U2 Still has a great album in them

The friendliest place on the web for anyone that follows U2.
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
See posts with no answers
The Panther said:
Unfortunately, that's the thing U2 is really, really good at....
Click to expand...

jVbgbf.gif
 
Last edited:
Hollow Island said:
The bad stuff gets forgotten and the good lasts. It happened to the Stones, Fleetwood Mac, REM, and Bowie, and it'll happen with U2. We're just too close to the bad things. It also depends on them ceasing to embarrass themselves, and I don't know if that's possible.
Click to expand...

I agree with this in theory, but U2 has oversaturated themselves via media for sooooo long. The classic rock bands weren't able to annoy people with overexposure on the level U2 has, and obviously R.E.M. maintained a much lower profile.

I know you're talking primarily about the music itself, but it still affects peoples' impressions of them overall.

Even if the band broke up, I feel like you'd still be seeing Bono all the time on talk shows, music documentaries, etc. Let's hope he'll at least have the sense not to be a judge on one of the music competition shows like The Voice. :|
 
lazarus said:
Even if the band broke up, I feel like you'd still be seeing Bono all the time on talk shows, music documentaries, etc. Let's hope he'll at least have the sense not to be a judge on one of the music competition shows like The Voice. :|
Click to expand...


How about showing up on American Idol to sell Spider-Man tickets?

https://youtu.be/5oBjWl7l9Gw
 
Last edited:
Yeah, it cannot be overstated that, in terms of “cool” factor, U2 is only slightly above Creed and Nickleback in the public consciousness. That’s hard to bounce back from.
 
The John Tree said:
Yeah, it cannot be overstated that, in terms of “cool” factor, U2 is only slightly above Creed and Nickleback in the public consciousness. That’s hard to bounce back from.
Click to expand...
This is simply not true.

There's a break once you hit a certain age where sure, the youngs think U2 are lame AF.

But everyone hates Creed and Nickelback. The olds still love them some U2.
 
I’d like to place some blame upon their manager as well. I do wonder if McGuinness would’ve helped or harmed the JT’17 tour, though
 
Last edited:
Headache in a Suitcase said:
It's been... checks watch... 3 minutes since someone has made a SOI joke on twitter...





Other winners from the past couple of days







https://twitter.com/elizabethram11/status/1310723421828009984?s=19

https://twitter.com/kaiju_kam/status/1307880638830108674?s=19

https://twitter.com/whitetiger4455/status/1310283770969325569?s=19

I really like this one

https://twitter.com/ReallyBLBootsy/status/1308964454655315972?s=19

But, ya know, we're the only ones who still remember
Click to expand...




Yes, because someone on twitter said something it’s therefore relevant.

I still socialize with and interact with college aged people and they’re not yet my children. I can assure you that they’re too young to care or remember, and typically do not know who U2 is or have little to no opinion.

If there’s a valid point to be made about the debacle, it’s that they never got to be ironically cool because people who would’ve made them ironically cool (people my age) have their opinions of U2 tarnished from the incident.
 
Sorry, I'm with Headache here. Every time I see anything from a music site in my FB feed, whether it's Pitchfork or Rolling Stone or Consequence of Sound or some company selling vinyl, that mentions U2 or Bono for any reason, multiple people make references to the "phone invasion", without fail.

You can't say "only fans remember that SOI release" and then when presented with a bunch of random people who are still pressed about it, say "well those people don't count".
 
For what it's worth, you do still see the occasional comment like this though:

[TWEET]1309344235770925058[/TWEET]


And it makes me wonder if U2 would still do it all over again if they had the chance.


** Headache (and anyone else), if you want to embed a tweet in your post, just copy the long number at the end of the link, click the Tweet symbol above the text box, and paste it in there.
 
lazarus said:
Sorry, I'm with Headache here. Every time I see anything from a music site in my FB feed, whether it's Pitchfork or Rolling Stone or Consequence of Sound or some company selling vinyl, that mentions U2 or Bono for any reason, multiple people make references to the "phone invasion", without fail.

You can't say "only fans remember that SOI release" and then when presented with a bunch of random people who are still pressed about it, say "well those people don't count".
Click to expand...



You’re missing the point. The internet is full of trolls and the comments section of a social media post are not indicative of most people. They’re indicative of the angriest and loudest people.

A social media post about U2 generates three types of reactions. Love, hate, and indifference. You’re seeing hate. You’re not seeing indifference, which is the majority of people.
 
How about:

It was dumb, some people are still sore.

U2 are less on the radar in 2020 than they were in 2014, and that can only be a good thing trying to get some distance from the Apple thing. They are not “cool agin” like the stones et al, but they’re certainly not Creed or Nickelback either.

A lot about their legacy rides on their next steps. JT30 bought them some time and grace, but was too soon after SOI to sway mass opinion. Ambivalence reigns.

*****

A trajectory like this could start to swing the needle towards ironically cool:

2020 - ATYCLB re release handled well, reminding people of the last time the were great
2021 - AB 30th handled with class, dignity, a bit of risk and swagger, but not overt bombast. A quality release and maybe a few event shows noting Covid will still be a thing end of the year.
2022 - new music that isn’t playing for radio attention. Sound bits speaking of “back to letting the music speak” “making music with spirit and atmosphere”.
2023 - arena tour for new music, but with a twist. Personal, in the round style shows showcasing their best work in terms of writing and composition.
2024 - tour ROW, TUF 40th box like TJT.
2025-2033 - celebrate each anniversary (30/40/50) (except TJT, ATYCLB, AB) with boxes including album, b sides, rarities/demos, live show, remixes to create definitive sets for all albums.
During that time release a new album and to a farewell tour of proper greatest hits and fan favourites.

Walk away with some dignity and drop random songs/eps without much fanfare or the need to tour if they ever feel the urge.
 
Don’t give them any ideas or we could be looking at Fast Cars (Musk Mix)
 
LuckyNumber7 said:
You’re missing the point. The internet is full of trolls and the comments section of a social media post are not indicative of most people. They’re indicative of the angriest and loudest people.

A social media post about U2 generates three types of reactions. Love, hate, and indifference. You’re seeing hate. You’re not seeing indifference, which is the majority of people.
Click to expand...



I think it’s just an easy dunk/punchline for the Very Online.

If pressed, most people like/love maybe 10-20 U2 songs, and if you’re over 35, voluntarily own/have at least one of their albums. And a lot of people downloaded their albums after the release. A lot.

As an old, when I was in college, they were the one band that everyone agreed everyone owned at least one album by them.

Jury’s out on whether they’d do it again. They’d say it’s better to be hated than ignored, but this has been quite a Zamboni to their past for some.
 
Last edited:
Irvine511 said:
I think it’s just an easy dunk/punchline for the Very Online.

If pressed, most people like/love maybe 10-20 U2 songs, and if you’re over 35, voluntarily own/have at least one of their albums. And a lot of people downloaded their albums after the release. A lot.

As an old, when I was in college, they were the one band that everyone agreed everyone owned at least one album by them.

Jury’s out on whether they’d do it again. They’d say it’s better to be hated than ignored, but this has been quite a Zamboni to their past for some.
Click to expand...



Agreed, but the pitch I’m making is the youngs (let’s say 14-23) don’t have ironic U2 t shirts on like the stones etc. because quite honestly they don’t know U2 as well. And it’s probably because the people who would’ve showed them U2 don’t respect U2.

For the record I’m neither a young nor an old. I’m the the.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

D
Has U2's 21st century releases done irreparable damage to their legacy?
Replies
3
Views
797
ChurchBay
C
D
Have U2's 21st century releases done irreparable damage to their legacy?
18 19 20
Replies
598
Views
44K
Headache in a Suitcase
Headache in a Suitcase
C
Happy that they still bleed when cut
Replies
7
Views
2K
lazarus
lazarus
LemonMelon
Desert Island XI - QUARANTINE ISLAND - Group 2 Listening Thread
4 5 6
Replies
175
Views
6K
namkcuR
N
A
The Little stranger chapter 1
Replies
0
Views
983
annj
A

Latest posts

Back
Top Bottom