onyourkneesboy
The Fly
- Joined
- Sep 23, 2004
- Messages
- 244
Although U2 is my favourite band ever and has been for many years, it's getting harder and harder for me to keep loyal to them all the way.
To me, their nonchalance and their eagerness to wanting to appeal to the masses have become a problem that I can not deny.
Introducing HTDAAB and it's first single Vertigo, U2 used shitloads of swagger and blah-blah to be heard by the masses. It is known that they, again like with ATYCLB, wanted to be the biggest of the biggest !! Again...!
Well, of course they are! But for years now the music starts to suffer with this attitude.
First of: I know that when you have a new album you have to use some media/advertising to let people know it's out there. But the way U2 uses the media nowadays is one step away from: "Along with your Happy-Meal comes the new U2-single: Original Of The Species !!"
I'm getting bored with Bono's blah-blah about U2 still wanting to be the best, the biggest, and so on...Bono: shut up!!, and just MAKE great music! Don't talk about it! Get your ass FULL TIME in the studio and CREATE with the boys extraordinary music like you've done in the years before! Create landscapes, atmospheres…
I admire you for your spirit and effort for the good cause, but the music suffers from it! And I'm already aware that you've got life all figured out and have al lot of expensive sunglasses and friends. It’s seems all to be about posing now: looking cool, know how to look when you talk, all those little “Robbie Williams-like manners” Come on man, focus on the music! Get mysterious again, epic, poetic, ambient, take your fans on a ride like in the old days with new music!
I think people nowadays hunger for some imagination, getting sucked into landscapes, atmospheres in music, not only sincerity. Don't we all want to hear a band that doesn't give a shit if the new CD sells, but want to make a record that is original, experimental and is not written for the masses. Like The Unforgettable Fire, Achtung Baby and Zooropa were. Bono said about HTDAAB: "I want every song to sound like it could be released as a single.." Man, with this attitude in the songwriting-proces they tend to shift towards sounding like Bon Jovi.
U2 should focus on making surprising, artistically interesting songs again that come from another place like: Tomorrow, The Unforgettable Fire, Bad, In God's Country, Love Comes Tumbling, Walk To The Water (talking about a gem!), The Fly, Acrobat, Until The End Of The World, Lemon, Heartland, Love Is Blindness, Please, When I Look At The World, Mercy…
These song are creative, emotional in a subtle way, multi-layered, spiritual, and come from places out of this world. While, except for Yahweh and A Man And A Woman!, the songs on HTDAAB sound like everyday life. Down to earth, to straight-on, flat, plain lyrics, no surprises, so therefore less interesting and not long lasting as the earlier albums full of gems, and not full of "hit-singles"!
More and more you hear people getting bored with U2 because they don't tickle the listeners imagination anymore en don't delve into unknown territory. I'm afraid right now they've fallen into the trap of being the biggest, therefore pleasing the masses who might as well go to a Rolling Stones-concert. Come on man, I want my favourite band to sound the way that doesn't attract a Rolling Stones audience. U2 should not sell out and become they're on tribute-band !
Quote's from another forum:
.."Their latest album (which is a very good album btw) suffered from "lazy songwriting." C'mon, are you really going to say Vertigo is... fresh. The riff is cool... I'll say that, but it's almost like Elevation. The way the bridge takes the song down, and then busts right back into the chorus... it's Elevation verbatim, but just a different melody. How many times does Bono rhyme 'steal' and 'kneel' on 'Bomb, and let's not forget "I'll give you EVERYTHING that you want/except the THING that you want". Look, I don't care what sales have to say. 'Bomb isn't progressive. It's dried up.
Bono: Bring back the metaphors and deep lyrics. Edge: Bring back the sonic sounds and soaring guitar solos. It's time to venture into deeper, daring and perhaps darker territory on the next album."
I'm afraid I a have to agree on these quotes.
Further on: Miracle Drug has the sound, chords and structure of Beautiful Day, City Of Blinding Lights the most predictable, cheesy song ever by U2, All Because Of You is like Rolling Stones and still they didn’t nail this song, just boring rock-and-roll for elderly men, One Step Closer has nice lyrics but: yawn…boring, Crumbs is a straight copy from Walk On (talking about lazy songwriting!) Anyway, 8 out of 11 songs have major problems!
The songs nowadays have no unpredictable chord-sequences, special atmosphere, or poetic lyrics. It’s good songs but down to the ground.
The point is: many years ago U2 was a young band who wanted to make music no one ever heard before: spontaneous, passionate, spiritual and while trying they achieved this but they weren’t aware of it at the time. They were half in the shadow, half in the light. One could hear that creating extraordinary music was their obsession. They were full-time passionately attached to this obsession. Nowadays they can’t/want seem to reach that point anymore. The last 2 albums are good, with good songs on them. But not more than that. 85% is indeed dry and one-dimensional.
Now that they have the attitude: “o.k., we now know how to write a good song, so listen what we got!” (with a lot of swagger). Sorry Bono, you can scream to the world that City Of Blinding Lights is one of the best songs ever, but it’s nowhere near Streets, Unforgettable or Please!! And I think he knows it.
The more a song or album lacks this magic, the more he brags about it, and feels he has to back it up with a lot of noise and blah-blah…Everybody knows that by now Bono! It’s so see-through…
But I’m still waiting for a great return of my favourite band. And I’m convinced when they keep a few things in mind, we’ll hear them as we never heard them before, full of surprises. A few things that could help them:
1. take risks musically (like in the AB and Zooropa-era)
2. forget about wanting to be the biggest, best or whatever!
3. in songwriting: search for weird, unknown territory, dark/light sounds, dark/light landscapes
4. forget about: “how do we appeal to the largest number of listeners/audience”
5. forget about: “how do we play this live?”
6. forget the down-to-earth thing: get the passion and the poetry back
7. u2 is a 6-member band: get Eno and Lanois back for the atmosphere and special moods, the colour, the melody, the extra push for the surprises
8. Bono: be there 100% when it comes to the writing process. In the studio, FULL TIME, with the others all the time! Stimulate each other! Fight, argue, experiment, whatever but look for new grounds!
It’s going to be hard labour again for them. Like UF and AB were… But man, what a result! And I think they can pull it of again. They just need to forget their ego’s and giganticness for a while!
So now, you can all burn me down and nag that this is just another bashing-thread... Or nit-pick about what words are being used… Or that I sound intolerant or whatever, that’s all fine.. That’s just what I expect and that’s what always happens, but I can take it. .
I’m more curious if there is ANYONE who dares to step forward and dares to say he agrees with me. Even if it’s just to some extend.….That’s why I wrote this thread.
It’s not about bashing... I’m just being very critical en maybe a little (too) sharp, but that’s because I care so much! I KNOW they can do better, although the last 2 albums are quite good. But it lacks that little extra…
Well?
To me, their nonchalance and their eagerness to wanting to appeal to the masses have become a problem that I can not deny.
Introducing HTDAAB and it's first single Vertigo, U2 used shitloads of swagger and blah-blah to be heard by the masses. It is known that they, again like with ATYCLB, wanted to be the biggest of the biggest !! Again...!
Well, of course they are! But for years now the music starts to suffer with this attitude.
First of: I know that when you have a new album you have to use some media/advertising to let people know it's out there. But the way U2 uses the media nowadays is one step away from: "Along with your Happy-Meal comes the new U2-single: Original Of The Species !!"
I'm getting bored with Bono's blah-blah about U2 still wanting to be the best, the biggest, and so on...Bono: shut up!!, and just MAKE great music! Don't talk about it! Get your ass FULL TIME in the studio and CREATE with the boys extraordinary music like you've done in the years before! Create landscapes, atmospheres…
I admire you for your spirit and effort for the good cause, but the music suffers from it! And I'm already aware that you've got life all figured out and have al lot of expensive sunglasses and friends. It’s seems all to be about posing now: looking cool, know how to look when you talk, all those little “Robbie Williams-like manners” Come on man, focus on the music! Get mysterious again, epic, poetic, ambient, take your fans on a ride like in the old days with new music!
I think people nowadays hunger for some imagination, getting sucked into landscapes, atmospheres in music, not only sincerity. Don't we all want to hear a band that doesn't give a shit if the new CD sells, but want to make a record that is original, experimental and is not written for the masses. Like The Unforgettable Fire, Achtung Baby and Zooropa were. Bono said about HTDAAB: "I want every song to sound like it could be released as a single.." Man, with this attitude in the songwriting-proces they tend to shift towards sounding like Bon Jovi.
U2 should focus on making surprising, artistically interesting songs again that come from another place like: Tomorrow, The Unforgettable Fire, Bad, In God's Country, Love Comes Tumbling, Walk To The Water (talking about a gem!), The Fly, Acrobat, Until The End Of The World, Lemon, Heartland, Love Is Blindness, Please, When I Look At The World, Mercy…
These song are creative, emotional in a subtle way, multi-layered, spiritual, and come from places out of this world. While, except for Yahweh and A Man And A Woman!, the songs on HTDAAB sound like everyday life. Down to earth, to straight-on, flat, plain lyrics, no surprises, so therefore less interesting and not long lasting as the earlier albums full of gems, and not full of "hit-singles"!
More and more you hear people getting bored with U2 because they don't tickle the listeners imagination anymore en don't delve into unknown territory. I'm afraid right now they've fallen into the trap of being the biggest, therefore pleasing the masses who might as well go to a Rolling Stones-concert. Come on man, I want my favourite band to sound the way that doesn't attract a Rolling Stones audience. U2 should not sell out and become they're on tribute-band !
Quote's from another forum:
.."Their latest album (which is a very good album btw) suffered from "lazy songwriting." C'mon, are you really going to say Vertigo is... fresh. The riff is cool... I'll say that, but it's almost like Elevation. The way the bridge takes the song down, and then busts right back into the chorus... it's Elevation verbatim, but just a different melody. How many times does Bono rhyme 'steal' and 'kneel' on 'Bomb, and let's not forget "I'll give you EVERYTHING that you want/except the THING that you want". Look, I don't care what sales have to say. 'Bomb isn't progressive. It's dried up.
Bono: Bring back the metaphors and deep lyrics. Edge: Bring back the sonic sounds and soaring guitar solos. It's time to venture into deeper, daring and perhaps darker territory on the next album."
I'm afraid I a have to agree on these quotes.
Further on: Miracle Drug has the sound, chords and structure of Beautiful Day, City Of Blinding Lights the most predictable, cheesy song ever by U2, All Because Of You is like Rolling Stones and still they didn’t nail this song, just boring rock-and-roll for elderly men, One Step Closer has nice lyrics but: yawn…boring, Crumbs is a straight copy from Walk On (talking about lazy songwriting!) Anyway, 8 out of 11 songs have major problems!
The songs nowadays have no unpredictable chord-sequences, special atmosphere, or poetic lyrics. It’s good songs but down to the ground.
The point is: many years ago U2 was a young band who wanted to make music no one ever heard before: spontaneous, passionate, spiritual and while trying they achieved this but they weren’t aware of it at the time. They were half in the shadow, half in the light. One could hear that creating extraordinary music was their obsession. They were full-time passionately attached to this obsession. Nowadays they can’t/want seem to reach that point anymore. The last 2 albums are good, with good songs on them. But not more than that. 85% is indeed dry and one-dimensional.
Now that they have the attitude: “o.k., we now know how to write a good song, so listen what we got!” (with a lot of swagger). Sorry Bono, you can scream to the world that City Of Blinding Lights is one of the best songs ever, but it’s nowhere near Streets, Unforgettable or Please!! And I think he knows it.
The more a song or album lacks this magic, the more he brags about it, and feels he has to back it up with a lot of noise and blah-blah…Everybody knows that by now Bono! It’s so see-through…
But I’m still waiting for a great return of my favourite band. And I’m convinced when they keep a few things in mind, we’ll hear them as we never heard them before, full of surprises. A few things that could help them:
1. take risks musically (like in the AB and Zooropa-era)
2. forget about wanting to be the biggest, best or whatever!
3. in songwriting: search for weird, unknown territory, dark/light sounds, dark/light landscapes
4. forget about: “how do we appeal to the largest number of listeners/audience”
5. forget about: “how do we play this live?”
6. forget the down-to-earth thing: get the passion and the poetry back
7. u2 is a 6-member band: get Eno and Lanois back for the atmosphere and special moods, the colour, the melody, the extra push for the surprises
8. Bono: be there 100% when it comes to the writing process. In the studio, FULL TIME, with the others all the time! Stimulate each other! Fight, argue, experiment, whatever but look for new grounds!
It’s going to be hard labour again for them. Like UF and AB were… But man, what a result! And I think they can pull it of again. They just need to forget their ego’s and giganticness for a while!
So now, you can all burn me down and nag that this is just another bashing-thread... Or nit-pick about what words are being used… Or that I sound intolerant or whatever, that’s all fine.. That’s just what I expect and that’s what always happens, but I can take it. .
I’m more curious if there is ANYONE who dares to step forward and dares to say he agrees with me. Even if it’s just to some extend.….That’s why I wrote this thread.
It’s not about bashing... I’m just being very critical en maybe a little (too) sharp, but that’s because I care so much! I KNOW they can do better, although the last 2 albums are quite good. But it lacks that little extra…
Well?
) that fill both categories. IMO, for U2 this isn't just about making 'experimental' music that us die-hard fans would eat up -- it's about being the biggest rock band in the world. they've wanted to do that since they started the band, and i don't think that goal is holding them back now. . . it never has.
rehashing threads.
