Pop-Most under-rated album?

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Zoocoustic said:
Pop was a better album than the critics would lead us to believe, but is not nearly the album this forum hypes it up to be.

but this forum, in a few "survivor" threads and just normal polls, rates POP right in the middle of all U2 albums (and I agree with that rating)... what is wrong with that?...
 
bathiu said:


but this forum, in a few "survivor" threads and just normal polls, rates POP right in the middle of all U2 albums (and I agree with that rating)... what is wrong with that?...

Nothing is wrong with that.

But this forum has a very skewed perception of U2, for obvious reasons.

We can't understand why the world reacted the way it did to Pop, and yet if we really step back and look at the big picture, the world should be confused by the way WE reacted to it.
 
Zoocoustic said:
Pop was a better album than the critics would lead us to believe, but is not nearly the album this forum hypes it up to be.

The main problem with Pop is that there are no immediately catchy songs. The songs require many repeated listens to fully appreciate. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, but we have to remember that the casual music listener is looking for a catchy hook. Whether you like it or not, the casual listener drives sales, radio play, and often times, impacts critical acclaim.

Pop is not a bad album, but its lack of accessibility to the general masses makes it the type of album that will always be greeted with two very divided camps.

I sort of disagree. I think Pop is a lot more accessible than, say, Zooropa. There isn't anything like Zooropa or Numb or Some Days on there - Pop is, at its heart, a rock album. Not dance. Not techno. Not pop. Rock. Discotheque? Loved it the first time I heard it. That riff is undeniable. I've played Disco for a few of my friends that aren't U2 fans and they all liked it (and trust me, they would tell me if they didn't, they love making fun of U2 :p). Also, Staring at the Sun is practically a pop song (which makes sense, considering it's on an album called Pop :wink: ). Last Night on Earth is a catchy rock song. Do You Feel Loved has that killer bassline. I don't think Pop is as abstract or "out there" as some people make it out to be. I think it's simply taste. It's not about "not getting it," it's about it being either the kind of music you like or not the kind of music you like. But I guess I'm kind of different because I loved at least half the album the first time I heard it, while it seems other people hated it the first time but it slowly grew on them with repeated listenings. It does grow on you, certainly, and one of the brilliant things about it is there's so much going on. I notice some new little sound practically every time I listen to it. But for some people it's simply not within their realm of taste, and that's fine. If you've given it a proper try and don't like it, then you shouldn't have to. It's just the people who haven't even listened to the whole thing but hate it because of what they've read that irritate me.
 
LemonMacPhisto said:
Passengers

GOOD CALL!!!!!

If we're allowed to classify this as a U2 album (and we're not, but fuck the rules), then you win the grand prize. Well-played, indeed.

Love it or hate it, it's totally underrated...and MUCH moreso than any other "U2" album. No bones about it.
 
Not catchy? Discotheque, Do You Fell Loved, Staring At the Sun (!!!!), Last Night on Earth?!?!?

As Atomic Bono says, this album is not abstract at all. I think it only just qualifies as 'experimental' as they were experimenting with a sound/technology or whatever, but it's a straight up, balls out, half rockin'/half chillin', very simply structured album.

Pop is criminaly underated in opinion. Not in initial critics response, but future throwaway lines. You know, every U2 article has a little "....after the setback of Pop" line in there. That works into peoples minds.

Pop isn't overrated in here, it is just passionately fought for. Most people in here who champion it happily accept it's production problems etc, but I think are just blowing steam at the general perception "out there" about this album, which is sometimes echoed by a few people in here, and I swear, if Lord Bono ever gets up there and says "No, fuck that, Pop is a fucking outstanding album" about half of those would change their minds. I love watching albums/songs romp up and down the charts here based on Bonos latest opinions.

I don't care if you don't like Pop, this is a very diverse band and Mofo is a long long way from With or Without You, I just hate it if you don't like it along one of the fictitious lines.
 
Earnie Shavers said:
Not catchy? Discotheque, Do You Fell Loved, Staring At the Sun (!!!!), Last Night on Earth?!?!?

As Atomic Bono says, this album is not abstract at all. I think it only just qualifies as 'experimental' as they were experimenting with a sound/technology or whatever, but it's a straight up, balls out, half rockin'/half chillin', very simply structured album.

Pop is criminaly underated in opinion. Not in initial critics response, but future throwaway lines. You know, every U2 article has a little "....after the setback of Pop" line in there. That works into peoples minds.

Pop isn't overrated in here, it is just passionately fought for. Most people in here who champion it happily accept it's production problems etc, but I think are just blowing steam at the general perception "out there" about this album, which is sometimes echoed by a few people in here, and I swear, if Lord Bono ever gets up there and says "No, fuck that, Pop is a fucking outstanding album" about half of those would change their minds. I love watching albums/songs romp up and down the charts here based on Bonos latest opinions.

I don't care if you don't like Pop, this is a very diverse band and Mofo is a long long way from With or Without You, I just hate it if you don't like it along one of the fictitious lines.

A-fuckin-men my friend. The "throwaway" lines you speak of - so true. Almost every article about U2's career has some quick negative thing to say about Pop.

As for Bono, he may say the word "unfinished" a lot, but when asked about individual songs on Pop he seems pretty enthusiastic. It would be nice if U2 would say "Hey, you know what, Pop is fucking awesome, who cares if it was unfinished." maybe we'll get that someday. maybe.

Basing your opinion's off Bono's is a bad idea, he changes his mind every two seconds :wink:
 
RocknRollKitty said:
I don't see any of the Bomb/ATYCLB bashers being called 'trolls.' Calling me a 'troll' makes this thread negative, it wasn't until then.
that's because this isn't a thread about either of those albums? i just love that argument that essentially there's some sort of bias here. whatever, there's not. just the other day i was telling someone they were being unfairly harsh on the 00s era but i didn't call them a troll because they weren't. it was in a thread they'd started and they weren't spewing off insults such as comparing either album to a retarded child. jesus, how much more insulting can you be? you say i'm being negative for calling you a troll? comparing an album to a retarded child as if that's a bad thing is just awful.

and you made this thread take a negative turn as soon as you came in here and started spewing off such rude insults like that. i don't care if you're a mod elsewhere, that shit doesn't fly here. sure negative comments in this thread are allowed, but nothing derogatory or insulting. you definitely crossed a line.
 
I don't know who's site this is, but I often refer to it in situations such as this:
http://www.femgeeks.net/sunrazor/pop.htm

Irishteen said:
Pop is under rated by critics, and over rated by people here
It's definitely underrated by critics, and even by U2 themselves, which is quite sad.

Overrated here? Possibly maybe..

We definitely defend it. Know why? Because we love it, and the fact that so many people, even U2 fans, even U2, seem to not appreciate it hurts us.
Pop has it's flaws, but I even love it's flaws. I mean, sure it'd be nice if the music wasn't almost completely drowning out Bono's voice in some places, but that's my only complaint. I fell in love with that album, flaws and all, and I'd hate to see it rerecorded. I don't even like the new mixes (and the single version of Please really bothers me for some reason, which is a pity, because I like the video).
On a broader spectrum, doesn't it bother all of us when people bash U2? And don't we defend them again and again?
It's the same with any U2 album. Bash Pop, and I'll defend it. And when I come along and bash ATYCLB, go on and defend it, I expect you to :wink:

Pop is lyrically one of U2's strongest albums. It's up there with The Joshua Tree, and that can't be denied.
But one thing I don't agree with is that Pop is a dance album. While the electronic presence is there in a lot of songs, Pop is a rock album. You can dance to about 30% of it. That's probably only about a little bit more than the danceability of Achtung Baby.
The beauty of Pop is that it's anything but "pop". As Bono himself put it, "Pop is fucking black". There's definitely nothing sweet about songs like IGWSHA, Gone, Please, and WUDM. Even upbeat songs like LNOE and Mofo have these darker elements underneath.

I think the reason we defend Pop so vehemently is because we see such beauty in it, and we wish other people could get over whatever stigma they have against it and see the beauty. To us, it's gold, and everyone that can't see that is missing out on something great, and that makes us sad.
 
Last edited:
I ove everything that Dreamoutloud just said....

In my opinion...Pop is not exactly overrated....it's more or less just loved so much it gets talked about way too much...

Then again....talk about pop as much as you want, because
LNOE :love:
IGWSHA :love:
Discotheque :love:
and
Please:drool:

BOOM-cha Baby!
 
Final Straw said:
I hate the way Pop is constantly put down in the media as a 'weak' effort. Personally, i think its.............Fucking Amazing.
Okay, it might have 'some' flaws but the core of the album is still great.

Any album which has Do You Feel Loved,If God Will Send His Angels,Staring At The Sun,Last Night On Earth,Gone,Please and Wake Up Dead Man is a great album. Even by U2's standards.
Any thoughts?


(PS: Soz if this has been done a thousand times already:( )

I agree! Screw what the media thinks!:madspit:
 
KhanadaRhodes said:

that's because this isn't a thread about either of those albums?

And when it is, nobody gets called negative/basher, they only get defended as 'having a right to their opinion.' Well, so do I.


and you made this thread take a negative turn as soon as you came in here and started spewing off such rude insults like that. i don't care if you're a mod elsewhere, that shit doesn't fly here. sure negative comments in this thread are allowed, but nothing derogatory or insulting. you definitely crossed a line.

My 'shit' doesn't 'fly' here? That's all a matter of bias, yours. I was only giving my honest opinion as everyone else did. Please check all these recent "Pop" related threads for 'trolling' by me, there is not one post by me in ANY of them so you can't say I go around trolling!

http://forum.interference.com/showthread.php?threadid=154103&perpage=15&pagenumber=1

http://forum.interference.com/t154255.html

http://forum.interference.com/t154113.html


Then there's the latest PLEBA Pop thread in which I posted pics like everyone else:

http://forum.interference.com/t152427.html

Yes, I think you are being too harsh on me because of your personal bias. When I said 'retarded child' I meant it gets defended by people who feel the need to fight harder for something they love but it's least loved by others and it hurts them. And I've been called worse than that here on this board by several members and you did nothing to stop it, and I'm a person, not a fucking album.
 
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