DrTeeth
Rock n' Roll Doggie Band-aid
October's my favourite U2 record, so this one's easy
October ...shares only one thing in common with HTDAAB... both have hideous LP covers (though Bomb is far worse... what were they thinking?).
the band is much better at what they do know and have a better idea about what's going on. Think Edge could have pulled off the little mini-solo in "When I Look at the World" back in the October days. The guitar especially is much crisper, cleaner, and better sounding now. The production is so much better and the band has improved as well and they still have the passion (SYCMIOYO, Kite, etc) that they did back then.
I mean, Beautiful Day is a song that fits together so well lyrically and musically that it on its own has had more impact than October.
u know, war could also be called bombastic . those songs don;t necessary flow together. war has the trio of SBS/NYD/40, and it is better then HTDDAB alone.. but after that, red light, and refugee don;t fit that much better then the songs on HTDDAB. war is considered a masterpiece, but its got a couple clunkers. now, october. i like it. don;t love it. they were too young to stop the sophomore slump. was not as good as boy. and listen to the common ground version of tomorrow. light years better. And if thats were u2 has been getting this redo old songs ideas from, with pop and now apparently the first three albums, i could at least see why they would think that way. i don;t want them to 1)delete the old albums or 2) waste time on this instead of new album. but i can at least see the inspiration. that new version was better then the original by far . that improvement shows you all you need to know about October. god, that could be a great live track. if they got a 5th person to play a irish instrument thats featured on thier.
The degree of phail in this thread is truly astounding. The mere consideration of HTDAAB being better than October is just preposterous...and then the common throwaway line "well it (October) is better than R&H" just puts it over the top. I mean honestly, who does that?
But seriously, HTDAAB? At least ATYCLB has BD, Walk On, and Kite to redeem it...Bomb is a bunch of really awkward lyrics; even the admittedly catchy hook of Vertigo can't save that album from mediocrity. No emotion whatsoever, formulaic pop (and I actually rather like Bomb). OOTS is the only song with any depth. Now take October...Tomorrow destroys any and all songs on Bomb, throw in Gloria, Rejoice, and Brick and ATYCLB falls well short.
I think a fairer comparison is October vs. Boy. Boy, to me, is a bit more consistently good, but the "highs" of October surpass those of Boy. Boy gets more love around here, but I'd choose October (probably in large part because I've never loved I Will Follow).