U2 is NOT a Metal band!!!!

[tkramer]

I feel like this needs it's own topic now, as many of the folks who are down on the new album seem to feel it doesn't rock enough. I'll stick to my formula I always pull out for this. (And please don't blame bono for your issues, the man has suspect abilities for descriptions of his own work–we all know that.)

random album comparisons:
HTDAAB: rockers:3 up/medtempo:6 slow:2 (and really, OSC is the only really, really slow song.)
ATYCLB: rockers:3 up/medtempo:5 slow:3
AB: rockers: 4 up/medtempo:4 slow:3 (EBTTRT and MW aren't rockers)
etc...

They have ALWAYS done a third/third/third build for albums. I don't understand the whole "Bono's somewhat inacurate take on his work makes it impossible to enjoy this album."

I might also say that the songs that do rock, (vertigo, ABOY, LAPOE) rock hard.

(BTW, I don't see a man and a woman as a slow song, I see Love is Blindness, grace, etc. as slow)

 

[Sleep Over Jack]

Mysterious Ways and EBTTRT are most definitely guitar-driven rock.

 

[Numb1075]

I agree 100%. If you want " a full album of rock", go pick up Metallica, Velvet Revolver, or an old Motley Crue cd. This is the format that has been pretty consistant over the past handful of albums and there is no reason to expect that to change. Bono tends to hype things up a lot and often isn't exactly reliable when it comes to song descriptions. I do have a feeling though that some of the more under stated songs on HTDAAB will sound heavier live...kind of in the vein of Gone or Last Night on Earth.

Yahweh & CFYT i think will be rockier than they appear on the album

 

[TheBrazilianFly]

Bono hyped this album so much about it being very guitar driven and really rock 'n roll that he almost made it feel like heavy metal to me at times (not that I was actually expecting it) and he even used those words in a few moments on interviews. I thought it was going to be more straightforward rock 'n roll than it is, more like Vertigo, however I'm extremely satisfied with Vertigo, All Because Of You and Love And Peace Or Else (plus we got Are You Gonna Wait Forever and the yet unheard Fast Cars). I'm not disappointed with the quality of the record however, it's most definitely one of their best I think and I rate it high on my list. However War and Achtung Baby are still more rock 'n roll than this one in my opinion.

 

[riteshbhatt1]

I agree, I haven't heard the new album, but even POP has a ton of slow or midtempo songs:

If God Will Send His Angels
Staring at the Sun
Miami
Playboy Mansion
If You Wear That Velvet Dress (is OSC slower than this?)
Please
Wake up Dead Man
Gone

 

[If you shout...]

I can see where pretty much all of you are coming, here, and you're all 110% right that even on their "harder" albums U2 have NEVER EVER EVER been close to a hard-rock band.

It's also all too true that Bono simply cannot be trusted...the man simply talks to be heard, it seems.

I personally really enjoy this new album--I think it's fun, mostly well-written, and a good deal more consistent than their last studio effort. I do enjoy the album, and I don't think that it sucks or something simply because Bono started talking out of his ass and making it sound like they were gonna' set the world on fire with some hard-as-fuck rock'n'roll.

While I won't judge the album based on Bono's erroneous claims, I will lament the fact that U2 are doing it by the numbers yet again. I know that they have a pretty basic "format" with their albums as far as the numbers of harder, mid-tempo, and slower tracks go; I just regret that they've gone this way YET again. Does that make any sense? The album works very, very well in its present incarnation, and it is a good U2 album in the now-typical U2 sense--they know how to be themselves. I guess it just would have been cooler to me if Bono's claims were more accurate; maybe the album would've been better, maybe it would sound exactly the same, maybe it would be worse...but at least it would be different...

 

[Yahweh]

The new album is most definiatly an "Edge" album for those to choose to listen to it closely even on the "slow" tracks like One Step Closer the guitar work is truely a work of art.

 

[U2Soar]

BrazilianFly you make a good point. We got Wait Forever. We know Fast Cars will have some energy. And who knows how the other dropped at the last minute song, Mercy, will be? Also, there is the future b-sides? We're all free to burn an Atomic Bomb that rocks harder!

P.S. How about adding Electrical Storm (Band Version) which has a harder sound?

 

[tkramer]

I agree with a lot that has been said, Bono can't be trusted, it would be nice if they did a different mix of tempo, etc. I'll just reiterate that the band has never been "hardcore." By some of the accounts here, the Joshua Tree would have been a sissy record ('cept for bullet), ditto for TUF....

 

[TheBrazilianFly]

BrazilianFly you make a good point. We got Wait Forever. We know Fast Cars will have some energy. And who knows how the other dropped at the last minute song, Mercy, will be? Also, there is the future b-sides? We're all free to burn an Atomic Bomb that rocks harder!

P.S. How about adding Electrical Storm (Band Version) which has a harder sound?

I already did that!

Vertigo
All Because Of You
Love And Peace Or Else
City Of Blinding Lights
Miracle Drug
Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own
A Man And A Woman
Crumbs From Your Table
One Step Closer
Original Of The Species
Yahweh
Neon Lights
Electrical Storm
The Hands That Built America (Soundtrack Version)
Are You Gonna Wait Forever
Where Did It All Go Wrong
Black Mask
Bottoms

I wish I had Fast Cars to add to that mix though. But it's yet to come...

 

[Flying FuManchu]

Bono hyped this album so much about it being very guitar driven and really rock 'n roll that he almost made it feel like heavy metal to me at times (not that I was actually expecting it) and he even used those words in a few moments on interviews. I thought it was going to be more straightforward rock 'n roll than it is, more like Vertigo, however I'm extremely satisfied with Vertigo, All Because Of You and Love And Peace Or Else (plus we got Are You Gonna Wait Forever and the yet unheard Fast Cars). I'm not disappointed with the quality of the record however, it's most definitely one of their best I think and I rate it high on my list. However War and Achtung Baby are still more rock 'n roll than this one in my opinion.

My thoughts mostly...

 

[If you shout...]

By some of the accounts here, the Joshua Tree would have been a sissy record ('cept for bullet), ditto for TUF....

Good call. Like I've said, though...I agree that people making these "sissy"-type comments are wrong. For me, it's not the lack of rocking out (they do that live, anyway...remember how raw "The Last Night On Earth" was, back in the day???), but the lack of innovation. If they recorded an album with ALL down-tempo songs, that'd be new, too... I'd be all over that. Something not unlike the soundtrack to MDH.

Yeah...sorry if I've gotten a bit off-topic, here. I agree that the album should mostly be judged on what it is (and it is what it is with aplomb and grace), but I guess we do have the right to be disappointed that it wasn't something a little different. Right...?

 

[tkramer]

Good call. Like I've said, though...I agree that people making these "sissy"-type comments are wrong. For me, it's not the lack of rocking out (they do that live, anyway...remember how raw "The Last Night On Earth" was, back in the day???), but the lack of innovation. If they recorded an album with ALL down-tempo songs, that'd be new, too... I'd be all over that. Something not unlike the soundtrack to MDH.

Yeah...sorry if I've gotten a bit off-topic, here. I agree that the album should mostly be judged on what it is (and it is what it is with aplomb and grace), but I guess we do have the right to be disappointed that it wasn't something a little different. Right...?

Absolutely. I love the new album, but I too feel a small sense of lose due to the lack of "reinvention" we've grown acustom to from their two "masterworks". But maybe that's my issue. Maybe a good album shouldn't have to mean Bono and Edge discovered how cool snot sounds when blown through a wind tunnel... I dunno, good topic to debate I suppose...

 

[rkman]

Wanting a rock record from U2 has nothing to do with wanting a HARD rock record. The people who keep asserting this are doing so to invalidate other's opinions, but it's bullsh!t.

Vertigo certainly isn't hard rock or metal, it's a rocker. And that's what some of us wanted: more Vertigos, less ballads. Not heavy metal, not Metallica or Velvet Revolver, but rock, U2 style.

What's so hard to understand about this? And when did rock become associated more with Metallica than the Rolling Stones? (answer: when people are trying to misrepresent the other side's argument)

Fans like me wanted a change of pace and so were hoping for a few more rockers in the vein of Vertigo. Why is that so controversial?

Now go ahead and continue distorting the truth.

EDITED to add: I agree very much with the lack of inovation argument. I wouldn't mind having no rockers if the album had broken new ground in some way. Instead, we got an album that is solid, but nothing we haven't heard before.

 

[Yahweh]

11 Vertigos = BORING

U2 is a band about melody and the insterments are just there to back one of the best singers of our time.

Edge Adam and Larry all definatly showed up for this album and those that say any different wouldnt have ever liked this album in the first place.

 

[radioskugga]

who want hard rock anyway?

 

[u2valleygirl]

I agree. Bono did hype this one up a bit and as a heavy metal lover I was like what???

But I love U2. I love their complexity. I love this album. It still is the best music out there. Yes, songs like Vertigo, Sunday Bloody Sunday, Bullet hit you hard. But many U2 songs must simmer for a long time in my brain before I grasp their true meaning. They are so complex. That's why I have been so reluctant to give my impressions on this board...I need to let the music sink in. So now that I have babbled a bit, it is not as much of a rocker as I was expecting. But I am rejoicing and loving the new music.

Shit man, if I totally want to rock I'll listen to Social Distortion, but if I want timeless, classic music that sometimes rocks but on the same hand is so beautifully layered and introspective I will listen to U2.

 

[Daveone]

How can you say EBTTRT isn't a rocker?!

 

[U2DMfan]

How can you say EBTTRT isn't a rocker?!

No kidding. That's about the only thing I disagree with on the entire thread.

 

[U2Soar]

Hey BrazilianFly – cool idea moving All Because to number 2. You’ve got a rockin’ beginning with the first five songs. I put Storm (rock version), Cars, and Wait Forever to beef up the middle of the album.

Vertigo
All Because Of You
Love And Peace Or Else
City Of Blinding Lights
Miracle Drug
Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own
A Man And A Woman
When The Stars Go Blue
Electrical Storm (Band Version)
Fast Cars
Are You Gonna Wait Forever
Crumbs From Your Table
One Step Closer
Original Of The Species
Yahweh

 

[Sleep Over Jack]

Hey Soar, how about an ATYCLB tracklist using the HTDAAB songs that were ATYCLB session tracks (and E. Storm of course)

 

[tkramer]

I totally agree with anyone who feels EBTTRT is a rocker, it just feels more like an uptempo piece to me, that's all.

Really, when you think about it, that further proves the point of how needless it is to say an album needs X amount of songs to sound like X to be successful. U2 can't be classified. (Although folk band who sometimes rocks is pretty close.)

 

[ZeroDude]

theyre a rock band just like the Rolling Stones etc.

 

[TheBrazilianFly]

Hey BrazilianFly – cool idea moving All Because to number 2. You’ve got a rockin’ beginning with the first five songs. I put Storm (rock version), Cars, and Wait Forever to beef up the middle of the album.

Vertigo
All Because Of You
Love And Peace Or Else
City Of Blinding Lights
Miracle Drug
Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own
A Man And A Woman
When The Stars Go Blue
Electrical Storm (Band Version)
Fast Cars
Are You Gonna Wait Forever
Crumbs From Your Table
One Step Closer
Original Of The Species
Yahweh

Thanks!! Great tracklist too!


And yeah, EBTTRT is a rocker and a really good one!!! That riff Edge playes during the chorus is great!

 

[Lil'Bono]

Never trust a man in shades!!

 

[elfyx]

I think one thing not to lose perspective here is that when Bono was saying all those things about the tunes being scorchers, dragons, etc... I believe that was when Chris Thomas was still firmly at the helm.

A lot changed during that transition and I think the album would have been far more uptempo and hard-rocking if he finished the album. And, I'm sure he contributed a lot, but obviously U2 felt that something special was missing.

Now, there were so many reports of two to three dozen tunes total that were being written. I think we may see them in one way or another; hopefully on their next album.

 

[Jack In The Box]

isn't?

ok, then I go away of here!