SOE FAN + industry reviews only

[Rich79]

Yeah, pretty much. I've been especially ever so cautious of what they've had to say about upcoming music since then. How could any acutely aware fan of that period not be??! I'm not sayin' U2 were trollin' us fans or anything....but.

I step cautiously ever since then. Nobody is worse about describing the sound of U2 music than the band themselves.

 

[corianderstem]

Anything Bono says about their new music goes in one ear and out the other for me.

Bono gonna Bono.

 

[ImOuttaControl]

Kite, Miss Sarajevo, and Stay are the three greatest U2 songs written since 1993 IMO (with Stay being the greatest out of all 3). Kite is a near perfect song (if only Bono didn't try to rhyme "media" with "idea" with that deplorable last line).

I'd say Kite is easily top 5 for 2000's U2. The live version from the Window in the Skies single is the ultimate version of the song in my opinion. (Just wish I was good enough at editing to remove that awful shout out to Kate Blanchett)

 

[CosmoKramer]

i like ATYCLB a lot but Kite never clicked with me and either did WILATW. Both are okay songs but feel like they are missing something.

Walk On is the true gem on that album as is Beautiful Day. Stuck is a funny song in that sonically it’s fairly bland until the end but lyrically it’s great, absolutely beautiful. Then there is Elevation, which i love! Lyrics are dodgy as hell but that groove!!!

Moles do in fact dig holes #facts

 

[womanfish]

What i find very interesting about all the fan/pro reviews so far, is that almost every song is mentioned as a standout track, except for the American Soul, and Get Out. Only one mentioned TBT i think and only one other mentioned the Blackout.

In fact, American Soul was accidently left off the first review by Saul O' Enigma on Twitter. It was that unimportant.

This is both good and bad. The good? Well, that's obvious, we have most people saying Love is all..., 13, Summer of Love, Red Flag Day, Lights, Love is Bigger, hell, even Landlady are the standouts. Pretty much every other song.

The bad? - U2 releases their weakest material again to the public before the album drops?? The silver lining is that the "weak" tracks are all pretty good. But still. They just can't get out of their own way it seems.

 

[Gonna Run 2 U]

What i find very interesting about all the fan/pro reviews so far, is that almost every song is mentioned as a standout track, except for the American Soul, and Get Out. Only one mentioned TBT i think and only one other mentioned the Blackout.

In fact, American Soul was accidently left off the first review by Saul O' Enigma on Twitter. It was that unimportant.

This is both good and bad. The good? Well, that's obvious, we have most people saying Love is all..., 13, Summer of Love, Red Flag Day, Lights, Love is Bigger, hell, even Landlady are the standouts. Pretty much every other song.

The bad? - U2 releases their weakest material again to the public before the album drops?? The silver lining is that the "weak" tracks are all pretty good. But still. They just can't get out of their own way it seems.

Edge said that every song on the album could be a single. I think what has been chosen to be released has more to do with that these songs contain the obvious narratives around Bono’s “letters” as the theme of the album. The other songs are probably better and have more of the u2 ambiguity. These I think may have been better suited to promote what Bono likes to babble on about in interviews.

 

[GoodMachine9]

Get Out Of Your Own Way

I understand many things but one thing I do not understand is the apathy towards Get Out Of Your Own Way. I consider it to be upper echelon U2, irregardless of era, and knew so upon listening to those early leaked video clips. It successfully fuses the transcendent anthemic sounds of early U2 to the sleek, later era, pop formula they've been chasing their entire careers. I'd be pleasantly surprised if any other song on the upcoming album reaches the lofty peak of Get Out of Your Own Way.

 

[GoodMachine9]

The Blackout

"The Blackout" is a guitar solo short of being the same caliber song as "the Fly". It is one of the most sonically forward songs they've plated since the 90's, and is proof, at least to my ears, that they could have duplicated Achtung Baby had they set their minds to it. The lyric is a brilliant satire on what would occur if a certain President were allowed to ran rampant without checks and balances. It may be the darkest song in their catalogue and should have captured the zeitgeist; If only that damned infectious bass and beat line wasn't throwing so many ears into deliriums.

 

[purpleblackeye]

The Blackout could have also benefited from the guitar being higher in the mix. The Edge always seems to be in the background now....Adam must have some sort of favorable rider to his contract that stipulates that his bass should reign supreme - as almost every song features his bass prominently. Not that I mind because it sounds awesome. SOI was like that too.

 

[trevgreg]

I understand many things but one thing I do not understand is the apathy towards Get Out Of Your Own Way. I consider it to be upper echelon U2, irregardless of era, and knew so upon listening to those early leaked video clips. It successfully fuses the transcendent anthemic sounds of early U2 to the sleek, later era, pop formula they've been chasing their entire careers. I'd be pleasantly surprised if any other song on the upcoming album reaches the lofty peak of Get Out of Your Own Way.

I suspect it's a few things. Some might think the bass and synths are a bit too reminiscent of Beautiful Day. Some might be turned off by the G-D-A-Bm chord progression, which gives it that easy appeal to the ear and is the same chords used in songs like The Best Thing, In a Little While, The Miracle, and 4/6 of Beautiful Day's main riff (i.e., again, they sound like they're repeating themselves).

Or some might be turned off by pop-rock in general and want something to sound different for the sake of being different, and therefore this song lacks the hipster street cred.

Or they just might not like the song for whatever reason.

 

[womanfish]

I understand many things but one thing I do not understand is the apathy towards Get Out Of Your Own Way. I consider it to be upper echelon U2, irregardless of era, and knew so upon listening to those early leaked video clips. It successfully fuses the transcendent anthemic sounds of early U2 to the sleek, later era, pop formula they've been chasing their entire careers. I'd be pleasantly surprised if any other song on the upcoming album reaches the lofty peak of Get Out of Your Own Way.

Yeah, sorry. I made it sound like I thought this was weak material - I don't.

The Blackout is about an 8.5 for me, TBT a 7, Get Out... a 7.5, and American Soul a 6. I think Little Things will be at least an 8 for me.

But having culled the overall impression from those that have heard the whole album, almost none of those songs get a mention of being a stand out track. Maybe it's because they want to talk more about material that the public hasn't heard. Or maybe the rest is really that strong.

And the weird thing is, that TBT keeps on getting better for me. It might actually be a 7.5 now, and i have listened the SHIT out of that song. Way more than the others.

I agree that Get Out is a really good song. And hits that really big U2 liftoff. As a song, i like it a bit better than TBT, but i don't find myself as drawn to come back and listen to it quite as much. And maybe because it really is such a hybrid of Invisible and BD, that it doesn't have enough... newness to keep me as interested as the others.

Great call on the Blackout. A better mix and an actual Edge solo would put it to classic song territory.



Either way, i can't believe that it 10 days away!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[womanfish]

Someone else that was at the Abbey Road listening session.

Least Favorite - The Showman. Too Beach Boys sounding

favourite tracks - red flag day, landlady and there is a light (song for someone)

 

[david]

The Showman sounded too Beach Boysesque now makes me want to hear it more.

 

[mikal]

The Showman sounded too Beach Boysesque now makes me want to hear it more.

Exactly! Seems like different U2 territory.

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

Confirmed rumor: Showman is a California rewrite.

Side note: perhaps they are using pieces of SOI songs to stop people from complaining that songs are vertigo rewrites. Confuse them with actual rewrites. Mind: blown.

 

[womanfish]

Exactly! Seems like different U2 territory.

Can't argue with you there. I loved the California intro. Thought it was a cool and different vibe we never had heard from them.

 

[womanfish]

He also said

I loved SOI. And I also think it was their best album since pop. Hated the miracle of joey Ramone though. It's a very mellow album and I think it's better than SOI

 

[Numb1075]

I agree that the Blackout has an Achtung Baby Vibe. I have a few minor critiques of the song but overall it could have been on AB or perhaps Pop.

And a Beach Boys sounding song? WTF?!? Sounds wild !

 

[womanfish]

More...

I disliked SFS. Think it was the backing vocals put me off. The new version of Song for Someone is stunning.

I don't know how to explain Landlady apart from it's a beautiful slow ballad.

Red flag day reminds me of new years day but it sounds nothing like it lol again hard to explain

 

[womanfish]

MORE:

Landlady is like so cruel, love is blindness and wild honey mixed into one beautiful song. I would make a terrible reviewer but that's the only way I can discribe it lol

 

[Airseven]

The Showman sounded too Beach Boysesque now makes me want to hear it more.

Unless it's Beach Boys the way California (blah blah blah) is Beach Boys

 

[Numb1075]

Wait a tick, what is this about a "new" Song for Someone?

Did they takes parts of Song for Someone from SoI and add them to something from SoE? If so, which song?

I'm guessing something similar to what they did with American Soul and Volcano?

 

[hpantazo]

Wait a tick, what is this about a "new" Song for Someone?

Did they takes parts of Song for Someone from SoI and add them to something from SoE? If so, which song?

I'm guessing something similar to what they did with American Soul and Volcano?

Apparently yes, it’s Song 13 (there is a light)

 

[Catman]

He also said

I loved SOI. And I also think it was their best album since pop. Hated the miracle of joey Ramone though. It's a very mellow album and I think it's better than SOI

Aside from thinking SoI is U2's best since POP (correction: it's their best since Zooropa ), I'm liking what the bloke has to say. Expectations rising...

 

[Numb1075]

Apparently yes, it’s Song 13 (there is a light)

Thanks !

I knew something looked fishy when the last song had "there is a light" in parenthesis...it's the line from SFS

Ok, so 13 tracks and 2 of them have bits and pieces from songs from SoI. Interesting.

 

[CosmoKramer]

Thanks !



I knew something looked fishy when the last song had "there is a light" in parenthesis...it's the line from SFS



Ok, so 13 tracks and 2 of them have bits and pieces from songs from SoI. Interesting.

Lights from Home has a line from Iris too (“be yourself “) but i don’t think it has an of Iris’ melody and just that line.

 

[SpaceBoy]

MORE:

Landlady is like so cruel, love is blindness and wild honey mixed into one beautiful song. I would make a terrible reviewer but that's the only way I can discribe it lol

This description gave me a nosebleed

 

[Numb1075]

Lights from Home has a line from Iris too (“be yourself “) but i don’t think it has an of Iris’ melody and just that line.

Ok cool, I'll play along. Hope it all makes sense with the 2 companion albums.

 

[Numb1075]

This description gave me a nosebleed

it gave me an ear-gasm.

 

[Yahweh_OMG]