I just listened to POP and ZOOROPA for the first time...

[cjboog]

No, of course it doesn't. It's just when you commented on Edge's vocals I though "Oh shit, here's another 'if its not a traditional hook/climax/big chorus U2 song I can't appreciate it' person", which in posts following I now understand you are not.

Right, I don't have to have a hook to appreciate a song, but I still am a sucker for the traditional hook/climax/big chorus . Here though, I just don't like it either way.

 

[MacPhistoPT]

I was delighted with your Playboy Mansion and Numb comments... I think the same... but then I saw your Stay comment and I became furious It's just one of U2 best songs, and my favourite ballad

 

[bakedpony]

ey I disagree about Zooropa sounding better to those who experienced it back in the 90's. iim 17 and only listened and got all of U2's albums (and the non-album songs) just last year. loved zooropa the album, doesnt matter how old you are to like it imo

 

[cjboog]

ey I disagree about Zooropa sounding better to those who experienced it back in the 90's. iim 17 and only listened and got all of U2's albums (and the non-album songs) just last year. loved zooropa the album, doesnt matter how old you are to like it imo

could be, my brother is 13 and loves Zooropa. Actually he joins me in my disliking (to put it nicely) of numb, but loves Daddy's Gonna Pay for your Crashed Car, Lemon, The Wanderer, and Babyface. I guess to some it could have been different in the 90's but it probably just comes down to the person. We can agree that it was certainly radically different from anything else during the time.

 

[DreamOutLoud13]

Oh man, I've been been forcing myself to not listen to U2 for the past several days (I'm still not sure why... maybe to see how long I can last, and to make myself appreciate it more when I finally go back) and this thread is driving me crazy. I really, really, really want to go listen to Zooropa and Pop right now

Pop is my favourite album, but Zooropa is my most played album. I find Zooropa to be very, very addicting. I refer to the entire album (and also the title track) as "purple space crack".

I'm 20, and a sort of new U2 fan as well. I didn't start getting into them until I heard Vertigo in 2004. But I remember Zooropa from when I was a kid, my older brother had it. I don't actually remember ever listening to it with him, but I remember the videos for Lemon and Numb, and especially remember being amazed (at the tender age of 8) by the weirdness of that music video.

I'm going to go off on a tangent now, but the 90s as a whole really are the best of U2 for me. Achtung Baby is the best musically to me, Pop is the best lyrically, and Zooropa is just so freaking weird and addicting that I can't not love it.

Some of the things you pointed out as not liking in some of those songs are actually some of the things I like best, but I'm not going to jump on you for it. I can understand that you just need time to grow to love them
But if you're interested, I can tell you what I like best about some of those songs (you know, so I can brainwash you ).

 

[LyricalDrug]

You haven't really heard Zooropa then. Go back and listen harder.

 

[bcrt2000]

One thing I've learned is that you can't judge music based on one listen. You need to give a couple of listens and some time for those songs to sink in, and the really good ones become a part of you...

 

[powerhour24]

Listen harder? That's what I mean, by taking time to appreciate, you shouldn't have to try hard to like something, Pop grew on me (again, still my least favorite) but Zooropa I liked from the start.

 

[RademR]

took me like 3 years to like Zooropa....its a great record. "Stay" is one of their best songs.

 

[powerhour24]

Stay is definitely amongst their best of the post AB 90s, I love it but I don't think I'm prepared to put it in my all time U2 favorites.

 

[ozeeko]

I really like the way "Wake Up Dead Man" sounds. It's very off-the-cuff and loose like they were just jamming and what you hear is the end result. It's probably one of the rawest tracks they every produced. And I like the way Bono restrains himself from a full fledged screamathon. "Numb" you should just look at from a novelty standpoint. Same with "Miami". Those songs are much better if you just take them for what they are, the band screwing around and having fun. I am pleased you appreciate "The Playboy Mansion", "Some Days..", two tunes which never get their due. I am displeased however with ure "Please" review, I personally think it's one of their tightest performances and catches Bono in a rare spitefull mood crooning lyrics that refuse to pull punches and his ideas are followed thru til the very last note. "Stay", "Daddy's Gonna.." and "If You Wear..." will definitely grow on you, well maybe not "Daddy's", it's an aquired taste but I love it. And "Lemon" will most likely be in your U2 top ten. It's brilliant.

 

[LemonAid]

I'm going to go off on a tangent now, but the 90s as a whole really are the best of U2 for me. Achtung Baby is the best musically to me, Pop is the best lyrically, and Zooropa is just so freaking weird and addicting that I can't not love it.

....bravo!! ...couldnt have said it better!

 

[bonocomet]

I love Pop. I remember thinking that I might not care for it after hearing alot of what was being said about it but I loved it from 1st listen, 1st moment. Just another example of what makes U2 so amazing , you can listen to Joshua Tree, then Boy, then Pop and love all 3 for different reasons, or the same reasons. I'll admit, I haven't listened to Zooropa very much, but after this thread, I'm going to give it another chance. Lemon however, I love, it gets stuck in my head and replayed there alot!

 

[powerhour24]

Lemon is one addicting song

 

[hedgehog]

ey I disagree about Zooropa sounding better to those who experienced it back in the 90's. iim 17 and only listened and got all of U2's albums (and the non-album songs) just last year. loved zooropa the album, doesnt matter how old you are to like it imo

Im only 19 (although not exactly new to U2) and I actually found Zooropa and Pop the most instantly likable of U2 albums myself.

Have to say I disagree with most of the review on the albums too.

Can't help but adore them still, songs like Zooropa, Numb, Lemon, Discotheque, Mofo, Please, Wake Up Dead Man are just...

 

[mobvok]

I can see why you didn't like Stay if you have the Best Of. That's when I heard Stay for the first time, and in front of Electrical Storm, One, and Miss Sarajevo I almost passed out from boredom, and Stay suffered for it. Awfully poor track listing.

It wasn't until I listened to Stay on Zooropa that I started liking it more. I guess it's genuinely possible that you don't like it, but it's generally accepted as being one of the better songs in their catalogue.

 

[bonocomet]

I just have to add that I really agree with what mobvok just said above. Stay is growing on me, fast, it's really a beautiful song. Also I love Numb, but the Zooropa version, not the "Best of" version which is alot different. The Zooropa version is much more effective at getting the whole point of the song across, and much more soothing to listen to also.

 

[Mogi]

Cjboog, just give these some time, possibly a few years to sink in. Yes, it took me quite a while to finally "get" what I believe U2 was trying to achieve with these two albums.
I believe U2´s greatest strength as a band is to make the listener actually feel like they are inside the song, just like a great writer will absorb you into their characters.
For example Zooropa:
This album is a product of Zoo TV and they do such a wonderful job of making the listener feel like they are absorbed in this mad Zoo TV media machine as U2 is themselves. Just sit down and look at the album art. Every page looks like a signal beamed from inside this monster. Even the members look like they have been compressed into the screen. Numb is absolute genius. Why? IMO, you can walk away "feeling" it. The song is almost maddening, just like the over saturation of media that they were taking a shot at in the song.

Pop-I think this album makes logical sense in this trilogy of 90´s media and consumerism saturation. I think U2 really wanted to throw a curve ball at everyone with a shiny package with their faces colored in neon. Songs like Discoteque, Mofo, Staring at the Sun. I bought this thinking, "Oh no, they really did it this time. They sold out and made a trendy dance album." I think that was the whole idea, drape this thing in gloss and smokescreens to make people have this reaction, at the same time, doing it with tongue-in-cheek. WHile on Zoo TV, they took the piss out of the big media, on this album, they took a shot and what the big open media created-consumer junkies.
They even started the album out with 3 straight "dance" songs. But if you look harder, there is so much social commentary on the dark side of who we are and how we have become so lost. AB started off with Zoo Station, a dive into the possibilities and open roads of a free Europe. Pop ended the decade with a rough punch at god with Wake Up Dead Man.
I think that is what Pop conveyed-the frustration and fatigue of what all this new media and open markets brought to the world.
Every song seems like a chapter in a book. Miami and The Playboy Mansion, while not strong songs, do that exactly. The conjure images of what seems like a converstation or even a postcard talking about a snapshot of one persons own experience. The Playboy Mansion drones on as if it was a drugged or drunk person spilling their guts about their empty and hollow needs and desires.
I could ramble on about each song in the same manner, but my over all point is that once you really take a great look into the genius of AB/Zooropa/Pop and how they all relate and all tell a story, then I believe the listening experience becomes that much richer.

Ok, I´m done.

 

[GibsonGirl]

I'm just amazed that there's someone out there who likes SDABTO (silliest lyrics Bono has ever written, barring most of ATYCLB) more than DGPFYCC. Just listen to the intro in the former. If "cool" had a Richter scale, the needle would be spinning out of control whenever that song gets played.

 

[Achtung_Bebe]

I've been listening to Pop all day today, and I swear it just gets better with each repeated listen. This album *should* grow on you, or atleast I hope so as Miami, Velvet Dress, Please and Wake Up Dead Man were criminally underappreciated on your review (In my opinion ) most notably Please... listen to Adam's bass in this one, he really owns it.

 

[U2girl]

WHAOMG! @ different opinions. Nice to see someone not bowing down to the supposed "masterpiece" that is Pop. and funny to see people trying to tell you why they think you're wrong, when music is all personal tastes.

Silly internet forums.

 

[Achtung_Bebe]

^ did you quote that for me? Nobody is saying he's wrong, just reacting to his review & offering a different point of view. Otherwise we'd just agree all the time & not share our own opinions b/c it may conflict with someone else's personal opinion. That would make for a really great discussion.

 

[Tiger Edge]

We will pretty much never be friends.

 

[cjboog]

We will pretty much never be friends.