U2's lesser material seems to slowly grow on you...

[Songman]

I can't think of any other band or artist I listen to with a massive catalogue where some songs don't grab me straight away...but slowly grow on me. I find I'm liking almost everything. I never really warmed to Zooropa, Pop, some tracks on No line on the horizon, and Passengers. But now I LOVE listening to a lot of this. I also thought Pop was terrible, save for maybe 4 tracks. Now I like a few more tracks than before. Zooropa I only liked half the album, but now I like the other half just as much. Passengers I didn't get, but now I appreciate the experimentation. Soon I'll probably dig out Rattle and Hum and Unforgettable Fire that I didn't warm to straight away, and like all of that too.

What is it about these guys? They seem to have a knack for making these melodies that don't grab you at first, but soon they loop around in your head and you just love them. I didn't think much of 'Please' at first, but now I find I have that tune in my head a lot! Their approach to music at times is simple and not always ear grabbing, but then they get you some how.

 

[theedgeu2]

Same here. Lots of their stuff grows on me over time. Like Wild Honey for instance is one I didn't like much at all when I first heard it. Gave ATYCLB a few more listens and found that I was slowly beginning to like Wild Honey and all of ATYCLB. I love all the material on all of U2's studio albums, save for Love Rescue Me on R&H but even that isn't bad it's just not my style. I think Pop and Zooropa were the two toughest for me to get a grasp of how awesome those albums are. I actually gave Zooropa a listen and didn't care for it at all. I decided to pick it up again one week and listen to it every night when I went to bed for a week straight. That went from me liking two songs to liking the whole album. Pop was so weird because of how Bono's vocals are throughout some of the songs. I think Pop took the longest to really catch fire with me but I am glad it has. With me if I don't like an album of U2's usually I just have to give it several listens and eventually I'll come around on it. I had a similar case with NLOTH. Really didn't like much of that album at all until around this point last year.

 

[mikal]

i think U2's deep cuts are the biggest reason why they've been my favorite band for 20 years.

 

[BlueSilkenSky]

I used to rate Zooropa criminally low and now it's my second favorite album. I like it when music grows on you.

 

[AnCatKatie]

Usually the songs of U2's I kind of hate or are scared of become my favorites...The Fly, An Cat Dubh, Bullet The Blue Sky....hasn't worked for Mofo, though, and probably won't...

The only album I can say that really worked with was Rattle & Hum, and that was because of the movie. The songs were good but with album flow pretty nonexistent, the album was kind of shitty without the film.

Pop, though I said I'd never buy it...ha...I did...has grown on me a little and Zooropa is one of my favorites after the 80s stuff and AB

 

[theu2fly]

I still haven't listened to October in full yet, and really have no desire to...

Wow that sentence was full of puns

 

[AnCatKatie]

October is good!

...I think I'm 1 of maybe 4 people on IF who seem to like that album XD

But yeah, Scarlet's kind of a pointless track, Is That All is basically The Cry/Electric Co with different lyrics, and I Fall Down and I Threw A Brick Through A Window should not be so close together. Rejoice, With A Shout, Stranger In A Strange Land, October, Tomorrow, and Gloria are the best songs from that album, IMO. You should give those a listen.

 

[Songman]

I haven't listened to much of October. Mind you, I've only listened to Zooropa, Pop, and Passengers on Youtube. When I was just starting out as a U2 fan and only had the U2 18Singles compilation and HTDAAB, Zooropa and Pop were both widely on sale in my top local CD shop, but I didn't have much of a sample as to what they sounded like. Later on, I'd start to be more daring and buy albums of artists that I'd only heard one or two tracks of. Sometimes that paid off, sometimes I wished I'd saved my money for something else. Fast forward to now when I actually want to buy the damn albums, and that CD shop has closed down, and the ones that stock U2 music don't stock those albums. Same goes with the DVDs ZooTv and Elevation Boston. When I want those DVDs, now they're not in stock. I could ask to order it in, but I rather pick them up on the spot.

But yeah, U2 definitely seem to be the band that have many deep cuts that you rediscover and love, which is fascinating. Even Bruce Springsteen's music I latch onto immediately. There aren't that many deep cuts that surprise me later on, I like pretty much all his material straight away. So U2 kind of sneak up on you and make you say later on 'why didn't I appreciate this song before. This is actually great!'

 

[cobl04]

I still haven't listened to October in full yet, and really have no desire to...

Wow that sentence was full of puns

Why? not that I care, but this is a U2 forum and that's pretty weird.

 

[Popmartijn]

October is good!

Indeed. I listened to it earlier this week and it holds up pretty well. It's not their best album by a long shot, but not their worst either. Yes, they were in difficult times writing/recording this record and it also shows, but there are quite a few great songs on it.
(Also a few not so great songs too though)

 

[BlueSilkenSky]

I love October (even though right now it's in my bottom three favorite albums... not sure what that says about my tastes).

War and Boy also grew on me big time, even though I rate them low as well. War is my least favorite album, but it's so good... at least side one is. I love, love, love side one of War.

 

[Rachel D.]

I've realized that with any music, not just U2's, the songs that I immediately like and think they're the best thing ever are the ones that don't have staying power. I eventually get tired of them and they seem shallow later on. However, the songs that I don't "get" right away or that don't grab my attention on first listen usually end up being my favorites in the long run and they seem to have greater depth and meaning.

That's why I think it takes patience to be a U2 fan. You can't just listen to an album once through and say that it's boring or it's just not very good; if you really want to make a good judgement on a U2 album, you have to listen to it multiple times, because there are all these little nuances and meanings buried in there that you're not going to catch right away. U2 is not a good musical choice for those with short attention spans. I love those little moments where I finally "get" a song that I didn't like before and it suddenly hits me like a ton of bricks and I'm amazed at the profoundness of it. That's what happened with "Breathe"; everyone was raving about how great it was and I thought it was pretty unremarkable, until the third or fourth listen.

 

[Songman]

Well said Rachel. I would have to agree with you on that. I was even like that with 'Achtung baby'. Once the album was over the first time I played it, I said 'I like it, I'm intrigued to play again'. Now its my favourite U2 album (but thats no surprise considering its greatness).

Update on Rattle and Hum: just as I thought, I played the album again. All the songs I didn't pay attention to before, 'Hawkmoon 269', 'God Part II', 'Heartland', and 'Love rescue me' have all made me say 'wow these are great, why did I not pay attention to these songs before'. The rediscovery of the deep cuts seems to continue

 

[prbiker15]

Two albums that have really grown on me - Pop and Zooropa. Especially Zooropa. I had never heard Some Days Are Better Than Others or The Wanderer or Dirty Day until three months ago. I love those songs now.

 

[Yahweh_OMG]

That's indeed the great thing about this band, their unknown songs are at least as good as their best of songs.....few bands can claim that kind of thing.

Acrobat
Rejoice
Wire
Heartland
God Part 2
Liminous times
Walk to the water
Fez being born
Yahweh
Dirty Day

etc...... there are dozens...

 

[Airseven]

I still haven't listened to October in full yet, and really have no desire to...

Wow that sentence was full of puns

Same here.

Also, there are certain songs like The Playboy Mansion, When I Look At The World, Love And Peace Or Else, Original Of The Species, Window In The Skies, Stand Up Comedy, etc. that are just so bad that they rot not grow. They get worse with each listen.

 

[LPU2]

It's why the Spider-man music has been largely panned. But once people have heard the songs a few times, they hear totally different music.

Broadway isn't used to that. Stuff written specifically for Broadway is usually saccharine sweet and catchy, literally crafted to have strong immediate appeal—like music written for commercials. But it's often disposable. Think about the music from Rent. You left the theater singing about the amount of seconds in a year, but once you've heard it a couple times, you don't really need to hear it again. At least that was my experience.

U2's songs are the opposite. Even in other arenas—on record, on radio—their songs require a little patience. That's why them writing for Broadway was so counterintuitive. It's like U2 writing a jingle for a soft drink. There are million other song writers more suited for that.

 

[BlueSilkenSky]

Also, there are certain songs like The Playboy Mansion, When I Look At The World, Love And Peace Or Else, Original Of The Species, Window In The Skies, Stand Up Comedy, etc. that are just so bad that they rot not grow. They get worse with each listen.

I think all those songs are brilliant...

 

[LPU2]

Same here.

Also, there are certain songs like The Playboy Mansion, When I Look At The World, Love And Peace Or Else, Original Of The Species, Window In The Skies, Stand Up Comedy, etc. that are just so bad that they rot not grow. They get worse with each listen.

And what's even more interesting is that, for many people, you just listed some of their favorite songs. I love When I Look at the World and Stand Up Comedy. Man and a Woman is one of my top 10 all time U2 songs and there are (really confused) people who hate it.

I can't listen to Babyface, or much of anything on Pop. But I fully acknowledge that millions of people love that stuff. It's that variety of styles that gives U2 such broad appeal. If I didn't know any better I'd say it was a great business plan.

It's why there are thousands of people on this board. It's why, 30 years on, U2 remains relevant and still sells out stadiums.

 

[Rachel D.]

It's that variety of styles that gives U2 such broad appeal. If I didn't know any better I'd say it was a great business plan.

It's why there are thousands of people on this board. It's why, 30 years on, U2 remains relevant and still sells out stadiums.

U2's music spans such a huge range of styles that it appeals to a lot of people with varying musical tastes. How many bands can do that? They've been making music for thirty years and it doesn't all sound the same. ATYCLB was my first album, and then I bought Zooropa; I was really surprised that the same band made both albums!