Shuttlecock IV: The Doubles

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If there was one surprising aspect I noticed with the reactions here, it was downplaying it - how it's not as bad as the middle three on Horizon.

To me, it's at least twice as bad.
 
Put California and Crazy Tonight next to reach other and California easily wins. The Miracle is so much better than Stand Up Comedy, which is the worst song in U2's catalog.
 
It's (Every Breaking Wave)... eh... to me, it's of a piece with City of Blinding Lights and any number of 2000s tracks. Superficially, a sugar rush, but not one you want to linger on.
 
Put California and Crazy Tonight next to reach other and California easily wins. The Miracle is so much better than Stand Up Comedy, which is the worst song in U2's catalog.

I can safely claim now that California (Crazy Tonight, as silly as it is, doesn't make me facepalm like that chorus or like that "Bar-bar-bara" intro) and Song for Someone are two of the worst songs they ever put out.

The Miracle may be better than Stand Up Comedy, but it's like comparing which of the two car accidents did less damage.
 
The Miracle gets a lot of radio play on the modern rock stations out here and it often gets stuck in my head. It's a bad song but I've come to tolerate it.

Sexy Boots is a mess but it's way more interesting than anything in the first half of SOI. If those songs are an unsuccessful bunt, Sexy Boots is Bartolo Colon swinging (and missing) so hard that his helmet falls off.
 
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Honestly we've all knocked a lot of Bono lyrics over the years, but I don't know if I can think of anything much worse than "I woke up at the moment when the miracle occured". Yes, he has written lines that are cheesier, more lame, dumb, etc, but at least "freedom has a scent", "heavy as a truck", every single line in Unknown Caller, all the lines we usually mock, they at least fit comfortably, like if you didn't know English you'd keep bopping along. The line above is an absolute train wreck. It's so bad. Like a kid who's taken one creative writing class and now thinks he's this elaborate writer. It sums up everything that's wrong with the current incarnation of the band.
 
I can safely claim now that California (Crazy Tonight, as silly as it is, doesn't make me facepalm like that chorus or like that "Bar-bar-bara" intro) and Song for Someone are two of the worst songs they ever put out.
Alright, now this is just insane. California is light years ahead of Crazy Tonight.
 
I don't know, Cobbler, I can think of far worse ones on this one.

"If there was a kiss I stole from your mouth", both the line and the delivery... My goodness, that is revolting.

Alright, now this is just insane. California is light years ahead of Crazy Tonight.

Insane? WTF? They're both shitty, sugary pop songs. California is just far more cringe-worthy as far as I am concerned.
 
California has a lot more substance than you are giving it credit for. Yes, it has a big chorus, but that chorus has synth sounds which are a refreshing new twist. U2's never used that sound in the chorus, and it gives the song a much needed energy. And the verses have an energy to them too, with some of Bono's better lyrics on the album included.

California is everything they wanted Magnificent to be. Magnificent has a better intro, yes, but once both songs kick in, California kicks ass.
 
If there was one surprising aspect I noticed with the reactions here, it was downplaying it - how it's not as bad as the middle three on Horizon.

To me, it's at least twice as bad.

At least.


Song For Someone is so bad, so boring, exactly the type of thing I would hope they would avoid if they wanted to not be thought of as a bunch of old men.
 
You won't see me go to bat for Song for Someone. I don't like Raised by Wolves, but at least I understand the appeal. Song for Someone just straight up sucks.
 
I am so baffled that I seem to like the album the least out of everyone here, and yet I'm by far the highest on Song for Someone :lol:

Volcano is the worst song.
 
California has a lot more substance than you are giving it credit for. Yes, it has a big chorus, but that chorus has synth sounds which are a refreshing new twist. U2's never used that sound in the chorus, and it gives the song a much needed energy. And the verses have an energy to them too, with some of Bono's better lyrics on the album included.

California is everything they wanted Magnificent to be. Magnificent has a better intro, yes, but once both songs kick in, California kicks ass.

I really couldn't care less if they used a "sound" they never used before, if that sound makes my ears hurt. The amount of cheese in that song, from that atrocious intro to corny Bono delivering the (bracket) title trying to sound like a 20-year-old who still has spots... Magnificent is dull, but not nearly as embarrassing as this.

But hey, I'm glad somebody likes it.
 
I still love the last three songs though.

Which makes me even more frustrated because I know they can still make good music, without wanting to "appeal to the masses" or other nonsense of the sort. That first half just reeks of desperation. It's like a politician trying to be liked by everyone. It never works.
 
California is everything they wanted Magnificent to be.

Nah, these two don't have much in common. California is more on the Carly Rae Jepsen side of things, it's sticky pop music. I find the Crazy Tonight comparison far more appropriate.
 
I still love the last three songs though.

Which makes me even more frustrated because I know they can still make good music, without wanting to "appeal to the masses" or other nonsense of the sort. That first half just reeks of desperation. It's like a politician trying to be liked by everyone. It never works.

Quite so. As I remarked a while back, I'm left in the frustrating position of... what?... cobbling together a completely disjointed playlist of totally unrelated material spanning the last decade or more? Otherwise, I'm not likely to listen to their new, good, songs, all that often.
 
Honestly we've all knocked a lot of Bono lyrics over the years, but I don't know if I can think of anything much worse than "I woke up at the moment when the miracle occured". Yes, he has written lines that are cheesier, more lame, dumb, etc, but at least "freedom has a scent", "heavy as a truck", every single line in Unknown Caller, all the lines we usually mock, they at least fit comfortably, like if you didn't know English you'd keep bopping along. The line above is an absolute train wreck. It's so bad. Like a kid who's taken one creative writing class and now thinks he's this elaborate writer. It sums up everything that's wrong with the current incarnation of the band.

That line seems innocuous to me - not great by any stretch, but harmless and in line with the rest of the song. For me the song that falls completely flat lyrically is Every Breaking Wave; this is Bono at his most desperate in terms of "poetic comment on the human condition" mode, e.g. "every gambler knows that to lose is what you came here for" or whatever. The album rings far more true when the lyrics are personalized.
 
I guess I'm just over the whole "what it could have been" feeling. This a band in their 50's. The same band that just gave us "Reach Around", "Iris", and "The Troubles". I'm happy with that.
 
I look at it thus: I'm glad they put new music out, I'm glad about half the album is good, a couple tracks very good, I'm glad they'll be touring and I'll be able to see them live again and I'll tolerate sitting through Every Baking Cake and Snooze for Some Sleep live in order to hopefully hear Reach Around and Sleep Like a Baby and maybe (though unlikely) The Troubles live plus hopefully get a few rare nuggets somewhere along the way.
 
I look at it thus: I'm glad they put new music out, I'm glad about half the album is good, a couple tracks very good, I'm glad they'll be touring and I'll be able to see them live again and I'll tolerate sitting through Every Baking Cake and Snooze for Some Sleep live in order to hopefully hear Reach Around and Sleep Like a Baby and maybe (though unlikely) The Troubles live plus hopefully get a few rare nuggets somewhere along the way.
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I guess I'm just over the whole "what it could have been" feeling. This a band in their 50's. The same band that just gave us "Reach Around", "Iris", and "The Troubles". I'm happy with that.

On one hand I agree, the album is better than the average person should expect from a band this old.

On the other, it's a shame we couldn't see the fruits of a long collaboration with one producer.

I look at it thus: I'm glad they put new music out, I'm glad about half the album is good, a couple tracks very good, I'm glad they'll be touring and I'll be able to see them live again and I'll tolerate sitting through Every Baking Cake and Snooze for Some Sleep live in order to hopefully hear Reach Around and Sleep Like a Baby and maybe (though unlikely) The Troubles live plus hopefully get a few rare nuggets somewhere along the way.

They're not going to play Sleep live. Probably the least likely song on the album to make an appearance.
 
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