2 questions on ATYCLB

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MKU2

Babyface
Joined
Nov 3, 2002
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23
1. Does anybody here still like this album?

One of the themes that I have picked up on recent visits to this forum is how many people no longer rate and care for this album. Dispite the initial hype, commercial success of the record, and numerous awards that the songs on ATYCLB received, it would appear that the record will generally not be recognised as U2s 3rd masterpiece. All this ATYCLB bashing has got me thinking about my own view of the album 4 years on, and it was then that I realised that I hadn't actually listened to the record from beginning to end for over 3 years!! Being a huge U2 fan for 20 years this was quite a shock. This leads me to my next question-


2. When did you last listen to ATYCLB from beginning to end ?

I guess that the fact that I havent listened to the record all the way through for over 3 years, says it all. I really enjoyed the record on its release, and for a number of months thereafter, espically during The Elevation Tour (which was fantastic - not looking forward to going back to Stadiums next year), however after the end of tour I lost interest in the record. There are a few fine moments on the record - Kite, BD, Walk on, Elevation (Live), but there are just too many average tracks, which I no longer enjoy.

Does anybody here still love this album, and listen to it all the way through on a regular basis?
 
MKU2 said:
1. Does anybody here still like this album?

2. When did you last listen to ATYCLB from beginning to end ?

Does anybody here still love this album, and listen to it all the way through on a regular basis?

1. I still do, always have, always will.

2. I can't remember. After the intitial release months of U2 albums, or perhaps the intial release year, I hardly listen to any U2 album from start to finish.

Cheers,

J
 
1. Yes.
IMO the vocal minority here believes 90's U2 is everything - in particular they worship POP beyond any other album. The majority of the fans (as proved by the album's sucess) loved ATYCLB.

2. I think a few months after the release, early 2001 at the latest. I listen less to POE, and often skip WILATW and Grace - that said, apart from Achtung Baby, all U2 albums have songs I skip.
 
still like it - yeah there are tracks on it i'm not as fond of and do strike me as average, maybe more so than on other albums, but i still like to listen to it.

same as jick, i very rarely listen to any albums from start to finish anymore, i might put it on and be in and out of the room, or i just put my entire U2 collection on random and listen to it like that.
also i listened to it loads when it first came out and therfore know it really really well while i dont know any of the really early stuff that well (not born yet) so am trying to "discover" it - kind of like a new album i guess and the same thing i did with ATYCLB when it came out.

but yes ATYCLB still gets listened to and quite fondly - i'll choose it above several other albums to go on holiday with me.
 
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1. I definitely still like it. It's U2's worst album but it's still better than almost everything else ever made.

2. Sometime last year.
 
1. i DO LIKE IT. I don't think it's a bad album -- also because it was my gate to enter U2's world!!

2. The last time I heard it was a couple of weeks ago. I use to listen to it from the first track to the last one... because it has a sense of totality. I like its starting with pure rock energy and its ending with that sort of sweet caress that "Grace" is.
 
1. Yes, I do.

Yeah, ATYCLB will probably never join the hallowed company of JT and AB as far as public acknowledgement goes. Well, it's in a company of, oh, another seven U2 albums that are not recognised as their third masterpiece - some of them damn great albums, too. Does this mean that nobody much likes or cares for them, too?

2. I listened to it last a couple of months ago I think. It's in fact the only U2 album apart from UF that I listen to from start to finish.
 
1. Does anybody here still like this album?

I like this album. Just like everything U2 did. But I never thought about it as U2's 3rd masterpiece. I agree about the hype the album had etc...
...but even reading all those positive reviews at the time I was wondering if I have the same CD that they were describing...
This still does NOT mean that I don't like it...
It only means that this album is ":)" for me... not " :bow: " like 6 other - my favorite - U2 albums


2. When did you last listen to ATYCLB from beginning to end ?

The day I bought it...:ohmy:

IMO the vocal minority here believes 90's U2 is everything - in particular they worship POP beyond any other album. The majority of the fans (as proved by the album's sucess) loved ATYCLB.

Many, MANY words used toward ATYCLB lately were/are to strong, I agree.
But: I like AB, Zooropa, Pop... !!AND!! Boy, October, War the best. I don't like the sound (note: that doesn't mean the songs, the melody etc) of UF, JT and ATYCLB.
So I don't think I'm in this "minority" and please don't attack me for my words with this strange (if not stupid) logic.
You're using words like "loud minority" and "majority". There are no such things here. What if I'll say that your "loud minority" is in fact "quiet majority"?

I do think that "majority" of fans like/liked ATYCLB... but do not prove it by albums commercial sucess.
ATYCLB did well because 1) smart promotional strategy, 2) because it's a pop record, 3) because of 9/11 and people needed songs like Walk On... even BD...
How many of you (older fans) saw on Elevation Tour kids that had no idea about songs that were not from ATYCLB?? In other words: it's not the fans that made this album commercialy succesful but people that liked a few (more ambitious) pop tunes...
 
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Yeah, i like it. The other question has made me think about how I listen to music these days and the fact that I haven't listened to a U2 album all the way through since ATYCLB was released. I have headphones at work and i listen to various things that I've brought from home and copied onto the PC, and they're fairly new releases that i listen to all the way through (David Mead, Sarah McLachlan, Mutual Admiration Society). After a while though, I suppose, I see an album as a collection of songs that I can go back to and pick off what i need at that time.

The car is the only other place that i could listen to a full album (a six month year old boy will negate any possibility of listening at home. :wink: ) and the six cd's in there don't contain any U2. I know i'll emerse myself in the new album deeper than any other artist on it's release and will listen to it in full for a while, but eventually it will become a collection of songs like the rest.
 
1.) Love it

2.) twice this week!

It really is great, it's really very comforting and moody, I mean, if you miss someone, or something, then it is tthe perfect album for that kind of mood, I always feel better after listening to it, even if there isn't much to be worried about.

Someone said before that caertain experience is necessary before you can understand the whole album, I agree with that.

POE is great, so's when I look at the world!
"Jesus can u take the time to throw a drowning man a line, POE!" thats a great line!
 
I like it. I don't compare albums like music snobs. I find that annoying. I just like to enjoy music.

I listen to ATYCLB more than any other album. It's just the most relative to me. It says a lot about relative things. But, I have favorite songs and reason that I like all of them.

I don't like heaviness all the time, and a lot of U2's albums are pretty heavy. ATYCLB is palatable, if you ask me.

I listened to ATYCLB probably last week. I usually listen to it in the car, and the whole family listens to it, and I sing the songs. :)
 
ATYCLB is a wonderful album. Much better than most other albums around. Certainl not U2s best, but lots of great insperational tracks.

I haven't listened to it in it's entirety in a long time though. Partly due to the fact that my wife borrowed it and "misplaced" it.:mad:
 
1. Yes. always have, always will, tired of the bashing!

2. I don't listen to any album all the way through. I never have, dating back to the days of vinyl. I'm picky. Riding in a car with people who insist on playing all their Cd's from start to finish irritates me.
 
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Yes I still like the album even though I skip tracks when I listen to it and haven't put it in the cd player in awhile. Some songs stick with me more than others, I used to skip BD and Stuck to get to elevation, skip to IALW and then skip to NY.

I don't listen to most albums from beginning to end and haven't put on ATYCLB in several months. For the past two to three weeks I've been obsessed with playing the acoustic version of Stuck on my guitar though and listen to that version constantly. This album inspired me to buy a guitar and try to learn to play so it's probably had a bigger impact on me than other U2 albums even though it's not my favorite.

When I do play it again it will be like a visit from an old friend.
 
I last listened to All That You Can't Leave Behind in its entirety about two weeks ago. I love that record and regard it as my personal favorite. For some reason the music on that record has always struck me as dark but uplifting, kind of like One or Please. Throw in the fact that I think that it is one of U2's most direct records and it just works for me. It's probably the U2 record that I most enjoy playing with the car windows rolled down; as if to say, "That's right, I'm not stuck in the '80's!"

james
 
James U2 said:
I last listened to All That You Can't Leave Behind in its entirety about two weeks ago. I love that record and regard it as my personal favorite. For some reason the music on that record has always struck me as dark but uplifting, kind of like One or Please. Throw in the fact that I think that it is one of U2's most direct records and it just works for me. It's probably the U2 record that I most enjoy playing with the car windows rolled down; as if to say, "That's right, I'm not stuck in the '80's!"

james

:lmao:
 
1. Yes. I know it's cool to whine about it and pine away for the good old days of AB but I happen to love it actually. :D

2. It's in my car stereo right now, and I listened to most of it yesterday but I think I skipped the last track. Does that count? :sexywink:
 
1) YES, I happen to LOVE it! A lot of the songs mean something to me personally because I was going through a lot at the time. (Cancer) and it helped me through a lot. It really does have a special place for me. That being said it's my 3rd favorite record of theirs but still wonderful. I also hate to admit I'm one of those people that hasn't put POP in my Cd player in like 3 or 4 years :reject:

2) Last week ( I skip Grace though)
 
1. Yes, I like ATYCLB, but 4 yrs later I can't say that I love it. I get tired too of people ripping on it, but I'm not sure if it can be or ever will be considered a "classic". I do think that it was a great representation of the world (through U2s' eyes) at that time.

2. I only listen to it all the way through when I first got it. (and probably 100 times after that in the following months). Now the only music I listen to at home is on the Baby Einstein videos :no:
 
I still like it 'cause it holds a personal connection for me and the last time I listened to it from beginning to end was last month.
 
1. Oh yee, i love it. Despite all the ripping it gets, I still consider it my 2nd favorite, right behind the Joshua Tree

2.I listened to it the whole way through last week (I even made it a special burnt version including TGBHF and all the singles from that era), but that was the first time I had listened to it in about a year. I always listen to it around fall... I find it to be a great album to listen to with changing leaves and nice brisk fall weather. Plus it came out about this time too, so it is like a timewarp for me back to that time, which I consider to be the best era of my life. So reflective!
 
Yes, I like the album, but I prefer the more driving albums like AB, JT, War, and Boy. I'd have to say it's my fifth favorite album of all time. It has pleasant songs on it, but that just doesn't keep me entertained.
I listened to it all the way through probably about 6 months ago. I like the first 6 tracks better than the rest. The only albums that I really like listening to all the way through are JT and AB, and I'm hoping to add HTDAAB to that list. :wink:
 
I really enjoy the album. My biggest complaints are that I feel it could have used one more uptempo rocker and the tracklisting to be different.

I've actually been listening to it straight through several times recently. However, I made my own "version" with a different track order. IMO, the track order doesn't feel right.

Here is my version. I love the way it flows, and it has a totally different feel to it. Also Walk On will forever be a closer in my mind after seeing Elevation tour, and WILATW begs to bleed into POE which begs to bleed into Walk On.

Beautiful Day
Kite
Stuck in a Moment You Can't Get Out Of
New York
In a Little While
Wild Honey
Elevation
When I Look at the World
Peace on Earth
Walk On
Grace
 
1. I love it i was suprised that so many people didnt...its my second fav behind AB

2. I listen to it fully everyday at work!!
 
Re: Re: 2 questions on ATYCLB

bathiu said:

I do think that "majority" of fans like/liked ATYCLB... but do not prove it by albums commercial sucess.
ATYCLB did well because 1) smart promotional strategy, 2) because it's a pop record, 3) because of 9/11 and people needed songs like Walk On... even BD...
How many of you (older fans) saw on Elevation Tour kids that had no idea about songs that were not from ATYCLB?? In other words: it's not the fans that made this album commercialy succesful but people that liked a few (more ambitious) pop tunes...

:no: Beautiful day convinced people, and I hear older fans especially enjoyed ATYCLB. Of course, the new fans came along which is great but IMO the "oldies" mad this album a success.

ATYCLB did very good way before 9/11, it sold 7 millions worldwide by the end of 2000. Also 4 millions out of 12 worlwide are from US.

I should correct the no. 2 answer - the last time I listened to the album in full was a few months ago, this year.
 
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