Release Date Speculation

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U2DMfan said:
I think you've done a good job of getting to the meat of the issue in the U.S. (incidentally I see you're in Dallas, I saw POPmart at the Cotton Bowl with RATM. Horrid venue for a concert).

Discotheque wasn't the problem (they could have survived that video if not for the insincere tour itself). Bono just like to say Discotheque was the problem (and he is attempting to do the same with Boots and NLOTH).

And that's why this issue with POP/POPmart is still relevant. As long as U2 remain deluded about their revisionist history with POP and POPmart, they won't be able to truly move forward and be the best they can be.

And that's the issue. How it affects U2's future music/tours. Every creative step since 1997/98 has been marred by the cloud of POP and POPmart. Until U2 understand that it was the insincerity that people rejected, they are libel to make some of the same 'bloated' mistakes over and over again. Meanwhile, they are so fixated on "hits" Bono can't even see that Discotheque was a big hit in and of itself.

I mean, really...the whole last decade and a half has been relative to the so called failure and mistake of POP and POPmart.

I think U2 need to find those kind of balls again, or they might not want to continue as is. Until they can be comfortable enough with that kind of risk (in the music) I don't know if it can happen.
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Any and all POP fears they might have had were firmly dealt with in the mega sucess of ATYCLB/Elevation.

Discotheque may have been a top 10 US hit, it didn't sell the album like BD or Vertigo did. The folk didn't respond to Pop the way they did with Bomb or ATYCLB. Similarly, Boots didn't sell NLOTH and I don't think the people warmed up to the album. Certainly the band dropped several songs live (while that happens on most tours, not to the extent NLOTH suffered).
 
U2girl said:
Yes. Zoo TV was the one about consumerism.
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Ummmm, yeah I don't think so.

u2_1998-01-31_piratex_popmart_sao_paulo_02.jpg
 
My bad then...

I guess I was missing some context.

But back to the point, if you were talking about PopMart when you said that the audience understood the point, I don't think they did. I think that was part of Pop's problem. I loved PopMart but even I thought it was trying to do too much.
 
Niceman said:
There's an attitude to long hair which is different from when he makes it short. I don't think it's an utter coincidence. I think it helps put him and the band in the right place.
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...................................................................... you have got to be fucking kidding me.
 
U2girl said:
Any and all POP fears they might have had were firmly dealt with in the mega sucess of ATYCLB/Elevation.
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what's really funny is that they acknowledged Pop on the Elevation tour, when we all presume is when they were running away from Pop. Discotheque, Staring at the Sun, Gone, Please and Wake Up Dead Man making appearances throughout the tour...

Obviously they weren't far removed from Pop in 2001, and were further removed in 2005, 2009, 10, 11, but still.
 
popacrobat said:
what's really funny is that they acknowledged Pop on the Elevation tour, when we all presume is when they were running away from Pop. Discotheque, Staring at the Sun, Gone, Please and Wake Up Dead Man making appearances throughout the tour...

Obviously they weren't far removed from Pop in 2001, and were further removed in 2005, 2009, 10, 11, but still.
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One of the problems with ATYCLB was that it didn't rock. It didn't have rockers. The previous album did. As far removed as their HEADSPACE was from the POP era, any other uptempo songs were pretty old by then.
 
Niceman said:
One of the problems with ATYCLB was that it didn't rock. It didn't have rockers. The previous album did. As far removed as their HEADSPACE was from the POP era, any other uptempo songs were pretty old by then.
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U2 aren't really known for their "rockers". Although I guess it depend on one's definition of "rocker".

What would you say are some of U2's biggest "rockers"?
 
Street Mission
Boy/Girl
11 O' Clock Tick Tock
I Will Follow
Stories For Boys
The Electric Co.
I Threw A Brick Through A Window
Rejoice
With a Shout (Jerusalem)
Is That All?
Sunday Bloody Sunday
Seconds
New Year's Day
Like A Song
The Refugee
Two Hearts Beat As One
Wire
Indian Summer Sky
Bullet The Blue Sky
Exit
Desire
Silver And Gold
God Part II
Zoo Station
The Fly
Acrobat
Daddy's Gonna Pay For Your Crashed Car
Dirty Day
Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me
Discotheque
Mofo
Last Night On Earth
Gone
Miami
Elevation
Vertigo
Love And Peace or Else
All Because of You
Crumbs From Your Table
No Line On The Horizon
Get On Your Boots
Stand Up Comedy
Breathe

All of these songs I consider, in some form, U2 "rockers." It's probably an incomplete list, and a few are arguable. There are a number of popular U2 singles on here too, so I don't think it's unfair to say that rockers were an important part of what built up their popularity, especially at the beginning.
 
U2 pretty much always bring the "rockers." Problem is, 1/2 their tunes turn into "rockers" 1/2 or 2/3 through. You could double or triple LemonMelon's list counting those tunes. Tell me the end of "All I want Is You" isn't a rocker? Or the bridge and outro of "Miracle Drug"? etc.
 
LemonMelon said:
Sunday Bloody Sunday
Seconds
New Year's Day
Two Hearts Beat As One
Bullet The Blue Sky
Exit
Silver And Gold
Acrobat
Crumbs From Your Table


All of these songs I consider, in some form, U2 "rockers." It's probably an incomplete list, and a few are arguable. There are a number of popular U2 singles on here too, so I don't think it's unfair to say that rockers were an important part of what built up their popularity, especially at the beginning.
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Like I said, it depends on your definition. I wouldn't consider these "rockers".

Maybe the second half of Exit. Bullet is noisy and hard hitting but it's a plodding type of momentum so I never considered it a "rocker".

In a way it's what I've always loved about U2. The majority of their best songs don't fit into the traditional "rocker" category.

Look at MOFO for example, probably one of their most rock songs they've ever done and yet it has this screaching slide guitar part that almost acts as if it should slow it down, there's this constant struggle in that song.

I think their early work probably has some of their most straight forward post punk rock stuff. And then this decade they've made songs like Vertigo and Boots, which is new territory for THEM in a way, but I still think their most interesting work lies in the territory outside those structures.
 
Sunday Bloody Sunday actually popped into mind first when asked for U2 rockers. And Vertigo of course. Those 2 jumped out first thing. :hmm:
 
BVS said:
U2 aren't really known for their "rockers". Although I guess it depend on one's definition of "rocker".

What would you say are some of U2's biggest "rockers"?
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I don't know how to answer "biggest," so I'll pretend you said, "best."

I Will Follow, Out of Control, Gloria, Sunday Bloody Sunday, New Year's Day, Pride, WTSHNN, Bullet the Blue Sky, Desire, Silver and Gold, WLCTT, The Fly, Mysterious Ways, Until the End of the World, Ultraviolet, Acrobat, Even Better Than the Real Thing, Zoo Station, Zooropa, DGPFYCC, Lemon, Dirty Day, Discotheque, Gone, Please, Do You Feel Loved, Mofo, Last Night on Earth, Miami, Elevation, Vertigo, City of Blinding Lights, All Because of You, Love and Peace... Or Else, NLOTH, Breathe, SUC, GOYB, and that's not even touching B-Sides or digging down deep or actually looking at any track lists to see what I might have forgot!
 
LemonMelon said:
Street Mission
Boy/Girl
11 O' Clock Tick Tock
I Will Follow
Stories For Boys
The Electric Co.
I Threw A Brick Through A Window
Rejoice
With a Shout (Jerusalem)
Is That All?
Sunday Bloody Sunday
Seconds
New Year's Day
Like A Song
The Refugee
Two Hearts Beat As One
Wire
Indian Summer Sky
Bullet The Blue Sky
Exit
Desire
Silver And Gold
God Part II
Zoo Station
The Fly
Acrobat
Daddy's Gonna Pay For Your Crashed Car
Dirty Day
Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me
Discotheque
Mofo
Last Night On Earth
Gone
Miami
Elevation
Vertigo
Love And Peace or Else
All Because of You
Crumbs From Your Table
No Line On The Horizon
Get On Your Boots
Stand Up Comedy
Breathe

All of these songs I consider, in some form, U2 "rockers." It's probably an incomplete list, and a few are arguable. There are a number of popular U2 singles on here too, so I don't think it's unfair to say that rockers were an important part of what built up their popularity, especially at the beginning.
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Yep. I'd say rockers make up a large number of the songs U2 have ever released, but there's really just Elevation and New York on ATYCLB... and NY was a crap song!
 
'New York' is actually ace. The guitars are fantastic. Play that song loud. It'll push and pull a room around.

And I'd say that once 'Kite' gets going it's a rock song. There's muscle in there. Same with 'Walk On'.

'Beautiful Day' is a rock song that's also a pop song. Those definitions aren't mutually exclusive.
 
Von Schloopen said:
'New York' is actually ace. The guitars are fantastic. Play that song loud. It'll push and pull a room around.

And I'd say that once 'Kite' gets going it's a rock song. There's muscle in there. Same with 'Walk On'.

'Beautiful Day' is a rock song that's also a pop song. Those definitions aren't mutually exclusive.
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Musically NY is great, but I think it's the worse lyric Bono has ever shared.

Kite is very quiet most the way through. It has a climax, but I wouldn't say that makes it a rocker, not the way The Fly or UTEOTW are rockers. Walk On is kinda soft. I know I've made it very clear I'm not a fan of the song, but it's also a far cry from NYD, GOYB, LNOE, or The Fly when it comes to rocking. It's louder and faster than Kite or In a Little While, but I wouldn't call it a rocker.
 
Niceman said:
I don't know how to answer "biggest," so I'll pretend you said, "best."

I Will Follow, Out of Control, Gloria, Sunday Bloody Sunday, New Year's Day, Pride, WTSHNN, Bullet the Blue Sky, Desire, Silver and Gold, WLCTT, The Fly, Mysterious Ways, Until the End of the World, Ultraviolet, Acrobat, Even Better Than the Real Thing, Zoo Station, Zooropa, DGPFYCC, Lemon, Dirty Day, Discotheque, Gone, Please, Do You Feel Loved, Mofo, Last Night on Earth, Miami, Elevation, Vertigo, City of Blinding Lights, All Because of You, Love and Peace... Or Else, NLOTH, Breathe, SUC, GOYB, and that's not even touching B-Sides or digging down deep or actually looking at any track lists to see what I might have forgot!
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See to me, it's crazy that you consider Pride a "rocker" but not Beautiful Day, or Please a "rocker" and not Walk On.
 
BVS said:
See to me, it's crazy that you consider Pride a "rocker" but not Beautiful Day, or Please a "rocker" and not Walk On.
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My list wasn't meant to be definitive. It was 2 minutes off of the top of my head. I forgot tonnes. Is Beautiful Day a rocker? Ehh... Not sure. Please is a lot louder and heavier than Walk On IMO.
 
Niceman said:
My list wasn't meant to be definitive. It was 2 minutes off of the top of my head. I forgot tonnes. Is Beautiful Day a rocker? Ehh... Not sure. Please is a lot louder and heavier than Walk On IMO.
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really?

what are your reference points for heavy and soft?

Is "Sympathy for The Devil" a rock song in your ears?
 
Yeah, New York is borderline for me. I probably should have included it because that chorus really kicks.

I, for the record, enjoy the song a great deal myself.
 
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