Since these are so fun, I’m gonna do another one. This one will deal with the weighty issues of expectations, overall feel and fuzzy dinosaur feathers.
1. What should our expectations be like?
This matter has the pessimists and optimists raging, throwing sharp, pointy words at each other and using angry emoticons. A rather startling show of emotion.
As complete addicts we read every piece of news about the album and are building up a very precarious idea of what the album is going to be like. This is idea, if it crumbles when the album is released, may lead us to think that HTDAAB is crap even if it a great album that didn’t meet our preconceived notions of what it ought to sound like. ATYCLB is a good album, but it didn’t meet everyone’s expectations of it.
So the view I have adopted is this: it’s going to be a good album with some really great songs. It’ll have some gorgeous pop moments, some louder moments, but it’ll also have some moments that I won’t like. I’m gonna be okay if it has a few songs that I don’t really love. I’m not expecting a surprise left, adventurous innovation or an album that will be my all time favourite. If Edge dons the Memory Man for more than half the songs, I’ll be okay with that. It probably won't sound like AB, but I’ll alright.
A good album, then. A U2 album. One to listen to for a long time, over and over again. But not necessarily one that will be my favourite.
(This isn’t to say that HTDAAB can’t be great or your favourite. Also, do you pronounce HTDAAB “hotdub”, “hatdab”,”hitdayb” or the very conventional “How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb?”)
2. Overall Feel
This question is so impossible to answer that I feel like I am doing something stupid. Which I am, so please join me so that we grovel around in the tepid mud of stupidity. A glorious way to spend an afternoon.
The problem is that the overall feel can only be felt after prolonged listening. Something that only U2 and select aides have done. But what the heck.
The themes we know about: Life, death, love and the need for comfort. And Jesus gets his due, apparently. I think this is the key to understanding the emotional currents in the album. Possibly the most illuminating quote is Larry’s. He said the album came out of “a mixture of deep depression and a lot of fun.” The deep depression will probably show itself in honest songs seeking comfort, and the fun will be shown in songs like Vertigo. But I think that the album will have a certain depth about it. U2 want to make pop music, but the shades will be a little darker and the space a little deeper than ATYCLB. But it won’t be as heavy as AB, nor as bleak as Pop. (Opinion stated as fact, translate if necessary.)
3. Dinosaur Feathers.
Honestly, the build up is crazy around here. We might just be going crazy. Fever pitch and cabin fever. We’re seeing a blue haze that tints all that we see. There is a sense of desperation: what if this album disappoints? It is a question we cannot face. So when it arises we go crazy. I’m sure that some people’s keyboards are speckled in the foam that has dribbled down from their mouth. So for the those seeking for a therapeutic release of these pent up emotions, please feel free to type absolute gibberish, your deepest fears or Monty Python quotes. (Or Little Britain, etc.)
I’ll begin: I’m afraid that one day they’ll ban reading in the bathroom. Bla. “But I’m a lady. With little lady hands.” “I’m ze only gay man in ze village.”
Ahh, that feels much better.
To recap. Let’s be cautious devils when it comes to expectations so that we can let HTDAAB be the album that it is. What do you think the overall feel will be? And insanity as a cure for insanity.
1. What should our expectations be like?
This matter has the pessimists and optimists raging, throwing sharp, pointy words at each other and using angry emoticons. A rather startling show of emotion.
As complete addicts we read every piece of news about the album and are building up a very precarious idea of what the album is going to be like. This is idea, if it crumbles when the album is released, may lead us to think that HTDAAB is crap even if it a great album that didn’t meet our preconceived notions of what it ought to sound like. ATYCLB is a good album, but it didn’t meet everyone’s expectations of it.
So the view I have adopted is this: it’s going to be a good album with some really great songs. It’ll have some gorgeous pop moments, some louder moments, but it’ll also have some moments that I won’t like. I’m gonna be okay if it has a few songs that I don’t really love. I’m not expecting a surprise left, adventurous innovation or an album that will be my all time favourite. If Edge dons the Memory Man for more than half the songs, I’ll be okay with that. It probably won't sound like AB, but I’ll alright.
A good album, then. A U2 album. One to listen to for a long time, over and over again. But not necessarily one that will be my favourite.
(This isn’t to say that HTDAAB can’t be great or your favourite. Also, do you pronounce HTDAAB “hotdub”, “hatdab”,”hitdayb” or the very conventional “How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb?”)
2. Overall Feel
This question is so impossible to answer that I feel like I am doing something stupid. Which I am, so please join me so that we grovel around in the tepid mud of stupidity. A glorious way to spend an afternoon.
The problem is that the overall feel can only be felt after prolonged listening. Something that only U2 and select aides have done. But what the heck.
The themes we know about: Life, death, love and the need for comfort. And Jesus gets his due, apparently. I think this is the key to understanding the emotional currents in the album. Possibly the most illuminating quote is Larry’s. He said the album came out of “a mixture of deep depression and a lot of fun.” The deep depression will probably show itself in honest songs seeking comfort, and the fun will be shown in songs like Vertigo. But I think that the album will have a certain depth about it. U2 want to make pop music, but the shades will be a little darker and the space a little deeper than ATYCLB. But it won’t be as heavy as AB, nor as bleak as Pop. (Opinion stated as fact, translate if necessary.)
3. Dinosaur Feathers.
Honestly, the build up is crazy around here. We might just be going crazy. Fever pitch and cabin fever. We’re seeing a blue haze that tints all that we see. There is a sense of desperation: what if this album disappoints? It is a question we cannot face. So when it arises we go crazy. I’m sure that some people’s keyboards are speckled in the foam that has dribbled down from their mouth. So for the those seeking for a therapeutic release of these pent up emotions, please feel free to type absolute gibberish, your deepest fears or Monty Python quotes. (Or Little Britain, etc.)
I’ll begin: I’m afraid that one day they’ll ban reading in the bathroom. Bla. “But I’m a lady. With little lady hands.” “I’m ze only gay man in ze village.”
Ahh, that feels much better.
To recap. Let’s be cautious devils when it comes to expectations so that we can let HTDAAB be the album that it is. What do you think the overall feel will be? And insanity as a cure for insanity.
I don't know what cow breath really smells like. 
