This thread has got me revisiting those demos. It just reminds me how much tougher the HAND demo is. For want of a better term, it just sounds punchier. The lyrics for the most part are better on the released version, as well as the solo, but if the sound was like it was on the demo and the acoustic bit added it could have been even bigger.

Yes there is, though it only has minor alternate lyrics near the end of the first verse, as far as I could tell on a quick listen. The track listing of the version I have is this:

1. Have A Nice Day
2. Welcome To Wherever You Are
3. I Want To Be Loved
4. Complicated
5. Bells Of Freedom
6. Who Says You Can't Go Home
7. Nothing
8. These Open Arms
9. Last Man Standing
10. Unbreakable
11. I Am
12. Who Says You Can't Go Home (feat. Keith Urban)

Dunno if every song that's on both really differs from the album release, but that's what I have. And all in about the same quality.

Wonder where saturday night came from on my version...

I wouldn't wonder about anything if it's a (Japanese) bootleg. They tend to mix all kinds of things and put it on a CD, just to get it out there ;-)

I'm going to weigh in here and give my opinion for what it's worth...

Personally, I don't think it's worth purchasing the Japanese version for a large sum of money! If you are one of those people who are very particular and want everything in FLAC for the purpose of collecting, then go for it... But if you think you're going to get something magical, like this alternate album in perfect quality, then you might want to think again... Just like all of you, I went down this same road many years ago looking for that perfect FLAC of these songs and it's just not there... There is no clean version (no radio static) of "Nothing" in circulation...

Here is what's different between the two versions

1. There are only 3 songs that have alternate lyrics:

A. Have A Nice Day
B. I Want To Be Loved
C. Bells Of Freedom

Have A Nice Days has the most noticeable and worthy changes... The other two have very subtle changes. As a fan, it's worth collecting but nothing to get overly excited over. Bells Of Freedom has a different beginning and then it's just the same song. I Want To Be Loved just has a few things here and there...

2. Who Says with Keith Urban
Again worth collecting as a fan but Keith adds nothing to this song... Jon's vocals are so distinguished that when Keith sings his part, he brings the song down... Not taking anything away from Keith as an artist but Jon just happens to be a better vocalist within his delivery.

3. Nothing
Although I don't have the same excitement as other fans, I still get where they are coming from because this is an excellent song. Just like if this was the Soul Truth or Cadillac Man, of course you'd want the best quality. But like I stated above, the radio static is still there...

So in summary, as a fan, the goal is to get everything in the best quality you can but if you think you are getting a store ready version, its not happening... You might want to consider holding off and just find them on the internet because the few changes really aren't worth spending a large sum of money...

While mostly true, some things to add:

1. The lyrics in Complicated actually are different, too, though it's only one line that has been changed:

At the end of the bridge before the first chorus, the pre-release line is: "Is there anybody else that feels like me?" whereas the release line is: "Up is down and black is white to me".

2. I'm not so sure if it doesn't exist somewhere in (near) perfect quality, unless the promo CDs we talked about were handed out like that (with the songs in reduced quality) on purpose. That'd be ony possibility. Or the one who shared it f*cked up and re-recorded it or ripped it with 128 kbit/s or less, only to later spread it as FLAC or the 160 kbit/s MP3s that I have.

3. I don't know how many versions of that pre-release album are circulating, but the one I have does have all the titles I listed above in the same quality. Not perfect, but very listenable. Like a MP3 rip of a CD, just done with too low a bitrate, which is probably what happened (see no 2.) and which would explain the noise (on Nothing especially, since there are lots of cymbals in the parts affected, as far as I'm concerned).

I agree that there is a low quality MP3 Rip and I think that's what most fans do have... However, I don't think that's why "Nothing" sounds the way that it does... I think that static was purposely added in case the song actually did leak...

Hmm, I don't know. It just sounds like massively clipping/compressed cymbals to me, like it should really be loud and "crashing", but you need a lot of bandwith for that (that's actually why I at first thought the production of THINFS, especially Knockdown is terrible - when you listen to the CD, it's a hell of a difference to a 320 kbit/s MP3 version, which normally isn't the case, but the bass and all the drums, etc. really need space)...

BTW, I tried to clean Nothing it up a little, and I think it's turning out quite good. It's not where I want to have it yet, but I'm getting there (I hope) :-) Oh, and considering hope: I hope it's ok to post it here, since the song is available on YouTube. If not, please delete the link and sorry mods! :-)

https://we.tl/nsd8mBLO1g

At 0:45 is where the watermark would have been so whomever made it cut to the actual released chorus and switched back to the earlier version in the second verse.