Album 13: Mirror mirror on the wall, there's no album so let's just talk y'all

The friendliest place on the web for anyone that follows U2.
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
See posts with no answers
Their reinvention after Achtung Baby was meaningful, substantive, startling, impressive, and overwhelmingly successful, both artistically and commercially. It wasn't just tinkering with their image, or changing their look, or their sound around the margins. It was a genuine reinvention. And it wasn't just switching up producers, because they used the same ones that gave us the previous two amazing records.

Which is something no one really talks about when they talk about how U2 needy to bring in X producer with X sound. The different sounds they made on UF/JT/AB were all made with the same producers. Oh my, how is that possible? Because U2 had it then. They don't now, it's a simple as that. If U2 doesn't have it, they can bring in some of the best producers in the world (and they have) and it won't matter.

Anyone who is expecting any kind of reinvention along the lines of AB, or near it, at this point is going to be profoundly disappointed. It's not going to happen. No chance. Zero. Nada. Especially for a band that is no longer at the top of their game, and clearly struggling to put out anything, much less something like Achtung Baby.
 
They should just embrace their old ass ages and write about stuff that gets old men cranky. Instead of writing songs for the youth of today, they should attack the youth in song. Next album title: Get off my Lawn!
 
mama cass said:
i :heart: that Tomb Raider video :D
Click to expand...


can we agree that the "american" Stuck video sucks?

it was a video made for Americans that could only have been made by non-Americans and thusly hated by actual Americans. it was so thoroughly and completely and utterly wrong.
 
LadySpinHead said:
I was in college when Pop came out. I remember thinking, "ew, 30-something men trying to do the club scene. Gross. They're so old."

Old is relative. 35 was old to me when I was 20. However 50 does not seem that old when I'm 35.

U2 will always be old to the 18-24 crowd. Been the case since Achtung Baby.
Click to expand...


Agreed. I was at uni at that time as well and felt the same way as you did. ZOOTV was the last of their young days in terms of appealing to the under 25s imo. From Popmart onwards, they were effectively the last remaining successful band from their generation up against the new guys such as Radiohead, Oasis, Blur, Coldplay etc. I remember playing WTSHNN on the jukebox at my uni cafe around 99-2000, and heard nothing but moans and groans from the other students, all wanting Janet Jackson etc.

U2 have done amazingly well to stay relevant for so long, but now they should just concentrate on producing great albums for their loyal fans, who have stuck with them from the early days.
 
Nick66 said:
Their reinvention after Achtung Baby was meaningful, substantive, startling, impressive, and overwhelmingly successful, both artistically and commercially. It wasn't just tinkering with their image, or changing their look, or their sound around the margins. It was a genuine reinvention. And it wasn't just switching up producers, because they used the same ones that gave us the previous two amazing records.

Which is something no one really talks about when they talk about how U2 needy to bring in X producer with X sound. The different sounds they made on UF/JT/AB were all made with the same producers. Oh my, how is that possible? Because U2 had it then. They don't now, it's a simple as that. If U2 doesn't have it, they can bring in some of the best producers in the world (and they have) and it won't matter.

Anyone who is expecting any kind of reinvention along the lines of AB, or near it, at this point is going to be profoundly disappointed. It's not going to happen. No chance. Zero. Nada. Especially for a band that is no longer at the top of their game, and clearly struggling to put out anything, much less something like Achtung Baby.
Click to expand...


There's a lot of sense in this, perhaps unfortunately.
 
Irvine511 said:
can we agree that the "american" Stuck video sucks?

it was a video made for Americans that could only have been made by non-Americans and thusly hated by actual Americans. it was so thoroughly and completely and utterly wrong.
Click to expand...

is that the American football one? i'm not sure if i've watched that one properly before... i remember the one with B-man getting pushed out of a van though - i like that one too :lol:
 
mama cass said:
is that the American football one? i'm not sure if i've watched that one properly before... i remember the one with B-man getting pushed out of a van though - i like that one too :lol:
Click to expand...

Yeah the van one is the EU version. That was hilariuos. Only good part of the US version is Edge falling over some popcorn or something. :lol: That looked hilarious. The rest is pretty damn bad.

15p5top.gif


Can't find the gifs of him being tossed out :sad:
 
BVS said:
You realize he hasn't actually written many songs about his "activist activities" right?
Click to expand...

Crumbs.

One song after a decade+ of activism. He's hardly shoving it in the lyrics.

As for filler, all U2 albums have them. AB came closest, but it could do without Trying to throw your arms around the world.
 
Nick66 said:
Their reinvention after Achtung Baby was meaningful, substantive, startling, impressive, and overwhelmingly successful, both artistically and commercially. It wasn't just tinkering with their image, or changing their look, or their sound around the margins. It was a genuine reinvention. And it wasn't just switching up producers, because they used the same ones that gave us the previous two amazing records.

Which is something no one really talks about when they talk about how U2 needy to bring in X producer with X sound. The different sounds they made on UF/JT/AB were all made with the same producers. Oh my, how is that possible? Because U2 had it then. They don't now, it's a simple as that. If U2 doesn't have it, they can bring in some of the best producers in the world (and they have) and it won't matter.

Anyone who is expecting any kind of reinvention along the lines of AB, or near it, at this point is going to be profoundly disappointed. It's not going to happen. No chance. Zero. Nada. Especially for a band that is no longer at the top of their game, and clearly struggling to put out anything, much less something like Achtung Baby.
Click to expand...

Same producers though UF owes a lot to Eno. Also AB initially went nowhere as Lanois disagreed with Bono and Edge. It was only after Eno mediated that they got on a roll.

So...the better question is does U2's producer "have it" ? I think DM could have it based on Invisible. I don't think Lillywhite, Eno or Lanois have it after Bomb/NLOTH, which is why they were dropped. Rubin might have it but not with the kind of record they were making with NLOTH.
 
U2girl said:
Same producers though UF owes a lot to Eno. Also AB initially went nowhere as Lanois disagreed with Bono and Edge. It was only after Eno mediated that they got on a roll.
Click to expand...

All three of those records owe a lot to Eno. U2 owes a lot to Eno (basically meaning a good deal of their success).

U2girl said:
They broke up, without as much as a farewell tour. That's not imploding ?
Click to expand...

Of course not. Bands that have been together for 30+ years and remained friends the entire time don't "break up". They merely stop recording and touring. And since when does not doing the supposedly obligatory, half-hearted, cash-register "farewell tour" qualify as "imploding"?

If anything, the class and grace that R.E.M. ended with is something for other bands to emulate.

U2girl said:
Also, they haven't really been the same band once Berry left.
Click to expand...

Well of course they're not the same band. They went from four members to three. That is going to change the entire dynamic. But R.E.M. made some great music after Berry left, and you could as easily attribute any drop off in quality to just the band getting older, like all bands do, as you can Berry's departure.
 
U2girl said:
Same producers though UF owes a lot to Eno. Also AB initially went nowhere as Lanois disagreed with Bono and Edge. It was only after Eno mediated that they got on a roll.

So...the better question is does U2's producer "have it" ? I think DM could have it based on Invisible. I don't think Lillywhite, Eno or Lanois have it after Bomb/NLOTH, which is why they were dropped. Rubin might have it but not with the kind of record they were making with NLOTH.
Click to expand...
It does not matter whether the producer has it or not if the band does not.
 
PhilsFan said:
It does not matter whether the producer has it or not if the band does not.
Click to expand...

Yes, agreed :up:

In the making of Achtung Baby, this is when they would have disbanded after the Hansa Sessions had they not rekindled that "Magic" and ONE had not been written by accident...

Sometimes it just takes one song to spark it all, seems now that they did not have that here and are tinkering with a bunch of songs that don't have the band's magic in them...
 
No lie, I actually had not only a "U2's new album is out" dream last night, I also had a "U2's new album announcement is actually an April Fool's Day joke" dream.

In my dream, I opened up a copy of Rolling Stone and saw a big four-page preview of U2's new disc, titled "Gentlemen From Dublin." The album cover was a peach colour (!) and some of the album's artwork featured U2 making cheeky poses around famous Dublin landmarks, almost a sort of Hard Day's Night-esque style. The tracklist included songs called "Mrs. Fowler," "The Apple," and "Branch Of Freedom."

So in my dream, I saw this article then hurriedly went online to discuss things...only to discover that this was a U2 April Fool's joke not just on the fans, but on Rolling Stone as well. The magazine was PISSED about wasting four pages of space on a prank, and Jann Wenner had a quote along the lines of "let's see how much coverage we give their actual album, if it ever comes out."
 
I can't believe how "How I Met Your Mother" imploded the other night.

Same with "The Cosby Show" and "Seinfeld". "Friends" too!
 
Too many people in here can't make the difference between reinvention and sounding fresh.

And the worst part is that U2 fail on both,.....whatever they tried to do with "Invisible".
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Janet H
  • Sticky
Forum Update - We're back! Ask your questions here.
2
Replies
36
Views
3K
Popmartijn
Popmartijn
Headache in a Suitcase
  • Locked
Songs of Songs, Books & Fat Puns - New Album Discussion #8
33 34 35
Replies
1K
Views
54K
Headache in a Suitcase
Headache in a Suitcase
N
NBA 2023-24 Thread
16 17 18
Replies
538
Views
15K
phanan
phanan
Headache in a Suitcase
  • Sticky
U2 in Vegas - Tips for booking hotels, flights and other Vegasy type things.
20 21 22
Replies
642
Views
34K
Headache in a Suitcase
Headache in a Suitcase
N
  • Locked
NBA 2022-23 Thread
46 47 48
Replies
1K
Views
47K
U2inUtah
U2inUtah

Latest posts

Back
Top Bottom