great article/preview from musicweek

[riteshbhatt1]

Wow, great except "Crumbs..." hasn't been a strong contender so far.

 

[FullonEdge2]

ONE STEP CLOSER everybody. Every reviewer seems to agree, this song is going to be an atmospheric masterpiece!

I really enjoyed this review.

 

[FullonEdge2]

btw isn't it interesting that the reviews that had "Crumbs" as the 8th track weren't as keen on it as the Blender's review when it was the 2nd track? Perhaps it just sounds weaker for some reason following "A Man and a Woman". Anyway, I really do look forward to hearing Crumbs and forming my own opinion.

 

[Flying FuManchu]

The others: Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own, City Of Blinding Lights, A Man And A Woman, Crumbs On Your Table, One Step Closer and Yahweh appear to have almost confused, ramshackle song structures that demand more patience from the listener. Undoubtedly these will become the album's masterpieces.

 

[TheBrazilianFly]

YahWeh:
Huge chiming guitars, incredibly uptempo song that seems to be
calling out for the ancient Hebrew God.

Fast Cars:
Features arabic style drumming that gives way to marriachi rhythms.
Excellent energetic song and unusual for U2 to complete an album on
an upbeat note.

OH. MY. GOOD. GOD!!!!

 

[Queen Bee]

I really hope that Fast Cars will be on the Collector's Edition.

 

[RademR]

Edge digs up the guitar sound that is synonymous with the Joshua Tree, while the ending has the rousing drums that first appeared on U2's slight foray into hard rock on Exit.

This isn't doing anything good for my dangerous anticipation for this album. That is a great description, sounds like "Exit??" WOWWW, and I agree with someone earlier about being good that Yahweh is an uptempo song, no chance of GRACE. GAnd I think they should just feck it and put "Fast Cars" on the whole album, it would be cool for u2 to end the album on an energetic note.

 

[Phalanx]

Er, I read the previews someone posted of ATYCLB, and it doesn't seem unlike the previews of HTDAAB.

 

[elfyx]

I'm also really happy "Yaweh" is an uptempo closer.

I think that fact is going to have a really nice rounding-out effect for the album as a whole.

 

[boosterjuice]

Er, I read the previews someone posted of ATYCLB, and it doesn't seem unlike the previews of HTDAAB.

Where did you read these reviews? I'm also curious to draw comparisons between ATYCLB and HTDAAB reviews.

Because let's face it; reviewers sometimes don't know what they're talking about.

 

[riteshbhatt1]

Just by hearing Vertigo and that crappy leak of Love & Peace... it doesn't sound ANYTHING like the last album so that's good news. It is U2, so it will sound like "U2"

 

[Phalanx]

Where did you read these reviews? I'm also curious to draw comparisons between ATYCLB and HTDAAB reviews.

Because let's face it; reviewers sometimes don't know what they're talking about.

http://www.u2station.com/documents/...oard_review.txt

 

[U2girl]

I remember early this year when EVERYONE said "early U2" and "it's like their first albums" specifically naming Boy. Then, the newspaper reviews started bringing up Joshua Tree sound and Achtung Baby/Unforgettable fire sound was mentioned.
Now we got Pop sounds on it as well?

 

[Phalanx]

Well, what the reviewers say isn't necessarily the complete reality of the songs either.

 

[djerdap]

Look, it depends on the listener's ears. For example, Love and Peace doesn't sound at all like Mofo to me.

 

[elfyx]

This album is going to be like totally phat and stuff.

 

[U2girl]

Interesting to hear Yahweh being "increbly uptempo" - U2's closing songs are usually slower.

 

[jackboy]

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhgggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[U2girl]

Fast Cars:
Features arabic style drumming that gives way to marriachi rhythms.
Excellent energetic song and unusual for U2 to complete an album on
an upbeat note.


'Fast Cars' (bonus track)

NME
Unlikely to appear on the UK version of the album, this track is currently slated for inclusion on the Japanese pressing only. That's a tragedy for UK U2 fans as it's by far the most exciting song here. With a distinct Middle Eastern influence in the music, it's also where the line 'How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb' comes from. NME says: put this track on the UK album!

Uncut
U2 do world music on a Japan-only track destined to become a collector's item - an exotic, semi-Arabic beat with a touch of flamenco.

Is the song on the album or not?

 

[Sleep Over Jack]

I'm surprised there aren't more articles out there after this listening party...anyway, the descriptions have me really excited, although Its hard to imagine the album sound since it seems to have large chunks of JT, AB and now some POP thrown in

 

[elfyx]

Is it an amalgamation of all the U2 signature sounds?

 

[zoopop]

You think I should be happy that Pop, AB, and UF are my favorite U2 albums.....

 

[Popmartijn]

Anyone have a copy of prerelease track by track review of ATYCLB?

Here's a pre-release track review by Q magazine for ATYCLB.
From the @U2 website: http://www.atu2.com/news/article.src?ID=106&Key=&Year=2000&Cat=

 

[Phalanx]

Yea, we shouldn't get too excited, because the previews for ATYCLB were just as positive.....

 

[biff]

Thanks for finding those, Marty. Those are very clever and apt sketches of those songs.
The new album previews sound WAY more exciting!

 

[Anthony]

Sounds fantastic.

Oh, and to all of you UK fans out there; I really do think we'll get 'Fast Cars'. For one thing, it was at the preview. For another, all the British stores online (HMV for instance) seem to feature it in their track list. Lest we forget that the UK was also privy to the Bonus track of 'The Ground Beneath Her Feet' in ATYCLB, so it serves a good precedence.

I'm confident we shall have it.

Ant.

 

[Pop Artist]

I'm surprised there aren't more articles out there after this listening party...anyway, the descriptions have me really excited, although Its hard to imagine the album sound since it seems to have large chunks of JT, AB and now some POP thrown in

No please, at least for a week or two...I just bought five magazines with U2 articles at the store tonight for the whopping sum of $31.19...four of them had the band/Bono on the covers, guy must've thought I was weird. Anyway, at this rate they're going to bankrupt me before the tickets even go on sale.

 

[JOFO]

Yea, we shouldn't get too excited, because the previews for ATYCLB were just as positive.....

that's what I keep saying; and I'll stop saying it now because I don't want to be negative....but come on....LAPOE does not sound anything like mofo.

 

[Miggy D]

Remember when idiotic reviewers were calling ATYCLB 'U2's hardest rocker since The Joshua Tree'? Not only are they way off on their comparison (Achtung, Baby! was far more rocking than JT), but I would never, ever, ever consider ATYCLB an album of 'hard rocking'. It was a mature, paced album full of some anthemic, albeit slower-moving songs. It was basically U2 sounding like they were 40 (which most of them were). This album sounds like it will be U2 simply being U2, not reflecting on how old they are (which is great in my opinion - enough with the mid-life crisis bs).

 

[Reggie Thee Dog]

Well you know boys and girls ATYCLB may not be the hardest rockin' album that U2 have done, but it's a great album none-the-less. Geez, I still listen to that album like I do Achtung Baby.

As far as I'm concerned the reviews for ATYCLB were not too far off. Is it not one U2's best selling albums? Did it not bring U2 back from the brink? Sure some of the descriptions of songs are not spot on, but each ear hears things differently than others, so what you hear in a song may not be what I hear.

OK I agree that anyone who called this the hardest rocking U2 album since the Joshua Tree is a bit off, but it was the first album in many where the guitar was not so distorted that you could actually make it out on first listen. So, I assume, some reviewers felt that that made it rock a bit harder than it did. Fair play to you all on that.

But on the whole ATYCLB is one of U2's finest albums on pure songs alone. No question about it.