jameskinsella
The Fly
- Joined
- Dec 6, 2006
- Messages
- 161
I too am baffled as to why Crystal Ballroom was left of the album. Very strange decision - it's funky, catchy and fresh.
I understand why with regards to Lucifer's Hands as the middle part of the song makes it more of a B-side.
Listening to Lucifer's Hands again however you can really sense the potential with it. The opening minute just grabs you, but the middle lets it down and contains some lazy lyrics from Bono towards the end. I wish they had spent more time on it and fleshed it out more so that it could've been included on the album alongside Crystal Ballroom.
I'm digressing here but one of the primary criticisms I have of U2 since ATYCLB is that the crowd-stoking aspect of the band has often exceeded or overreached the music itself where before it was much more self contained within the music. Thankfully only The Miracle and Volcano venture into this territory on SOI. On the latter it's done successfully but it grates with me on the former. It's this aspect of the band that people have grown weary off, together with Edge's sound which seems ubiquitous to a certain degree given that it has influenced so many other bands. That's not a reason for him not to use it of course but I found the second half of the album refreshing for it's general absence.
That being said, I'm still of the firm belief that SOI is their best album since POP and I'm greatly looking forward to SOE.