Bang & Clatter's reaction to HTDAAB?

[Bono's shades]

OK, now that I've listened to it a couple of times and feel like I can offer an informed opinion:

It feels like they took the ideas and themes of ATYCLB and made a better album out of it. It certainly isn't the most innovative album they have ever made (the only things that sounds like a new direction for them is Love and Peace or Else - which just might be my favorite track), but U2 sounding like typical U2 is a hell of a lot better than U2 sounding like Train or Matchbox 20.

At this point I am completely in love with Love and Peace or Else, Vertigo and All Because of You. Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own starts out kind of slow and boring, but by the time they get to the end I'm about ready to bawl my eyes out. I can just imagine Bono sitting by his dying father's bedside and singing it to him. Crumbs From Your Table is definitely a song that grows on you. I wish I hadn't read so many rave reviews on this site for Miracle Drug because when I heard it, it was kind of a letdown. I'm having a hard time finding much to get excited about in City of Blinding Lights, except maybe the bridge. Yahweh is a much, much better closer than Grace. I give the album a B, or maybe a B+

 

[joyfulgirl]

I finally listened to it for the first time last night on u2.com (I know, I'm slow and have been so busy). My first reaction was that it is a lot more mellow than I thought it would be. I thought this record was supposed to really rock out so I am surprised. However, I think I'm going to love it. Love & Peace or Else I loved immediately. I agree with whoever said that Bono oversings on the record, but I think that's just how Bono sings now, and it doesn't bother me.

I'm going to be on a cross-country road trip with a friend the day the record is released so we'll be pulling over in the first po-dunk town we get to that has a record store so we can listen to it the rest of the way. I can't wait to get to know it.

 

[u2valleygirl]

Joyfulgirl, have fun on your road trip. I thought the same thing at first, then I really listened to the lyrics and got to know the album, now I love it so much. I too, was expecting a "rocker". But it does rock! Now when I know the meaning behind the lyrics I don't think that Bono oversings.

 

[joyfulgirl]

Joyfulgirl, have fun on your road trip. I thought the same thing at first, then I really listened to the lyrics and got to know the album, now I love it so much. I too, was expecting a "rocker". But it does rock! Now when I know the meaning behind the lyrics I don't think that Bono oversings.

Thanks. I had to play it last night at a very low volume because it was late so I definitely did not get the full affect. I can't wait to get it and crank it up!

 

[celia]

I think this album has been added to one of my favourite albums of all time!

I adore it!

 

[anitram]

Like it more than ATYCLB, but I don't think it's in the same class as JT or AB.

 

[bangelab33]

my favorite radio station has just awarded me with a cd for calling in at the right time. Well, anyway they have been doing the "Then and Now" thing and I will have to get use to some of the songs that I have heard. I don't even know the names of most of the new songs that I have heard off the new album due to missing the DJ announcing them at the end. There is one song in paticular that I really like and I am almost tempted to get on the net and find out which one it is but I will wait til I hear it again on the radio or have the cd in my hot little hands. Can't wait!!!! When I do figure out that song title I will be back to discuss futher That is my unoffical two-cents.

 

[MissVelvetDress_75]

I love the album and really love PALOE.

 

[dandy]

I love the album and really love PALOE.

aren't you glad you caved?

i can't listen to any other music yet besides the bomb, still in love.

 

[Harry Vest]

It's growing on me day to day - at first nothing grabbed me immediately but as time wore on I realized that many of these songs will be U2 classics - especially when played live.

 

[joyfulgirl]

Like it more than ATYCLB, but I don't think it's in the same class as JT or AB.

I agree. Edge is what makes it work for me. I'm not wowed by it lyrically or melodically but I love Edge's guitar.

 

[lmjhitman]

I...like it? I know, I know, what a rousing endorsement!

I guess what I really think is that, like ATYCLB, HTDAAB is very ... accessible. When the streaming audio was first put up a week before the actual release, I listened to the whole thing a few times and LOVED it. But it was very easy to listen to. I was, and still am, worried that I'd get sick of it real fast because of that.

I think that's what made AB so great for me. It was so challenging to listen to. I remember when The Fly was released as a single before AB came out. I taped it off the radio and then proceeded to listen to it over and over again for 3 hours! For the first hour, I could barely hear a song in there, it just sounded like random sounds, and this weird falsetto and I was like, WTF is this??? But, over time I grew to love this song and this album. It's one of those CD's that you can put in and hear something new in it everytime (though for die-hard U2 fans, that may not be the case!). AB turned me onto a lot of different types of music, like industrial (back in the day), and more recently, some of the newer Radiohead stuff (even though I still LOVE The Bends!) or Bjork. I think most music aficionados enjoy music that, while it may be a bit difficult to listen to at first, if you make the effort, you will be rewarded.

I'm not sure if HTDAAB falls into this category. It IS absolutely fantastic after listening to it for a month, but I don't know if it has the complexity to make equally fantastic after 10 years.

 

[joyfulgirl]

^ I agree with you completely. I'm already almost tired of HTDAAB. It won't have staying power for me, though I think it's a very good record. AB was mindblowing for me; I had to listen to it on headphones everyday for like a year. I couldn't sleep the first night I got it; I was up literally all night with the damn thing! It's only been a couple of weeks and I already know HTDAAB by heart and there aren't any goosebump moments, no hitting the replay button, no rewinding to hear that one little thing again, no chills, and even some small irritations. I hear the opening of ABOY and I crank it up and get all revved up but then the song ultimately doesn't live up to the opening and doesn't completely satisfy, and I have that experience with several of the songs. There's nothing that I skip, but nothing that I am wildly crazy in love with. But these are still good songs and I'm glad to have them and look forward to hearing them live.

 

[HelloAngel]

I'm already almost tired of HTDAAB. It won't have staying power for me, though I think it's a very good record. AB was mindblowing for me; I had to listen to it on headphones everyday for like a year. I couldn't sleep the first night I got it; I was up literally all night with the damn thing! It's only been a couple of weeks and I already know HTDAAB by heart and there aren't any goosebump moments, no hitting the replay button, no rewinding to hear that one little thing again, no chills, and even some small irritations. I hear the opening of ABOY and I crank it up and get all revved up but then the song ultimately doesn't live up to the opening and doesn't completely satisfy, and I have that experience with several of the songs. There's nothing that I skip, but nothing that I am wildly crazy in love with.

And I agree with YOU completely. Especially about my own AB experience. I'll probably never love the "Bomb" but that's totally OK and I'm fine with that. We all love different things about U2!