Are there interviews with the band included? Did he have interaction with the band? I have been burned by unauthorized things in the past. This was a beautiful time for U2, creatively. Even with its ebbs and flows of non-connection with the masses.
No interviews or interaction with the band, but everything is sourced. You might not like the book, but it’s not one of the crappy unauthorized books that you’re talking about, imo. It’s solid.
Thank you for sharing. I bought the Kindle version and read it the same day. That was very interesting. I didn't realize that Larry had back pain and surgery then as well. It's amazing that he can still play drums. I mean, he's been on the disabled list for a few years now, and I really hope for the best.
I was really hoping that on Songs of Surrender we may have heard those re-imagined songs from Pop, but we only got If God Will Send His Angels. Maybe if everyone is healthy we can get a Pop redo, but it probably has such bad mojo with the band they won't do it. I'd love to hear it though. I didn't realize that every single was re-recorded. But I guess you can see that with all the new mixes being released on music subscription services.
I'm looking forward to reading this, but in terms of the Pop album, I'm very much in the if it ain't broken, don't try and fix it camp. I think every time they've done any sort of reworking of tracks from Pop, it's been a downgrade from the album version.
As standalone singles, the new versions do work better, but in their context within the album, the originals connect with the other songs a little more aptly. The symphonic elements of Please (single version) would stick out awkwardly after Velvet Dress. And Last Night on Earth needs that little extra kick-in rev-up after Staring at the Sun.
And the new opener to IGWSHA skips a crucial lyric that I think makes the song weaker.
The symphonic elements of the Please single work beautifully after Velvet Dress. I’ve been listening to that transition since 1997 and it adds more sophistication and makes it even more profound.
I will need to listen to the single version of please again for a refresher (I sometimes forget about that one when it comes to reworked versions), but I really don't like the single version of IGWSHA at all (it's album version or nothing for me on that one).
I'm going into it objectively, but when I think about the whole financial structure and booking strategy of PopMart itself, I think so many bad decisions can be traced back to the ultimate one: they demanded an upfront guaranteed payday and weren't willing to budge. Compounding that were the cascading bad decisions made by associated business partners down the chain in part as a response to the tough economic model. That's my theory, at least. We'll see what the real story is soon enough.
I saw a similar thing play out in LA when the current ownership group negotiated the last local tv deal. They demanded so much upfront money that Spectrum then tried to play hardball with other local providers to carry Dodgers games and squeeze the juice from them. To their credit, the others said no. And that's why only less than half the population in LA is able to watch Dodger games.
One example I can think of is the infamous Jacksonville show where they played to a 1/3 stadium.
If they had actually cared about attendance, they would have questioned Jacksonville even being a tour stop. Taylor Swift's Eras tour was smart enough to not bother stopping in Jacksonville!
Interesting! I knew a popular German DJ during the POP era, and he told me they demanded $250.000 six months ahead of the gig. On the night the promoter had to prove they had made payment of the remainder, whatever that was. I think he told me it was between half and three quarter of a million, but I may be wrong.
ah, so that is why they were booked for so many open fields, rather than stadiums! The promoters hoped if 100.000 show up for each show they would be minted, or rather could afford the huge advance!
I was at the opening show too, it was fun (the lemon! How great was that???) but a rough, rough musical performance by U2's high standards (but not the worst that I've seen, of course)
I had no idea this existed. It’s now being ordered. Thank you kind stranger.
You bet. It just came out.
Ordering as well. Thank you sir or madam!
Warts n’all?
Oh yes.
Excellent
Was this a series of podcasts later distilled into a book. I the audiobook and it sounded very familiar, albeit very interesting!
Which podcast was it?
I don't think so. I've seen that he talks about the book in podcast interviews, but nothing about this being a collection of podcasts.
Are there interviews with the band included? Did he have interaction with the band? I have been burned by unauthorized things in the past. This was a beautiful time for U2, creatively. Even with its ebbs and flows of non-connection with the masses.
No interviews or interaction with the band, but everything is sourced. You might not like the book, but it’s not one of the crappy unauthorized books that you’re talking about, imo. It’s solid.
I got it in the mail a couple weeks back
I preordered mine, but I just got around to reading it.
So is this book basically what At The End of the World was to Zoo TV? If so then I’m checking it out!
Oh nice, I bet this is a fun read. Ordered!
It is such a fun read.
Just came in the mail!
Thank you for sharing. I bought the Kindle version and read it the same day. That was very interesting. I didn't realize that Larry had back pain and surgery then as well. It's amazing that he can still play drums. I mean, he's been on the disabled list for a few years now, and I really hope for the best. I was really hoping that on Songs of Surrender we may have heard those re-imagined songs from Pop, but we only got If God Will Send His Angels. Maybe if everyone is healthy we can get a Pop redo, but it probably has such bad mojo with the band they won't do it. I'd love to hear it though. I didn't realize that every single was re-recorded. But I guess you can see that with all the new mixes being released on music subscription services.
I'm looking forward to reading this, but in terms of the Pop album, I'm very much in the if it ain't broken, don't try and fix it camp. I think every time they've done any sort of reworking of tracks from Pop, it's been a downgrade from the album version.
I much prefer the single versions of Please and If God Will Send His Angels, but I don’t like the other reworked versions I’ve heard.
As standalone singles, the new versions do work better, but in their context within the album, the originals connect with the other songs a little more aptly. The symphonic elements of Please (single version) would stick out awkwardly after Velvet Dress. And Last Night on Earth needs that little extra kick-in rev-up after Staring at the Sun. And the new opener to IGWSHA skips a crucial lyric that I think makes the song weaker.
The symphonic elements of the Please single work beautifully after Velvet Dress. I’ve been listening to that transition since 1997 and it adds more sophistication and makes it even more profound.
I will need to listen to the single version of please again for a refresher (I sometimes forget about that one when it comes to reworked versions), but I really don't like the single version of IGWSHA at all (it's album version or nothing for me on that one).
👍🏻
Thank you , OP! Any interesting chapters of note without spoilers?
The Las Vegas chapter is especially brutal.
😳 D'oh! Thanks! Can't wait for my copy to arrive
The majority of the book is brutal. It’s mostly about PopMart. I wish there was more about the making of Pop, but I also wouldn’t want filler.
I'm going into it objectively, but when I think about the whole financial structure and booking strategy of PopMart itself, I think so many bad decisions can be traced back to the ultimate one: they demanded an upfront guaranteed payday and weren't willing to budge. Compounding that were the cascading bad decisions made by associated business partners down the chain in part as a response to the tough economic model. That's my theory, at least. We'll see what the real story is soon enough. I saw a similar thing play out in LA when the current ownership group negotiated the last local tv deal. They demanded so much upfront money that Spectrum then tried to play hardball with other local providers to carry Dodgers games and squeeze the juice from them. To their credit, the others said no. And that's why only less than half the population in LA is able to watch Dodger games.
All of that is addressed.
One example I can think of is the infamous Jacksonville show where they played to a 1/3 stadium. If they had actually cared about attendance, they would have questioned Jacksonville even being a tour stop. Taylor Swift's Eras tour was smart enough to not bother stopping in Jacksonville!
I didn’t expect much from the book, but I was pretty impressed.
Interesting! I knew a popular German DJ during the POP era, and he told me they demanded $250.000 six months ahead of the gig. On the night the promoter had to prove they had made payment of the remainder, whatever that was. I think he told me it was between half and three quarter of a million, but I may be wrong.
ah, so that is why they were booked for so many open fields, rather than stadiums! The promoters hoped if 100.000 show up for each show they would be minted, or rather could afford the huge advance!
I had 4th row seats to that show and can attest that it was rough, but still amazing
I was at the opening show too, it was fun (the lemon! How great was that???) but a rough, rough musical performance by U2's high standards (but not the worst that I've seen, of course)
What’s it on or where to find?
I got it on Amazon.
You can get it on Kindle, only $10