Author Topic: New U2 album SONGS OF INNOCENCE  (Read 90390 times)

Scarlet

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Re: New U2 album SONGS OF INNOCENCE
« Reply #150 on: October 22, 2014, 12:27:48 PM »
The Japan Deluxe Edition [JA, UICI-1134]

Disc 2 - Tracks / Times

01 - Lucifer's Hands (3:55.107)
02 - The Crystal Ballroom (4:40.427)
03 - Acoustic Sessions (22:48.947)
04 - The Troubles (Alternative Version) (4:32.293)
05 - Sleep Like A Baby Tonight (Alternative Perspective Mix By Tchad Blake) (5:18.467)
06 - Invisible (4:45.187)
07 - The Crystal Ballroom (12'' Mix) (7:27.320)

Total : (53:27.747)
« Last Edit: October 22, 2014, 12:31:21 PM by Scarlet »

God, Part II

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Re: New U2 album SONGS OF INNOCENCE
« Reply #151 on: October 22, 2014, 12:50:49 PM »
Is there any difference in encoding between the U.S. and Japanese discs (i.e. 16-bit vs. 24-bit)?

morgan1098

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Re: New U2 album SONGS OF INNOCENCE
« Reply #152 on: October 22, 2014, 01:05:52 PM »
Hey, did anyone get the standard version of the CD in a jewel case? What is the booklet like? Just the band photo surrounded by white, type-written pages? I'm beginning to think that the iTunes digital booklet is really the winner out of all of this because at least it had cool portraits of each of the four band members.

Aaron

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Re: New U2 album SONGS OF INNOCENCE
« Reply #153 on: October 22, 2014, 01:17:30 PM »
NOTE: Acoustic Sessions are still one track on this CD, but "Invisible" has been separated as Track 6 and a 7th track, "The Crystal Ballroom (12" Version)" has been added as a bonus. This 7th song was previously available only on Side 4 of the vinyl edition, or as a streaming track from U2.com. I'm sure they added "Invisible" separately because it wouldn't really make sense to have a hidden track AND THEN segue into a bonus track. It just makes more sense to present it this way.

I'm not sure we know that yet.  I've not actually seen it ripped yet for contents.  The OBI lists things as 7 tracks, but the back of the CD itself lists things as 5 still.  I've sent a note to Japan to ask :)

morgan1098

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Re: New U2 album SONGS OF INNOCENCE
« Reply #154 on: October 22, 2014, 01:25:46 PM »
NOTE: Acoustic Sessions are still one track on this CD, but "Invisible" has been separated as Track 6 and a 7th track, "The Crystal Ballroom (12" Version)" has been added as a bonus. This 7th song was previously available only on Side 4 of the vinyl edition, or as a streaming track from U2.com. I'm sure they added "Invisible" separately because it wouldn't really make sense to have a hidden track AND THEN segue into a bonus track. It just makes more sense to present it this way.

I'm not sure we know that yet.  I've not actually seen it ripped yet for contents.  The OBI lists things as 7 tracks, but the back of the CD itself lists things as 5 still.  I've sent a note to Japan to ask :)

Scarlet's quote above seems to show seven tracks after being ripped, and in answer to my previous question, it looks like the minute of silence at the end of SLABT has been removed.  My guess is that bonus track details for Japan were finalized at the last minute, and that's why the track list is correct on the obi but not on the sleeve.

And I'm getting worried that my $10 find on amazon yesterday is just going to be the regular US deluxe edition, not the Japan. I don't see how a US-based seller would have a "Like New" copy up for sale already.  :(

MartinTexas

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Re: New U2 album SONGS OF INNOCENCE
« Reply #155 on: October 22, 2014, 02:28:07 PM »
Son of a...I just knew I was gonna end up having to rebuy this thing...

Okay, next question--where are my best options for buying it? When I go to Amazon.jp, there are multiple listings and most of the text won't translate.
>:( The same me! I've been waiting with buying Deluxe Edition 2CD till 14th October (official release date for Poland) and didn't order it in presale - I was hoping that there would be some region specific releases like Japan, Target Exclusive and others with extra tracks. But nothing like that happened so I go and buy Deluxe.

Why there was no proper setlist for Japan before?  :P

Forty unplanned dollars but, c'mon...U2...exclusive bonus track...crystal clear digital glory...not a degradable, hissy, scratchy vinyl. They own me.
Yes that's true  ::) All in all good to see The Crystal Ballroom 12" Mix in lossless CD quality. Also separate Invisible is a good sign.


Still don't know what was the reasons to put all acoustic session as one track!?!?!?!? Why in digital era, when separating CD tracks is very easy, such things happened? It's very annoying at standalone CD player.  :-\

Aaron

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Re: New U2 album SONGS OF INNOCENCE
« Reply #156 on: October 22, 2014, 06:41:15 PM »
Scarlet's quote above seems to show seven tracks after being ripped, and in answer to my previous question, it looks like the minute of silence at the end of SLABT has been removed.  My guess is that bonus track details for Japan were finalized at the last minute, and that's why the track list is correct on the obi but not on the sleeve.

Ah for some reason I didn't see Scarlet's post on the site i was using.  Sorry.  And thank you Scarlet!! :)

Aaron

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Re: New U2 album SONGS OF INNOCENCE
« Reply #157 on: October 22, 2014, 06:47:41 PM »
Hey, did anyone get the standard version of the CD in a jewel case? What is the booklet like? Just the band photo surrounded by white, type-written pages? I'm beginning to think that the iTunes digital booklet is really the winner out of all of this because at least it had cool portraits of each of the four band members.

It has a front image (Larry and son) and a back image (U2 walking toward us - the same image from the gatefold of the other) other than that the pages are all white, with the lyrics, Bono's essay, credits etc.  No additional photos.  Just type-written pages.

Aaron

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Re: New U2 album SONGS OF INNOCENCE
« Reply #158 on: October 22, 2014, 06:53:54 PM »
Is there any difference in encoding between the U.S. and Japanese discs (i.e. 16-bit vs. 24-bit)?

By my understanding Audio CDs are 16-bit.  To burn a 24-bit wave file to a CD it would be down sampled to 16-bit.  And these are audio CDs.  Not another format.

Scarlet

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Re: New U2 album SONGS OF INNOCENCE
« Reply #159 on: October 22, 2014, 06:56:31 PM »
Of note, there was/is a French site selling the deluxe format in FLAC with the acoustic sessions as separate tracks

www.qobuz.com/fr-fr/album/songs-of-innocence-u2/0060254706523

jw

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Re: New U2 album SONGS OF INNOCENCE
« Reply #160 on: October 23, 2014, 07:45:02 AM »
Hey, did anyone get the standard version of the CD in a jewel case? What is the booklet like? Just the band photo surrounded by white, type-written pages? I'm beginning to think that the iTunes digital booklet is really the winner out of all of this because at least it had cool portraits of each of the four band members.

It has a front image (Larry and son) and a back image (U2 walking toward us - the same image from the gatefold of the other) other than that the pages are all white, with the lyrics, Bono's essay, credits etc.  No additional photos.  Just type-written pages.

For all their talk about how an album needs to be an immersive experience (hints at new format for media, etc), this album has been surprisingly bare on the artwork front.  They've not had a good set of album artwork since Pop.  Well, ATYCLB has a few gorgeous photos, but they're so few and most of the photos are blurred, so it's still mostly a miss in my mind.  Pop was the last album where I really enjoyed sitting down with the book and flipping through it and examining all the pictures and the artwork layout.

In fact, even though the music on SOI album have been really strong, it's probably been my least exciting experience with a new U2 album. Normally I hold out until I have the CD in my hands, and sit and look through each page chronologically along with the songs as they play.  But this time, my first experience was with iTunes with the sparse digital booklet with only four or five photos.  Then they released pictures of the physical album and I could see there was practically no artwork (less than the free iTunes version to boot).  Then the deluxe songs were available on Spotify before my physical CDs arrived in the mail.  I had already heard the main album, there wasn't any artwork to be expected in the physical format,  so I really had no incentive to wait.  I listened to the deluxe songs on Spotify before I got my CDs in the mail.  By the time I got the actual CDs, I just opened it to confirm there really was no additional art work, and then stuffed it in my drawer.  I've never cared so little about the physical CD before.

I get they probably wanted to keep it simple and pure with this album - make it about the music.  But I really hope for the next album they go all out and splatter the album sleeves with artwork like they did in the 90s.  Or they better hit a home run with this new album media format they're talking about.


morgan1098

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Re: New U2 album SONGS OF INNOCENCE
« Reply #161 on: October 23, 2014, 12:08:37 PM »
Confirmation from Bono (ha! as if such a thing could exist) in Rolling Stone that SOI is part one of a trilogy of albums, including the celebratory Songs of Experience and concluding with, yes, Songs of Ascent.

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/u2-take-on-the-world-inside-rolling-stones-new-issue-20141023

morgan1098

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Re: New U2 album SONGS OF INNOCENCE
« Reply #162 on: October 27, 2014, 06:10:16 PM »
:(  Sure enough, the Japanese deluxe edition I bought from a seller on amazon.com for $10 was, indeed, just the standard US deluxe.  I can return it, of course, but now, like many of you, I'm faced with the prospect of paying around $40 for the prospect of getting only one extra song in CD quality...

Brad

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Re: New U2 album SONGS OF INNOCENCE
« Reply #163 on: October 28, 2014, 01:17:27 AM »
Of note, there was/is a French site selling the deluxe format in FLAC with the acoustic sessions as separate tracks

www.qobuz.com/fr-fr/album/songs-of-innocence-u2/0060254706523

It still hasn't gone live, but Pono Music will also be selling the album in FLAC with the acoustic sessions as separate tracks.

https://ponomusic.force.com/ccrz__CCPage?pageKey=product&oId=of%3A9bb02cfe7c3a480f9edda76dc41888b8&type=Album

Pono Music will be selling a lot of hi-res stuff, but I expect SOI will just be CD quality FLAC. If there was a 24-bit version, I think it would already be available on HDtracks or one of the other hi-res sites.

BTW, Aaron is correct. The redbook CD standard stipulates only 16-bit 44.1 kHz PCM.

Brad

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Re: New U2 album SONGS OF INNOCENCE
« Reply #164 on: October 28, 2014, 01:28:57 AM »
Also, I received the Japanese deluxe CD today. The information Scarlet posted above is accurate. The acoustic sessions is one track, but the Sleep Like a Baby rework, Invisible, and Crystal Ballroom 12" are separate tracks.

The Sleep Like a Baby alt. version is a slightly different edit compared to other releases. It fades out abruptly at 5:18 and jumps straight into Invisible. There is a longer fade of whatever that background noise is on the U.S. version. I had previously edited the track down to 5:25.

My final version of SOI in iTunes is 23 tracks, with the first 20 tracks as they appear on Qobuz and the final 3 ripped from the Japaneses CD2.

...unless something else comes along, of course.