SOE 35 - it’s finally here, let the debate on how good/bad it is begin!

The friendliest place on the web for anyone that follows U2.
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
It's so hard to have clarity in moments like this! I was so impressed by so much of No Line. I'm on the record somewhere on this site saying it was in their top 3. Apart from those middle songs. Which, over time, rotted the album a bit for me.

This one - trying to be totally sober here - is let down by Best Thing and American Soul. I kinda like Get Out.
And listening to the ethereal nature of the album, I can't fathom why they let those two songs on the album as they are. The acoustic Best Thing would have been better. And American Soul - just a few lyric tweaks would have at least improved it.

Will those two songs rot this album? Who knows, but they're certainly not as bad as Boots and Comedy.
And there's a bigness, a joy, here on this album. But also that pain in 13 and Little Things. No Line was emotional but it was all 'in character'. This is a lot more raw.

I don't know Dan. But I'm loving this buzz and for now, I kinda have to agree with you.

I gotta tell ya. I think that everyone needs to step back and reevaluate the "singles" again.

I know that I have been unfairly harsh on them after hearing the rest of the album. I listened to them a ton. They were heard out of the context of the album and scrutinized by us here over and over down to the last note and word. I just listened to the whole album through again, no skipping the 3 single section, and it holds up well. TBT is a damn good song, and fits well, as does Get Out. Get Out is a big song, that i think got a bit ignored cause we were all getting impatient for the album.
American Soul? Well, not my favorite, but definitely better within the album. If that is the weakest, then it comes nowhere near the lows of pretty much any album of theirs in the last 20 years.
 
I gotta tell ya. I think that everyone needs to step back and reevaluate the "singles" again.

I know that I have been unfairly harsh on them after hearing the rest of the album. I listened to them a ton. They were heard out of the context of the album and scrutinized by us here over and over down to the last note and word. I just listened to the whole album through again, no skipping the 3 single section, and it holds up well. TBT is a damn good song, and fits well, as does Get Out. Get Out is a big song, that i think got a bit ignored cause we were all getting impatient for the album.
American Soul? Well, not my favorite, but definitely better within the album. If that is the weakest, then it comes nowhere near the lows of pretty much any album of theirs in the last 20 years.

I am on the same page. I think especially GOOYOW fits really well with the sound and feeling of the rest of the album.

American Soul is also my least favorite on the album, but I don't hate it. In fact, I would probably like it more if it were not for the too-obvious use of parts of Volcano (and I am not one of the people that hates the callbacks to SOI in general - in fact I quite like all of the others and think the thematic consistency between the two albums is great). Any anyway, how could I hate listening to American Soul when I know Summer of Love comes on right after it??
 
Does anyone else feel like Bono became their adoptive father with this record?

SOI had flashes of Wise Bono, but SOE feels to me like he's really assuming that role, and offering to kind of 'guardian' the listener.

The warm, intimate vocals throughout, especially on the intro and outro, help with that.

It's funny because he's already pivoted to 'more personal' all through the 2000s (ATYCLB's consolation, HTDAAB's personal stuff, SOI's autobio), but he found another gear on SOE. Amazing that this man still found something in himself he hadn't shared yet.

"Did you know your heart has its own mind?"

:heart:
 
Best Thing-Get Out-American Soul is the weakest part of the album and I'm happy they got it out if the way early. I wish that they'd ditched those songs and included Book of Your Heart and used the orchestral version of Lights of Home, but it's still a great album. It's a killer headphone album too.

I can't get over how great Bono is on this album. He sounds like he's coming from the heart in a way he hasn't since Pop. It's seemed to me like he's been holding back,but not any more. Bono's back! I hope he sticks around.
 
Does anyone else feel like Bono became their adoptive father with this record?

SOI had flashes of Wise Bono, but SOE feels to me like he's really assuming that role, and offering to kind of 'guardian' the listener.

The warm, intimate vocals throughout, especially on the intro and outro, help with that.

It's funny because he's already pivoted to 'more personal' all through the 2000s (ATYCLB's consolation, HTDAAB's personal stuff, SOI's autobio), but he found another gear on SOE. Amazing that this man still found something in himself he hadn't shared yet.

"Did you know your heart has its own mind?"

:heart:

He's written a lot of songs about being the son of his mother and father and songs towards Ali.

I've not heard the album but maybe this is the album where he finally recognises HE is the father and the husband?
 
I'm waiting until Friday . SOE might offer some good stuff for my taste when users like Zoomerang or HollowIsland seem to like this album
 
He's written a lot of songs about being the son of his mother and father and songs towards Ali.

I've not heard the album but maybe this is the album where he finally recognises HE is the father and the husband?

Yep, i was thinking about this. Even in Kite, one of my fave songs ever, he was still pleading about his feelings. I'M A MAN, NOT A CHILD.
or in Mofo - Mother, Am I still Your son...

Now he is taking on the father role, the husband role, and it is really worked well here. Amazing stuff.
 
Alright, I caved and listened... God almighty, Love Is Bigger is top tier U2. That's going to be just massive live... almost WOWY status.
 
I can’t wait to get the vinyl box set. It should sound great on the turntable. I hear a lot of great dynamics here. The production is just very good all across the board.
 
Does anyone else feel like Bono became their adoptive father with this record?

SOI had flashes of Wise Bono, but SOE feels to me like he's really assuming that role, and offering to kind of 'guardian' the listener.

The warm, intimate vocals throughout, especially on the intro and outro, help with that.

It's funny because he's already pivoted to 'more personal' all through the 2000s (ATYCLB's consolation, HTDAAB's personal stuff, SOI's autobio), but he found another gear on SOE. Amazing that this man still found something in himself he hadn't shared yet.

"Did you know your heart has its own mind?"

:heart:

I definitely got this impression. I said in another thread, its almost like if I turned 50 and could write songs, and this is what I would tell myself in this exact moment. It's uncanny, and its beautiful.
 
Yep, i was thinking about this. Even in Kite, one of my fave songs ever, he was still pleading about his feelings. I'M A MAN, NOT A CHILD.
or in Mofo - Mother, Am I still Your son...

Now he is taking on the father role, the husband role, and it is really worked well here. Amazing stuff.

Great call! I'm really enjoying your insights on this album. You are putting things much more eloquently than I can.
 
First listen and I really enjoyed Lights Of Home, Red Flag Day, Landlady, and Love Is Bigger. Best Thing, American Soul, and 13 are the stinkers. I appreciate the attempt to link the "Songs" albums, but maybe next time they should re-use better parts to make better songs. I'm confident in saying this album is superior to the last two albums, but time will tell how it ultimately compares to ATYCLB and Bomb. Nice album overall with room to grow.
 
I'm convinced that this album would be a monster success if the band were still in their 20s or 30s but given their age I doubt that will happen, or at least it's much harder to say. It will probably be more of a slow burner outside the U2 fan base.

I agree with this. If Coldplay released something like Summer of Love it'd easily get 300+ million streams on Spotify; U2 will be lucky to get a tenth of those numbers. I'll always cherish it, though.
 
I'm just waiting for the pitchfork review. Recent history, for those keeping score of their views on the 00s output:

SOI: 4.6
NLOTH: 4.2
HTDAAB: 6.9
ATYCLB: 5.0


Any predictions? I can't see them bringing themselves to rate U2 above a 5.0 for ANYTHING they put out, but considering HTDAAB got 6.9, I'd be surprised if this album doesn't crack a 6.0.

I'm going for a 6.4, and a grudging acknowledgement that there is genuine quality in there, amongst the senile attempts at pop relevance with the kids.



My guess would be somewhere between a 6 and 7. They will acknowledge some highlights on the album while glorifying the parts they don’t like — likely The Best Thing.

Like you, I’m most anxious for this review.
 
Great call! I'm really enjoying your insights on this album. You are putting things much more eloquently than I can.

Thanks so much. I just keep cracking open these different layers. Right now, it's 13. I am not a fan of SFS. So I was really bummed that this was closing out the album. I just was set against it.

Then i heard it. It was good. but i kinda dismissed it. felt weird with the chorus.
Then i really listened to those verses. The writing here is incredible.

I got the good copy and put on my headphones. Damn. So much going on sonically (sp??) I had to tell myself - put aside the original version. Let this one take its place for good. Let this be its own song.
And it is rising incredibly fast on my list.
Its just such a deep, dark tune. and beautiful.
 
love reading all the positive reviews... i love this album so much - totally floored me on first listening haha was slightly traumatic, the shock of the new, oof and it sure hit hard, but currently in the blissed-out phase haha :heart:
 
Alright, I caved and listened... God almighty, Love Is Bigger is top tier U2. That's going to be just massive live... almost WOWY status.



I think I need to sit with it for a while before I start making these kinds of comparisons, but I do believe it’s one of the best pop songs they’ve ever written.
 
If this was ever to be their last album they'd be going out on a high. But I hope and don't think it will be their last. They've got a couple more in them.
 
I would gladly trade tours for more albums...if they weren't such damn perfectionists! But it seems to have paid off this time. Maybe that year delay was a blessing of sorts. I don't hear unnecessary gloss or polish with these songs. It's a gem.
 
I have a much different take on tracks 3 through 5 than most here… I think Best Thing and Get Out absolutely belong on this record, and fit and flow well. The two tracks that I think stick out, thematically, are an obvious and not so obvious choice – American Soul and Summer of Love. Now I don’t hate American Soul as much as others, and I think Summer of Love is a great tune – but they’re both clearly about current events, whereas the rest of the album is incredibly personal in nature.

The first two tracks floor me in every possible way. This is the strongest 1-2 punch from a U2 album since Achtung Baby. First with Love Is All We Have Left – an ethereal song about one’s own mortality. But Lights of Home (and btw I’ll differ again in that I MUCH prefer the album version to the strings version, which doesn’t work for me) is where it really kicks in, especially when you tie it back to Iris. This song could go so many different ways in interpretation (Bono’s best lyrics always do) – but I think this is Bono contemplating death, the afterlife, and if his mom will recognize him in heaven. He references the bike crash pretty directly here…
“shouldn’t be here ‘cause I should be dead”…
”thought my head was harder than ground”…
“hey, I’ve been waiting to get home a long time…”
“do you know my name? … in your eyes I see it, the lights of home”

Then with the callback to Iris… specifically a part that was written as if it was Bono’s mom talking to him “see yourself to be yourself”… almost as if his mom is calling down to him telling him he’s going to be okay.

And with this thought, Best Thing makes much more sense… especially the start… “when you look so good, the pain in your face doesn’t show”. Very tongue and cheek reference to his cracked face. This life altering event took place, and now he’s reflecting back.

Get Out has always been more personal in nature than political… and I’ve changed my mind about who the letter is written to. I don’t think it’s a letter to his daughters (nor did I ever think it was a silly letter to America). I think it’s a letter to himself. The Kendrick Lamar part actually makes significantly more sense when you look at the song this way.

American Soul is where it changes… but I guess when you consider Bono and how politically active he is it’s hard to think of him not dragging politics into it somehow. As I said earlier, I don’t hate American Soul as much as many… but if there’s a clunker, this is it. I’d have been happy if the political diversion was left at Summer of Love.

Summer of Love is a terrific tune – thematically it doesn’t fit the album, but it would have been a shame to have left it out. It also is one of those lyrics that people could see as a love song rather than a song about Aleppo, so it works better than American Soul in that vein.

Red Flag Day is a nice transition out of the political diversion – I can see it as a song about refugees fleeing Syria, but I can also see it as a song about Ali – with a little tie back to Every Breaking Wave “I’ll meet you where the waves are breaking”. Another one of Bono’s lyrics that can be read in different ways.

The Showman & The Little Things That Give You Away are partners. Showman is the upbeat, tongue and cheek critique of singers – a self-deprecating look at Bono’s struggles. I do wonder if Bono maybe struggled with depression – and that’s tied into this mysterious ailment that nobody seems to want to talk about. Showman talks about being up late at night, unable to sleep - which ties directly to Little Things, which is absolutely gorgeous and a stunner. I absolutely think this one is also autobiographical – with younger Bono talking to current self through the first half, and then the “sometimes…” part is the current Bono talking about his inner demons. The end… “the pane of glass shatters, and you’re the only thing that matters, but I can’t see you through the tears…” is now about Ali helping him get through these demons.

Which comes into Landlady… a beautiful take on coming to the realization that you’ve been taking your loved one for granted. I think it’s intentional that this is the start of “part 3” of the album and not merely a timing thing. This is now the letters to his loved ones part of the album.

I don’t see Blackout as political whatsoever. Sure, maybe he tweaked a lyric to make it have multiple meetings, but Blackout is Bono’s letter to the Adam, Larry and Edge – their struggle for late career relevance and the missteps (see Songs of Innocence & Apple), the uncertainty over Bono’s future (be it from the bike crash or whatever other incident may have occurred... when the lights go out could be taken literally about bono’s noggin or metaphorically about celebrity) … but don’t you ever doubt the light that we can really be.

Love Is Bigger is to his kids. This is the cliché’ song, but the music and message is beautiful and it works.

13 I think is current Bono writing a letter to himself – specifically his 13 year old self, the last year of his life before his mom died and his life turned upside down, and this whole crazy journey started.

This is a terrific album – musically and lyrically. It’s been a long time since they’ve put out something this cohesive from top to bottom. As good as Songs of Innocence was, it never had that “magic” that really good U2 albums have. It’s as if it was polished away in the studio. This also seems like one work, built from the group up with a mission and theme and that they stuck with it, as opposed to the disjointed nature of Innocence and No Line On The Horizon, where the split in producers, where they knew they were going to go in a different direction, is evident and brings down both works.

This is a deep and dark album, but not depressingly so, with touches of joy throughout. It reconnects with the ethereal/classic U2 sound without being derivative, remaining fresh and modern sounding. There are warts, but they’re fewer and further between than the past two works.

As for criticisms? Yea, American Soul sticks out as the clunker of the bunch, but it’s not as bad as a Boots or Stand Up Comedy. I also think that Bono’s voice sounds so good that they probably did a lot of studio magic on it, and I’m not sure how some of the songs will translate live (Love Is Bigger, for example). And the single choices aren’t reflective of the album at all (even though I think Best Things and Get Out work well on the album). If they needed an uptempo number for the first single, Lights of Home or Red Flag Day would have been my choices. Alas… I’m hoping they really explore some of the tracks beyond Best Thing and Get Out on these upcoming promo appearances (and please god that doesn’t mean American Soul). If it were up to me I’d have them play Little Things and Lights of Home for SNL, and then drop in Best Thing as the “third song during the closing credits” if they get it.

I think I’ve gone on long enough now :reject:
 
I have a much different take on tracks 3 through 5 than most here… I think Best Thing and Get Out absolutely belong on this record, and fit and flow well. The two tracks that I think stick out, thematically, are an obvious and not so obvious choice – American Soul and Summer of Love. Now I don’t hate American Soul as much as others, and I think Summer of Love is a great tune – but they’re both clearly about current events, whereas the rest of the album is incredibly personal in nature.

The first two tracks floor me in every possible way. This is the strongest 1-2 punch from a U2 album since Achtung Baby. First with Love Is All We Have Left – an ethereal song about one’s own mortality. But Lights of Home (and btw I’ll differ again in that I MUCH prefer the album version to the strings version, which doesn’t work for me) is where it really kicks in, especially when you tie it back to Iris. This song could go so many different ways in interpretation (Bono’s best lyrics always do) – but I think this is Bono contemplating death, the afterlife, and if his mom will recognize him in heaven. He references the bike crash pretty directly here…
“shouldn’t be here ‘cause I should be dead”…
”thought my head was harder than ground”…
“hey, I’ve been waiting to get home a long time…”
“do you know my name? … in your eyes I see it, the lights of home”

Then with the callback to Iris… specifically a part that was written as if it was Bono’s mom talking to him “see yourself to be yourself”… almost as if his mom is calling down to him telling him he’s going to be okay.

And with this thought, Best Thing makes much more sense… especially the start… “when you look so good, the pain in your face doesn’t show”. Very tongue and cheek reference to his cracked face. This life altering event took place, and now he’s reflecting back.

Get Out has always been more personal in nature than political… and I’ve changed my mind about who the letter is written to. I don’t think it’s a letter to his daughters (nor did I ever think it was a silly letter to America). I think it’s a letter to himself. The Kendrick Lamar part actually makes significantly more sense when you look at the song this way.

American Soul is where it changes… but I guess when you consider Bono and how politically active he is it’s hard to think of him not dragging politics into it somehow. As I said earlier, I don’t hate American Soul as much as many… but if there’s a clunker, this is it. I’d have been happy if the political diversion was left at Summer of Love.

Summer of Love is a terrific tune – thematically it doesn’t fit the album, but it would have been a shame to have left it out. It also is one of those lyrics that people could see as a love song rather than a song about Aleppo, so it works better than American Soul in that vein.

Red Flag Day is a nice transition out of the political diversion – I can see it as a song about refugees fleeing Syria, but I can also see it as a song about Ali – with a little tie back to Every Breaking Wave “I’ll meet you where the waves are breaking”. Another one of Bono’s lyrics that can be read in different ways.

The Showman & The Little Things That Give You Away are partners. Showman is the upbeat, tongue and cheek critique of singers – a self-deprecating look at Bono’s struggles. I do wonder if Bono maybe struggled with depression – and that’s tied into this mysterious ailment that nobody seems to want to talk about. Showman talks about being up late at night, unable to sleep - which ties directly to Little Things, which is absolutely gorgeous and a stunner. I absolutely think this one is also autobiographical – with younger Bono talking to current self through the first half, and then the “sometimes…” part is the current Bono talking about his inner demons. The end… “the pane of glass shatters, and you’re the only thing that matters, but I can’t see you through the tears…” is now about Ali helping him get through these demons.

Which comes into Landlady… a beautiful take on coming to the realization that you’ve been taking your loved one for granted. I think it’s intentional that this is the start of “part 3” of the album and not merely a timing thing. This is now the letters to his loved ones part of the album.

I don’t see Blackout as political whatsoever. Sure, maybe he tweaked a lyric to make it have multiple meetings, but Blackout is Bono’s letter to the Adam, Larry and Edge – their struggle for late career relevance and the missteps (see Songs of Innocence & Apple), the uncertainty over Bono’s future (be it from the bike crash or whatever other incident may have occurred... when the lights go out could be taken literally about bono’s noggin or metaphorically about celebrity) … but don’t you ever doubt the light that we can really be.

Love Is Bigger is to his kids. This is the cliché’ song, but the music and message is beautiful and it works.

13 I think is current Bono writing a letter to himself – specifically his 13 year old self, the last year of his life before his mom died and his life turned upside down, and this whole crazy journey started.

This is a terrific album – musically and lyrically. It’s been a long time since they’ve put out something this cohesive from top to bottom. As good as Songs of Innocence was, it never had that “magic” that really good U2 albums have. It’s as if it was polished away in the studio. This also seems like one work, built from the group up with a mission and theme and that they stuck with it, as opposed to the disjointed nature of Innocence and No Line On The Horizon, where the split in producers, where they knew they were going to go in a different direction, is evident and brings down both works.

This is a deep and dark album, but not depressingly so, with touches of joy throughout. It reconnects with the ethereal/classic U2 sound without being derivative, remaining fresh and modern sounding. There are warts, but they’re fewer and further between than the past two works.

As for criticisms? Yea, American Soul sticks out as the clunker of the bunch, but it’s not as bad as a Boots or Stand Up Comedy. I also think that Bono’s voice sounds so good that they probably did a lot of studio magic on it, and I’m not sure how some of the songs will translate live (Love Is Bigger, for example). And the single choices aren’t reflective of the album at all (even though I think Best Things and Get Out work well on the album). If they needed an uptempo number for the first single, Lights of Home or Red Flag Day would have been my choices. Alas… I’m hoping they really explore some of the tracks beyond Best Thing and Get Out on these upcoming promo appearances (and please god that doesn’t mean American Soul). If it were up to me I’d have them play Little Things and Lights of Home for SNL, and then drop in Best Thing as the “third song during the closing credits” if they get it.

I think I’ve gone on long enough now :reject:



We normally agree on most things U2 related, and this occasion is no different. Great post.
 
Back
Top Bottom