Yea, true, the thoughts on how your audience is going to react will always be there. It's near impossible to not get bothered by the thought when you're making a record that will be released worldwide. So obviously, yea, U2 will have that on their mind.
Where U2's secondguessing comes into play the most is with their desire to make huge optimistic and reassuring "hits." They had a different view on hit songs back in their heyday. For God's sake, they refused to release "Treasure" on War because they thought it was too poppy! Treasure!!! "With Or Without You" wasn't even a hit song in their eyes, until others pleaded with them to release it! "One", their signature song probably, was something that happened completely by accident. It wasn't an anthem they were chasing, it just happened.
With POP, the mentality of U2 shifted. They became traditional songwriters. Only one problem, the album lacked that one huge hit. I think that's the thing that really sticks in their craw. So on ATYCLB, for the first time they aimed specifically for hit songs. For the most part, in my opinion, it worked. On Bomb they really really really tried hard...tried too hard IMO and as a result created hit songs that started to sound stale after a couple listens. On NLOTH, they set out to mix things up again, explore music, and write music for music's sake that wasn't obvious, something a bit more subtle and artistic. For the most part they succeeded, but then the secondguessing came roaring to the surface with CT, Breathe and SUC. Now, I like CT, but on this album it sounds like an afterthought. It's like if they put Sweetest Thing on the Joshua Tree. Good song, but doesn't fit. SUC...i best better leave that one alone cuz i could go all night.
What am I trying to say? That writing hit songs isn't U2's strong suit. For some artists it works. The Beatles were song writing machines, they had that knack for it. U2 doesn't. Now that doesn't mean they aren't able to produce hits, for they do have many, but it works better when the hits come to them, rather than them scrambling to come up with something that sounds like a U2 anthem.
Most of their hit songs of this decade all share a similar theme. A theme of looking on the bright side of things and standing up for yourself. They all share that optimistic feeling, the feeling that "everything is going to be alright". Is that such a bad thing? Not necessarily, but i'm pretty burnt out on the idea.
After Beautiful Day, Walk On, Stuck in a Moment, Electrical Storm, Original Of The Species, City of Blinding Lights, Window In The Skies, and future hits Crazy Tonight and Breathe............i'm ready for something else. I'm ready for a hit that isn't the same shit different color.
So yea, that's the aspect of U2 i have greivances with. The ongoing pursuit of huge optimistic sounding hit songs with an optimistic reassuring message. That's where i see the unfortunate secondguessing occuring.
