Songs You Changed Your Mind About

[maycocksean]

Have you ever found you changed your mind about a particular U2 song or album?

I was reading the "best songs on ATYCLB" thread which inspired me to listen to the album again and I had a change of heart about two things.

One was the song, "Stuck in a Moment" which has routinely been one of my least favorite U2 songs. But I listened to it Friday and found myself singing along and yes. . .loving it! Not sure why, but the song finally got through to me.

The other thing I changed my mind about was the whole album. I never really cared too much for it (though I was glad for it since it seemed to "resurrect" U2 as culturally relevant band). Like many people I tended to lump it in with HTDAAB as an example of U2's latter-day slump (Though all bands should lucky--or should I say talented--enough to have a "slump" like U2's). But I've gained new respect for the album, and I would now suggest that All That You Can't Leave Behind actually far surpasses HTDAAB. Lyrically, melodically, musically it's far more compelling. You still hear hints of the sonic experimentation found on Pop in ATYCLB. There's virtually no sonic experimentation at all on HTDAAB and I'm finding I miss that. It's been a part of U2 since at least as far back as UF.

Also lyrically, ATYCLB just sticks with me in a way that the most recent album doesn't. You know how snatches of a lyric will get stuck in your head. Happens a lot with ATYCLB. . ."Beautiful Day", "Walk On", "Grace", "New York" and "Kite". With HTDAAB? Original of the Species and Yahweh, and that's it. I guess I'm saying, I've changed mind. These two albums no longer belong in the same category.

What about you? Any song, album that you did a drastic turnaround on?

 

[DreamOutLoud13]

The first time I listened to Achtung Baby all the way through, I didn't like So Cruel. It just seemed long, repetitive, and boring to me. But it wasn't long before I had a huge turnaround regarding the song. Soon it became one of my favourite/most played songs from the album.

 

[cobl04]

What I've been saying (or trying to say for two years). ATYCLB is a terrific album. It's their most uplifting album, and I love it to pieces. It's so unfairly knocked around here. Seriously people, go and listen to it!

Stuck in a Moment, well...I was always a bit 'iffy' with this song. But at one stage last year I was in a deep, depressing rut and nothing was making me happy and I was about to go to Bathurst which is great fun for me but I wasn't happy. I put Stuck on and pretty much solved my mood in a heartbeat. I think with Stuck you really have to be 'in tune' with it if you know what I mean.

When my grandfather passed away last year, the first song I played was Kite and it was so amazing. I can't get enough of this song especially from the first chorus - second chorus. The 'I'm a maaaaaaaaaaaaaaaan' part is breathtaking. I also love Beautiful Day, Walk On, When I Look at the World, heck I pretty much love it all and it is close to my favourite album.

 

[RademR]

ya, "stuck in a moment" i didnt really like for a couple years, but i grew to really love and appreciate it. great, great song. of course, the acoustic version is a lot better.

i used to not really care for "Elevation", but i love this tour's version. got me into it, love it.

"Original of the Species" is a song i didnt really get what the hype was about, but after hearing it on some live performances, came to appreciate it. Also like the single version better.

"The Wanderer" is a song i heard and what was like "what the hell is this?" i really hated it, but after getting into a few johnny cash tunes, its a great song. the lyrics are incredible.

come to think about it, most of zooropa is like that for me....took me a LONG time to get into that album, now its one of my favorite u2 records.

 

[Goocher100]

I'd say the biggest one for me is Exit. When I first heard the Joshua Tree I thought it was a good song but I didn't realize just how good a song it was until I heard it on Rattle and Hum and now I think its one my favroite U2 songs.

 

[U2girl]

Zooropa. I used to think it was one of their less worthy efforts, but now it's right behind the big 3 for me (JT, AB, Bomb and War tied for 3rd place).

 

[amerrydeath]

I used to like Miracle Drug a lot, but now I think it's kind of boring. Same with COBL, unfortunately.

I never liked In a Little While until I heard it on the Boston DVD. Now it's one of my favorites. I'm still on the fence about Stuck, but I really used to hate it.

 

[annie_vox]

I changed my mind about Love And Peace Or Else. I didn't like the song when listened to it for the first time. Right now it's one of my favourite U2 songs. I guess the live version helped a lot. I completely fell in love with it when I saw it live... I still listen to it over and over again.

 

[corianderstem]

I hated Miami for years, but have only recently started to first appreciate it, then like it quite a bit, and now I think it's pretty awesome ...

... although I still hate the whole "my mammy" thing.

 

[vaz02]

miami , love peace or else , zoo station , one , wak on, where the streets have no name , exit.

 

[the tourist]

At first I loved Kite. Then I stopped loving it. I used to hate Babyface. Now I love it.

 

[phillyfan26]

As bad as this sounds...

When I first got into U2 I purchased the Joshua Tree, and with some of the great songs on there (WTSHNN, ISHFWILF, WOWY, OTH, Exit) I completely skipped Running to Stand Still and scratched it as a boring song. Then I heard someone mention it as one of their favorites and I listened again, and turned around on it 180 degrees.

 

[waynetravis]

Zoo Station.

When i first got AB, i listened to the whole album, and i only liked The Fly, End of the World, Even Better and Mysterious Ways.
After seeing the Chicago DVD version of ZS i started to like it.

 

[AtomicBono]

I used to like Miracle Drug a lot, but now I think it's kind of boring.

yeah, me too...well I still like it, but when HTDAAB first came out I thought it was one of the best songs on the album. Now I think it's one of the worst - end is amazing, but most of the song is just sort of U2-generic. Maybe it was Bono's long speeches before it on tour that killed it for me, I don't know. I still think it's a good song, but it's not a "U2 classic" like I first thought.

I have to say as a whole I don't like HTDAAB as much as I did when it first came out... maybe I should listen to it again. I haven't listened to the whole thing in a long time.

I used to think Bad was overrated, but I saw it live in Chicago (5/7/05) and it just hit me. Now I love it.

When I was a kid, I liked the second half of War and especially loved The Refugee. Now I think The Refugee is okay - fun, but not great - and I can't stand Red Light. I mean I listened to it and it's just not good. I'm not big on Surrender either

I've always loved Acrobat, but at one point it just clicked into place and I realized how great it really is. Now it's one of my favourite songs ever, easily.

 

[Bono's shades]

I used to loathe Pop, but now I think it's one of the most underrated albums ever - not just by U2, but by anyone. How's that for a turnaround?

I also used to hate Wild Honey and thought it was stupid, but now I think it's a beautiful, soulful song.

 

[phattom]

I'll tack onto the All That... comments. The thing with that album it really comes into itself when something really drastic happens to you, whether it's death, losing a job, getting divorced, breaking up, or skidding your knee while playing 4-square. Something about it just shines in those circumstances, as if expermentation and artiness just cease to matter to you and it's just the song. So definitely I'd say that album in general, along with the "devil's tail" at the end of Acthung Baby (Ultraviolet on), which I used to actually not listen to but is now, to me, the absolute best part of the album.

 

[Jack In The Box]

I didn't like Ultraviolet at first until I listened to it with headphones, is an awesome and beautifully constructed song

 

[pgv]

One. i had associated it with being the big hit that just got over played. But lately ive started listening to the album version (NOT mjb version) and i really,truely love this song. I can see now why it gets over played - because its simple and sad. I wish i hadnt judged it too quick on a general feeling about it rather than my own.

 

[youtooellen]

I never understood Love Is Blindness before. then one day I was listening to Achtung Baby and decided against skipping through songs, and somehow fell even more deeply in love with Acrobat, and also discovered the beauty of love is blindness.

 

[Axver]

I've progressively grown to dislike most of Achtung Baby, Stuck In A Moment, and In A Little While more and more. I also loved Miracle Drug initially but now I have no interest in it at all.

On the other hand, God Part II and Hawkmoon 269 didn't hit me until I heard live versions, and I'd never paid much heed to Bass Trap until one day when I was sifting through rarities and was struck by how great it is.

 

[corianderstem]

Hawkmoon 269 is another one that took a long time to grow on me (like, say, 17 years), but now I think it's amazing.

 

[pgv]

Hawkmoon 269 is another one that took a long time to grow on me (like, say, 17 years), but now I think it's amazing.

Hasn't grown on my yet, but thats probably due to me only listening to it about 3 times.

 

[corianderstem]

Listen to it live ... it will cure what ails you.

 

[sue4u2]

Geez.. What took you all so long?

good night

 

[BluRmGrl]

I reeeeaaallllllly did not like Stuck in a Moment for a long time after I got ATYCLB. The rhythm of the song was just so choppy to me & I simply couldn't tolerate to hear it. The more I listened to it though, the more the lyrics meant & that's what turned it around for me.

Unfortunately, I'm still waiting for the same turnaround with "Peace on Earth" & "Grace" - they're beautiful songs but I generally skip them both.

 

[maycocksean]

yeah, me too...well I still like it, but when HTDAAB first came out I thought it was one of the best songs on the album. Now I think it's one of the worst - end is amazing, but most of the song is just sort of U2-generic. Maybe it was Bono's long speeches before it on tour that killed it for me, I don't know. I still think it's a good song, but it's not a "U2 classic" like I first thought.

I have to say as a whole I don't like HTDAAB as much as I did when it first came out... maybe I should listen to it again. I haven't listened to the whole thing in a long time.

I used to think Bad was overrated, but I saw it live in Chicago (5/7/05) and it just hit me. Now I love it.

When I was a kid, I liked the second half of War and especially loved The Refugee. Now I think The Refugee is okay - fun, but not great - and I can't stand Red Light. I mean I listened to it and it's just not good. I'm not big on Surrender either

I've always loved Acrobat, but at one point it just clicked into place and I realized how great it really is. Now it's one of my favourite songs ever, easily.

In general I'm finding I'm not liking HTDAAB as much as I did at first, which I think is a bad sign. I'm thinking it's better in the long term if U2's material is a little harder to relate to and then grows on you over time (like Pop and Zooropa and ATYCLB did for me) then it is to sound really great at first, but gradually lose it's punch with repeated listenings (as with HTDAAB, at least for me).

The great songs, the great albums have to bear up well over the years, over many repeated listenings, and I'm not sure if Bomb is going to do that. But then I could be wrong. I have been before (see Zooropa, Pop, ATYCLB).

Perhaps the arguement of the Bomb-haters is that U2 should have made a more demanding, less accessible album that we all hate at first but eventually learn to appreciate.

 

[namkcuR]

Perhaps the arguement of the Bomb-haters is that U2 should have made a more demanding, less accessible album that we all hate at first but eventually learn to appreciate.

BINGO!

 

[maycocksean]

miami , love peace or else , zoo station , one , wak on, where the streets have no name , exit.

Whoa, whoa, whoa. . .vaz02, what are you saying here? Are these songs that you used to hate but now love (or like)or used to love but now hate. Cause we took Streets off the "the one song every U2 fan loves" (a thread which I now concede was misnamed by me) soley because of you! So does this mean that we can add back into the list?

I reaally want to know your story on Streets.

As you can tell.

 

[yeter]

I didn't like Beautiful Day at all at first. Now i think it's great

So Cruel i still have mixed feelings about. I loved it/hated it/loved it/hated it. I think it just find it unsettling. Still!

 

[thesuburbskill]

TTTYAATW used to be one of my most played off AB (although i could say that about most of the tracks), but i've pretty much lost most luv for the song