SOE 34: If there is a leak, don't let it go unheard

[prbiker15]

Now here's the question: did they hold back the best material so it would be a surprise, or do they actually think TBT and AS represent the best the album has to offer?

I would like to think that they held back the best songs.

 

[soe2017]

Serious problem: this album contains some epic drumming sections which will inevitably require facial expressions while performing.
So, who are U2 going to use as Larry's face-double while playing live?

 

[redhill]

Can anyone advise as to where I can hear it??!

 

[Pop Artist]

soe on kingdom leaks again. let's hope is the good one but i don't think so

It's not, alas...

 

[slimongi]

An'y new "Acrobat on this new album"...sorry I need a new one?

 

[Scorpionac]

Releasing American Soul before the album was an odd choice. Maybe the general public liked/will like it. Don't know. But for fans like us, it was nothing new? Hardly something to stir up interest.

 

[roy]

Wonderful, wonderful album. Such a joy

 

[jameskinsella]

Another observation I've got so far (aside from this feeling like U2's Abbey Road), is that this might be their most 'sing-a-long-able' album.

 

[solaris]

Can anyone point me to a link?? Dying here.

 

[Scorpionac]

Although it's not a fav of mine, Red Flag Day really takes off at the bridge.

Album stream here: https://www.mixcloud.com/mikesullivan3557/u2-soe-listening-party/

 

[Roland of Gilead]

I’m probably way off, but it feels like No Line and All That went and had a baby. There is an Eno-ness to this that is restrained. The opening and closing are so No Line in creating an atmospheric U2 sound and I would include Little Things... too.
Having said that, I get a great 70ish Floyd/Zep feels in LOH and I’m sooo happy with it. The Beatles are sprinkled all over the album too. SOE is a lot better than SOI.

I’m drinking right now and this post will probably bite me in the ass later.

 

[HansaTonImbiss]

I think Crazy Tonight has it beat on that album

It features Will.i.am as a producer, so yes, very much so. The single mix is 100 times better.

 

[purpleblackeye]

If they released Red Flag Day as the first single instead of The Best Thing this forum would have freaked with excitement- it’s that good.

I don’t care much about single releases but, yes, they clearly have a wealth of material here to generate interest in this album for months to come.

 

[bonohero]

After listening a couple of times, I honestly feel like this album, personally, is a gift from above. There's something so serene and atmospheric and just so unbelievably pleasant to listen to. Just laying here listening to it, there were many points where I felt like someone literally just reached in and grabbed my heart. The vocal melodies on here are seriously some of the best I've ever heard from anyone.

This! All of this!

 

[Gonna Run 2 U]

Red Flag Day deserves to be the next single with a kick ass video. Not a lyric video or a video of band somewhere random jamming with close ups of Bono being Bono. They can blow it out of the park with this one if they had a killer video. Get 11 from Stranger Things or someone and make a kid love story on the beach I dunno?! Lol

 

[PowerSurge]

An'y new "Acrobat on this new album"...sorry I need a new one?

Not sure that there are any songs that actually sound like Acrobrat, but there are a few that are new and not like anything U2 have ever done but sound like them: Red Flag Day, Love Is Bigger Than Anything In Its Way, Lights of Home, and LandLady...all of these are growers...and I'm obsessed with them right now.

I would add that The Showman is like a piece of double fudge cake...I really shouldn't have another slice, but I just can't f//cking help it!!! Its so hard to resist.

 

[HansaTonImbiss]

I’m probably way off, but it feels like No Line and All That went and had a baby. There is an Eno-ness to this that is restrained. The opening and closing are so No Line in creating an atmospheric U2 sound and I would include Little Things... too.
Having said that, I get a great 70ish Floyd/Zep feels in LOH and I’m sooo happy with it. The Beatles are sprinkled all over the album too. SOE is a lot better than SOI.

I’m drinking right now and this post will probably bite me in the ass later.

That is a pretty interesting comparison. I also caught hints of "Pop" at times, and while I'm not sure I heard Zep I can see Floyd and will add one more pretty spectacular British band that knew how to play with space: Dire Straits. And I mean that in a good way- Edge seems to be all over the place in terms of sounds here, which i love, and Knopfler was hell for that as well. Signature sound but virtuouso ability.

The ambient parts of this record never linger too long, and the "rawk" moments are never too kitschy (though as discussed, they do sort of change the mood). What's in between is deep and emotional, and that is when I feel this band excels. Like I said, I'm not ready to slot this into the pantheon yet but it's the most interested I've been to re-listen to a record again (as recorded) since Pop.

 

[Scorpionac]

There is a Light makes me appreciate Song for Someone a lot more.

 

[Nick66]

I’m probably way off, but it feels like No Line and All That went and had a baby. There is an Eno-ness to this that is restrained.

You're way off. There is no Eno-ness without Eno.

I'm going to try to pretend you didn't say that.

Can anyone advise as to where I can hear it??!

Yes, just ask Rob, I'm sure he'd be happy to share it.

 

[Hollow Island]

Although it's not a fav of mine, Red Flag Day really takes off at the bridge.

Album stream here: https://www.mixcloud.com/mikesullivan3557/u2-soe-listening-party/

Rad, thanks

 

[Roland of Gilead]

Well said HansaTonlmbiss.

 

[rjdionne]

Love it!!

 

[Northside]

It will take time to judge the songs impartially, but I think right off the bat we can say this is Bono’s best album, vocally, since what... Zooropa?

 

[HansaTonImbiss]

It will take time to judge the songs impartially, but I think right off the bat we can say this is Bono’s best album, vocally, since what... Zooropa?

A decade sans cigarettes has to have helped.

 

[superchuk5]

There is a lot more passengers in this album than any of us probably expected

 

[Yahweh_OMG]

That is a pretty interesting comparison. I also caught hints of "Pop" at times, and while I'm not sure I heard Zep I can see Floyd and will add one more pretty spectacular British band that knew how to play with space: Dire Straits. And I mean that in a good way- Edge seems to be all over the place in terms of sounds here, which i love, and Knopfler was hell for that as well. Signature sound but virtuouso ability.

The ambient parts of this record never linger too long, and the "rawk" moments are never too kitschy (though as discussed, they do sort of change the mood). What's in between is deep and emotional, and that is when I feel this band excels. Like I said, I'm not ready to slot this into the pantheon yet but it's the most interested I've been to re-listen to a record again (as recorded) since Pop.

Knopfler is a lot better than Edge in his style. The only comparison can be done with the solo on Lights of home.... But otherwise i don t see any similarities.

 

[DU2]

This album has pleased me WAY MORE than I could have ever expected

After the songs/singles released in the past couple of months, and after what U2 released in the last 10/15 years my expectations for SOE could be summed up with this sentence "Please God just give us ONE or TWO amazing songs off this record, I'd be happy just with that even if the rest of it had to be crap". Well, that's way way way way more than my best case scenario

Read the following just as my personal opinion

1. The peak of the record is in the intro. It's an amazing piece of music, sounds like 90s Bono. It's like long-hair-AchtungBaby-Bono and Pop-Bono merged together and wrote this sublime song. Listen carefully to the voice, that's damn 90s Bono boys. I can already see it as a live intro for Streets, and what a intro that would be

2. Didn't really grow on me. I can see the potential, but a little underwhelming after that great intro. I hope it's one of those songs that grows with time. However, I'd have ditched the outro, quite bad IMO

3. The "California" of SOE. Very light, fresh, uplifting tune. Not the best sounding track on the record, but sounds to me pretty solid. The Edge section is great

4. One of the best songs on this album. I truly love it, the lyrics and the music. I love almost everything about this song. The intro reminds me of NLOTH, then it sounds like a summary of the best melodies off ATYCLB and HTDAAB. Sounds very good

5. In my opinon the lowest point of the record, can't stand it. Just like I couldn't stand Volcano, I can't like this either because it sounds like a copy-paste of Volcano.

6. The beginning of a great section of the record. Good, maybe more than good song: reminds me a bit of Summer Rain and A Man and a Woman. Not an outstanding track, but a truly decent filler. I could never see it as a single

7. I could see THIS as a single. FRESH, very very FRESH. That chorus is really good, truly on spot. I can hear that chorus sung by the entire jumping audience on the next tour. Great track

8. God I love this song. It sounds like it's coming right off The Unforgettable Fire or Rattle and Hum. I BET this is some kind of 80s B-Side that we never got to hear until now. It just sounds so 80s that they couldn't have come up with that in the 2010s. Wonderful track

9. Great tune, even if I expected a better studio version. I loved the stripped live version at Jimmy Kimmel, this has some sound effects that have to still grow on me. Its' still an amazing track, one of the best things U2 created in the last 20 years. The outro is touching

10. This, for me, is the perfect example of a song that grows on you with time. At my first listen I gave it a 5/10. On the second listen I gave it another chance and now after a couple more I love it. Wait for this song, it will stick onto you. I can see this as the perfect show-closer, like moment of surrender on the 360tour

11. Nice song. Not much to say about this. Sounds good, neither amazing nor bad. It's strong, rocky, rough.

12. This is the anthem-like-song that's always in a U2 record. Reminds me a lot of Sometimes you can't make it on your own. Could make for a touching live moment

13. The perfect ending, just perfect. Couldn't think of a better way to end this record, they did an excellent job. Genius to snippet that particular song off SOI. Genius


This record can truly become a classic

 

[jameskinsella]

Dire Straits aren't British?

 

[Alphorn]

i think it's pretty uncool actually, for a fan to be the source of the leak while everyone else has been playing by the rules in what seems like a really carefully thought-out release procedure

I completely agree. I think it's very disrespectful of the band.

 

[Niceman]

It's leaked???!?!?!?

Can someone please please please hook me up??????


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