LP15 - We're due for a break from the norm

[The_acrobat]

Originally Posted by Headache in a Suitcase

The vitriol directed at U2 is based on their refusal to get off the stage. It's hurting their legacy with younger generations.

Olds still love the shit out of U2

Precisely! If Led Zep had continued to regularly tour and release music until this very day (in a parallel universe where John Bonham hadn’t died), you wouldn’t see Led Zeppelin posters in every college dorm room across America (even though those kids don’t know more than 10 LZ songs at best). U2 are in a league of their own at this point, no band has ever done this. Even The Rolling Stones have only released 1 album of original music in the past 20 years.

The closest thing to U2 is Bruce, but he seems to have accepted his place in the universe more than U2 have. He knows his new albums aren’t going to have hits.

[Irvine511]

He didn’t know that about Wrecking Ball. My memory is that he was quite disappointed it was ignored.

[mikal]

I just need to say this. The whole "GOOYOW" hate is one of the worst Interference opinions of all time.

[Headache in a Suitcase]

Originally Posted by Irvine511

He didn’t know that about Wrecking Ball. My memory is that he was quite disappointed it was ignored.

He was, and his disappointment is often cited as why he hasn't written since.

[AndrewCowley]

Originally Posted by Headache in a Suitcase

He was, and his disappointment is often cited as why he hasn't written since.

Huh? He released High Hopes not that long after Wrecking Ball.

[Headache in a Suitcase]

Originally Posted by AndrewCowley

Huh? He released High Hopes not that long after Wrecking Ball.

Which was all songs he'd already written and didn't release, with a few covers mixed in.

[brooklynmike]

Originally Posted by HansaTonImbiss

I got about 10 minutes in, hopping around. I turned it off when he called "Lemon" U2's worst song "like...ever. About a stupid car." Is this supposed to be comedy? Installation art? Because the fact these guys think they have the nous to review commercial jingles, let alone recorded music, is hilarious to me.



I'd complain but something tells me no one is paying them to do this.

Yeah the whole thing is pretty bad. I skipped through for about 15 seconds of each song and it was just a bash session.

[brooklynmike]

Originally Posted by Catman

Goddamn they were brutal lol

"U2 are the 'Two and a Half Men' of music."


...yeesh :X

U2 certainly hasn't won any fans over with this record... which is kind of a shame, because I genuinely enjoy the album (I'd rate it about on par w/ Springsteen's, "Wrecking Ball").
Happy (and a bit surprised) to hear they "enjoyed" (i.e. tolerated) The Showman, tho. Quality lil' ditty the band cooked up there

It’s a good album. The shit thrown at it is based out of the usual U2 hate. Supposedly it’s their first time hearing the album, and then they listen for 10 seconds and tell you how it sucks as they talk over it.

One guy says they’ve been overrated since Achtung Baby.

Looks like WGN is running out of content ideas.

[The_acrobat]

Originally Posted by Headache in a Suitcase

He was, and his disappointment is often cited as why he hasn't written since.

Wow, I didn’t realize that. I guess I forgot High Hopes was a bunch of songs that were leftovers.

There’s the famous conversation between Elton John and Billy Joel...
Elton: how come you don’t write any new material?
Billy: how come you do?

Billy knows that nobody gives a shit about new material, people come to his shows to hear the hits. The same is mostly true for Elton. However, Elton feels compelled to record and release new material despite the fact that only his truest fans care anymore.

Bruce no longer needs to release new music in order to tour. Neither do U2. At this point, U2 would sell more tickets if they didn’t play any new material, just the hits. But that’s not what drives them.

[Mac_Fly]

Originally Posted by brooklynmike

Anybody hear this shit? 2 guys 1 Album https://wgnradio.com/2018/07/19/u2-s...eview-podcast/

They make me want to do a show where I talk over them while they talk over the SOE album.

Mostly rambling incoherence while they try to remember what they think they know about U2.

The stretch over Landlady is both horrid and embarrassing.

Why does this show exist? Who is the audience? They aren't comedians, but they try to be.

And I do mean try. Really really really really really really try.

Really.

It's painful.

Though I do agree with their assessment of GOOYOW. I think many fans of U2 would.

[Headache in a Suitcase]

Originally Posted by The_acrobat

Wow, I didn’t realize that. I guess I forgot High Hopes was a bunch of songs that were leftovers.

There’s the famous conversation between Elton John and Billy Joel...
Elton: how come you don’t write any new material?
Billy: how come you do?

Billy knows that nobody gives a shit about new material, people come to his shows to hear the hits. The same is mostly true for Elton. However, Elton feels compelled to record and release new material despite the fact that only his truest fans care anymore.

Bruce no longer needs to release new music in order to tour. Neither do U2. At this point, U2 would sell more tickets if they didn’t play any new material, just the hits. But that’s not what drives them.

I'm upset that Bruce seems to feel that the world doesn't need his voice anymore in regards to new music. Wrecking Ball was a great album (and U2 should take hints from that Album on how to write a fresh, relevant sounding album as an aging performer without trying to pander to "the kids"

Billy Joel is an interesting case. His last album did very well. River Of Dreams was a smash hit. And then he just stopped cold and hasn't even thought of writing another album of pop songs since. I hope at some point he changes his mind. He would be an excellent candidate for the Rick Rubin stripped down elder statesman album, in the vein of Johnny Cash and Neil Diamond.

[superchuk5]

Originally Posted by Headache in a Suitcase

Ok so that's not what I said.

I said their refusal to get off the stage.

Meaning how they still try to push themselves I to the mainstream spotlight with every album release rather than step aside and let someone else have it.

Not trying to be the biggest band in the world anymore doesn't mean they have to stop creating

I see your point. I love the ambition of being the biggest, but would ideally like to see them try that without chasing radio hits.

[superchuk5]

Originally Posted by mikal

I just need to say this. The whole "GOOYOW" hate is one of the worst Interference opinions of all time.

But the AS hate is fine (even if it shockingly rocks live)

[The_acrobat]

Me and AS are cool now. Some of the lyrics are corny as fuck, it's true. But after witnessing it in person in Chicago, it was one of the highlights of the show.

GOOYOW just feels FORCED AS FUCK to me. Even more than Best Thing by a long shot.

[CosmoKramer]

Originally Posted by superchuk5

(even if it shockingly rocks live)

It was one of the highlights of the show for me. Of all SOI/SOE era songs (invisible and Ordinary Love too) performed on tour, it is the best performance!

[CosmoKramer]

Originally Posted by The_acrobat

.



GOOYOW just feels FORCED AS FUCK to me. Even more than Best Thing by a long shot.

Both are forgettable live(l like GOOYOW on the album too) but Best Thing is embarrassingly bad.

How the hell are you going to write and record a pure bumble gum pop song, whose only positives are some of cool layers of sound(God knows the lyrics are "a" dodgy) and the energy ....then remove all those layers of sound so that the lyrics are front and center and take all the energy from the song.

[david]

U2 will cease making new music but will continue to release remixes of Love Is Bigger.. every two months.

[MattD]

Originally Posted by lazarus

I'm not so sure Eno would be interested either at this point. He knows as well as we do that the band is likely to leave great stuff on the cutting room floor and replace it with some late-hour pop crap produced by someone else.

Pretty much this. Tired of their ‘too many cooks’ approach to albums now.

If they get in some bonafide artistic and creative genius, they’ll water it down with some teeny bop crap fodder. I mean, case in points, the decision to hire Will.I.Am for the atrocious I’ll Go Crazy looks like the most pathetic decision ever made by the band. Not only was it utter shite on release, it looks even worse now considering that Will.I.Am is only famous for selling coffee and pizza.

Get one or two proven top class producers who could really push their artistic instincts once more and we’ll be all good. Hell, the idea of doing a Beatles or Bowie and making a top class album of sonic brilliance with no intention of touring it would be my dream - I know all the money is in touring but they don’t need the money thankfully and they should just use that security to once again become the artistic force like they were yesteryear.

[MattD]

Originally Posted by lazarus

That breakdown with the overly-processed guitar and cheesy drum sound right before Edge’s falsetto middle 8 is one of the low points of the band’s career. Pandering pop garbage.

The rest of the song doesn’t bother me.

Yeah I hate that bit too. I remember when U2 would pushed sonic boundaries, nowadays all they do is incorporate cheap chart song gimmicks. Bet Brian Eno is breaking down by furiously grappling his bald dome and laughing hysterically when hearing U2 massacre themselves in the studio like this.

Fuck sake, I mean I expect this type of tawdriness from Coldplay but not U2.

[RoKKeR]

Originally Posted by mikal

My take, and it really remains the same since the album came out, is that it's all about mindset.

I'm generally a glass half full kind of guy, and really, post NLOTH, I'm just so fucking grateful that my all time favorite band is still making music. On the flip side, I know that they'll never reach the heights of '84 - '97, which IMO is their peak. They haven't been there for a while, and that's fine. They're old.

SOI and SOE both have tracks that would poke its way into my top 25, and that's impressive considering their back catalog. "Little Things" is easily top 20. For a band pushing 60, bravo to them.

I understand why some are more critical. That's fine. I just choose to enjoy their music in its current shape and form because the alternative (band breaking up, members dying, etc) is much worse.

A million times this.

As a younger fan, I can't believe how lucky I've been to have seen them live so much since the IE tour fired up. And on top of that we've been treated to two solid albums that have produced some truly fantastic tracks, Little Things being an all time favorite of mine already.

I'll look back on this era extremely fondly.