You get a sense of tune and vibe and that's it (and some lyrics of course). The true nature and sound can't and doesn't come across at all, due to quality and just what sounds travel better than others. It's like when you hear a thumping bass coming through the walls from a few houses down and it sounds fantastic, then you wander outside for a cigarette only to find it's someone giving Nelly a spin. You can hear Edge's guitar rising over the top of what may be an awesome musical bed, or may be some of the most god awful synths or cheesy strings ever recorded in the entire Northern Hemisphere. Subtle chord changes, virtually any and all bass and drums.
I don't have a vote either way at this stage. I definitely think it's probably more along the lines of the last two albums. Tuneful pop tunes. What I'm interested in is whether they've addressed their quality/creativity issues in creating those tunes, or if they've just dialed more of the same in again. I won't know that till I hear something far more complete.
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