And the elevators only go UP!
Well, commercially it was a success, so it didn't "bomb", as BB has stated. That was the point of my argument. It got mostly great reviews from critics.
I understand where this cynicism comes from. But in terms of this being "another lifeless anthem", can't you feel the dissonance right from the beginning? That electric guitar part looped at the beginning isn't exactly welcoming; it's pulling you down into the whirlwind. It doesn't try to wow you quickly with big hooks, either. The thing takes its time. It's poppy in the way Wild Horses is poppy, before the Temple Bar castration mix. It's very dark sonically. And I'll argue that the solo/instrumental break pushes this thing up into the heavens. They haven't soared like this in a LONG time. And it ends obliquely, a far cry from the pat finishes of The Bomb, where what, only 1 song in 11 actually fades out instead of coming to a neat resolution?
Most everything that's said about how good a song Mercy is are things I could say about She's Gonna Blow Your House Down. And what album was that on?
Why does it appear that all threads eventually lead to an argument over the merits of HTDAAB, or whether Mercy should be included on the next album?
You make a great point there with the fact that the guitar is not overly "catchy" or "poppy". I totally agree. Some people say the opposite about SYCMIOYO, though I disagree. But it still is a valid critique on their part.
Hell, I think the MUSIC on Mercy is fantastic. I think Adam absolutely shines on this song with his driving bassline. Larry also drives the song with his bass drum. Edge's guitars are subtle in the parts they need to be subtle and prominent in those parts that need to be as such.
I'm listening to it again, and I think I've figured out what I don't like...and I hate to say it...its Bono's vocals. Its like he's wailing through half the song. He's singing near the top of his register throughout more than half the vocals.
I don't think the lyrics that he's singing need to be sung the way he sings them. He hits the chorus and its too overdone for me.
Think about SYCMIOYO or even ONE. Both songs have very deep meaning and emotional chracter...they have prominent rythym sections and Edge at his best....but they also both have Bono building up to that exploding vocal that makes the song. This song needs a little less Bono wailing and a little more subtlety in the vocals. The music, which is very dark sonically as you so appropriately put it, can drive the song without the need for Bono to wail all over it. Its like he's trying way to hard to make this song into "BAD II" when it really doesn't have to go that route.
You're totally right..the music builds and takes time...unfortunately Bono is way too premature with his build up IMO.
Because people got tired of arguments over Pop's merits and moved on.
Ah, gotcha .
Here's one: Imagine if Moment Of Surrender was...the topic of discussion on this thread
I do hope it's not a re-hash of Mercy.
I do hope it's not a re-hash of Mercy.
It also doesn't 'fit' if you listen to the beach clips!
I do too. I would be crushed if it was. To me Mercy isn't just a song but sort of a beacon of hope that there would be more U2 songs like this. It sort of represents hope that the band isn't burnt out. Moment of Surrender sounds like one of those songs. The first and fourth beach clips hint at that new direction. My biggest hope really is that U2 can be reborn. If Mercy and Moment of Surrender were the same song that would really be disappointing.
Isn't this contradictory? You are looking at Mercy as being a beacon of hope. So you don't want them to turn that beacon of hope into an actual song on the album?
I would say that the last 2 albums actually received better reviews than both Zooropa & Pop.
Vocal minorities exist on every forum...plugging away, trying to convince everyone else that they're wrong. It's their hobby.
U2 might not have done a great album since AB but thats only by u2 standards.
I don't know, I think I'd rather hear an album full of brand new songs than one less brand new song. If U2 really means it when they say they have "no reverse gears in this tank," I don't see them bringing a finished song from the past into the present. I see them as a band that lives in the present (with a few exceptions such as 'The Sweetest Thing', which was a special case). Further, if they felt 'Mercy' wasn't good enough to make an album last time, I would hope the next album isn't so bad that they now feel it is good enough to make it.
Wasn't that it didn't make the album for length reasons opposed to it not being good enough for the album?
You also have to understand that U2 sells millions of records and people who have heard Mercy are only in the thousands. That's a huge difference. Some people heard Trip Through Your Wires in 1986 but it was new to a vast majority of people when The Joshua Tree came out.