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Headache in a Suitcase said:
They clearly like Tedder, and clearly had issues with Danger Mouse, yet they gave Burton a writing credit for coming up with the keyboard part of Ordinary Love and didn't give anything to Tedder on this song? Makes no sense.
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Yeah, that would also make no sense to me. Plus, Tedder is a powerful producer/songwriter who has been working with some big names (Adele and Taylor Swift to name just two. No need to discuss their musical qualities, but their albums do sell a lot). It seems to me nowadays that producers are often able to claim songwriting credits on songs they've produced, because that's where the money is. Hence the many songwriters on modern records, also by big names, who are also the producer for said song at the same time.
Then it would seem strange to me that this would not happen for U2. Sure, they're still a big band with some power, but they're not the hottest act in the world anymore. So I doubt they could strongarm Tedder to give up songwriting credits if he'd made a significant contribution to the song.
 
Alright, so I've listened to the new U2 album enough times to probably share a few thoughts.

Positives: I think the two best songs are Lights of Home and Little Things. I think the closer is better than Song for Someone and kind of works as it's done. I like the boldness of the opener in terms of being restrained and trying something new, and I think the vocoder actually works since it's better than Bono actually trying a falsetto in a clean mic in 2017. The Blackout is alright, though I think it could be way better executed if they tweaked some things with the chorus to make it jump more. I found Summer of Love interesting, as well.

Negatives: The rest. Tracks 3-5 are not good, with Best Thing being the best by virtue of at least working as an earworm because of the catchy melody. Get Out is an atrocious attempt at re-writing Beautiful Day, maybe the band's most naked callback to an old song ever, and it ruins any chance it would have had. American Soul is a complete mess. Red Flag Day I can't get a handle on. The Showman takes an interesting lyrical idea and ruins it with a completely nonsense chorus. The penultimate song isn't for me.

Like pretty much every 2000-now U2 album, a couple worthwhile tracks, some interesting attempts, and some real swing and misses, primarily again with the ones they choose to be singles. There are individual things that surprised me, but on the whole, this is exactly the level of quality I expected from this album, which is to say not too good. Bono is pretty much out of lyrical ideas and Edge is totally out of guitar ideas, and the band is never going to be very good when both of those things are true.
 
Those backing vocals in Red Flag Day sound more like early 80s/War era U2 than anything they've recorded since the actual War album. I love that shit.
 
I absorbed so much U2 during the 92/93 period that looking back during that era I wasn’t fully aware of how awesome it truly was. I guess it was because while they were fully into the Zoo TV thing I was backtracking (making up for lost time) and absorbing the 80s catalog. So yeah, it took a few years of distancing myself from the “I missed an entire decade mindset” that I was able to look back and be able to say “Zoo TV, that was awesome.”

I didn’t have the internet until 96 so the 94 - 96 period was the dark ages for me. Yeah, the Batman soundtrack and Passengers happened but outside of those 2 things and the occasional Rolling Stone Magazine news article, it was quiet.
 
I remember KROQ in LA teasing a new U2 song sometime in 96 and it turned out to be Adam and Larry’s Mission Impossible theme. I was really underwhelmed. Really.
 
lazarus said:
Also, did we ever get a full review from Cobbler? And I'm not talking about that "LiveTweet My First Listen" BS.
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As much as I appreciated your review, the album doesn't require analysis beyond the running diary format, honestly. It's another big clusterfuck from U2 with a lot of clunky lyrics, disappointing guitar work, strange tracklisting choices and a few great highlights to give fans hope for the future. Same set of issues as SOI.
 
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LemonMelon said:
As much as I appreciated your review, the album doesn't require analysis beyond the running diary format, honestly. It's another big clusterfuck from U2 with a lot of clunky lyrics, disappointing guitar work, strange tracklisting choices and a few great highlights to give fans hope for the future. Same set of issues as SOI.
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Says the person that likes Crazy Tonight. [emoji6]
 
You probably wouldn't have listened to it again anyway. :wink:

I'm at four listens, at least two of which are because I hang out here, and I don't know why I should give it any more just because it's U2. It's not that I hate it, which would at least motivate some hate-rating; it's just so bland that I don't care.

And I'm probably the one you're thinking of mikal: someone who's a modern U2 "hater" but doesn't dislike Crazy Tonight. I've said recently it shouldn't be lumped with Unknown Caller, Boots, and Comedy as one of the shit mid-NLOTH songs.
 
LemonMelon said:
As much as I appreciated your review, the album doesn't require analysis beyond the running diary format, honestly. It's another big clusterfuck from U2 with a lot of clunky lyrics, disappointing guitar work, strange tracklisting choices and a few great highlights to give fans hope for the future. Same set of issues as SOI.
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This is pretty disingenuous. I don't agree with a lot of the choices they made, but this isn't an album made on auto-pilot. The issues, as I pointed out in said review, are not all the same as with SOI. The songs aren't the same. They sound different. From the last album's and from each other. They are certainly worthy of consideration and analysis like anything else by extremely talented artists. Especially on a forum devoted to their music.
 
lazarus said:
This is pretty disingenuous. I don't agree with a lot of the choices they made, but this isn't an album made on auto-pilot. The issues, as I pointed out in said review, are not all the same as with SOI. The songs aren't the same. They sound different. From the last album's and from each other. They are certainly worthy of consideration and analysis like anything else by extremely talented artists. Especially on a forum devoted to their music.
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:up:

the "this is unquestionably shit from start to finish" posts are just as irritating as the "this is obviously a masterpiece from start to finish" posts.
 
i just noticed that the header at the top of the page has been changed to now read "interference" and not "U2 interference" :hmm:
 
#teamAx

Love Is All We Have Left is a perfect summation of the album overall. A different sound from their usual oeuvre, Edge nowhere to be found, Bono in fine voice and vocal melody, a lyrical clunker in 'a baby cries on a doorstep' that is as awkward to type as listen to, pleasant but with very little lasting impression musically. The highs cancel out the lows and neither of them stand out enough to get passionate about.
 
lazarus said:
This is pretty disingenuous. I don't agree with a lot of the choices they made, but this isn't an album made on auto-pilot. The issues, as I pointed out in said review, are not all the same as with SOI. The songs aren't the same. They sound different. From the last album's and from each other. They are certainly worthy of consideration and analysis like anything else by extremely talented artists. Especially on a forum devoted to their music.
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It's not disingenuous. I've been posting here for 13 years and after a couple of failed albums in a row (in my opinion, which is educated not only by 16 years of U2 fandom but 26 years of ingesting music), I'm exhausted by the repeated mistakes. In fact, I'll go one step further and say that U2 no longer has interest in making music that I like. Our tastes have fundamentally diverged. It's not the fault of their producers, circumstances or even their desire to be liked; they hear Get out of Your Own Way blasting out of their studio monitors and think to themselves "Wow, this is so great, let's show this one to the world!" The successes are feeling increasingly accidental.

But, of course, my running diary was followed by a few paragraphs of in-depth analysis on the album and I've gone further into my thoughts countless times since. But would I rather be talking about their earlier, better work? Probably. As it stands, it's the discussion on tap and I like talking with you guys. As with Axver, I probably wouldn't have gone back for another listen if this weren't a U2 record. Alas, it happens with many bands I love. I've only heard Collapse Into Now once. I maybe heard that Dismemberment Plan reunion album twice.
 
that's a good point as well. if it wasn't U2 i also wouldn't have listened to this more than once. as it stands i've given the album a handful of listens, just like the last few, and feel like i'm moving on from it rather quickly, just like the last few. i maintain though that it's definitely better than i expected it to be.
 
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