Rate the Song: Van Diemen's Land

[digitize]

And now we shall rate the first half of Rattle and Hum.

Please rate Van Diemen's Land on a scale from 0 to 10, using whatever criteria you feel allows you to best evaluate the song as a whole. I will not set criteria for people to based on, but if you feel like your best evaluation of the merits of a song comes from voting only based on, say, the studio version, go right ahead and vote that way. Full information on the Rate The Song series may be found in this thread.

Have fun! This poll will close in 96 hours.

 

[Galeongirl]

7. Love Edge's voice, though the song goes on a bit too long for my liking.

 

[Nick66]

Surprisingly good. Can't listen to it w/o thinking of the R&H opening titles.

8.

 

[cobl04]

What the fuck happened between Seconds and Numb? Horrendous vocal, and an incredibly boring song. 3.

 

[Aardvark747]

Miserable vocal. The Bono and Edge live one the other year though was great. 5.

 

[cobl04]

notAardvark747 should be making an appearance in the next day or two

 

[An Cat Gav]

Beautiful song, well sung. Good performance by The Edge.

Was played at my best mates funeral, as per his request when we were 15, so obviously that adds another dimension for me.

8

 

[The Panther]

7. Love Edge's voice, though the song goes on a bit too long for my liking.

Yeah, those two minutes and forty-five seconds really drag...

Okay, sarcasm off. I love this tune! I also want Edge to re-grow the pony-tail, and become Mr. Sensitive Pony-tail guitarist.

 

[Nick66]

Yeah, those two minutes and forty-five seconds really drag...

Okay, sarcasm off. I love this tune! I also want Edge to re-grow the pony-tail, and become Mr. Sensitive Pony-tail guitarist.

Well, for those who don't like the song or think it's too long, the edited film version is even shorter!

I love the tune also. It's no masterpiece, just something about it works for me.

 

[prbiker15]

VDL never grew on me, though Edge's vocals are great. Giving it a 5.

 

[flybabe]

Not a favorite but it's fun to listen to Edge sing and he really tries to pull it off, and it just goes to show why he isn't the lead singer in some parts. 6.

 

[gvox]

Not a favorite but it's fun to listen to Edge sing and he really tries to pull it off, and it just goes to show why he isn't the lead singer in some parts.

Interesting you say that, as this song always made me think "damn, that guy could be the lead singer." Maybe not of U2, but...

 

[LemonMelon]

I'm amused by the wide-ranging opinion on Edge's vocals here. You'd think something like vocal quality would be somewhat objective in nature, but I guess not.

(Personally, I think many are listening to this and thinking "aww how cute, Edge is singing! Where's Bono?" and rating more or less based on that. I think his vocal here is very good, regardless of whether or not it's strong enough to match Bono during his strongest period as a vocalist.)

Oh, and yeah, I gave this one a 7.

 

[flybabe]

Interesting you say that, as this song always made me think "damn, that guy could be the lead singer." Maybe not of U2, but...

 

[gvox]

I'm amused by the wide-ranging opinion on Edge's vocals here. You'd think something like vocal quality would be somewhat objective in nature, but I guess not.

(Personally, I think many are listening to this and thinking "aww how cute, Edge is singing! Where's Bono?" and rating more or less based on that. I think his vocal here is very good, regardless of whether or not it's strong enough to match Bono during his strongest period as a vocalist.)

It is very good. And when you balance his performance on this track and take in the fact that Edge provides quite a lot of vocal heft on the choruses of live versions of U2's hardest songs, you realize that he is a great singer in his own right.

 

[cobl04]

It's like nails on a chalkboard to me. I wish he'd just shut up and play the blues.

 

[doctorwho]

I'm gonna get hated - I'm not a fan of this song.

Edge's voice sounds weak (especially compared to Bono's super strong voice back then). The song seems too long and the beat just isn't great. The topic is intriguing, but it only added to that "holier than thou" image U2 had at that time.

It's one of the weaker songs on R&H, IMO, and I usually skip it.