Shuttlecock III: Raped by Wolves

[elevated_u2_fan]

I don't know did anybody hear Beautiful Day or Vertigo the first time and think - wow, that's going to be a huge hit? I didn't...

 

[PhilsFan]

I didn't become a U2 fan until 2005.

 

[Hewson]

I don't know did anybody hear Beautiful Day or Vertigo the first time and think - wow, that's going to be a huge hit? I didn't...

Both got lots of airplay right out of the box and Beautiful Day still gets played frequently.
The new music has not made a dent on radio as yet.

 

[Earnie Shavers]

Beautiful Day was huge from day 1 though, it was immediately (on Australian radio anyway) on super high rotation from the moment it debuted. Different times. Point being - didn't really have time to guess, it just took off.

Vertigo, I wasn't so sure. I remember thinking that while it clearly sounded like a big single, I wasn't sure if it would find it's place out there, that kind of song from this kind of band. Thought it might have been a song some types of U2 fan might reject, while a lot of the fans of punchy riffy rock might reject it for being U2, and it kinda falls down a crack in between.

 

[nielsgov]

It's pretty clear they'll never have a huge hit again but they aren't helping themselves with the release strategy. The Miracle was good for the Apple thing but it's not a good single. They should have released EBW as a single this week or even earlier. Release a video and play the hell out of it on tv. Releasing a(n awful) video for The Miracle a month after it first hit, makes no sense.

Sent from my GT-I9070 using U2 Interference mobile app

 

[elevated_u2_fan]

I think its the simplicity of Vertigo that makes it so consumable to the masses, next to Elevation, is there a simpler U2 song out there?

I'm not even saying its bad, I think it works very well for what it does, but yeah, not much substance there.

 

[PhilsFan]

I Will Follow is a very simple song.

 

[elevated_u2_fan]

I still think it has more substance than Vertigo

 

[phanan]

The more I listen to everything in the "double album" (aside from the acoustic session, can't listen to that again), it seems to me there is one song that sounds like it could have been a traditional U2 type anthem hit in the vein of "Beautiful Day", and that song is/was "Invisible". Had all the ingredients and didn't register a blip on radio in February. Don't see them garnering much airplay from anything else (still failing to see why so many are clamoring for The Crystal Ballroom to be a single).

Its a pretty good album as a whole, but just don't see it as likely to get a ton of play. Of course radio isn't what it once was, and they should do fine selling concert tickets which is the main platform of the business model these days, so in that light I'm sure it'll be a success, but just don't see anything from Songs of Innocence having the lasting effect on public consciousness that so many U2 songs of the past have.

Which brings us back to the beginning of the year.

They should have never introduced Invisible without having the album ready and pulling out all the promotional stops right then and there with the Super Bowl, award shows, everything. It would have been a good lead single and made a bit more traction if handled the right way. And that would have provided momentum for the album release and follow-up single.

Instead, we got the Super Bowl commercial for it and then...nothing. All quiet. And Invisible sank like a stone.

 

[elevated_u2_fan]

https://uk.news.yahoo.com/why-alway...utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter#gidKMsS

Bono is not OK

"All those people who were uninterested in U2 are now mad at U2. As far as we are concerned, it's an improvement."

 

[lazarus]

California?


Sent from my GT-I9070 using U2 Interference mobile app

I don't know...if Invisible didnt take off, don't see that taking off either.
Could just be me, we'll see.

Invisible, as much as I love it, still sounds like classic U2 with a little Kraftwerk thrown in.

California is very catchy but really a curveball with the Beach Boys chant, the bed of synths, and the slick pop sound. Not what they're known for, for sure.

Yes a lot of people might hate it but it's infectious. Just look at how many people here were like WTF?? when they first heard it but came around to it after a few listens.

 

[iron yuppie]

Yes a lot of people might hate it but it's infectious. Just look at how many people here were like WTF?? when they first heard it but came around to it after a few listens.

I would fall into that camp. What really makes the song is the synths in the chorus - they liven it up in a way that becomes glaringly obvious by their absence in the acoustic take.

To my ear, EBW is the best single choice - catchy as hell and doesn't overstay its welcome. It's also paced well and has some dynamic tension a-la Beautiful Day.

 

[gvox]

Here's my problem, if you want to call it that, with a lot of these songs over the last 10 years, but more specifically, the most recent:

The Miracle of..
Volcano
California
Cedarwood Road
Lucifers Hands
..and to a certain extent/on the fence about Raised By wolves and This Is Where...

..wait for it...because it's probably sacrilege to some:

The only reason I'm giving these songs a chance is because it's U2. I wouldn't listen to this kind of music by any other artist. I'm not even remotely a fan of the 70s rock this stuff is (apparently?) paying homage to or even rock music in general really and I think the parallels to earlier U2 songs that I love are a major stretch and interesting to consider, at best, but again this is not music I would willing stop at if my radio scanned to it. I would keep scanning.

Songs like

Crystal Ballroom
Invisible
Iris
Troubles
sleep
SFS
EBW

yes, these are songs that I would like even if they were by someone else.

I guess my tastes have changed a bit, I used to like their rockers quite a bit and I still do love classics like I Will Follow. Most know I love U2s early rock quite a lot. It was different, fresh, unlike others. But I don't hear that in these songs. Someone said that some of the songs sound like they could be by any generic rock band, and I'm wondering if there isn't some credence to that idea after all.

Now..will I feel differently about some of those songs I am meh about, once they start touring? Possibly. I can't take studio Vertigo but I think live its a ton of fun. But I'm not sure any of these songs are Vertigo. Miracle sure ain't. Too many stops and starts and lulls to be a straight ahead 4/4 fun rocker. But who knows..


Sent from my ass crack

 

[u2popmofo]

I don't know did anybody hear Beautiful Day or Vertigo the first time and think - wow, that's going to be a huge hit? I didn't...

Beautiful Day, absolutely.


Sent from my iPhone using U2 Interference to annoy Cobbler

 

[elevated_u2_fan]

Beautiful Day, absolutely.

liar

 

[IWasBored]

Beautiful Day was huge from day 1 though, it was immediately (on Australian radio anyway) on super high rotation from the moment it debuted. Different times. Point being - didn't really have time to guess, it just took off.

Vertigo, I wasn't so sure. I remember thinking that while it clearly sounded like a big single, I wasn't sure if it would find it's place out there, that kind of song from this kind of band. Thought it might have been a song some types of U2 fan might reject, while a lot of the fans of punchy riffy rock might reject it for being U2, and it kinda falls down a crack in between.

Compared to everything else that's changed in terms of music consumption methods since atyclb came out, seems like fm radio--at least in the us--has changed the least. It sort of amazes me, to be honest, that it hangs on despite how horrible it is. The entire format is stuck in the past (much of the music is, too), and in a scale of 1 to omfg so much music to discover, it's like a negative number given all the pandoras and spotifys and iTunes and amazon prime and groovesharks and bandcamps and... You get the idea.. That are on the smart phones of even the least musically varied individuals. I'm personally in a shitty place as far as fm radio is the only thing that currently works in my car that plays music, but you're telling me that I'm not in the minority anymore? Or that there is really a big audience for those shitty local morning bullshit talking shows? The American public has not gotten enough of the same 5 Nirvana songs over the last two decades?

Given that record stores met the grizzly end everyone was predicting would come, and that there are probably almost as many legal ways to obtain music digitally as there are illegal ones, it just seems really crazy to me that fm radio is still hanging on the way it does.

 

[elevated_u2_fan]

Compared to everything else that's changed in terms of music consumption methods since atyclb came out, seems like fm radio--at least in the us--has changed the least. It sort of amazes me, to be honest, that it hangs on despite how horrible it is. The entire format is stuck in the past (much of the music is, too), and in a scale of 1 to omfg so much music to discover, it's like a negative number given all the pandoras and spotifys and iTunes and amazon prime and groovesharks and bandcamps and... You get the idea.. That are on the smart phones of even the least musically varied individuals. I'm personally in a shitty place as far as fm radio is the only thing that currently works in my car that plays music, but you're telling me that I'm not in the minority anymore? Or that there is really a big audience for those shitty local morning bullshit talking shows? The American public has not gotten enough of the same 5 Nirvana songs over the last two decades?

Given that record stores met the grizzly end everyone was predicting would come, and that there are probably almost as many legal ways to obtain music digitally as there are illegal ones, it just seems really crazy to me that fm radio is still hanging on the way it does.

People driving in cars need entertainment, the radio is simpler to most than iPods, aux holes, Bluetooth and Sirius.

 

[bono_212]

I know I'm a broken record on this topic, but it's like this, for me. I turn Pandora on, and for maybe five or six tracks, it plays something I'm really digging, but then it starts to turn on me, and I'm driving. I can't really fiddle with the skip function, at that point.

Making a playlist: I get board with it after hearing it two or three times and knowing what's coming next.

I don't even have MP3's on my phone anymore, so listening to my "music collection" would take about 10 minutes.

So, at the end of the day, when all else fails, I have 20 radio stations, covering about 8 or 9 different genres to flip through and that keeps me entertained during my 20 minute commute each day.

Which is not to say that I DON'T ever listen to Pandora/Grooveshark when I'm driving. When I want to listen to an album, it's all about being able to stream. I just really, really like having the radio as a constant, reliable fallback.

 

[Hewson]

So, at the end of the day, when all else fails, I have 20 radio stations, covering about 8 or 9 different genres to flip through and that keeps me entertained during my 20 minute commute each day.
.

I'm similar, I like to listen to the radio in the car most of the time, though my rotation of stations is smaller (6 or so) and basically just rock stations. It goes between classic rock and alternative, and sadly 2 of the better stations in Boston(WBCN and WFNX) have bitten the dust in recent years. But I like having the radio on, I wish DJ's were more like they used to be where you actually felt like they were invested in the music they play (there's some still, Carter Alan is still on the air now on the local classic rock station and most of the DJ's on the Providence station I listen to are throwbacks to the likes of Dr. Johnny Fever types). But clearly programming has changed drastically and its uncommon to hear deep album cuts and so forth anymore. And thanks to the syndication of all things radio, I now have "DJ's" named Alice Cooper, Nikki Sixx and Dee Snider on local radio stations.

 

[IWasBored]

so it's probably a regional issue. i've got a fraction of that in numbers, and even smaller amount in variety. it's horrible.

 

[elevated_u2_fan]

I can't stand the radio either for the most part but especially if I am driving a short distance I tend to put it on anyway and regret it shortly thereafter.

 

[phanan]

I never listen to the radio.

 

[Hewson]

so it's probably a regional issue. i've got a fraction of that in numbers, and even smaller amount in variety. it's horrible.

I will say that anytime I drive in your direction, once I lose Boston/Providence signal and enter Springfield/Hartford airspace, the radio quality does drop significantly.

 

[Hewson]

I never listen to the radio.

Not even Greg and the Morning Buzz?

 

[martha]

No one else is old (school) enough to stack up six cds in the player under the seat and groove along to music you like?

 

[gvox]

For some reason my Bluetooth comes on before the radio now. Probably just as well. I still listen to radio on longer drives tho. What I'd like is a solid state harddrive and a deck that'll use voice recognition to play ehatever I say into the mic. Now that would be cool.


Sent from my ass crack

 

[Danny Boy]

I never listen to the radio.

Same. My car stereo has an iPod connector so you can control it through the dash. I either listen to music from an iPod Classic or Beats Music through my phone/aux hole.

 

[elevated_u2_fan]

yeah, but if you're just going around the corner, don't you find it too much of a hassle to mess with all that?

 

[mikal]

I have my entire music collection on the iTunes Match service and I just stream my phone's music player through bluetooth to my stereo.

The funny thing is, I'm looking to buy a new car next month, and other than gas mileage, the stereo setup is my 2nd most important feature.

 

[Hewson]

What I'd like is a solid state harddrive and a deck that'll use voice recognition to play ehatever I say into the mic. Now that would be cool.

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