Get On Your Boots, Vertigo or Elevation?

[Thunder Peel]

I'm going with Vertigo on this one.

[A_Fly_On_The_Wall]

On record...
1. Vertigo
2. Get On Your Boots
3. Elevation

Live...
1. Get On Your Boots
2. Vertigo
3. Elevation

I went for Get On Your Boots because it kills the other two in a live format. It isn't that spectacular on record, but neither is Elevation. Vertigo is brilliant on record and even better live, but neither Elevation or Vertigo, live or otherwise, can compare to Boots live.

[MarsGirl~Descends to Hell for a bottle of milk]

I agree. GOYB was admittedly really good live. I did not like it for a long time on the album. Though now I've grown to like it. Actually, my favorite part is the "let me in the sound" part.

[AchtungPop]

GOYB is great live...I still think its single worthy, but not lead single worthy, which might be why its one of NLOTH least liked songs it seems. That should've been Breathe or Magnificent as the lead.

[zootv]

GOYB is great live...I still think its single worthy, but not lead single worthy, which might be why its one of NLOTH least liked songs it seems. That should've been Breathe or Magnificent as the lead.

Breathe would of been a bigger flop than GOYB. It's really not that great of a song IMO. The first single should of been Magnificent followed by Crazy Tonight. Then Boots perhaps. A single version of NLOTH might of worked as well

[satellitedog01]

I voted Boots, simply coz I'm not bored of it as much as the overplayed Vertigo that has some of the worst lyrics in U2's canon, and the overrated Elevation that has the worst style-free, clumsily edited video ever made for a ton of money. I hate the Vertigo tour version of it too, at least they went back to regular. If I was to choose between Vertigo and Boots, I'd go with Fast Cars by the way, that song sounded fresh compared to the other two.

[@lmighty DS]

I voted Boots, simply coz I'm not bored of it as much as the overplayed Vertigo that has some of the worst lyrics in U2's canon, and the overrated Elevation that has the worst style-free, clumsily edited video ever made for a ton of money. I hate the Vertigo tour version of it too, at least they went back to regular. If I was to choose between Vertigo and Boots, I'd go with Fast Cars by the way, that song sounded fresh compared to the other two.

exactly. shoulda been on the album.

[Droo]

Fast Cars is one of the worst U2 downgrades ever. Xanax & Wine kicks the crap out of it.

[Canadanne]

Difficult to choose between Vertigo and Elevation.

Elevation was definitely one of the standout tracks on ATYCLB, and comes in several great versions. The Biffco Mix is my favourite (WHATISITTHATYOUWANNNT!). I like the album version and Tomb Raider Mix about the same; Influx Mix was good too. It's still a brilliant song to hear live, for the audience participation.

I went with Vertigo though, because it's equally catchy and it just means a lot more to me. I loved it from the moment I first heard it, and I have fantastic memories of it bookending the 2005 shows. So much energy in those live performances.

GOYB, I have mixed feelings about. I like bits of it - the rockin' guitar riff, the melodic twists and turns, some of the lyrics (including "sexy boots" which they dropped on the tour!). But my very first reaction to it was "Why is the lead single a blatant rip-off of Pump It Up??", and I still haven't figured out the answer to that. They really needed something more original to grab the public's attention. (It also annoys me when Bono lazily rhymes a word with the same word, in this case "real"!)

[Velvet Dress]

"Why is the lead single a blatant rip-off of Pump It Up??"... (It also annoys me when Bono lazily rhymes a word with the same word, in this case "real"!)

Yeah, that was the most annoying thing about it.   The ill-favoured rhyme scheme, well, he's done that before, hasn't he.

[Bundang Dave]

GOYB is great live...I still think its single worthy, but not lead single worthy, which might be why its one of NLOTH least liked songs it seems. That should've been Breathe or Magnificent as the lead.

Breathe would of been a bigger flop than GOYB. It's really not that great of a song IMO. The first single should of been Magnificent followed by Crazy Tonight. Then Boots perhaps. A single version of NLOTH might of worked as well

But Magnificent WAS a bigger flop than Boots, which in the end probably was the best choice for lead. Though I too would have liked to have seen No Line released as a single (especially the ballsier, higher-energy No Line 2).

[Sugarcube]

GOYB is great live...I still think its single worthy, but not lead single worthy, which might be why its one of NLOTH least liked songs it seems. That should've been Breathe or Magnificent as the lead.

Breathe would of been a bigger flop than GOYB. It's really not that great of a song IMO. The first single should of been Magnificent followed by Crazy Tonight. Then Boots perhaps. A single version of NLOTH might of worked as well

But Magnificent WAS a bigger flop than Boots, which in the end probably was the best choice for lead. Though I too would have liked to have seen No Line released as a single (especially the ballsier, higher-energy No Line 2).

I agree - Magnificent is a better song by a country mile but it's not really immediate enough.

I don't know why U2 are so obsessed with hit singles. They proved they can still put on a massive tour when Boots failed so badly so why bother in the future.

[zootv]

GOYB is great live...I still think its single worthy, but not lead single worthy, which might be why its one of NLOTH least liked songs it seems. That should've been Breathe or Magnificent as the lead.

Breathe would of been a bigger flop than GOYB. It's really not that great of a song IMO. The first single should of been Magnificent followed by Crazy Tonight. Then Boots perhaps. A single version of NLOTH might of worked as well

But Magnificent WAS a bigger flop than Boots, which in the end probably was the best choice for lead. Though I too would have liked to have seen No Line released as a single (especially the ballsier, higher-energy No Line 2).

I think GOYB set a negative tone for the single to follow, in this case Magnificent. If Magnificent was released first it may of been more favorably received. I personally think that Crazy Tonight or the a single version of NLOTH would of been the best first choice.

[Bundang Dave]

GOYB is great live...I still think its single worthy, but not lead single worthy, which might be why its one of NLOTH least liked songs it seems. That should've been Breathe or Magnificent as the lead.

Breathe would of been a bigger flop than GOYB. It's really not that great of a song IMO. The first single should of been Magnificent followed by Crazy Tonight. Then Boots perhaps. A single version of NLOTH might of worked as well

But Magnificent WAS a bigger flop than Boots, which in the end probably was the best choice for lead. Though I too would have liked to have seen No Line released as a single (especially the ballsier, higher-energy No Line 2).

I think GOYB set a negative tone for the single to follow, in this case Magnificent. . . .

I think this is a big stretch, and pretty much just rationalization for people who happen to prefer Magnificent and want to explain away its low charting. . . . or maybe I just think that way because I find Magnificent to be pretty bad (and Boots pretty good) and its low charting supports that.

[zootv]

GOYB is great live...I still think its single worthy, but not lead single worthy, which might be why its one of NLOTH least liked songs it seems. That should've been Breathe or Magnificent as the lead.

Breathe would of been a bigger flop than GOYB. It's really not that great of a song IMO. The first single should of been Magnificent followed by Crazy Tonight. Then Boots perhaps. A single version of NLOTH might of worked as well

But Magnificent WAS a bigger flop than Boots, which in the end probably was the best choice for lead. Though I too would have liked to have seen No Line released as a single (especially the ballsier, higher-energy No Line 2).

I think GOYB set a negative tone for the single to follow, in this case Magnificent. . . .

I think this is a big stretch, and pretty much just rationalization for people who happen to prefer Magnificent and want to explain away its low charting. . . . or maybe I just think that way because I find Magnificent to be pretty bad (and Boots pretty good) and its low charting supports that.

Actually I have no vested interest in how well Magnificent charted or for any other song on NLOTH for that matter as I find the whole album underwhelming. My point is that since GOYB was widely rejected by fans, it set a preconceived notion that the rest of the album was not going to be good. Whether you like Magnificent or not, it should of charted better than Boots as I feel it's a "catchier" and more main stream tune hence appealing to a wider audience. Its funny because if any of these songs were actually great we wouldn't even be having a conversation about which order they were released. Release dates do not make or break a great song. It seems that strategies like the one we're discussing only apply to mediocre work. If a song has greatness, then there's no denying it. Great songs will shine regardless of what order it was released in.