SOE 25 - The Freakout

[trevgreg]

I dug that intro and first verse.

Same here. Intro sort of struck me as Magnificent meets The Miracle. Verse was groovy. The chorus seemed a bit weak to me in comparison, but it was growing on me by the end.

But yeah, a decent tune I thought. We'll see what happens after a couple of more listens over time.

 

[elevated_u2_fan]

I liked that a lot, like more than I was expecting to.

 

[TinKnight]

First thoughts: I like it

Nothing groundbreaking, but it's a good addition to the catalog. I like the verses a lot. I also like that the song ends on a high note.

 

[renvst]

So we are not getting the song today (i mean studio version) ?

Great tune !!

 

[Zoomerang96]

that was absolutely horrible, and hopefully no indication of what the album will be like.

u2 really need to start acting their age, these bombastic songs they've put out since 2000 are cringey.

 

[drmjwilson1]

the excessive crowd noise is nearly fucking ruining this. i can hardly hear the damn song sometimes.

Bingo.

 

[Axver]

Yeah it could've done without so much crowd noise, but I definitely enjoyed that more than I expected.

The only weak bit is the ending (the false one and the real one) where Bono does the "oh oh oh" bit in place of lyrics. It's like he's trying to channel the end of HMTMKMKM but is too old and hoarse.

Overall though? Edge sounds great, the rhythm is strong, no lyrics that leap out immediately as on the level of Boots stupidity - it's not as if there's been much competition but this is, on one listen, the best lead song (single?) since Vertigo.

 

[RoKKeR]

That was amazing, damn. Smiling like an idiot in the office.

 

[trevgreg]

the excessive crowd noise is nearly fucking ruining this. i can hardly hear the damn song sometimes.

I don't have the best hearing, but I heard it just fine over headphones I thought.

 

[Numb1075]

I'd love to hear this without crowd noise.


First impression:

To me, this song is all about Adam.

Some wonky moments but the chorus is catchy as heck.

 

[prbiker15]

I think adding the crowd noise was intentional - anyone thinks this isn't the studio version? Couldn't hear the song that well.

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

That's definitely not U2 paint by numbers.

I believe big mouth they're speaking of is Trump.

Huge bass, catchy ass chorus.

Need to have a release without the damn crowd noise but I'm digging this a lot. Looks like they learned the lesson of leaving Crystal Ballroom off the last album.

 

[elevated_u2_fan]

that was absolutely horrible, and hopefully no indication of what the album will be like.

u2 really need to start acting their age, these bombastic songs they've put out since 2000 are cringey.

nice, who had Zoomerang in the pool?

 

[Axver]

that was absolutely horrible, and hopefully no indication of what the album will be like.

u2 really need to start acting their age, these bombastic songs they've put out since 2000 are cringey.

And to think people were hanging shit on me for predictable posts.

 

[koci]

TRT 5:12!

 

[Catman]

There's your E&I concert opener.

Thought the same thing

Solid tune, IMO. Really enjoying the instrumentation during the verses

 

[Melon50]

This sounded very "live" to me. It's probably the actual performance of the nightclub, so live with some prerecorded stuff backing..

 

[trainmaniac]

Great tune, SOE will be great.

 

[PRB216]

This is gonna be a fun one live. The chorus is much better in the context of the full song as expected. Much rawer sound than SOI too. The bass is aggressive, Edge's riff is interesting and it has a very dark/garage rock/the Killers vibe.

 

[Axver]

Same here. Intro sort of struck me as Magnificent meets The Miracle. Verse was groovy. The chorus seemed a bit weak to me in comparison, but it was growing on me by the end.

But yeah, a decent tune I thought. We'll see what happens after a couple of more listens over time.

Yeah if anything the chorus is the weak part of the song.

Let's give it another spin.

 

[JoRu]

First impression is that it's definitely their best effort in a long time fusing a classic U2 sound with a more modern approach to tempo and beat. It's a loooooot better than The Miracle (which I, believe it or not, always thought was kinda crap from the first listen), that's for sure. I think I enjoy the first part the best actually; the chorus is good, but a bit repetitive and doesn't mesh perfectly with the rest. Great effort overall, though!

This opinion will obviously change 100 times over the next months, obviously.

 

[koci]

way more than i was expecting! sounds much better on headphones!

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

nice, who had Zoomerang in the pool?

Me!

$$$$$$$$

 

[lazarus]

Is Sil ok??

I hope no one died watching that.

All in all this seems refreshingly straightforward and not too overproduced like the last two lead singles. Then again, who knows what the album version will sound like. It was a smart choice to reintroduce themselves with this live version (or whatever hybrid between the two it is).

It's all about Adam on this one.

 

[TinKnight]

As much as I'm kind of lukewarm about it, I will say that it has more soul than anything from SoI.

 

[Melon50]

This is gonna be a fun one live. The chorus is much better in the context of the full song as expected. Much rawer sound than SOI too. The bass is aggressive, Edge's riff is interesting and it has a very dark/garage rock/the Killers vibe.

Agree, this sounds more raw/garage than they have in a long time..

 

[Zoomerang96]

shock horror, zoomerang96 doesn't like what he heard. genuinely glad you folks do, though.

i'm going to watch norm macdonald videos now to make myself feel better.

 

[U2freakboy]

Oh yes! Now that's the U2 I was hoping for. I would describe it as "cool." That's not something I've been able to say about many recent U2 songs, even the ones I loved.

 

[david]

So that intro and first verse are good. There's some interesting guitar work going on. Not bad. Not bad.

 

[travelleru2]

Yeah chorus is the weak bit imo the intro and the last verse are good