Rolling Stone: "U2 greatest hits comp, may drop before Christmas"

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Anticipation said:
As a long time fan who has been sitting back and reading things in this forum since 2000 and posted occasionally, I am amazed about how so many people here post how U2 is in decline when they just won the Album of the Year grammy and are once again universally accepted throughout the world as the biggest band in the world. Also, the rumours of U2 retiring or breaking up has been going on at least since 1992 and they haven't so I really think people need to stop obsessing. I remeber being at the awesome first show of Zoo TV in Lakeland, Florida on leap day 1992 and people saying that this may be their last tour. And that was over 14 years ago.

Bud people here think they know everything, don't get too uptight about it. They are all an armchair critic because they can be, and they will be because the Internet gives them the ability to do so.

All of them will say U2 is in decline over rated....subpar musicians that should have never made it man they are terrible. Lets all come here kiss the ass of every other band that remotely sounds expirimental and call them the greatest thing since sliced bread. Selling 130 million albums means nothing these days goddamn sellout bastards. They should stop milking the public and retire already! Grammys, who needs those, infact if you win one you are a sellout! U2 shouldnt be selling records, they shouldnt be charging such high prices for seats and they should be playing in my livingroom but only the songs I want to hear man....they should be making my lifes soundtrack and I could care less what anybody else wants and even what the band wants!
 
Yahweh said:


Bud people here think they know everything, don't get too uptight about it. They are all an armchair critic because they can be, and they will be because the Internet gives them the ability to do so.

All of them will say U2 is in decline over rated....subpar musicians that should have never made it man they are terrible. Lets all come here kiss the ass of every other band that remotely sounds expirimental and call them the greatest thing since sliced bread. Selling 130 million albums means nothing these days goddamn sellout bastards. They should stop milking the public and retire already! Grammys, who needs those, infact if you win one you are a sellout! U2 shouldnt be selling records, they shouldnt be charging such high prices for seats and they should be playing in my livingroom but only the songs I want to hear man....they should be making my lifes soundtrack and I could care less what anybody else wants and even what the band wants!

What a disgraceful post. You have taken logical arguments from other posters and warped them in a way as to demean thier views. If you were to actually read other people's opinions you might understand where they are coming from. Yahweh, why would you write something like this? It might be sarcasm but they way you presented it was rude to those who have posted in this thread. The things you have put in your post are misrepresentations and the rest have been properly defended by those on this thread.
 
Screwtape2 said:


What a disgraceful post. You have taken logical arguments from other posters and warped them in a way as to demean thier views. If you were to actually read other people's opinions you might understand where they are coming from. Yahweh, why would you write something like this? It might be sarcasm but they way you presented it was rude to those who have posted in this thread. The things you have put in your post are misrepresentations and the rest have been properly defended by those on this thread.

:up:

yeah really, that was just a turd over a good debate thread.

And yes, there really aren't that many exciting drummers out there right now. Maybe there are, and I have no idea who they are?
 
Yahweh said:

they should be making my lifes soundtrack and I could care less what anybody else wants and even what the band wants!

That was an example of someone who was clearly JOKING. Once you quote something like that, your credibility goes down quite a bit
 
Yahweh said:


Bud people here think they know everything, don't get too uptight about it. They are all an armchair critic because they can be, and they will be because the Internet gives them the ability to do so.

All of them will say U2 is in decline over rated....subpar musicians that should have never made it man they are terrible. Lets all come here kiss the ass of every other band that remotely sounds expirimental and call them the greatest thing since sliced bread. Selling 130 million albums means nothing these days goddamn sellout bastards. They should stop milking the public and retire already! Grammys, who needs those, infact if you win one you are a sellout! U2 shouldnt be selling records, they shouldnt be charging such high prices for seats and they should be playing in my livingroom but only the songs I want to hear man....they should be making my lifes soundtrack and I could care less what anybody else wants and even what the band wants!
:eyebrow: :scratch: :confused:

One thing: they don't have to sell millions of millions, but to abstract totally from the mainstream and the marketing techniques and promotion means (at least technically) the inverse of their mission - spread their music and make it listenable to the most people possible...
 
Grammy's are not the be all thing but Album of the Year is special to the band themselves and to critics and to many many people. For U2 to have one in 87 for Joshua Tree and then one almost 20 years later for Bomb is quite an accomplishment. I think Actung Baby and ATYCLB should have won over that stupid Oh Brother soundtrack. It shouldn't have been eligible since it was a soundtrack and with different artists. But at least they got the respect to win those 2.

I think that U2 with the last two albums are more respected now by more people then ever before. I loved all of them Actung and Pop and Bomb. The only thing I can't too into is the remixes that take away too much of U2 and their instruments. These are almost tributes of U2 with Bono's vocal (ex Mofo remixes) Each one period sets up the next. The return to basics in ATYCLB would not have been as appreciated or possible if they never left them with Zooropa or Pop. The Beatles back to rock basics in the White album would not have been as appreciated without Pepper or Magical Mystery Tour.
 
Anticipation said:
Grammy's are not the be all thing but Album of the Year is special to the band themselves and to critics and to many many people. For U2 to have one in 87 for Joshua Tree and then one almost 20 years later for Bomb is quite an accomplishment. I think Actung Baby and ATYCLB should have won over that stupid Oh Brother soundtrack. It shouldn't have been eligible since it was a soundtrack and with different artists. But at least they got the respect to win those 2.

I think that U2 with the last two albums are more respected now by more people then ever before. I loved all of them Actung and Pop and Bomb. The only thing I can't too into is the remixes that take away too much of U2 and their instruments. These are almost tributes of U2 with Bono's vocal (ex Mofo remixes) Each one period sets up the next. The return to basics in ATYCLB would not have been as appreciated or possible if they never left them with Zooropa or Pop. The Beatles back to rock basics in the White album would not have been as appreciated without Pepper or Magical Mystery Tour.
Well I don't quite know where to go after that.
I think we can close EYKIW now. The circle of life is complete.

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Yahweh said:


Bud people here think they know everything, don't get too uptight about it. They are all an armchair critic because they can be, and they will be because the Internet gives them the ability to do so.

All of them will say U2 is in decline over rated....subpar musicians that should have never made it man they are terrible. Lets all come here kiss the ass of every other band that remotely sounds expirimental and call them the greatest thing since sliced bread. Selling 130 million albums means nothing these days goddamn sellout bastards. They should stop milking the public and retire already! Grammys, who needs those, infact if you win one you are a sellout! U2 shouldnt be selling records, they shouldnt be charging such high prices for seats and they should be playing in my livingroom but only the songs I want to hear man....they should be making my lifes soundtrack and I could care less what anybody else wants and even what the band wants!

Yahweh, I'll get your back. I can recognize that you're joking, yet also making a point. That point, at least as I see it, is that we all think that we're right, and that the same anti-U2 arguments come out in ever-repeating cycles. Screwtape & phillyfan, you'll see...once you've been on here for a year or so, you'll see that the same things get repeated over and over. When there's nothing going on, people here bicker with each other. When something new comes up---i.e., beach clips, big tour news, album/dvd news---everyone bands together and gets genuinely excited. Not too long after, though, the same arguments come back up, often made by the same people. U2 are sellouts. U2 only care about money now but they never did before. U2 aren't playing in my part of the world. Bono's getting fat. They've lost their fire, they're not creative or experimental anymore. Blah blah blah. What's funny is that the same 20 people who complain that U2 aren't experimental (yet who fail to recognize that neither ATYCLB nor HTDAAB sound like any other U2 album, not most other bands' records, BTW) make the same exact argument every time-----pretty "unexperimental" if you ask me. :eyebrow: It all inevitably leads to someone writing a post like mine, or some sad sap who gets his or her feelings hurt by some words on a screen and writes this long goodbye post about how things used to be nicer when he or she joined the forum years/months ago. :tsk: The anti-00's U2 folk end up getting shittily arrogant and won't recognize any pro-new U2 argument, as if real music lovers simply cannot accept current U2. One of the only answers is to do what Yahweh did---point out how ridiculous some of the arguments are and leave it at that.

Moral of the story: It's all fun and games. Enjoy U2. Like an era, like all the eras, whatever. U2 will do what they want to do. Like their choices or not. Just don't become an arrogant poster speaking with the voice of God (I guess like I'm doing now :wink: ). Recognize that everyone has their own opinion, that many of these opinions recycle now and then, and that sometimes the most striking or vocal of posters are the ones who disagree with you. And in the end, remember:

normal_Internet-SeriousBusiness.jpg
 
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Utoo said:


Yahweh, I'll get your back. I can recognize that you're joking, yet also making a point. That point, at least as I see it, is that we all think that we're right, and that the same anti-U2 arguments come out in ever-repeating cycles. Screwtape & phillyfan, you'll see...once you've been on here for a year or so, you'll see that the same things get repeated over and over. When there's nothing going on, people here bicker with each other. When something new comes up---i.e., beach clips, big tour news, album/dvd news---everyone bands together and gets genuinely excited. Not too long after, though, the same arguments come back up, often made by the same people. U2 are sellouts. U2 only care about money now but they never did before. U2 aren't playing in my part of the world. Bono's getting fat. They've lost their fire, they're not creative or experimental anymore. Blah blah blah. What's funny is that the same 20 people who complain that U2 aren't experimental (yet who fail to recognize that neither ATYCLB nor HTDAAB sound like any other U2 album, not most other bands' records, BTW) make the same exact argument every time-----pretty "unexperimental" if you ask me. :eyebrow: It all inevitably leads to someone writing a post like mine, or some sad sap who gets his or her feelings hurt by some words on a screen and writes this long goodbye post about how things used to be nicer when he or she joined the forum years/months ago. :tsk: The anti-00's U2 folk end up getting shittily arrogant and won't recognize any pro-new U2 argument, as if real music lovers simply cannot accept current U2. One of the only answers is to do what Yahweh did---point out how ridiculous some of the arguments are and leave it at that.

Moral of the story: It's all fun and games. Enjoy U2. Like an era, like all the eras, whatever. U2 will do what they want to do. Like their choices or not. Just don't become an arrogant poster speaking with the voice of God (I guess like I'm doing now :wink: ). Recognize that everyone has their own opinion, that many of these opinions recycle now and then, and that sometimes the most striking or vocal of posters are the ones who disagree with you. And in the end, remember:

normal_Internet-SeriousBusiness.jpg

I've seen it already. His point was made. But, I disagree with him quoting someone who was kidding and trying to drag that person into the discussion.
 
Utoo said:


Yahweh, I'll get your back. I can recognize that you're joking, yet also making a point. That point, at least as I see it, is that we all think that we're right, and that the same anti-U2 arguments come out in ever-repeating cycles. Screwtape & phillyfan, you'll see...once you've been on here for a year or so, you'll see that the same things get repeated over and over. When there's nothing going on, people here bicker with each other. When something new comes up---i.e., beach clips, big tour news, album/dvd news---everyone bands together and gets genuinely excited. Not too long after, though, the same arguments come back up, often made by the same people. U2 are sellouts. U2 only care about money now but they never did before. U2 aren't playing in my part of the world. U2 don't vary their setlists enough. Bono's getting fat. They've lost their fire, they're not creative or experimental anymore. Blah blah blah. What's funny is that the same 20 people who complain that U2 aren't experimental (yet who fail to recognize that neither ATYCLB nor HTDAAB sound like any other U2 album, not most other bands' records, BTW) make the same exact argument every time-----pretty "unexperimental" if you ask me. :eyebrow: It all inevitably leads to someone writing a post like mine, or some sad sap who gets his or her feelings hurt by some words on a screen and writes this long goodbye post about how things used to be nicer when he or she joined the forum years/months ago. :tsk: The anti-00's U2 folk end up getting shittily arrogant and won't recognize any pro-new U2 argument, as if real music lovers simply cannot accept current U2. One of the only answers is to do what Yahweh did---point out how ridiculous some of the arguments are and leave it at that.

Moral of the story: It's all fun and games. Enjoy U2. Like an era, like all the eras, whatever. U2 will do what they want to do. Like their choices or not. Just don't become an arrogant poster speaking with the voice of God (I guess like I'm doing now :wink: ). Recognize that everyone has their own opinion, that many of these opinions recycle now and then, and that sometimes the most striking or vocal of posters are the ones who disagree with you. And in the end, remember:

Utoo, I think you're a genious. :hug: :bow: I think that this post resumes and says all that I think about the actual state of this forum and all that I feel that I need to express by times like this when every thread goes wrong.
I couldn't agree more with it, I think you took those words from my mouth.
Y'all know what... a month or two I got veeeery pissed of about 3 or 4 threads that were being very active and which content I really disliked, people got rude with each other and I promised to stop posting and only read what it's posted here. That was a bad action, to become silent. Utoo is right, we have to learn to ignore those kind of things and start to take it as some kind of game started by someome who's not very sane. I guess that's what I started to do here. If that's the way it is, everybody is happy and everything becomes easier...:wink:
 
phillyfan26 said:


I've seen it already. His point was made. But, I disagree with him quoting someone who was kidding and trying to drag that person into the discussion.

i'll take that. :yes:




I think it's time for one of us to bring up the post of the ZooTV concert-goer who thought that U2 had gone down the tubes with Achtung Baby. :wink:
 
Ive been on this site since it started, off and on, and yes believe it or not the same arguements were made about the POP album close to 10 years ago, in this very forum, whether people believe me is up to them.

People can discuss all they want I am all for discussion, and while I was joking, I was also making a very real point here, that history repeats itself in this forum over and over again, just with a different cast of characters.

Continue with the thread.
 
Axver said:

Mike Portnoy. :drool: :drool:

One of the few. :wink: :drool: And that's because Portnoy's not playing boring, formulaic rock. He's actually able to do something interesting that doesn't understate his talent, since he's not drumming along to songs that maintain the same bloody structure throughout.

Which reminds me. I need more Dream Theater. :nudge nudge wink wink:
 
Why all the great threads have to go like this ......

Utoo was pretty inspired , and made which sums up what people like me think and all .....

Now the real sad thing is ....... people who like was said don't like U2's 2000 or Bomb material , call themselves "loyal fans" or whatever bullshit u may think , and start the bashing in a complete ridiculous way to not say other thing ..... There are posts here who almost say , U2 should've already quit :huh:

It's quite incredible how they think they "have the right " to do this , or worse think they know everything bout music , and specially how U2 should be or sound whatever , " to be called good "

One of these , I gotta give the credit , Mr Bono does say lot of crap , but one real happy line of him , actually one of the happiest , was on that Much Music thing .......

"There's this middle class whittiie kid who buys a Les paul , and think they ' know ' rock , and come :

- that's not rock'n roll , No "

:eyebrow: Incredible of how it fits here really

Or like a boy who only properly kissed a girl for the 1st time , and think he can already give ladies orgasms .......
 
Yahweh said:
Ive been on this site since it started, off and on, and yes believe it or not the same arguements were made about the POP album close to 10 years ago, in this very forum, whether people believe me is up to them.

People can discuss all they want I am all for discussion, and while I was joking, I was also making a very real point here, that history repeats itself in this forum over and over again, just with a different cast of characters.

Continue with the thread.

Now to put a final wrap on this tangent. I can't speak to Utoo's point about how the forum and neither can Phillyfan because we haven't been here all that long. However, and it may be my misinterpretation, but it seems like alot of the arguments utilize recent trends and events. So to say that arguments are the same seems to be a false statement. Then again, I could be way off. Yahweh, your original post seemed to generalize what was being said and the "proof" that was being used. Some of which were being pushed forward by me. Alot of those arguments were based on things that have happened recently so to lump them in as things said for the past however many years, seems unfair. I understand what you're saying and in the future I might be in your position. So the next, you feel the need to let out those feelings please do so in a less condescending way. You and Utoo have made far arguments, so let us put this issue to rest.
 
Yahweh said:
Bud people here think they know everything, don't get too uptight about it. They are all an armchair critic because they can be, and they will be because the Internet gives them the ability to do so.
if you don't like this thread, forum, whatever, you're more than welcome to leave.

this is the second time i've had to warn someone in this thread. i won't warn anyone in this thread again.
 
JMScoopy said:

i want guitar solos :rockon: :rockon: :rockon:

Me too, but not just for the sake of it, or for the sake of rockin'. I'd just really like to hear emotion return to Edge's guitar playing. The dude, while technically getting better and better, is creatively on autopilot. If you don't believe that, pull out Achtung Baby for another spin - the guitar through that album is telling as much of the story as the Bono (and if we're talking guitar solos, The Fly, Acrobat, Love is Blindness). Pull out the Unforgettable Fire or Zooropa for other examples of brilliant, creative, inspired stuff from him.
 
KhanadaRhodes said:

if you don't like this thread, forum, whatever, you're more than welcome to leave.

this is the second time i've had to warn someone in this thread. i won't warn anyone in this thread again.

Sorry KhanadaRhodes, but... the guy is kind of right.
It's not a question of liking the thread or not, things don't get solved by abandonning the boat. And things like these have got to be said when the "air" seems "heavy as a truck" here, I guess this "warn" was not that pleaseant and helpful too...
Sincere excuses again if this all sounds challeaging and too much off-topic, but I got to say it. Well, huh..., let's get back to the thread.:sexywink: :wave:
 
I have already searched other sites, and K can't see much more about this rumor of a new compilation or greatest hits, whatever. Perhaps it was not that true and it was not taken too seriously by the general press:scratch: .
It just contributes to leave another atmosphere, it leaves us more anxious because we don't know if there'll be another discographic releasement late this year and if so, we don't know if it is an album, a compilation, an EP or a single either...:drool:
 
The simple fact is that U2 has been on a mission post-Pop to become relevant in a popularity sense. They want to be acknowledged as the biggest band in the world. Bono has said it many times. In light of this, the albums were a concerted effort to write straight-forward rock/pop songs (which U2 has never done before by the way, making this decade technically uncharted (experimental) territory--the Joshua Tree blow-up in popularity was just one of the those inexplicable things). The idea was to get the music out there, sell a lot, win awards, get on MTV, etc. This has been known since Bono started saying as much in 2000. U2, at this point in their career, doesn't want to record the kind of music that would blow away the fans but alienate the masses. At some point, probably relatively soon, they may start going in a direction more fans will like (when they are tired of massive tours, promotional stuff, etc.). U2 has maybe never been less enamored with its hardcore fans (trying to keep them out of the bomb shelter is an example), and I think that is difficult to accept for some.
 
Personally, I respect U2 for doing what they are doing now...trying to maintain popularity and relevance when pop music is what it is. They are taking the more difficult road...it'd be much easier to stay home with their families, recording more obscure and interesting music. U2 wouldn't be U2 if they didn't have the drive to be huge, to be heard, to be important. It keeps them going. Even Larry talks about that a lot...don't be fooled by his demeanor. The man wants to have charted singles...to "compete with Britany Spears". I personally think the GH comp is not a reality, but they do attempt to have some type of release every other fall, so who knows.
 
bram said:

The simple fact is that U2 has been on a mission post-Pop to become relevant in a popularity sense. They want to be acknowledged as the biggest band in the world. Bono has said it many times. In light of this, the albums were a concerted effort to write straight-forward rock/pop songs (which U2 has never done before by the way, making this decade technically uncharted (experimental) territory--the Joshua Tree blow-up in popularity was just one of the those inexplicable things). The idea was to get the music out there, sell a lot, win awards, get on MTV, etc. This has been known since Bono started saying as much in 2000. U2, at this point in their career, doesn't want to record the kind of music that would blow away the fans but alienate the masses. At some point, probably relatively soon, they may start going in a direction more fans will like (when they are tired of massive tours, promotional stuff, etc.). U2 has maybe never been less enamored with its hardcore fans (trying to keep them out of the bomb shelter is an example), and I think that is difficult to accept for some.
Personally, I respect U2 for doing what they are doing now...trying to maintain popularity and relevance when pop music is what it is. They are taking the more difficult road...it'd be much easier to stay home with their families, recording more obscure and interesting music. U2 wouldn't be U2 if they didn't have the drive to be huge, to be heard, to be important. It keeps them going. Even Larry talks about that a lot...don't be fooled by his demeanor. The man wants to have charted singles...to "compete with Britany Spears". I personally think the GH comp is not a reality, but they do attempt to have some type of release every other fall, so who knows.

Very good post:up:
 
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