I don't understand why you guys are saying Vertigo is so "raw".

[shart1780]

Yeah, it doesn't have alot of fancy bells and whistles, but it's definitely not garage rock or punk, it doesn't sound so much more raw than most other U2 albums. The only albums that sound raw to me are the first three (which I think are the three worst) albums. I don't think Vertigo sounds like their early stuff at all really. The style is completely different. It reminds me more of Achtung Baby actually. I don't want the new album to be the same style as their older work.

I don't get what everyone is making such a big deal about.

 

[JOFO]

well, I don't think it sounds like their early stuff at all.

I'm not sure what I would compare it to, so that must mean it's another new direction/sound for them.

The drums in the bridge remind me of Beutiful Day.
The vocals are very Achtung Baby-ish to me.

Other than that...I mean I can't think of anything else they've done that sounds like the guitar riff. Even Adam's bass line sounds different (his tone). I guess there's no keyboards...

The background shouts in the chorus remind me of POP in a way I guess.

 

[ShellBeThere]

I don't see it as "raw" so much as immediate, a little different.
Punk and garage and all can be raw,
as in unpolished, the one-take vs not-quite-300-takes thing.

With this one I feel it's more like "raw" insofar as I feel flayed by it, stripped down by it, like it was unrelenting.
Like punk rock needs to be,
but not necessarily garage-y band stuff...that's just a sloppy aesthetic, which I feel like vertigo also echos/captures, albeit via incredible precision, ironically...

 

[MrBrau1]

I see raw as minimal. Most of the song is 1 guitar, bass, drums, vocals. Now, there are flourishes, at the beginning, and at the end, but for the most part, it's a 4 piece rock band.

 

[EvolutionMonkey]

It's as smooth as a baby's butt, too smooth to be raw.

 

[Murray]

It is raw. Why? No overlapping guitars, no effects on bass, no drum rolls or fills, very little harmony vocals...

It sounds like it could've been done in one take. I said it before but 'unfinished' seems like a better word to describe its sound than 'raw.'

 

[EvolutionMonkey]

It is raw. Why? No overlapping guitars, no effects on bass, no drum rolls or fills, very little harmony vocals...

It sounds like it could've been done in one take. I said it before but 'unfinished' seems like a better word to describe its sound than 'raw.'

But didn't Edge say it was 300 takes ?

 

[Flying FuManchu]

At the end of the song you can hear the guitar strings being muted... that sounds raw to me

 

[john1800]

No overlapping guitars? What do you call the POP-esque screaming guitar in the background of the chorus, or the chiming guitars over the verse after "I can't stand the beats..." etc etc

The guitars are layered, but those flourishes, as another poster called them, are what sets this apart from the boring pop-punk that's out there right now.

 

[madonna's child]

I don't think it's raw. It's obvious that it was carefully produced. But I think it has a hardcore sound that is Sunday Bloody Sunday-ish.

 

[Flying FuManchu]

Look... IMO it is as raw as U2 can get. Hell, U2's most "raw" days (i.e. Boy, War, October) had more than one guitar playing and a variety of instruments.

Mr. Braul1 is correct in that the song itself has very little flourishes and sounds very basic... to be honest an extra guitar player is all they need to play the song with all its "sounds." That sounds "raw to me."

 

[Flying FuManchu]

Besides, the Edge can't help having a great tone.

 

[PowerSurge]

raw? not quite.

medium rare...yes.

 

[U2_Guy]

If this is not raw for U2 standards i dunno what raw is anymore...

 

[MrBrau1]

For me, WUDM is as raw as U2 get. Both musically and emotionally.

 

[what a bomb!]

Yeah, it doesn't have alot of fancy bells and whistles, but it's definitely not garage rock or punk, it doesn't sound so much more raw than most other U2 albums. The only albums that sound raw to me are the first three (which I think are the three worst) albums. I don't think Vertigo sounds like their early stuff at all really. The style is completely different. It reminds me more of Achtung Baby actually. I don't want the new album to be the same style as their older work.

I don't get what everyone is making such a big deal about.

What a load of bollocks! I've been a fan since I was 17 (1983) and I can definitely hear U2 of all their past in Vertigo, I can't help feeling that they also wanted to put out a song for the fans that have been there thru all the years! (yes I know it wasn't till their 3rd album for me to become a fan, it was the first I heard of them!) I think the reason some people are calling this raw is because it DOES sound how U2 were in the the early 80's BUT and I'll repeat that, BUT with a sound only a band with nigh on 25 years experience can only sound like! Appreciate it for what it is because you will not be so lucky in the future to hear new U2 stuff!

 

[Numbology]

i would like to solve ˝the second guitarist˝ problem...


BONO?

 

[shaun vox]

who cares,, all i know is that im actually into vertigo now