Zooropa man
Refugee
I was bored and wanted to see what people thought about the album now that months have gone by. Well, I find some of there points of view very interesting. I think that they may have a point. But, Im having some trouble now.... understanding what it is exactly what the band intended to do in the first place in making us the fans, understand this album. Also, what the future lies ahead. I mean, rumors are that there will be more legs of this tour. If so, should they be promoting this album still by then? I think that people might get a bit tired of it by then. They need some new stuff to come up with, IMO. I mean, we were lead to believe that this was going to be a loud rock album. I must say that I was a bit dissapointed but it grew on me nonetheless. Here is what people had to say:
Some Big Holes In The U2 Tapestry, May 30, 2005
Reviewer: Jagged Little Teenager (Leeds, United Kingdom) - See all my reviews
I bought U2's "How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb" in February this year or a whim after really liking the few singles I had already heard from it. U2 have always been somewhat of an enigma for me - sometimes I like them, sometimes I hate them. They are definitely an overrated band, because to me a lot of their material sounds the same and even their 'classics' don't really blow me away. I'm sure Bono is a great humanitarian and everything, but he's so full of himself and thinks that, like, U2 are the greatest band to ever rock the world! Hardcore U2 fans will see that statement as incredibly ironic, but it's not. Really not.
After listening to this album in full, I am only semi-impressed. There's nothing that really blows me away, but there are some rather good songs. Ironically, these will turn out to all be the singles. This album proves U2 are still significant in today's music scene, because it sold more than 800,000 copies in the US in its first week of release, which is incredible for a band that have been going for 20 years. Sometimes I feel that this album was just hyped beyond belief, which is why so many people bought it. Some people would like to think the music on this album is deep, but for me it just isn't. For deep I look to Radiohead, Tori Amos and Bjork, not U2.
"Vertigo" is the album's lead single and the band made the right choice in making it so. The video to this song is incredible, but the song itself is more superb. The guitars are strong and chunky as always in trademark U2-form. "Miracle Drug" is trademark U2 with epic guitars are beautiful soundscapes created by the undulating drums. "Sometimes You Can't Make It In Your Own" was a UK No.1 and is very similar to the previous song. This is Bono's tribute to his father who died in 2001. It's a great song and isn't much different from songs such as "One," a true U2 classic. "Love And Peace Or Else" is Bono's anti-war statement about Iraq, and it's a great piece that reflects his state of mind on the subject. The sound is dark and gritty, like looking through green night vision into the deserts of the Middle East. "City Of Blinding Lights" is the third single from this album and is probably my favourite song from it. It gradually builds up with a catchy beat and rolling drums that climax in the chorus after the second minute. "All Because Of You" opens with a shattering, ear drum-piercing guitar that echoes for miles around. It's a heavy rock song in traditional U2 style with banging drums and funky lyrics.
In my opinion, this is where the album starts to go down hill. "A Man And A Woman" is only an average song because it's so soft and bland. U2 are a stadium band and this song sounds like something Maroon 5 would do. "Crumbs From Your Table" is a good song with some great guitar work from The Edge, but apart from that this song is quite forgetful. "One Step Closer" is quite a beautiful love song that is soft and tranquil against your ears, but it never really takes off, which unfortunately makes it quite boring. "Original Of The Species" is the only really good song in the final half of the album, because it has a sweet, caressing beat that is almost lullaby in style. "Yahweh" is Bono's tribute to his God, which I can appreciate, but musically, it's another duff in my opinion. The album closes with "Fast Cars" which is a good song because it's an interesting change of pace from the rest of the album. It almost has a Spanish flair to it, which I think works well.
OVERALL GRADE: 6/10
One thing I know now is that I won't be buying any of U2's other albums any time soon. I mean I know they're a good band otherwise they wouldn't have lasted for over 20 years. I'm not stupid! I just don't feel like their music is something I connect to very well, so I'll stick with bands that I do connect with. Don't get me wrong, this album isn't bad, because it has some good tracks but it's not exactly the best piece of work I've ever heard.
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22 of 32 people found the following review helpful:
Decent is disappointing for u2, June 16, 2005
Reviewer: Bartholomew Motes (Florida) - See all my reviews
I hope you'll be indulgent with me on this review, written by a very long time u2 fan. I started out trying to write a very balanced review but I ended up getting more and more bummed out by the tack that u2 has taken. So, if you're not into an arcane analysis of u2 the band, you might want to skip my review. If you're new to u2, may I just suggest that you might want to own all of the following before this album:
1. Achtung Baby, 2. War, 3. Joshua Tree, 4. Zooropa, 5. Pop, 6. Boy, 7. October, 8. The Unforgettable Fire, 9. Rattle and Hum 10. Live under a Blood Red Sky
The u2 and music fans in me say this album is horrible. The pragmatist in me points out that it is not that bad, really. I don't see how you can rave about the album with a straight face but it's hardly the end of the world. (Or the rest of the epic Achtung Baby, either.) I will be the last person in the world to criticize people for feeling passionate about music, but it's just an album. No one takes u2 to be cutting edge anymore, so there's no harm in people enjoying this album. If it makes you happy, great. For me, I think this is one of u2's worst albums, although better than ATYCLB by a measure. It is serviceable pop, and that to me makes it worse: a band like u2 should fail spectacularly in the pursuit of greatness, not turn out timid but unimpeachable pop.
Why is it not very good? The songs mostly lack animation. They don't go anywhere. Contrast any given song, Vertigo and Love Peace or Else aside, with Sunday Bloody Sunday with its three distinct shifts in tempo and mood and you'll see what I mean. There is nothing new here. No interesting sounds, no experimentation, no recreation, not even creation. It is the first u2 album that consciously emulates its predecessor.
To argue this point I have to get into serious u2 fan dementia:
The juvenile pop of Boy was followed by the wildly experimental October which was in turn followed by the more mature rock of War, which was followed by another experimental and atmospheric album in the Unforgettable Fire. Fire was followed by The Joshua Tree, a truly beautiful and evocative effort, which was followed (kind of) by Rattle and Hum and then properly by Achtung Baby, which completely melted down and reforged u2's sound, creating one of the best albums of all time. Personally, I'd have been happy with a dozen Achtung Babys, but u2 immediately danced off into another direction with Zooropa, which was far more electronic and weird than any of their previous albums. Finding commercial success with that despite themselves, they returned with Pop. Here is where the story turns sad. Despite an enthusiastic reception in Europe, Americans just didn't get the brilliant but erratic Pop. U2 clearly felt chastened by this rejection and followed Pop with the pedestrian ATYCLB. From the perspective of a u2 fan, this is when disaster struck: massive critical and popular acceptance of the tired ATYCLB retread. However, we comforted ourselves with the knowledge of the pattern of u2 records: conventional and massively popular album followed by edgy and interesting album. Alas, the pattern was broken with HTDAAB.
The subtext to this is also the rise and fall of u2's rhythm section. Achtung Baby, Zooropa, and Pop was Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen, jr. unleashed. ATYCLB and HTDAAB is them neutered.
With a bit of luck, u2 will get bored of this brand of pop music, Bono will quit galivanting around the globe in pursuit of admirable causes, and Larry and Adam will tell the twangy two to get with the program. Otherwise, the next u2 album might be the first I don't rush to buy.
Sorry for the rant.
Some Big Holes In The U2 Tapestry, May 30, 2005
Reviewer: Jagged Little Teenager (Leeds, United Kingdom) - See all my reviews
I bought U2's "How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb" in February this year or a whim after really liking the few singles I had already heard from it. U2 have always been somewhat of an enigma for me - sometimes I like them, sometimes I hate them. They are definitely an overrated band, because to me a lot of their material sounds the same and even their 'classics' don't really blow me away. I'm sure Bono is a great humanitarian and everything, but he's so full of himself and thinks that, like, U2 are the greatest band to ever rock the world! Hardcore U2 fans will see that statement as incredibly ironic, but it's not. Really not.
After listening to this album in full, I am only semi-impressed. There's nothing that really blows me away, but there are some rather good songs. Ironically, these will turn out to all be the singles. This album proves U2 are still significant in today's music scene, because it sold more than 800,000 copies in the US in its first week of release, which is incredible for a band that have been going for 20 years. Sometimes I feel that this album was just hyped beyond belief, which is why so many people bought it. Some people would like to think the music on this album is deep, but for me it just isn't. For deep I look to Radiohead, Tori Amos and Bjork, not U2.
"Vertigo" is the album's lead single and the band made the right choice in making it so. The video to this song is incredible, but the song itself is more superb. The guitars are strong and chunky as always in trademark U2-form. "Miracle Drug" is trademark U2 with epic guitars are beautiful soundscapes created by the undulating drums. "Sometimes You Can't Make It In Your Own" was a UK No.1 and is very similar to the previous song. This is Bono's tribute to his father who died in 2001. It's a great song and isn't much different from songs such as "One," a true U2 classic. "Love And Peace Or Else" is Bono's anti-war statement about Iraq, and it's a great piece that reflects his state of mind on the subject. The sound is dark and gritty, like looking through green night vision into the deserts of the Middle East. "City Of Blinding Lights" is the third single from this album and is probably my favourite song from it. It gradually builds up with a catchy beat and rolling drums that climax in the chorus after the second minute. "All Because Of You" opens with a shattering, ear drum-piercing guitar that echoes for miles around. It's a heavy rock song in traditional U2 style with banging drums and funky lyrics.
In my opinion, this is where the album starts to go down hill. "A Man And A Woman" is only an average song because it's so soft and bland. U2 are a stadium band and this song sounds like something Maroon 5 would do. "Crumbs From Your Table" is a good song with some great guitar work from The Edge, but apart from that this song is quite forgetful. "One Step Closer" is quite a beautiful love song that is soft and tranquil against your ears, but it never really takes off, which unfortunately makes it quite boring. "Original Of The Species" is the only really good song in the final half of the album, because it has a sweet, caressing beat that is almost lullaby in style. "Yahweh" is Bono's tribute to his God, which I can appreciate, but musically, it's another duff in my opinion. The album closes with "Fast Cars" which is a good song because it's an interesting change of pace from the rest of the album. It almost has a Spanish flair to it, which I think works well.
OVERALL GRADE: 6/10
One thing I know now is that I won't be buying any of U2's other albums any time soon. I mean I know they're a good band otherwise they wouldn't have lasted for over 20 years. I'm not stupid! I just don't feel like their music is something I connect to very well, so I'll stick with bands that I do connect with. Don't get me wrong, this album isn't bad, because it has some good tracks but it's not exactly the best piece of work I've ever heard.
Was this review helpful to you? (Report this)
22 of 32 people found the following review helpful:
Decent is disappointing for u2, June 16, 2005
Reviewer: Bartholomew Motes (Florida) - See all my reviews
I hope you'll be indulgent with me on this review, written by a very long time u2 fan. I started out trying to write a very balanced review but I ended up getting more and more bummed out by the tack that u2 has taken. So, if you're not into an arcane analysis of u2 the band, you might want to skip my review. If you're new to u2, may I just suggest that you might want to own all of the following before this album:
1. Achtung Baby, 2. War, 3. Joshua Tree, 4. Zooropa, 5. Pop, 6. Boy, 7. October, 8. The Unforgettable Fire, 9. Rattle and Hum 10. Live under a Blood Red Sky
The u2 and music fans in me say this album is horrible. The pragmatist in me points out that it is not that bad, really. I don't see how you can rave about the album with a straight face but it's hardly the end of the world. (Or the rest of the epic Achtung Baby, either.) I will be the last person in the world to criticize people for feeling passionate about music, but it's just an album. No one takes u2 to be cutting edge anymore, so there's no harm in people enjoying this album. If it makes you happy, great. For me, I think this is one of u2's worst albums, although better than ATYCLB by a measure. It is serviceable pop, and that to me makes it worse: a band like u2 should fail spectacularly in the pursuit of greatness, not turn out timid but unimpeachable pop.
Why is it not very good? The songs mostly lack animation. They don't go anywhere. Contrast any given song, Vertigo and Love Peace or Else aside, with Sunday Bloody Sunday with its three distinct shifts in tempo and mood and you'll see what I mean. There is nothing new here. No interesting sounds, no experimentation, no recreation, not even creation. It is the first u2 album that consciously emulates its predecessor.
To argue this point I have to get into serious u2 fan dementia:
The juvenile pop of Boy was followed by the wildly experimental October which was in turn followed by the more mature rock of War, which was followed by another experimental and atmospheric album in the Unforgettable Fire. Fire was followed by The Joshua Tree, a truly beautiful and evocative effort, which was followed (kind of) by Rattle and Hum and then properly by Achtung Baby, which completely melted down and reforged u2's sound, creating one of the best albums of all time. Personally, I'd have been happy with a dozen Achtung Babys, but u2 immediately danced off into another direction with Zooropa, which was far more electronic and weird than any of their previous albums. Finding commercial success with that despite themselves, they returned with Pop. Here is where the story turns sad. Despite an enthusiastic reception in Europe, Americans just didn't get the brilliant but erratic Pop. U2 clearly felt chastened by this rejection and followed Pop with the pedestrian ATYCLB. From the perspective of a u2 fan, this is when disaster struck: massive critical and popular acceptance of the tired ATYCLB retread. However, we comforted ourselves with the knowledge of the pattern of u2 records: conventional and massively popular album followed by edgy and interesting album. Alas, the pattern was broken with HTDAAB.
The subtext to this is also the rise and fall of u2's rhythm section. Achtung Baby, Zooropa, and Pop was Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen, jr. unleashed. ATYCLB and HTDAAB is them neutered.
With a bit of luck, u2 will get bored of this brand of pop music, Bono will quit galivanting around the globe in pursuit of admirable causes, and Larry and Adam will tell the twangy two to get with the program. Otherwise, the next u2 album might be the first I don't rush to buy.
Sorry for the rant.
MrBrau1
