Initial impression of the NEW U2...

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Mr_Phes

The Fly
Joined
Jun 29, 2001
Messages
94
Lets go back in time just over 10 years to the time when "The Fly" was released as a single (Before Acthung Baby was released).

Being the first song of the "new" U2, what was the inital impression after first hearing it?

Was it a bit of a shock in comparission to the previous stuff - I'm too young to remember.
 
I got the single for The Fly the day it came out and went straight to my friend's house. I can remember a whole group of us crowding into a small room to have a listening party. We were totally shocked by the completely different, modern sound of the song but we decided that we loved it right away. It sounded like the future.



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Remember the goul.

Shake n' bake
Do whatever it takes
 
My brother, whose opinion I respected no end (more than I do now) told me that U2 had lost it and this was the end, thereby prejudicing me permanently against 90's U2. Not that he was a really huge U2 fan to begin with. I do remember liking One but it took me a long time to like the Fly. I would have been eleven. I now like Achtung Baby a lot but Zooropa and Pop don't do it for me. I think that I have formed that opinion as a mature adult but I have no doubt that a little bit of the residue from "U2 has lost it" is still lingering with me. You cannot escape your early impressions.



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You've got to cry without weeping
Talk without speaking
Scream without raising your voice
 
Brilliant

U2 spent the 80s working to being the brilliant band they became in the 90s

Now they are just getting the wheels back in motion!
 
My friedns and I stared in awe at the screen when they played the video.

MY friends who didn't like U2 beofre, did from that point on.

I was blown away, nineties U2 from that point on was to be my favorite U2 period.
 
Being a fan since 1981 who loved all the 80's work I can honestly say I was NOT shocked by AB! I loved it and didn't think it was all that different or weird. Now, when Lemon came out, my husband who is not one to talk yelled for me and said 'look at U2 what the hell is that?' It was Pop that shocked me and drove me away. It was like 'what the F- is that!' I came back full force with ATYCLB and love U2 more than I ever have and am most grateful for them. My husband still only likes 80's stuff. Many people came back with ATYCLB and I know friends and family who feel the same as me. My brother's reaction when he saw U2 at the Grammys- "Hey, they're not freaky anymore!" But AB was cool and I like it as much as the 80's stuff. ATYCLB is very special to me. I will never forget the first time I heard BD, ironically enough in a K-Mart parking lot and how much it meant to me! I could call my U2 Odyssey "U2- Lost and found in a K-Mart parking lot!" I feel the special magic of this tour. I have been to several shows and God is in the house. U2 is the greatest band in the world.

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"I've been all over,
and it's been all over me!"

[This message has been edited by GypsyHeartgirl (edited 11-22-2001).]
 
well, Achting Baby was the first U2 album I bought, I was 14 at the time and it did take me some time to enjoy the album in its entirety. now I love this record. I just thought The Fly was a mind-blowing track, completely unorthodox, but yet really creative. but now the new albums, I just see them as the next batch of songs, and I try to appreciate them for what they're worth, independantly of previous records.
 
Actually i discovered u2 in 1993 with "Numb" so when a few month later i bought AB it didn't shock me that much: i loved that kind of sound.
So while i loved both Pop and Zooropa (expecially in their most experimental moments: Miami and D'sGPFYCC)to me has been more difficoult to get into u2's works of the 80's with the notable exception of JT (their best album IMO) and of War.
 
Do you remember where you were when you first heard "The Fly"?....great question!! I remember where I was, just past an overpass in West Memphis, Arkansas, & thinking to myself, "I love the guitar" and "Bono sounds like Michael Hutchence" and "who's the black lady singing?" It took me a while to realize the genius of the song....and Edge's guitar solo on this song is my favorite!!
 
How funny! I was sitting in a Sears parking lot in Memphis! hahaha I had been patiently (rather, inpatiently) waiting - and I thought hmmmmmmm... sounds very different. I admit I wasn't really wild at first hear, but now AB is one of my favorite CDs. I just remember being soooooooooo excited for new U2 since everyone thought they were breaking up after Bono's comments on New Years Eve 89/90.

Funny, they left to "dream it all up again" and were only gone from 90 to 91. But between Pop and ATYCLB - it was 4 years?

Also Gypsy - "God is in the house" - I would agree with you there. Nicely put.

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She's gonna dream up a world she wants to live in / She's gonna dream out loud.
Visit my web page at www.u2page.com
 
I immediately loved The Fly
the guitar on that track is just incredible

though I do like Achtung Baby a lot I don't care that much for the other singles released (Mysterious Ways, Even Better .., Who's gonna Ride ..) except for One

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Salome
Shake it, shake it, shake it
 
Where were you when.....

The Fly. I was sitting in my dorm lounge at prep school, waiting for the premire of the video on MTV. If I remember correctly, the week leading up to the premire consisted of MTV showing Rattle & Hum, UABRS, and all the videos in a countdown. I called my self a "huge" U2 fan. In reality, I knew almost nothing about them, only owning UABRS, Rattle & Hum and JT. But I sat and watched the video and was absolutely blown away. I thought it was amazing. It was so cool looking, and the music was like nothing I had ever heard (I had a limited musical knowledge at that time). As soon as the album was released I went out and bought the tape. I listed to that tape over and over and over. I've probably listened to that album 500 times and it has never lost its appeal to me.

I am a huge fan of the 90's work by U2. Much more than anything they did before, or ATYCLB. It has an edge to it that none of their other albums seem to have.

And the Fly especially is one of those songs that I love. I think the solo is one of Edge's best. Hearing it live on this tour reaffirmed my belief that it is a great song.

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And I feel like I'm slowly slowly slowly slipping under.

And I feel like I'm holding onto nothing.

ADAM (talking about Elevation):
"I like it, it's very hard to play live...(starts smiling) I don't understand what it's about, it's good."
 
I was 17 years old and lying on my bed wondering when the heck the new U2 album was going to come out. (My parents didn't have MTV.) And then BOOM. I was listening to what amounted to a classic rock station when this shockingly different guitar riff came on. I knew instantly that it was U2 but I was shocked and seriously jazzed. It was an incredibly exciting moment. I remember this intense feeling of RELIEF. There was new U2 to listen to and it was going to be different. If there had been a harmonica and a horn section I would have been disappointed. I was a huge fan of U2 since 83/84 but I wanted something different. I remember wishing that they would make a more experimental album like Unforgettable Fire. Was I ever in for a pleasant surprise!

Achtung Baby is still my favorite U2 album.

MAP
 
I had gotten very heavily into JT and I will admit that when I saw them the first thing I thought was that I was disappointed Bono had cut his long hair and stopped wearing the western clothes ~ducks, runs
wink.gif
But I liked the AB songs and still do.

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~We need new dreams tonight~
 
When The Fly came out I had been a U2 fan for over seven years already and had seen them five times in concert.

In other words, I was already bitten by the U2 bug in the way that it has infected me, which to sum it up..."I like anythign they do". I tried to hide from that reality but very recently I realized it must be true. I would have cringed at Bono embracing the American flag but I think it is great when I see that now.

OK! This was about THE FLY wasnt it.

When I heard it, I instantly loved it. It was different, but still very very U2 sounding to my U2 discerning ear. I loved the guitar in it. I didnt like what was done to Bono's vocal, but I loved the song over all as a soaring U2 song like any other. You know what was weird is that I didnt feel that it was all that different. Also, I think their treatment of Night & Day on the Red, Hot, and Blue tribute to Cole Porter made me prepared for anything.

I will admit, the thing that really freaked me out was Numb and then Lemon. I was like, what the Hell!!! I liked them both ultimately, but it was quite a shock for me to see The Edge's solos almost disappear. POP was a warm smile for me because there was more of the four band members on that album than there was on Zooropa to me. Pop to me is the progression after AB.

Obviously I have never stopped loving the music they create, some of the experimental stuff (Pasengers, MDH) I am not as excited about, but still like it of course, because its Bono, The Edge, Adam, and Larry.
 
Originally posted by Crzy4Bono:
Funny, they left to "dream it all up again" and were only gone from 90 to 91. But between Pop and ATYCLB - it was 4 years?

About 3 and a half years... Give or take a month. But much longer than the first period of reinvention.

This ATYCLB reinvention didn't really surprise me in the least. Too bad I missed out on the first one.
 
the first time I listened to U2 was "the fly"..then I was 14!I enjoyed...it was pure energy!then I bought the album...and later all the other albums and video...yes!!! I?am a fly lover!
but I remember that there were U2 fans that didn?t like the change...so...I would like to know some of opinion from them, what they thought went thr fly arrived.
 
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