Corbie Hill's open letter to DM

[Muldfeld]

I half agree. U2 needs to start reaching into deeper places. NLOTH had some of those fantastic moment but the record was bogged down by half of the songs not really fitting with the mood of the other half. One half was some of the greatest stuff U2 has written and the other half was OK/ bordering on cheesy. If there was more consistency to the album, it would have been a classic.

Herein lies the problem- during POP, U2 was dark, intense, unpredictable. During ATYCLB and HTDAAB, U2 had about 5 fantastic songs, but both albums were bogged down by so many average and predictable songs to contrast the great ones. What makes Achtung and Joshua great albums is how cohesive, connected, and consistent they are. Even if you have great songs, the all have to make a complete whole that FEELS right- this is the problem since PoP. I am not going to say every song on PoP is amazing, (80% of the album is) but 100% of the album had a cohesive dark FEEL to it that connected everything. U2 needs to stop trying to be overly inspirational because it can come off as cheesey, and they need to stop trying to be so relevant, and go back to creating emotions through music, not popularity through music. If their albums are great, they will gain more notoriety. And if they are not relevantly popular or mainstream anymore, who cares as long as they are creating good music?!

So in a way, I understand Corbie's statement, but I have a lot more hope in U2 than he does. When U2 is good, they are the best. They just need to go back to making albums with a cohesive feel, that is consistently innovative and amazing. They have done it before and with part of NLOTH I have hope that they can do it again.

I'm not so big into cohesiveness. If it's has many great songs, that's what's important to me. Achtung Baby and Joshua Tree are so great because they have so many great songs, regardless of their context. U2 since, frankly, Zooropa hasn't made enough good songs; Zooropa is mostly b-sides, since it was intended as an EP (I'm guessing of Numb, Lemon, and Stay). On Pop, The Edge didn't push himself enough; Mofo and Do You Feel Loved are great, but "Miami" could have been great if Edge had come up with a better guitar melody or something.

Worst of all, since 2000, the band has abandoned not only interesting guitar sounds, but a sense of loud and soft to create texture and subtlety; it's all over JT and AB, but nowhere to be found in the last decade. That's a serious failure. It's like U2 would rather be heard on the speakers at McDonalds with those other cheesy pop country songs and John Mayer than make great music.

This song is the epitome of popular crap I can't stand, but lame secretaries and unsophisticated American Idol watchers love:
YouTube - Daniel Powter - Bad Day (Video) (I literally never knew who this song was by until now; I'm surprised the guy looks so young.)

 

[JamietheEdgefan]

Is it just me, or does that song sound like a commercial jingle you'd see on tv for heartburn tablets or something more than an actual song?

 

[nirniva]

This song is the epitome of popular crap I can't stand, but lame secretaries and unsophisticated American Idol watchers love:
YouTube - Daniel Powter - Bad Day (Video)

Every song U2 has ever written and ever will write is a million times better than "Bad Day" by default. I include Elvis Ate America, Yahweh, and Grace in that statement.

Spoiler

Also, "Daniel Powter" may be the most hilariously appropriate name imaginable for this guy, given how that seems to be his default expression.

 

[Muldfeld]

Every song U2 has ever written and ever will write is a million times better than "Bad Day" by default. I include Elvis Ate America, Yahweh, and Grace in that statement.

Spoiler

Also, "Daniel Powter" may be the most hilariously appropriate name imaginable for this guy, given how that seems to be his default expression.

I actually like "Elvis Ate America"; that Cookie Monster like voice with Bono's artsy ramblings always makes me smile. "Yahweh" ain't bad, either.

You know what I mean, though. I'm referring to that forced uplifting quality; the video for "Walk On" isn't far removed in its cheese; love the Bono tearing his shirt like Michael Jackson moment at the end and the oneness of all those kids like some video by Our Lady Peace video or another crappy Canadian band that always shows insane looking teens in pain:
YouTube - Walk On (Single Version) - U2 (I don't know why this is all unfocussed)

Another similar approach by U2, though not musically, is the video for "Stuck in a Moment" (football version):
(Can't find it; U2 must be embarrassed by it!)

Musically and especially lyrically, I don't consider "Beautiful Day" and much of what U2 considers "hit" material any different from "Had a Bad Day" in its complexity, emotional content, or pandering simplicity.

 

[JamietheEdgefan]

I actually thought the end of the walk on video was pretty cool, a crowd of people looking up and turning into an eye, the eye of someone in another crowd inside another eye etc, it's a cool visual trick and the infinity concept is nice (and reminds me of the beginning of the "even better than the real thing' video)...
... but then, it has to end with a shot of bono, with the cheesiest 'serious' face i've ever seen him pull kinda ruined it

 

[nirniva]

Another similar approach by U2, though not musically, is the video for "Stuck in a Moment" (football version):
(Can't find it; U2 must be embarrassed by it!)

Oh, God, the football video.
I don't think it's on YouTube, but I was able to find an upload on a Japanese site:
U2 - Stuck In a Moment You Cant Get Out Of (US Version)_在线视频观看_土豆网视频 U2
(For those who haven't seen it, prepare to have your minds blown...but don't say we didn't warn you.)

 

[Vlad n U 2]

That music video is friggin' awesome. Great for a laugh.

 

[mr_perfect]

my opinion is that u2/bono will never evolve the music while they keep wanting to think they can be relevant to the teeny bopper-top 40 type music. with nloth they now say they didnt have the "hit" single and this to me is their problem. i read somewhere that eno was arguing with them to get that out of their heads (where he wanted winter but the band wanted boots/crazy tonight.)

its funny cause here in vancouver on the local top 40 station (the one that plays rihanna/britney type music every hour on the hour) they regularly play coldplay and you will never hear u2. i think this is what eats bono nowadays...

 

[BoyOnTheHorizon]

Its funny to read this open letter shit and its funny to read the coments here...

I cant believe that in this forum, with so many people who likes and knows everything about U2 i still read words like:
"Joshua Tree was cohesive"
"AB had many strong songs"
90's U2
80's U2
Pop was this pop was that. U2 have to experiment.
Oh my...
U2 doesnt have to "anything". They wont get any better. They wont even get any younger.
And they wont get any worse. Because they already did everthing they had to. 30 years of making music and we, fans, are discussing whether the new album will be a masterpiece or not, or if they will surpass AB. It doesnt matter anymore people. It U2, they are still with us. Its a bless.
Man, the magnificent The Joshua Tree was 24 years ago. Get over with it.
AB is probably the best, most complete and fluent album ever made by anyone. People here expect the 50 year old Bono get close to that??? Cmon, enjoy while you can. I didnt like the last album. I think it was boring and pretentious. But i hear Breathe with satisfaction and delight because the young people now listen to Bieber, Rhianna and Gaga and believe this is music. How lucky i am. How lucky we are.
This guy Corbie talks about the potential of U2. That their best days are behind. U2's potential???? Are we talking about The Strokes here?
People often complain about how F1 driver Michael Schumacher cant keep up with the young guns in his comeback. With so much shit in this world people find time to complain about the best driver in history giving us the privilege to watch him driving again????
Guys like this Corbie think they are smart because they complain about something many many people love like U2. We complain about NLOTH.
People wake up! We are just lucky bastards in a shitty world!

 

[MissVelvetDress_75]

Am I supposed to know who Corbie Hill is?

And seriously, who the hell is this Corbie Hill person?

 

[Hollow Island]

How does knowing who Corby Hill is relate to the validity of his argument? It's this focus on personality that really clouds the perceptions of lot of U2 fans - I know U2, and they can be good, therefore they are good.

What this guy says is spot-on. They have spent the last decade peddling radio friendly smut. The last album could have been very good, but it was not because they watered it down with failed hit singles, and their new album will probably be even worse. Their asshole manager said it sounds great because it has a lot of hit singles on it. By that logic Backstreet's Back is one of the greatest albums ever and the White Light/White Heat is shite.

Maybe Danger Mouse can bring some sense back to U2 - his work with Beck, Gorillaz, Gnarls Barkley, DWTN, TGTB&TQ has all been incredible, so maybe he can bring some good, honest work out of them, but I doubt it. They seem oblivious to the fact that men in their 50s (and look it) who have been in a band for 30 years simply do not have hits; they will never rule the top 40 again.

They need to give Nick Cave a call, or PJ Harvey. They'll set them straight.

That being said, I do hope that the new album is good. And I hope they come to their senses about the David Guetta/William record, because that will kill them.