It's a grower!

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BoyOnTheHorizon

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I know the world doesn't need another thread, but I want to say it out loud... It's grower!!

It the first album that grew on me since AB. I am not kidding.

Zooropa was a weird little bastard when it came out. Surely, it has staying power, cause the songs, as different as they are, have the U2 flair. I am a traditionalist, so it was a shock, but I liked right way.
Pop was a big disappointment, after all the hype, Bono even saying the album would be called Expect Nothing but the Best :doh:, people saying would be earthshaking and groundbreaking album. When it first came out, with midnight release here in Brazil(it was very rare), I was so excited and then boom... in the first days I already had most of the lyrics in my mind, and some weeks later a realized that from that album, the only songs I liked were Discotheque, Staring at the Sun and Gone. It stayed like that since.
ATYCLB was immediate. The first half achieved it's purpose with the precision of a sniper. That album was meant to be like that. And I like it the way I did on the first listen; sure when I first heard Walk On I thought it was the best song since Pride. It wasn't. But Beautiful Day and Stuck in Moment became all time classics. And In a little while :drool:
Bomb was surrounded with more or less the same hype as Pop. The IPpod. Vertigo. The best ever, eleven reasons to go out, Edges on fire, etc.
I heard Miracle drug with a smile in my face. But weeks passed, and all that remained was a very good album with brilliant moments and Yaweh...
No Line... well, the next reinvention. Where? When? Who? Didn't like it first, too many things going on. I thought, well, here Edge is inspired. Nice production. I started to dig it, Crazy, Stand Up, Breathe.
But when I the hype was gone I saw that most of the album was U2 covering themselves. Of course it has great moments like MOS, Breathe and Crazy Tonight. But I felt cheated with songs like Magnificent and UC. Songs that are simply warmed up, U2 by the numbers in auto pilot. The first time the band showed that so explicit.

To be continued...
 
Totally agree. On first listen if I'm honest none of the songs stood out for me. But on repeated listening. every single song apart from maybe The Miracle has become a favourite at some stage, currently it's California and The Troubles.

I had a similar experience with Achtung Baby, which is now my favourite album of all time. Not saying that I expect this to happen with SoI of course, but I think once we get SoE and I genuinely think we will, (maybe at the start of the tour), these songs will take on a new life. The SoE tracks will make this album make even more sense and SoI will grow on me even more!!
 
I didn't like my first listen so I totally agree. That's a totally new direction so it takes time to get used to it with all the preconceive expectations of what makes a great U2 song. This time they are releasing an indie rock sounding album basically, that's great, amazing even but certainly not what you would expect from U2 at first.
 
I didn't like my first listen so I totally agree. That's a totally new direction so it takes time to get used to it with all the preconceive expectations of what makes a great U2 song. This time they are releasing an indie rock sounding album basically, that's great, amazing even but certainly not what you would expect from U2 at first.

Indie rock exactly. Hints of Strokes, The Killers, and even Oasis(Cedarwood Road) are present in the whole album. And it worked so far.
 
My favourite song is changing daily,first day it was volcano,then cedarwood road,now its every breaking wave! Fantastic album,not a weak song on it.

Sent from my HTC One using U2 Interference mobile app
 
Hasn't really grown much. I instantly felt affectionate for the youthful energy the band brought to the album. I think the only song that had room for "growing on me" is Miracle. It's actually a decent choice for the first single, although, I would definitely float EBW as a second single immediately.
 
Good to see its coming around for ya


Sent from my iPhone using U2 Interference
 
It's weird, it grabbed me immediately because there's an energy that's been missing, so i just assumed it would start to fade a bit. Instead it's AB'in my ass, keeps gettin better. SOOO much goin on. Not to take away anything from PoP which i really enjoy, but this would have fit perfectly in between AB\Zooropa and ATYCLB.
 
Day 2. Absolutely loving it. It's gonna last longer than NLOTH which faded pretty quick for me since it's forced in some parts and half baked in others.

This is more consistent. The final 3-4 songs are as strong as anything they've done. It's that final run of songs that does it for me.
 
First go around was a mix of blah and YEAH, second listen was generally positive all the way through.
 
:applaud:

yes it's a grower! And this is so good!

At firsts listen it seems simple but there's a lot of depht musically and lirically...

So songs I didn't care of (such as California), are really addictive and infectious... ..and after 5-6 listen you fall in love with them...

And the fact that it's very very personal and heartfelt album makes me very very happy.

Ate logo! Valeu! Legal! Show

kkkkkk
 
On 10th+ rotation

Now songs are settling in, getting familiar with darker corners of each.

Initially it sounded very mixed and average. Now it's like each song is calling me back :hyper:

The drawback to this is, that it's not the album for average fans and critics. It might suffer POP's fate with critics dissing it after couple of listens think the mojo' is not there.
 
Look 'grower' or whatever, nothing will match the excitement of 1987 or even 1991, when those albums were classics on, pretty much, first listens. U2 was a hot, YOUNG band back then, so each release was highly anticipated and the music WORLD was on board. Album releases back in those heady days were EVENTS. Today U2 is considered a 'mature' (even, dare we say) 'classic rock' band. Whether you loved NLOTH, the majority of the record buying public did not and that left a lot for U2 to prove.

With that said, every new U2 album will be a 'grower'. The level of excitement around each new release is contained to a minority of 'super' fans, and after a (perceived) dud like NLOTH there are high expectations in a forum like this. We need to ingest and digest this collection of songs. As of now I am pleasantly surprised...where this album lands as far as 'Top U2 Albums' remains to be seen, but I can say after 3 days of listening (pretty much non-stop) I am not skipping songs, nor have a thrown the album into a large U2 playlist to dilute the songs I don't like...which I did immediately w/NLOTH.

This album will have some staying power, and I am THOROUGHLY excited about the possibility of the remaining songs they will release once the CD is available....:hyper:
 
definitely agree. upon first listen I was only really digging a few songs, but already on my second listen I started to enjoy it a lot more, and having listened over 12 times now I can safely say I love it! Any reviewer who only listened to this album once did not give it a fair chance. not saying they need to listen to it on repeat like I do, but giving it 2 or 3 spins does wonders.
 
You know...when NLOTH came out I placed it in my top 5. The spell took a bit of time to wear off, and now sadly it's second to last, although miles above BOMB (which for a while I didn't even consider an album at all). And I reaaally reaaaly was into NLOTH. I fucking loved it and thought they got their mojo back. New albums are funny things. I don't even really love this new one, and I haven't really been listening to it. But something about it just mellows me out, which is less dangerous a reaction than the shortlived psychotic joy I felt with NLOTH.
 
It's only been 2 days, how could we possibly know if it's a "grower" at this point?

Don't mistake grower with lasting power. Its been three days now since the album is out. In the first day i didn't like almost any of the songs. Now i am digging the album. I think is has very nice songs.
Now if it will become a classic, or if i will be listening to it regularly, i really don't know.

It happened to me with AB. Or everybody who was an U2 fan liked The Fly, Zoo Station or Real Thing right away? I remember when i first litened to it back in 91.
Zoo Station was weird but strong, the Fly i couldnt even understand what i was listening to it. I skipped Until the End of the World and Horses because of those intros. But i knew there was something going on with that album.

With SOI i know i wont be like that. Its not a work of genious like AB was. But with three days already, and more than a dozen listens to it, i liked it much more than i did Tuesday. And that happened last time with AB.
All album that came after 91 i liked less after the hype was gone.

My expectations were too high. To me, U2 had its peak, had its low and already had a comeback period.
I dont expect much from them. And this album surprised me. It's a grower.
 
Don't mistake grower with lasting power. Its been three days now since the album is out. In the first day i didn't like almost any of the songs. Now i am digging the album. I think is has very nice songs.
Now if it will become a classic, or if i will be listening to it regularly, i really don't know.

It happened to me with AB. Or everybody who was an U2 fan liked The Fly, Zoo Station or Real Thing right away? I remember when i first litened to it back in 91.
Zoo Station was weird but strong, the Fly i couldnt even understand what i was listening to it. I skipped Until the End of the World and Horses because of those intros. But i knew there was something going on with that album.

With SOI i know i wont be like that. Its not a work of genious like AB was. But with three days already, and more than a dozen listens to it, i liked it much more than i did Tuesday. And that happened last time with AB.
All album that came after 91 i liked less after the hype was gone.

My expectations were too high. To me, U2 had its peak, had its low and already had a comeback period.
I dont expect much from them. And this album surprised me. It's a grower.

Actually you are right on re: AB...I was baffled at first. I missed the chimey guitars and the soaring vocals. The production was strange and the political overtones were gone. I listened to that album for a year before I truly 'got it'! Once I did it has sat atop my Favorite Album of All Time list.

This album might be a grower...but I think it'll have a lasting impact!
 
after two days...

it's not a grower...

it's a terrific grower!

I can't understand how these 50 something men can succeed in creating such well crafted songs after more than 30 years of career...

...it's fresh, it's energetic, it's personal, it's well produced, it doesn't sound forced, it shows a band who has something to say and manage to do it well... ...really...

...some parts give me goosebumps... ...and this parts are always changing.

The miracle (of U2):drool:

P.S. there's only 1 thing that makes me cringe: the solo in Song for someone because it reminds me the one in Crazy tonight (that IMHO it's so stupid)
 
I hope it is a grower because so far I'm finding a lot of it underwhelming. Raised By Wolves is excellent and probably my fav track here. Every Breaking Wave reminds me of With Or Without You but with none of the tunefulness. Sounds like B side material at this point. Miracle has grown on me now after 5 or 6 listens. Song For Someone chorus is decent but I can't get into the verses yet. Iris sounds a bit cheesy or something... no disrespect intended to his mother. Volcano sounds like they made a song that is actually worse than even Get On Your Boots. So yeah, I hope this album is a grower.
 
Look 'grower' or whatever, nothing will match the excitement of 1987 or even 1991, when those albums were classics on, pretty much, first listens. U2 was a hot, YOUNG band back then, so each release was highly anticipated and the music WORLD was on board. Album releases back in those heady days were EVENTS. Today U2 is considered a 'mature' (even, dare we say) 'classic rock' band. Whether you loved NLOTH, the majority of the record buying public did not and that left a lot for U2 to prove.

With that said, every new U2 album will be a 'grower'. The level of excitement around each new release is contained to a minority of 'super' fans, and after a (perceived) dud like NLOTH there are high expectations in a forum like this. We need to ingest and digest this collection of songs. As of now I am pleasantly surprised...where this album lands as far as 'Top U2 Albums' remains to be seen, but I can say after 3 days of listening (pretty much non-stop) I am not skipping songs, nor have a thrown the album into a large U2 playlist to dilute the songs I don't like...which I did immediately w/NLOTH.

This album will have some staying power, and I am THOROUGHLY excited about the possibility of the remaining songs they will release once the CD is available....:hyper:
AB wasn't an instant classic, it threw people and took a while to digest. I was still at school when it was released and a lot of people initially slagged it off. There's been a lot of historical revisionism regarding that album.
 
The best songs are the ones that don't seem that great at first, and then one day something clicks and suddenly I "get" them. U2 albums can't be fully appreciated on first listen; you have to live with them for a while to get to know them. And it's great to have a new set of songs to live with.
 
Not sure. I think this might be the first U2 album where I don't know what to make of it/where I'd rank it.

It's a mix of okay forced "radio tunes" (first four songs except great pop of California), potentially great U2 (Iris), guitars-heavy Volcano-Cedarwood stretch (Volcano current favourite with California and Iris) and the last three songs don't do much for me at all.
 
Not sure. I think this might be the first U2 album where I don't know what to make of it/where I'd rank it.

It's a mix of okay forced "radio tunes" (first four songs except great pop of California), potentially great U2 (Iris), guitars-heavy Volcano-Cedarwood stretch (Volcano current favourite with California and Iris) and the last three songs don't do much for me at all.

Forced? nothing on this album sounds forced at all imo
 
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