If Bomb was made by a different artist...

[Screwtape2]

...would your opinion of the album be better or worse? If you say worse, do you think if the artist has a history of great music that you would show any mercy in your rating of that album? If you say better, does a history of great music make you rate a bad album worse?

 

[DPR]

it would be rated better. i like how to dismantle an atomic bomb. it wasn't u2s best but it would probably be 90% of the bands out there's best album.

 

[Earnie Shavers]

If another band released Vertigo and Sometimes, ie those singles were my introduction to their album, I probably would never even consider buying it.

 

[gman]

If another band released Vertigo and Sometimes, ie those singles were my introduction to their album, I probably would never even consider buying it.

Are you then saying, you only like em tunes coz its u2? I canna make sense of that if thats the case, as, to me, if the tune appeals to you as a u2 tune, then it should appeal to you even if it was your most hated artist.

 

[Earnie Shavers]

I don't mind Vertigo as a fun, disposable song, don't really like Sometimes at all. Just saying, I don't think, if I just heard those songs on the radio, and they were by someone other than U2, that I don't think either would have struck me in any way other than thinking "these guys are solid". I probably would have been happy turning up Vertigo in the car sometimes when it's on the radio, and I'd probably flick over when Sometimes came on. Neither sparks much if any reaction as U2 songs to me, and thus, take away U2, and they'd just be very good/polished pop-rock from some new band, and I probably wouldn't think twice about them at all beyond that.

Does that make sense? It's not about disliking them as such, just knowing that neither would have jump started anything within me had they been by anyone else.

 

[U2DMfan]

My opinion of Bomb has never recovered from the fact that they left probably 5 songs off for inferior songs or alternate versions.

Just a gaffeclusterfuck.


Had I never heard those other versions etc.?
I probably would like it more. It still is what it is though.

 

[Earnie Shavers]

I wake up in cold sweats after dreaming about what the Bomb could have been.

 

[Aygo]

Bomb couldn't be made by another artist but U2, it's in U2's ADN.

Anyway, if it was by another artist... it would be praised naturally.
People (and not only fans, but in general) tend to attach theirselves to the masterpieces of the past or those albums that were highly regarded by the public and forget anything else. Any album that doesn't follow the path of those "glory days" is never good enough.

 

[Zoots]

I don't think HTDAAB would have become nearly as popular had it not been U2.

 

[RademR]

If Green Day, a punk influenced band with commerical appeal, released "VERTIGO" it would have been a bigger hit.

The young kids would have jumped all over it.

 

[fandangamoq]

it would have been "rated" worse, especially in the UK press. Can't say if it would have done better.

Also, hopefully a different band would make a better album cover.

 

[BVS]

If say the Killers made this album people would be over it...

Most people dislike this album because it sounds like U2 trying to be U2, lyrics are dodgy...well that's the Killers in a nutshell.

 

[Axver]

If another band released Vertigo and Sometimes, ie those singles were my introduction to their album, I probably would never even consider buying it.

Same. Neither song interests me much. Vertigo is inoffensive radio fluff, and Sometimes is just dull.

The album itself is mediocre but solid and has some good points. My opinion of it would be swayed by how long the band has been producing music. For example, if HTDAAB were a band's debut, I'd think it's a good first effort and shows strong signs of positive things to come. But for any half-decent band with some good albums already under their belt, this would strike me as either standing still or taking a few steps back.

In U2's case, I feel it's standing still after taking a few steps back with ATYCLB.

 

[dietcokeofevil]

It would rock if it was recorded by Coldplay

 

[Alisaura]

... I would think, "Wow, that guy really sounds like Bono!"

 

[powerhour24]

Would another artist kick their producer to the curb, and dump a handful of great tunes? Bomb is a strong record with no flow that could have been a masterpiece.