City of whining songs ?

[GibsonGirl]

 

[typhoon]

Mercy is crap

I agree.

 

[corianderstem]

Aw, don't be mad. I meant it with much fondness.

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

i fixed it

 

[MumblingBono]

The kid's onto something - very astute analysis of the weaknesses in that song.

The slide guitar part is weak, the piano is infantile, the chorus is lame.

COBL greatly aids the 'washed-up' argument. It's a facsimile of U2's former glory. Same with Miracle Drug.

Yahweh and Vertigo are proof of the opposite. I'm hopeful that they have in them more songs like those.

 

[GibsonGirl]

Watch out, MumblingBono. WalkOn21's going to have a field day with you!

 

[catlhere]

-presses ">>|" on his iPod-

OMG... my finger... it's so tired from skipping the song.

Move this to MySpace.

-ejects from topiX-

 

[tommycharles]

When I first heard the song, I thought the piano intro was pretty cheesy, but it doesn't bother me much. I like the little (pre-recorded?) guitar intro they do at the very beginning live. Reminds me of the very beginning of "Streets" during ZooTV.
(Edit: IN MY OPINION.)

No, that's actually Edge playing it, it's just very very effects heavy. I'm not too down with the technology involved but I think it's a delay/shimmer combination, and the actual signal is never heard.

 

[WalkOn21]

Watch out, MumblingBono. WalkOn21's going to have a field day with you!

Yeah, watch out for me, lol.


But no, I won't correct it anymore. Apparently in American English "it is" means "I think". And I can't argue with a fact like that, can I? But if it's OK with you, I'll stick with British English.

 

[Earnie Shavers]

I agree.

It's not crap, as a b-side it'd be awesome. I don't understand why people think this song would go anywhere if it were released though. Or why it is 'experimental' or signals a new direction. Or why it is the best thing U2 have done since 1987 or whatever. It's a solid, but rambling, middle level, old school, U2 filler that is bursting with Bonoisms and U2 cliches. Doesn't mean I don't like it, just that I don't really care for it. They can do much better and I can think of 50+ songs of theirs that are much better. At least.

 

[Layton]

The kid's onto something - very astute analysis of the weaknesses in that song.

The slide guitar part is weak, the piano is infantile, the chorus is lame.

COBL greatly aids the 'washed-up' argument. It's a facsimile of U2's former glory. Same with Miracle Drug.

Yahweh and Vertigo are proof of the opposite. I'm hopeful that they have in them more songs like those.

Ok, let's put this into perspective.

That kid had no idea who My Bloody Valentine are, until I taught him.
That kid tells us 'Kiss From A Rose' by Seal is an interesting song.
That kid hails the ballads by Bryan Adams as something special.

That kid just lost major credibility points regarding his very astute analysis.

 

[namkcuR]

That kid tells us 'Kiss From A Rose' by Seal is an interesting song.

That kid just lost major credibility points regarding his very astute analysis.

'Kiss From A Rose' IS interesting. Whether or not you LIKE it is totally subjective, obviously, but it's musical fact that the song is musically complex and interesting. There are seven, eight musical layers going on at some parts of that song.

 

[Layton]

The chorus "Oh! You! Look!..." does suck, but the whoo-ooh-oohs before it make up for it.

At least they had the good sense to one line that chorus. I'd be inclined to agree with you if they used the 'Oh! You Look' in a more conventional repetitive fashion, but they use it as a conclusive piece rolling out of the 'hoo hoo's'. It's not really a centerpiece moment that the song overrelies on for its 'juice', like most other pop/rock songs do with their choruses.

I do admit, though that the 4 line repeat of the 'Oh! You Look' at the end of the song is a bit much. That really doesn't serve as a chorus, though. It's just a straight refrain. EBTTRT uses the same tactic at it's end and I've always thought that was a bit much, also.

 

[dudeman]

'kiss from a rose' stinks.

 

[namkcuR]

The whole COBL intro is cheese. It's easy on the ears and the first time you hear it you think it's great, but it is really, REALLY U2-by-the-numbers. It is in the exact same mold as Streets. Except that Streets is a thousand times better.

The lyrics always frustrate me because the structure of the 'the more you/the less you' verses is so CLEARLY taken from 'Do You Feel Loved'(a superior song) and it just makes me feel like Bono is getting lazy, complacent, and unoriginal with his songwriting. The 'time' lines, however, are good.

The chorus is way too Poppy and doesn't sound like it should be sung by a band of 45 year olds. Axver may say that UV's chorus is boy band material, but this chorus fits that category much more accurately.

Overall, the song reeks of a band trying SO SO hard to be what they were twenty years ago. Except that twenty years ago they never would have thought about repeating themselves.

In my opinion.

 

[Zoots]

Ok, let's put this into perspective.

That kid had no idea who My Bloody Valentine are, until I taught him.
That kid tells us 'Kiss From A Rose' by Seal is an interesting song.
That kid hails the ballads by Bryan Adams as something special.

That kid just lost major credibility points regarding his very astute analysis.

Are you referring to me? Because I did not start this thread! Mumbling Bono was not talking about me.

 

[Layton]

'Kiss From A Rose' IS interesting. Whether or not you LIKE it is totally subjective, obviously, but it's musical fact that the song is musically complex and interesting. There are seven, eight musical layers going on at some parts of that song.

Lol-----Yeah, sure it is.

With that mentatility, why not just put 27 or 28 layers into the song. I've waited a long time for somebody to tell me what purpose any of those layers actually serve. I wish I could get a very astute analysis out of the kid regarding that, but I suppose that would be off-topic. I'll eagerly look for it in the B&C forum.

 

[namkcuR]

Lol-----Yeah, sure it is.

With that mentatility, why not just put 27 or 28 layers into the song. I've waited a long time for somebody to tell me what purpose any of those layers actually serve. I wish I could get a very astute analysis out of the kid regarding that, but I suppose that would be off-topic. I'll eagerly look for it in the B&C forum.

If you'd like, I could get my father - the head of a college music depeartment and professor who teaches classical music for a living and who was educated at the world renowned Julliard School of Music - to write you a very astute analysis of Kiss From A Rose, since he, too, says that the song is a complex piece of music. On second thought, he probably has far too much to do take time out of his life for something like that.

 

[dudeman]

If you'd like, I could get my father - the head of a college music depeartment and professor who teaches classical music for a living and who was educated at the world renowned Julliard School of Music - to write you a very astute analysis of Kiss From A Rose, since he, too, says that the song is a complex piece of music. On second thought, he probably has far too much to do take time out of his life for something like that.

who cares?
iron maiden has some very complex tunes, with like 35 or 40 screaming guitar solos...rush has some complex tunes...backstreet boys have some complex vocal arrangements (4-5 part harmonies)...some of these are good and some downright suck. but they're all complex. since when is complexity a virtue? it's a sign of professionalism to be sure, but making something complex doesn't necessarily make it GOOD.
i will re-iterate: kiss from a rose stinks, in all it's masturbatory complexity.

 

[namkcuR]

who cares?
iron maiden has some very complex tunes, with like 35 or 40 screaming guitar solos...rush has some complex tunes...backstreet boys have some complex vocal arrangements (4-5 part harmonies)...some of these are good and some downright suck. but they're all complex. since when is complexity a virtue? it's a sign of professionalism to be sure, but making something complex doesn't necessarily make it GOOD.
i will re-iterate: kiss from a rose stinks, in all it's masturbatory complexity.

I wasn't replying to you, I was relplying to Layton. He said the song was uninteresting and not complex. We weren't debating whether the song was good or bad.

 

[MrBrau1]

"I will be with you again"

"Stay, and the night would be enough"

"I'm hanging on, you're all that's left to hold on to"

"All I want is you"

"All you look so beautiful tonite"

"If God would send his angels, sure could use them them here right now"

"Who's gonna ride your wild horses?"

"Baby. Baby, Baby. Light my way"

"I can't live, with or without you"

Lordy. If you wanna cherry pick cheese lines from U2 songs, you could have a field day.

How cliche is "All I Want Is You" when you remove it from the context of the tune?

 

[angelordevil]

It was a revelation for me to hear COBL live, in Toronto. In that super-loud arena, it had a truly heartfelt and passionate delivery that kicked the ass of the album version. (The countless number of foiled confetti pieces falling from the rafters on my head at the time may have played a role, as well ) Up close, in the ellipse, I sensed that the band really enjoy playing this song live.

The other thing that I notice about COBL is how it’s a bit like Coldplay in its composition. It’s U2 taking back what Coldplay have tried to steal—the slightly meandering, non-linear song structure.

Bono’s “whoo-ooos” make really make Chris Martin’s version sound like cheap imitation.

 

[Zoots]

The other thing that I notice about COBL is how it’s a bit like Coldplay in its composition. It’s U2 taking back what Coldplay have tried to steal—the slightly meandering, non-linear song structure.

Bono’s “whoo-ooos” make really make Chris Martin’s version sound like cheap imitation.

Maybe THAT'S what Q104.3 DJ Ken Dashow really meant when he said that COBL was so Coldplay-ish! The way he said it just rubbed a lot of people here the wrong way!

 

[LMP]

if COBL is a fuckyou song to Coldplay, I'd really like that

I call Speed of Sound: 'City of Blinding Clocks' by the way

 

[JCOSTER]

Hey everyone can't we all just get along?



Yes, I am a fanatic, obsessive U2 fan, I have plenty of witnesses.
I am sure as with alot of other fans everyone has their favorite songs and they're not so favorite songs. Even though I love them to death there are some songs I really don't relate to, then there are others that hit home, pierce my heart, rattle brain....etc.

We are all fans or else we wouldn't be here and we are all entitled to our opinions.

 

[Zoots]

I call Speed of Sound: 'City of Blinding Clocks' by the way

Haha.. yeah, Speed of Sound really sounds a lot like Clocks, doesn't it? Actually Clocks is like their most u2-ish song ever!

 

[LMP]

Haha.. yeah, Speed of Sound really sounds a lot like Clocks, doesn't it? Actually Clocks is like their most u2-ish song ever!

I actually took a few Coldplay songs and put them together on Acoustica to make one big Coldplay song

and I was amazed by how easy it was

but that's besides the point

I love City of Blinding Lights even though it's a bit cheesy and the Red-headed Stepchild to Streets

but it's damn fun to singalong to and is a lot better than 75% of the music out there nowadays

 

[GibsonGirl]

But no, I won't correct it anymore. Apparently in American English "it is" means "I think". And I can't argue with a fact like that, can I? But if it's OK with you, I'll stick with British English.

I'm not American. Or Canadian. I'm South African and I use British English.

 

[Zoots]

I'm not American. Or Canadian. I'm South African and I use British English.

Bring back your Popmart avatar!






Or even another Popmart picture!

 

[Canadiens1131]

Re: The opening slide riff to COBL

Well, you could really call anything with slide guitar whining. Not that's a bad thing. I don't mind the riff at all, it's complimented with the great opening melody in Edge's trademark delay live.