I finally realized the greatness of U2's "Pop" album

[Meghan]

My List (just in case anyone really cares)

1. Please
2. Playboy Mansion (Yes, i do like it)
3. Gone
4. Wake Up Dead Man
5. Last Night On Earth
6. If God Will Send His Angels
7. Do You Feel Loved
8. Staring at the Sun
9. Mofo
10. Discotheque
11. Miami
12. If You Wear That Velvet Dress

Hmm. I think i like this album a whole lot more than i thought. It doesn't feel right putting 9, 10, 11 and 12 where they are.

 

[BrownEyedBoy]

If God Will Send His Angels, to make a long story short, made me the U2 Fan I am today. POP will always have a special place in my heart for that reason.

 

[Bono's shades]

I admit, I was one of those old-school fans whose initial reaction upon hearing Pop for the first time was "WTF??" But now I love it. I hear something new in it each time. Just the other day I realized for the first time how brilliant IGWSHA is.

 

[Axver]

I've been revisiting U2's albums over the last few months, and I didn't rediscover Pop in the good way. It's been regularly coming dead last in my album rankings. That said, it is an INCREDIBLE album full of amazing moments and much better than what anyone else could produce.

1. Gone - easily one of the best songs ever made by anyone. Pure brilliance. There is no praise high enough.
2. Wake Up Dead Man - deep, both lyrically and musically. The stuff hidden beneath the surface of the music is fascinating! Tonnes of work went into this.
3. Last Night On Earth - mmmm, rock.
4. Please - this song used to be higher, but I came back to the studio version and found I liked it less, though the lyrics are superb. The live versions are out of this world. Bono's wailing over Edge's solo gives me chills.
5. If You Wear That Velvet Dress - sensually atmospheric. A gorgeous song.
6. Mofo - this rocked more live. Some great lines.
7. Staring At The Sun - nice guitar and it sounded great the few times they played it electrically live and didn't totally mess it up.
8. Do You Feel Loved - I really like the first fifteen seconds, but the bleeps and boops seem to be there for the sake of being there rather than to add something to the song, or at least that's how it sounds to me.
9. If God Will Send His Angels - it is a lovely song, but it's missing something and trails off into the oblivion of songs with stacks of unrealised potential. This could have had an incredible ending.
10. Discotheque - when I rediscovered Pop, this one in particular made me cringe. I don't normally use or even like the term 'dated' in reference to music, but this song sounds like it was dated before it was even made! WHY was this the first single? Gone or Last Night On Earth definitely should've been. The remarkable part is how Discotheque is a TOTALLY different song live. It rocks, hard. It's absolutely bloody awesome and on any Popmart bootleg, I feel it's one of the highlights.
11. The Playboy Mansion - plods. Doesn't do enough. It just doesn't really register on my radar.
12. Miami - predictable last, huh? I don't actually hate this song. It has some commendable aspects. The lyrics just don't feel complete, and I simply prefer most of the album to it (on its day, it could get to #10). And it was fantastic live, flowing into Bullet.

The one recurring theme of what I just wrote is how much better Pop was live. That's when Pop achieved its potential and the songs revealed their true brilliance.

 

[amerrydeath]

I can't believe how many people like Staring at the Sun more than IGWSHA. The latter is a really good song and is criminally underrated.

I also don't think Gone is anything too special. It's a good song, but nothing spectacular.

In my opinion, the rankings should look something like this:

1. If God Will Send His Angels
2. Please
3. Mofo
4. Last Night on Earth
5. Discotheque
6. Gone
7. Wake Up Dead Man
8. Staring at the Sun
9. Do You Feel Loved
10. If You Wear that Velvet Dress
11. The Playboy Mansion
12. Miami

Total agreement! I think Gone has got the most brilliant lyrics, though, if not the best music of all of them.

 

[MsMofoGone]

Pop is my second favorite album ...

Absolutely love the songs Mofo and Gone
so-ooo much ... they're my username !!

 

[the soul waits]

Pop is great, imo.
I'm still miffed I missed the Popmart tour

That's so amazing for you that you get to savour and discouver a whole album that's new to you, I love those moments, song by song, over and over
(Lol makes me wanna make Silence of the lambs, Hannibal sounds with my lips)

 

[God Part III]

Mofo is brilliant, Do You Feel Loved is vivid, Last Night On Earth is a true rocker.

I love If You Wear That Velvet Dress also.
Brilliant album, so underrated.

But tell you what, Zooropa is even better.

 

[bedouin fire]

Let us not forget the greatness that is "Please"

How could we? it's u2 at their best.

 

[U2FanPeter]

Totally unrelated question....

Have U2 actually been to the Playboy Mansion?

I'll also throw in my 2 cents on some POP BSides: Holy Joe, Mofo on the history DVD and 2 Shots of Happy...


u2fp

 

[Pero]

Discoteque hits you with a great riff.
Do you feel loved silences you a little bit, because it's nice, polite.
Mofo rocks your brains.
IGWSHA is slow, to dance to
Staring is just beautiful
Last night on earth has the bass, Adam is enough for this song
You're up with the sun, not coming down, ooooo
Miami is good, but live so much better
TPM is the weakest track and still has something that's irresistible
IYWTVD is song that i don't get, but it's sensual, to dance to
PLEASE is next One, so underrated that it hurts
Wake up dead man is Bono's lyrical peak

That gets you to the best U2 album.
Achtung and Joshua are so good that i don't say they were made by U2, they were made when God himself went down and made them.

 

[bedouin fire]

PLEASE is next One, so underrated that it hurts
Wake up dead man is Bono's lyrical peak

best sentences of this thread

 

[TheBrazilianFly]

Congrats! I LOVE Pop, its an amazing album. Very rich and dense. I'm always finding out new things on it, every song is great. Adam is amazing (Do You Feel Loved, Mofo, Gone, Last Night) and Bono comes up with some the best and most beautiful melodies of his life (Please, If God Wil Send His Angels, Discotheque). Not to mention the amazing lirycs! Even though I love Pop's track list I just made myself a new mix with a diferent track list. Here it is:

Mofo
Do You Feel Loved
Miami
If You Wear That Velvet Dress
Starring At The Sun
Last Night On Earth
Gone
Discotheque
The Playboy Mansion
If God Will Send His Angels
Please
Wake Up Dead Man

 

[Aardvark747]

best sentences of this thread

this sentence beats them all for me!

 

[Numb1075]

What took you so long?

Do You Feel Loved?......that's a gift from g0d

 

[Irishteen]

I love Gone, IGWSHA(Big Yam mix is my favourite version) and Discotheque great song the mix made it better, not lyricallly but great guitar.

 

[cleazer]

I enjoy the Pop album quite a bit.

Please is a brilliant song, and the live version is U2 at their best. I also really enjoy hearing Miami sung live. I'm not sure why, but its my second favorite off the album, behind only Please.

 

[Miggy D]

Gone is one of U2's best songs, period. I feel it gets short changed because of the album it's on. Imagine how much more legendary it would be considered in the U2 canon if it were released on Achtung Baby?

 

[prisz25]

Gone is one of U2's best songs, period.

I totally agree I was actually listening to it one day and I thought "man I wonder if anyone else thinks this song is amazing other than me!" I think there should be a Gone appreciation thread!

 

[Numbology]

POP is great,my number 3.I really can't understand people who say it's one of their worst albums,just because the lads said it was unfinished.This is the album that got me into U2.

 

[PopFly]

1. The Playboy Mansion
2. Last Night On Earth
3. Discotheque
4. Staring at the Sun
5. Do You Feel Loved
6. Please
7. If God Will Send His Angels
8. Gone
9. Mofo
10. Miami
11. Wake Up Dead Man
12. If You Wear That Velvet Dress

Songs 1-10 are all great....it's only the last two that I don't look forward to when listening to the album.

 

[Meghan]

^Yay! SOMEbody else likes the Playboy Mansion!

 

[Tyagu_Anaykus]

where's jick??

 

[kerc]

When I first heard "Pop" I thought it was the future of rock 'n' roll.

 

[LMP]

Pop, to make or cause a small explosive sound...



...The mirrorball lemon is the transportation of the future, it can fit 3 adults and a small child, it's got shields to block out unwanted radiation....

 

[MacPhistoPT]

If I think that Please is a bit overrated (but still a great song), Wake Up Dead Man is probably the best surprise I could have... Fantastic song, fantastic lyric...

WUDM, Last Night on Earth, Gone and Mofo are my favourite songs in this album

bedouin fire: retiro o que disse no blog do nosso belém sobre o "Pop" ser um "Flop". consegui descobrir a grandeza deste álbum...

 

[Hawkmoon04]

What a great topic!! Finally some love for POP
Im in opinion Gone, MOFO, please, are 3 of u2's best songs. Obviouslly this can be argued since they have such a huge catolog of amazing music.

I think people could not get over the type of music pop was. Lyrically I think many of the songs are brilliant.

MOFO----Mother, am i still your son? You know ive waited so long to hear you say so.....Mother you left and made me someone, now Im still a child....noone tells me NO!! This is so personal I love it.

POP rules im glad I found this post!!

 

[X-it 7]

Incredible album. Have to give a little love to Miami too. To me, one of the cooler songs U2 have done; not one of their best, but VERY cool. Love the guitar on that tune.

 

[TwoAmericas]

I'm still bothered that they are not playing one song from Pop on the tour.

I'd take Gone, Last Night on Earth and Please over Bullet the Blue Sky any day, even though I like Bullet the Blue Sky.