4 Big U2 Fans I've Spoken To

[wolfwill23]

This album is not a mainstream album. It will not sell well (after the first few weeks). U2 will NOT fill US stadiums. If this record was released 20 years ago, different story. Does not fit well in instant gratification society.

 

[ArthDent]

Me and my best buddy are U2 fanatics but still have an open mind to what quality they deliever. We both think it may be the best album they have ever made. It's got more great songs than JT and as a whole better than AB we feel. We also felt AB was the last great album they made. Pop had great melodies but was poorly produced.

Anyway my 2 cents

 

[last unicorn]

This album is not a mainstream album. It will not sell well (after the first few weeks). U2 will NOT fill US stadiums. If this record was released 20 years ago, different story. Does not fit well in instant gratification society.

That's not a bad thing. I don't care about the mainstream and I'd love to see U2 in arenas without the ticket craziness.

I don't think they'll play stadiums in the US anyway.

 

[wolfwill23]

That's not a bad thing. I don't care about the mainstream and I'd love to see U2 in arenas without the ticket craziness.

I don't think they'll play stadiums in the US anyway.

Just saying, not mainstream.

Hope they don't play stadiums. They'll be half empty. These songs are experiences or happenings, not really tunes to sing along to. "Shush now, speak your name..." WTF is that?

 

[pudgie_child]

I respect everyone's opinion but I cannot believe that if you like U2 this album is disappointing to you. What would please you then?

An album with less bad songs.

 

[Pearl]

Maybe NLOTH will be like HTDAAB - the more people listen to it, the more they like it!

I've known friends who said that

 

[ArthDent]

Just saying, not mainstream.

Hope they don't play stadiums. They'll be half empty. These songs are experiences or happenings, not really tunes to sing along to. "Shush now, speak your name..." WTF is that?

Are you kidding me???

The band in the world with the biggest catalog and following will suddenly not fill up stadiums? They have enough core fans to sell out stadiums in every city. They don't even need Joe Q that happens to see a U2 poster stopping by..

What are you on?

 

[MCF74]

Maybe NLOTH will be like HTDAAB - the more people listen to it, the more they like it!

I've known friends who said that

Although I liked it the first time I heard it, I am in this camp. I have grown to love the album more and more upon repeated listens. To me, this is an album in which you have to actually take some time to digest the songs and their meanings, and when they sink it, you realize just how brilliant NLOTH actually is!

 

[SleepyDeadMan]

This album is not a mainstream album. It will not sell well (after the first few weeks). U2 will NOT fill US stadiums. If this record was released 20 years ago, different story. Does not fit well in instant gratification society.

i think your talking crazy... even people who don't like this album would still go to see u2 if they like 'their old hits'... i would be surprised if u2, ever again in their music touring career, EVER played a half empty stadium. They have too illustrious a career. The rolling stones have released a billion bad albums in a row (IMO), but their tours still sell out.

half empty? that is ludacris

 

[last unicorn]

Are you kidding me???

The band in the world with the biggest catalog and following will suddenly not fill up stadiums? They have enough core fans to sell out stadiums in every city. They don't even need Joe Q that happens to see a U2 poster stopping by..

What are you on?

I agree. But it's not the "core fans" that will sell out the stadiums, but the casual U2 fan. I don't think a less accessible album like NLOTH will take away from their mass appeal.

And there ARE some big anthems on NLOTH that fit a huge audience perfectly.

That said, I'm all for more intimate gigs.

 

[Pearl]

Although I liked it the first time I heard it, I am in this camp. I have grown to love the album more and more upon repeated listens. To me, this is an album in which you have to actually take some time to digest the songs and their meanings, and when they sink it, you realize just how brilliant NLOTH actually is!

Exactly.

I think the problem is some people expect too much from U2. They want them to outdo themselves over and over, and that is very difficult thing to do.

I admit I analyze to death every new song they put out. But as time goes on, I start to accept those songs.

 

[IndyShade]

Dude - thank you for not jumping on the "if you don't like NLOTH you're not a real U2 fan and you should leave" bandwagon. I haven't been thrilled with anything that came after POP, but up until ATYCLB, I was such an obsessive U2 super-fan that I drove my friends, family, and band-mates nuts with it.

U2's music became my religion in 1987, though I'd liked them since '84. I've seen them play 15 times (two of those in Dublin in '93, and five of them on the Vertigo Tour). I still think TUF is the greatest album anybody ever created, even above The Joshua Tree and Achtung Baby, which are absolute masterpieces. In fact, one of my biggest dreams would be to see all of the video footage that never made it into the TUF documentary - footage of the band working on "Bad" and "A Sort of Homecoming" and "Indian Summer Sky". If I could get my hands on that material and immerse myself in it, I could die happy.

But, because I am not happy with the three most recent albums, because I am openly critical of them, people say I'm "not a real U2 fan". That's nonsense. Or, they say I don't "get" what the band are trying to do, like it's so different that I can't comprehend it. Again, that's nonsense. TUF is my favorite album. "Surrender", "The Refugee" and "Red Light" are my favorite songs on WAR. And I bridged the gap between TJT and R&H and AB just fine. I thought "The Fly" was incredible from the first moment I heard it. I loved "Numb" and "Lemon" and Zooropa. I loved OST1. And my vanity license plate, which I've had since 1998, still says "U2 POP".

Just because I want more from them than what I feel we have gotten in the last decade doesn't mean I'm not a "real U2 fan". So, I appreciate that your advice to me is to live with the album and give it time to grow, rather than telling people like me to get the hell off of Interference. That is quite cool of you, even if you're still sort of saying that we shouldn't be talking about how we feel about it right now.

So to true U2 fans, not the casual ones, I will tell them to just give the album time. Don't listen 10 times in two days and comment. Let it grow on you. Let yourself really hear it. Let yourself hear the live versions. And if it's still not for you, so be it. But you may find yourselves changing your minds considerably over time.

 

[wolfwill23]

Are you kidding me???

The band in the world with the biggest catalog and following will suddenly not fill up stadiums? They have enough core fans to sell out stadiums in every city. They don't even need Joe Q that happens to see a U2 poster stopping by..

What are you on?

There's a reason they haven't played US stadiums for the past couple tours - no ticket sales. This started with POP. You think Bono likes playing 3 nights in a row in a city in an arena instead of 1 night in a stadium? They play arenas because they can no longer fill US stadiums. This album will NOT help that cause at all. Face up to the facts.

 

[last unicorn]

No ticket sales? You must be joking. U2 can't even meet the demand. Pop was a whole different chapter.

 

[Popmart Shopper]

Each of them have played the album about 10 times and each of them have said they "dont know what to make of it","boots is a terrible song","theres no classics on the album" and in general "the album is fairly poor" and they were "dissapointed". How can the opinions im hearing from friends differ so much from in here?.

Well we are all entitled to our opinions but I dont see it this way at all.I even like Boots.

 

[Popmart Shopper]

This album is not a mainstream album. It will not sell well (after the first few weeks). U2 will NOT fill US stadiums. If this record was released 20 years ago, different story. Does not fit well in instant gratification society.

Great easier for me to get tickets then.

 

[wolfwill23]

No ticket sales? You must be joking. U2 can't even meet the demand. Pop was a whole different chapter.

So are you saying that they haven't played stadiums since POP because they didn't want to? That would mean that they chose to work sometimes two to three times as much for the same $ as one stadium show. That was their choice?

 

[david]

I think U2 will fill stadiums on name alone.

 

[Yahweh]

Who cares. Cant please everybody.

 

[wolfwill23]

I think U2 will fill stadiums on name alone.

Please see my last post.

 

[last unicorn]

So are you saying that they haven't played stadiums since POP because they didn't want to? That would mean that they chose to work sometimes two to three times as much for the same $ as one stadium show. That was their choice?

Play stadiums in spring, play stadiums in fall? And where's the sense in saying they cannot fill a stadium if they fill arenas on 6 nights in a row?

 

[david]

Please see my last post.

No, I disagree with you.

 

[wolfwill23]

Play stadiums in spring, play stadiums in fall? And where's the sense in saying they cannot fill a stadium if they fill arenas on 6 nights in a row?

6 nights in a row? What city was that? I remember 3 being the max (which still would barely match the attendance numbers of ONE stadium show.)

And they can only fill arenas 3 nights straight in HUGE markets - which is why they aren't doing stadiums. They would be empty in the mid to small markets.

 

[wolfwill23]

No, I disagree with you.

So they'd rather work three times as hard for the same money? Is that what you're saying?

 

[Yahweh]

Personally it wouldnt break my heart if they skipped the US in general except for a few cities, even though that would never happen.

The previous 2 albums before this one have been pretty mainstream in terms of nature and this to me was an attempt to win back fans in the US. While they are great albums with some great Pop songs they were definatly an attempt to get back a US hardcore fanbase. If the US doesnt like this new album thats too damn bad.

I hope U2 wont worry as much about sales as they have in the past and let the music flow in the direction they want it to. You wont be able to please everybody in a dumbed down society like the world but especially the US lives in today.

I am not saying everybody is part of this crowd but everything these days is instant and the US music scene has been that way forever.

 

[wolfwill23]

Personally it wouldnt break my heart if they skipped the US in general except for a few cities, even though that would never happen.

The previous 2 albums before this one have been pretty mainstream in terms of nature and this to me was an attempt to win back fans in the US. While they are great albums with some great Pop songs they were definatly an attempt to get back a US hardcore fanbase. If the US doesnt like this new album thats too damn bad.

I hope U2 wont worry as much about sales as they have in the past and let the music flow in the direction they want it to. You wont be able to please everybody in a dumbed down society like the world but especially the US lives in today.

I am not saying everybody is part of this crowd but everything these days is instant and the US music scene has been that way forever.

"When hip-hop drove the big cars."

 

[Yahweh]

I would agree with wolfwill23 that U2 will have problems filling stadiums in non major markets in the US. Most of the Southern US will have problems filling a stadium outside of California I think and this album is very dense and will take repeated listening for most people to get it. Id be suprised if U2 do a full US stadium tour id be expecting mostly arenas.

There isnt 1 band in the world I could think of that could sell out a US stadium tour in every market and I dont think U2 is an expection to that rule.

 

[Sleep Over Jack]

I recall the same feelings with AB. No one liked it at the start, they thought it was shit. Its now a cult classic.

Pretty popular for a "cult classic" don't you think?

 

[Yahweh]

Difference is U2 was about 30 when Achtung Baby came out they are 50 now and it will be a lot harder to sell "image" to a younger generation at their age.

 

[wolfwill23]

Difference is U2 was about 30 when Achtung Baby came out they are 50 now and it will be a lot harder to sell "image" to a younger generation at their age.

In addition to U2 aging, the world's taste has changed. U2 was the biggest thing in the late 80's/early 90's. That was their time and that was the time for their type of music. Those days are gone. I am glad I became a fan in 92 and was able to enjoy seeing them at the top, even if for a little bit.