is chanting "we want Swisher"!

(And MLBN cuts to Hazel Mae in the studio who says, "Hopefully the Yanks can come back." Fuck you, Hazel!)

Rob said...

I would like to extend a heartfelt Thank You to the Spiders for spoiling and dropping a deuce on the Yankee Love Fest, opening the new Yankee Stadium by scoring 9 runs in the 7th inning. Makes me giddy like a school girl.

allan said...

Zen: I like this album a lot too. A 7 CD set from these sessions also circulates, but the additional discs are almost all drum overdubs.

YAY Spiders!

Zenslinger said...

They wiggled out of more trouble in the sixth as well. Marte must be a bitter disappointment to them. And maybe Cliff Lee isn't headed straight down the pooper after all.

It's interesting to me that "Wake Up Dead Man" is on this set; it eventually came out on Pop.

Zenslinger said...

U2 fans should note that Joshua Tree b-sides are very much worth a listen as well. Most of them ended up on the b-sides compilation (released).

laura k said...

Bob actually used the word "intangibles" un-sarcastically!*
That is where the sarcastic use of the word came from, after all. Yankee haters chose that word for a reason.

allan said...

You can get the 7 CD set here. All of this collection + more!

Jere said...

"That is where the sarcastic use of the word came from, after all. Yankee haters chose that word for a reason."

I know all about it. Okay, I should've said, 'he used it un-sarcastically in 2009.'

It also came right after he talked about Jeter's detractors, his range going to his left, etc., so when he got to that point, the last thing I thought he'd do was whip out "intangibles" as if was the first to think of it. At that point, I thought it would've been more likely to say something like "we've all heard the mocking term Captain Intangibles, but he really does...etc etc."

They also told me that I had to watch him every day to understand--I make fun of the guy more than anyone and I DID watch him every day.

Unknown said...

Any chance of reposting these? Thanks!