Soe 26 - ?

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Popropa Baby said:
Hi everyone. I'm new here. :wave:

Some thoughts on the recent activity;

TBT: yet another attempt at mainstream success. U2 are no longer a Top 40 act. Guitar bands are uncool. Especially guitars bands with guitarists that wear beanies and a singer that delivers liberal platitudes over anthemic radio rock. It's not "in". They're attempting to make hits for an audience that no longer exists (well, besides soccer mums and cyclists).

The Blackout: an ill-advised attempt at tapping into the current political climate. Too heavy-handed; much like most of Bono's post-90s lyrical output. Trying too hard with too little. Musically it has its moments. I like the pre-chorus melody, if only because it reminds me of AB. The chorus is weak and typical of latter-day U2 - it doesn't wind or soar or surprise - it does exactly as you predict.

Anyway - happy to be here!
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How is it too heavy handed?!
 
BVS said:
How is it too heavy handed?!
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Statues fall
Democracy's flat on its back, Jack
We had it all
And what we had is not coming back, Zach
A big mouth says the people
They don't wanna be free for free
A blackout
Is this an extinction event we see

This verse just makes me cringe, personally. Bono used to paint with his words, now he simply outlines.
 
Popropa Baby said:
Hi everyone. I'm new here. :wave:

Some thoughts on the recent activity;

TBT: yet another attempt at mainstream success. U2 are no longer a Top 40 act. Guitar bands are uncool. Especially guitars bands with guitarists that wear beanies and a singer that delivers liberal platitudes over anthemic radio rock. It's not "in". They're attempting to make hits for an audience that no longer exists (well, besides soccer mums and cyclists).

The Blackout: an ill-advised attempt at tapping into the current political climate. Too heavy-handed; much like most of Bono's post-90s lyrical output. Trying too hard with too little. Musically it has its moments. I like the pre-chorus melody, if only because it reminds me of AB. The chorus is weak and typical of latter-day U2 - it doesn't wind or soar or surprise - it does exactly as you predict.

Anyway - happy to be here!
Click to expand...



Personally I do think that audience still exists. Music goes swings and roundabouts. Guitar music will come back and be top again. It's just taking a long time to come . Whether u2 are the band to bring that back is the another question
 
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Popropa Baby said:
Statues fall

Democracy's flat on its back, Jack

We had it all

And what we had is not coming back, Zach

A big mouth says the people

They don't wanna be free for free

A blackout

Is this an extinction event we see



This verse just makes me cringe, personally. Bono used to paint with his words, now he simply outlines.
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Being as we actually have many debating who these lines are about, it's interesting you find them outlining.

SBS wasn't exactly "painting with words".
 
Popropa Baby said:
Hi everyone. I'm new here. :wave:

Some thoughts on the recent activity;

TBT: yet another attempt at mainstream success. U2 are no longer a Top 40 act. Guitar bands are uncool. Especially guitars bands with guitarists that wear beanies and a singer that delivers liberal platitudes over anthemic radio rock. It's not "in". They're attempting to make hits for an audience that no longer exists (well, besides soccer mums and cyclists).

The Blackout: an ill-advised attempt at tapping into the current political climate. Too heavy-handed; much like most of Bono's post-90s lyrical output. Trying too hard with too little. Musically it has its moments. I like the pre-chorus melody, if only because it reminds me of AB. The chorus is weak and typical of latter-day U2 - it doesn't wind or soar or surprise - it does exactly as you predict.

Anyway - happy to be here!
Click to expand...

To be fair, we haven't really even heard The Best Thing yet.

I think there's room for a variety of sounds on each album. I don't mind them including something light and bouncy. And it makes sense that the poppiest song would be the lead single just to see if they can get some traction on the radio (as uphill a battle as that might be).
 
rennowba said:
Might just be me or because I'm listening to it not that loud in bed but it sounds the same as the video that was put on Facebook last week
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:up: i was just wondering if i needed my ears testing or something as it sounded fuzzier if anything :lol:
 
My fave songs from the last 2 album, Being Born, MOS, SLABT, Troubles, they are pretty fresh musically, lyrically awesome, show U2 still has 'it'.
Personally I would have preffered those songs to be the singles (along with EBW).

But point is, Bono can still paint like a fucking genius. He just frequently choose not to, Lou.
 
Popropa Baby said:
Hi everyone. I'm new here. :wave:

Some thoughts on the recent activity;

TBT: yet another attempt at mainstream success. U2 are no longer a Top 40 act. Guitar bands are uncool. Especially guitars bands with guitarists that wear beanies and a singer that delivers liberal platitudes over anthemic radio rock. It's not "in". They're attempting to make hits for an audience that no longer exists (well, besides soccer mums and cyclists).

The Blackout: an ill-advised attempt at tapping into the current political climate. Too heavy-handed; much like most of Bono's post-90s lyrical output. Trying too hard with too little. Musically it has its moments. I like the pre-chorus melody, if only because it reminds me of AB. The chorus is weak and typical of latter-day U2 - it doesn't wind or soar or surprise - it does exactly as you predict.

Anyway - happy to be here!
Click to expand...
Welcome and happy that you are happy, pappy
 
Popropa Baby said:
Hi everyone. I'm new here. :wave:

Some thoughts on the recent activity;

TBT: yet another attempt at mainstream success. U2 are no longer a Top 40 act. Guitar bands are uncool. Especially guitars bands with guitarists that wear beanies and a singer that delivers liberal platitudes over anthemic radio rock. It's not "in". They're attempting to make hits for an audience that no longer exists (well, besides soccer mums and cyclists).

The Blackout: an ill-advised attempt at tapping into the current political climate. Too heavy-handed; much like most of Bono's post-90s lyrical output. Trying too hard with too little. Musically it has its moments. I like the pre-chorus melody, if only because it reminds me of AB. The chorus is weak and typical of latter-day U2 - it doesn't wind or soar or surprise - it does exactly as you predict.

Anyway - happy to be here!
Click to expand...

While I don't quite agree with your assessment here because I think it's too early to tell when we haven't heard the studio version of the black out and only a snippet of TBT, I like to welcome you aboard. I've said it here before, those who don't like these new songs, it seems that many expect u2 to pull off another masterpiece like JT or AB. You are setting yourself up for disappointment. There is no way in hell U2 will reach those heights again and commercially even if they do release something 3 times better than ab, they still will not have that success. This is normal for bands late in their careers. From what I hear from these songs, I like them for what they are, solid tunes. But again I'll reserve full judgement until I hear cleaner studio versions. Just enjoy the moment and don't expect the world from U2, ain't ganna happen!

Anyway welcome aboard!
 
JUSTinPUSHPLAY said:
Anyone that joins a message board just to be negative was probably never a fan, just craving an outlet to troll
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Apologies. It probably does seem that way, but that wasn't my intention. The truth is, none of the people I associate with care about U2, and I still do (despite my feelings towards a large portion of their post-90s output). I enjoy the discourse this band inspires, and I'm looking forward to dipping my toes into the waters here for an album cycle.

I'm quite critical (always have been) and I do believe many people execute a kind of perfect cognitive dissonance to convince themselves they like songs from their favourite bands. I try not to do that.

Anyway. Apologies again. I'm certainly no troll, and I certainly don't hate U2 (I just wish they'd lose the air of desperation around them and forget the charts - relevance comes in many forms these days).
 
Headache in a Suitcase said:
What exactly do they owe him for?
Click to expand...

This was perhaps in reference to the fact that U2 were going to appear on Fallon's program for 5 consecutive nights, Mon-Fri, back in November of 2014. Bono's bike accident caused them to have to cancel these appearances. They later went back on the show in May of 2015, but just for one night.

For the record, I don't think anybody actually believes U2 owe Fallon anything. Shit happens, things get cancelled. I imagine that since Jimmy Kimmel is involved in the (RED) campaign, they'll probably appear on his show when they release SOE on AIDS Day (Dec 1). So it makes sense to do the other Jimmy's show now, months beforehand, to promote the single and raise awareness to liquidate those last tickets in places like St. Louis.

Since the only guest listed is an interview with Reese Witherspoon, I would imagine that U2 will take up a decent section of the program. Probably 2 songs and an interview. One song will obviously be TBT. The other song might be Little Things or Blackout, but most likely it'll be a Greatest Hit, probably from the Joshua Tree. This is of course assuming that the rumor is true, but the timing would make a lot of sense.
 
The_acrobat said:
This was perhaps in reference to the fact that U2 were going to appear on Fallon's program for 5 consecutive nights, Mon-Fri, back in November of 2014. Bono's bike accident caused them to have to cancel these appearances. They later went back on the show in May of 2015, but just for one night.

For the record, I don't think anybody actually believes U2 owe Fallon anything. Shit happens, things get cancelled. I imagine that since Jimmy Kimmel is involved in the (RED) campaign, they'll probably appear on his show when they release SOE on AIDS Day (Dec 1). So it makes sense to do the other Jimmy's show now, months beforehand, to promote the single and raise awareness to liquidate those last tickets in places like St. Louis.

Since the only guest listed is an interview with Reese Witherspoon, I would imagine that U2 will take up a decent section of the program. Probably 2 songs and an interview. One song will obviously be TBT. The other song might be Little Things or Blackout, but most likely it'll be a Greatest Hit, probably from the Joshua Tree. This is of course assuming that the rumor is true, but the timing would make a lot of sense.
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Oh trust me, I know of the Fallon week cancellation better than anyone here... I guess enough time has gone by

Unforgettable Fire were scheduled to be a part of the week. They had a sketch planned that would have involved UF and U2. I was on to work it with UF. We don't know what the details were or what it would have included beyond being scheduled at a bar in midtown not far from 30 Rock, but it was obviously cancelled after Bono smashed his head on the road.
 
When they play on late shows, I generally don't even care who the host is. I'm just glad they're playing.
 
mikal said:
When they play on late shows, I generally don't even care who the host is. I'm just glad they're playing.
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I just would prefer they go on a show where the host is capable of conducting an interview where he doesn't spend the entire time giggling like a school girl.

Colbert and Kimmel are terrific interviewers. Fallon is awful and just acts like he's the guest's best friend (which is why he's popular with celebrities, but is why he's a hack as an interviewer).
 
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I'd like Adam and Larry to interview Bono and Edge so that there are more than two members of U2 talking.
 
Popropa Baby said:
Apologies. It probably does seem that way, but that wasn't my intention. The truth is, none of the people I associate with care about U2, and I still do (despite my feelings towards a large portion of their post-90s output). I enjoy the discourse this band inspires, and I'm looking forward to dipping my toes into the waters here for an album cycle.



I'm quite critical (always have been) and I do believe many people execute a kind of perfect cognitive dissonance to convince themselves they like songs from their favourite bands. I try not to do that.



Anyway. Apologies again. I'm certainly no troll, and I certainly don't hate U2 (I just wish they'd lose the air of desperation around them and forget the charts - relevance comes in many forms these days).
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Truth be told, your opinion on post 90s U2 is shared by several around here. We have people who think they should play music that "suits their age" (I don't know what that is, perhaps jazz?), we have someone who is by most account one of the most devoted and knowledgeable (respected as well) fans to U2 but doesn't seem to like anything after Pop, we have people that think Pop is the last great record U2 put out and people who think Pop is garbage. In the end, no one is right and no one is wrong and we are ALL pulling for the band to release good music.....it's just our definitions of "good" differ :)

Anyway, for me I LOVE what I hear from The Blackout but won't officially weigh in on the song until I hear the studio version. I initially did not like the TBT when I heard the Kygo mix but the 30 second live rehearsal clip gives me hope. I really like Little Things but similar to The Blackout, I can't really comment until I hear the studio cut.

Welcome and don't be scared to share your opinion in a respectful manner and if you do so, don't ever feel the need to apologize for it!
 
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