HTDAAB Revisionist History

[Dr. Lemonseed]

Has anyone else had any strange mutations in their assessment of HTDAAB? Of all the songs, I have recently come around to enjoying All Because of You. I used to rate this last on the album, and now I really like it--it's so dirty and packs a punch. Way better than Vertigo.

In the other direction, my opinion of Love and Peace has gone way down. It's a pretty cruddy song-- I think the chord changes (especially in the chorus) are just really simple and cliched for such a seasoned band to be using. I feel like its something I would have written when I was 16...

 

[vaz02]

Love and peace has stood the test of time for me.

 

[LemonMelon]

Nope, I still like it just fine. I now realize its flaws; lack of coherence, absurdly loud mastering, etc. but the songs move me like they always have. COBL is still the best, and I still hate OOTS for whatever reason.

 

[bono_man]

its still shit. ABOY is still the worst song they have ever done.

 

[Peterrrrr]

Vertigo, SYCMIOYO, LAPOE, Y and OOTS are the real strong songs for me. Also great songs live

 

[BANZAI]

Rating 2004:

Vertigo: ***
MD: ****
SYCMIOYO: ****
LAPOE: ****
COBL: ****
ABOY: **
AMAAW: ***
CFYT: ***
OSC: **
OOTS: ***
Y: ****


Rating 2008:

Vertigo: **
MD: ***
SYCMIOYO: ****
LAPOE: ***
COBL: ****
ABOY: *
AMAAW: **
CFYT: ***
OSC: **
OOTS: ***
Y: ****

So in 4 years time I became a little less positive about HTDAAB. But still like to play the album once in a while.

 

[ahittle]

I like the idea of ABOY better than the execution. I can imagine Edge coming up with its main riff alongside what became Vertigo when he was compiling guitar ideas.

Somewhere deep in the DNA of the record is a rawk album and it seems like this song slipped through among the rewrites and extended sessions, which ended up making the record disjointed. Not a great song, but I don't cringe.

 

[LemonMelon]

I think Bono is the only thing bringing down ABOY. The lyrics are OK, minus tortoyse, but I hate the double-tracked vocals. They sound like shit.

 

[Screwtape2]

I think the only real difference is that I like LAPOE a lot more than I used to.

 

[Dr. Lemonseed]

I'll admit, objectively, that ABOY is a pretty bad song. However, what I mostly mean was, I have found myself driving around and suddenly impelled to play it on my car stereo. Despite how "bad" it is. So it has something going for it I suppose...

 

[JOFO]

I only really like a couple of songs on it these days; COBL the most, MD, Yahweh, LAPOE, Crumbs, in the middle, and everything else not as much. Oh, and I absolutely hate Vertigo.

As far as ATYCLB, I still feel the same now as did back then: BD, Walk On, Stuck, Kite, IALW, all great. NY, Grace, so so. Elevation, WH, WILATW, POE are all crap to me.

POP, I still like most of the songs, except Playboy Mansion. I love DYFL, Mofo, LNOE, Please, Gone. Everything else is ok. Never cared much for Discotechque.

Zooropa, I really like everthing except Babyface and SDABTO.

AB=masterpiece.

JT=masterpiece.

UF=masterpiece.

1st 3 albums=some great classic tunes, some so so.

Rattle & Hum is tough because of the live vs. studio tracks. Excluding the live tracks, the studio tracks are best for me on AIWIY, Heartland, God Part 2, AOH, all else is good though.

 

[Acrobat51829]

One Step Closer has gone up the charts for me, though I still enjoy other songs on the album more. I didn't like Yahweh the first time I heard it on the very first listen of the entire album, and I still don't like it, for whatever reason.

 

[Fullonedge3]

COBL is still the best and LAPOE is still the worst for me.

 

[pepokiss]

listening the BBC radio 1 version of MD is mind blowing to me... I absolutely love it

 

[JOFO]

. I didn't like Yahweh the first time I heard it on the very first listen of the entire album, and I still don't like it, for whatever reason.

I love it if only for Edge's signature guitar work. I could listen to him do that stuff all day.

 

[gweeps]

One Step Closer is one of their very most underrated songs.

 

[cobl04]

I reckon I have had the biggest change in opinion on this album of just about anyone here. I used to be its staunchest defender, now...

My opinion in 2005

...aaaand my opinion in 2008.

The only good thing about ABOY is the tiny little bass 'solo' that Adam plays just before one of the chorii.

 

[ozeeko]

good for me then, i guess, that i realized this album was lame upon first listen

 

[Irishteen]

Vertigo, All Because of You, and Sometimes are enjoyable but nothing special
COBL and Fast Cars are still awesome
Crumbs and One Step Closer are up there too, with One Step Closer being the best
The rest is still pretty great
The album still plays like a greatest hits


I think I once described One Step Closer as being a great song on an amazing album; switch those around and you have my opinion now

 

[last unicorn]

Original, Miracle Drug and Fast Cars are still my favourite songs.

ABOY is ok, nothing special. It hasn't improved with playing it live.

COBL may be one of my favourite live songs ever, but not the album version.

Vertigo is fun, but I usually skip it these days.

Sometimes is still beautiful and one of my favourite U2 songs, I started to appreciated it so much more after Bono's amazing live performance.

I admit I haven't listened to the album in a while, but that doesn't say much since I haven't listened to most U2 albums in a while.

 

[schnumi]

I still enjoy it very very much. Still think it's a great U2 album.

 

[trucdfou]

OOTS is a great song, Crumbs... could have been a decent B-side so is AMAAW
I skip the other numbers

 

[super fly guy]

In my opinion every song is great APART from,one step closer and yahweh. The first version of yahweh is so much better.

 

[roy]

Still love the album.

It could have been more cohesive but that's not a big deal for me.

 

[last unicorn]

The first version of yahweh is so much better.

True. I enjoy the alternative version more than the album version.

 

[Salome]

I like it a lot more now
there's something about the sound of this album that immediately put me off
but I've come to appreciate the strength of the actual songs
the lyrics are also better than I first gave them credit for
All because of you and Love & Peace ... still are a bit too bland for me
otherwise some great stuff there

 

[GibsonGirl]

I've clearly been studying too much/not getting enough sleep. I read this thread title as "HTDAAB Revisionist Theory" and thought it would include an in-depth critical analysis on the way in which one might see certain aspects of HTDAAB as recreations of earlier works and ideas by the band.

 

[Vlad n U 2]

City Of Blinding Lights, Original Of The Species and Miracle Drug are very, very good tracks. Crumbs From Your Table is pretty good too.

Overall, it's not really a bad album.

 

[StaySafeTonight]

I have to got to say-
Mostly awful lyrics-
Great riffs and basslines-
Okay drumming-
Some of Bono's best vocals (well... save for the couple extremely flat notes in Yahweh and some cracks here and there... I wonder why they didn't do some takes until he got it just right.. I understand that they wanted it to sound live- but some things could have been easily fixed... oh well.)

I really like all the songs on this album for the exception of 'Man & Woman'. I hated this song upon first listen. I would rather listen to Miami or Playboy Mansion 100 times in a row before listening to half of this song.

AND I think ABOY is a great song. It's U2 trying to sound like The Who and they are doing it better than The Who do it lately. I love everything but the lyrics which I ignore anyway.

So not their best album- Not even close to their worst. 8 1/2 out of 10

 

[Rosebud]

I've had the same experience with ABOY as the OP actually. I really didn't like it at all when I first heard it, but now I think it's a really wonderful song. Still think the tempo of the verses are awkward, but the music, chorus, and B's "I'm alive, I'm being born" part are just kick-ass.

This thread brings up an interesting point though, about how our perceptions change over time. I'm really excited to see how our views of the album/tour will change as we move on into a new era and new subjects of scrutiny.