Elvis Presley and America.

[Palace_Hero]

Someone please tell me what the boys were thinking ruining one of their best works with this song? I have now listened to U2's entire released catalogue, and have decided this is the worst song I've heard from the band. Not only is it a bad U2 song, it is a bad song, period.

Tell me you all agree? No one enjoys the sound of Bono making noises like he is masturbating with a cheesegrater do they?

 

[wolfeden]

happens to be one of my favorite tracks, actually.

thanks for asking.

 

[beegee]

it's actually my favorite U2 song ever.

 

[UKTan]

Its one of my favourites too

 

[TheFlyOnTheWall]

It's painfully beautiful! It's great! It's a masterpiece!!!
So, no... I wouldn't say it's piece of shit...

mad

Shame on you!

 

[RademR]

I'm with you Palace, I don't think it's THAT bad but it is definetly one of their weaker tracks. I like the experimentation and the fact that I heard they did it in like one take, but eh....

 

[Palace_Hero]

I think it is just a horror show.. The rest of the album is gold.

Which reminds me, this tour I want to see a full MLK into Streets.

 

[neutral]

It's not my favorite but definitely in my top 10 or so, I think it's beautiful.

 

[Axver]

That song is marvellous. Even if you don't like it, you have to respect it for its nature. It was recorded in a single take, and on that basis alone, a very fine effort. I doubt many people here could record a similar thing.

 

[HelloAngel]

I love this song - it might just be my favorite song on that album. It breaks my heart every time I hear it. Absolutely stunning and beautiful.

 

[miss becky]

I think it's a great song, given the context. When you remember it was recorded in a single take, by a band who was deeply into experimentation with sound, it is a standout track. I love the incoherent lyric, and the way the song just keeps going and going, long past the point when you think it should have stopped.

*goes off to listen to it right now*

 

[dandy]

it's one of my top 5 favourite U2 songs ever. gorgeous.

 

[financeguy]

I don't mind it. UF is probably my third favourite U2 album. I don't think this is the best track on it, but it's fine.

 

[Zooropean103]

You know... the best songs on the first listen are the worst (at least in my case). On the first listen I hated mofo, discotheque, miami, lemon, numb, zoo station and many, many more. Now some of them are my favourites (mofo- my second favourite song of all time) and some of them I like very much. Mayby in the future you will love Elvis Presley and America?

 

[lazarus]

I'm wondering if any of the people who love Elvis Presley & America are part of the group that slags POP for being "unfinished".

Just curious.

I think EP&A is a mess, but having said that it doesn't bother me, considering the album it's on is a bit of a mess itself (even if a beautiful one). I'm a lot less impressed with 4th of July, for example.


laz

 

[Axver]

I'm wondering if any of the people who love Elvis Presley & America are part of the group that slags POP for being "unfinished".

Just curious.

Nope, I think Pop is a great album.

 

[miss becky]

I'm wondering if any of the people who love Elvis Presley & America are part of the group that slags POP for being "unfinished".

Just curious.

I think EP&A is a mess, but having said that it doesn't bother me, considering the album it's on is a bit of a mess itself (even if a beautiful one). I'm a lot less impressed with 4th of July, for example.


laz

Not me.

 

[Sleep Over Jack]

I admire the spontaneous nature of the song, but not the end result...Three Sunrises was left off for that??

 

[the tourist]

I admire the spontaneous nature of the song, but not the end result...Three Sunrises was left off for that??

I love Elvis Presley and America. I think if I had to choose between it and Three Sunrises, I would pick it. Although I do think Love Comes Tumbling and Three Sunrises should have been on the album. 12 songs wouldn't have been too long.

 

[LMP]

the Boomerang twins might've fit too, I'd play them over Indian Summer Sky and 4th of July

 

[Needle_Chill]

4th of July is amazing. Listen to it when you're driving down an open highway in the rain at night, or during a sunset. Just let it be a part of the background, it's really trippy and spacey, I love it.

 

[Needle_Chill]

(As for EP&A, I have some difficulty understanding why they would ruin such a great piece of music by doing it in one take and letting Bono improv...)

 

[the tourist]

the Boomerang twins might've fit too, I'd play them over Indian Summer Sky and 4th of July

Maybe one of them, but I don't think both would have worked out. They sound too similar.

 

[KhanadaRhodes]

it's no refugee! actually i like the song. not my favourite on the album but i think it fits. i like it beause he's just making up the lyrics on the spot. i dunno, i guess to me it just shows his songwriting abilities (that's not a dig) for him to be able to do that.

btw i like pop. a lot. it's my second favourite, after achtung baby. the holy trinity are my top three albums.

 

[Iskra]

I love Elvis Presley in America
one of my favorite tracks. It is so full of tnesion.
its one of those tracks I keep myself from listening to. It dilutes its power to hear too often.
Sorry you don't like it but oh well...

 

[rivergoat]

Pop lover and Elvis Presley and America lover too!

The really great thing about having this song on The Unforgettable Fire is that the vocal style is way different from the rest of the album. Some of the mutterings on Promenade are similar, but the varying ways Bono uses his voice on Elvis Presley and America are just inspiring. The only other place we see anything like it from that era is on The Unforgettable Fire documentary. There are more shades of the future of Bono's developing vocal talents in this song than on any other one on the album.

Yeah, it's difficult to sing along with, it's hard sometimes to hear the words, and I really wish that Bono had 'finished' this song, just because the first go is so intriguing. But to leave this off of the album would have been wrong. It should not have been a B Side - that would have reduced its audience. It needed to be heard by everyone who got the album, whether they like it or not. It shows us a side of Bono that we weren't going to see otherwise, and I am just damn glad they kept it.

goat

 

[the tourist]

Speaking of that album Promenade is an amazing song.

 

[KhanadaRhodes]

Speaking of that album Promenade is an amazing song.

if you want to make a girl swoon, sing that to her.

 

[the tourist]

Seriously. If it was simpler to play on guitar, I'm sure I would!

 

[Palace_Hero]

I love Promenade. If 'Bad' is a Kit Kat, Promenade is a a single stick of Kit Kat, small, tasty and makes your mouth water for more.