SOE 32: let there be no leak puns..

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Hollow Island said:
I never said anything about a dog blowing itself, but after hearing three songs they'd written for the album and the verse and chorus for another I did say that it will likely be their worst or second worst album, if only because an album that's 1/4 mediocre (at best) is by definition not a good album. We've now heard 4 studio tracks and Ali e version of another that couldn't be made remarkable even by George Martin c.1966. 5/13 songs are weak. There could be eight great songs lurking but there's nothing in what they've released so far to suggest that. The arrangements and production are unremarkable across the board and the songwriting isn't very good. And the less that's said about the lyrics the better. My expectations were very high but now they're basically nonexistent, so I'll probably be pleasantly surprised by a few songs, and I'm still look forward to hearing he album
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I love how you present all this as fact, even though plenty of people disagree with just about everything you said in this post. I personally find the arrangements in at least 3 of the songs so far to be excellent, in my opinion.
 
redhill said:
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Very well explained video on why he doesn't care as much for millennial U2. I don't necessarily agree with some of his points but he laid them out in a very clear and constructive manner and I get what he is saying.

Good video, thanks for posting.
 
Hollow Island said:
I never said anything about a dog blowing itself
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I don't know how to link to quotes in other threads but in the GOOYOW thread you wrote:

Hollow Island said:
I don't know, Best Thing is still the bottom for me, though the whimpered whoa oohs are easily the worst thing in their catalog. It's like a dog fellating itself.
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Perhaps you were talking about TBT and if so, I misspoke and misunderstood but you still talked about a dog blowing itself in the context of a SOE song.
 
CosmoKramer said:
Very well explained video on why he doesn't care as much for millennial U2. I don't necessarily agree with some of his points but he laid them out in a very clear and constructive manner and I get what he is saying.

Good video, thanks for posting.
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No problem.

I tend to agree with some of his thoughts in regards to millennial U2.

There are several things I don't agree with, however:

1. I definitely do not prefer the acoustic versions of any U2 song post-2000 (or possibly ever).
2. While I have some affinity for vinyl, I think it's ridiculous to suggest that listening format alone can turn a "boring" album into a great one. I don't think NLOTH is a boring album in any case. An album with an identity crisis...most certainly...but not boring.
3. I rate SOI much higher than he appears to. I also don't think it suffered as much from the commercial bent (although I suspect SOE might) as he suggests. This is one where I think they got the balance as close to right as can be hoped at this period in their career (with being so attached to their - IMO misguided - approach to relevance).
4. Perhaps most importantly, I would never refer to ATYCLB as "All That You Cannot Leave Behind" ;]
 
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It's a good thing we stopped talking about bananas up the ass so we could move onto more mature subjects like a dog licking his own penis.

But since we are, I believe this is an old Buddhist koan:

Why does a dog lick its own genitals?



Because he can.
 
Haywa1979 said:
I love how you present all this as fact, even though plenty of people disagree with just about everything you said in this post. I personally find the arrangements in at least 3 of the songs so far to be excellent, in my opinion.
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Didn’t you say for your money Blackout is an all time U2 classic? You’re welcome to that opinion. In fact I’m envious of that sort of perspective. But it couches your posts. You’re shopping with freakin Guinean francs.
 
Wow FINALY for the first time I heard TBT on the radio! Not sure what radio station it was as it was playing in a grocery store but damn about time a Vancouver radio station plays it. But with that said, it's actually my least favorite of the 5 new songs. I initially liked it more but it's a little too pop for my liking. I still rate it at around a 6.
 
Get out is a pretty good song imho, again like TBT, it's a wee bit too much pop for me but I actually enjoy it much better than TBT. I prefer the hard rock U2 more than the pop u2, I know this record is going to be a lot more pop than rock but I am supper excited to listen to some of the unheard songs especially love is all we have left (if the passenger-esque description is true).
 
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Cool!

Replying to @Johnny9985 and 3 others
Hard to answer w/o focusing on him intently, but will say that Book of the Heart has a v.powerful ending & Larry plays a big part in that??????????????????
4:20 PM · Nov 5, 2017
 
Yahweh_OMG said:
I don t know if this thread is the right one.... but i need to let it go.......GOOYOW is as bad live as on record. This might be my worse u2 song. :down:
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This and best thing live are real shockers imo. Low point of live U2.... sounds worse than some of the other SOI stuff live and most of that wasnt very strong imo
 
redhill said:


I know this is from the last album release cycle but I never saw it until now...and think it applies right now.

I also love how he says "I know" at the end!
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I posted a few days back about how u2 are now unable to be objective about their own music and they genuinely seem to think that their current work stands up against their best stuff. Well, here's a case in point. Edge reckons SOI is as good as JT in this video. The enemy of great is very good as Bono continues to say. Looks like u2 are not able to distinguish between the two anymore.

Think he says "bye now" at the end.
 
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akann said:
I posted a few days back about how u2 are now unable to be objective about their own music and they genuinely seem to think that their current work stands up against their best stuff. Well, here's a case in point. Edge reckons SOI is as good as JT in this video. The enemy of great is very good as Bono continues to say. Looks like u2 are not able to distinguish between the two anymore.

Think he says "bye now" at the end.
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Well what was he supposed to say? Yeah the album is shit. Ofcourse they were promoting SOI so naturally he will say it's their best. I wouldn't say well it's ok, not our best but it's ok lol.
 
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It's perfectly possible to be proud of an album and promote it without claiming every new work is your very finest. I don't take U2's pronouncements about their new albums seriously any more because they say roughly the same thing every time around, only to walk it back later.

There's a difference between "we think it's a sensational collection of songs, a worthy addition to our discography that any fan will enjoy", and trying to say it's better than JT or AB, claims that immediately raise expectations to an unrealistic level or encourage people to make (often spurious) comparisons.
 
Axver said:
It's perfectly possible to be proud of an album and promote it without claiming every new work is your very finest. I don't take U2's pronouncements about their new albums seriously any more because they say roughly the same thing every time around, only to walk it back later.

There's a difference between "we think it's a sensational collection of songs, a worthy addition to our discography that any fan will enjoy", and trying to say it's better than JT or AB, claims that immediately raise expectations to an unrealistic level or encourage people to make (often spurious) comparisons.
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I agree but in the context of this video the TMZ seemed to be pushing the edge and seemed a bit rude tbh, I think the edge said it that way because of how the guy was kindof attacking the album. If I were edge I would have said its the best.
 
Axver said:
It's perfectly possible to be proud of an album and promote it without claiming every new work is your very finest. I don't take U2's pronouncements about their new albums seriously any more because they say roughly the same thing every time around, only to walk it back later.

There's a difference between "we think it's a sensational collection of songs, a worthy addition to our discography that any fan will enjoy", and trying to say it's better than JT or AB, claims that immediately raise expectations to an unrealistic level or encourage people to make (often spurious) comparisons.
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But yes in general I agree with you. I don't believe what the band members say. Remember "punk rock on Venus"? Lol
 
And I wouldn't take the word of any artist claiming their current songs are the best until I hear them. You got to remember I am sure the band like many artists are heavily involved emotionally in their current work so more often then not their opinions well obviously be biased. Hell I do it too with my photography! Many times I think I took the best pics I ever taken because I was in the moment only to come back later to them and realize that they are not the best.
 
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akann said:
I posted a few days back about how u2 are now unable to be objective about their own music and they genuinely seem to think that their current work stands up against their best stuff. Well, here's a case in point. Edge reckons SOI is as good as JT in this video. The enemy of great is very good as Bono continues to say. Looks like u2 are not able to distinguish between the two anymore.

Think he says "bye now" at the end.
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I really don't think we should take a video of The Edge being accosted by paparazzi as gospel on what he thinks about Songs of Innocence.
 
To me doing the Kendrick lines at the end of GOOYOW doesn't really make sense. It feels much more like an intro to American Soul than an outro to GOOYOW.

But I don't get slagging the performance mercilessly. It was fine. The song elicits very little strong opinion in me either way, really, and this first go didn't do much to change that. (I still hate The Best Thing.)
 
travelleru2 said:
Am I the only one that thinks thats pretty..... bad.....
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Listening through a crappy cell phone it sounded fine. I didn't like this song at first but it has grown on me. I think it would be good for either Edge or Bono to let loose a little at the end of the song though. Needs a better ending. The song is like Beautiful Day without the great ending.
 
akann said:
I posted a few days back about how u2 are now unable to be objective about their own music and they genuinely seem to think that their current work stands up against their best stuff. Well, here's a case in point. Edge reckons SOI is as good as JT in this video. The enemy of great is very good as Bono continues to say. Looks like u2 are not able to distinguish between the two anymore.

Think he says "bye now" at the end.
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Yeah I get the gist of what you're saying here and though I'm a mega-fan I do kinda agree.
I was watching the Unforgettable Fire doco last night and was struck by how Bono described his songwriting. He was saying the songs already exist, you.habe to let them come, not get in the way of them.
I feel since Zooropa they've been getting in the way a bit much. That's not to say they haven't produced some stellar stuff in that time, but it's not the 'where the hell did they pull that from?' stuff I love the most.

This album may be the epitome of them getting in their own way. I still will like it though. I just really hope there's a Songs of Eno to follow.
 
Personally I love post 2000 u2. I'm 31 years old and the year 2000 was when I got into u2 and it wasn't the Joshua tree or achtung baby that got me into them it was all that you can't leave behind. That's when I fell in love with the band. I was 14/15 at the time and atyclb was huge at school. I can remember a kid recording the album for me on cassette tape and I listened to it to death.

Then I discovered U2's back catalogue. My parents brought me all the cd's that Christmas. I then copied all the cd's onto my mini disc player ( remember them :) ) me and a few lads at school spent all our time going through the albums and comparing different things

So I don't have any problem with u2 sounding like post 2000 u2. It's what attracted me to them and it's probably why I love the new stuff being released

Technically though I was into u2 before I was born. My mother was a big fan in 86 and she says u2 boy/October/war were regularly played when I was in her stomach. So the roots were planted then :)
 
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