artdirector
Refugee
Atomic was overproduced like a glam rock album. There were a few great songs but as a whole album it didn't resonate. Same with ATYCLB. BD, WO, and Kite were standouts. The rest blah.
it might have ruined what could have been a concept album, but i'm going to stand up for the middle 3 songs. they're superlative at what they do. a tour de force of craft. and they'll be great live. and that's what U2 is -- they are not Radiohead and they are not Pink Floyd, they are a vital live band who depend upon connection with their audience, otherwise they don't see the point.
it might have ruined what could have been a concept album, but i'm going to stand up for the middle 3 songs. they're superlative at what they do. a tour de force of craft. and they'll be great live. and that's what U2 is -- they are not Radiohead and they are not Pink Floyd, they are a vital live band who depend upon connection with their audience, otherwise they don't see the point. those three songs are there to wake up your body after you've been put in a trance for the first 4 songs. U2 is not an art project, it is very much a rock band.
that said, i am with you in that it would be interesting to see if they could keep up the hypnosis for the rest of the album, but it would be very un-U2 of them. and one of the reasons why i remain a mega-fan of the band is because they can give me the song "zooropa" or "moment of surrender" and the can then turn around and offer sweet, sure pop like "crazy tonight" or "walk on" that brings such a smile to my face. uplift does not have to be dumb. and that's one thing U2 has never been -- dumb. cheesy, yes. but not dumb.
it might have ruined what could have been a concept album, but i'm going to stand up for the middle 3 songs. they're superlative at what they do. a tour de force of craft. and they'll be great live. and that's what U2 is -- they are not Radiohead and they are not Pink Floyd, they are a vital live band who depend upon connection with their audience, otherwise they don't see the point. those three songs are there to wake up your body after you've been put in a trance for the first 4 songs. U2 is not an art project, it is very much a rock band.
that said, i am with you in that it would be interesting to see if they could keep up the hypnosis for the rest of the album, but it would be very un-U2 of them. and one of the reasons why i remain a mega-fan of the band is because they can give me the song "zooropa" or "moment of surrender" and the can then turn around and offer sweet, sure pop like "crazy tonight" or "walk on" that brings such a smile to my face. uplift does not have to be dumb. and that's one thing U2 has never been -- dumb. cheesy, yes. but not dumb.
I would agree with that. And judging by the fact that the middle three tracks take up 50% of the vote on the ‘Worst Track’ poll, it appears the fans might send the right message.
I’ve got a bit of a nagging sense of what might have been. That we know they’ve shifted the album a bit, that they’ve got another one perhaps up their sleeve and that some of those songs could have been on this, does nag a little. I think the ‘pop-rock break’ in the middle is great, and it totally works, but I also have a feeling at the end of Unknown Caller – I just want to leap off the abyss right there. I’m right there about to leap, and I get pulled back. It’s fine, pulling back works, but I do hope that they didn’t have a leap there and that a little bit of 00s caution or last minute stage fright changed that around. There’s just a feeling there to me, that the first four songs so successfully pull you in, that they could grab your hand at that moment and take you anywhere, and everyone would follow, that they didn’t need to take that step back from the edge right there and then if they had the choice. Maybe they weren’t leaping off anyway, and I really hope that’s the case, because if they did, and did it well, it’s probably the difference between this album sitting below and/or matching their absolute highest heights.
Sorry but i don't have a short memory and Pop is considered a low point in their careers.
Sorry but i don't have a short memory and Pop is considered a low point in their careers.
Excellent post. I love the album, but I've also wondered about the middle 3 and what could have been. Listening from track 8 through 4 (Fez-Being Born all the way through Unknown Caller with no break after Cedars) is absolutely incredible--a word that I simply cannot attach to the middle 3 songs. I think Boots is the only one of those 3 that really should have made the album. If we had 2 more mood pieces instead of SUC and CT, this album could have been scary good--probably their best ever.
Last night really sucked for me, and listening to this album definitely helped me!
Not for me.
Now Pop is going down in history as classic good U2 album??
Sorry but i don't have a short memory and Pop is considered a low point in their careers.
Now Pop is going down in history as classic good U2 album??
Sorry but i don't have a short memory and Pop is considered a low point in their careers.