AB vs. POP

The friendliest place on the web for anyone that follows U2.
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
See posts with no answers

Which era do you prefer?

  • AB and ZOOTV

    Votes: 61 85.9%

  • POP and POPMART

    Votes: 10 14.1%
  • Total voters
    71
  • Poll closed .
U

U2Kitten

Blue Crack Addict
Joined
Jul 28, 2001
Messages
17,927
Songs, tour, look, the whole package. Such very different eras! Which did you prefer and why?
 
Aha! No matching threads! I knew this had never been done before! It's about time!
 
AB/ZOO TV. Music, lyrics, image, tour - everything wins.

POP/POPMART wanted to be better (and copied some ideas) but failed oh so badly.
 
Last edited:
Its a rout so far!

I just love the period from The Fly release up to the end of the ZooTV tour. The songs off AB and then Zooropa, just stand out as two of the finest moments of the bands career. Topped off by a world-wide, record smashing tour. The Fly and Macphisto persona's were fantastic, and the Live performences outstanding.
 
Achtung Baby and Zoo Tv, U2 was exploding with intelligent and interesting original ideas and taking a few steps forward on their songwriting and concepts of what a live concert should be like. Many amazing things happened at the same time and it was U2's turning point! All the praises I give the AB era I also give to the POP era however the AB era was a bit more stronger (not talking about popularity here) and historically more important to U2 so that weights heavy on my judgment. But I also love the POP album and Popmart, I think that album is more experimental than both AB and Zooropa and U2 was at that time more successful than they were when they were making AB so that shows that our boys have balls and don't give a fuck about doing the same things to keep their popularity up on the skies only about making their music stronger and better while stepping into the unknown. That’s why I love them! :up:
 
Last edited:
Totally had to vote for Achtung Baby/Zoo TV on this one. Achtung Baby is my favorite album of all time by any band, but I have to make clear that Pop is tied with The Joshua Tree in second place on my list of U2 albums. I love that album VERY VERY VERY much! Achtung Baby just rocks the house, you know? Fucking killer album, all the way! I'm not sure that I'll ever find anything better...

I also think that the peak performances of Zoo TV don't hold up to the peak performances of the band during PopMart. That's obviously subjective, but I do think that PopMart had better super-high-quality performances than Zoo TV did. Even so, Zoo TV wins out because it was pretty much high-quality night in, night out; PopMart started out pretty slowly, so that hampers it a bit. Really, though: I think that PopMart's best shows EASILY surpass the best shows of Zoo TV....there just aren't too many of 'em! :wink:
 
One word - Macphisto.
Zoo TV was more eccentric - more trivial. Popmart seemed a little forced in comparison.
 
Miggy D said:
Gee, I just can't decide, since I consider both 'eras' part of a collective whole.... :madspit:
Click to expand...

Their career is a collective whole, the eras are distinct, unique and individual pieces of the puzzle. They are one, but not the same.
 
This is a ridiculous thread to compare the two strongest tours the band have ever done. I voted for Zoo Tv cos of the best album ever made etc. But THE best concert I have ever been to was Popmart 1997 at Roundhay Park, no question absolutely blows everything else out the water.
 
Ridiculous, why? Everything else has been compared, several times. But not these 2. I didn't think they had but when no similar threads came up I knew it! Why not? If they really are the 2 strongest (not my personal opinion though) shouldn't they be compared, battle it out, like the 2 best football teams in the Super Bowl?
 
rjhbonovox said:
This is a ridiculous thread to compare the two strongest tours the band have ever done. I voted for Zoo Tv cos of the best album ever made etc. But THE best concert I have ever been to was Popmart 1997 at Roundhay Park, no question absolutely blows everything else out the water.
Click to expand...

JT, Lovetown, Zoo TV and Elevation were all better than POPmart.

I do like it, though, that POPmart visited places U2 hasn't been before.
 
Achtung Baby! My first day and THREE oppurtunities to snuff 'Pop' have been served to me ON A PLATE!
 
There needs to be more categories. I like AB better as an album, but I like Popmart better as a tour.
 
well my friends, sometimes we have to be honest with ourselves :yes:

Despite I love Pop and I attended to the only one U2 concert ever performed in Chile 11-02-1998, I have to admit both Achtung Baby and Zoo TV tour were better :heart: :bow:

:wave:
 
Achtung Baby/ ZooTV tour by far... Nobody mentioned the difference in Bono´s voice (which is a huge element in every U2 show). His voice during POP(Mart) was really really weak when you compare that to the AB era.

And I´m so glad he has the power back... He sounds better than ever!! Unfortunately not on every HTDAAB track, but what I heard live so far, blew me away.
 
Zoo Tv tour was not as good sounding as Pop! Just check the videos Zoo TV Sydney and Popmart Mexico and then tell me which concert sounded better. I also remember that Popmart shows I went too, Wembley Stadium and Roudhay Park were far better sounding than Zoo Tv that I went to at Roundhay Park 1993. Now I didn't get to see them indoors in Zoo Tv 1992 which I always regret cos I have a feeling the sound quality was a lot better than the outdoor shows of 1993. Having said that Achtung Baby is the best album ever made and Pop the 2nd best U2 album ever made.
 
rjhbonovox said:
Zoo Tv tour was not as good sounding as Pop! Just check the videos Zoo TV Sydney and Popmart Mexico and then tell me which concert sounded better. I also remember that Popmart shows I went too, Wembley Stadium and Roudhay Park were far better sounding than Zoo Tv that I went to at Roundhay Park 1993. Now I didn't get to see them indoors in Zoo Tv 1992 which I always regret cos I have a feeling the sound quality was a lot better than the outdoor shows of 1993. Having said that Achtung Baby is the best album ever made and Pop the 2nd best U2 album ever made.
Click to expand...

I think you might be right. But doesn't that have to do with the technology available at the different times?
 
Maybe Popmart was better regarding the sound, but I just hated the whining Bono.

I also liked Zooropa´s setlist much more.
 
TheBrazilianFly said:


I think you might be right. But doesn't that have to do with the technology available at the different times?
Click to expand...

Yeah, think that may be right. I remember reading when Popmart first started that they were doing something different with the sound.
 
I voted for AB/Zoo TV. It was so amazing that almost anything the band came up with afterward was bound to seem inferior by comparison. Maybe that's part of the problem with U2 in the late '90s - they peaked too early in the decade.
 
AB/ZooTV. Popmart was actually my first U2 concert, and I missed out on the whole Zoo TV era because they didn't come to my city and I was too young to go off on my own, but from the footage I've seen of it, it's still more innovative than anything else they've ever done. And Achtung Baby is my favourite album, which tips the scales anyway. :wink:
 
How can this comparison even be considered?

ZooTV was the pinnacle of live performances...not just for U2, but for any band, EVER. And the album gave this tour life...ZooTV could never have been what it was under any other album.

Popmart on the other hand, was a big, empty spectacle. Cool to see, but it really lacked whatever it was that it was trying to be. The album Pop was inaccessible and messy...a few gems here and there, but very unfriendly to the casual listener. (And don't even start with those lies about it being not finished).

No comparison. AB and ZooTV win hands down.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

C
Hello Hello... Hola!
Replies
1
Views
649
prbiker15
prbiker15
O
Live U2 concerts for sale
Replies
0
Views
580
one_cool_dude17
O
L
Play Do You Feel Loved, Babyface, Some Days Are Better Than Others, Playboy Petition
Replies
8
Views
733
rosephile
R
MrsSpringsteen
Gilead States Of America
Replies
16
Views
876
MrsSpringsteen
MrsSpringsteen
ascender_RS
Pop 25th Anniversary Thread... What do you want?
7 8 9
Replies
256
Views
21K
TheWanderer
TheWanderer

Latest posts

Back
Top Bottom