Shuttlecock XI: Yes Virginia, You Did Save Bono's Life

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I used to think City of Blinding Lights was the second coming of Jesus, but like most of 2000s material, this appreciation has sizzled out. I still really enjoy Edge's guitar work on it and it is the best song on The Bomb, but it's difficult to tolerate that chorus nowadays.

Vertigo on the other hand fits quite well in the opening four. Outside of Song for Someone, I have to concede that the first part of the show flows very nicely.
 
If only they'd give Mercy another crack. And I don't mean the bowdlerised version where Bono forgot the chorus and came up with some other thing that isn't Mercy. I mean the proper original as seen in the 'demo' (which isn't a demo, or if it is, I don't need to hear the polished version).
 
City of Blinding Lights' problem, for me, if it's supposed to somehow belong in the pantheon of Great U2 Moments, is it doesn't have the gravitas. Everything about it screams 'early to mid 2000s'. If it was the new Killers single, I'd say 'wow, that's a pretty damn good single The Killers came up with this time'. But it isn't.
 
I think it has gravitas in spades.

But yes the pisspoor handling of Mercy must go down as one of the worst of many bad decisions made since the turn of the century.


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It's a shame because if they'd stuck it on an actual album, and made a habit of playing it a fair bit live, I think it could be a massive song for them.
 
Like, 'Bad' massive... and I'm not even totally kidding. No, it's not as good as that one, but it's up there in the timeless category.
 
That song has all the traits of generic 2000s U2... only longer.

Bad as the song? Hell no.

Bad as in the word "bad"? Yes.
 
Well I'd certainly take it over City of Blinding Lights or Beautiful Day, which are just far too conventional, and the wires they use to simulate lift-off altogether too visible. Mercy to me has that lightfootedness that characterised a lot of their late eighties work. All-time great? Probably not, probably I'm exaggerating a bit for rhetorical effect.
 
I thought that COBL sounded really good live during Vertigo and 360, but it lacks some of the punch this tour. The guitar intro is not as exhilarating as before. I also feel they did something wrong with the lighting. Half of the lights are on during the intro, the other half turn on during the first guitar riff, so you don't have that Streets-like moment in the show.

I don't see the point of Vertigo in this tour. It has its purpose as a rocker, but there are so many other rockers that they could play in that spot. I would scrap it altogether and have them play three early songs in that segment. Something like Electric Co-Gloria-IWF, with some rotation. I don't think the crowd is into the song because it's Vertigo. It's because it's the early/rocking part of the set. Any good song will go. Out of Control and Electric Co, which I think many "casual fans" don't know well, got much better reactions than Vertigo.

Obvious caveat that I was jumping up and down regardless of the song they were playing. (except SFS and Ordinary Love).
 
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The fluorescent lights hanging by fishing line is a nice touch though..... Last show I went to Adam bumped into the fishing line with his bass and it was shaking - that added another dimension.
 
Loving the Mercy love, folks.


djerdap said:
I used to think City of Blinding Lights was the second coming of Jesus, but like most of 2000s material, this appreciation has sizzled out. I still really enjoy Edge's guitar work on it and it is the best song on The Bomb, but it's difficult to tolerate that chorus nowadays.
Click to expand...

What's wrong with the chorus?

Oh wait, maybe it's the fact that the word "beautiful" has figured in the chorus of a prominent single on each of the LAST FOUR ALBUMS.
BD, COBL, Boots, Miracle
Yeah, I'm definitely a little exhausted in general with that.


gump said:
I don't see the point of Vertigo in this tour. It has its purpose as a rocker, but there are so many other rockers that they could play in that spot. I would scrap it altogether and have them play three early songs in that segment. Something like Electric Co-Gloria-IWF, with some rotation. I don't think the crowd is into the song because it's Vertigo.
Click to expand...

I can't speak for the NYC crowd, but I think you're vastly underestimating how popular the song is.
 
Vertigo is a lot of fun live, I don't really have a problem with seeing it at every show considering it is their last "big" hit and pretty much everyone knows the words.

I have said several times I don't get the love for COBL, its a very "U2 by the numbers" and to me is a poor attempt to re-create Streets, I would like to see it retired personally but at least they always seem to dress it up well at shows so it has that going for it.
 
lazarus said:
I can't speak for the NYC crowd, but I think you're vastly underestimating how popular the song is.
Click to expand...

Sorry, I didn't express myself well there. The song is obviously very popular, but I think they can get away without a hit that early into the set (as long as it's a rocker). Skipping Vertigo is not like skipping Pride or WOWY in the eyes of most fans. But yeah, it's surely popular. I just don't recall it eliciting a much different reaction compared to the less popular songs that preceded it. To my recollection, I Will Follow got the best reaction out of the first few songs.
 
So you guys, do you think it'd be worth it to ignore all spoilers from now on before my one show? It's about six weeks between Turin and Antwerp. I rather enjoy following the sets a bit and reading/bitching about thema on here. However, knowing whatever song would come next did ruin my 360 experience slightly. I don't expect there to be many changes but a slight change of order would make it more exciting. If they add even one rarity/personal favorite I'd probably lose my shit. On top of that, if they were to pull a Philly with that rarity then at least it would only ruin the experience after the show.

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Random thought here: assuming the record company/management give it the proper push, do people think EBW is going to be a contender at the Grammmys next year? We're certainly past the 2000s award renaissance where the band was able to able to win Grammys for Beautiful Day (Song and Record of the Year), Stuck (Best Pop Perf by Duo or Group), Walk On (Record of the Year), Sometimes (Song of the Year), COBL (Best Rock Song), Vertigo (Best Rock Song, Best Perf by Duo or Group).

However, it seems that the band has received a huge response to this song, even if it's not as evident w/r/t airplay or single sales.

I think at this point the best it can hope for is Song Of The Year (awarded for the actual composition), whereas Record of the Year is probably not going to happen with all the pop competition. Some nominations in lower categories are obviously within reach.

Personally, this is my least favorite track on the album so I'm not going to be upset if it misses out. Plus, it would be annoying if this did well while the vastly superior Moment Of Surrender was completely ignored at the Grammys (despite Song of the Year honors from Rolling Stone).

SOI was a controversial release that still managed to get a nomination for Best Rock Album (something No Line couldn't even do), so at least the album has some support inside the voting bloc.
 
lazarus said:
Random thought here: assuming the record company/management give it the proper push, do people think EBW is going to be a contender at the Grammmys next year? We're certainly past the 2000s award renaissance where the band was able to able to win Grammys for Beautiful Day (Song and Record of the Year), Stuck (Best Pop Perf by Duo or Group), Walk On (Record of the Year), Sometimes (Song of the Year), COBL (Best Rock Song), Vertigo (Best Rock Song, Best Perf by Duo or Group).

However, it seems that the band has received a huge response to this song, even if it's not as evident w/r/t airplay or single sales.

I think at this point the best it can hope for is Song Of The Year (awarded for the actual composition), whereas Record of the Year is probably not going to happen with all the pop competition. Some nominations in lower categories are obviously within reach.

Personally, this is my least favorite track on the album so I'm not going to be upset if it misses out. Plus, it would be annoying if this did well while the vastly superior Moment Of Surrender was completely ignored at the Grammys (despite Song of the Year honors from Rolling Stone).

SOI was a controversial release that still managed to get a nomination for Best Rock Album (something No Line couldn't even do), so at least the album has some support inside the voting bloc.
Click to expand...


I think Moment of Surrender would have won some awards, had it been eligible. I don't think it was ever released as a single, therefore, not allowing it to be nominated. But I could be wrong about that.


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Kieran McConville said:
If only they'd give Mercy another crack. And I don't mean the bowdlerised version where Bono forgot the chorus and came up with some other thing that isn't Mercy. I mean the proper original as seen in the 'demo' (which isn't a demo, or if it is, I don't need to hear the polished version).
Click to expand...

:up:

And enjoying the great vibes from everyone on MOS
 
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I can't imagine anything I give less of a shit about than whether or not Every Breaking Wave will win a Grammy.

The last time they were at an awards show they played a pathetic version of a very bad song and got a standing ovation :rolleyes:


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lazarus said:
Random thought here: assuming the record company/management give it the proper push, do people think EBW is going to be a contender at the Grammmys next year? We're certainly past the 2000s award renaissance where the band was able to able to win Grammys for Beautiful Day (Song and Record of the Year), Stuck (Best Pop Perf by Duo or Group), Walk On (Record of the Year), Sometimes (Song of the Year), COBL (Best Rock Song), Vertigo (Best Rock Song, Best Perf by Duo or Group).

However, it seems that the band has received a huge response to this song, even if it's not as evident w/r/t airplay or single sales.

I think at this point the best it can hope for is Song Of The Year (awarded for the actual composition), whereas Record of the Year is probably not going to happen with all the pop competition. Some nominations in lower categories are obviously within reach.

Personally, this is my least favorite track on the album so I'm not going to be upset if it misses out. Plus, it would be annoying if this did well while the vastly superior Moment Of Surrender was completely ignored at the Grammys (despite Song of the Year honors from Rolling Stone).

SOI was a controversial release that still managed to get a nomination for Best Rock Album (something No Line couldn't even do), so at least the album has some support inside the voting bloc.
Click to expand...



lazarus said:
That's my second least-favorite. I think the chorus is done really well, whereas the synth crap in EBW's absolutely ruins it to the point where I have the demo version in my playlist and never listen to the album version anymore.
Click to expand...


I've been using the single version/radio mix:

[youtube]

It's like a studio version of the S&I performances. It wouldn't surprise me if they used a live version with crowd noise removed as a base. Regardless, I really like this version and, as a recording, I think it would have a better chance at the Grammys than the album version.


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Yeah yeah yeah, I know a lot of you don't like the stripped down versions, but whatever, I like them.


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namkcuR said:
I've been using the single version/radio mix:



It's like a studio version of the S&I performances. It wouldn't surprise me if they used a live version with crowd noise removed as a base. Regardless, I really like this version and, as a recording, I think it would have a better chance at the Grammys than the album version.


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Click to expand...



There's something off about the key in that mix, specifically the piano. Is this official or one of those uploads that gets a bit mangled?


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