Anyone wish U2 never changed course after POP?

[U2girl]

talking about the sound.

Yes, ATYCLB is U2's worst album with the exception of Beautiful Day and Kite being among their best songs, imo.

Bomb>Pop>ATYCLB

For me it's Bomb>ATYCLB>Pop. (Rattle and Hum is their worst)

I prefer a good/strong song collection to a weak album.

NLOTH I feel lacks the theme or the overall core essence U2's best work has - Boy was about adolescence, October was about faith, War - well, self explanatory, UF was based on that Hiroshima survivor paintings display, JT and Rattle and Hum were all about America, AB about the reinvention of the band, Zooropa about soaking in all the Zoo TV media overload, Pop about the crisis of faith and materialism, ATYCLB about "re-applying for the job" and writing a pop album (and unknowingly the unofficial healing album after 9/11) and Bomb about making a retro album, NLOTH is about ... ?

 

[HCL]

NLOTH is about ... ?

No lines on the horizon really... that you can do anything no matter your age, limitations, etc. Redeeming, find that there's always a new way, new stuff to be discovered and rediscover what's been forgotten. Learn to deal with the world and do your best. This is the album where they're proving that they can still make 'the best music of their lives.'
"Walk out into the street."

 

[Abycka]

I didn't read the thread but yes I believe they should never have have changed after POP. To me U2 when they put POP out were ahead of their time as simple as that. Many people didn't understand it but if that album came out today I think many more people would listen to it. They should have continued in that path and eventually the populous would get it. Their problem is they want every album to make them the 'Best Band in The World'.

 

[Earnie Shavers]

NLOTH is about ... ?

It’s muddled for sure, and to me (or for me) that’s the mistake they’ve likely made. I think there probably is a consistent album out there, likely mixed between some of what is on NLOTH and what they’ve said about the possible Songs of Ascent tracks. Bono talks up those SoA tracks as a journey, a pilgrimage etc, and that is definitely in about half of the NLOTH tracks, and it’s close to what he was saying about NLOTH while they were recording it. Then the NLOTH visuals (incl. Linear) are all about that as well.

I still think that they withdrew from the ‘complete’ album with an overarching theme in favour of this more muddled album that gave them a few more potential hit tracks. Perhaps it was simply because the other direction was too mellow, or maybe it was a sales-scare, or maybe a post-Bomb/Vertigo new-fanbase scare, but that’s what I think we have. The ‘complete’ NLOTH story/theme likely needs what they’ve left off, and what they hopefully release soon-ish. I’ve never ever been a tracklist fiddler, but I’m itching to ditch the poppier end of NLOTH and mix it with Songs of Ascent. This Kingdom track, would sound grand flowing into Moment of Surrender, no?

 

[intedomine]

Fascinating discussion...

There was a cracking thread a few months back that discussed the lounge-sound U2 were flirting with just after PoP, maybe this is something U2 were kind interested in, yet there was never an album that properly captured it. MDH had some interesting tunes, songs that tend to float along innocuously, like Bono's Falling At Your Feet, Never Let You Go and Dancin' Shoes and U2's Stateless - was an interesting period.

U2 are restless, I felt PoP represented this urge to get this thing out of their system. And ultimately, PoP is experimental for U2 , not necessarily for music in general, and that is all that need be expected of them, because you normally know that whatever U2 do, they're gonna sound pretty good.

 

[bram]

It’s muddled for sure, and to me (or for me) that’s the mistake they’ve likely made. I think there probably is a consistent album out there, likely mixed between some of what is on NLOTH and what they’ve said about the possible Songs of Ascent tracks. Bono talks up those SoA tracks as a journey, a pilgrimage etc, and that is definitely in about half of the NLOTH tracks, and it’s close to what he was saying about NLOTH while they were recording it. Then the NLOTH visuals (incl. Linear) are all about that as well.

I still think that they withdrew from the ‘complete’ album with an overarching theme in favour of this more muddled album that gave them a few more potential hit tracks. Perhaps it was simply because the other direction was too mellow, or maybe it was a sales-scare, or maybe a post-Bomb/Vertigo new-fanbase scare, but that’s what I think we have. The ‘complete’ NLOTH story/theme likely needs what they’ve left off, and what they hopefully release soon-ish. I’ve never ever been a tracklist fiddler, but I’m itching to ditch the poppier end of NLOTH and mix it with Songs of Ascent. This Kingdom track, would sound grand flowing into Moment of Surrender, no?

Agree with pretty much everything here. I'll still take NLOTH's muddle (which, as you point out, could have been fully avoided with just a little tweaking) over HTDAAB's mediocrity any day.

 

[Cactus Annie]

^please can you stop stating your opinion as a fact. Why is your opinion more important than people who did like Bomb and a whole pannel at the Grammies? I'm going to sign up to a Michael Jackson forum and start posting crap that Jacko's 13 Grammies don't mean nothing. Thriller never really won Album of The year because bram thinks the Unforgettable Fire should've won

I don't care about re-inventing the wheel, music, and songs, are supposed to take you back to a time-period in your life. You hear a song on the radio, you think, great. I remember this was when I was leaving school. Josh Tyrangeal of Time magazine said that in 2004 he asked Bono what type of band does he see U2, bono replied that they are a wedding band. Now he's changed his mind. Talk about lacking consistancy. All these albums are arty not inventive. I stand by what I said earlier.

 

[Cactus Annie]

1/ Melodic (vocal line AND main instrument- either guitar or piano) Big and obvious within a few listens. The Beatles were good at this. You can never tire of a good melody.
2/ Chord Structure (Let It Be has a beautiful chord structure to my ears)
3/ Mix (how this differs from verses, choruses and different sections of the song. BTBS best chracteristic is the jingly guitar in the chorus)
4/ Dynamics (intensity of the song-how it changes)
5/ Groove (not as important as a melody but occassionally I like a bass groove)
6/ Beats (same as above)
7/ Big catchy Hooks (must be from the vocal in order to really be considered catchy so that you can singalong to. People take more notice of the vocals more than anything else so it's pointless relying on other instruments for your hook- like NLOTH)
8/ Choice of the instruments and the sounds they make (I like the sound of electric and accoustic guitars. I also like piano's and synthesizers)
9/ Harmonies (Imagine has rich harmonies)
10/ Originality (or creative sense of the use of any sampling. One day we find out U2 used the same riff from the Fly in NLOTH, just like they did on Lady with the Spining Head.)
11/ Unusual Instruments (Like ocarina's, wooden flutes or recorders, etc)
12/ Unusual Sounds (In one song Pink Floyd recorded the sound of one of the band members dog barking although they did admit that they started to lose the plot when they recorded the sound of busy ants)
13/ Layers (aren't these used to cover up bad playing and singing? Listen to George Michael songs, it's just him singing with very little layers. Hazel Davies in this month's Word magazine mentioned this. They are 4 people in the band, the main thing are drums, bass, guitar and voice. They are not the Electric Light Orchestra. Maybe they should take a few leaves out of George's book)
15/ Production (It's there to serve the songs only. It should not overtake everything else or the musicianship. Producers should take a backseat. On their latest album the Pet Shop Boys didn't process anything through a computer. They played their own instruments)
14/ Skill in Playing (It's not a competitive sport. Some of the best songs in the world have been simple to play. As long as it's nice to the ear then that's all that matters. No stupid flashy guitar solo's if they impede on the song.)
16/ Innovation (whatever that means. If you like a song you like a song. I thought I was the only one of this opinion until my mum said it last week. AB is not innovative. Bowie did it 20 years earlier. Pop wasn't inniviative either. Have you guys ever been to Ibiza?)
17/ Structure (I don't care about this but some people seem to get their knickers in a twist if a song contain a verse-chorus format. As long as it's fitting to the songs purpose. I read that Bono was fascinated when Oasis first came out because they used this format and he got inspired to write his songs like that. So maybe you can blame Noel if you don't like this structure).

I stand by this

 

[ozeeko]

There are no rules in music, CactusAnnie. Try listening instead of hearing. And who is this Hazel person you keep bringing up? All you're doing is taking someone elses opinion and trying to sell it as fact. Don't you have any opinions of your own? There are all kinds of music, not everything has to follow your (or Hazel's) formula. You are allowed to love both stripped down accoustic music and heavily produced technological music. The two can coexist. There is no right or wrong way.

 

[bram]

^please can you stop stating your opinion as a fact. Why is your opinion more important than people who did like Bomb and a whole pannel at the Grammies? I'm going to sign up to a Michael Jackson forum and start posting crap that Jacko's 13 Grammies don't mean nothing. Thriller never really won Album of The year because bram thinks the Unforgettable Fire should've won

I don't care about re-inventing the wheel, music, and songs, are supposed to take you back to a time-period in your life. You hear a song on the radio, you think, great. I remember this was when I was leaving school. Josh Tyrangeal of Time magazine said that in 2004 he asked Bono what type of band does he see U2, bono replied that they are a wedding band. Now he's changed his mind. Talk about lacking consistancy. All these albums are arty not inventive. I stand by what I said earlier.

Was this in response to my post? If so, could you explain how I stated my opinion as fact? Or how I claimed my opinion was more important than Bomb-lovers and the geniuses who run the Grammys? I didn't realize my opinions could carry so much weight. Nice.

 

[Cactus Annie]

Sorry. This what I like in music, what I look for. Everyone has their own preferences. But you claimed HTDAAB was mediocre, it seemed as though you were stating as a fact. You should have put IMO. I prefer real music and not heavily produced processed music. The latter makes me puke.

 

[BVS]

it seemed as though you were stating as a fact. You should have put IMO.

Be careful Annie, you do this QUITE often...

 

[Cactus Annie]

IMO, Bomb was not rubbish.
IMO, I cannot hear many obvious melodies in NLOTH (check my number 1 criteria for what I like in music). I've heard other people say that they don't hear any great melodies on NLOTH. We can't all be wrong can we? I understand how we all like different things in music. Some people like rhythmic music, riffs, computer music. But I told you what I like in music you can hardly keep telling I'm wrong. It's just that you don'tlike big strong melodies like I (and others) do.

 

[BVS]

But I told you what I like in music you can hardly keep telling I'm wrong. It's just that you don'tlike big strong melodies like I (and others) do.

No, Annie this isn't true... I've never said any of this.



BTW, I like both obvious and subtle melodies...

 

[Cactus Annie]

Yes I did. In between one of my posts and Ozeeko. Check this out....

1/ Melodic (vocal line AND main instrument- either guitar or piano) Big and obvious within a few listens. The Beatles were good at this. You can never tire of a good melody.

 

[BVS]

Annie, read my post again...

 

[Cactus Annie]

But other people dismissed my post when I told them this the first time. I think their name was Dan Smee. Does such a person exist on here?

 

[elevated_u2_fan]

no, he's a ghost - a figment of your imagination - OOOOH-OOOOOH-OOOOOOH

 

[Cactus Annie]

I'm frightened.

 

[Earnie Shavers]

I prefer real music and not heavily produced processed music.

Me too, hence HTDAAB = (IMO)

 

[ozeeko]

Me too, hence HTDAAB = (IMO)

I second that emotion