Here comes the press rollout...Time magazine cover

[lazarus]

Although, if I had my way, Soon and Winter would be in there at the expense of CT, GOYB and SUC.

Hell yes.

Though I would probably keep Boots.

 

[gvox]

Larry keeps it real yo


Sent from my ass crack

 

[Bad Exit]

Fez into Crazy Tonight? Stand Up Comedy into White As Snow? That only emphasizes the album's tonal inconsistency. I guess we just disagree on what a good transition constitutes.

Probably.

A couple of notes:
-I don't find Crazy Tonight skippable material. I actually like it.
-There's nothing similar at all to Fez in the whole album.
-I thought that the last few seconds of Fez somehow "match" Crazy Tonight.
Fez into Crazy Tonight is like adding banana to a lentil soup, it sounds and looks gross, but it tastes great.

Boots + Stand Up into WAS, is just contrast. Nothing weird imho.

But then again, we can disagree and that's ok.

 

[djerdap]

Fez into Crazy Tonight would be disastrous.

 

[Boglin]

Rolling Stone Album of the Year is.....
U2, 'Songs of Innocence' - 50 Best Albums of 2014 | Rolling Stone

 

[Super Yo]

Rolling Stone Album of the Year is.....
U2, 'Songs of Innocence' - 50 Best Albums of 2014 | Rolling Stone

 

[prbiker15]

Rolling Stone Album of the Year is.....
U2, 'Songs of Innocence' - 50 Best Albums of 2014 | Rolling Stone

 

[Dragonfave]

Wow. Wasn't expecting this at all.

 

[Mrs. Garrison]

take that Foo Fighters

 

[djerdap]

Nonsense.

 

[lazarus]

The list isn't just a bunch of garbage, and features many albums which are likely to top lists from smaller publications and critic's groups.

Yes, there are sub-par albums from popular acts that shouldn't be on here (or as high), but I wouldn't throw the baby out with the bathwater.

 

[allcub]

Rolling Stone crowns U2's detested Songs of Innocence album of the year - The Week

And of course this is what ensues when Rolling Stone does that....

 

[elevated_u2_fan]

what a stupid headline

 

[topplehatU2]

Rolling Stone Album of the Year is.....
U2, 'Songs of Innocence' - 50 Best Albums of 2014 | Rolling Stone

Surprised they didn't give the album 6 out of 5 stars either. It's definitely my favorite of 2014, but given the way it was delivered there is no way people will accept this.

 

[popacrobat]

Surprised they didn't give the album 6 out of 5 stars either. It's definitely my favorite of 2014, but given the way it was delivered there is no way people will accept this.

do people need to accept it though?

 

[PhilsFan]

do people need to accept it though?

If U2 wants to be relevant? Yeah.

 

[allcub]

do people need to accept it though?

True enough.. They don't. In fact they've had so many albums that have been atop "Best of" lists over the years that I think the music media has decided point blank to never allow them have another brilliant album ever again..at any cost... no matter what... no matter how brilliant.

Plus everyone hates them.. (not really - but it seems like that)

 

[PhilsFan]

Also, my hot take is that NLOTH would be best as an EP since it only had a few worthwhile songs.

1. Fez-Being Born
2. No Line on the Horizon
3. Breathe
4. Moment of Surrender
5. Cedars of Lebanon

Pretty much the rest of that era is worthless (even Soon and Winter don't do anything for me) so I don't see a point in trying to make an album out of the material.

 

[rennowba]

Would you hate me if i said "cedars sucks"??i bloody hate that song

 

[popacrobat]

If U2 wants to be relevant? Yeah.

Well, sure I agree with that to an extent. But it's just another arbitrary list by one of the bigger magazines/websites around. There's millions of lists like these out there. Didn't they also say Moment of Surrender was the top song of 2009 or something?

And yeah, if people took these lists to heart, then sure, you'd see a bump in their relevance. I think it's being measured by them more with radioplay/ resonating with the general public, which you can argue comes from 'accepting' lists like these. I just think there's too much noise and too many places to read such lists that it's ultimately irrelevant. 15 years ago, this would probably make a dent since there weren't as many places to read.

 

[U2girl]

Surprised they didn't give the album 6 out of 5 stars either. It's definitely my favorite of 2014, but given the way it was delivered there is no way people will accept this.

It's not a popular vote.

Given the sudden halt to their SOI promo tour, something like this could help bring the album back to the spotlight.

 

[PhilsFan]

The reaction I have seen so far has been universally condemning Rolling Stone as out of touch due to the top three they had listed, not one helping U2 in anyway. There is a reluctance here to accept that U2's decision to release the album this way has buried them on this go around.

 

[U2girl]

Not a popular vote, like I said.
U2's (or rather Bono's) omnipresence doesn't help them but it doesn't change the fact SOI is their best in years, and quite universally so accepted on the fan sites. The fact that critics can't separate the release from the music itself tells more about the critics than U2, who got the flak for Apple's mistake.

U2's flaw this time was going all out with another RAWK single and basically no one cared, just like the last time. They had a good single staring at them but chose to ignore it, just like the last time. Can't expect different results if you don't change your actions.

 

[CosmoKramer]

Would you hate me if i said "cedars sucks"??i bloody hate that song

I will not only see your comment but I will raise you Fez. I can't stand either song.


Sent from my iPhone using U2 Interference

 

[last unicorn]

what a stupid headline

And what a stupid article!

Bravo, Rolling Stone, I like that attitude

 

[LemonMelon]

SOI is going to be the next Pop, in that fans will justify the album's poor public reception and use their shared love of the album as a sort of secret handshake.

If critics gravitated towards discussing the release method (it didn't seem to affect scores that much, based on the 20 or so I read) it was because there wasn't enough about the music that grabbed them. The album still would have sunk without a trace and received average reviews, but not with such a negative aftertaste.

But that's not going to be the fan narrative. With Pop, it was "the album was genius, they just murdered it with the Discotheque video" and now we spend thread after thread discussing what the lead single should have been. With SOI, the narrative is "No one gave it a chance!! The album would have been their best received since Achtung Baby if not for Apple!!"

Honestly? At least the release method gives the album something to make it stand out from the rest of their output. It made for a memorable era. I'm not sure it would have been otherwise.

 

[david]

Songs of Innocence just topped Rolling Stones 50 albums of the year list.

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

Not a popular vote, like I said.
U2's (or rather Bono's) omnipresence doesn't help them but it doesn't change the fact SOI is their best in years, and quite universally so accepted on the fan sites. The fact that critics can't separate the release from the music itself tells more about the critics than U2, who got the flak for Apple's mistake.

U2's flaw this time was going all out with another RAWK single and basically no one cared, just like the last time. They had a good single staring at them but chose to ignore it, just like the last time. Can't expect different results if you don't change your actions.

Oh for fucks sake


The Miracle is actually performing better now then it did upon first release. It's not the single... it's the release method.

Right or wrong, it turned them into a joke. They will be fighting that perception for this entire go around.

Why is that so hard to accept around here? Whether or not the release method SHOULD have been a negative is a moot point. It was. Period.

 

[Hawkmoon269]

if Rolling Stone Magazine and U2 are so not relevant why are other publications writing articles about this?

 

[Yahweh]

People in the 80s-90s loved to put U2 on a pedestal, those same people plus more are enjoying trying to shoot the U2 plane out of the sky today - but guess what it hasn't happened yet and won't, they will exit music on their own terms.

Please tell me 5 better albums this year then SOI, since some people on this board seem to think U2 have lost the plot?