For all those who hate the last 2 albums...

[namkcuR]

Ok, I'm back. I don't like this statement at all, and do not like the band quotes where they say the same thing. I love seeing U2 take on different genres and sub-genres. For some reason alot people do not see ATYCLB as taking on a new genre, but I do. Not all of it is in a new vein though, there's vintage U2 in ATYCLB also. HTDAAB covers some new territory for U2 also, but it's not a big leap off the beaten path. I would condemn it for not being more experimental, if the songs weren't SO FREAKING AWESOME. It kind of quells my criticism when they produce songs at the quality level of MD, Sometimes, COBL, OSC, Yahweh, etc. They have just handed us a heck of a masterpiece, and all some of us can say is "That's not what I was wanting you to do."

In the MOJO interview, Bono says "It is songs, not ideas. Not sounds. Not sonic landscapes, which we can do 'til the cows come home." I can enjoy different philosophies of making music (alot of people here cannot). I'm not all depressed that they didn't approach this album the same as previous ones.
A good portion of music that I listen to is unconventional with crazy time signatures, and weird for the sake of weirdness. That doesn't mean that I can't pull out an album like HTDAAB, ATYCLB, Pop, or anything else by U2 and not be blown away by their ability to write stellar, meaningful songs.

But where you think the songs are 'so freaking awesome', I think they're 'good but not great', not even close to what I believe U2 are capable of. I'm not saying that HTDAAB is a bad album, not at all, I'm simply saying it's good, maybe even very good, but it is not this masterpiece some think it is.

I listen to Vertigo and depending on my mood, sometimes I think it rocks, but most of the time I just can't ignore the utter lack of musical and/or lyrical depth in Vertigo. The guitar solo is about the only really musically deep part of the song. 'uno dos tres catorce' and 'yeah yeah yeah yeah'...?

Yahweh...I don't get what the big deal about this song is. When the record first leaked, I remember a lot of people around here saying stuff to the effect of 'this is U2's best album closer since "40" ' - and I remember thinking 'are you kidding me?' That statement suggests that Yahweh is a better song than 'All I Want Is You', 'Love Is Blindness', and 'Wake Up Dead Man', amongst others. All three of these songs are FAR superior to Yahweh, which I think is predominantly a very bland song. The album version is a bore, the alternate version is significantly better but still not overly-gripping, and the live acoustic version is the one that finally 'gets' me somewhat. Why do people think this song is so great?

Crumbs...this song is actually good, but the problem(aside from the overproduction) is the lyrics. It's not that they're bad, it's just that there's no subtlety to them. Now, obviously, Bono has always written about his activist work and Africa and poverty and God and other political/religious subjects too, but he always did with a subtlety and/or flare that made it possible to love the song even if you didn't agree with the subject matter of the lyrics. But now, they're so in-your-face, no-subtlety-at-all, DIRECT, that if you don't agree with the subject matter of the lyrics, it's hard to ignore them and like the song anyway - same thing with Yahweh. At least that's how I feel.

I go back and forth with COBL. Sometimes I love it, sometimes I just feel like it's U2 trying really hard to make another Streets-type song. Actually, even that doesn't bother me all that much. My main problem with this song is the lyrics. They just don't seem inspired or all that interesting to me, with the exception of the line 'time won't leave me as I am/but time won't take the boy out of this man'.

Look, I could go on and on but I won't. These are not bad songs(except for Yahweh, I just don't think it's very good[except live]), they are very good songs. But there is an awful blandness to them from my point of view, an awful lack of excitement, a lack of wonder.

I don't know, I'm close to just rambling now. I just think HTDAAB is overrated - on this board at least.

 

[roy]

Re: Re: For all those who hate the last 2 albums...

i wish they had quit after pop, to be completely honest.

at least quit making new music. maybe a farewell tour would be good...not maybe, it WOULD have been great.

I feel very sorry for you as you can't appreciate the greatness of:

Beautiful Day,
Walk On,
Kite
In A little While,
Vertigo,
Sometimes,
COBL,
Original of the Species,
Fast Cars,
Mercy.

You obviously have a one dimensional taste in music. Your loss.

 

[BonosBaby12]

Re: Re: Re: For all those who hate the last 2 albums...

I feel very sorry for you as you can't appreciate the greatness of:

Beautiful Day,
Walk On,
Kite
In A little While,
Vertigo,
Sometimes,
COBL,
Original of the Species,
Fast Cars,
Mercy.

You obviously have a one dimensional taste in music. Your loss.

I agree completely! Personally I love ATYCLB and HTDAAB. In my opinon U2 has only gotten better with their music! To have retired after POP would have been an absolute heartbreak,.

 

[Irishteen]

Re: Re: Re: For all those who hate the last 2 albums...

I feel very sorry for you as you can't appreciate the greatness of:

Beautiful Day,
Walk On,
Kite
In A little While,
Vertigo,
Sometimes,
COBL,
Original of the Species,
Fast Cars,
Mercy.

You obviously have a one dimensional taste in music. Your loss.

Add Elevation, Stuck in a moment, peace on earth, LAPOE, Miracle drug and you are right.

 

[Reggie Thee Dog]

This is where we disagree. Pop IS a U2 classic. Not just a U2 classic, but simply, a classic. In my soul, it is in the top 2 or 3 records of U2's career, along with Achtung Baby and Joshua Tree. And I certainly believe very strongly that it is much much much much much better than ATYCLB or HTDAAB.

Hmmm, that's quite a stretch in my opinion. Much, much, much? Pure conjecture. Pop is a U2 album, and a good one at that, but a classic? If you pulled 10 random people off the streets and asked them to name 3 U2 albums I'm guessing that only 2 or 3 would mention Pop. A classic album is not an album that touches a small minority or means so much to one person, but one that touches a chord with a mass audience. I'm not saying that some great albums haven't been ignored in the past, but I just don't see Pop ever attaining a "classic" status among the pop/rock community.

Most people, most, who feel Pop is at the top of U2's catalog found U2 at that time. Just like I found U2 during War. In my soul the War album sits nicely behind AB and JT for me in my all-time top 3 U2 albums. However I see and hear the album for all of its flaws. But the memories and emotions it stirs up in me are still very strong, much like I assume Pop does for you.

Look there will never be any definitive answer on what is the greatest U2 album. It can't be done, because music is very subjective, and what you like, I don't particularly think is that great.

However, don't you find it odd that U2 hasn't played any Pop songs on the latest tour?

 

[Reggie Thee Dog]

Ok, I'm back. I don't like this statement at all, and do not like the band quotes where they say the same thing. I love seeing U2 take on different genres and sub-genres. For some reason alot people do not see ATYCLB as taking on a new genre, but I do. Not all of it is in a new vein though, there's vintage U2 in ATYCLB also. HTDAAB covers some new territory for U2 also, but it's not a big leap off the beaten path. I would condemn it for not being more experimental, if the songs weren't SO FREAKING AWESOME. It kind of quells my criticism when they produce songs at the quality level of MD, Sometimes, COBL, OSC, Yahweh, etc. They have just handed us a heck of a masterpiece, and all some of us can say is "That's not what I was wanting you to do."

In the MOJO interview, Bono says "It is songs, not ideas. Not sounds. Not sonic landscapes, which we can do 'til the cows come home." I can enjoy different philosophies of making music (alot of people here cannot). I'm not all depressed that they didn't approach this album the same as previous ones.
A good portion of music that I listen to is unconventional with crazy time signatures, and weird for the sake of weirdness. That doesn't mean that I can't pull out an album like HTDAAB, ATYCLB, Pop, or anything else by U2 and not be blown away by their ability to write stellar, meaningful songs.

2Hearts, I agree with you. I misrepresented what I meant. What U2 did with ATYCLB and HTDAAB is simply put an album together of completely crafted songs. The loops, samples and keyboards are all there, but the songwriting is the strongest that it ever was. HTDAAB, I feel, is far more retro than ATYCLB ever was.

I like that they have taken the old U2 sound and made it sound fresh. I don't think they've really driven over an old road as they looked back on it and discovered a new route. Just because U2 isn't taking major chances or completely f'in' with their sound doesn't mean that they aren't trying new things.

I think the next album will push the boundaries, however, unlike Pop it will be finished to the band's desires.

 

[2Hearts]

Reggie Thee Dogg,

Where did you get the quote "My Get Up and Go, Must've Got Up and Went... "? I've heard it in a song somewhere.

 

[Reggie Thee Dog]

It's from the Aerosmith song "Sweet Emotion".

 

[2Hearts]

^AH!! That would explain why it was so hard for me to place it. I haven't listened to that song in at least 5 years.

For namckuR's sake, I will clarify my earlier statement about HTDAAB being a masterpiece. Personally, I think it is (and it took 50+ listens for me to come to that conclusion), but maybe it's just not your thing.

Everyone knows there were some casualties suffered among the ranks of U2 fans when AB and ZooTV happened. I guess some of those folks just could not be convinced the new music was good, but alot of them just bailed b/c they did not UNDERSTAND what the band was doing. Maybe it was hard to see the irony of it all at the time, but in hindsight, the band looks brilliant. Obviously, there's people now that cannot understand the band's motives and that may be the principal reason they do not like the recent stuff. (Or maybe the songs just don't resonate with you, I'm open minded enough to leave that as a possibility.)

 

[2Hearts]

double post

 

[Reggie Thee Dog]

I am long time fan, since the early 80's, and I have no problem with the side roads that U2 have taken since The Joshua Tree album. I loved AB, it took me a few months, but it's my favorite album ever. I find Zooropa and Pop amusing, but they don't resonate with me. There are some classic songs on both of those albums, but the albums as a whole just don't ring with me the way ATYCLB or AB do.

 

[Reggie Thee Dog]

double post

Don't you just hate that?

 

[thetitans2k]

I really dont understand how anyone could say that they should have retired after pop. In fact I prefer All That you Cant Leave Behind and the Bomb to Pop. Pop was decent some good songs but i dont even think it was that great. They should continue to make music and I love them no matter what they put.


There are some amazing songs on ATYCLB and the Bomb and I dont know how you can say that they shouldnt have made them.

 

[BonosBaby12]

That's what Im saying Titan there are some pretty incredible songs on those albums! Honestly I loved both albums on the 1st listen and for me they just keep getting better.

 

[Lemonfix]

Well, since I started this craziness let me put in my $0.2....

Let me say I very much like listening to HTDAAB...it grew on me, I know it can't compare to most of the other albums in terms of originality, blah blah blah, but it's a good listen. ATYCLB wasn't my thing, haven't listened to it in over 4 years, don't even know where it IS. BUT, let's say for the moment I hated both of these albums with every fiber or my being it would be hard for me to say that U2 should have quit after POP.

Why? Because some of my experience on the Elevation tour were THAT incredible (Pittsburgh GA, anyone?). If they hadn't toured in 2001 and currently so many fans would have never had the chance to see them live, or to even become fans in the first place. And I'm still hoping that the current musical direction stems from a mid-life crisis--i.e. guys who've reached their 40's, realize that they aren't young anymore, and are trying their best to stay popular--and that once they become more comfortable with their ages and place in the rock lexicon they will once again become interested in experimentation...or at least glam rock

 

[Lemonfix]

oops, I mean $0.02

 

[AtomicBono]

This is where we disagree. Pop IS a U2 classic. Not just a U2 classic, but simply, a classic. In my soul, it is in the top 2 or 3 records of U2's career, along with Achtung Baby and Joshua Tree. And I certainly believe very strongly that it is much much much much much better than ATYCLB or HTDAAB.

are we the same person?

of course my bias comes from the fact that yes, Pop was my first U2 album, and I was only nine at that, so that album has been a part of me for practically half my life...so it's hard to think of anything that could replace it in my heart.

anyway, I don't really belong in this thread, since I like the last two albums. So bye!

 

[2Hearts]

Since some ATYCLB and HTDAAB fans have made their way here, I'll add another comment or two.

While the guys are in their mid 40's, I don't really see them having a mid-life crisis. (I can't use that term without giving props to 'New York', which is about a mid-life crisis. Cool song.) Back on topic, Bono also said in the MOJO interview something to the effect of "this band still has the audicity to take on pop music". That could be the truth or just spin, but it is interesting. When the pop culture embraced U2, they took the tough route of experimenting instead of recreating the same album again and again. Now they see the pop charts as forbidden ground for a bunch of 'old geezers', and they want to break that door down. In the US, I don't think they've really achieved that goal, but they have made a few waves in the pool. U2 have always sought out a challenge, and if you're 45 years old, getting your face and music on MTV can definitely be a challenge. Again, all of this may just be spin, but it's entirely possible that the last two albums are much more daring than we give them credit for.

 

[Zoots]

But where you think the songs are 'so freaking awesome', I think they're 'good but not great', not even close to what I believe U2 are capable of. I'm not saying that HTDAAB is a bad album, not at all, I'm simply saying it's good, maybe even very good, but it is not this masterpiece some think it is.

I listen to Vertigo and depending on my mood, sometimes I think it rocks, but most of the time I just can't ignore the utter lack of musical and/or lyrical depth in Vertigo. The guitar solo is about the only really musically deep part of the song. 'uno dos tres catorce' and 'yeah yeah yeah yeah'...?

Yahweh...I don't get what the big deal about this song is. When the record first leaked, I remember a lot of people around here saying stuff to the effect of 'this is U2's best album closer since "40" ' - and I remember thinking 'are you kidding me?' That statement suggests that Yahweh is a better song than 'All I Want Is You', 'Love Is Blindness', and 'Wake Up Dead Man', amongst others. All three of these songs are FAR superior to Yahweh, which I think is predominantly a very bland song. The album version is a bore, the alternate version is significantly better but still not overly-gripping, and the live acoustic version is the one that finally 'gets' me somewhat. Why do people think this song is so great?

Crumbs...this song is actually good, but the problem(aside from the overproduction) is the lyrics. It's not that they're bad, it's just that there's no subtlety to them. Now, obviously, Bono has always written about his activist work and Africa and poverty and God and other political/religious subjects too, but he always did with a subtlety and/or flare that made it possible to love the song even if you didn't agree with the subject matter of the lyrics. But now, they're so in-your-face, no-subtlety-at-all, DIRECT, that if you don't agree with the subject matter of the lyrics, it's hard to ignore them and like the song anyway - same thing with Yahweh. At least that's how I feel.

I go back and forth with COBL. Sometimes I love it, sometimes I just feel like it's U2 trying really hard to make another Streets-type song. Actually, even that doesn't bother me all that much. My main problem with this song is the lyrics. They just don't seem inspired or all that interesting to me, with the exception of the line 'time won't leave me as I am/but time won't take the boy out of this man'.

Look, I could go on and on but I won't. These are not bad songs(except for Yahweh, I just don't think it's very good[except live]), they are very good songs. But there is an awful blandness to them from my point of view, an awful lack of excitement, a lack of wonder.

I don't know, I'm close to just rambling now. I just think HTDAAB is overrated - on this board at least.

namkcuR, I completely agree with every word in that post!!!

 

[00Kevin]

I think atyclb and htdaab are both better than pop.

 

[Reggie Thee Dog]

I think atyclb and htdaab are both better than pop.

Them is fightin' words for some users on this forum.

I agree with you however....

 

[labell]

I don't hate the last three albums.... only one song on pop i don't like, the rest i totally love, and yes there are a couple on atyclb that i'd rather skip, but some are really good. same with dismantle. none of these are bad enough to hate.