The "3 crap records and your out" rule

[Niceman]

Yeah every U2 album has 1 song (or more) that doesn't stand up or fit with the rest of the album. Even Achtung. AB definitely has a mediocre track and I enjoy Elevation, Vertigo, and Crazy Tonight a LOT more than said track. I don't care who knows it!

I hope they continue on in the NLOTH vein. As long as it's not another Pop I'm good.

I'd be very very good with another POP! Can't imagine what the mediocre track on Achtung is...

 

[Nick66]

U2 did have two crap records in a row (relatively speaking), and survived just fine.

Not many bands can do that, however.

 

[beachball]

I have never heard of them

 

[cobl04]

I don't think anything on Achtung Baby comes close to being "mediocre".

 

[lemonfly]

Some people say Tryin To Throw Your Arms Around The World is a crap song, and I'm like "What the fuck are you ON??!!" While Tttyaatw is no epic masterpiece, it scores a solid 7.5/10. Honestly, there are NO weak tracks on AB, that is a fact. Even songs like Trip Through Your Wire, Some Days Are Better Than Others and even Red Light are nowhere near as bad as the earth shudderingly god-awful Boots, SUCk and Cwazy Tonight.

 

[Nick66]

Some people say Tryin To Throw Your Arms Around The World is a crap song, and I'm like "What the fuck are you ON??!!" While Tttyaatw is no epic masterpiece, it scores a solid 7.5/10. Honestly, there are NO weak tracks on AB, that is a fact. Even songs like Trip Through Your Wire, Some Days Are Better Than Others and even Red Light are nowhere near as bad as the earth shudderingly god-awful Boots, SUCk and Cwazy Tonight.

I don't think there's a bad song on Achtung Baby.

Or The Joshua Tree or The Unforgettable Fire for that matter.

 

[The Panther]

I would agree that the most consistently high-quality album is Achtung Baby. Every single song is very strong, in my opinion. ("Trying to Throw your Arms..." is one of my favorites -- easily one of their 4 or 5 best-ever basslines.)

 

[nielsgov]

Some people say Tryin To Throw Your Arms Around The World is a crap song, and I'm like "What the fuck are you ON??!!" While Tttyaatw is no epic masterpiece, it scores a solid 7.5/10. Honestly, there are NO weak tracks on AB, that is a fact. Even songs like Trip Through Your Wire, Some Days Are Better Than Others and even Red Light are nowhere near as bad as the earth shudderingly god-awful Boots, SUCk and Cwazy Tonight.

Indeed, Red Light is even worse.

 

[digitize]

Some people say Tryin To Throw Your Arms Around The World is a crap song, and I'm like "What the fuck are you ON??!!" While Tttyaatw is no epic masterpiece, it scores a solid 7.5/10. Honestly, there are NO weak tracks on AB, that is a fact. Even songs like Trip Through Your Wire, Some Days Are Better Than Others and even Red Light are nowhere near as bad as the earth shudderingly god-awful Boots, SUCk and Cwazy Tonight.

I prefer Boots, SUC, and CT to all three of those songs. In my opinion, Trip is awful, Some Days is pointless on its own but okay on the album, and Red Light is okay but annoying, while Boots, SUC, and CT are all solidly decent songs (especially Boots).

 

[BVS]

Me too...

Well I prefer Boots and CT, but maybe SUC is tied with those songs.

 

[LemonMelon]

Some people say Tryin To Throw Your Arms Around The World is a crap song, and I'm like "What the fuck are you ON??!!" While Tttyaatw is no epic masterpiece, it scores a solid 7.5/10. Honestly, there are NO weak tracks on AB, that is a fact. Even songs like Trip Through Your Wire, Some Days Are Better Than Others and even Red Light are nowhere near as bad as the earth shudderingly god-awful Boots, SUCk and Cwazy Tonight.

Agreed.

But I love Trip, it's one of my favorite U2 songs. Ditto Some Days. There's no "oh, these songs blow but the NLOTH tracks are somehow worse" about it.

 

[U2girl]

I prefer Boots, SUC, and CT to all three of those songs. In my opinion, Trip is awful, Some Days is pointless on its own but okay on the album, and Red Light is okay but annoying, while Boots, SUC, and CT are all solidly decent songs (especially Boots).

Yes. The much maligned "middle three" on NLOTH are nowhere near as bad as some of the weakest songs U2's put out over the years.

 

[cobl04]

Trip and Some Days are both far, far better than those three. And you can add Magnificent and Unknown Caller to that list.

 

[roy]

Trip and Some Days are both far, far better than those three. And you can add Magnificent and Unknown Caller to that list.

You are so controversial.

 

[cobl04]

Half of NLOTH is great.

 

[An Cat Gav]

I don't think there's a bad song on Achtung Baby.

Or The Joshua Tree or The Unforgettable Fire for that matter.

I agree totally, I would possibly add Boy to that list too.

 

[Earnie Shavers]

Maybe with all these reports that Bono is basically a billionaire now* the next U2 album will be something like Watch the Throne? "Project 000,000,000".


*Yes, yes, I understand completely all the ways those reports are erroneous.

 

[cobl04]

I hope it's as good as Watch the Throne

 

[U2girl]

I don't think there's a bad song on Achtung Baby.

Or The Joshua Tree or The Unforgettable Fire for that matter.

Trip through your wires lowers the average on JT, and same goes for Tryin' to throw your arms around the world being on AB. Had they put Heartland on JT instead, yes, JT would be the one U2 album without a *bad (weaker) song.

EP and America is pretentious, along with being bad. Almost as weak as Red light and Is that all. UF is not in the same league as JT and AB.

Thought the bad songs are really and truly bad only post AB: Some days are better than others, Miami, Grace, and Boots are the bottom.

 

[lemonfly]

Thought the bad songs are really and truly bad only post AB: Some days are better than others, Miami, Grace, and Boots are the bottom.

If we're talking about bad songs on ATYCLB, Wild Honey takes the biscuit. Leave poor Grace alone!

 

[Niceman]

Trip through your wires lowers the average on JT, and same goes for Tryin' to throw your arms around the world being on AB. Had they put Heartland on JT instead, yes, JT would be the one U2 album without a *bad (weaker) song.

Those are both great songs. However, they do have a similar role on the albums. They're the moment when things feel more casual, less contrived. They're the songs which don't feel like they were meant to be singles. On other albums, Some Days are Better Than Others and Playboy Mansion had similar jobs.

 

[Niceman]

If we're talking about bad songs on ATYCLB, Wild Honey takes the biscuit. Leave poor Grace alone!

Wild Honey is a beautiful song. Grace is the epitome of forced and contrived.

 

[doctorwho]

I think they can do better than NLOTH. I gave it another listen again in the car yesterday. It starts out so promising....and then......

I know this will stun many, but that's exactly how I felt with JT back in '87.

I'd listen to the first three songs, then "Bullet "would come on and I'd turn off the CD.

It literally took about a year before I even heard a few tracks on JT! I sometimes would skip "Bullet" to hear a few other tracks, but rarely did I listen to the entire album.

My point is not to knock JT, but to show that every album has strengths and weaknesses.

NLOTH does have weaknesses (I'm looking at you "Crazy") but as with U2's best, the strengths easily surpass the weaknesses. The soaring vocals, solid lyrics, innovation and overall quality and passion in the work have me impressed. I'll gladly have an NLOTH 2, but with some tweaking (meaning, no catering to the Adult Top 40 crowd - if a song becomes a hit there, great, but don't force it).

Trip through your wires lowers the average on JT, and same goes for Tryin' to throw your arms around the world being on AB. Had they put Heartland on JT instead, yes, JT would be the one U2 album without a *bad (weaker) song.

I fully agree with this. And, again a shocker to many U2 fans, I'm also not a fan of Ultraviolet's lyrics. But the music is good and Bono does have one line that I love ("opera in my head"). However, "Trying to Throw" is just weak and "Trip" is a convoluted mess.

EP and America is pretentious, along with being bad. Almost as weak as Red light and Is that all. UF is not in the same league as JT and AB.

As much as I agreed with you above, I disagree here. The EP's (either "Wide Awake" EP) are like long singles. So I don't really count them as an album. I enjoy having them and they both contain tracks not found elsewhere (with some repeats), but shouldn't be in the same league as U2's albums.

IMHO, TUF is one of U2's best. I love the mix of rock with the Eno-influenced ambient music. Bono's vocals were a considerable step up. U2 were serious but at the same time, whimsical. This allowed for a more free-flowing album. It may not be as tight as JT, but that also makes it better. But I realize most would disagree.

Boots is the weakest link. You can feel how they thought they had another Vertigo on their hands...

Crazy, while out of place on something like NLOTH, is good enough at being a pop song.

SUC, it's a good riff. Should have been played live. It's bizzare with the above two this one gets so much hate.

I like "Boots" overall, but I fully agree with your statement. This song turned out to be "Discotheque" - U2 trying too hard to have that big rock single. They can and have, but usually when they follow a bit more traditional pattern. That is, rock out, but have a song that people can relate to, such as "Pride", "Desire" and "Beautiful Day". All three were lead singles that rocked and really helped their respective albums.

I'm not a fan of "Crazy", but love the concert version. IMO, "Crazy" should have been a b-side or something thrown to fit a movie soundtrack.

Lastly, I fully agree with you on SUC. I'm not sure why this song is hated so much. People pick up on that one bad lyric (God/old lady) but that shouldn't destroy a song.

 

[trevgreg]

If we're talking about bad songs on ATYCLB, Wild Honey takes the biscuit. Leave poor Grace alone!

I've always had a liking for Wild Honey. It's not their greatest song, but it's certainly a decent little tune. Grace has actually grown on me in recent years, and I'll still listen to it from time to time. In terms of weaker songs on ATYCLB, I'd probably rank Peace on Earth as the weakest myself.

I like "Boots" overall, but I fully agree with your statement. This song turned out to be "Discotheque" - U2 trying too hard to have that big rock single. They can and have, but usually when they follow a bit more traditional pattern. That is, rock out, but have a song that people can relate to, such as "Pride", "Desire" and "Beautiful Day". All three were lead singles that rocked and really helped their respective albums.

I'm not a fan of "Crazy", but love the concert version. IMO, "Crazy" should have been a b-side or something thrown to fit a movie soundtrack.

Lastly, I fully agree with you on SUC. I'm not sure why this song is hated so much. People pick up on that one bad lyric (God/old lady) but that shouldn't destroy a song.

I probably would've appreciated Boots more as an album track rather than a lead-off single. I don't mind it live and the main riff itself is alright. But compared to BD and Vertigo, it doesn't quite have that same kick (and probably why it didn't chart as high).

I'd rank both the album version of Crazy and SUC as tunes that didn't quite make it to what they were capable of. In the end, the live version/remix for Crazy saved the song and gave it something it was sorely lacking (power, danceable, whatever). And I sort of agree with the assessment that while SUC has a great riff, it lacks something lyrically or otherwise.

 

[U2_Guy]

Wild Honey is a beautiful song. Grace is the epitome of forced and contrived.

There's something "pure", naive, about Wild Honey. Always liked this song... Grace is exactly how you described. And Peace on Earth i think is atrocious.

 

[Niceman]

There's something "pure", naive, about Wild Honey. Always liked this song... Grace is exactly how you described. And Peace on Earth i think is atrocious.

Peace on Earth might have been something, if Bono had sung it with even an ounce of passion. He did not.

 

[DevilsShoes]

I like "Boots" overall, but I fully agree with your statement. This song turned out to be "Discotheque" - U2 trying too hard to have that big rock single. They can and have, but usually when they follow a bit more traditional pattern. That is, rock out, but have a song that people can relate to, such as "Pride", "Desire" and "Beautiful Day". All three were lead singles that rocked and really helped their respective albums.

In general the most successful U2 singles are those with big, simple ideas at their core; Beautiful Day, One, With or Without You, Desire, Pride etc. Get On Your Boots was far too obscure and the public were left a bit non-plussed by the whole thing. You can get away with this thing if you have a killer track on your hands, unfortunately U2 didn't

I've always felt that Wild Horses was the weak link on AB, it does seem very much like a throwback to a previous era of the band and I think it sits a little uneasily on that first side. It's not a bad tune, but doesn't seem to belong in the way that Trying to Throw Your Arms does. Whenever I listen to the album it's the one track I always skip, something about it just doesn't cohere, although the version they released along with Paint It Black was better.

Bono has always said that God Part II is the first song of AB and I kind of wish it was actually on the album. Just imagine it being given the 'Achtung-treatment,' all industrial drums and jarring guitars. It would make so much more sense than Wild Horses. Love is Blindess was written during the Rattle and Hum sessions and held over, in hindsight I think they should have done the same with God Part II.

Peace on Earth might have been something, if Bono had sung it with even an ounce of passion. He did not.

Oh, I quite like his vocals on that song, there's a certain tenderness there which seems appropriate for the subject matter.

Bono's vocals on ATYCLB are pretty good overall, although I can't help thinking what they would have sounded like with a younger Bono behind the mic. I can imagine him tearing up Kite and Beautiful Day (the latter still sounds a bit strained to my ears), I also think Stuck in a Moment would have been so much better with a much tougher vocal, something with real grit to offset all that sentimentality. That whole track would have been far more compelling had those words been spat out.

It's the vocal on tracks like Unknown Caller which irks me, the verses sound unnecessarily lazy, he should have re-recorded them IMO.

 

[surrenderer]

I'm quite surprised Trip and Some Days are included in this discussion, as they have long been some of my absolute favorites.

Now, I don't 'like' Boots, but am I the only one to prefer it to its earlier incarnation, Vertigo? To me the riff, rhythm, harmonies, etc...while forced and weird...are still more interesting to listen to than Vertigo's "yeah yeahs" and other features of pop-punk blahness.

Other than Boots, the of other my least favorite 5 songs of the past decade are all from the previous two albums, namely:

New York
Grace
Vertigo
Original of the Species

 

[surrenderer]

And going back to the general discussion, I can accept Bono/U2 going through a song-writing drought. It happens to every good song-writer/band at some pt in their career: Dylan, Van Morrison, James Taylor, Rolling Stones, etc.

But what frustrates me is their unwillingness to let their artistic instincts take them into new territory. This is clearly what NLOTH started as, until their pop 'instincts' caused them to pull back and rehash the same formulas that made ATYCLB and HTDAAB nominally successful.

AB, Zooropa and POP was an era where the band, while interested in staying popular, seemed more in touch with and driven by their creative, artistic instincts than putting major effort to crafting pop hits.

It's why, in my opinion, statements like 'reapplying for the job' are so dooming, and even a 'miss' like POP will stand the test of time far better than their next 3 albums.

I just want the boys to get lost in the art of it all again, even if the resulting songs aren't 'epic.' We saw hints of this on the NLOTH, which is why it's my favorite of the decade.

 

[surrenderer]

I've always felt that Wild Horses was the weak link on AB, it does seem very much like a throwback to a previous era of the band and I think it sits a little uneasily on that first side. It's not a bad tune, but doesn't seem to belong in the way that Trying to Throw Your Arms does. Whenever I listen to the album it's the one track I always skip, something about it just doesn't cohere, although the version they released along with Paint It Black was better.

Bono has always said that God Part II is the first song of AB and I kind of wish it was actually on the album. Just imagine it being given the 'Achtung-treatment,' all industrial drums and jarring guitars. It would make so much more sense than Wild Horses. Love is Blindess was written during the Rattle and Hum sessions and held over, in hindsight I think they should have done the same with God Part II.




Oh, I quite like his vocals on that song, there's a certain tenderness there which seems appropriate for the subject matter.

Bono's vocals on ATYCLB are pretty good overall, although I can't help thinking what they would have sounded like with a younger Bono behind the mic. I can imagine him tearing up Kite and Beautiful Day (the latter still sounds a bit strained to my ears), I also think Stuck in a Moment would have been so much better with a much tougher vocal, something with real grit to offset all that sentimentality. That whole track would have been far more compelling had those words been spat out.

It's the vocal on tracks like Unknown Caller which irks me, the verses sound unnecessarily lazy, he should have re-recorded them IMO.

I wouldn't want to change a thing about AB, because most times I spin that disc I postpone everything else in my life. But your comments on Wild Horses and God Part II actually make sense to me.

I couldn't care less which Bono sang on most songs from ATYCLB, with the exception of Stuck in a Moment. That really would sound special sung by MacPhisto Bono...