U2 won't top their two best albums (especially if the hopfeful candidate loaded with nothing but beautiful but slow songs), but maybe they can get even closer than UF (or NLOTH). In particular Bono having a clear lyrical idea is exciting, as their best work has a running theme usually.
U2's second chance
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U2 won't top their two best albums (especially if the hopfeful candidate loaded with nothing but beautiful but slow songs), but maybe they can get even closer than UF (or NLOTH). In particular Bono having a clear lyrical idea is exciting, as their best work has a running theme usually.
I think they could write an album that's up there with JT and AB. But it will need to sound as different from JT and AB as JT and AB sound from each other. I.e. They need a new sound that's still undeniably U2. I have no idea what that would be, but I'm pretty sure that a continued focus on the '45' isn't going to get them there.
BVS
Blue Crack Supplier
I find it interesting that most bands don't go through any new re-invention of sound, some of the greats will go through one, but for some reason U2 is suppose to go through several...
I can't think of any other band that has done so...
I can't think of any other band that has done so...
It has to go a long way in explaining it.
I have become more convinced of this by the day. I still stand by my criticisms of GOYB and the lack of promotion for the 1st single, but still. A song like Magnificent, I do not care what anyone says about "U2 by numbers" "market saturated" etc, should have been a major hit.
What else on the radio right now sounds like Magnificent? Nothing.
I just can not see any other explanation for why songs like Window and ABOY got airplay and Magnificent did not.
This.
Three Sunrises and Love Comes Tumbling should have replaced 4th of July and Elvis Presley.(not bad songs, just not as good as what was left off)
HMTMKMKM and Holy Joe should have replaced Miami and The Playboy Mansion.(not bad songs, just not as good as what was left off)
VintagePunk
Blue Crack Distributor
I don't agree that those songs are necessarily better. I love Miami, EP, and 4th of July. The latter two are very necessary to the ambiance of the album, IMO. Playboy Mansion I'm not as adamant about. I do agree it would have been nice to see HMTH on an album, though.
My first inclination was to disagree, but after giving it some thought, I think you're right. I almost wish that U2 had done the entire soundtrack for MDH, and it would have been their jazzy/loungy album that namkuR has mentioned. It's such an incredible piece, the U2/Bono numbers stand up there with the best of their work. I listen to that cd a lot.
I find it interesting that most bands don't go through any new re-invention of sound, some of the greats will go through one, but for some reason U2 is suppose to go through several...
I can't think of any other band that has done so...
They're not supposed to do anything. I'm just talking about what I think the requirements are for them to write and record a masterpiece that's the equivalent of JT and AB.
I'm one of the optimistic ones here...one of the few who thinks some of their best work might still be ahead of them. Don't forget it.
BVS
Blue Crack Supplier
They're not supposed to do anything. I'm just talking about what I think the requirements are for them to write and record a masterpiece that's the equivalent of JT and AB.
I'm one of the optimistic ones here...one of the few who thinks some of their best work might still be ahead of them. Don't forget it.
I wasn't speaking to you specifically, I just hear that sentiment in general a lot on this board...
LemonMelon
More 5G Than Man
I find it interesting that most bands don't go through any new re-invention of sound, some of the greats will go through one, but for some reason U2 is suppose to go through several...
I can't think of any other band that has done so...
Why should they suddenly cease doing so when much of their best work was conceived during such transitional phases? Joshua Tree is one case of the band sharpening their sound in order to create something superior, but Achtung and TUF were completely left field and unexpected surprises.
Then again, I'm biased, as many of my favorite artists prided themselves in escaping ruts and destroying boundaries: The Beatles, Blur, Beck, Radiohead, David Bowie, etc. There are a few bands I listen to that merely sharpen their sound from record to record -- Spoon is probably the best example -- but, though there is certainly great merit in craft, I don't prefer it over musical experimentation in the long run, and in my own songwriting I try to change my technique regularly.
I don't get the people complaining about Edge's chime sound. It is is his sound and has been for 30 years. In the 90's he did change it up a bit but his basis has always been that chimey sound. If you don't like that, then I don't think U2 is the right band for you anymore.
And his solo's on NLOTH were great (Unknown Caller and Breathe!). And I also think that Adam is doing some of the best stuff he has ever done. o I also think that U2 can make an album almost as good as Achtung Baby (better is almost impossible). Well NLOTH is that album for me actually.
I've said it a million times but had they replaced SUC with a brilliant track NLOTH would be as good as AB IMO.
And his solo's on NLOTH were great (Unknown Caller and Breathe!). And I also think that Adam is doing some of the best stuff he has ever done. o I also think that U2 can make an album almost as good as Achtung Baby (better is almost impossible). Well NLOTH is that album for me actually.
I've said it a million times but had they replaced SUC with a brilliant track NLOTH would be as good as AB IMO.
BVS
Blue Crack Supplier
I think you misunderstood my point. No one suggested they cease doing anything. I'm just saying no one should expect another radical makeover. Very few bands get to pull off one succesfully, let alone multiple...
Beck - with the exception of Sea Change what else do you consider a radical makeover? They sound more like evolutions to me. Blur, I don't know their whole catalog but I can't think of any destroying boundaries in their music.
Radiohead - you might be able to argue that they've had two radical makeovers but I think the first one might be stretching it...
doctorwho
Rock n' Roll Doggie VIP PASS
But, TUF and AB are full of Edge's delay effect. All Edge did in his shift from "Boy-War" sound on TUF was change the style of music (a bit more atmospheric), but the delay effect remained. On AB, he did leave the "chiming" sound created on TJT, but the delay effect there was used in a more "industrial" manner.
In other words, I think the delay effect, which can produce that "chiming" sound will always be part of Edge's style. It's just what sounds he creates with it.
I'm not a fan of the "beautiful slow songs" album. I'm not saying U2 need to rock out every song either. But an album of just one style would bore me endlessly.
I felt Bono's vocals and lyrics on NLOTH were some of his best ever. While I enjoy some of the songs reflecting his personal life, sometimes they are more difficult to relate to. When he has more grandiose ideas, then I enjoy them. I'm a so-so fan on some of his more "novelty" lyrics (like in GOYB or "Discotheque"). Think those can be fun album tracks, but not the lead singles U2 had them be. "Babyface" - which is also a tad more novelty - served "Zooropa" well as an album track.
I am curious where U2 will go.
After making one or two guest appearances on All that (kind of like an old friend that came back after a while) and being all over the place on Bomb (the said friend prolonging his visit), the delay is now getting old (the friend is over extending his stay). It's more noticeable because they - mostly Lanois, who was almost the unofficial band spokesperson for NLOTH - said they had a reinvention, it got compared to AB.
UF added the fourth dimension to their sound with Eno keyboards. JT fused the delay/Eno with American influences, and AB has more soloing and riffing than any other album, and if there is delay it's pretty much buried beneath the more industrial sounds. It sounds like a completely different band. All that managed to have a touch of delay in a few songs, but added the pop songwriting.
U2 has made 3 big transitions, why not go for more ?
UF added the fourth dimension to their sound with Eno keyboards. JT fused the delay/Eno with American influences, and AB has more soloing and riffing than any other album, and if there is delay it's pretty much buried beneath the more industrial sounds. It sounds like a completely different band. All that managed to have a touch of delay in a few songs, but added the pop songwriting.
U2 has made 3 big transitions, why not go for more ?
namkcuR
ONE love, blood, life
Well, they didn't write the lyric and it was never meant to be on a U2 album...
They're musicians, they wrote the music, that's what matters, right? I mean, Rushdie's lyrics are brilliant, imo, but if U2 had written bad music for them, none of us would want it on the album anyway, right? It's U2's music that we feel should have been on an album. Let me ask you this: White As Snow was musically based on a hymn, do you think that it shouldn't have been on NLOTH?
I'll always think HMTMKMKM should have been on Pop. It fits perfectly with the other material on the album, they played it every night on Popmart, it fit perfectly there too, and, imo, it's just one of the most incredible rock songs they've ever done. Hell, I think if it had been on Pop, and it had been the first single, we woudn't have all the Pop debates we have.
I understand where you're coming from, but, I don't know if the psychological affects you're talking about are from simply having these tracks, or from the way that they were released, on an "Unreleased & Rare" compilation. For example, if, say, instead of "Unreleased & Rare", the alternate take of ABOY was simply a b-side to the ABOY single, the alternate takes of Sometimes and Yahweh were be-sides to the Sometimes single, Native Son was a b-side to the Vertigo single(a la Always being a b-side to the Beautiful Day single), Xanax & Wine as a b-side somewhere else, Love You Like Mad was a b-side somewhere else, and the same for Levitate, Flower Child, and Smile, if they had all just been b-sides, do you think the psychological affects would be the same? If you heard the alternate mix of ABOY as a b-side and preferred it, would that be different from hearing, say, a remix of any other song and preferring it to the album version? I don't know, maybe I'm biased, seeing as I think Native Son is better than Vertigo on most days.
Where did you hear/read that Bono lobbied for them to be on the album? I never knew that. I remember reading some quotes from The Edge saying something along the lines of them feeling like those songs just didn't fit.
Maybe Mercy wouldn't have fit on Bomb, but they could've released it someway else, as a b-side, as a stand-alone single, on Unreleased & Rare, I don't know, somewhere. If they felt it was too good to be released as anything other than album track, why wasn't it on NLOTH? We can still hope it will be on SOA.
I agree about Love Comes Tumbling and HMTMKMKM.
I agree. I think it's fascinating to discuss and debate what makes them tick and why they make the decisions they do musically and creatively, and how different album/songs are perceived by different groups of people, and so on and so forth.
A few people have mentioned this, but I actually hadn't heard a thing about it until the past couple days - I don't really know what Bono said.
I find it interesting that most bands don't go through any new re-invention of sound, some of the greats will go through one, but for some reason U2 is suppose to go through several...
I can't think of any other band that has done so...
IMO, U2 were always at their best when they were pushing themselves beyond their comfort zone. It was their m.o. for a long time - never looking back, always believing their best work was ahead of them, always pushing the boundaries of what could be commercially successful while still being artistic and fresh and real, and doing anything to avoid repeating themselves. They had huge creative ambition and huge commercial ambition, and their hunger to make the kind of music that would satisfy and further fuel both of those ambitions is a huge part of made and continues to make them as great as they were and can still be. In recent years, it sometimes feels like the creative ambition is sometimes stifled in order to try to satisfy the commercial ambition which, to me, renders the commercial ambition meaningless.
But, although some of their very best work has come out of re-invention, they don't have to do that again in order to be creatively ambitious. They can take any part of any of their sounds and styles over the past 30 years and build on any or all or a combination of them and still be creatively ambitious, but - and this is key - only if they continue to grow with it. That means refining, modernizing, elaborating on, expanding, and so on and so forth, those sounds, rather than just mimicking them. Also, if they choose this route, they could try building on any of their sounds and styles from the 90s more, since they've clearly been building on their 80s sounds and styles for much of their recent work. They had tremendous artistic and musical growth in the 90s, and it kills me that they choose to be so picky and choosy about which of their sounds and styles from that period they choose to keep alive. I can only hope that upcoming remasters of those decades albums will force them to embrace that material again, in the same way that working on the Best Of 1980-1990 forced them to embrace their 80s material again after a decade of running away from much of it. I think the same thing could happen here.
NLOTH was a huge step in the right direction, imo. I listened to it last night and I actually got more into it than I was expecting to. There's some really strong material here. I feel the soul, the life, in the bulk of these songs. Fez-Being Born, Moment Of Surrender, Cedars Of Lebanon, and White As Snow, as well as Winter, and rockers like the title track and Unknown Caller are poof that they can still be a creative force. I even really love the chorus of Get On Your Boots, as well as the "Let Me In The Sound" middle 8, and I feel like those two parts of the song deserved musically better verses. But still, after the Bomb era(and if you think people complain too much now, just think to what it was like in 2005), to hear the title track of NLOTH and MOS and Fez-Being Born was and is a source of hope for the future, and I know I'm not the only one who feels that way.
BVS
Blue Crack Supplier
I think it all matters.
I don't think this is the same thing. This is like Bono's lyrics for 40, based on a Psalm but made his own.
namkcuR
ONE love, blood, life
Mrs. Garrison
Rock n' Roll Doggie ALL ACCESS
Hold Me Thrill Me Kiss Me Kill Me
Do You Feel Loved
Discoteque
Mofo
Last Night On Earth
Staring at the Sun
Gone
If you wear that velvet dress
Holy Joe
Please
If God Would Send his Angles
Wake up dead man
allbecauseofu2
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No offense, lol i think holy joe is a bad song. I would only have that replace grace .lol. But i get everyones point. You can always make your own album setlst up and pretend its the way it came out.lol. So anyway, is NLOTH u2's steel wheels? lol. Is it that time?
BVS
Blue Crack Supplier
I know you're half joking, but not in anyway does that analogy ring true...
LemonMelon
More 5G Than Man
Didn't Steel Wheels actually exceed commercial expectations? It's nothing like NLOTH.
allbecauseofu2
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soundscan on steel wheels anyone? lol. and remember in 1989, albums actuly sold. so keep that in mind when comparing.
LemonMelon
More 5G Than Man
I think it only went double platinum, but it outsold every album (studio and live) that they released between it and Tattoo You.
EDIT: wiki claims it went 3x platinum in the US alone. Not sure I buy it, but my other numbers came from an out of date Rolling Stones fansite, so wiki may actually have the upper hand here.
EDIT: wiki claims it went 3x platinum in the US alone. Not sure I buy it, but my other numbers came from an out of date Rolling Stones fansite, so wiki may actually have the upper hand here.
An Cat Gav
Rock n' Roll Doggie Band-aid
I find it interesting that most bands don't go through any new re-invention of sound, some of the greats will go through one, but for some reason U2 is suppose to go through several...
I can't think of any other band that has done so...
I think that's right, once The Beatles had written Sgt Peppers they were free to do whatever they wantes afterwards, I don't think they'd have been expected to do it all again.
It was mentioned in the forum once - I think it's from that book U2 by U2.
Maybe Mercy will yet be released...and maybe in a way it's good Hold me thrill me got to be a single, it got more attention than being an album track.
allbecauseofu2
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they need to go into irish folk and tradtional music. They need to explore the ground between black 47,seanchai,van morrison,the dubinlers, and a bit of dropkick murphys. If anyone wants another AB, it gonna have to be a complete departure from anything you could imgine them sounding like.
Second chance for what?
As Larry Mullen said during the POP days, that U2 has enough money to buy an island off the south pacific...and their profit margins have only went up since...they certainly arent starving.
I hope they continue down the more experimental path and not turn into a dinosour rock band...and they never wanted to do that so I hope it doesnt happen.
As Larry Mullen said during the POP days, that U2 has enough money to buy an island off the south pacific...and their profit margins have only went up since...they certainly arent starving.
I hope they continue down the more experimental path and not turn into a dinosour rock band...and they never wanted to do that so I hope it doesnt happen.
allbecauseofu2
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yea. thier first 30 years didn't work out so well. time to reboot. lol.
phommel
Refugee
I find it interesting that most bands don't go through any new re-invention of sound, some of the greats will go through one, but for some reason U2 is suppose to go through several...
I can't think of any other band that has done so...
It's true that U2 went through several re-inventions of the sound. But the most radical was the change from UF/JT-era to AB/POP-era. There is another band who did this: Radiohead. They also had some re-inventions of their sound. From their early work to The bends/OK Computer. And from that to Kid A. That was an amazing re-invention.
BVS
Blue Crack Supplier
True, and this really goes to prove my point... does anyone say, Radiohead really has to experiment again/ or create a new sound again if they want to write another classic/be relevant/etc?
I know they don't say this in here.
Actually, I'm pretty sure that Radiohead has more pressure in this regard. Unlike U2, they're especially famous for their avante-gardish experimentation. Like U2 (with Achtung Baby), their envelope-pushing albums are widely considered their greatest (OK Computer and Kid A).
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