I know that U2 have tended to sound like themselves during this decade, but the defining quality of U2 in the '80s and when I got into it in the early '90s was the indefinable -- that you never knew what the next album would bring. When Achtung Baby came out, The Fly could not have been predicted from Rattle and Hum or any previous album; same with even Mysterious Ways. It was so different!
I imagine the same was felt upon hearing "The Unforgettable Fire" or even "The Joshua Tree" even if the latter had atmospheric guitar work that had its origins in the former.
The point is that all this this talk of "it sounds like a U2 song" is really a new thing for the band and -- I'd argue -- a mark of decline, though hopefully not inevitable. The failure of HTDAAB was not in trying to mimic elements of Achtung Baby and The Joshua Tree but in trying to imitate song structures -- the build up of "City of Blinding" was similar to a Coldplay version of "Streets" or "All Because of You" had reminders of "Even Better Than..."; "Crumbs" had elements of "Walk On" and the entirety of HTDAAB had elements found throughout "Electrical Storm".
My essential point is that U2 doesn't have to sound like U2, and I wonder why all these critics reviewing the new album think it's a defining trait when it hasn't been for the majority of this formerly and hopefully once again amazing band.
Thoughts?
I imagine the same was felt upon hearing "The Unforgettable Fire" or even "The Joshua Tree" even if the latter had atmospheric guitar work that had its origins in the former.
The point is that all this this talk of "it sounds like a U2 song" is really a new thing for the band and -- I'd argue -- a mark of decline, though hopefully not inevitable. The failure of HTDAAB was not in trying to mimic elements of Achtung Baby and The Joshua Tree but in trying to imitate song structures -- the build up of "City of Blinding" was similar to a Coldplay version of "Streets" or "All Because of You" had reminders of "Even Better Than..."; "Crumbs" had elements of "Walk On" and the entirety of HTDAAB had elements found throughout "Electrical Storm".
My essential point is that U2 doesn't have to sound like U2, and I wonder why all these critics reviewing the new album think it's a defining trait when it hasn't been for the majority of this formerly and hopefully once again amazing band.
Thoughts?