Random Music Talk XXVII: The Return of Knife Crime

[LemonMelon]

1. Zooropa
2. Joshua Tree
3. Pop
4. Boy
5. Achtung Baby
6. War
7. Passengers
8. NLOTH
9. TUF
10. R&H
11. HTDAAB
12. ATYCLB
13. October

Daaaa 90s.

 

[cobl04]

It's got amazing songs on it, and there's little on it I actively dislike it, and yet I always rank it low. I can't put my finger on why exactly I don't love the album as a whole. Something about the way it sounds, and whether it's the production or the songs themselves when listened to back-to-back ... I dunno.

Yeah same... I really can't say why I rank it so low. Strange.

 

[PhilsFan]

Why is it that we all rank War so low? It has two of their biggest and best hits, plus Drowning Man, Two Hearts and Surrender. I don't enjoy listening to it, in fact I probably haven't in at least three or so years.

Because Red Light, The Refugee, and 40 (the album version) are all shit. Drowning Man, Two Hearts and Seconds are just okay. There's not that much that's all that good.

 

[Reggo]

Because Red Light, The Refugee, and 40 (the album version) are all shit. Drowning Man, Two Hearts and Seconds are just okay. There's not that much that's all that good.

This.

 

[GirlsAloudFan]

Sunday Bloody Sunday and New Year's Day are two monster tracks. Just beastly. Two of the best rock songs ever written.

And, yeah, I love a handful of the other songs on there, too. Especially Like A Song...

Great album.

And their best album cover, too. For my money.

 

[PhilsFan]

New Year's Day might be their most universally liked track.

 

[GirlsAloudFan]

Its awesomeness is undeniable.

 

[corianderstem]

After listening to the live version on umpteen million bootlegs and live DVDs, I almost get a chill to be reminded of the crisp studio version and young Bono's urgent YEA-AHHHHH!

 

[the tourist]

The Refugee is better than people give it credit for. War has 3 of my top 15 U2 songs on it. That's why I rank it so high. That and I love the production on the album as a whole. Red Light is female backup vocals and horn solo away from being a really good song (no backup vocals and piano playing the horn solo would have made a huge difference).

 

[martha]

I don't really like the hits on War at all. Two Hearts is my #1 or 2 favorite 'Cock song of all time, and I love Like a Song, but that's about it. I liked most of the rest once, but not so much anymore.

 

[GirlsAloudFan]

I don't really like the hits on War at all.

That's...interesting.

 

[martha]

SBS, and NYD have kind of lost their initial punch for me. Maybe it's familiarity? I don't know. The album was fine earlier in my fanhood, but in the last 15-18 years, not so much.

On the flip side of that, I've grown to like TUF more and more. My initial reaction to it was dislike, but in the last 10 years or so, I've begun to appreciate it more.

 

[Lancemc]

War is soooo dated. Not in the fun way.

 

[Axver]

The reason I rank War so low is because the only part of the album that doesn't make me reach for the skip button is Seconds through to Drowning Man, and the only song from the album that cracks my U2 top 30 is New Year's Day. Maybe Like A Song in the right mood. SBS studio has long since lost interest to me (why bother with it when there's Fuck The Revolution?), I don't hate The Refugee like most people but I'll skip it half the time, THBAO is pretty mundane to me, etc., etc. Surrender's the only song I really, really like on the second side of War.

 

[djerdap]

9. No Line On The Horizon
10. Achtung Baby

YouTube - not the bees!

 

[Axver]

Actually, maybe swap those two around. I stand behind the rest.

 

[djerdap]

Actually, maybe swap those two around. I stand behind the rest.

Aaah I feel much better now.

 

[LemonMelon]

October ahead of anything is the baffling one.

 

[Axver]

October ahead of anything is the baffling one.

October last is what always baffles me. Great album with heaps of great tracks that never seems to get due appreciation. Seriously, how can you go past Gloria, Brick, Rejoice, Fire, Tomorrow, the title track, and Scarlet? Rarely have U2 thrown more passion into an album, and it's got that early chiming Edge guitar sound that I'm a total sucker for.

 

[Imperor]

THE PAlNT! TONIGHT!

This shit was awesome. Love those ladies.

 

[KhanadaRhodes]

Why is it that we all rank War so low? It has two of their biggest and best hits, plus Drowning Man, Two Hearts and Surrender. I don't enjoy listening to it, in fact I probably haven't in at least three or so years.

for me there's just too many weak tracks. plus the studio version of sbs is just icky. oh and i hate thbao. i'd actually put that as my least favourite track on the album.

October last is what always baffles me. Great album with heaps of great tracks that never seems to get due appreciation. Seriously, how can you go past Gloria, Brick, Rejoice, Fire, Tomorrow, the title track, and Scarlet? Rarely have U2 thrown more passion into an album, and it's got that early chiming Edge guitar sound that I'm a total sucker for.

see, i went back recently and tried listening to october. admittedly i do rank it above war but some of the songs just aren't as good as i remember. rejoice is one of those.

 

[cobl04]

This shit was awesome. Love those ladies.

More importantly, how'd the date go.

 

[lazarus]

No new song played tonight.


Suck it, optimists.

 

[Vlad n U 2]

?

 

[mobvok]

This is kind of a tricky prompt as hinted at by cobl's question about War: I think SBS, NYD, Drowning Man, and 40 are fairly essential, yet the album as a whole is only half "full" IMO. So War and TUF sink a little far. (Pride/Wire/TUF/Promenade/Bad/MLK is the counterpart EP). I haven't found enough interest in either Boy or October to listen to them more than a few times. Don't nitpick the intra-group rankings. If the songs were recorded on Achtung Baby a little better I think it'd overtake Zooropa. (still cheating a little on Zoo by mentally including the New Mix of Numb) From least to best:

NLOTH
HTDAAB


Rattle and Hum
TUF

War
ATYCLB
The Joshua Tree
Pop

Achtung Baby
Zooropa

I would never disagree with anyone's praise of The Joshua Tree, yet I find myself surprisingly rarely queuing up songs from that album. It's more like a jewel to be observed in its cage than a piece I interact with on a daily basis. It's kind of like Abbey Road: it'll never leave my ipod, but there are albums that are more contemporary to my life.

 

[cobl04]

I reckon I've listened to NLOTH all of eight or nine times.

 

[LemonMelon]

October last is what always baffles me. Great album with heaps of great tracks that never seems to get due appreciation. Seriously, how can you go past Gloria, Brick, Rejoice, Fire, Tomorrow, the title track, and Scarlet? Rarely have U2 thrown more passion into an album, and it's got that early chiming Edge guitar sound that I'm a total sucker for.

It's just...it's a really enjoyable disaster. I like the energy, and a handful of tracks are masterful, albeit not necessarily due to their craft alone. Gloria marries a great hook to raw energy and creates magic, but songs like Rejoice mostly survive on their zeal and turned out to be better live as a result. Tomorrow and October are heartbreakers but can drag if you're not in the right mood. The lyrics are generally alright, but aside from a handful of truly evocative moments, the album is a step down from the brilliance of Boy, which has a strong, cohesive narrative.

I don't know what you see in Fire, to be honest. Really dated and slightly ridiculous, but the hook isn't strong enough to justify it. There's a reason that song bombed as a single. Also, I wish A Celebration were part of the record instead of Is That All. Scarlet would have been a FAR superior closer.

 

[cobl04]

Stranger in a Strange Land is the most underrated song in their catalogue. Fact.

Y'all will wanna wake up soon... 988 posts. You don't want me making another thread.

 

[Axver]

... the album is a step down from the brilliance of Boy, which has a strong, cohesive narrative.

Well I totally agree with you here, at least. Boy is honestly the only U2 album that I think doesn't have a weak track. Sure, The Ocean isn't much, but it's hardly a clunker like, say, Red Light or Trip or Babyface. Almost every other song is in my U2 top fifty.

I don't know what you see in Fire, to be honest. Really dated and slightly ridiculous, but the hook isn't strong enough to justify it. There's a reason that song bombed as a single. Also, I wish A Celebration were part of the record instead of Is That All. Scarlet would have been a FAR superior closer.

I just think it's got a good sound; I like the guitar and I get a fair amount of enjoyment out of the song. Simple as that. I don't think it's half as dated as some of the stuff on War, and to be honest I've always thought "dated" is a pretty lazy sort of criticism (not to say it's always invalid).

Shame A Celebration didn't exist until after the October sessions.

I reckon they should've just padded it by digging up one or two of the better pre-Boy songs. The Dream Is Over would've done fine. Forget about ITA.

Stranger in a Strange Land is the most underrated song in their catalogue. Fact.

Your point is proven by the fact that even I don't rate it much.

 

[cobl04]

You shoulda looked
After her better.
You shoulda looked
After her more.