I add to this the fact that POP was U2's worst selling album since they achieved superstardom, and less sales would probably mean fewer fans liked it. ?I also base my 'generalizations' on the fact that I have never personally met a Pop fan, old or young. All U2 fans I know felt that
Pop was beneath U2, and yes, it is a joke to people I know.
There are about 3 or 4 songs with good lyrics on Pop, but the lame crap drags it down, and when you compare it to albums that are masterpieces with all the songs being amazing, well written lyrical works, it is ridiculous to have Pop in the top 3. It's like comparing a 7-9 season to a Super Bowl Championship!
As I mentioned before, 27 people would say they liked it just to 'piss me off.' SO far only 3 have spoken up to say we don't like it, though several did not show it on their list. I think most people who want to choose something other than POP are avoiding this thread in fear of a flame war.
I challenge 80sU2isbest and all the others that don't care so much for Pop to have the balls to post here and bring this crazy disproportionate average down. If you dare!
With Pop, it was like U2 had been replaced by evil robots from the future who set out to trash their careers! (I won't even bring up how ridulous they LOOKED on top of how they sounded!) You are right, if not for ATYCLB they would have been reduced to the scrap heap of rock history like so many other has-beens. BUT- because there WAS ATYCLB and many fans came back, everyone renewed their interest, and look at them now- HUGELY successful worldwide, dare I say it, THE BEST BAND IN THE WORLD?! Selling out arenas, fans desperate for tickets, scalpers grabbing and selling at outrageous prices, enormously popular, legendary now and forever, their place of honor among the rock greats firmly cemented for all time! This would not have happened if U2 had not abandoned the Pop path and put out ATYCLB. That is a fact that some may not want to hear but it cannot be denied. Pop hurt their career, ATYCLB saved it.[/b]
BUT- to list your team as the greatest and strongest in the league and bound for the Super Bowl based only on the fact that you like them is just plain incorrect. This was never meant to be a poll of what we like, but what is honestly U2's best work lyrically. All you have to do is read the lyrics sheets and compare
It proves what I have been trying to say, that despite the avid overzealousness of a few dozen POP advocates on this forum the album was a FLOP with the public as a whole and it is by far U2's most maligned and disliked album by more people without a doubt.
So to sum up. What you keep repeating is that since Pop was not a huge success commercially and in popularity, it therefore follows that it is an inferior album and that anyone who disagrees with that statement is either (a) overzealous, (b) trying to make you mad, or (c ) insane.
Here?s the thing. I love U2. You know why I love U2 so much that I?d spend my hard-earned cash going to their shows, buying their music, collecting their bootlegs and hanging out on a goddamm internet forum? It?s because of respect. Respect for them as people and respect for them as musicians. Respect for Bono as a writer. Respect for the band as a creative force that refuses to do what is expected of them?who is determined to "fuck up the mainstream." If they were not that kind of a band?the kind of band that would go all "experimental" with an album like UF?the kind of band who would release an iconclastic album like AB after the wild success of JT?the kind of band that would risk their spots at the top of the ridiculous entertainment ladder in order to poke fun at the shallowness of it all?the kind of band that can pull off all of that?they would not be the unique, amazing band that I love.
So, I?m sorry if it bothers you that U2 put out POP. I?m sorry that you don?t like it. I think you?re missing out, but hey that?s your loss not mine. But what I?m really sorry about is that you feel that you have to sit here and pick fights with others just because they disagree with your standards of measuring lyrical greatness. If I recall correctly, this thread began as merely an opinion thread?a "what do you think?" kind of thread?not a highly accurate, scientifically-correct, record-defining poll that one has to be in the majority or minority of to be correct. People have different opinions. Greatness is measured in the eyes of the beholder. And our eyes are all different. We may be one in our love for the band, but we?re not the same. Perhaps we can all accept that and work with each other rather than scream at each other. That's all I have to say.
-sula
