Nothing? As If!

Sure, we’ve been silent for three days, but it took us that long to get something this good. For a very limited time (bandwidth’s a killer): a one-minute MP3 clip of “Stay (Faraway, So Close!)” (mirror 1 / mirror 2), conducted and arranged by Craig Armstrong with newly-recorded vocals by Bono. The track features on Armstrong’s new album AS IF TO NOTHING, which will be released in the US and UK in early March.

buy Craig Armstrong's album

The album also features collaborations with Evan Dando, Mogwai, Photek, King Crimson, David McAlmont, Anyte Greie-Fuchs, Wendy Stubbs, and Steven Lindsay, and this U2log.com reporter (who’s been listening to it all afternoon) endorses it highly. Armstrong, you may or may not remember, is the composer of the scores for the films PLUNKETT & MACLEANE, WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE’S ROMEO + JULIET, and MOULIN ROUGE. (By the way, if you’re interested in, and capable of, mirroring this file, please speak up in the comments section — and hey, big thanks to Kovax for doing just that. )

[ update: U2star.com and ZooItalia are hosting the full song… which is cool. Don’t forget to buy the album ($ USA/UK), though!)

40 thoughts on “Nothing? As If!”

  5. it’s pretty, but methinks I like the original better. this one sounds even more like “my cherie amor.”

  6. it’s pretty, but methinks I like the original better. this one sounds even more like “my cherie amor.”

  7. plus the original has a killer bass line. I don’t know why, but it really stands out as something special…

  8. plus the original has a killer bass line. I don’t know why, but it really stands out as something special…

  9. I found the whole song on Audiogalaxy at 192k/sec. I’d post it, but my account would likely get suspended quick – I’m sharing it on Morpheus and AG. Filesize is 8.498k

  10. I found the whole song on Audiogalaxy at 192k/sec. I’d post it, but my account would likely get suspended quick – I’m sharing it on Morpheus and AG. Filesize is 8.498k

  15. Ehhh…I’m not really liking this. It’s not the music, it’s the B-man’s vocal on this, I’m not feelin’ it like on the original (which I love) and he’s waay croaky and not hitting much. Plus he’s off key a bit on some of it, and he’s enunciating the lyrics too much so it’s not flowing…can’t believe they didn’t have a better take of it… Sorry Bono!

  16. Ehhh…I’m not really liking this. It’s not the music, it’s the B-man’s vocal on this, I’m not feelin’ it like on the original (which I love) and he’s waay croaky and not hitting much. Plus he’s off key a bit on some of it, and he’s enunciating the lyrics too much so it’s not flowing…can’t believe they didn’t have a better take of it… Sorry Bono!

  19. This is the greatest U2 song ever reinterpreted its FANTASTIC!!! GOD BLESS BONO AND U2 GO PATS AND REMEMBER KIDS BIG GIRLS ARE BEST!!!!!!

    P.S.

    POP is the best album of the 90’s more spiritual than October its ‘Keepin it REAL at it’s best’

    Yeah POP YEAH!!!!!!

  20. This is the greatest U2 song ever reinterpreted its FANTASTIC!!! GOD BLESS BONO AND U2 GO PATS AND REMEMBER KIDS BIG GIRLS ARE BEST!!!!!!

    P.S.

    POP is the best album of the 90’s more spiritual than October its ‘Keepin it REAL at it’s best’

    Yeah POP YEAH!!!!!!

  21. I heard the whole thing. I really like what Craig Armstrong did withthe song, it s a really nice tune…

  22. I heard the whole thing. I really like what Craig Armstrong did withthe song, it s a really nice tune…

  23. Yep, Bono’s vocals are a little croaky on this. Is he getting lazy and diva-ish in his old age and insisting in one take only? Even if it’s crap?

    Quite a lot of recent stuff (especially none-U2 stuff that he appears on) have featured out-of-tune vox by B-man.

    It’s a bit careless, like.

  24. Yep, Bono’s vocals are a little croaky on this. Is he getting lazy and diva-ish in his old age and insisting in one take only? Even if it’s crap?

    Quite a lot of recent stuff (especially none-U2 stuff that he appears on) have featured out-of-tune vox by B-man.

    It’s a bit careless, like.

  25. What’s with Bono’s voice. He sounds like he doesn’t know how to sing, same with the SB last week. And this in one of their most beautiful songs. It’s a shame. He sounds more like screaming than singing. Shame…, could’ve been a great rendition of a great song.

  26. What’s with Bono’s voice. He sounds like he doesn’t know how to sing, same with the SB last week. And this in one of their most beautiful songs. It’s a shame. He sounds more like screaming than singing. Shame…, could’ve been a great rendition of a great song.

  27. Yech. What am I listening to? The soul of the song is not there. It’s way too angelic in the end. If you want an reimagination of Stay check out the Underdog mix. It’s got vibe and even enough soul for Bono to be happy with.

  28. Yech. What am I listening to? The soul of the song is not there. It’s way too angelic in the end. If you want an reimagination of Stay check out the Underdog mix. It’s got vibe and even enough soul for Bono to be happy with.

  29. I CAN’T STAND the underdog remix. Stay is not hip hop, it’s a quiet meaningful, contemplative song… at least that’s how I see it. I really like this new version, though maybe not as much as the acoustic version from this tour (esp the one from chicago with jonathan on piano)

  30. I CAN’T STAND the underdog remix. Stay is not hip hop, it’s a quiet meaningful, contemplative song… at least that’s how I see it. I really like this new version, though maybe not as much as the acoustic version from this tour (esp the one from chicago with jonathan on piano)

  35. Those vocals at the end are crap! He’s really gotta quit smoking and straining his voice. It’s making me sad 🙁

  36. Those vocals at the end are crap! He’s really gotta quit smoking and straining his voice. It’s making me sad 🙁

  37. Bono stopped smoking during the Popmart tour but the reason why his voice is sometimes strained (certainly wasn’t during the recent London shows anyway) is because as an interview in Q magazine has stated “He also discovered that other food allergies explained why his vox hadn’t been so Bono in recent years. He has changed his diet and given up cigarettes, but it’s transparently clear that for a while back there he thought it could have been something more serious.
    Then there is Bono’s own unspecified “fright”, he recently discovered that he was allergic to certain enzymes in wine, which explained his tendancy to fall asleep suddenly. Once, he conked out on the mixing desk in the middle of a Sonic Youth concert; another time he walked out of a meal with Ali in Paris and woke up half an hour later on a car bonnet. It turns out, however, that the enzymes disappear over time, so now he can only drink vintage wine.”

    There, case solved 🙂

  38. Bono stopped smoking during the Popmart tour but the reason why his voice is sometimes strained (certainly wasn’t during the recent London shows anyway) is because as an interview in Q magazine has stated “He also discovered that other food allergies explained why his vox hadn’t been so Bono in recent years. He has changed his diet and given up cigarettes, but it’s transparently clear that for a while back there he thought it could have been something more serious.
    Then there is Bono’s own unspecified “fright”, he recently discovered that he was allergic to certain enzymes in wine, which explained his tendancy to fall asleep suddenly. Once, he conked out on the mixing desk in the middle of a Sonic Youth concert; another time he walked out of a meal with Ali in Paris and woke up half an hour later on a car bonnet. It turns out, however, that the enzymes disappear over time, so now he can only drink vintage wine.”

    There, case solved 🙂

  39. He hasn’t quit smoking. He smoked in magazine interviews after the album was launched and he admitted to smoking in Oakland (a couple months ago). He insisted that he’s REALLY been trying to quit. Doesn’t sound like it.

    As for the Salycytates, just look them up on the Internet. They’re in just about everything (food, household products, etc.). I think the case remains unsolved. That’s why he sounds like a dying walrus trying to hit those high notes. Hopefully he’ll find a magical cure like the last time, after the catastrophic “New Day.” He sounded like he’d never sing again, then his voice came back from nowhere a few months later. Let’s hope.

  40. He hasn’t quit smoking. He smoked in magazine interviews after the album was launched and he admitted to smoking in Oakland (a couple months ago). He insisted that he’s REALLY been trying to quit. Doesn’t sound like it.

    As for the Salycytates, just look them up on the Internet. They’re in just about everything (food, household products, etc.). I think the case remains unsolved. That’s why he sounds like a dying walrus trying to hit those high notes. Hopefully he’ll find a magical cure like the last time, after the catastrophic “New Day.” He sounded like he’d never sing again, then his voice came back from nowhere a few months later. Let’s hope.

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