Almost Finished with U2

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deltau922 said:
I think the two albums before SoE were truly excellent, and remarkable that they could put out back to back albums like that so late in their career. But his voice has really paid the price, and I don’t see them getting any better. Not everyone can be Duran Duran and still sound fresh and interesting after 40 years.
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I hate this conversation in a sense, because I am glad Duran Duran are still putting out albums. I've never regretted listening to them, but at the same time they're not great either. The idea that they're keeping it fresh was what made me laugh. But I don't want to shit on them, or their fans either.
 
Re: “A slow song can’t be a lead single.” With Or Without You was the lead single off their biggest album, it’s probably their biggest single, and it’s very much a ballad. More contemporarily, that Adele doesn’t do too bad for herself releasing ballads as lead singles either.
 
I don’t remember saying a slow song shouldn’t be a lead single. I merely said an album’s best track isn’t necessarily the best one to release first, and I listed Running to Stand Still and The Troubles as examples. They both just happen to be ballads. Stay wouldn’t have been a good choice, either, though it’s arguably not Zooropa’s best as I slightly prefer Lemon.
 
Wasn't referring to you - someone else had framed it with regards to "slow songs" being singes, and I was agreeing with them.

I also agree with you that an album's best song isn't exactly a good choice for a single - Acrobat being an excellent example.

The first single should simply be the most accessible song that sums up the record - the one that's going to make people excited to hear what else you've got and give them a clue where you're going on this record.

With regards to NLOTH, that was probably Magnificent (which - and this is an unpopular opinion around here - I despise, but it was probably the most accessible tune to the general public).

I also think Breathe's chorus is pretty undeniable, but I'm not sure how Bono's jujuman jujuman rambling verses would have gone over on the radio.
 
Good gravy. I've been prompted to "defend" Duran Duran. I think the point was generally that they are still a solid band and enjoy doing what they're doing, but also trying to explore new sounds or themes. They're not looking for "relevancy". They're just looking to have fun.
 
John Tree, nice to find another Magnificent hater. I've never been a fan. Edge's guitar is good (not the terrible 'solo' though) but I find Bono's lyrics and vocal delivery very uninspiring.
 
I understand where you're coming from. I've been listening to them all of my life, since before Unforgettable Fire came out and I'm 48 now. The last three tours I felt like I was going just to honor the 14 year old in me who first saw them on the JT tour. I now only go to one show per tour whereas in the past, I'd go to multiple. Their last few albums are just more of the same. A couple decent tracks, but they're just working within the same parameters and the same tempos. One thing I would love to see is for Larry to stop playing to a click track. They could recapture the live band feel on record if they didn't rely on studio wizardry to make the albums sound so perfect. They are really past the point of their experimental days and as far as lyrical content, I think they've run out of runway. I don't think SOI and SOE as a whole have stood the test of time. I would be perfectly ok if they called it quits after one more album and tour. I get more excitement these days seeing bands like the Killers, Interpol, and Chvrches live, but I will always honor the past by going to at least one U2 show.
 
Wow! I respect your opinion for sure, but hearing that someone's not enjoying them live anymore always surprises me. That's the aspect of them that most keeps me around.
 
I'll say this. I've seen The Killers and Chvrches live, and they're.... good. There has always been something different about U2 live than any other band I've seen. They do have something that no other band can capture in their live performance.

BUT. Yes here's the but. While I love SOI and like SOE quite a bit. I do feel like the Experience tour and yes even the Joshua Tree anniversary tour is when I felt a shift for the first time. It wasn't the same feeling. You can watch the SOI show from Paris and it is all there. Bono still pushing like he's trying to prove something. The JT show was good, but felt a little more "going through the motions." And I admit that I didn't see the experience tour in person, but watching the Live from Berlin show... oof. Something just isn't right.

I think partly it's the same thing that hurt the album. U2 has always been "off script", loose yet driving, putting everything out there. Sticking to a theme or narrative just boxes them in. I felt like Bono was good, but both trying to play this (IMO kinda stupid) dark carnival barker with a horrible top hat, and trying to play... Bono. It just didn't connect with me. And my whole history with the band has been about a connection that you feel when you put on your headphones, and especially when you get the privilege of seeing them live.

I don't think the aging audience helps matters. I mean the energy level from when I was fortunate enough to first see them in a ZooTV arena show in Chicago in 92, to even the 360 tour was a big difference energy wise.
 
That reaffirms a feeling I have that the people who have most actively hated on the SOE tour didn't attend. Not saying that's true across the board, but it seems to be the case on this message board. Those shows were some of my favorites live, just because of how shocked I was by the audience's participation on the new songs. They were definitely into it in a way I hadn't quite experienced before on previous tours when it came to new material. It was certainly surprising.

Also Re: The Killers, Brandon is getting really close to taking over that showmanship mantle from Bono. I can't wait to see their next tour to see what they have cooking, but their last one was incredible.
 
I still can't really believe I missed both Internet Explorer tours. Other than tickets being much harder to get in this bot-filled day and age, both tours coincided with basically the two lowest points in my life, lol. I did see JT30, which occurred during a good spell amidst it all.

That's mostly why I have no interest in anything ZooTV related, and hope they have at least one more album tour left in them before they quit or start the farewell circuit, but I'll take whatever I can get at this point.
 
At the risk of sounding like a boring kind-if-now-maybe-middle-aged man, when it comes to live rock, there’s U2 and Springsteen and then everyone else.

And this could be entirely personal.

Others are great, and everyone is very different, some artists are more purely “fun,” but no one gets to that collective transcendence better than Bono or Bruce.

And this could be entirely personal.

But I have felt that liftoff at every single one of the 20-ish U2 shows I’ve seen, and at the half-dozen Bruce shows I’ve seen.

I don’t expect that to change.

And this could be entirely personal.
 
Irvine511 said:
At the risk of sounding like a boring kind-if-now-maybe-middle-aged man, when it comes to live rock, there’s U2 and Springsteen and then everyone else.

And this could be entirely personal.

Others are great, and everyone is very different, some artists are more purely “fun,” but no one gets to that collective transcendence better than Bono or Bruce.

And this could be entirely personal.

But I have felt that liftoff at every single one of the 20-ish U2 shows I’ve seen, and at the half-dozen Bruce shows I’ve seen.

I don’t expect that to change.

And this could be entirely personal.
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But how do you feel about it, personally? :wink:
 
I saw the Joshua Tree tour at the Rose Bowl with NSW, and it was EMOTIONAL. Absolutely electric atmosphere.

My experience confirms, too, that for SOI and SOE, you just had to be there. I attended several shows with casual fans, and they all raved afterwards.

And throwing this out there...I saw The Killers perform the very first concert at the AT&T Arena in Las Vegas when it opened. Incredible show, and Brandon just gets better and better as a frontman. But even with all the hype and the hometown crowd surrounding that Killers show, I prefer the vibes of a U2 concert. "Transcendence" is a great word for it.
 
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