More SOE Reviews

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corianderstem said:
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Classic Mack content ...
 
Nick66 said:
It's not the rating, I expected that (thought it would be lower actually). It was just the personal nature end of the review that I found to be particularly harsh.
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One might think the review was more about the band than it was about the actual music.
 
So I finally listened to the U Talkin' U2 to Me podcast last night and I think they put their finger on something: they said this album was full of BIG sounds, meant to be played in a live setting with all of us singing along. I mean, that's obvious, but they made the point that this album felt like, "we know what we're good at, we don't care that we get clobbered for doing "big," we're going to do "big" because that's our thing, and we're not going to apologize for it." I think that's what some reviewers some seem not to like (in addition to the itunes drop, taxes, political Bono, etc.). And to that, I say I don't care and I think they shouldn't either. U2 in concert is magical, and the bigness has a lot to do with that.
 
U2freakboy said:
He’s completely wrong about Red Flag Day. He thinks Bono is talking about a tryst on the beach?? What a moron. Bono is telling the story from the perspective of a refugee.
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I have a question. What is the minimum level of IQ that a reviewer must have ?
 
So it looks like pretty much all major publications and sites have weighed in. The only major publication I can think of that we haven't heard from is SPIN. They are usually quite favorable towards U2. Just checked their site and didn't see anything. Wonder what the holdup is.
 
Alphorn said:
So I finally listened to the U Talkin' U2 to Me podcast last night and I think they put their finger on something: they said this album was full of BIG sounds, meant to be played in a live setting with all of us singing along. I mean, that's obvious, but they made the point that this album felt like, "we know what we're good at, we don't care that we get clobbered for doing "big," we're going to do "big" because that's our thing, and we're not going to apologize for it." I think that's what some reviewers some seem not to like (in addition to the itunes drop, taxes, political Bono, etc.). And to that, I say I don't care and I think they shouldn't either. U2 in concert is magical, and the bigness has a lot to do with that.
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When I was younger it was U2's knack of nailing that big song that could reverberate and connect emotionally that got me into them. No band in the world has ever done it better and no band will never better it.

Songs of Experience is big sounds for big themes by the band that perfected it, something I thought they had long lost the ability to do. Attempts at providing this kind of album failed miserably on Songs of Innocence and No Line On The Horizon but they've rediscovered that ability that they lost halfway through How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb.

And they should make no apology for it. People saying they should be more restrained as they were on Zooropa or Pop but I think the big songs really work on this album. The Little Things, Red Flag Day and Lights of Home are all triumphs in that category. They are all great songs not just because they're big but because fundamentally, when you strip back the bombast,

It is one of the toughest things in music, trying to create that song which connects to the person at the farthest point from the stage. Noel Gallagher could do it with ease, Paul McCartney wrote these songs in his sleep and U2 perfected it.

U2 can either sit back and allow lesser impersonations of them to run away with and continue bastardising what should be one of the most difficult tasks in music - a song that reverberates and invigorates thousands of people at one time. Or they can show to the world (as they've done countless times in their career) what it really takes to provide those sort of genuine communal moments without ever needing the cynical ploys of pyrotechnics and fancy flashy wrist band gimmicks to cover up for their lack of substance (see Coldplay).

If not then I suppose we should all submit and just stand around watching our favourite acts like idle bores as half the cunts who proclaim themselves as musically intellectual do.
 
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gweeps said:
Why does everybody insist SOE is their 14th album? Rattle & Hum is a soundtrack album with both studio and live songs
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Because R&H is not a soundtrack album. It had 9 new studio songs on the album plus 9 previoulsy unreleased studio songs on b-sides of which 2 were written by U2 and the rest covered from other artists. All in all quite a productive period.
 
Headache in a Suitcase said:
I have no issues with reviews like these. It's clear he doesn't like the album, but he shows his dislike without resorting to childish shots at the band.
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Except he mentions almost nothing about the music. He compares some of Edge's sounds to The Smithereens and REM:

The best thing you can say about Songs of Experience is that at least it’s not too heavy. Sonically, the Edge is in a real power-pop mood, judging from the choppy, snappy guitars of Red Flag Day and bright backbeat of The Showman. The bright guitars, buzzing bass and clattering tambourine of single You’re the Best Thing About Me feels a lot like R.E.M. or the Smithereens, before giving way to a traditionally soaring U2-like chorus.

Oh that tells me so much -- he reserved maybe a couple of adjectives per song.

And then there's Landlady having "beautiful guitars but doesn't really go anywhere". Like WTF is that even supposed to mean? How should you think the song should go? And Little Things "guitars are swathed for too long in downbeat atmospherics" -- what nit pickiness is this? That's seriously one of your three criticisms on the sound? The last being " GOOYOW borrowing from Coldplay".

And then he criticizes U2 for using a chorus from Song for Someone and just doesn't acknowledge the fact that SOE is the sister album to SOI.

There are no substance to many of these reviews. Superficial bullshit that spends more time talking about the iTunes launch and how they dislike Bono's lyrics and jack about the music.

There's a special place in hell for lazy music critics.
 
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Moser said:
Except he mentions almost nothing about the music. He compares some of Edge's sounds to The Smithereens and REM:

The best thing you can say about Songs of Experience is that at least it’s not too heavy. Sonically, the Edge is in a real power-pop mood, judging from the choppy, snappy guitars of Red Flag Day and bright backbeat of The Showman. The bright guitars, buzzing bass and clattering tambourine of single You’re the Best Thing About Me feels a lot like R.E.M. or the Smithereens, before giving way to a traditionally soaring U2-like chorus.

Oh that tells me so much -- he reserved maybe a couple of adjectives per song.

And then there's Landlady having "beautiful guitars but doesn't really go anywhere". Like WTF is that even supposed to mean? How should you think the song should go? And Little Things "guitars are swathed for too long in downbeat atmospherics" -- what nit pickiness is this? That's seriously one of your three criticisms on the sound? The last being " GOOYOW borrowing from Coldplay".

And then he criticizes U2 for using a chorus from Song for Someone and just doesn't acknowledge the fact that SOE is the sister album to SOI.

There are no substance to many of these reviews. Superficial bullshit that spends more time talking about the iTunes launch and how they dislike Bono's lyrics and jack about the music.

There's a special place in hell for lazy music critics.
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Correct.
 
Bluedater said:
Tampa Bay Times - Winner of 14 Pulitzer Prizes: A Low Point ...

Review: U2's 'Songs of Experience' a low point for a band capable of so much more
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I wouldn't put too much stock in what TBT says. They hate on everything. They hated on the Rays when they went to a World Series. They hated on a free ferry servicing St. Pete and Tampa earlier this summer. Everything. I've spent some time down there and the local media is extremely negative. This doesn't shock me one bit.
 
There’s nothing wrong with a bad review if they objectively analyse and critique the actual music, rather than spend half the review b******* about the iTunes release and the fact they aren’t as good now as they were between 1984 and 1993. No shit sherlock! They are 40 years in to their careers and not 30 anymore.

They’re unlikely to go down a Zooropa style experimental path at this stage in their careers. Do the Stones or Dylan or Bruce Springsteen do that? No.

People may not like SOE and that’s fine. But if professional reviewers are going to trash it then it should have a good justification.

Personally I think the fact that U2 can produce this good an album so late in their careers shows how good a band they are.
 
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