When Zooropa was released...

[MrBrau1]

How did the U2 community react? Its their weakest album by far in my opinion, and so off track compared to prior albums.. and with expectations high after JT and AB, I can see a massive let down was Zooropa. I'm not saying its crap, I just don't like it as much as the others, and was wondering how people took it (especially when so many people were angry about quality albums like HTDAAB and ATYCLB)

I wasn't old enough to be a U2 fan back then to know what it was like, if you're wondering.

Despite the what people here have been saying, the record was not loved by the general U2 community. The majority of U2 fans I knew thought it was terrible.

I remember 3 differerent instances where the record came up as a major topic, and it was generally looked down upon by most. And these were U2 fans, people who I'd gone to Zoo TV indoor and outdoor with.

In 2005 everyone talks about how "brave" or "daring" it was. But in the summer on 1993, many U2 fans thought the band had lost the plot. Alternative rock was exploding, and many thought U2 tried to make a more alternative sounding record to gain from that.

It went to #1 in the US, but fell very fast, and never sold as well as AB. I think Zooropa is as responsible for how poor Pop sold, as the music on Pop. The U2 many knew and loved had turned into these trendy hipsters with drum machines and samplers and dye jobs.

 

[MacPhistoPT]

I must admit that Zooropa it's my 10th album, my least favourite excluding October and Passengers.

But as I say many times it's my 2nd less good and not the 2nd worse... I think it gets me through a strange journey and in that point it's an unique album. It has also great songs like Zooropa, Stay and Dirty Day but it has also many cool/cute songs but that aren't important to me like Numb, The First Time or Some days are better than others.

Oh and Daddy's Crashed Car is one of the worse songs they made IMO. And Babyface is extremely underrated!

 

[namkcuR]

Re: Re: When Zooropa was released...

The U2 many knew and loved had turned into these trendy hipsters with drum machines and samplers and dye jobs.

I'd like to know what trend they were following. I'd like to know what other music at the time sounded like Zooropa or Numb or Lemon or Stay or Daddy's Gonna Pay or Dirty Day.

As for the original post...I didn't get into U2 until 98 and I didn't hear Zooropa until 99. It took some growing but I never thought was bad or even average. I first thought it was interesting/different, then I thought it was really wonderful, and I still do. It's brilliant. I couldn't tell you firsthand what the general reaction in 93 was though.

 

[financeguy]

I miss those days. U2 really were untouchable.

Yep. The very fact that they would try something like Numb- with Edge singing the entire vocal in a grumpy monotone - or Lemon, with much of Bono's vocal sung falsetto - proves how confident they were.

Not my personal favourite album, but certainly not the worst.

 

[MCF74]

I didn't care much for Zooropa when it first came out, but it has grown on me a little over the years. Pop has grown on me A LOT more, though. Pop is now easily one of my favorite U2 albums. Zooropa has 4 songs on it that I love: Zooropa, Lemon, Stay, and Numb. They are all edgy and brilliant, IMO. The rest of the songs are ok to pretty good, but those 4 are my top picks.

BTW, I was 17 when Achtung Baby came out. How's that for the perfect age for that one?

 

[MrBrau1]

Re: Re: Re: When Zooropa was released...

I'd like to know what trend they were following. I'd like to know what other music at the time sounded like Zooropa or Numb or Lemon or Stay or Daddy's Gonna Pay or Dirty Day.

I'd guess NIN, Stereo MCs, Massive Attack, Utah Saints. All those bands were up and coming in 1992-1993.

I think Stereo MC's and Utah Saints actually supported shows of the Zooropa tour.

Anyway, I'm just rememberg reaction to the record, I'm not saying I agree with it.

 

[financeguy]

Re: Re: Re: Re: When Zooropa was released...

I'd guess NIN, Stereo MCs, Massive Attack, Utah Saints. All those bands were up and coming in 1992-1993.

I think most of those bands were perhaps more of an influence on Pop?

Zooropa I think was more influenced by the ambient sounds of bands like Future Sound of London.

But yeah you're correct in pointing out that Zooropa didn't just arrive out of nowhere, the way some people on here seem to think it did.

 

[financeguy]

Re: Re: When Zooropa was released...

Despite the what people here have been saying, the record was not loved by the general U2 community. The majority of U2 fans I knew thought it was terrible.

I remember a friend of mine bought the album, didn't like it, so gave it to another friend who loved it. Neither were U2 fans. Just goes to show that Zooropa is a kind of acquired taste.

 

[david]

zooropa has brian eno written all over it.

 

[BVS]

Hey Coop, I'm curious as to if you ever come back to your own threads?

 

[MCF74]

Well, I decided to give Zooropa another go, and I must say that I'm glad I did. I hadn't heard it start to finish in a long, long time and I discovered things in it that I hadn't before. I actually think there is some seriously spooky musical genius floating around in there. I'm so glad I gave it another spin.

Some highlights for me:

Zooropa - Still love it after all these years.

Numb - I listen to this a lot, and to me, it was a funky vibe to it that most hip-hop WISHES on it's best day it had, and I love hip-hop.

Lemon - Another regular listen for me, when heard in context with the album, it really lashes out at you. This song has very few peers in today's music. Awesome!

Stay - I love the acoustic version, but having heard the album version for the first time in years, I wish the boys would play this version on tour. Still, always a great song.

Hearing "Daddy's Gonna Pay for Your Crashed Car" makes me nostalgic for MacPhisto. It makes you want to pop in ZooTV Sydney just to enjoy this great character of Bono's again.

The First Time - I really enjoyed re-discovering this song. Much better than I remember.


Overall, it is clear that whatever creative high the boys were on during Achtung seeped over to Zooropa. I would rank AB a lot higher, but this is a much better album start to finish than I remember it being.

 

[Snowlock]

I thought it was astoundingly bad. I hated the constant fasletto, missed the guitars, thought Numb was like nails on a chalkboard, the drum loops did nothing for me. And then at the end.. Johnny Cash.

However, the album was popular with the critics and did reach #1 on the billboard top 200 and a grammy (as if that's any indication of quality ); but that can be more attributed to the success of Achtung Baby; considering the three singles released in North America from the album: Numb, Lemon, & Stay, all failed to breach the Top 40 (or 50, or 60)

 

[MrBrau1]

Zooropa forced me into buying large quantities of Johnny Cash records. That, and it contains, Zooropa, one of U2's top 5 tunes ever.

For those 2 reasons, I love it.

 

[chocky]

In Australia, Zoorpoa was the last U2 album to have a midnight release.

There were huge crowds at HMV and Virgin stores that night despite the fact Triple M (biggest Sydney FM station) and Triple J (only national non-commercial youth station) played it to death in the week before it's release.

The radio went nuts for the Lemon Perfecto mixes and Numb got a good run.

As fans, I think we all embraced it - especially since it was initially supposed to be an EP and came so soon after Achtung Baby that it was a real treat.

It's my 5th favourite album (after Joshua Tree, War, Achtung Baby & Boy). At the time I played it to death.

 

[PopFly]

Re: Re: When Zooropa was released...

Despite the what people here have been saying, the record was not loved by the general U2 community. The majority of U2 fans I knew thought it was terrible.

I remember 3 differerent instances where the record came up as a major topic, and it was generally looked down upon by most. And these were U2 fans, people who I'd gone to Zoo TV indoor and outdoor with.

In 2005 everyone talks about how "brave" or "daring" it was. But in the summer on 1993, many U2 fans thought the band had lost the plot. Alternative rock was exploding, and many thought U2 tried to make a more alternative sounding record to gain from that.

It went to #1 in the US, but fell very fast, and never sold as well as AB. I think Zooropa is as responsible for how poor Pop sold, as the music on Pop. The U2 many knew and loved had turned into these trendy hipsters with drum machines and samplers and dye jobs.

See, that's why I laughed hard when U2 won the alternative Grammy, since they were the only real alternative band on the list. The other nominees were crap like Pavement and Nirvana (IMO the most overrated bunch of posers of all time), who were just recycling 70's rock riffs. U2 was the only band who made an actual alternative album, and ergo it was a nice slap in the face to the grunge era.

 

[Ellay]

Re: Re: When Zooropa was released...

Despite the what people here have been saying, the record was not loved by the general U2 community. The majority of U2 fans I knew thought it was terrible.

Personally I've no idea what the U2 community thought about it, as this was pre fan-forum days and I really only knew 1 or 2 other people who liked U2.

A guy in the next room at uni had a copy.

Remember thinking it was really dark, but liked it. Cut out the magazine ad for it and stuck it on my wall.

Only when I heard dirty day on the sydney zoo tv video that I went out and bought it tho.

It's creativity like zooropa that keeps U2 on top of their game.

 

[manfromjapan]

Zooropa

Zooropa, like REM's Monster, freaked me out at the time. I remember doing all I can with my headphones, graphic equalizers etc to get a good sound from the album. I was disappointed because Achtung Baby was the best album I had ever heard by any band, and I had stupidly expected the follow-up to be less experimental! After a lot of listens, many drunk after the pub listening on my phones, the album clicked. I learned to appreciate it as a bonus album, a unique U2 album, created and recorded without the time for fussiness or overcontemplation. I rate it higher than Pop and All That You Can't Leave Behind, and I think it is one of those albums by a band that you either get or don't. That is to say, it could equally be brilliant or crap! I love all the tracks, my fave being Lemon. One of those songs where you think - how the fuck did they come up with that song?

 

[thrillme]

Being part of the MTV generation (I remember back when it was a 24/7 music video channel) I've kinda known U2 songs for a while, I've been a casual U2 fan since I was 10 or 11, but I didn't really start to get into their music seriously until high school.

I got U2's albums in a very strange order, War was my first, then October, Joshua Tree, then I got 4 of them at once one time, then rest of their studio albums up to ATYCLB at another (years of unspent birthday money) so my whole view is probably very skewed.

I actually liked some of Zooropa right from the start.

Rattle and Hum is only U2 album that's completely hit or miss for me.

 

[jonnytakeawalk]

In Australia, Zoorpoa was the last U2 album to have a midnight release.

There were huge crowds at HMV and Virgin stores that night despite the fact Triple M (biggest Sydney FM station) and Triple J (only national non-commercial youth station) played it to death in the week before it's release.

That sounds like so much fun! Flocks of hard core U2 fans coming out at 12 to buy the album!

It's the perfect album to play in the middle of the night too!

 

[ascender_RS]

I loved it at the time as it really captured the mood and place the band seemed to be in with the whole Zoo TV thing. AMazing that they found the time and energy to write and record it while touring, I'd love to see something similar happen soon.

 

[the tourist]

I don't understand why everyone seems to hate Babyface. It's my third favourite off Zooropa.

Zooropa, Stay, Babyface.

 

[LJT]

Babyface was the first song i really liked off Zooropa...as was The Wanderer

I would also like to add that Zooropa was the first U2 album i bought

 

[Palace_Hero]

Babyface is a cool song, not a good song.

The Wanderer however I love, such a great groove, the song is made for Cash's voice (Bono couldn't sing it) and Bono's quick falsetto at the end is one of my favourite. So fleeting.

 

[neverman]

I have to agree with the idea that Zooropa really caught the mood of the band and the mood of the time more than any other album out at that time.

For some very interesting insight, read about the album and the making of in the book "U2 at the End of the World" by Bill Flanagan.

Personally I really love that album..listened to it over and over on a road trip when it was fairly new....great driving music...for me anyway

 

[AtomicBono]

The album came in under the radar. No hype at all really surrounded it. It was like it was all of a sudden on the record store shleves without warning.

Ahh, the days before internet... I really wish I had been 15 instead of 5 at the time.

Is that true though, and does anyone think it's possible for U2 to achieve that again? I'm hoping for a quick 2006 release...

Back on topic, I obviously didn't know anything about U2 back then, so I can't answer that question. But when I did get into U2 in 1997, I got into Pop first (still my favourite album...I even bought the Discotheque single and listened to all those remixes a million times! I was 9 at the time ). Sometime after I bought the Joshua Tree, and then I don't remember the order but in the next year or so I obtained October, Rattle and Hum, The Unforgettable Fire, the One single, and Zooropa. It was weird because at the time I didn't realize how different they all sounded...they were all just pieces of the puzzle known as U2. I remember really liking Zooropa and Daddy's Gonna Pay. Now the album is my third favourite (tied with JT and HTDAAB). I love it. U2 at their creative height.

 

[david]

The only real hype about Zooropa that I remember was from watching MTV in 1993 and the MTV VJ Kennedy said U2 were planning on releasing a new album called Zooropia (She didn't really know the name) early to beat bootleggers.

 

[doctorwho]

It was brilliant, the public dug it. Recorded and released while on tour and won the band a grammy for best alternative album.

I'm sorry to hear you think it's so inferior.

WHOA! Speak only for yourself there!

First, in my area at the time (IN), the album was horribly promoted! I didn't even realize a new U2 album was coming out until I happened to look at a store's "upcoming releases" board. There was almost no promotion.

For the album's release, I was in Chicago at midnight at a store. They played the new album non-stop (with radio DJ's there). As I listened to it, I felt that U2 had indeed gone too far. Some of the songs sounded like crap to me. I've since grown to really enjoy the album.

As for the public... I can say that they did not "dig it". I knew quite a few people who still loved U2 from the JT era. Remeber, at that time, JT was just 6 years old. These fans loved R&H (even if they felt it was a bit dark) and most really enjoyed (or at the bare minimum, tolerated) AB. But they felt U2 had lost it with "Zooropa". They hated it so much, they refused to listen to the album any more.

Now, I'm not sure if those people feel the same way today, but I can guarantee you the poorer reception for "Zooropa" is part of what led to the poor reception/sales for "Pop". When U2 released ATYCLB, the public was still hesitant. They loved "Beautiful Day", but weren't sure which U2 they were getting. Was this a trick? Would it be another album like "Zooropa" or "Pop"? After word got out that ATYCLB was a more straight-forward album, only then did sales continue strong.

Personally, now that we are 12 years removed from "Zooropa's" release, I can say it is a very daring, yet innovative album. And I'm hearing some signs of that on HTDAAB, with "Love & Peace" and "Fast Cars". I hope U2 continue in that experimental vein because it's clear that if U2 make another album that sounds like U2, it could be their end. However, at the time "Zooropa" was released, many fans, including myself, felt it was a bit too much. We accepted AB - we even got why U2 felt the need to change - but this album had gone over the top. Fortunately, time has allowed it a better place in history than it has for "Pop".

 

[Neenie]

Although zooropa sounded somewhat flat after the first listen, I started to really enjoy it after many listens. Zooropa has a more optimistic mood that was needed after AB. I remember buying the lemon single on the day of release, which I was listening to religiously for a couple of weeks when I drove up to Queensland, It’s a really good driving song! I bought the album and 2cd stay single at the time which I played to death too.

 

[david]

i loved the stay single. i remember buying it at a k-mart one night for only 5 dollars. i thought it was a great price for so much music. i always thought of the stay single as a little EP of sorts.