I know I'm late to the polarized opinions fest, but I've got one to share (who doesn't. All in good fun).
When I first heard some of that verse stuff in the Kygo version many moons ago, I was excited for this one. When I heard the official single release last week, I wanted to like it so badly that I would play it again and again but the song never took off for me. It's just kinda there.
I agree it has a copy/paste feel to it, but not exactly disjointed. They're still a very talented band and know how to glue pieces together.
My favorite part is the Edge singing.
There's just no drive to the song, overall. No lift-off. It comes close when Edge does his old-school chimey guitar lick, but it sounds like a crutch that the song leans on for a few seconds to make sure the die-hards don't check out. Plus, I don't know if I'm alone on this, but I kind of like when he strays from that guitar sound, lately. It's his autopilot/in-the-box go-to sound and he hasn't found an innovative way to use it in a long time. It's not just the Edge that seems to run to safety a lot; Bono's singing has been a certain style since about 2000 (on most songs) that I'm kinda over, too. Not every song you make is going to be an epic ballad or anthem. Explore the low-range once in a while or bring back the fat-lady voice now and then. I like sultry/gruff Bono. He got left in the 90s though, I guess.
Didn't mean to write a novel. I'll end it on something positive that I've gathered from the new material so far. It goes like this: Hot damn, Mr. Clayton! Are you taking control of this group or what?!
When I first heard some of that verse stuff in the Kygo version many moons ago, I was excited for this one. When I heard the official single release last week, I wanted to like it so badly that I would play it again and again but the song never took off for me. It's just kinda there.
I agree it has a copy/paste feel to it, but not exactly disjointed. They're still a very talented band and know how to glue pieces together.
My favorite part is the Edge singing.
There's just no drive to the song, overall. No lift-off. It comes close when Edge does his old-school chimey guitar lick, but it sounds like a crutch that the song leans on for a few seconds to make sure the die-hards don't check out. Plus, I don't know if I'm alone on this, but I kind of like when he strays from that guitar sound, lately. It's his autopilot/in-the-box go-to sound and he hasn't found an innovative way to use it in a long time. It's not just the Edge that seems to run to safety a lot; Bono's singing has been a certain style since about 2000 (on most songs) that I'm kinda over, too. Not every song you make is going to be an epic ballad or anthem. Explore the low-range once in a while or bring back the fat-lady voice now and then. I like sultry/gruff Bono. He got left in the 90s though, I guess.
Didn't mean to write a novel. I'll end it on something positive that I've gathered from the new material so far. It goes like this: Hot damn, Mr. Clayton! Are you taking control of this group or what?!