You're the Best Thing About Me - Song Discussion

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One thing I will give Interference. We used to LOVE every new song and then end up hating it. Now it seems we learned our lesson, approach new material in a more skeptical way, dislike it more initially,and then end up liking the songs more after some reflection.
 
redhill said:
Why the heck not? Overcooking has done them such a disservice that they might as well be adaptive and choose a better mix for the album.
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It would not surprise me. Reaction + a few more months do seem like a combination that would make it hard to resist getting near the mixing board again. :edge: :p
 
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womanfish said:
One thing I will give Interference. We used to LOVE every new song and then end up hating it. Now it seems we learned our lesson, approach new material in a more skeptical way, dislike it more initially,and then end up liking the songs more after some reflection.
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We are reacting to songs though. If the song is immediate but hollow, of course reaction is positive and then drops off.

These two songs, above all else seem very DIFFERENT. For them at least. That is initially scary, and very hard to assess quality until it sinks in.
 
womanfish said:
One thing I will give Interference. We used to LOVE every new song and then end up hating it. Now it seems we learned our lesson, approach new material in a more skeptical way, dislike it more initially,and then end up liking the songs more after some reflection.
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Haha true. My post history shows some embarrasing knee-jerk love for Love and Peace or Else :D

Still, I'm convinced this is different. I think this will be a hit. Their last one, most likely, but I think it will be a hit.
 
It's fine but The Blackout was much better and should've been a single over this.

U2 still shooting themselves in the foot on single choices?
 
Anyone hear the weird EQ job on Bono's vocals around 2:00 in the the Sci-Fi Soul mix? Surely that was accidental.
 
Honestly, The Blackout is a better song, but making it a single would not have reached as many people as this will. Does anyone honestly think singles are for anything other than mobilising the people that may not have bought the album otherwise? This gets new people in. The Blackout would not have been a radio hit, despite its obvious qualities.
 
dan_smee said:
Honestly, The Blackout is a better song, but making it a single would not have reached as many people as this will. Does anyone honestly think singles are for anything other than mobilising the people that may not have bought the album otherwise? This gets new people in. The Blackout would not have been a radio hit, despite its obvious qualities.
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It probably would have done well on certain rock-oriented formats.
 
Should've just released Invisible again with the marching band chimes. No one outside of here would've noticed.
 
dan_smee said:
Honestly, The Blackout is a better song, but making it a single would not have reached as many people as this will. Does anyone honestly think singles are for anything other than mobilising the people that may not have bought the album otherwise? This gets new people in. The Blackout would not have been a radio hit, despite its obvious qualities.
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This. The Blackout might be a better song, but it is not a better single.

Releasing The Blackout as a single instead of this would have been the band shooting themselves in the foot on single choices.
 
No question that the band definitely made the right choice with Best Thing. The Blackout is awesome but doesn't have the hook or mass appeal to launch an album like this does. Easily their strongest lead since Vertigo. I'm very curious to see how/if it charts.
 
PRB216 said:
No question that the band definitely made the right choice with Best Thing. The Blackout is awesome but doesn't have the hook or mass appeal to launch an album like this does. Easily their strongest lead since Vertigo. I'm very curious to see how/if it charts.
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It's going chart and chart well IMO
 
DeVaul said:
Should've just released Invisible again with the marching band chimes. No one outside of here would've noticed.
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It's funny - at first, I thought I had a similar reaction to this song as I do to Invisible, so I gave Invisible a spin.

Then I realized that Invisible is much, much more powerful. So I've listened to Invisible more than TBT today.
 
Sr. Poop said:
It's going chart and chart well IMO
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Except it may not do that at all. It's probably not going to chart well at all in this first week simply because they've divided up the first few days of guaranteed high downloads and streams into two separate sales weeks.

It may be #13 on the US iTunes charts right now, but it almost certainly won't make it very high up Hot 100 when the new chart is published on Friday.
 
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womanfish said:
Exactly. Taking about people looking at this as a new U2 song and that's all. Not through the lens of detailed U2 history, having heard a couple different versions leading up to this one, knowing it was remixed multiple times, etc...



The positive reaction to it is nice to see, especially from some unexpected places



This song will sit well enough with most real U2 fans, the U2 haters will, well... hate it, and the casual fan or new listener will most likely really like it. That's a win at the end of the day.



And keep perspective. This is ONE song. The other two we've heard are not pop tunes and most likely the rest aren't either. I think we're in for a quality album.
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Actually that's the the thing, many of the U2 haters seem not to hate it.
 
Anyone remember the original version of Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah? It was an awful mix. Never before has there been a bigger gap between musical genius and production. Time has been kind to that song it may be to this one.

I also prefer the Kygo mix (especially the Nile Rodgeresque guitar) but there is a very special song in there that can't be destroyed by mediocre production and an over-analyzed arrangement. The fact that U2 can produce something like The Best Thing at this stage in their careers is extraordinary. It's a deep love song with resonance that's given buoyancy by it's pop sound that may not go stale with time.
 
After relistening to the Kygo mix I'm so glad the "fresh paint" line was nicked. I hated that lyric.
 
To the folks complaining that there's too much going on, Apple Music says you're wrong.

IMG_1167.JPG
 
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