namkcuR
ONE love, blood, life
The release, particularly the Bono/Tim Cook touching fingers moment, smacked of a band that isn't really in touch with releasing music in the modern age. And a retrospective "when we were young" album just isn't that interesting. Not sure many people were dying for a middling album by four rich dudes revisiting their early days.
Those five songs you mention are indeed the best five, but I've not even listened to the best of them, Troubles, since it came out.
I'll not defend the release(though it didn't bother me nearly as much as it did others), but regardless it shouldn't have any impact one one's opinion of the actual music.
I disagree with you thought about how interesting or not the record is on a thematic/lyrical level. The record is about is about these guys who have been so rich and so famous for so long, trying to revisit who they were before all of that and how they got from being those people to the people they are now. I think that is interesting. I said when it first came out that the record, lyrically, was Bono's most emotionally honest record-wide effort since Pop. Different strokes I guess.
In this day and age I'd rather U2 release one great song than an album full of middling, inoffensive tunes.
But see, outside of a few tracks(SFS, Iris, I guess you could call California and Volcano middling and inoffensive), I don't think that's what the bulk of the tracks on the record are. Those last five tracks I mentioned are anything but middling and inoffensive, they're pretty dark. I also love The Miracle and have never understood the disdain. Crystal Ballroom wasn't on the album proper, but it's another great one.
Whatever, I'm not going to go on and on, we clearly disagree.
You should listen to the record again though. Records can grow on you.