DaveC
Blue Crack Addict
This album is criminally underrated around here. It almost always ends up at the bottom of ranking threads, survivor games, and gets slagged in general conversation pretty often.
I listen to it all the time, and I think it's great. Personally, I think October is their best album before The Unforgettable Fire. War might have the more famous songs, and big political anthems on it, and I do think in general that War's lyrics are better and more interesting, but the music in October really is incredible - it laid the base for The Unforgettable Fire, and ultimately the band's studio experimentation. The lyrics aren't great, I admit - probably because Bono lost that suitcase. But October is not about the lyrics, it's about the music the other three are laying down, and despite that there are quite a few moments of lyrical brilliance. It deserves way more respect than it gets around here, and here's why:
Gloria: That riff. Adam's bass in the middle eight is some vicious playing. The best part of the song is the outro, obviously. The harmonies are great.
I Fall Down: The dynamics of the way Edge (I presume it's him) plays the piano, with the soft/loud dynamic in the intro is really evocative. Bono sings the song with the kind of dynamic that grips your ear and makes you really listen to the lyrics he's singing. The way Edge plays the harmonics in the bridge are also really unique. I can't recall ever hearing another song before or since that has that same sound in it.
I Threw a Brick Through a Window: The drum intro. Larry fucking kills it. The guitar riff is also very atonal, and shouldn't work, but it does because the bass holds the chord together. It's brilliant.
Rejoice: This kind of riff is now paint-by-numbers U2, but at the time it was unique and innovative. And again, the bridge - Larry is the man.
Fire: The interplay between the bass and drums during the verse drives the song with such momentum. This is another one where Adam and Larry are owning it, and then in the bridge Edge comes in with that chord (the second one especially) that has about 7 or 8 different levels. That chord is un-fucking-real. It swirls around you and you never want it to end. As a guitar player it almost makes me soil my pants (in whatever way you're probably thinking of right now) every time I hear it. I get chills the same way I get chills when I hear the opening chord from A Hard Day's Night. It's my single favourite moment on the album, and this chord led to so much of my favourite moments on UF and AB and going forward.
Tomorrow: I love the way that the song starts with studio chatter that just seems to fall away when the pipes start up, as if the song takes you away into an ethereal other world. This is far and away the lyrical highlight of the album. I used to hate the way Bono sang it, back when I was an idiot and a douchebag. Having now successfully matured into an adult (albeit at a somewhat stunted rate), I realize the emotion and heartbreak are driving the singing. It's an incredibly personal song, and you can feel Bono ripping away at your heart. One of his finest vocal performances, ever.
October: A simple song, but beautiful. I can feel the emotion in how hard the piano chords are stuck, and that alone makes the song interesting to listen to.
With a Shout (Jerusalem): Larry crushes it again with the drum intro. That muted trumpet in the middle eight is also really cool.
Stranger in a Strange Land: Adam's best moment on October. That bass riff is phenomenal, and he carries the entire song. Edge provides just the right amount of atmospheric chords and harmonics. It sounds so effortless.
Scarlet: Another simple but beautiful song. An etheral sonic landscape that led to some amazing songs like 4th of July and Bass Trap.
Is That All?: That intro, again. It's no wonder that they took it to use in Electric Co. It deserves to be used on about six more songs, too. A fantastic closer, and the absolute chaos it breaks down into at the end is great too (the whistling at the very end is slightly Sgt. Pepper's-esque, which I can't knock at all).
I think a lot of the negative opinion may come from people just not having listened to it start-to-finish in a long time. I highly encourage you all to do so, and realize how awesome October is.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8cCIOvmTBww
I listen to it all the time, and I think it's great. Personally, I think October is their best album before The Unforgettable Fire. War might have the more famous songs, and big political anthems on it, and I do think in general that War's lyrics are better and more interesting, but the music in October really is incredible - it laid the base for The Unforgettable Fire, and ultimately the band's studio experimentation. The lyrics aren't great, I admit - probably because Bono lost that suitcase. But October is not about the lyrics, it's about the music the other three are laying down, and despite that there are quite a few moments of lyrical brilliance. It deserves way more respect than it gets around here, and here's why:
Gloria: That riff. Adam's bass in the middle eight is some vicious playing. The best part of the song is the outro, obviously. The harmonies are great.
I Fall Down: The dynamics of the way Edge (I presume it's him) plays the piano, with the soft/loud dynamic in the intro is really evocative. Bono sings the song with the kind of dynamic that grips your ear and makes you really listen to the lyrics he's singing. The way Edge plays the harmonics in the bridge are also really unique. I can't recall ever hearing another song before or since that has that same sound in it.
I Threw a Brick Through a Window: The drum intro. Larry fucking kills it. The guitar riff is also very atonal, and shouldn't work, but it does because the bass holds the chord together. It's brilliant.
Rejoice: This kind of riff is now paint-by-numbers U2, but at the time it was unique and innovative. And again, the bridge - Larry is the man.
Fire: The interplay between the bass and drums during the verse drives the song with such momentum. This is another one where Adam and Larry are owning it, and then in the bridge Edge comes in with that chord (the second one especially) that has about 7 or 8 different levels. That chord is un-fucking-real. It swirls around you and you never want it to end. As a guitar player it almost makes me soil my pants (in whatever way you're probably thinking of right now) every time I hear it. I get chills the same way I get chills when I hear the opening chord from A Hard Day's Night. It's my single favourite moment on the album, and this chord led to so much of my favourite moments on UF and AB and going forward.
Tomorrow: I love the way that the song starts with studio chatter that just seems to fall away when the pipes start up, as if the song takes you away into an ethereal other world. This is far and away the lyrical highlight of the album. I used to hate the way Bono sang it, back when I was an idiot and a douchebag. Having now successfully matured into an adult (albeit at a somewhat stunted rate), I realize the emotion and heartbreak are driving the singing. It's an incredibly personal song, and you can feel Bono ripping away at your heart. One of his finest vocal performances, ever.
October: A simple song, but beautiful. I can feel the emotion in how hard the piano chords are stuck, and that alone makes the song interesting to listen to.
With a Shout (Jerusalem): Larry crushes it again with the drum intro. That muted trumpet in the middle eight is also really cool.
Stranger in a Strange Land: Adam's best moment on October. That bass riff is phenomenal, and he carries the entire song. Edge provides just the right amount of atmospheric chords and harmonics. It sounds so effortless.
Scarlet: Another simple but beautiful song. An etheral sonic landscape that led to some amazing songs like 4th of July and Bass Trap.
Is That All?: That intro, again. It's no wonder that they took it to use in Electric Co. It deserves to be used on about six more songs, too. A fantastic closer, and the absolute chaos it breaks down into at the end is great too (the whistling at the very end is slightly Sgt. Pepper's-esque, which I can't knock at all).
I think a lot of the negative opinion may come from people just not having listened to it start-to-finish in a long time. I highly encourage you all to do so, and realize how awesome October is.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8cCIOvmTBww
