Hollow Island
New Yorker
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- Jan 16, 2011
- Messages
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It tells me that U2-the-makers-of-hit-songs are fucking dead and they should acknowledge that
Songs of Experience - 1 Year Later
- Thread starter AtomicHorizon
- Start date
The friendliest place on the web for anyone that follows U2.
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
It tells me that U2-the-makers-of-hit-songs are fucking dead and they should acknowledge that
LuckyNumber7
Blue Crack Addict
I heard love is bigger at a target ??*
sounds like relevance to me
sounds like relevance to me
Ehhhhhh maybe, but not in the same way they did in 2000-2005. People in their teens and early 20s payed attention. I don't think that was ever happening again, even with the Apple debacle.
The best hope for the i/e era was a critically successful run with big play on adult alternative stations and there cementing of their legacy.
Instead, because of one mistake, they've done nothing but damage that legacy.
Sad, really.
PopFly
War Child
The other route would've been to attach one of their songs to a movie, which worked to some extent with Ordinary Love except the song wasn't all that strong. Or go outside the box and have one of their songs be, say, the theme song of a Netflix show or something.
PopFly
War Child
When you read this all collected into a single post.....man, it really is a laundry list of incompetence.
The worst part of it is, both SOI and SOE actually fucking had the kinds of songs that were both modern-sounding and also classic U2-sounding, any of which could have gotten some attention from casual listeners. Red Flag Day, This Is Where You Can Reach Me Now, Raised By Wolves, Little Things....yet none of these were singles. U2 instead opted for the less-interesting single choices time and time again.
Boots as the first single was a horrible choice - but it's really the last time the single choice impacted the album.
That's not to say the single choices were good - for the most part they weren't.
But the Apple disaster made single choice moot. It didn't matter. Nothing was breaking through the noise. They instantaneously turned into an out of touch old band, and haven't been able to shake that stigma since (largely because they're an out of touch old band).
lazarus
Blue Crack Supplier
Right, but I’d argue that they had earned some goodwill back from the whole Paris/Eagles of Death Metal show, the success of that tour in general, the guest spot on Kendrick’s album, etc.
And I think, had they promoted SOE wisely, it could have made some kind of dent, however small. Pushing The Blackout first was a great idea; lyrically and musically it sounded relevant, muscular, like they had something to prove. Had they given it the full court press and played it everywhere, it could have got more rotation on modern rock stations like KROQ, even if it would never have been a crossover hit. They would have at least won the “cool” battle:
Instead, they switched gears and went with an anemic, shallow track that was nowhere near as fun as Vertigo, or even Boots, despite having a decent vocal melody. Hell, American Soul, as generic as it is, would have been a stronger lead single, esp with the Kendrick intro. And if they wanted to go this poppier/lightweight route, The Showman would have been way more effective.
We’ve been over this territory before, but I still believe this single release schedule could have restored their cred, sold more copies/downloads/streams, and possibly resulted in Grammy attention:
1. Blackout
2. Love Is Bigger/The Showman
3. Little Things
4. The Showman/Love is Bigger
5. Summer of Love
And I think, had they promoted SOE wisely, it could have made some kind of dent, however small. Pushing The Blackout first was a great idea; lyrically and musically it sounded relevant, muscular, like they had something to prove. Had they given it the full court press and played it everywhere, it could have got more rotation on modern rock stations like KROQ, even if it would never have been a crossover hit. They would have at least won the “cool” battle:
Instead, they switched gears and went with an anemic, shallow track that was nowhere near as fun as Vertigo, or even Boots, despite having a decent vocal melody. Hell, American Soul, as generic as it is, would have been a stronger lead single, esp with the Kendrick intro. And if they wanted to go this poppier/lightweight route, The Showman would have been way more effective.
We’ve been over this territory before, but I still believe this single release schedule could have restored their cred, sold more copies/downloads/streams, and possibly resulted in Grammy attention:
1. Blackout
2. Love Is Bigger/The Showman
3. Little Things
4. The Showman/Love is Bigger
5. Summer of Love
namkcuR
ONE love, blood, life
I agree with your general premise, but I'd replace Blackout with Red Flag Day, and The Showman with Lights Of Home. I get the allure of Blackout, but I'm not wild about the song, there's a bit of a dad-rock element to it. I think Red Flag is a fresher sounding rock song.
Showman is a solid song outside of the chorus, but I find the chorus to be a little obnoxious, and I'm not sure how well it would play. Lights Of Home doesn't scream single, but it's up-tempo enough it could work as the last single, let it right the coattails of what came before. So, maybe:
1. Red Flag Day
2. Love Is Bigger(I might make the acoustic version the single version - it's not really acoustic, but it's a little less bombastic)
3. Little Things
4. Summer Of Love
5. Lights Of Home
i don't necessarily disagree (and actually think the thing you hate the most - JT30 - went further to rehab their image than anything else)... but the apple slip up officially pushed them into "old band" territory, and every move from here on out is only about rehabbing their legacy and being popular with the olds.
Iggy Fizz
War Child
for the next album, they need something slow, atmospheric, elusive, with Bono's vocals in the mix, not on top of it. something a casual would not immediately recognize as U2. no more Bono shouting over the instruments and force feeding the song... it just turns people off. and he's been doing it ever since No Line, at least. it's the reason a song like MOS sounds brilliant to a die hard U2 fan, and no one else.
lazarus
Blue Crack Supplier
Forgot the impact of JT30, and didn’t mean to omit it purposefully, regardless of my disapproval of them doing it.
And at this point I don’t know how wide the “olds” demographic is; if we’re talking about Gen-Zs who only stream and don’t listen to the radio at all, of course they’re out of reach. If we’re talking about millennials who got into Vertigo and might still be still be influenced by positive takes in Pitchfork and other older music sites, or heavy rotation on modern rock radio, then I don’t think that group was totally off the table.
ferball415
Acrobat
The committed fan-servicing of JT30, from the "hits" bookends to the actual album in sequence ("Exit" was the song that benefitted the most from the whole outing, for me) to them doing it all back in stadiums, did go some way toward rehabbing the previous few years. The (professional) reviews were also pretty uniformly blowing them.
I don't really think any permutation of singles from the past two albums would've amounted to Beautiful Day/Vertigo-level success even with better promotion though.
I don't really think any permutation of singles from the past two albums would've amounted to Beautiful Day/Vertigo-level success even with better promotion though.
lazarus
Blue Crack Supplier
Ok, but neither myself nor anyone else is suggesting they could have hit that level again.
You realize there’s a wide range of success between that and the performance of SOE, right?
You realize there’s a wide range of success between that and the performance of SOE, right?
Theve definitely made bad choices since 2009 but you have to remember songs of experience was the 6th biggest selling album worldwide in 2017 . The biggest for any band aswell . Think it sold 1.5 million copies which is a lot for this day and age.
6th biggest selling album so there not doing to bad are they
6th biggest selling album so there not doing to bad are they
Yea SOE did ok. I heard Love Is Bigger a lot. Still baffling considering the turds they put our there to lead off.
Ultimately people, especially the olds, love U2 and want to like them.
The Young's hate them with the fire of a thousand suns
Ultimately people, especially the olds, love U2 and want to like them.
The Young's hate them with the fire of a thousand suns
LuckyNumber7
Blue Crack Addict
Hold the phone, didn’t SOE rack up album sales by attaching the album to the ticket? Not that they’re the only ones who do this, but they do have one of the biggest draws.
Sure
Love Is Bigger hit #1 on the billboard dance chart and adult alternative and #18 on adult top 40
Get Out hit #3 on adult alternative
Best Thing hit #1 on adult alternative, 16 on rock airplay and 16 on adult top 40.
That's about the best you can ask for from U2 these days.
Song for Someone in comparison hit #13 on adult alternative. Every Breaking Wave 7, and yes, The Miracle hit #1 on adult alternative for a hot second.
So overall a better performance on SOE vs SOI despite every living creature being handed a copy of Innocence.
Yeah they did , pretty sure that only happened in the states though , it didn’t happen anywhere else
ferball415
Acrobat
Sorry Laz, I was just opining generally re: possible ceilings of commercial success, not to what you'd just said about age cohorts. But do you not mean here that they could've possibly attained early 2000s-level success again had the SOI/SOE singles been better choices that were more efficiently and effectively promoted? And yes, of course there's a wide range of "success"/success that's achievable--Discotheque charting more highly than both Beautiful and Vertigo on the Hot 100, with none of their enduring popularity, for starters.
Hewson
Blue Crack Supplier
I still have 4 unopened CDs, want one?
LuckyNumber7
Blue Crack Addict
Haaah, hey
MrPryck2U
ONE love, blood, life
SoE is 5 years old today. Wow.
mikal
Blue Crack Addict
Some really good songs but enough meh ones where it ranks towards the bottom of my list for sure.
SOI was leaps and bounds better, but they still haven’t released anything memorable since 2004.
SOI was leaps and bounds better, but they still haven’t released anything memorable since 2004.
dan_smee
ONE love, blood, life
I still go back to this album way more than the two before it. The highs are magical. There are lows. I’d rather the rain and the rainbow than live a life of bland niceness.
Little Things, LIAWHL, LOH, RFD, Blackout, Landlady and LIBTAIIW are all better than anything on SOI, and better than all of NLOTH bar MOS.
Little Things, LIAWHL, LOH, RFD, Blackout, Landlady and LIBTAIIW are all better than anything on SOI, and better than all of NLOTH bar MOS.
We are in the same page here.
The lows on Songs of Innocence aren't as low as the lows on Experience, but the highs on Experience are higher than the highs on Innocence, if that makes sense.
The only song on SOI I ever intentionally go back to is The Troubles, whereas SOE I'll go back to Little Things, Landlady, Lights of Home and Love is Bigger. I'll even go to 13 from time to time.
I'll include live versions of Cedarwood Road and Raised by Wolves on a few playlists, but otherwise I mostly ignore SOI.
Maybe it's because I'm an Android guy
Last edited:
lazarus
Blue Crack Supplier
Mostly agree, though I think the other two Danger Mouse tracks at the end of SOI are as good as The Troubles and anything on SOE, but the latter album just has more to offer in general.
TheFox
War Child
- Joined
- Dec 1, 2015
- Messages
- 767
I go back and listen to SOE, in fact just been listening to it recently again. Don't have much wish to ever go back to SOI.
gvox
Ghost of Love
QFTMFT. Not a bad track in that list.. and some real magic. Not sure I can listen to Blackout every day, but there's a place for it.
There those magical tracks are again. And to think these are not the songs that get the play. It's a travesty.
Still on that Android huh.. smh.. come to the dark side already lol
ETA: Am I the only one a bit scared by the loud noisy guitars promise? Guess my grays are starting to show.. but I do love me some late-career mellow U2. Landlady is just about as sublime as it gets, to these ears.
Irvine511
Blue Crack Supplier
I’m not into “loud guitars” with this band. I think that will make them look older than they are. Although I guess RBW and Cedarwood Road are good. And live Acrobat.
Mellow, “Stateless” U2 is where I think they shine best at this point in time — MOS, Troubles, Landlady, Little Things.
Mellow, “Stateless” U2 is where I think they shine best at this point in time — MOS, Troubles, Landlady, Little Things.
dan_smee
ONE love, blood, life
I think a few others have made this point but loud guitars for u2 can mean Acrobat or it can mean Stand Up Comedy. I doubt it’s ever going to be “hard” though.
It’s a coin toss - if I was making a best of u2 loud guitars, it looks alright:
1 - Vertigo
2 - The Fly
3 - HMTMKMKM
4 - Bullet the Blue Sky
5 - Raised By Wolves
6 - Wire
7 - Sunday Bloody Sunday
8 - The Blackout
9 - Exit
10 - Breathe
11 - Acrobat
A worst of is surprisingly a bit shorter:
Love and Peace or Else
Stand Up Comedy
Get On Your Boots
The Miracle
American Soul
You can also add to all of those:
Elevation
Is that All?
All Because of You
All the bad ones are 2000s. Even split of era does the good ones.
It’s a coin toss - if I was making a best of u2 loud guitars, it looks alright:
1 - Vertigo
2 - The Fly
3 - HMTMKMKM
4 - Bullet the Blue Sky
5 - Raised By Wolves
6 - Wire
7 - Sunday Bloody Sunday
8 - The Blackout
9 - Exit
10 - Breathe
11 - Acrobat
A worst of is surprisingly a bit shorter:
Love and Peace or Else
Stand Up Comedy
Get On Your Boots
The Miracle
American Soul
You can also add to all of those:
Elevation
Is that All?
All Because of You
All the bad ones are 2000s. Even split of era does the good ones.
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