SOE 31: Yes, we have no bananas

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BVS said:
Yeah, the production is a mystery to me. SOI was a very consistent album despite the amount of cooks. But this one so far I’m struggling to see how they’ll flow. Blackout and RefuJesus have that similar fuzz and grit to them, yet they completely lost the drums in Blackout. Then you go to TBT where the drums sound amazing, but the guitar is all over the place in the mixing.

I’m still holding on to hope that we’ll have a different album mix for TBT.
Click to expand...



The mixes for iTunes thing. Seems to be a really problem. The drums in the Blackout sound great through headphones, and terrible on my car speakers - or on my stereo setup.
 
dabiggestu2fan said:
Again I am sorry! I totally misunderstood and totally over reacted over something so silly! My apologies my friend.
Click to expand...



All good - I posted that after I saw your second post - not a lot of time between, and saw it as a reaction, rather than an immediate follow up.

We shall move on :hug:
 
dan_smee said:
It’s all good - I read his post back and saw he did mention you - I was responding to his last paragraph. I certainly don’t think you ‘blindly’ follow u2 - if anything, I identify mostly with you opinions than just about anyone’s. I think you are very reasonable, and a model for people who do like this stuff to own it!
Click to expand...

Awesome! I think the same of you likewise! Happy weekend myfriend!
 
hUNAo_d.jpg
 
dabiggestu2fan said:
For me after listening to the songs this is how they rank for now.

1. The blackout -8.5

2. American Soul - 8

3. The little things (live) -8

4. Get out 7

5. The best thing 6
Click to expand...



You and I might be the two biggest fans of the new songs right now :)

I haven’t listened to AS but I am enjoying all of the songs so far...a lot. That excites me because I think there might be some real gems on this album. My highest expectation is for Lights of Home for no other reason than it’s the #2 song on the album and for me that has been the most consistent spot of songs I like on albums. It sounds dumb, I know but the duce is ace!!


Pride
Haven’t Found
Even Better than
Do you Feel Lived
Stuck
Miracle Drug
Magnificent
Every Breaking Wave
 
BVS said:
Yeah, the production is a mystery to me. SOI was a very consistent album despite the amount of cooks. But this one so far I’m struggling to see how they’ll flow. Blackout and RefuJesus have that similar fuzz and grit to them, yet they completely lost the drums in Blackout. Then you go to TBT where the drums sound amazing, but the guitar is all over the place in the mixing.

I’m still holding on to hope that we’ll have a different album mix for TBT.
Click to expand...

I agree on this point.

I’m an audio engineer. Not a top tier pro, but I can be discerning on mixes.
SOI was striking when we first heard it. I remember everyone calling it bright, and shiny, forward.
but it felt that way throughout.

So far on SOE it’s a bit of a mixed bag. I took a week break from listening to TBT, and I listened to it again today. WOW, it is bright, crisp, sharp with good separation.
It actually has a much more rock feel than I remembered. The drums just propel and stand out here. Really nice.

Then You have Get Out. Good production here, but I do find the drums gettin a bit buried. Good layers of things going on, I like it.

American Soul, I still have to listen some more, but so far, I think the drums are more prominent. Still has a pretty crisp sound for a rocker which is nice

Then... the Blackout. I really like this song. But something is just wrong with the mix on this. Listen to TBT and then this right after. Its like going from a clear blue spring day - to walking through a muddy swamp with a wet blanket on.

I like having a tune with Bono having vocal effects. But this effect just adds to the problem. Sounds hollow and kinda worbly. The drums have absolutely no snap or sharpness. It sounds like Larry is playing the kick and one tom. When the cymbals get hit it sounds incredibly low. I truly have no idea what the thinking was on this.
If the whole album had that feel - ok, that can work. But it sounds just plain strange to go from a song like TBT or Get Out to this.

Again, love the song, best of the batch for me right now, but I think it could have been even better.
 
dan_smee said:
The mixes for iTunes thing. Seems to be a really problem. The drums in the Blackout sound great through headphones, and terrible on my car speakers - or on my stereo setup.
Click to expand...

Yeah I hope that the album versions are not mixed so that they sound better in headphones. Someone mentioned here I believe that iTunes songs are mixed differently since they will be mostly heard on the iPhone etc. I hope that is true. That's the only complaint I have about the blackout for example. It's awesome and all but just doesn't sound right in my car stereo which is bisically where I listen to 99.9% of music. I haven't tried any of these songs on a headphone but will have to give them a whirl.
 
CosmoKramer said:
You and I might be the two biggest fans of the new songs right now :)

I haven’t listened to AS but I am enjoying all of the songs so far...a lot. That excites me because I think there might be some real gems on this album. My highest expectation is for Lights of Home for no other reason than it’s the #2 song on the album and for me that has been the most consistent spot of songs I like on albums. It sounds dumb, I know but the duce is ace!!


Pride
Haven’t Found
Even Better than
Do you Feel Lived
Stuck
Miracle Drug
Magnificent
Every Breaking Wave
Click to expand...

Really looking forward to Lights of Home. Ever since the Haim information, I’ve been really intrigued. That and the lead off tune are gettin me anxious.
 
CosmoKramer said:
You and I might be the two biggest fans of the new songs right now :)

I haven’t listened to AS but I am enjoying all of the songs so far...a lot. That excites me because I think there might be some real gems on this album. My highest expectation is for Lights of Home for no other reason than it’s the #2 song on the album and for me that has been the most consistent spot of songs I like on albums. It sounds dumb, I know but the duce is ace!!


Pride
Haven’t Found
Even Better than
Do you Feel Lived
Stuck
Miracle Drug
Magnificent
Every Breaking Wave
Click to expand...

Lol we might be! I like them quite a bit but I will see in a year or two if I will rate them the same. I worry about songs that I enjoy instantly. But with that said I am actually really excited to listen to love is all we have left. I'm guessing it might actually be a really long intro to lights of home perhaps? Since it's only 2:41 seconds or so and from the tiny tiny clip we heard, it was very atmospheric. I wonder if this songs starts slow and atmospheric and builds up right into #2 which would be pretty epic.
 
Last edited:
womanfish said:
I agree on this point.

I’m an audio engineer. Not a top tier pro, but I can be discerning on mixes.
SOI was striking when we first heard it. I remember everyone calling it bright, and shiny, forward.
but it felt that way throughout.

So far on SOE it’s a bit of a mixed bag. I took a week break from listening to TBT, and I listened to it again today. WOW, it is bright, crisp, sharp with good separation.
It actually has a much more rock feel than I remembered. The drums just propel and stand out here. Really nice.

Then You have Get Out. Good production here, but I do find the drums gettin a bit buried. Good layers of things going on, I like it.

American Soul, I still have to listen some more, but so far, I think the drums are more prominent. Still has a pretty crisp sound for a rocker which is nice

Then... the Blackout. I really like this song. But something is just wrong with the mix on this. Listen to TBT and then this right after. Its like going from a clear blue spring day - to walking through a muddy swamp with a wet blanket on.

I like having a tune with Bono having vocal effects. But this effect just adds to the problem. Sounds hollow and kinda worbly. The drums have absolutely no snap or sharpness. It sounds like Larry is playing the kick and one tom. When the cymbals get hit it sounds incredibly low. I truly have no idea what the thinking was on this.
If the whole album had that feel - ok, that can work. But it sounds just plain strange to go from a song like TBT or Get Out to this.

Again, love the song, best of the batch for me right now, but I think it could have been even better.
Click to expand...

Instant speculation from my side, it might be part of the sonic journey of the album. The first three songs you mention are all positioned near the beginning of the album (tracks 3, 4 and 5) whereas The Blackout is near the end (track 11). The sound of the album might evolve when it progresses.
We'll hear it in a couple of weeks.
 
Popmartijn said:
Instant speculation from my side, it might be part of the sonic journey of the album. The first three songs you mention are all positioned near the beginning of the album (tracks 3, 4 and 5) whereas The Blackout is near the end (track 11). The sound of the album might evolve when it progresses.
We'll hear it in a couple of weeks.
Click to expand...

Ah! Good thought. It’s funny cause I was wondering if this album was going to take a darker turn, with Summer of Love or Little Things being sort of a pivot point.
We shall see.
I know that Landlady is supposed to have a darker atmospheric sound to it, so could lead in nicely.
Just don’t think that the last two are going to be in that vein... but who knows.
Your explanation sounds the best so far and makes sense.
 
womanfish said:
Ok, I feel like I can weigh in a bit now. Last night, i quickly scrolled through comments on several threads. Tons of negativity and the overall theme of "why of why can't U2 be making great music like they used to" stuff. I was really bummed. A lot of comments by members that you never see around here, but just swooped in to take a dump.

Fuck man. It sounds like a bunch of old people on rocking chairs wondering why kids are wearing their pants so low! In MY day we had suspenders!!!

Are we seriously wondering why a band isn't making the same music they were making 20, 30, hell, FORTY YEARS AGO?!?!?!?! Forty years man. That is not a small amount of time.

You do realize that we actually still have this band because they aren't making music like they did 30 years ago! If they had stayed on a certain path, they would have been GONE long ago. They continually changed things up, and yes, some of those changes I liked better than others. And of course you will too! But I didn't throw in the towel with Rattle and Hum or Pop or HTDAAB (i was close) or No Line.
Each album, although flawed, brings me something great, something i still can't find with another band in the same way.
And sticking through some pretty bleak and blah times, brought me to SOI, which I really love and appreciate.

So, yes, i struggle with some moments both musically and lyrically in each album, especially post-2000. But to be fair I think we have canonized and put past albums on such a pedestal, that any new stuff just gets an initial heap of scrutiny and cynicism that probably isn't really that fair.

The band is using new production techniques, new producers, new songwriting styles than they did decades ago. Yes, that's life. and sometimes we like it and sometimes we don't. But it also doesn't make it THE WORST SONG EVER CREATED!!! OOOOHHH MYYYYY GOOOOODDD, WHAT WERE THEY THINKING!?!?!?!

It would be like me sitting at work and saying - You guys go ahead and fiddle your MacBook Pro's, I'm doing JUST fine with my Brother II Word Processor thank you very much!!

I gladly welcome criticism of this band. In fact i love that we have opinions all over the place. But I think some perspective is being lost.

Are U2 making music like they did 20-30 years ago? no not really, although in some ways yes (ie. The Blackout, SLABT, EBW, RBW - even Get out sounds like it could have been on the18 year old ATYCLB)

Are they churning out consistently utter shit? Nope

Are they churning out consistintly utter classics? Nope

Are they still capable of giving us greatness, even if it might but up against some not so great stuff?
Definitely.
Click to expand...

:up::up::up::up::heart::heart::heart::heart:
 
CosmoKramer said:
You and I might be the two biggest fans of the new songs right now :)

I haven’t listened to AS but I am enjoying all of the songs so far...a lot. That excites me because I think there might be some real gems on this album. My highest expectation is for Lights of Home for no other reason than it’s the #2 song on the album and for me that has been the most consistent spot of songs I like on albums. It sounds dumb, I know but the duce is ace!!


Pride
Haven’t Found
Even Better than
Do you Feel Lived
Stuck
Miracle Drug
Magnificent
Every Breaking Wave
Click to expand...

I’m with you. Really enjoying the new stuff so far. The more I listen to GOOYOW, the more beautiful I think it is. It’s been giving me goosebumps that last few times I’ve listened to it.

And that little bass riff that Adam does on The Blackout right before the bridge....KILLER
 
Agreed about the production on Blackout. Can’t believe how muted Larry’s drums are, really takes away from the driving feel of the song in the live version. Bummer.
 


Not sure when this early version was recorded, but I'm thinking roughly early 1991. Check out the opening line. He's definitely had this on the back burner for quite awhile.
 
Obviously he read Blake either during JT or right after, but yes he’s been talking/stewing about this concept for a long time.
 
Beautiful Ghost / Introduction To Songs Of Experience, if it hasn't already been mentioned
 
Y2K said:
No, definitely not a new vocal. The only new vocal on the kindergarten versions of the Achtung Baby songs was "Trying to Throw Your Arms Around the World".
Click to expand...



Interesting. I kinda left these circles for awhile back then, I just remember quite a bit of talk about how “fake” these tracks were since they had new vocals.

I don’t have a true copy, does the liner notes spell it out?
 
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