You're the Best Thing About Me - Song Discussion

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First listen. Rhythm section overall pretty good, but the rest of the song is just- why? I can't imagine this will have a lasting impression on the radio/charts.

I'm glad Blackout is great though so I'm not particularly annoyed - this sort of inconsistency is standard in U2 in the later part of their career.
 
That other mix pisses me off; it shows there's really a good pop song there. Why the fuck did they chop it up?

I'm hoping this is the single mix, and the album mix isn't trying to be 4 songs at once.
 
First listen to YTBTAM: underwhelming. For reference, I heard the Kygo remix maybe once, never heard the beach clip or the rehearsal clip. So as a fresh listen to the song, meh. The chorus just doesn't seem to fit.

I do love the Blackout, though, and Invisible. Miracle and Boots are ok.

I'll probably listen again to see if my opinion changes, but I'm not in a huge rush. Though I'm going to the show on Friday so we'll see if the song improves live (if they play it)
 
Oh wow, the alternate mix is very nice. The best thing (hehe) about it is how it puts Bono's vocals lower in the mix; it's been a recurring problem for a long time now IMO that they make the vocals too loud compared to everything else, but that The Blackout (in that video, that is) thankfully avoided.

Then there's some nice additional sounds on top. It's not wildly different from the normal version, but it's a more comfortable, inspired mix that I think would've worked just as well if not better as a single version than the one we have.
 
This place drives me crazy sometimes. I don't see how anyone is so horribly disappointed by this song.

I like it quite a bit. I don't find it patched together at all. Maybe one odd transition from first chorus to the verse, but beyond that I'm really liking it

This is a pop/alt/pop song. If anyone has been listening to radio for the last year, this song fits right in. I love the guitar break not the middle, the chorus soars more now than the Kygo mix and the last love the last bridge, it is really pretty and breaks up any monotony.

I put it in California territory which I think is a great pop song.

Enjoy it folks.
 
So after taking a bit of a break, it turns out to be a fairly standard "pop song" engineered with today's sensibilities. It has that clean/created-in-a-vacuum sound as opposed to a bunch-of-guys-playing-in-a-room-and-someone-hits-record sound. Normally U2 sounds "cloudy" and this sounds "clear".

To me it's close to being over-produced with the little sounds in the second verse, but without those sounds, I think it would make song sound vacant and boring... so it feels like they needed some sort of sound in there.

In some ways, I'm okay with them moving away from the sound of their past singles (fuzzed out rockers), but it sounds like they're moving towards what everyone else is sounding like on the radio. It's almost as if this isn't a song for the fans, but to try and find new ones.

I'd give it a 3/5, and if there's anything to truly be encouraged by, it's the fact that an album is coming and that there are going to be other songs that I like better. It's usually how these things shake out.
 
Irvine511 said:
I think the release of The Blackout was album damage control for the crazies in here (like me). This song is for everyone else.

They may know what they are doing.
Click to expand...

It's been described a couple of times as the poppiest song on the album.

That said, I don't really understand the crazy amounts of hate. We already had a pretty good idea of what the song was going to sound like.
 
womanfish said:
This place drives me crazy sometimes. I don't see how anyone is so horribly disappointed by this song.

I like it quite a bit. I don't find it patched together at all. Maybe one odd transition from first chorus to the verse, but beyond that I'm really liking it
Click to expand...

Same. I saw some comments about the song before I heard it and thought "oh no." But what the hell, it's good.

It's nothing new, and I'm heartened to hear (I think someone who heard the album had said this?) that it's the poppiest thing on the album. I like it, but don't want a whole album of it.

Bring on December 1.
 
womanfish said:
This place drives me crazy sometimes. I don't see how anyone is so horribly disappointed by this song.



I like it quite a bit. I don't find it patched together at all. Maybe one odd transition from first chorus to the verse, but beyond that I'm really liking it



This is a pop/alt/pop song. If anyone has been listening to radio for the last year, this song fits right in. I love the guitar break not the middle, the chorus soars more now than the Kygo mix and the last love the last bridge, it is really pretty and breaks up any monotony.



I put it in California territory which I think is a great pop song.



Enjoy it folks.
Click to expand...



Mmm see I would say something like Sweetest Thing of Window in the Skies are more successful as pop songs.
 
corianderstem said:
Same. I saw some comments about the song before I heard it and thought "oh no." But what the hell, it's good.

It's nothing new, and I'm heartened to hear (I think someone who heard the album had said this?) that it's the poppiest thing on the album. I like it, but don't want a whole album of it.

Bring on December 1.
Click to expand...

Click clack to this.
 
zoopop said:
Best Coast
Purity Ring
Grimes
Passion Pit
Hot Chip
Tame Impala


U2 released 2 singles for SOE (in a way 3). Blackout, Little Things, & Best Thing all different audiences & listeners.
Click to expand...



I'm not sure how you think this sounds anything like most of those—few of whom are indie pop either. Purity Ring are synth pop/witch house, Tame Impala are neo-psychedelia, etc.
 
A real test is whether you would listen to a song again if it were by an artist you hadn't heard of before.

I would have given Blackout another shot. Little Things probably not. This? Not a hope in hell.
 
I'm liking it better the more I listen but doesn't hide the fact that it's over produced and Edge is still missing from this band.

Maybe it'll do well on the charts cause we don't like it when we usually love a song and think this is a hit....and it ranks.

But where is Edge!!!!!?!?!! He again takes the back seat to everything else in the song. U2 has always been about B&E and you discover Adam and Larry on deeper listens.

This isn't much different from 2004 U2 and on. There's some great melodies, catchy songs. But they're pretty throwaway.
 
It's a little slower than I was expecting and there is a bit of a mishmash of ideas as it goes along, but I like it all the same.
 
popacrobat said:
That said, I don't really understand the crazy amounts of hate. We already had a pretty good idea of what the song was going to sound like.
Click to expand...

As someone participating in it, here's how I'd explain the hate:

1) The Blackout generated a great deal of cautious optimism. This song is a buzzkill.

2) The band snatched defeat from the jaws of victory by overcomplicating what was, at its core, a good melody.

3) They had a better lead single (The Blackout) staring them in the face.

4) It feels cathartic to vent about the song.
 
BEAL said:
I'm liking it better the more I listen but doesn't hide the fact that it's over produced and Edge is still missing from this band.

Maybe it'll do well on the charts cause we don't like it when we usually love a song and think this is a hit....and it ranks.

But where is Edge!!!!!?!?!! He again takes the back seat to everything else in the song. U2 has always been about B&E and you discover Adam and Larry on deeper listens.

This isn't much different from 2004 U2 and on. There's some great melodies, catchy songs. But they're pretty throwaway.
Click to expand...




I agree with a lot of this. My biggest problem at this point is that it just ends. Like it needs 30 more seconds to finish. Wasn't there something at the end of the Kygo version from last year where B&E sang together "the-the-the / the best thing about me (the best thing! the best thing!)"?

Anyway, it's improving my overall mood on a gloomy Wednesday morning, which is why people listen to popular music to begin with, and what the best pop songs do.
 
Still haven't heard it myself but I haven't heard one bad report In the press about it yet, they all seem to be keen on it
 
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