'Pop' falls from grace IMO

[NHChris]

It's interesting what happens to my opinion of an album after a few subsequent ones come out. I liked 'Pop' when it first came out, but now when I listen to a song like 'MoFo' I can't really believe how badly Bono sounds singing it, and the mix seemed horrible, too. No wonder U2 are thinking of re-recording it! Anyone else share this view?

Chris in NH

 

[Zoots]

umm.... I'm just gonna wait and watch how others respond to this.


Dude... you're really opening a can of worms with this thread in this forum. Prepare to battle some flames!


I Pop. It's my 2nd or 3rd fav.

 

[LJT]

I love all the songs from Pop...but not all the versions on the album...better mixing would i think have helped the album versions but i do not see the point in going back to it...they fixed most of the songs with their single releases and by playing them live...

 

[Axver]

Some of the songs on Pop simply don't work in the studio but sound fantastic live - Discotheque, Mofo, and Please being the most notable cases in point. I find Discotheque to be tacky and even cringeworthy on the album, but the Popmart live versions rock something fierce. Mofo was a stellar concert opener, and let's face it, Please at Popmart Sarajevo is a high point of U2's career.

 

[Irishteen]

Pop
Discotheque-Good but cheesy so =
Do you feel loved- -
Mofo-Depends on Mood =
IGWSHA- +
SATS- +
Last Night On Earth- +
Gone- +(Better on best of)
Miami- =
Playboy Mansion- Great start poor finish =
IYWTVD- Just boring -
Please- Amazing ++
WUDM- Just brillant ++

So overall

2- -
4- =
4- +
2- ++

Half the album is either good or great on every listen, but still U2's weakest

 

[LJT]

Pop

Discotheque ++ live or if the Best of had Boom Chas
Do you feel loved +
Mofo ++++ Just live its a monster brilliant
IGWSHA + Single great
SATS + Single great
Last Night On Earth +++ Amazing Live, single version great too
Gone- +++ Live and best of
Miami + I like it
Playboy Mansion + I like it too...
IYWTVD++++ Jools Holland with Bono version outstanding and live
Please ++ Single good, Live no words for it++++
WUDM ++++ Best version is the album version, though i do not mind it live....

Yay basically i like it all..

 

[neutral]

umm.... I'm just gonna wait and watch how others respond to this.

So am I. Hopefully everyone can control themselves and just keep it civil.

 

[Zoots]

So am I. Hopefully everyone can control themselves.

Did you get my pm?

 

[LJT]

So am I. Hopefully everyone can control themselves.

Just thinking...How to Dismantle and the Pop albums must make you hate being a moderator at times...

 

[#1bonofan]

Pop is a pretty good album but I would call it their weakest by far. I listen to it but not as much as the other albums.

 

[rock888nwo]

my thoughts on pop...
discotheque...very good live
do you feel loved...i dunno, i just love this song
mofo...not a great song by any means, but a cool/interesting song played live
if god will send his angels...ok
staring at the sun...a little better than average song
last night on earth...good live song
gone...great song, period
miami...ugh
playboy mansion...ugh
velvet dress...ugh
please...best song on the album....great live song
wake up dead man...pretty good

overall, id say its an average album, by U2 standards (blows away anyone else's stuff, but im a die hard, crazy u2 fan so what the hell do i know)

 

[AtomicBono]

I think I've made my opinions on Pop pretty apparent.

In case you missed the memo, Pop is my favourite album ever.

So no, I do not share your view.

That is all.

 

[Joshua87]

One song on Pop i skip every time. But the others are just awesome. Possibly my third fav

 

[rjhbonovox]

It's interesting what happens to my opinion of an album after a few subsequent ones come out. I liked 'Pop' when it first came out, but now when I listen to a song like 'MoFo' I can't really believe how badly Bono sounds singing it, and the mix seemed horrible, too. No wonder U2 are thinking of re-recording it! Anyone else share this view?

Chris in NH

Yeah and the mix and production of crap like SYCMIOYO really is that great? Mmmmmm you need to get that cotton wool outta yer ears m8 and listen to Pop again. Mofo sounds great, in fact so does the whole Pop album, hell of a lot better than the dreary crap there churning out these days. About the re-recording of the album, its just typical of the U2 of today to be spouting such crap. I doubt very much that a song like Mofo would survive and actually get on an album that U2 make today especially a U2 that have since gone on to make such "memorable" tunes such as Peace On Earth, Grace, Wild Honey, SYCMIOYO, COBL, All Cos Of U etc........I think they re-release Pop then Mofo will probably be replaced by a cover of Aerosmiths "Don't wanna miss a thing" or Bon Jovi's "Always".......

 

[Zoots]

Re: Re: 'Pop' falls from grace IMO

I think they re-release Pop then Mofo will probably be replaced by a cover of Aerosmiths "Don't wanna miss a thing" or Bon Jovi's "Always".......

The guy is entertaining, I gotta hand it to him.

 

[Joshua87]

It's interesting what happens to my opinion of an album after a few subsequent ones come out. I liked 'Pop' when it first came out, but now when I listen to a song like 'MoFo' I can't really believe how badly Bono sounds singing it, and the mix seemed horrible, too. No wonder U2 are thinking of re-recording it! Anyone else share this view?

Chris in NH

I think the worn tone of Bonos voice actually feeds the mood of the album perfectly, i couldnt imagine him soaring all over the place during a song like mofo.

 

[Achtung Joshua!]

POP is way better than ATYCLB but it's still at the lower end of the U2 spectrum.

 

[discothequeLP]

i really really love pop! some great big-hitting songs on this album!


Discotheque -- 4/5
Do You Feel Loved -- 4/5; great live, awesome outro!
Mofo - 4/5
If God Will Send His Angels -- 3/5; worst song on the album
Staring at the Sun -- 4/5; really cool guitar
Last Night on Earth -- 4/5
Gone -- 6/5; awesome song! the piano is realy really damn good, why dont they use it live?!
Miami -- 4/5; personal favourite for me
The Playboy Mansion -- 4/5
If You Wear That Velvet Dress -- 4/5
Please -- 5/5; awesome. that bassline for the last chorus is AMAZING.
Wake Up Dead Man -- 5/5; love the guitar


that stretch in the middle of SaTS, LNoE, Gone, and Miami, is great

 

[RocknRollKitty]

I am that little kid in the Emperor's New Clothes. I could always see what it was, never liked it, and it sounds even worse today than it did then. However, it's now eight years old, and it doesn't matter. There are those that defend it with their life and insult anyone who doesn't like it as being incompetant. There are those who just don't care. I believe the band is among those who just don't care. They have moved on, what a shame some fans can't. I guess having a 100 million dollar fortune makes you too happy with other things to even care what people think of some old album.

 

[LJT]

I am that little kid in the Emperor's New Clothes. I could always see what it was, never liked it, and it sounds even worse today than it did then. However, it's now eight years old, and it doesn't matter. There are those that defend it with their life and insult anyone who doesn't like it as being incompetant. There are those who just don't care. I believe the band is among those who just don't care. They have moved on, what a shame some fans can't. I guess having a 100 million dollar fortune makes you too happy with other things to even care what people think of some old album.

the band care enough to consider re-recording it, they like the songs on the album just not the way the album works itself.....i liked the album before i knew anything about it being unfinished or how it was received critically etc

It is fine if you dislike it...but the band certainly do not hate or even dislike the album itself, it just did not do want they wanted it to do....they corrected lots of what they thought was wrong with it live and in single releases....

I do not agree with a lot of the insulting that some people give in to...but i think the likes of Atomic Bono, Zootlesque and NamKcur are all reasonable people willing to let others have their own opinions and they all love this album...

I love Pop and How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb..i defend both

 

[one4u2]

Do you feel loved
Gone
Staring at the sun
Wake Up Dead Man (live)

 

[RocknRollKitty]

I'm not saying the band hate it, only that they probably don't really care as much as some fans do. And if they do rerecord it, that proves they were not happy with it. I can understand how any artist would want their work to be something they could leave to posterity as something to be proud of. Whatever they do is up to them.

 

[LJT]

I'm not saying the band hate it, only that they probably don't really care as much as some fans do. And if they do rerecord it, that proves they were not happy with it. I can understand how any artist would want their work to be something they could leave to posterity as something to be proud of. Whatever they do is up to them.

Oh yeh it is entirely up to the band and i personally do not see the point in them going back to it(as i said they have already made the corrections withe live performances, best of Pop songs and single versions)..i see it myself as an album that is greatly underrated...

Some people like its slightly rawer unfinished state me i would not rate the album so highly unless there was the live performances and single release's...but i believe them to be great songs..

the band have moved on like they always have after an album...and i kinda believe Pop was a bit ahead of its time...if released now i think it would garner much more praise...anyway on it's first week of release most critics loved it, it was only with the unrehearsed start of the Popmart tour that critics began to turn on it...

 

[wolfeden]

as a recorded album? meh...
as the songs evolved from being played live over and over and over? some are fucking brilliant. please, gone, wake up dead man....

ps. how you surviving this new england heat wave, neighbor?

 

[NHChris]

as a recorded album? meh...
as the songs evolved from being played live over and over and over? some are fucking brilliant. please, gone, wake up dead man....

ps. how you surviving this new england heat wave, neighbor?

Well, as the person that started this thread I was warned that I'd get tarred & feathered. But on balance I think more people sided with me on this one. To make a distinction clear here that I didn't make in my original post: the songs are good, but the execution on the album wasn't. That the band is considering another go at recording it (a good idea, but it'll never happen) reinforces that. Why go through the time and expense of re-doing bad songs?

 

[GibsonGirl]

I love Pop and How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb..i defend both

Same.

 

[LJT]

Same.

we are on an uneasy middle ground ahh well at least we get to enjoy it all rather than one or the other