Favorite Fan Club Gift

[Aaron]

Maybe an opportunity to do something useful with the tiered pricing.  $40 for one, $50 for two, $75 for four, $200 for a full set. 

TAKE MY MONEY!!!

I know right?  It'd be the quickest $200 I ever spent lol. 

[Nikabrik]

A lot of this depends on what sort of extra music you like. Personally, I don't need 45 versions of Mysterious Ways from a tour. The arrangement and performance has barely change in 20 years, let alone from night to night.

For me, remixes and alternate versions are much, much, much more interesting, because they're unique, and they represent alternate ways of presenting the songs. So that's why I like stuff like Artificial Horizon and Medium Rare Remastered.

Beyond that, I like CDs, and I have thousands of them, but they're pretty cheap. Something like a vinyl record or a book is just a better return on my fanclub investment. Look at Pearl Jam's Ten Club - they get a 7" for Christmas every year IN ADDITION to all the other perks. Perfect.

[Aaron]

A lot of this depends on what sort of extra music you like. Personally, I don't need 45 versions of Mysterious Ways from a tour. The arrangement and performance has barely change in 20 years, let alone from night to night.

For me, remixes and alternate versions are much, much, much more interesting, because they're unique, and they represent alternate ways of presenting the songs. So that's why I like stuff like Artificial Horizon and Medium Rare Remastered.

Beyond that, I like CDs, and I have thousands of them, but they're pretty cheap. Something like a vinyl record or a book is just a better return on my fanclub investment. Look at Pearl Jam's Ten Club - they get a 7" for Christmas every year IN ADDITION to all the other perks. Perfect.

I agree.  It's a very personal choice.  And I know I'm asking a select audience by asking the question here. 

There are some people out there who hate remixes with a passion and don't care for live music.  There were a lot of people who were disappointed last year because they don't have a turn table and had no way to listen to the gift and the digital version didn't include all of the tracks.  I know a few people who loved the book because they long have stopped buying physical copies of music, and you could download the fan club gift from torrents 24 hours after the first person got it.  In that case the book was something they appreciated more. 

I feel I would have been happier with the vinyl had it come complete with lossless downloads of the contents.  That's one of the reasons I do prefer a CD, ease of ripping it, and putting it on my phone, or taking the CD itself and playing it in the car etc.  The vinyl took more work...

[God, Part II]

I feel I would have been happier with the vinyl had it come complete with lossless downloads of the contents.  That's one of the reasons I do prefer a CD, ease of ripping it, and putting it on my phone, or taking the CD itself and playing it in the car etc.  The vinyl took more work...

Not to mention that, as a contact medium, it is lesser format than CDs, sonically speaking, because each time you play a vinyl record, its fidelity lowers. Perhaps only by the most miniscule degree, but its a reduction just the same. I can't even begin to fathom others' faddish fascination with vinyl (other than with its inarguably superior packaging), but they're entitled to it. Just don't leave those of us who prefer our music to be delivered in more technologically evolved formats out in the cold.

[George]

Can you imagine what it would be like if you were given the option to get any full show from the tour when you subscribed?  You sign up and they give you the full set of dates and let you pick one.  Do it up with a nice booklet, some nice art on the discs, and I bet people would go wild for it. 

I actually would not like that.  There would be no way that I could properly own all of the shows, and so my collection would feel like it would forever have an unfillable hole in it.

Maybe an opportunity to do something useful with the tiered pricing.  $40 for one, $50 for two, $75 for four, $200 for a full set. 

Okay, THIS would be something I could definitely go for!

[sawheaton]

U2 really need to make releasing music a guaranteed part of their fan club membership. We like them because they make music, right? Its no surprise that "U22" and "From The Ground Up" are fan favorites. I'd put "Another Time, Another Place" third and would have preferred if the download were lossless. Clearly very few people are excited about books, pictures, or music we can rip from a DVD. In my opinion U2.Communication missed the mark because they should have provided either a full concert recording or made a collection of great performances from over the tour. Half of Medium, Rare, & Remastered was available on CD but I'm also excited about remixes when it's an exclusive collection of something truly rare like Melon was.

I still think this year they should have offered a lossless download of rotational songs such as from the second slot (Electric Co., Out of Control, Gloria, Two Hearts Beat As One) and the two after EBTTRT and MW. Picking special performances such as when Jimmy Fallon, Springsteen, or Patti Smith were on stage would have been great. Then offer it on CD and/or vinyl for an extra charge to keep those that like hard copies happy.

Can it really be difficult to pull something like that together while on tour? Surely it can't be hard to record and then someone else will pick and master the tracks with some general direction and final approval from the band.

[Aaron]

U2 really need to make releasing music a guaranteed part of their fan club membership. We like them because they make music, right? Its no surprise that "U22" and "From The Ground Up" are fan favorites. I'd put "Another Time, Another Place" third and would have preferred if the download were lossless. Clearly very few people are excited about books, pictures, or music we can rip from a DVD. In my opinion U2.Communication missed the mark because they should have provided either a full concert recording or made a collection of great performances from over the tour. Half of Medium, Rare, & Remastered was available on CD but I'm also excited about remixes when it's an exclusive collection of something truly rare like Melon was.

I still think this year they should have offered a lossless download of rotational songs such as from the second slot (Electric Co., Out of Control, Gloria, Two Hearts Beat As One) and the two after EBTTRT and MW. Picking special performances such as when Jimmy Fallon, Springsteen, or Patti Smith were on stage would have been great. Then offer it on CD and/or vinyl for an extra charge to keep those that like hard copies happy.

Can it really be difficult to pull something like that together while on tour? Surely it can't be hard to record and then someone else will pick and master the tracks with some general direction and final approval from the band.

We know they pretty much record everything.  It's the only way they'd be able to do something like U22 or From the Ground Up.  And they've been doing it for years if you talk to Joe O.  All that material is there - just no one seems to want to let go of it for whatever reason...you would think it would be easy to dip into the archives and release a full LoveTown show, or a full TUF show.    It would make us audio whiners all go away

But to hear some discussion on this, they are actually really proud of this gift...not sure if they are even close to being on the same page with us. 

[sawheaton]

We know they pretty much record everything.  It's the only way they'd be able to do something like U22 or From the Ground Up.  And they've been doing it for years if you talk to Joe O.  All that material is there - just no one seems to want to let go of it for whatever reason...you would think it would be easy to dip into the archives and release a full LoveTown show, or a full TUF show.    It would make us audio whiners all go away

But to hear some discussion on this, they are actually really proud of this gift...not sure if they are even close to being on the same page with us. 
[/quote]

A full concert release like an Australian Lovetown or anything from The Unforgettable Fire would be great!

But if Bono is actually proud of this fan club gift then I'd says its his typical banter.  Just like every time they release an album they have to come out saying its the best thing they've done. They have to sell it and stand behind their own product.

I can say my pictures will go in a closet and may never even get taken out of the envelope. Had they released new music it would have been put to use.