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

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I do miss the piano on Little Things. I find it really adds to the atmosphere in the Kimmel performance. The vocal is better there, too. (Maybe listening to that performance for months has coloured my expectations.)

I agree with you about the piano, but disagree about the vocal....I think he's straining in the live version when it gets to the "Sometimes" part of the song. Perhaps others hear it more positively as greater emotion in the live version.
 
Definitely ethereal. I'd say it's kind of similar to No Line in the Horizon, where a few songs are definitely out of place, but there's definitely a cohesive enough sound.

I think the album is all over the place sonically, but somehow it flows really well. This is quite surprising given how many studios and producers they used.
 
I sure hope there isn't a dip as bad as the middle of NLOTH with I'll Go Crazy, Boots and Stand Up Comedy. To me, those three songs really burst the atmosphere on that album. From the songs I've heard I'm not bowled over by GOOYOW, Best Thing (quite like American Soul and Blackout personally) but I don't think they are as bad as those three.

I think the middle is possibly the strongest part....Summer of Love, Red Flag Day, and Showman, are a great trio of songs smack in the middle of the album. the Little Things right after.
 
I’m justified for being disgusted with American Soul, Joey Ramone, etc, when they pull out songs like this (that was poorly put considering the aforementioned song is on this album). This is probably their best album since Pop.

Its about fucking time
 
I'd like to see if someone could put together a mix of Little Things with the piano on top of the album version. Not terribly prominent, but just enough to mix with the guitars.
 
I haven't listened to the strings version of Lights of Home yet because I don't want to... I love the album version.

The call back to Iris here... It struck me on the last listen. It's a song about Bono almost dying, and it calls back to a song about Bono's mom dying, but in a more joyous tone with the she lyric.

Just subtle touch that the average Joe won't pick up on, but it fucking floored me when i realized it.

Nice catch
 
I’m justified for being disgusted with American Soul, Joey Ramone, etc, when they pull out songs like this (that was poorly put considering the aforementioned song is on this album). This is probably their best album since Pop.

Its about fucking time



Wow. All I can say is that this is the best compliment U2 has gotten from you in years. This album must be good if the people who generally rip U2 apart are kind of liking the album.
 
Lights Of Home is rising on my favorites list - great groove to it and very nice lyrics.
 
I’m justified for being disgusted with American Soul, Joey Ramone, etc, when they pull out songs like this

For a band that is so good and who generally know how to tell the difference between good songs from the bad ones, I don't know why they do this. They have done it right throughout their career as well. See Red Light, Elvis Presley, Trip Through Your Wires, Some Days, Daddy's Gonna Pay etc. Achtung Baby and Boy are probably the only two albums of theirs that does not have any clunkers on them. It's as though they deliberately go out to sabotage their own work for whatever unknown reason.
 
Which album were you hoping they would make again?

I don’t think it matters what type of album they make, Mack already said he wasn’t going to like it before even hearing it. So they could have made AB on steroids and he still would not like it. I get that some people may not like a u2 album but when you made up your mind before even giving it a chance and you are so convinced you are going to hate whatever they put out, you have to wonder why are they even wasting their time following u2. If I were Mack I would have stopped listening/following this band a long time ago if I had that mindset. But you know what that’s too bad for him that he is not enjoying this monent, cos I am sure as hell am.
 
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I bought Zooropa when it came out in 1993. I struggled so much with that album. Eventually I warned up to it and realized its awesomeness.
 
For a band that is so good and who generally know how to tell the difference between good songs from the bad ones, I don't know why they do this. They have done it right throughout their career as well. See Red Light, Elvis Presley, Trip Through Your Wires, Some Days, Daddy's Gonna Pay etc. Achtung Baby and Boy are probably the only two albums of theirs that does not have any clunkers on them. It's as though they deliberately go out to sabotage their own work for whatever unknown reason.



You see, I think this is a silly comment. All of the songs you mention are the worst on their albums (subjectively - except Daddy’s Gonna Pay, as you already mentioned Some Days). But they all have a purpose and link to the album as a whole.

Masterpieces don’t come along easily, and something has to be the worst on an album. With the songs you’ve mentioned, they may not be up to the incredibly high standards of the rest of those albums, but they at least seem to stem from the tone of the album.

Contrast this to, say, SUC, and there is a real disparity. Simplistic music, inane lyrics, and totally unsuitable for the rest of the album. I think it is fairer to criticise the band for latter-day ‘laziness’ of a song like that, than creative missteps like Red Light, Elvis Presley & America, Trip Through Your Wires and Some Days Are Better Than Others.

U2 aren’t perfect - but I’m not going to hold how close they have come to perfection on a regular basis over a 40 year career against them, certainly not in the case of a handful of not-great songs.

I’d take them over complacency any day.
 
Sonically out of left field from U2 which is pretty cool. I want to say that on my first listen of their album, I feel like U2 made their Clash album with Experience. The Little Things studio version is exponentially better than the live version which was kind of boring. Best Thing, Get Out, and Black Out are definitely not representative of the rest of the album! Crazy
 
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One thing I need to get off my chest..... I knew hearing it live that LITTLE THINGS is great. Now after hearing the album version, it is a Masterpiece. I agree with all who said that it has the ability to bring tears in your eyes. Tears of sadness & happiness, both.
 
Sounds like one of those guys that "will want their money back if you are alive at 33". If they are open minded enough to take a subjective listen and not shut them down because they think they should have quit 25 years ago then they might like it :)
Yeah. His fandom of '80s and '90s U2 outstrips mine by some distance, which is saying something. But I think he was burned badly by HTDAAB and NLOTH
 
One thing I need to get off my chest..... I knew hearing it live that LITTLE THINGS is great. Now after hearing the album version, it is a Masterpiece. I agree with all who said that it has the ability to bring tears in your eyes. Tears of sadness & happiness, both.


I'm very glad that people are seeing what some of us have seen. I was floored seeing it live. It is prime U2.
 
The Little Things That Give You Away is the best ballad U2 have written in years since Kite in my opinion.
 
I think this album is f*cking amazing.. I don't want to read other peoples views just yet but had to say how I feel... Jesus, even 'Book of your Heart' on the delux is mind blowingly good. The 3 songs previously released are by no means weak but the rest of this record is astonishing !!! headphones, loud wow
 
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