Why?

[Peterrrrr]

Why is everybody so negtavie? Alot of thread with names like "Will the new album be overpdouced, typical U2, boring..."
Havent seen any thread in months with this topic like "might be one of the best, ENO and Lanois great job..."
Whats up with all people, why so negative thoughts? All complaings before that the last two albums was to safe, Bono dosnt have any attitude... Well it is the oposite now and alot of people still complaining.

If you have such a negative view on the album before listining to it destroys the chance even more to like it. And those who complain also make the postive people more negative...

Please, the album is here very soon. Im very happy beacause the new album is coming with tour

 

[LemonMelon]

Boredom, sexual frustration, dissatisfaction with life in general...

Or maybe it's just natural that people will have opinions that differ from your own. I have no idea. In any case, if you think this is bad, just wait until the album has been out for a while. Then the bitching really begins.

 

[Rosebud]

Sexual frustration?

I never feel the urge to bitch and whine.




joke joke

 

[LemonMelon]

There's a reason U2 is encouraging their audience to get on their sexy boots...IF YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN.

 

[Peterrrrr]

Boredom, sexual frustration, dissatisfaction with life in general...

Or maybe it's just natural that people will have opinions that differ from your own. I have no idea. In any case, if you think this is bad, just wait until the album has been out for a while. Then the bitching really begins.

But if they allready have said that U2 wont record any great album anymore, why even bother about them anymore? Why do they care?

 

[ZOOTVTOURist]

Havent seen any thread in months with this topic like "might be one of the best, ENO and Lanois great job..."

The answer is easy, just think about it for a second: You can't say "it might be one of the best", because we don't know it yet. You simply can't judge it by 22 seconds per song. At least for myself I dislike negativity as much as praising everything, U2 have done. Wait for the album to come out, and then we'll know more about NLOTH...

 

[Muldfeld]

Actually, I've tended to like things a lot more when I play them down and have low expectations. U2's last 2 albums and especially HTDAAB really inflated expectations and boasts of "our best album yet". It's safe to say that the vast majority of us will buy the album, so it'll be a nice surprise if it's much better than we feared.

I think that's a lot more interesting than blind faith after 2 albums of commercial let downs.

Even Bono's performance at the Grammys was somewhat lame.

 

[LemonMelon]

But if they allready have said that U2 wont record any great album anymore, why even bother about them anymore? Why do they care?

The pessimistic are not easily disappointed. After HTDAAB received such a hostile reaction, I think most are setting their sights comparatively low.

Personally, I'm expecting nothing less than a great record, but U2 has never disappointed me as such.

 

[Rosebud]

There's a reason U2 is encouraging their audience to get on their sexy boots...IF YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN.

I c whut u did thair.

 

[Hole]

Listening to the 22 sec clips over and over again fills me with high expectations.
The title track is cut just before what might be a killer chorus sets in. And there are many sounds going on here...
The clip of Unknown Caller is so great, that it will be a good song even if the part of the song I haven´t heard yet is bad.
White As Snow is pure magic - perfectly produced 22 sec´s.
The clips of the other songs are way too short to really get the grips on, but generally: an unforgettable soundscape, lots of tree-ringing guitars and a zooropean attitude - is there any - any - reason to be negative?

 

[the scuv]

I agree with you Peterrr. I'm a fan of Queen & we all know what sadly happened to Freddie. Now however we have Queen +Paul Rogers which has put quite a few backs up (I'm not a huge PR fan). However as most have commented it is either this or nothing at all. The same applies here to U2. You either have something new, which for whatever reasons you may not be happy with. Or, you could have had nothing at all since POP. The choice is yours.........

 

[bcrt2000]

I dunno but I've always thought that Joshua Tree and Achtung Baby were overproduced to a certain extent. The reverb effects are not nearly as present in 2000's U2 as previous decades

 

[Earnie Shavers]

. After HTDAAB received such a hostile reaction, I think most are setting their sights comparatively low.

Yep.

Post ATYCLB/HTDAAB, personally, I'm setting the expectation bar a lot, lot lower. I will be ecstatic, beside myself really, if it is just (by their standards) a mid-level album.

That's not to say I'm not very, very, very happy with everything I'm hearing and reading so far. I am. Incredibly so. Just nervous really. It's like following your team into a championship game, when they have been there twice recently and, in your opinion, lost both times. Once narrowly, once by a decent margin. Nervous, quiet, fingers crossed, I know they can do it, but I'm not letting myself get swept up in it all this time.

Hope that makes sense. It's not meant to be a bad thing, it's a sign it still matters just as much to the Bomb haters as it does to the currently very, very, very excited Bomb lovers. Some are jumping with joy at everything, and others are chewing their fingernails further with every kick arse review.

 

[Rosebud]

Okay y'all get ready, 'cos I'm about to bust open this myth that people with low expectations won't be disappointed.

So I just listened to the clips again twice.

Once, allowing myself to get excited and carried away with the tunes. Key words: optimism, happiness, cooperativeness, faith in U2, etc..

Secondly, forcing myself to expect pure and utter shit from this obviously crumbling and decrepid band that is teh sukz! Key words: cynicism, hatred, gloominess, pessimism, bitchiness, etc..

Hey guys! Guess which one made me enjoy the music more?

I'll give you 2 guesses with one hint: it's not the second one.

Now that I have enlightened you, can we all get along and be happy now?

 

[Rosebud]

BTW, I don't think anyone (and this is the approach I'm taking) should raise their expectations to such stratospheric heights, to the point of not even really expecting music, but a religious experience. Not what I'm saying at all.

It's about being open to the music. Not expecting it to be horrible or godly, just open to it -- giving it a chance. That's all.

 

[Reead]

BTW, I don't think anyone (and this is the approach I'm taking) should raise their expectations to such stratospheric heights, to the point of not even really expecting music, but a religious experience. Not what I'm saying at all.

It's about being open to the music. Not expecting it to be horrible or godly, just open to it -- giving it a chance. That's all.

Magnificent sounds like a religious experience

 

[Rosebud]

Magnificent sounds like a religious experience

Don't get me wrong, I have religious experiences from U2 music all the time.

It's just that I never go into it expecting it. It's music first -- a song. If it becomes 'something else' for me or you, then great, but you can't approach it like that from the start. That would be like flopping down on the couch and waiting for God to miraculously hand you the remote or show up with the 3 ft. long subs for the party -- then getting testy when He's late. As Bono said, "God is very unreliable".

 

[An Cat Gav]

Magnificent sounds like a religious experience

I dunno, listening to U2 albums in the past have almost been like a religious experience, maybe that's why I'm afraid of being disappointed again...but saying that, I'm very positive abot the next album, what I've heard so far is very good.

 

[Reead]

Don't get me wrong, I have religious experiences from U2 music all the time.

It's just that I never go into it expecting it. It's music first -- a song. If it becomes 'something else' for me or you, then great, but you can't approach it like that from the start. That would be like flopping down on the couch and waiting for God to miraculously hand you the remote or show up with the 3 ft. long subs for the party -- then getting testy when He's late. As Bono said, "God is very unreliable".

Oh, I totally agree.


....but...but Magnificent

 

[Rosebud]

Hopefully our instincts are correct!

 

[LemonMelon]

This has been repeated not once, not twice, but literally hundreds of fucking times over the past few months, and I'm going to say it once again, because it's the cause of and solution to nearly every disagreement on Interference:

OPINION =/= FACT.


Ultimately, it isn't enough for me to just toss that out like a slogan. That "sentence" itself says enough, but there's more to it than that. It's easy to acknowledge that someone else has the right to an opinion, but, because of our own innate biases and experiences, it can often be difficult to leave it be. We want our opinions heard as well and, moreover, we want them to be validated by others. What needs to sink in is that 98% of us here at Interference share one core belief: U2 is awesome. Perhaps it's naive, but I honestly believe that the vast majority of the 44,000+ that are signed up to the forum love U2's music, and came here to discuss the band. These people have their own set of experiences that tint their view of U2's "musical journey", just like you and I do, and appreciate at least some item in U2's extremely eclectic catalogue. Now, don't get me wrong, there are trolls and shit-stirrers here, but I think the majority of Interferencers who are labeled as "trolls" are average people who either have poor timing and dislike what's new and of interest, or have no tact when presenting their opinions. Perhaps, 10 years ago, these folks would been considered just as hardcore a fan as you are today, but currently seem bitter. This is certainly not always the case, but it's worth considering when approaching any new poster with an unpopular opinion.

As the new album looms, let's just remember to keep the context of the opinions we grapple with in mind before getting bent out of shape over them. Some people are jackasses and always will be, and for these, I do suggest utilizing the ignore function. For everyone else, try to find some common ground, and remember to count to ten. If we can accomplish this, we can all ride out the war discuss the new U2 album as comfortably as possible.

 

[Rosebud]

LM

 

[DevilsShoes]

After HTDAAB received such a hostile reaction, I think most are setting their sights comparatively low.

Yeah I agree, people don't want to get too overly excited in case they end up disappointed. The album has a far better chance of exceeding their expectations if they were already pretty low to begin with.

Then again I think some people just enjoy complaining and actively go out of their way to look for something to criticise, on the other hand they may just genuinely dislike what they are hearing. That's fair enough.

I don't tend to let negative opinions/threads bother me, I'm sure that when the album is released they'll be plenty of positive topics too. Its almost inevitable in fact, if only from the sheer relief that we've finally got some new music to listen to. People will be gushing over it and praising it to the skies, they'll be plenty of good to outweigh the bad, there always is. No matter what they initial reaction though, be it love or hate, time will give us a much more considered response to the whole thing.

I feel very positive about it all anyway, yeah I'm cautious but still excited, I don't let the naysayers get me down. I'll listen to it and make up my own mind, just like always really.

 

[purpleoscar]

For even the people who listen to clips and download the leak all they have to do is pop in the CD and look at the lyric booklet and listen. Overtime this music will either grab you consistently or it fades over time and you start listening to something else. That's the only test. TIME.

When I first listen to it I'll have some early opinions but I don't know how I'll feel about it until some time has passed. So much time has passed since the last U2 record and I usually feel jazzed about certain records over others but then change my mind depending on mood. It's hard to have a favorite album anymore because when your mood changes you have a different favorite.

What I'm going to be most interested in is being an old man and seeing what music I will listen to then and what popular music will look like.

 

[doctorwho]

Boredom, sexual frustration, dissatisfaction with life in general...

Or maybe it's just natural that people will have opinions that differ from your own. I have no idea. In any case, if you think this is bad, just wait until the album has been out for a while. Then the bitching really begins.

There was bitching for ATYCLB. Sure, the new U2 aspect was fun at first. Then people started complaining about how boring and safe the album was. "Pop" was praised for being so adventurous.

Of course, in '97, WIRE was around and while "Pop" had its moments, there was negativity there too. People complained about the odd sounds at the beginning of "Gone", how "Discotheque" had horrible lyrics, how "Staring..." was a Beatles' rip-off, how "Mofo" and "Do You Feel..." (along with "Discotheque") were bad copies of Prodigy and Chemical Bros., how "Miami" was ruined by the screaming, how boring "Velvet Dress" was, etc. But as the album didn't sell that well and at times the tour struggled a bit in the U.S., it seems U2 fans rallied around U2 and over-praised the album. In other words, U2 fans didn't have to bitch - the world did the bitching for them.

Then HTDAAB came out, and slowly ATYCLB started getting praised. Now ATYCLB is praised as this God-like album - compared to the horrific evil of HTDAAB.

So my guess is that after the excitement of NLOTH wears down, HTDAAB will slowly get more love, while NLOTH is torn apart. And on it goes.

Of course, if NLOTH is torn apart by the press, as "Pop" was, then I guess U2 fans will rally around that too (with some dissenters stating how NLOTH is crap and U2 deserve to be mocked).

And perhaps in 5-10 years, people will praise NLOTH as a great album.

I've played on U2 sites since 1994/1995 and in all that time, U2 fans have had one thing in common - the love of just tearing down the band. U2 have a hit - that's bad. U2 don't have a hit - that's bad. U2 are serious - that's bad. U2 have fun - that's bad. There were people who hated JT, but people who hated ZOO TV. People who wanted experimentation, but not what U2 offered on "Zooropa". People who wanted more JT, but couldn't stand the thought of U2 repeating themselves. People who wanted more Edge vocals, but didn't want Edge to be a lead vocalist. People who didn't want the echo effect, but didn't want Edge to be like all the other guitarists. People who wanted more Bono, but wanted Bono to shut up. People who got tired of Bono's wails, yet complained when he sang with a gravelly voice.

Bottom line: U2 can't win with their fans. Except for one area - $$. With 166M albums sold worldwide and huge hit tours, it's clear that despite all the bitching, U2 fans show their devotion with their wallets, not their mouths.

 

[intedomine]

U2 have a hit - that's bad. U2 don't have a hit - that's bad. U2 are serious - that's bad. U2 have fun - that's bad. There were people who hated JT, but people who hated ZOO TV. People who wanted experimentation, but not what U2 offered on "Zooropa". People who wanted more JT, but couldn't stand the thought of U2 repeating themselves. People who wanted more Edge vocals, but didn't want Edge to be a lead vocalist. People who didn't want the echo effect, but didn't want Edge to be like all the other guitarists. People who wanted more Bono, but wanted Bono to shut up. People who got tired of Bono's wails, yet complained when he sang with a gravelly voice.

Bottom line: U2 can't win with their fans. Except for one area - $$. With 166M albums sold worldwide and huge hit tours, it's clear that despite all the bitching, U2 fans show their devotion with their wallets, not their mouths.

So true...

 

[Galeongirl]

U2 fans suck. It's the only answer I can come up with.

This forum would die without all the bitching going around here, if nobody was negative, there'd be no discussions.

Sadly, the negative posters lately only come here to shout their opinion rather than making room for a discussion with valid arguments and such. That ruins the whole atmosphere here.

 

[PowerSurge]

U2 fans suck. It's the only answer I can come up with.

This forum would die without all the bitching going around here, if nobody was negative, there'd be no discussions.

Sadly, the negative posters lately only come here to shout their opinion rather than making room for a discussion with valid arguments and such. That ruins the whole atmosphere here.

I hate to point out the obvious, because I actually kind of agree with what you are saying...buuuuuut.......



I think it kind of goes both ways on the board. Lots of stones being thrown from people who don't realize they live in glass houses. In reality we ALL live in glass houses here. I think thats my opinion on why there is so much negativity.

AntiU2fan34- All of U2's albums suck, they are washed up and shitty!

BonoIsGod- Fuck you you negative fuck! Geez....stop being so negative

AntiU2fan34- I'm just speaking da truth, why can't all of you sheep see that?

BonoIsGod- I wish all of these negative motherfuckers would go away. All of your posts are shitty and worthless.



see what I mean?

 

[stealthboy]

I would venture two points:
1) People, in general, are pretty miserable folk
2) Anonymity on the internets make it easy for people to be mean

Combine those two and I think you can understand why forums here blow up sometimes with arguments about how stuff sucks so much.

 

[last unicorn]

BonoIsGod- Fuck you you negative fuck! Geez....stop being so negative

I beg to differ. BonoIsGod would never use such a language.