Describing U2...

[gareth brown]

How DO you describe U2?!

Am I the only one sick to the back teeth of people pretending to be wise music critics and parroting phrases such as
"Oh, that performance is so 'raw'..." or
"That version of [song-here] is so 'haunting'..." "Powerful" and so on...

To me it's just a pile of crap. Yeah, music is the ONE thing I would actually say I dedicate my life to but at the end of the day it really makes no sense to start going on about music with words like that.

The reason I like U2 is because they undeniably make the best music on earth, but I really don't like to put myself on some sort of wannabe-journalistic verbal high ground by using stuff like that since it basically sounds rubbish [to me!]

Am I the only one who thinks this?? If not, do let me know won't you??

 

[indra]

Okay....so just how do you describe music? You've said how you don't describe it. So now I wanna know how you do describe it. And "they undeniably make the best music on earth" doesn't quite cut it.

 

[RobH]

Not even the cynic in me knows quite what to make of this thread.

 

[gareth brown]

Well, I don't really make a mission out of describing music really, the thing is I'd probably stick to saying "this track really cuts the mustard with me because it has one of the Edge's best ever riffs and Clayton's bass really gives the track a real groove...these days I'd probably start going on about how well it's produced too since that's how I lean at the moment, most likely complaining about it, heh...! But yeah, there's plenty of tracks where a below par track is actually given a bit of an extra 'nudge' by the way it's produced. Seriously, an effect on Bono's voice [even if it's just reverb or a bit of delay/echo] or the tone they get on some of the backing instruments, really give you an idea of what kind of sound they WANT you to hear from the record. For example the Joshua Tree, I thought it was quite cool when what I thought of the album was actually exactly how the intended it to be heard, as 'cinematic soundscapes'. great stuff.

cut it?

 

[RA-D]

"Talking about music is like dancing about architecture" - Frank Zappa

 

[gareth brown]

Haha!

 

[rastacruz]

I describe U2 as being one of my favorite bands

 

[BONO'ppetit]

Did someone have a bad day? If we were claiming to be journalists or critics, I could maybe see the reason for the tangent. But most of us are just here to chat about our opinions--not try to win awards for them.

 

[indra]

"Talking about music is like dancing about architecture" - Frank Zappa

Very true. I've never been able to adequately describe the music I love. I'm more apt to try to describe how that music makes me feel.

 

[indra]

Well, I don't really make a mission out of describing music really, the thing is I'd probably stick to saying "this track really cuts the mustard with me because it has one of the Edge's best ever riffs and Clayton's bass really gives the track a real groove...these days I'd probably start going on about how well it's produced too since that's how I lean at the moment, most likely complaining about it, heh...! But yeah, there's plenty of tracks where a below par track is actually given a bit of an extra 'nudge' by the way it's produced. Seriously, an effect on Bono's voice [even if it's just reverb or a bit of delay/echo] or the tone they get on some of the backing instruments, really give you an idea of what kind of sound they WANT you to hear from the record. For example the Joshua Tree, I thought it was quite cool when what I thought of the album was actually exactly how the intended it to be heard, as 'cinematic soundscapes'. great stuff.

cut it?

well.... Kind of what I expected from someone named blahblahblah.

 

[BONO'ppetit]

I'm more apt to try to describe how that music makes me feel.

That's more like it. We already know how the music sounds, don't we?

 

[madonna's child]

I describe their music as arena rock with a lot of political and spiritual influence. I think that is a consistent description for basically their entire career.

 

[thrillme]

Every once in awhile I might pull a fake critic/wanna be journalist, but mostly it's like this:

Hehe, if the volume is turned up loud enough, I really can feel some of the songs.

Seriously, "Love and Peace" I felt the bass lines in the bleeders!

 

[korczykp]

Well, I don't really make a mission out of describing music really, the thing is I'd probably stick to saying "this track really cuts the mustard with me because it has one of the Edge's best ever riffs and Clayton's bass really gives the track a real groove...these days I'd probably start going on about how well it's produced too since that's how I lean at the moment, most likely complaining about it, heh...! But yeah, there's plenty of tracks where a below par track is actually given a bit of an extra 'nudge' by the way it's produced. Seriously, an effect on Bono's voice [even if it's just reverb or a bit of delay/echo] or the tone they get on some of the backing instruments, really give you an idea of what kind of sound they WANT you to hear from the record. For example the Joshua Tree, I thought it was quite cool when what I thought of the album was actually exactly how the intended it to be heard, as 'cinematic soundscapes'. great stuff.

cut it?

that, to me, is such a cold, technical way to describe music

I use words like "haunting" or "powerful" not to sound like a 'faux critic' but to describe the emotions a piece of music can bring out in me

it's like talking about poetry

one person will analyze the rhyming scheme, the meter, stanzas and structure... while others will talk about the emotion and feeling it brings out

that's how I see music, I don't see it in the riffs, or the basslines, but how all those elements combine together with the vocals to evoke a particular emotion or feeling...

neither way is wrong, they're just different..

 

[BVS]

Putting any type of art in words is difficult, because you'll never quite capture it and sometimes you'll actually do it disservice.

I'm a musician and a painter and I hate putting my work in words. I usually don't unless absolutley necessary.

 

[Pero]

Why do i like U2?
Edge makes riffs pretty good to hear and pretty easy to play.
Because the music gives me that emotional and physical relaxation, which i didn't find anywhere else. I agree that there are bad songs like: Love rescue me, When love comes to town, Red light...(depends on a person), but when you hear those beautys like THE FLY, Streets, Acrobat, With or without you, One... you feel nice(at least i do).
That's why i love U2.

Descibing U2:
Four guys doing what they want by making big hits, great songs, little less great songs and terrible songs. These great songs are very close to perfection if you ask me.
Like Osgood said at the end of Some like it hot: NOBODY'S PERFECT.

 

[gareth brown]

that, to me, is such a cold, technical way to describe music

suit yourself, it's my opinion.

 

[korczykp]

suit yourself, it's my opinion.

*nods*

like I said at the bottom of my post, neither way is wrong, they're just different

 

[gareth brown]

mm-hmm