Before Three - a single?

Started by lostflower4, July 27, 2007, 01:54:53

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lostflower4

Something that's been on my mind for, well, about 3 years...

Why wasn't Before Three released as a single? I think it's one of the better songs on the album â€" certainly better than the singles that were released (in my opinion). I'd even go as far as to say that this was the equivalent to not releasing Friday I'm In Love as a single. I think it could have been at least a minor radio hit and given the band/album a bit more exposure.

Yet they played it at almost every show in 2004, so the band obviously thought highly of the song, as if it were a single.

I don't get it. The only explanation I can think of is the usual one lately - that Robert's lost his mind! :?


rodney

I frankly never understood why alt.end was released as a single in the US and Taking Off was released only in Europe.

Secrets

Releasing it as a single would have improved it as the swearing would be edited out, and the expletives really sounded forced IMHO.

I'm not a fan of the album at all, but I do like that song.

japanesebaby

before three - are you serious? :P

if i would have been able to pick a single then it might have been (i don't know what's going) on.
i think that's one of compact, tightly constructed songs in the album that would have maked a decent single.
although it's a shame it proved out to be a bit too difficult for them to play it live in a really decent way.  :?

or maybe 'the end of the world' is the only thing that should have been released as a single(?).
Ay, in the very temple of Delight
Veil'd Melancholy has her sovran shrine

Matti

I'm not sure if Robert really decides which song becomes a single. I mean, some songs became singled out for quite obvious reasons (JLH, FIIL, Mint Car, Taking Off, and the like). But I remember reading an interview some (long) time ago in which Robert complained about the record company's decision to release Elise as a single (too long, no hookline etc.). So I wouldn't blame Robert straightaway. I would have loved B43 as a single as well, but I think it's a hardly radio-friendly song. After all, that's what singles are about - to get played, to be sold and to make the charts. They are promotional items.
and we close our eyes to sleep
to dream a boy and girl
who dream the world is nothing but a dream

japanesebaby

Quote from: Matti on July 27, 2007, 12:19:32
But I remember reading an interview some (long) time ago in which Robert complained about the record company's decision to release Elise as a single (too long, no hookline etc.). So I wouldn't blame Robert straightaway.
he also mentions this in the 'join the dots' booklet:

I wanted it [doing the unstuck] as the third single, instead of A Letter To Elise. This Mark Saunders 12" re-mix would have been so good on the radio! It's one of our best pop songs ever, and I was so happy when I sang this in the studio that it still makes me laugh when i hear it today.
Ay, in the very temple of Delight
Veil'd Melancholy has her sovran shrine

Nicholas

It's incredible when you think about it--that he's somewhat lost control of the sequence of their LPs and which songs are singles.  I mean, with The Cure LP, he had to give everyone a cribsheet of sorts just to get to 'the real' version of the LP--cobbled together from imports or singles.  Of course, that might just be a sign of the times: in this 'digital age' not too many people care about the album as a cohesive statement, and no one really buys singles anymore as a taster for the upcoming LP or perhaps to hear what treasures the bside might contain.  It irks me, but what can you do?  It's not so bad, you just get together what you can and burn/make your own version of the original.

As for Before 3, I could've sworn it would have been the second single, or at least I had hoped it was gonna be.

strange_day

Its true, bands ALWAYS make a loss on singles these days, theyre only really put out as a promotional tool by record companies, in hope that more people will buy the album (if they havent already downloaded it)

Since none of it matters, they shouldve just released Labyrinth as a single, you cant beat a bit of drop C dirge-y guitars on the radio  :-D


angel

"before three" is a great song and it had been a great single...
with hope
...nothing would ever be the same again...

Verity

Quote from: lostflower4 on July 27, 2007, 01:54:53
I don't get it. The only explanation I can think of is the usual one lately - that Robert's lost his mind! :?



I think I missed something. Perhaps a topic should be started "Why Robert lost his mind".

rjl

Quote from: rodney on July 27, 2007, 03:36:42
I frankly never understood why alt.end was released as a single in the US and Taking Off was released only in Europe.

Same here - Taking Off was probably the best song on the album, too. How alt.end became a single, in the first place, puzzles me (bleh).

"Before 3", while I'm not a huge fan of it, would have been funny as a live B-side, as Robert could never quite seem to get the words right.

(Or at least on the live versions I remember / didn't skip over.)


cult_hero

Quote from: lostflower4 on July 27, 2007, 01:54:53
The only explanation I can think of is the usual one lately - that Robert's lost his mind! :?

  :-D


closedown

alt.end as a single? a choice I never understood, on the other hand, why on earth were songs like 13th/Gone/A letter to Elise singles?
in general, singles mean nothing anylonger, thanks to the music industry, a single is just a promo tool to promote the upcoming album or to boost the album that is still in stock - in the UK quite a few bands now release download-only singles. a single release doesn't earn the company money as sales have decreased in recent years.
that is a thing I miss a lot about the early eighties, when bands released singles that weren't on albums + the single justified a right in its own, The Cure started that way as well or think of bands like New Order (Ceremony, Temptation, Blue Monday,... - all not on the album...) - the uniqueness of such releases is definetely missing - and with that, who cares what is a singlerelease? the only bad thing is, the chance is bigger that a single release will be played on upcoming tours as well (that is why I hate so much that Depeche Mode released I feel you as a single...) + an album track will possibly not always be the first choice.
and a fan normally buys a single for the b-side(s) anyway, I'd assume.

devoblue

Before Three is not as good a pop song as Friday I'm in Love, but neither is Fascination Street and that didn't stop it.  The real question is, would top 40 listening teenagers request and buy a single by the cure these days, and would it get the airplay in the first place to get noticed? No - won't happen.

So what the cure really need by way of a single (if they care to go after it) is something that can get airplay similar to an interpol or my chemical romance single on the alternative stations.  Really thats all they would want from a single, but if they could establish a string of them, then maybe a poppy single would work.  I don't think they are trying to do that, and I don't think most fans want them to either.
f*ck Parental Advisory.  Mines a Pint.