Stuck in a Moment You Can't Get Out Of

by

U2

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Instead of writing a paragraph, I'll give you my insight on the 3 songs offered on this version of the Stuck in a Moment single.

1. Stuck In A Moment You Can't Get Out Of: This is the same version from All That You Can't Leave Behind. It still reminds me of a Rattle & Hum type U2 gospel song. For trivial purposes, it's been said that this song is about Michael Hutchence, the late lead singer of INXS. He happened to be a really good friend of U2.

2. Beautiful Day (Live from Farmclub.com): I'd imagine this was U2's first attempt at performing Beautiful Day live infront of an eager audience... and they passed with flying colours! Edge starts off the song giving you a taste of his signature chiming guitar notes. Bono sings the lyrics with ease and confidence... almost like he's completely aware that the song will be recorded for future listening. The live version isn't much different than the original recording, other than a few ad lib vocals at the end. All in all, this is a great version of Beautiful Day and it gives me that nice, warm, fuzzy feeling. ;)

3. New York (Live from Farmclub.com) - This is the highlight of the single. The intro beats are speckled with Edge's distinct chiming guitar, and Bono sings the lyrics like he's reading poetry. The song sounds very repetitive for the first 2 minutes, but then it cuts into some energetic guitar and vocals. I swear, Bono is singing like he did back in 1982 with his random "a-hoooo"'s. Even if you listen carefully to Edge's guitar, you'll notice how similar it sounds to his guitar on Under A Blood Red Sky. At certain points (especially during Edge's solo), I got chills down my spine. It totally brought U2 back to their early era style-wise. I never thought I'd hear this style of rawness again from U2. It's a pleasant suprise!

The single itself, "Stuck in a Moment", is a tribute (?) of sorts to Michael Hutchense, who committed suicide. The song is infectious, but is also the most striking example of U2's change in lyrical style on 'All That You Can't Leave Behind'. Namely, there's a lack of poetic sense here which seems deliberate. Nonetheless, the last 1 minute of the song is one of the better U2 moments.

The b-sides are live performances of "Beautiful Day" and "New York" at the small Farm Club venue. (You can hear the individual claps and whoops from the audience.) "Beautiful Day" is a good version in the sense that the guitars are a bit more distorted and the ending is played out a bit longer - adding a bit more anthemic qualities to this already anthemic track. There are better live versions of "New York" out there, but the primary differences here from the studio version (which was also, purportedly, done in only two or three takes) is Bono's more straightforward singing of the refrain and the guitar drenched ending. A live version of "Elevation" would have been better since that track is done quite a bit different live.