Damn - I'm Nervous

[Dalton]

What if I hate the new album?

I am sure I will not hate it cause I have never hated any of their albums, but with all this expectation can any album live up to the wonderful suprises of Joshua Tree and Actung Baby?

Seems unlikely to me. The first time I heard WTSHNN, I was not expecting it and it blew me away. The first time I heard The Fly on the radio I was not expecting it and I hated it (silly boy). But when I hear Vertigo for the first time I will hear it with expectant ears.

Will that expectancy kill the glory?

 

[Tizer]

Nervous is a good way of putting it. I want to be really great for them as much as for me. I just hope it's not 'safe'.

 

[iacrobat]

Nervous is a good way of putting it. I want to be really great for them as much as for me. I just hope it's not 'safe'.

That pretty much captures it for me. I want it to push the limits.

 

[Dalton]

Do you know what I mean though?

I loved U2 after the Unforgetable Fire, but I wasn't waiting around for the new album so when I first heard Streets, it took me by complete suprise. I had no expectations for the new album so when I heard it I just sat in wonder.

I wasn't waiting around for Actung Baby either so I didn't have any expectations except what I expected U2 to sound like. That is why I hated the Fly for a few weeks, but then I was swept up in the wonder of the music.

Sometimes I think all this endless speculation - that is what "internet" means in Russian - kills the wonder of the music. We talk about it for months before we have ever heard it.

 

[Phalanx]

Safe? From the leaks we've all heard, it sounds like they're trying new sounds.

I don't think it's going to be too much of a "safe" album.

 

[iacrobat]

I dunno. After watching the report on the Vertigo video shoot, the guitar sounds awfully chimey "a la" Beautiful Day. I know U2 don't repeat themselves, but that moment freaked me out. The other clips sound good though, especially Miracle Drug.

BTW, I know I really can't tell from the report, but I thought BD imemdiately.

 

[RademR]

I dont think for me its nervous, i think the right word for is just excited. Ive loved every u2 album and theyve never let me down. I got into u2 after achtung baby was released, and fallin in love with every album since. Then I went back and bought the rest of their catalog, thought I might not like some of their old stuff. But I was wrong, all great music (so-so about October). I've heard 4 new songs off this album (at least, part of them) and I love all of them so thats 4/11 that I'll be repeating over and over again. These guys never let me down.

 

[Phalanx]

The guitar sound is chimey because it's the Edge's personal sound and tone. He uses those Herdim guitar picks which give it that sound.

 

[bsp77]

I am not sure why people are nervous or worried about Bono's voice, etc. This is the best time imaginable for a U2 fan, except I am becoming increasingly unable to make it until late November.

 

[Zoocoustic]

I was nervous before ATYCLB.

Basically because POP hurt their careers and they had something to prove - that they could return to greatness and mega-stardom.

They did that and succeeded with ATYCLB/Elevation.

Now they can afford to be a bit daring...

 

[Dalton]

The guitar sound is chimey because it's the Edge's personal sound and tone. He uses those Herdim guitar picks which give it that sound.

lol Phalanx,

Do you play guitar? The pick is the very least of the factors that contribute to Edge's sound.

 

[Se7en]

lol Phalanx,

Do you play guitar? The pick is the very least of the factors that contribute to Edge's sound.

the pick he uses, more specifically the manner in which he uses it, is not the most important part of his sound...but it is certainly not the 'very least.'

do you play guitar? striking a string with a smooth or rough surface creates two very distinct tones.

the audio is so poor in this clip that you can't really make a judgement on the song at all. at least this video isn't elevation pt. 2.

 

[Roland of Gilead]

I am only nervous that a bus will hit me and I won't get to hear the album at all.

lookbothwayslookbothwayslookbothwayslookbothways

 

[U2DMfan]

going a little off topic here..

I dunno. After watching the report on the Vertigo video shoot, the guitar sounds awfully chimey "a la" Beautiful Day. I know U2 don't repeat themselves, but that moment freaked me out. The other clips sound good though, especially Miracle Drug.

BTW, I know I really can't tell from the report, but I thought BD imemdiately.

Well, I play guitar and I know there are a lot of factors that contribute to Edge's sounds, and I in fact love that sound. As a matter of fact if you expect to listen to HTDAAB, or any other U2 album for that matter, and NOT hear Edge's distinct sound then you are fooling yourself. From Boy to Passengers to ATYCLB he has used delay/echo, which is the 'chimey' sound.

Like the intro to Streets, basically, it's striking one note and depending on the timing of the delay/echo effect it will process a wall of sound, or chime. This is no revelation to anyone, what's really funny is that anyone would pretend that Edge doesn't "repeat" himself.

To me, it's as silly as saying "man Bono really sang Electrical Storm a lot like One, I hope they aren't gonna repeat themselves". Edge can augment his "voice" but it hasn't changed all that much. And that Edge sound is a large part of why I love U2. Listen to Bad from WAIA and then listen to Beautiful Day from Elevation/Boston and tell me that it's not the same sound, basically 16 years apart. Repetitive? Of course not. It's his sound, his voice. He can distort it and change it up, but it's really that sound, maybe even moreso than Bono's voice that really has defined U2 for 25 years.

If anything, it's a huge compliment for Edge, that he has a distinct sound. Most guitarists sound the exact same. The fact that Edge has his sound, is one of the greatest things about this band. And if you don't appreciate that, then I would just say either you are misguided in your expectationsor just not really familiar with what U2 is all about. Even when the band tried to reinvent themselves totally, Edge still sounded like Edge. Now, why in God's name would you expect that to change now?

 

[bsp77]

Amen U2DMfan

 

[u2ulysses]

I dunno. After watching the report on the Vertigo video shoot, the guitar sounds awfully chimey "a la" Beautiful Day. I know U2 don't repeat themselves, but that moment freaked me out. The other clips sound good though, especially Miracle Drug.

BTW, I know I really can't tell from the report, but I thought BD imemdiately.

Uh... MOST of U2's works sound "chimey" because Edge has been using the echo effect for most of U2's albums. He is truly a master of that effect, but no matter how good he is, there is that sense of hearing "chimes" to it.

 

[Phalanx]

Yes, I play guitar, and yes I use the same picks Edge use. I also use a delay/echo device that Edge has used in the past.

While a good delay does help, the pick is really crucial because it gives the strings more of a bassy tone, and this helps bring you closer to an Edge tone.

Yes, I watched the video for the Vertigo clip, and in the beginning you can hear the solo Edge plays, and yes, it DOES sound a bit like Beautiful Day. So what?

If you played Streets with a regular pick, it doesn't sound the same as if you used Herdim picks. Believe me, I've tried.

 

[iacrobat]

Uh...I believe you all! Even if you haven't tried!

Thanks for clearing up that Edge does have a distinct sound and style, because until this very moment, I had no idea! I just thought the guy from Hootie and the Blowfish and Edge were the same.

I was not criticising Egde's style. I was just talking about the "chimey" ringing guitars which pop in the middle of and at the end of Beautiful Day.

Please don't tell me that it is the same "Edge" sound that was used in Discotheque, Gone, Miami, Numb, Zooropa, Elevation, Bullet the Blue Sky, Bad, etc. Those are examples of different guitar sounds Edge has produced, which is what I am talking about.

 

[mikal]

and i think it's obvious that the guy from Hootie and The Blowfish has a lot more talent in his pinky finger than The Edge will ever have.

that riff on "I Only Wanna Be With You" is why i started playing guitar!

 

[iacrobat]

God, you said it. If Edge could ever come up with something like that, maybe more people would appreciate him.

 

[FullonEdge2]

and i think it's obvious that the guy from Hootie and The Blowfish has a lot more talent in his pinky finger than The Edge will ever have.

that riff on "I Only Wanna Be With You" is why i started playing guitar!

BEST POST EVER



And yes, I really did laugh out loud.

 

[U2dork]

Do we really need to bring the hOOt into this?

 

[one4u2]

hate it??? I doubt I will, there are very few U2 songs i dislike let alone hate. U2 and hate do not go together in a sentence for me.

 

[rjhbonovox]

Why is it that people always say Pop was a failure. Commericially not as succesful but it was a great album and all this bullshit about not being finished, sometimes you can overdo it. Pop is a more exciting album than the commercially safe ATYCLB. Beautiful Day while being a good track is not a great track. Gone is one of the best songs U2 have ever done and better than any song on ATYCLB. The great songs on that album were not the singles they were Kite, New York, In a Little While and also the much underrated When I Look at the World. I just hope with the new album they are pushing the boundaries again, the clip I have heard for Vertigo sounds great and a very exciting track. But come on guys lay off Pop, a really great and underrated U2 album, that I am always listening to. Pop the album was definetly not pop music, but ATYCLB was pop in a music sense.

 

[bsp77]

I echo the sentiment about Pop. It pisses me off every time they say it wasn't finished. Are the versions of Discotheque and Staring at the Sun on the Best of the finished versions? Are the remixed singles of Last Night on Earth, Please and If God Will Send His Angels finished? If so, I would have liked the "finished" version less. The only "finished" version I like is Gone off the best of. That song is brilliant.

 

[bsp77]

I echo the sentiment about Pop. It pisses me off every time they say it wasn't finished. Are the versions of Discotheque and Staring at the Sun on the Best of the finished versions? Are the remixed singles of Last Night on Earth, Please and If God Will Send His Angels finished? If so, I would have liked the "finished" version less. The only "finished" version I like is Gone off the best of. That song is brilliant.

 

[boosterjuice]

Me too,

I don't want to sound like a broken record but POP is one of my fav ablums too. It's got something really deep to it. It's really raw and "in your face".

 

[MrBrau1]

U2 records are amazing because each new album makes the back catalog sound even better. For me, Pop was OK at first. I loved Gone and SATS. Then came ATYCLB. Classic sounding U2 song like BD, Walk On, and Kite. Soul numbers like Stuck and IAL. Strong rock numbers in Elevation and New York, and the pure pop joy of Wild Honey.
Going back to Pop and Zooropa was much easier after ATYCLB. I could appreciate their adventure alot more, because of the solid songwork of ATYCLB. I'm sure "Atomic Bomb" will do the same thing, make their whole collective work even stronger.

 

[Bono's shades]

I'm not really worried about the new album because on the few ocassions that U2 released something I didn't like initially I almost always ended up liking it after listening to it several times.

 

[rjhbonovox]

I echo the sentiment about Pop. It pisses me off every time they say it wasn't finished. Are the versions of Discotheque and Staring at the Sun on the Best of the finished versions? Are the remixed singles of Last Night on Earth, Please and If God Will Send His Angels finished? If so, I would have liked the "finished" version less. The only "finished" version I like is Gone off the best of. That song is brilliant.

Yep I was gonna mention that, the 'best of' version of Staring at the Sun is crap compared to the original. Discotheque & Gone, both versions are great from the pop and best of albums and its hard to choose between them. Also the remix version of Numb is nowhere as good as the original off Zooropa. The main thing I like about Pop is that it is so diverse. There is many different shades to that album and I don't think you can say that with ATYCLB. The tracks Peace on Earth and Grace are two of the weakest album tracks U2 have ever recorded and I hardly play them which is unusual for me cos I normally like to listen to all U2's album tracks. When I first heard 'Discotheque' on the radio it was really exciting similar to the feeling I got when I first heard 'The Fly' and also 'Numb', but I didn't get that feeling with 'Beautiful Day' which when I first heard it was a bit disapointing. Still a good track but not in my top ten u2 songs. Now Gone is definetly a top ten U2 song!