BVS
Blue Crack Supplier
Everyone’s entitled to an opinion, but this one is just factually incorrect. The only issue with this song, and what keeps it from being amazing, is that it’s too short and ends too abruptly.
Love Is Bigger Than Anything In Its Way appreciation thread
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Everyone’s entitled to an opinion, but this one is just factually incorrect. The only issue with this song, and what keeps it from being amazing, is that it’s too short and ends too abruptly.
CosmoKramer
Rock n' Roll Doggie
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I’m going to give a more detailed review of the album as a whole but my least favorite song and one I consider to be “bad”(my opinion) is also LIAWHL.
Mind you, I am NOT a fan of Zooropa or Passengers and this song would fit well on both albums.
It’s a very short song and doesn’t really go anywhere.
The line “a baby cries on a door step” is repeated 2x and I don’t like it (in a short song, it represents like 10% of the song)
It is the “Cedars Of Lebanon” of the album for me.
With that said, I understand why some like it but it’s not my cup of tea.
LemonMirrorSky
War Child
LIAWHL would sound awful on Zooropa and even worse on Passengers. It just would not fit in at all. It sounds too much like 21st century U2 to fit in with the experimental 90s.
BVS
Blue Crack Supplier
Exactly which 21st century songs does it remind you of?
LemonMirrorSky
War Child
Not particular songs but that title!
BVS
Blue Crack Supplier
CosmoKramer
Rock n' Roll Doggie
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Lol
Well of course the title would be changed.
On Zooropa.....Dirty Love
Passengers....Baby Sequence or Endless Love
LemonMelon
More 5G Than Man
The pitch shifted vocoder on LIAWHL instantly dates the song. 20 years from now, we'll listen back to the song and say "Oh boy, the 2010s. What a strange time." The Kanye/James Blake/Justin Vernon influence is unmistakable.
So no, I don't think it would be a natural fit for the 90s albums at all. It definitely comes closer to the 90s albums than most new U2 songs do though. And it's also one of the best songs on the album (as Cedars of Lebanon is one of the highlights on NLOTH for a similar reason: relative subtlety and restraint).
So no, I don't think it would be a natural fit for the 90s albums at all. It definitely comes closer to the 90s albums than most new U2 songs do though. And it's also one of the best songs on the album (as Cedars of Lebanon is one of the highlights on NLOTH for a similar reason: relative subtlety and restraint).
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LemonMirrorSky
War Child
This guy said it so much better than I did. The vocoder thing is what I was talking about but couldn't express properly in words. It definitely sounds like this decade's music.
I thought it sounded like Cher.
Or Kid Rock.
But I'm just an old.
Or Kid Rock.
But I'm just an old.
mikal
Blue Crack Addict
Just curious, do you think Zoo Station and The Fly are dates because of the vocal distortion?
LemonMelon
More 5G Than Man
No, but I don't feel they were overly trendy uses of it either. Was vocal distortion commonplace outside of a lo-fi context in 1991? Pitch shifted vocals (and auto tune) are all the rage in alternative R&B.
mikal
Blue Crack Addict
Unfortunately, I’m old enough to remember music in 91, and I remember for a period of time, distortion was used quite a bit.
As far as LIATWHL, I think it’s done well and doesn’t completely overpower the song. If the whole song utilized it, then maybe it would date the song.
LemonMelon
More 5G Than Man
I don't even mean date in a disparaging way. Very, very few albums sound completely out of time.
It's just, if I was listening to Zooropa and Bono all of a sudden sounded like James Blake, I would be like uhhhhh
Aygo
Rock n' Roll Doggie
There's nothing Zooropa or Passengers about this song.
Take the vocoder and the vocal effects off, add it some minimal drums and guitar, and this song is the typical post-2000's composition, whether lyrically or in the chord progression choices.
In fact, I remember having heard about this title during the How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb sessions. And a couple of weeks ago, I found out a music magazine I collaborated with with an article written by me 10 precise years ago and I did mention, among others, a song called "Love Is All We Left".
It was probably also mentioned and discussed here in the forum back then.
Take the vocoder and the vocal effects off, add it some minimal drums and guitar, and this song is the typical post-2000's composition, whether lyrically or in the chord progression choices.
In fact, I remember having heard about this title during the How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb sessions. And a couple of weeks ago, I found out a music magazine I collaborated with with an article written by me 10 precise years ago and I did mention, among others, a song called "Love Is All We Left".
It was probably also mentioned and discussed here in the forum back then.
CosmoKramer
Rock n' Roll Doggie
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But being that the drums and guitar are absent makes it feel more like an atmospheric piece, similar to Passengers and to a lesser extent Zooropa. You could easily say that if you remove various effects and add minimal guitar and drums to some Passengers songs, that they would feel like 2000 songs. The fact that you need to alter the song to make it sound like a 2000s song means it doesn’t fit in its current state.
I’m not saying it sounds exactly like those songs but sonically it fits.
Another poster mentioned that Songs of Experience was a title thrown around since 1991. Little Things was around since NLOTH. Wake Up Dead Man was around since Zooropa. The thing is, al of those are just titles and the sound, ideas and lyrics likely changed 95-100% from their initial incarnation (for better or worse) and it’s likely more the cast that song, other than the title, is a completely different tune.
Edit: to be clear, I’m talking about Live is All we have left and NOT Love is Bigger
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BVS
Blue Crack Supplier
That's because they were inspired by Kanye.
LemonMelon
More 5G Than Man
BVS
Blue Crack Supplier
Some nice tracks for a 70s throwback party:
You’re so right, Blake invented the vocoder; automatically dated.
LemonMelon
More 5G Than Man
I know you like to argue, but I can't imagine that you sincerely hear no difference between your examples and mine in terms of context, tone or the technology behind them.
In fact, I have nothing further to say about this subject. If you think Bono was hoping to conjure Giorgio Moroder instead of modern R&B trends - with a producer that created music via his project Lamb that likely influenced James Blake - that is your right.
BVS
Blue Crack Supplier
Not arguing, I just think it’s a lazy criticism to say it’s automatically dated. Plus I think the use of the technology has purpose and not just as effect, it kicks in as he “crosses over” in the song.
CosmoKramer
Rock n' Roll Doggie
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That is a very interesting observation. I'm going to go back and give this song a couple more listens as I think I'm over looking meaning of this song because I didn't connect with it.
kiwilad
Refugee
Each to their own etc, but for me it is a pretty effective piece of music tied to narrative, and I really hope you get to 'feel' that.
Agree with BVS that the vocoder ageing argument is a bit moot cause it's being used as a narrative device, not as a gimic.
AtomicHorizon
The Fly
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Love Is All We Have Left is a beautiful song that is made even better by understanding how it fits with the album's themes, personal and political. The song makes the perfect pair with Lights of Home and 13 (There is a Light). When one understands these songs' meanings, and like U2's strongest songs, there are multiple interpretations that work, the songs are brought to another level.
But that's not the point, and BVS gonna BVS. Whether used well or poorly, the manner of its use sounds distinctively 2010s. Listen to The Church's Seance. If you know even a little bit about music the gated drums give away that it was made in the eighties. Likewise, in 2037, if somebody plays SOE for the first time, it won't be hard to pick it as a 2010s album. That's not a bad thing, just a thing.
U2freakboy
War Child
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Very happy to hear that in the Rolling Stone interview, Bono sure makes it sound like this will be a single:
Which songs do you think will become famous?
I know that "You're the Best Thing About Me" is going to be one of them. I think "Get Out of Your Own Way" is going to be one of them. The biggest one of all could be "Love Is Bigger Than Anything in Its Way," but it might be that that is what the radio people are telling us.
Which songs do you think will become famous?
I know that "You're the Best Thing About Me" is going to be one of them. I think "Get Out of Your Own Way" is going to be one of them. The biggest one of all could be "Love Is Bigger Than Anything in Its Way," but it might be that that is what the radio people are telling us.
david
ONE love, blood, life
It sounds kind of girly.
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