Rate the Song: Moment of Surrender

[digitize]

It is hard to believe, but we are now moving onto the first round of voting for U2's latest album, No Line on the Horizon.

Please rate Moment of Surrender on a scale from 0 to 10, using whatever criteria you feel allows you to best evaluate the song as a whole. I will not set criteria for people to based on, but if you feel like your best evaluation of the merits of a song comes from voting only based on, say, the studio version, go right ahead and vote that way. Full information on the Rate The Song series may be found in this thread.

Have fun! This poll will close in 96 hours.

 

[Globo14]

8. Great song, but sometimes it seems to drag a little. I didn't really like it as a closer.

 

[The Panther]

I don't like this song (ducks and runs for cover). The chord change to the chorus is nice... but I can't find any other element of the tune that I like. Bono's voice has rarely been worse recorded -- sounding old, tired, and shrill. The lyrical subject-matter is standard U2-isms, which is fine, but the approach is heavy-handed and fairly unaffecting. It's all I can do to physically stay awake to the end of the song, as it lacks all the ebb and flow (and musical tension, which is non-existent) of superior "long" tracks like 'Bad' or 'Please'.

An interesting song, a pleasant (if overlong) diversion... but I am baffled as to its huge appeal to the fanbase and seemingly to U2 themselves (although I highly doubt we'll hear it live again).

 

[mikal]

 

[Nick66]

Without a doubt the best song on the record, easily their best 00's song, and probably the best thing U2 has done post-Joshua Tree. And IMO, one of the three best songs they've ever crafted.

Love everything about it. It manages to be an epic, but unlike COBL (which I also love) does it without trying to recreate Streets. But amidst the epic sound of the track, the lyrics still manage to remain intensely personal, and even the famous ATM line works given the first-person nature of the lyric. Edge channels David Gilmour in perhaps the most heart breaking solo of his career.

Spaciously beautiful, I can't think of a way this song could be better, and as a closer at 360 it was simply chill inducing...especially the version on Wide Awake in Europe, which is definitive.

It gets a rare perfect score from me. To paraphrase Mozart, it has not one more or note less than it needs.

Flawless sublimity.

10.

 

[Tyagu_Anaykus]

Perfect

 

[RioRhodes]

Can you change my vote to an 8? I gave it a 9, whoops!

Good and great on the NLOTH scale but not great on the scale of general U2 songs for me. But still I do enjoy it. Probably too long, could have been more effective with some of it cut out.

 

[mad1]

beautiful. gave it a 10.
when Bono says (during 360 live) about our wee world and some people just tryin to hang on, I feel like one of those people.

but its a beautiful song, and bono's voice for the first line live is amazing!

 

[LadySpinHead]

I haven't connected with this song like so many others have, in fact I didn't like it at all when I first heard it, but it has very slowly grown on me a bit. It's a song that I wish I liked more than I actually do. Maybe someday it will sneak up on me an grab me, but for now it's a 7.

 

[trojanchick99]

I really like the song alot. But some of those lyrics make me cringe a bit. I did really love it as a closer.

 

[God Part III]

This is where it's at.

 

[trevgreg]

I've said before it's probably their most ambitious song in a long time, which I always liked about it. It has grown on me in the time since then too. I don't think it's one of their best ever necessarily, but it's a solid one. 8.

 

[nielsgov]

This song is epic. It's Bono's most passionate vocal in a long time and that does a lot. The song is beautiful but dark at the same time. And then Edge's solo takes it to an even higher level. 10

 

[Diemen]

Without a doubt the best song on the record, easily their best 00's song, and probably the best thing U2 has done post-Joshua Tree. And IMO, one of the three best songs they've ever crafted.

Love everything about it. It manages to be an epic, but unlike COBL (which I also love) does it without trying to recreate Streets. But amidst the epic sound of the track, the lyrics still manage to remain intensely personal, and even the famous ATM line works given the first-person nature of the lyric. Edge channels David Gilmour in perhaps the most heart breaking solo of his career.

Spaciously beautiful, I can't think of a way this song could be better, and as a closer at 360 it was simply chill inducing...especially the version on Wide Awake in Europe, which is definitive.

It gets a rare perfect score from me. To paraphrase Mozart, it has not one more or note less than it needs.

Flawless sublimity.

10.

Well said. At first I thought it was interesting but it didn't really grab me. Then I listened to it a couple times after watching Brian Eno discuss it's creation (when Brian Eno waxes poetic about how special a song's creation was, it forces me to pay attention a bit more, I don't know about you...), and it just clicked.

Completely agree with the note-perfect assessment.

 

[Galeongirl]

It took me a long time, but in the summer of 2010 it finally connected to me. Man. I've been addicted ever since. Perfection at its finest form.

 

[corianderstem]

When I first saw it was over 7 minutes long, I was worried.

But even on first listen, it didn't feel like it was over 7 minutes, which is a very good thing.

Beautifully done.

 

[Nick66]

Then I listened to it a couple times after watching Brian Eno discuss it's creation (when Brian Eno waxes poetic about how special a song's creation was, it forces me to pay attention a bit more, I don't know about you...), and it just clicked.

When Eno speaks, everyone listens. Especially U2. When they don't, bad things happen.

Just hearing him talk about music...and the NLOTH that might have been, is inspiring.

 

[Nick66]

When I first saw it was over 7 minutes long, I was worried.

That's funny...because when I saw that, it was the thing I was most excited about for NLOTH. I was SO hoping for epic tracks like that after the relatively pedestrian nature of Bomb.

On this song at least, they delivered.

 

[LemonMelon]

The only 10 I've given out to 00s U2, and it earns every damn point. It's only grown on me over the years, after initially being an enveloping but glacial curiosity. It helped me through shitty times the way many great U2 songs have. The last 30 seconds or so are among my favorite U2 moments of all time. Fucking powerful.

 

[mama cass]

it's ok i guess

 

[lemonfly]

One of the (very) few times in the 00's that U2 went somewhere completely different - musically, spiritually, lyrically. They took a real gamble, they rolled the dice, and it pays off handsomely. One of the top five U2 songs of all time, there's no doubt about that.
An otherworldly, ethereal ice sculpture of a masterpiece. After a dry wasteland of a decade, this song renewed my faith in them. A mandatory 10.

 

[prbiker15]

Although it ended the U2360 shows on a "down note", it was a damn beautiful closer. The studio version - plain beautiful. Some of the lyrics are terrible, but it's just a beautiful song. I seriously go in a trance throughout this 7 minute track. One of my favorite songs on NLOTH. Amazing tune. 10.

 

[BlueSilkenSky]

8. I always thought it was a little too long... but it's gorgeous.

Side note- voting in these most recent rounds has made me realize I love NLOTH a lot more than I thought I did.

 

[theedgeu2]

Didn't hit me right off the bat (like much of NLOTH) but it's slowly grown on me. It can kinda drag at points but I like how it manages to not be boring, being over 7 minutes long. I like the whole message about finding yourself at the moment of surrender and folding to your knees and giving yourself to God. That's my interpretation. One song I can relate to. 9.

 

[cobl04]

I hate to give it a 9, but it does drag slightly in spots. The choruses are to die for however, and I think it's Bono's best vocal in a long time.

 

[An Cat Gav]

Great song, even Bono's screech vocals can't ruin it! The first two minutes or so have some of the nost beautiful melodies and instrumentaion that U2/eno/lanois have made in ages!
Love it.
10

Didn't work for me live though, just became dull. To my ears it's one of the worst concert closing songs they've ever had, worst part of the 360 show.

 

[Aardvark747]

A long time to grow on me, and now I think it's the best on the album. 9

 

[The Sad Punk]

Wondering if I should bump off a point for "ATM machine".

Nah, fuck it. Still gets a 10.

 

[The Panther]

When Eno speaks, everyone listens. Especially U2. When they don't, bad things happen.

Just hearing him talk about music...and the NLOTH that might have been, is inspiring.

Personally, I find Eno to be a pretentious wind-bag, but to each his own. He has obviously had some good effects on some (already established) artists, so fair play to him, but I don't particularly like him or what he says. Mind you, I don't think he's the Anti-Christ, as James Dean Bradfield of Manic Street Preachers does...

 

[Nick66]

Personally, I find Eno to be a pretentious wind-bag, but to each his own. He has obviously had some good effects on some (already established) artists, so fair play to him, but I don't particularly like him or what he says. Mind you, I don't think he's the Anti-Christ, as James Dean Bradfield of Manic Street Preachers does...

Fair enough...to each her own. I think U2 is a different band w/o Eno (and Lanois)...and not for the better. The impact he's had on them has been immeasurable, and obviously a good number of U2 classics wouldn't exist, at least in their current form, without his influence. But you know that.

As an aside, when he speaks about things other than music and the music business (e.g. politics), I tend to tune him out. And I don't necessarily think U2 should work with him on their next album. In fact, I seriously doubt they will.