Jimmy Iovine says album needed 2 more songs

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I actually think Achtung Baby is the U2 album with the least amount of natural flow (musically)

Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses - So Cruel - The Fly - Mysterious Ways - Tryin' to Throw Your Arms Around the World - Ultraviolet (Light My Way)

it would make as much sense in any other order
different mood, sound everything
well, to me anyway

not that I think an album should have songs all in 1 mood
that would be boring
but Achtung always seemed a bit all over the place for me


I do realise it's all personal anyway
I love the flow of All that you can't ... while loads of people seem to abhor that tracklist
 
ATYCLB's second half flows well, but the first half is horrific. It's like they picked names out of a hat.
 
Shows how different we all see things.. I think the B Side of ATYCLB is flat and quite awkward.

As for AB.. it's the twists and turns and surprises that makes it so great.. it's an emotional rollercoaster that reveals itself differently over time. For that reason it flows fantastically in that I find it hard to skip a track.
 
.....i'm waiting for the 1st press announcement with details about the new Album soon?...maybe before the end of this month?
 
Flow ? UF easily.

AB is best for thematic/lyrical cohesiveness (and exactly, they wanted that sound - and pretty much every U2 album sounds better live).

Tracklising ? JT.
 
Salome said:
I actually think Achtung Baby is the U2 album with the least amount of natural flow (musically)

Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses - So Cruel - The Fly - Mysterious Ways - Tryin' to Throw Your Arms Around the World - Ultraviolet (Light My Way)

it would make as much sense in any other order
different mood, sound everything
well, to me anyway

not that I think an album should have songs all in 1 mood
that would be boring
but Achtung always seemed a bit all over the place for me


I do realise it's all personal anyway
I love the flow of All that you can't ... while loads of people seem to abhor that tracklist
Click to expand...

WGRYWH is the worst song on AB hands down. I like the single version a bit better, but I hate everything about the guitar in it. I think its Edge at his worst, trying to make the song something it never was or should have been. Its the one song on the album that kills the flow sonically...that being said, it is absolutely critical to the theme of the album lyrically. It needs to be there if you buy into the ultimate concept of the album.

You do have a point about the somewhat chaotic feel of the tracks, but its kind of a controlled chaos that mirrors and is pretty much a microcosm of everything from the making of the album, the culture of the world at that time, the goings on within the band, the tour that followed, and the life that U2 was thrusted into as a result of the success of the album; it was all chaos.

You are absolutely right, it is a matter of personal opinion...but just like any other piece of art, once you put it into the context of the time that it was made, the artist(s) that made it, and the culture of the time it allows you to decode it and truly understand why certain things were placed or done in certain ways. Of course, not everything is necessarily a conscious decision by the artist...but when you give it time to marinate and separate yourself a little bit from your own prejudices and predispositions towards the artist and the artwork you sometimes find yourself at a middle ground where you can more impartially ingest the art, so to speak and get a more genuine take on it. I think if more people did this regarding Achtung Baby, they might get a different take on it.

Would everyone love it? of course not...but maybe just maybe they'd get a deeper view on a heavy heavy album thats got many more layers to it. But, not everyone wants to take the plunge. Transversely, I'm guilty of doing this with other music for what ever reason. So call me hypocritical...wouldn't be the first time :wink:

I just think that Achtung Baby (as weird as it sounds) is one of the most underrated - highly acclaimed albums around. Just my opinion, but I think its truly U2 at their all time best.
 
Jim said:
Shows how different we all see things.. I think the B Side of ATYCLB is flat and quite awkward.

As for AB.. it's the twists and turns and surprises that makes it so great.. it's an emotional rollercoaster that reveals itself differently over time. For that reason it flows fantastically in that I find it hard to skip a track.
Click to expand...

Totally agree with you on your ATYCLB comment, and you basically nailed it with the AB one.

ATYCLB, could have easily done without "Peace on Earth" or "Grace". Those two songs killed it for me. I love the album as a whole, but those two songs are daggers. Its too top-heavy for me to say the flow works.
 
ps333 said:
WGRYWH is the worst song on AB hands down. I like the single version a bit better, but I hate everything about the guitar in it. I think its Edge at his worst, trying to make the song something it never was or should have been. Its the one song on the album that kills the flow sonically...that being said, it is absolutely critical to the theme of the album lyrically. It needs to be there if you buy into the ultimate concept of the album.

You do have a point about the somewhat chaotic feel of the tracks, but its kind of a controlled chaos that mirrors and is pretty much a microcosm of everything from the making of the album, the culture of the world at that time, the goings on within the band, the tour that followed, and the life that U2 was thrusted into as a result of the success of the album; it was all chaos.

You are absolutely right, it is a matter of personal opinion...but just like any other piece of art, once you put it into the context of the time that it was made, the artist(s) that made it, and the culture of the time it allows you to decode it and truly understand why certain things were placed or done in certain ways. Of course, not everything is necessarily a conscious decision by the artist...but when you give it time to marinate and separate yourself a little bit from your own prejudices and predispositions towards the artist and the artwork you sometimes find yourself at a middle ground where you can more impartially ingest the art, so to speak and get a more genuine take on it. I think if more people did this regarding Achtung Baby, they might get a different take on it.

Would everyone love it? of course not...but maybe just maybe they'd get a deeper view on a heavy heavy album thats got many more layers to it. But, not everyone wants to take the plunge. Transversely, I'm guilty of doing this with other music for what ever reason. So call me hypocritical...wouldn't be the first time :wink:

I just think that Achtung Baby (as weird as it sounds) is one of the most underrated - highly acclaimed albums around. Just my opinion, but I think its truly U2 at their all time best.
Click to expand...

I agree with your general AB sentiments, although I must disagree on WGRYWH. While the poppier single version is better as a single listening experience (not the edited one, but the full-bridge version; as well as the video version which seems to be some type of combination of the two), I actually think the guitar in that song works PERFECTLY for the album. I just love the growling, distorted, truly bizarre intro right after the crazy ending of UTEOTW. Since WGRYWH has such poppy melody and chorus, I think U2 had to dirty it up for it to make sense for the album. This approach is why I think AB is their best album even while I'm not sure it's my favorite (only when I want something darker from them). They stayed focused on the album rather than giving into the songs or considering each song as its own separate entity (HTDAAB). This "intentionality" is what it seems they are bringing to the new album, which is why I'm so pumped for it.
 
bram said:
I agree with your general AB sentiments, although I must disagree on WGRYWH. While the poppier single version is better as a single listening experience (not the edited one, but the full-bridge version; as well as the video version which seems to be some type of combination of the two), I actually think the guitar in that song works PERFECTLY for the album. I just love the growling, distorted, truly bizarre intro right after the crazy ending of UTEOTW. Since WGRYWH has such poppy melody and chorus, I think U2 had to dirty it up for it to make sense for the album. This approach is why I think AB is their best album even while I'm not sure it's my favorite (only when I want something darker from them). They stayed focused on the album rather than giving into the songs or considering each song as its own separate entity (HTDAAB). This "intentionality" is what it seems they are bringing to the new album, which is why I'm so pumped for it.
Click to expand...

IDK, I guess I have to go back and listen to the song again. I've tried and tried to like it but can't. Something about the guitar and the mixing of the album version that irks the hell out of me. Its funny too, because many fans of that album that I meet tend to either love that song or hate it. Not sure why. Again, its a song that sonically I think the album can do without, but lyrically its kind of necessary. So while I think the song sounds sub-par I really appreciate the lyrics. So I've got that going for me. Its kind of the reverse of some of their other songs....for example: I love the music in Elevation but despise the throw away Dr.Suess rhyming lyrics. To each his own I guess.

I think you hit it on the head with your HTDAAB comment....it did suffer because the parts were greater than the whole. AB is defintely the other way around, even if there are some pretty huge parts in it. (One, UTEOTW, Acrobat, etc)
 
Yeah, I think the love it or hate it assessment is right on. It's a pretty jarring juxtaposition of music + vocal melody. So I guess I'm praising the song because the music DOESN'T fit the vocals, or otherwise fits them in a very unsuspecting, nontraditional way.
 
Salome said:
I
I love the flow of All that you can't ... while loads of people seem to abhor that tracklist
Click to expand...

i love all that you can't leave behind in general, including the tracklisting, and most people some to dislike or be wish-washy on the album as a whole... on here at least.
 
popacrobat said:
i love all that you can't leave behind in general, including the tracklisting, and most people some to dislike or be wish-washy on the album as a whole... on here at least.
Click to expand...

The first 5,6 songs ? Great first half but after that it sinks. They also should have done the pop album in full and not go in depresso mode after Wild honey.
 
The main problem on ATYCLB it's BONO VOICE...he's never sounded so BAD...and i hope that the next one will see the ressurection of BONO VOICE and U2 experimenting again with sound!
 
U2girl said:
POE, WILATW. Even NY, compared to the pop and warmth of the first 7 songs.
Click to expand...

Yes, Peace on Earth is a really bitter song, but the rest isn't too "depressive". Most of all, Grace saves the day.

I still love In a little While so much! I agree that Bono's voice wasn't very good on the album in general, but for this song, it was just perfect.
 
"Grace" is absolute garbage...."In a little while" is so underrated its scary, I wish more people would hear that tune.

By far the best song on that second half of the album is New York. The problem is that its so different from the rest of the album that it doesn't seem to belong. Its like what EXIT was to Joshua Tree, NY was to ATYCLB. I kind of wish NY had appeared on POP. Maybe it would have blended in better.

Brilliant song with some brilliant sounds.
 
New York is the song on the album that really breaks the flow for me. I'm not hating it, but I still feel it's out of place. Grace on the other hand is a very good closer for me because it brings back hope at the end of the album. I can see why U2 wanted it as a closer. When listening to it yesterday I thought it's a beautiful song, but it suffers from Bono's weak vocals.

I've never heard the version with Ground Beneath Her Feet, but I've always felt it's perfect for the MDH soundtrack but not on ATYCLB, especially not at the end of the album.
 
I quite like New York, it really does have a New York feel to it, love the verses and the rocking choruses. :drool:
 
last unicorn said:
Yes, Peace on Earth is a really bitter song, but the rest isn't too "depressive". Most of all, Grace saves the day.

I still love In a little While so much! I agree that Bono's voice wasn't very good on the album in general, but for this song, it was just perfect.
Click to expand...

WILAT isn't ? New York isn't ? Maybe not for their AB/Pop standards but they are for the All that... standard. I think NY saves the second half.

Grace is nice at times, but mostly I wish they'd close with something else.
 
ps333 said:
"Grace" is absolute garbage...."In a little while" is so underrated its scary, I wish more people would hear that tune.
Click to expand...

see it's just so subjective because Grace is one of my fave tracks there... i think it's beautiful
 
ps333 said:
"Grace" is absolute garbage...."In a little while" is so underrated its scary, I wish more people would hear that tune.

By far the best song on that second half of the album is New York. The problem is that its so different from the rest of the album that it doesn't seem to belong. Its like what EXIT was to Joshua Tree, NY was to ATYCLB. I kind of wish NY had appeared on POP. Maybe it would have blended in better.

Brilliant song with some brilliant sounds.
Click to expand...


Wow, you just writen down my excact thought. SCARY!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :wink:
 
U2girl said:
WILAT isn't ? New York isn't ? Maybe not for their AB/Pop standards but they are for the All that... standard. I think NY saves the second half.

Grace is nice at times, but mostly I wish they'd close with something else.
Click to expand...

NY and WILATW are the two songs I cannot get into, they are not that "bitter" to me, at least compared to POE. There is no hope in POE, coming from U2, this is kind of hard to take for me, I still like the song a lot.
NY is something totally else, maybe it's really out of place on this album.
I feel U2 had to close with Grace because it brings back hope, that's a patternon the last two albums.
I don't know which other song would have been better as a last track. I can see why they wanted a more uplifting tune in the end, so the album doesn't end on a bitter or at least ambivalent note.
 
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