Listening to Pop...

[LemonMelon]

I've had Pop playing in my car for the last week or so, and for some reason, IGWSHA and Playboy Mansion didn't irritate me like they used to. Those were the two songs on Pop I'd almost always skip... but now I don't mind them so much.

What's happening to me??

Because those songs rule and you're recovering from the head injury that caused you to hate them before.

Srsly, Pop is amazing. I don't care if it "wasn't finished"...because the product that the sessions yielded is their third best album. End of discussion

 

[AtomicBono]

i wonder why, though, because they had plenty of time. it was released almost 4 years after zooropa which was just an extended ep. so it was 6 years after their last 'real' studio album. i think they had confused themselves beyond believe at the time it was released.

yeah, but it's not like they had been working on Pop for six years straight. In U2 by U2 they talk about how they shifted direction...when they first started Pop they really wanted to do a fusion of the dance/electrionica club stuff with the U2 sound, but they eventually switched back to a somewhat more traditional songwriting approach. so the first three tracks ended up being the only ones that were really reminiscent of what U2 had wanted to do initially with Pop.

of course the main problem was booking the tour, therefore setting a deadline for the album. that's why it was unfinished. not enough time to step back and rethink any of the songs. still, I love Pop the way it is. I'm glad it's "unfinished"

 

[LMP]

why not just call it "poop"

Discotheque is better without the swirly intro, like on Popmart.

Do You Feel Loved is alright, but nothing too special.

Mofo is one of U2's best songs ever, pure and simple and embodies everything '90s U2 was about. Bono completely bares his soul amidst the chaos is just way, way, way more badass than anything else U2's ever done.

If God Will Send His Angels had a better single version.

Staring at the Sun is meh, I like the acoustic Elevation versions better.

Last Night on Earth is pretty good, even though Bono's voice masked by about 12000 other Bono voices, but it's still good. PopMart redeems this song.

Gone is fucking Gone, great in any incarnation.

Miami is a trainwreck on the album, but perfect on PopMart. Why they dropped it, I'll never know.

The Playboy Mansion is a sweet song with a groovy bassline, shitty beginning lyrics with a superb ending. It's the Anti-Kite.

If You Wear That Velvet Dress should be called If You Turn That Volume Too Low. There's such a great and sensual song buried under there for some reason, but what the fuck happened?

Please is alright on the album, but lacks that punch. The live and single versions are the true version of the song. It's the "Sunday Bloody Sunday" of the '90s.

Wake Up Dead Man has the word fuck in it and apparently Van Diemen's Land buried in there, whoop-de-boo. It's like covering shit with more shit.

I like Pop, don't get me wrong, but I cannot listen to the album straight anymore.

I wish North and South of the River was the closer of Wake Up Dead Man; it's their best b-side of the '90s.

 

[Aygo]

pop was definitely unfinished when it was released.

Yeah, but not all songs...
The first three tracks, Gone, SATS and WUDM are perfect just how they are, no fucking New Mixes to blow the spirit away.
IGWSHA and LNOE are better in the single; and Please better not comment, if the single version is perfect, the album one is very poor.
Miami, Playboy Mansion are average (although they have grown on me) and Velvet Dress despite being good, I prefer the other version.

 

[one4u2]

I've actually just rediscovered this album. I've been playing it over & over in my ipod and If God Will Send His Angels is just

 

[xaviMF22]

Wake Up Dead Man has the word fuck in it and apparently Van Diemen's Land buried in there, whoop-de-boo. It's like covering shit with more shit.

Wake up dead man rocks bitches

 

[love2bmama]

what's the deal w/Van Diemen's Land and WUDM? Never heard that before.

 

[david]

I actually remember critics in magazines giving POP good reviews upon its initial release.

Things seemed to turn around once the tour started though.

 

[LemonMelon]

Wake up dead man rocks bitches

We've been agreeing a lot lately for some reason.

 

[u2trinity]

Pop is sexy .

 

[ozeeko]

I think if POP had an obvious radio hit that everyone embraced, like "With Or Without You" or "One" or "Beautiful Day" it would get a better rep. Now don't get me wrong, I think the album is brilliant as is, and probably would've felt odd with a universal crowdpleasing singalong anthem, but it would've helped POP's legacy...even tho it might have seemed out of place. "Discoteque" and "Staring At The Sun", while being hits on the radio, didn't have the long lasting impact that their usual parade of classics had. Ask a casual fan to sing a POP song, they'd probably say "uhh they had that disco song", and u'd most likely have to remind them of "staring at the sun". It's a shame, cuz if people actually took the time to absorb the album, they would realize it's one of their best, even without the smash hits. I'm speaking from the United States tho. Perhaps those songs survived better overseas.

 

[corianderstem]

I like Pop, don't get me wrong

Are you sure?

 

[LMP]

Are you sure?

I like the concept and the half of the actual album, but the live versions and single versions fix the flaws of the album for me.

 

[corianderstem]

I understand the flaws people find in the production of the album, but I don't think any of the songs were improved by the versions on the Best Of. I can't stand any of those versions.

Live? You may have an argument there.

 

[LMP]

Oh, the best of versions suck beyond belief except for Gone, it's impossible for that song to suck.

But the single versions of Please, If God Will Send His Angels, and Last Night on Earth are great.

 

[corianderstem]

It's been an awfully long time since I've heard the single versions of those to compare them with the album versions. I couldn't even give an example of what was remotely different about them.

It might be time to hunt them down ...

 

[Allanah]

Am I the only person who vastly prefers the album version of Please to the single version?

 

[LemonMelon]

Am I the only person who vastly prefers the album version of Please to the single version?

No, you're not.

 

[Allanah]

Good to know. Something about the vocal on the album version just grabs me. It's very resigned, like an exhausted Bono is confiding a secret, whispering in your ear. Love it.

 

[LemonMelon]

Also, Please should never have a solo. It doesn't sound right.

 

[LyricalDrug]

Rolling Stone gave Pop 4 stars when it was released, as did most other mainstream rock critics.

It was a very good U2 album, but just not the great one everyone had come to expect.

 

[Alisaura]

Because those songs rule and you're recovering from the head injury that caused you to hate them before.

I was wondering if someone was going to come out with something like that... have a cookie.

Srsly, Pop is amazing. I don't care if it "wasn't finished"...because the product that the sessions yielded is their third best album. End of discussion

I do admire your assertion that the discussion is ended, but we all know that's unlikely around here

Once again I bemoan my lack of pre-2000 singles (and post-2001 ones, for that matter), although I did find the Please EP somewhere a while ago. I think I need to find that again...

Velvet Dress -> Please -> WUDM is an album-closing trilogy on par with those on JT or AB (or The Bends)...

I think I pegged what got me listening to Playboy Mansion again, at least...
Then will there be no time for sorrow,
Then will there be no time for shame...

 

[U2Man]

do you feel loved (although unfinished)
staring at the sun (one of the few real songs on pop)
gone (great)
please (greater)
if you wear that velvet dress (beautiful)
wake up dead man (strong closer)


discotheque (will always be a stupid piece of shit)
mofo (just noise)
if god will send his angels (could have been a good ballad, but is rather boring on the album)
last night on earth (about as lame as a chorus can get).
miami (just say no)
the playboy mansion (just not very interesting)

i've said it a million times before. pop is a 50/50 album.

 

[PookaMacP]

Pop was the album that got me into U2 ten years ago and while it's different to listen to it now I think it still stands up well. The problem with it is that there are certain moments when it just drops below that extra effort needed to push it to a great album. Still, behind Achtung Baby and Zooropa, my third favourite U2 album.

I still think some space might have been found for I'm Not Your Baby (with Sinead O'Connor), altough I'm not sure when it was finished, or a more complete Holy Joe. Could have taken the latter half of Playboy Mansion and fashioned it into something a bit more interesting, and Gone, while good, never quite lives up to its superb chorus. I think Edge said it always sounded better on acoustic guitar - try it, it sounds superb.

Still, there are some great songs on there. Do You Feel Loved has that great groove, Mofo, well, is Mofo, Staring At The Sun is much better on Pop than on the best of, Last Night On Earth has that great intro that I would have married with the mix from the rest of the single version, while Please is quite simply one of the best songs they've ever written. The album version that is. It's just brilliant. I think the single version just weakens it a bit in the attempt to recreate the live sound.

 

[elevated_u2_fan]

^ I agree with allot of what you say here, I am another fan who did not become a "the U2 guy" as my family, friends and co-workers like to call me, until I heard POP. I was 19 at the time and while I had liked U2 before POP I loved U2 after that...

Because it was the turning point for me personally, I do tend to take it personally when POP gets bashed... I don't really care what people on the forum have to say or even what critics say (although it's true that originally reviews were much more positive)it's the band's attitude that bothers me.

I don't care if you think it's unfinished or not the way you like it, you released it to the public, and in a way it no longer belongs to you, these are my songs now and I have strong associations with almost all of them. I don't know, it's hard to describe I guess...

I do know that this debate will probably never end, which is okay I guess. That is the nature of these type of forums, you have the newbies who show up and want to talk about their thoughts on a subject and you have the regulars who have heard the same argument 100 times over...

 

[Aygo]

do you feel loved (although unfinished)
staring at the sun (one of the few real songs on pop)
gone (great)
please (greater)
if you wear that velvet dress (beautiful)
wake up dead man (strong closer)


discotheque (will always be a stupid piece of shit)
mofo (just noise)
if god will send his angels (could have been a good ballad, but is rather boring on the album)
last night on earth (about as lame as a chorus can get).
miami (just say no)
the playboy mansion (just not very interesting)

i've said it a million times before. pop is a 50/50 album.

Totally disagree...

DYFL: great bassline, great guitar job, good lyrics, it's not unfinished, it's very worked, in fact
Discotheque: good as it is, it's far from being a piece of shit
MOFO: just noise? I can make noises too when I sit my ass in the bathroom
IGWSHA: it's a great mid-tempo ballad, there are more boring songs in U2's catalogue
LNOE: idem
Miami: Yes!
Playboy Mansion: yeah, it's not very interesting, but it's not bad...

 

[Copy]

MOFO: just noise? I can make noises too when I sit my ass in the bathroom

i bet it sounds better than Mofo.

 

[elevated_u2_fan]

i bet it sounds better than Mofo.

Dude, that's a cheap shot...

The lyrics alone redeem this song, regardless of how you feel about it's "sound":


Lookin' for to save my, save my soul
Lookin' in the places where no flowers grow.
Lookin' for to fill that God-shaped hole
Mother, mother-suckin' rock an'roll.

Holy dunce, space junk cominí in for the splash
White dopes on punk staring into the flash.
Lookin' for the baby Jesus under the trash
Mother, mother-suckin' rock an' roll.
Mother. (scat singing)

Mother, am I still your son?
You know I've waited for so long
To hear you say so.

Mother, you left and made me someone.
Now I'm still a child, but no one tells me no.

Lookin' for a sound that's gonna drown out the world.
Lookin' for the father of my two little girls.
Got the swing, got the sway, got my straw in lemonade.
Still lookin' for the face I had before the world was made.
Mother, mother-suckin' rock an' roll

Soothe me, mother
Rule me, father
Move me, brother
Woo me, sister.

Soothe me, mother
Rule me, father
Show me, mother
Show me, mother.

Show me, mother
Show me, mother
Show me, mother
Show me, mother.

Thank you U2.com for the lyrics...

 

[mono]

There's something about Playboy Mansion that I like...At first when I read that it was going to be the name of a track on U2's new CD, I didn't believe it!

 

[gherman]

The problem with POP was the marketing of the whole theme. POP is a bad name and Popmart is even worse. I like it because I get it and what U2 was trying to do... I get the joke. Problem is that the general public didn't get the joke. They were daring with this album and tour. They could have been safe and called it something else and the public probably would have perceived it diferently.