90'2 U2 Appreciation Thred

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Dustybot

The Fly
Joined
Feb 17, 2001
Messages
227
I've been reading a lot of posts about how much certain people around here despise U2's 90's stuff, and I'm a bit sick of it myself. I think musically, lyrically, production-wise, U2 was at their best in the 90's. They weren't afraid to be something other than U2, which took some real guts after the massive success of their 80's sound.

To me, there is yet to be an album recorded by anyone that equals the perfection of Achtung Baby. It just doesn't get any better. The band manage to totally augment their sound, yet keep the same spirit in the music. They also created their most introverted, personal album to date. Bono at his lyrical peak, and it flows like nothing else.

Zooropa sounds pretty damn amazing for something that was supposed to be a few leftovers shoved onto an EP! Musical innovation at its finest, despite all the very strange sounds coming at you, the heart is still there. Bono says Stay is the most beautiful song they've ever written, and it's hard to debate sometimes. Lemon can make you laugh or cry, depending on your mood. And The Wanderer is just chilling. Nobody else could make something this brilliant in this stretch of time.

POP. Oh, the red-headed stepchild of U2 albums. In all honesty, I listen to this album a lot more than the Joshua Tree. This may have been billed as techno dance music, but U2 has never been as dark, as doubtful, or as vulnerable than in this gem. Sure, the production is rushed, but heart-wrenching songs like Gone and Please mixed with foot-tappers like Discotheque and Do You Feel Loved, along with straight-forward classic U2 (Staring At The Sun), this is easily U2's most underrated album. I think the image of the band at the time hurt this album a lot. If they had been wearing black overcoats and cowboy hats on the cover, I think it would have been different for POP.

All in all, a marvelous decade for U2 that I believe saw their finest work.

(PS-to all you 80's lovers, this is in no way an insult to the earlier albums, I just think the 90's work shines brighter, despite what MTV and radio DJ's may have us believe)

Edit: I can't believe I made that many spelling errors in the title. My apologies.

[This message has been edited by Dustybot (edited 12-25-2001).]
 
90's U2 is the best. There is no doubt about it. Lyrics, sounds, production, swagger, and style all come together for U2 in the 90's. The 80's were good, but the 90's U2 is just a step ahead.

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"I swore to my father I'd never do hamster-style again."

"looking for the sound thats gonna drown out the world
looking for the father of my two little girls
got the swing got the sway got my straw in lemonade
looking for the face i had before the world was made." - MOFO
 
Gotta agree with you Dustybot, I absolutely love their work from the 90?s, there are not enough good adjectives to describe the albuns and the tours as well, plus they created other great stuff like the songs of Passengers and HMTMKMKM in that period. I tend to listen to their work from the 90?s more than the 80?s, although they have always been far ahead than any other musicians at anytime.
 
have to agree with you there mate.
9o's u2 is best.
AB is thier best album.
POP my favourite album.
POPMART:greatest world tour ever-no questions asked.
 
I love u2-i cant say wheather 80's or 90's stuff was better because they always manage to surprise us and all the albums are good in their own special way
smile.gif
i love AB and the joshua tree and Pop- 80's, 90's-who cares, they are still great
biggrin.gif


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And if you look, you look through me.

L'amore giunger
L'amore
E non so pi pregare
E nell'amore non so pi sperare
E quell'amore non so pi aspettare
miss_smith@emailaccount.com e-mail me :)
The perpetually handsome Mullen appears to have stopped ageing around the time of The Joshua Tree.
"It doesn't matter what songs we sing.
I'm a drummer. Chicks dig me." -Larry
Larry likes to play drums." - Bono
"Larry's always been noticed cos he's the pretty one." - Adam
"Bono, if you still haven't found what you're looking for, look behind the drumkit." - Boy George
A man so handsome, he will never be let sing in this group!"
-Bono, introducing Larry at Irving Plaza, NYC 2000
 
I still think AB is their best work ever. It's the kind of album you can listen to all the way through, without having to skip any of the tracks.
 
Originally posted by Dustybot:
They weren't afraid to be something other than U2, which took some real guts after the massive success of their 80's sound.

This is true and I think they get burned for it a lot. But I agree that it took guts and also paid off in some great music and some great experiments with the music. This is the stuff that keeps U2 at the top of the musical world.

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You can dream, so dream out loud!

Create Light, Create Unity, Create Joy, CREATE PEACE!
 
Originally posted by Dustybot:
I've been reading a lot of posts about how much certain people around here despise U2's 90's stuff, and I'm a bit sick of it myself. I think musically, lyrically, production-wise, U2 was at their best in the 90's. They weren't afraid to be something other than U2, which took some real guts after the massive success of their 80's sound.

To me, there is yet to be an album recorded by anyone that equals the perfection of Achtung Baby. It just doesn't get any better. The band manage to totally augment their sound, yet keep the same spirit in the music. They also created their most introverted, personal album to date. Bono at his lyrical peak, and it flows like nothing else.

Zooropa sounds pretty damn amazing for something that was supposed to be a few leftovers shoved onto an EP! Musical innovation at its finest, despite all the very strange sounds coming at you, the heart is still there. Bono says Stay is the most beautiful song they've ever written, and it's hard to debate sometimes. Lemon can make you laugh or cry, depending on your mood. And The Wanderer is just chilling. Nobody else could make something this brilliant in this stretch of time.

POP. Oh, the red-headed stepchild of U2 albums. In all honesty, I listen to this album a lot more than the Joshua Tree. This may have been billed as techno dance music, but U2 has never been as dark, as doubtful, or as vulnerable than in this gem. Sure, the production is rushed, but heart-wrenching songs like Gone and Please mixed with foot-tappers like Discotheque and Do You Feel Loved, along with straight-forward classic U2 (Staring At The Sun), this is easily U2's most underrated album. I think the image of the band at the time hurt this album a lot. If they had been wearing black overcoats and cowboy hats on the cover, I think it would have been different for POP.

All in all, a marvelous decade for U2 that I believe saw their finest work.

(PS-to all you 80's lovers, this is in no way an insult to the earlier albums, I just think the 90's work shines brighter, despite what MTV and radio DJ's may have us believe)

Edit: I can't believe I made that many spelling errors in the title. My apologies.

[This message has been edited by Dustybot (edited 12-25-2001).]

I think the whole thing about Zooropa being 'leftovers' or made 'on the run' was a bit of a diversion, not least by the band themselves in various interviews. They knew damn well what they were doing, and it shows.

As for being musically daring and losing fans and that whole hoo-ha, I think for a band in U2's position (in the early 90's) there is a time when your fame and success give you a cushion where you can do these sorts of things (ie. Achtung/Zoo TV/Zooropa/Passengers), and probably should. They probably couldn't do that now.

POP (yes, 'POP') was a different beast altogether, in that it feels like a mix of nearly their whole career to that point. Can't think of many examples to support that comment, but the piano in 'Gone' springs to mind (the way it recollects something like New Years Day). Plus, it's probably the least 'ironic' record they made all decade.
 
Sorry but I think it's the opposite - people here seem to much prefer U2s 90s material and describe how the 80s material and ATYCLB are overrated.
Personally, don't have any preference for either decade. I think in both decades they have made exceptional music. In the 80s and ATYCLB - excellent rock music. In the 90s - rock with something new and innovative.
 
Originally posted by Zoo Station:
Sorry but I think it's the opposite - people here seem to much prefer U2s 90s material and describe how the 80s material and ATYCLB are overrated.
Personally, don't have any preference for either decade. I think in both decades they have made exceptional music. In the 80s and ATYCLB - excellent rock music. In the 90s - rock with something new and innovative.

That's absolutely true. U2 have yet to make an album that does not reward repeated listening.

Still the original poster did have a point, up to a point. There is a certain school of thinking which seems to imply - 'thank God they've gone back to their 80's sound now (even though they really haven't) - so much better than all that awful techno trash!"

That I would apply to the broad music listening public, of which this forum is but a microcosm.
 
I actually prefer their 80's music overall to the 90's music, but Achtung Baby is my all time favorite album. I still don't get Zooropa. I'm trying, really, I am, but this album just does not click with me. I like Pop better, but I don't rank it in my top 5 favorite U2 albums.
 
Originally posted by ericb:
I actually prefer their 80's music overall to the 90's music, but Achtung Baby is my all time favorite album. I still don't get Zooropa. I'm trying, really, I am, but this album just does not click with me. I like Pop better, but I don't rank it in my top 5 favorite U2 albums.


I did not 'get' Zooropa for a long, long time. It's a very visual album in a way - very rich in imagery like the Joshua Tree - only in this case it inhabits more of an electronic wasteland, or a Europe at the crossroads. I can't offer any secret to getting it, but what eventually turned me on was the originality of it - U2 aren't just criticising or damning the modern world - they're making great music out of it. There's in a nice description in Bill Flanagan's book, about Daddy's Gonna Pay... and how the loud/soft contrast of the music evokes a sense of leaving a nightclub and entering a taxi - that late-night feel where, tired and emotional in a strange city, even the crappiest pop music sounds exciting (paraphrasing here).

U2 describe a lot with their music. Only a couple of months ago someone else had a great post on here making very similar points about 'New York' (early morning on the subway, bursting out into the chaos of the open city etc).
 
I am in no way the polar opposite of those that are parading the idea that the 80's work and ATYCLB outshine the 90's stuff. Quite the contrary. My three favorite U2 albums are Achtung Baby, ATYCLB, and POP. ATYCLB seems like a perfectly sensible step forward for the band to me. It's the easiest album to listen to that they've made in a very long time, if not ever. It still has a depth, an introverted personal side in places that I think is lacking in a lot of the 80's work, yet melds that vibe with the anthemic sound that could have helped Zooropa's sales a bit.

My take on the 80's work. The Unforgettable Fire was the album that separated U2 from the rest of that era's popular bands. They were no longer just an arena rock guitar band, they were something more. Sometimes they missed (Elvis Presley and America) and sometimes they were so on the target it was hard to believe a rock band could make such a sound (Bad). But I love that daring, that sense of going out on a limb from popular music, or as Bono says "fucking up the mainstream." I absolutely adore Boy, it has a very raw, innocent feel to it that is rarely found anymore in rock. However, October and War (with a few exceptions) feel like poor rehashes of Boy to me. October and War are not complete albums to me. Boy was a complete album, as was UF, in two totally different ways. Obviously, when the band took the next step into legend status with The Joshua Tree, there was little to complain about. I don't deny that album's greatness in any way, shape, or form. Then there was the massive step backward that was Rattle and Hum, the least focused of all U2's albums. I think it could have been more enjoyable if the live tracks had been omitted and a few more album tracks had been included, but it was still a weak effort by U2's standards.

Read above for my 90's comments. I just think U2 were better musicians, better songwriters, and better performers in the 90's (and today) than in their earlier days. I still love the early stuff, but it's just no the same for me. Just an opinion.
 
Achtung Baby - i like it very much , all songs are great by music and by lyrics , atmosphere of the album is very cool to me

ZOOROPA - much more into the underworld of real rock music , U2 are at thier best , if there is a " SGT.Pepper " in U2 collection , this is it .

POP - Third and final highlight of U2 advanced technology era , all songs are great and as always , singles are even better then real thing ,
biggrin.gif
 
Originally posted by Dustybot:

Read above for my 90's comments. I just think U2 were better musicians, better songwriters, and better performers in the 90's (and today) than in their earlier days. I still love the early stuff, but it's just no the same for me. Just an opinion.

[/B]

That's just it. Why would anyone want to turn back the clock. I can't speak for October, never having heard it in full, but War does seem unfinished in some respects. I must be nearly alone however, in loving what they did with a horn section/backing vocalists in some of the War songs (eg. Red Light). Talk about the promising evolutionary link that went nowehere.
 
HEY!!!!!!

You talkin' to ME??!!
eek.gif


I do NOT despise the 90's stuff! Only Pop! AB is my favorite U2 album and Stay on Zooropa is one of my favorite songs! I just hate Pop. I hate most of the songs on Pop, I didn't like the sound, the look or the attitude they had at the time. Hell, they even dissed progressive rock in one interview I read, no wonder Eno went on 'sabbatical' and had nothing to do with them at that time! Well, Eno is back, I'm back and they look and sound a whole lot better now thank God, and they're soft and cuddly too!
biggrin.gif


I am the NON-POPtart, not the 90'sU2isworse girl! I LOVE AB! I LOVE ZOOTV!! I only hate Pop and the entire Pop era. Now that I have set the record straight I will go. Do not flame me, I stand behind my statement.
wink.gif
 
Originally posted by U2Kitten:
HEY!!!!!!

You talkin' to ME??!!
eek.gif


I do NOT despise the 90's stuff! Only Pop! AB is my favorite U2 album and Stay on Zooropa is one of my favorite songs! I just hate Pop. I hate most of the songs on Pop, I didn't like the sound, the look or the attitude they had at the time. Hell, they even dissed progressive rock in one interview I read, no wonder Eno went on 'sabbatical' and had nothing to do with them at that time! Well, Eno is back, I'm back and they look and sound a whole lot better now thank God, and they're soft and cuddly too!
biggrin.gif


I am the NON-POPtart, not the 90'sU2isworse girl! I LOVE AB! I LOVE ZOOTV!! I only hate Pop and the entire Pop era. Now that I have set the record straight I will go. Do not flame me, I stand behind my statement.
wink.gif

Well, so far as I noticed they're still dissing progressive rock (see a number of interviews around the time of the ATYCLB launch).

But really I think that's just a bit of a knee-jerk reaction - I think for Bono or Edge it's really the spectre of those bloated 70's art-rock bands that they're running from.

Won't even bother commenting re. Pop. I do like it a lot, but agree it doesn't even begin to approach Achtung/Zooropa as a whole.
 
Hey U2Kitten, I wasn't pointing you out, I don't even know you!
biggrin.gif
But I respect your opinion, I just don't agree with it at all.

As I read over these posts, I think I should clarify one thing. I think it's pretty much a consensus that nobody needs to defend Achtung Baby. I dare anyone to find a poster at this board that really dislikes it. Zooropa and POP are really what I'm standing up for. I just hate the fact that U2 had the ambition to be something other than a radio guitar band, and they get flak for it. It really makes my skin crawl when the band feels the need to dog POP or POPMart (though it's usually just POPMart getting the blame) just so the media can play up the whole comeback story. U2 made some of their most daring, innovative, beautiful music on those "arty" albums. Just before they played Stay in Washington DC last summer, Bono summed it all up-"If you're from the north side of Dublin, you can afford to go a little arty."

Kieran, I can speak for October. If you felt that War was unfinished in spots, you would probably think the same of October. And I also liked Red Light, despite War being well near the bottom of my favorite U2 albums.
 
Originally posted by Kieran McConville:
Well, so far as I noticed they're still dissing progressive rock (see a number of interviews around the time of the ATYCLB launch).

But really I think that's just a bit of a knee-jerk reaction - I think for Bono or Edge it's really the spectre of those bloated 70's art-rock bands that they're running from.


Yeah, I agree with this statement. I do know that Yes was one band that Edge enjoyed when he is younger--he can't run from the admissions of the past!!

By the way, given recent threads and whatnot, I think they were talkin' to me
wink.gif




------------------
You say you want
Diamonds on a ring of gold
Your story to remain untold
Your love not to grow cold
 
Originally posted by Dustybot:

As I read over these posts, I think I should clarify one thing. I think it's pretty much a consensus that nobody needs to defend Achtung Baby. I dare anyone to find a poster at this board that really dislikes it. Zooropa and POP are really what I'm standing up for. I just hate the fact that U2 had the ambition to be something other than a radio guitar band, and they get flak for it. It really makes my skin crawl when the band feels the need to dog POP or POPMart (though it's usually just POPMart getting the blame) just so the media can play up the whole comeback story. U2 made some of their most daring, innovative, beautiful music on those "arty" albums. Just before they played Stay in Washington DC last summer, Bono summed it all up-"If you're from the north side of Dublin, you can afford to go a little arty."

B]

All well said. And I think those latter two albums bloody well do need (and deserve) defending. All those critics who spent the last decade kissing U2's ass only to then start rewriting history, really must think people are stupid. As I've said earlier, I do love POP dearly, but I think Zooropa is the main game. In my book that record is part of U2's Big Three (the others being Achtung and Joshua Tree). If their reputation ends up resting on those three records, I won't be awfully surprised.

Here's a bit of revisionism for you: did you know that about twenty years ago, the Beatles (yes, those rock gods) were regarded by many critics as totally passe, unhip and merely 'clever', compared to the mighty Stones. How times change - NOT.
 
By the way, given recent threads and whatnot, I think they were talkin' to me
wink.gif


[/B][/QUOTE]

Well, I didn't think they were talking to me. I'm just throwing in the odd comment to keep this thread up on the list - because I think it is really interesting.
 
Originally posted by Zoo Station:
Sorry but I think it's the opposite - people here seem to much prefer U2s 90s material and describe how the 80s material and ATYCLB are overrated.
I agree

I LOVE Zooropa, but The Unforgettable Fire is my favourite album
I prefer ATYCLB to Joshua Tree, but I prefer Joshua Tree to Achtung Baby

I never really divide their work into decades


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Salome
Shake it, shake it, shake it
 
I think that UF was their most 'arty' record, not any 90's stuff! I am a big 70's prog rock fan, especially Yes, and I don't understand why they would diss it, especially when they are always touting punk, which was much less musically than art rock. I am getting really sick of seeing Johnny Rotten on TV laughing and criticizing 70's rock and how he was this big hero out to save everyone from it. Other than disco the 70's had good music. I feel Rotten overestimates himself. Yes is an art form, musically and lyrically. To me Yes is like the good China, and the Sex Pistols are the plastic plates you use for cookouts. No comparison.

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U2- The Unforgettable Fire still burns!
 
Originally posted by Veranda:
I think that UF was their most 'arty' record, not any 90's stuff! I am a big 70's prog rock fan, especially Yes, and I don't understand why they would diss it, especially when they are always touting punk, which was much less musically than art rock. I am getting really sick of seeing Johnny Rotten on TV laughing and criticizing 70's rock and how he was this big hero out to save everyone from it. Other than disco the 70's had good music. I feel Rotten overestimates himself. Yes is an art form, musically and lyrically. To me Yes is like the good China, and the Sex Pistols are the plastic plates you use for cookouts. No comparison.


Fair comment, but from what I can glean, U2 (or at least Bono/Edge) have a rather interesting take on 'punk'. For them it seems to be an attitude, a sort of DIY mentality. NOT imitating Johnny Rotten. So Unforgettable Fire could have been their very own 'punk' answer to mid-80's rock. Maybe.

But I agree with you in that the Ramones, for example, don't impress me at all.

I can sympathise with their point of view, re. punk. I mean, are Blink 182 punk? Hello?
 
Originally posted by U2Kitten:

I am the NON-POPtart, not the 90'sU2isworse girl! Do not flame me, I stand behind my statement.
wink.gif

Ha ha! That's funny!
I still don't like the 90s era, but it's mainly because of all but 1 POP song and half the Zooropa songs. I liked the simple, straight ahead, no pretense, no glitter, no glam, no techno, style of the 80s. I liked the "reality" of the 80s music. Their 90s music, in my opinion, was contrived and weird. and yes, I am one of those who are thankful they've "gone back to their 80s style". Many of you will say they haven't, but in many many ways, they have. If ever there was an 80s style anthem not made in the 80s, it's Walk On. All songs on this CD sound like JT and earlier, with the exception of Elevation, In A Little While, and Stuck, but these 3 sound like nothing U2 has done before.
 
Originally posted by Kieran McConville:
Fair comment, but from what I can glean, U2 (or at least Bono/Edge) have a rather interesting take on 'punk'. For them it seems to be an attitude, a sort of DIY mentality. NOT imitating Johnny Rotten. So Unforgettable Fire could have been their very own 'punk' answer to mid-80's rock. Maybe.

But I agree with you in that the Ramones, for example, don't impress me at all.

I can sympathise with their point of view, re. punk. I mean, are Blink 182 punk? Hello?


In an interview last May at Canada's Much Music, Bono was asked how they managed to grow from a punk band, to a band that travels around in a giant lemon. He said that for him "that was a very punk rock thing to do". Maybe it doesn't seem like it to outsiders, but the whole mentatlity of punk is doing what you want to do!!!!! U2 have always done that!!!
 
80s, lol...I was wondering when you were going to show up here and kick some arse!
wink.gif



Originally posted by 80sU2isBest:
I am one of those who are thankful they've "gone back to their 80s style". Many of you will say they haven't, but in many many ways, they have. If ever there was an 80s style anthem not made in the 80s, it's Walk On. All songs on this CD sound like JT and earlier, with the exception of Elevation, In A Little While, and Stuck, but these 3 sound like nothing U2 has done before.

80s, do you think U2 "played it safe" with All That You Can't Leave Behind? In other words, do you think they wanted to make an album that would appeal to the mainstream, as did The Joshua Tree? I'd be interested in hearing your perspective. (For the record, I DO think they played it safe, but I really like the album anyway).



[This message has been edited by pub crawler (edited 12-28-2001).]
 
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