Rate the Song: Numb

[digitize]

Today ushers in voting for the first half of Zooropa.

Please rate Numb 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.

 

[Galeongirl]

Interesting song. Edge on vocals? Heck yes! The whole repetitiveness is the charm of the song I guess, it's worth a 7 in my book.

 

[JoRu]

Lame, repetitive (and not the good kind of repetition). Sorry, Edge, you're a good singer but this doesn't work. 3.

 

[An Cat Gav]

Like most of Zooropa, Numb is original and interesting. A great idea, decent lyrics, fantastic background noises!
I like it.
8

 

[LadySpinHead]

Cool stuff. Different, interesting. It works when I'm frustrated and mad at work. And it gets extra point for the video- hilarious. 8

 

[mama cass]

album version would get a 6 from me, gimme some more dignity mix an easy 10...

so i don't know how to vote lol!!

 

[theedgeu2]

9. Didn't like it at first listen but, as with the rest of Zooropa, it's really grown on me.

 

[coolian2]

liked it initially, but it's not really hung in there that well for me. doesn't mean i won't listen to it, but it gets skipped pretty often.

cool idea though.

 

[prbiker15]

My least favorite on Zooropa, but it's not that bad of a song. 7 for me.

 

[The_acrobat]

This is also my least favorite on the album, but it's so damned creative and interesting it's hard to dislike it too much. Hear we have The Edge, the guy we all knew and loved as the groundbreaking guitarist of the 80s/early 90s, sitting in front of a camera, rapping in a repetitive, monotone voice while people do weird things to him. WHO SAW THAT COMING? NOBODY!!!!

 

[LemonMelon]

liked it initially, but it's not really hung in there that well for me. doesn't mean i won't listen to it, but it gets skipped pretty often.

cool idea though.

= a 2? This isn't a 5 point scale.

No wonder One got a 1.

 

[coolian2]

= a 2? This isn't a 5 point scale.

No wonder One got a 1.

we're giving points out for the final result as we see it, not the theory behind it, right?

it's like giving the challenger's final mission a 10/10 because they tried to get to space.

 

[LemonMelon]

I wasn't taking that to task (though I would make an argument for ambition affording a song the benefit of the doubt to a small degree), so much as I'm confused as to why you would ever leave a 2 playing, or how a song you once liked dropped so profoundly. To me, a 2 is an unlistenable piece of shit with next to no value. I don't think I've given out a 2 yet, actually. ATYCLB looms.

 

[coolian2]

To me, a 2 is an unlistenable piece of shit with next to no value.

that's a zero?

 

[LemonMelon]

Next to no value.

I actually can't see any reason to give a song a zero unless it anthropomorphized itself and drove over my dog.

 

[coolian2]

if i always skip a song it's a zero. it then goes on a scale from sometimes skip up to will retardedly listen repeatedly.

 

[The Panther]

I like this one quite a lot. The sound the guitar makes, or the way its recorded, is fantastic. Love the lyrics, and Edge's deadpan delivery. This is really something we hadn't heard from them before... in a good way.

 

[The Panther]

No wonder One got a 1.

I just realized that I completely missed the first half of Achtung Baby. What a bummer. That's the penalty I get for moving to foreign countries...

 

[The Sad Punk]

Took a while for me to get into Numb, but now I really like it. 8 for me.

re:scorez, I would think that something that you regularly skip/find boring would be somewhere between a 3 or 6 - a 6 being something that you're currently not digging, but have appreciated in the past and understand its worth, a 5 being as innocuous as possible, and from there on out it should be fairly self-explanatory. A 2 is just plain shitty, Creed style. 0-1s should probably be reserved for pure blind, red hatred, an opinion more beast than man. This is the method I've been going by, anyway - I don't really care how people are scoring.

 

[The Panther]

I would think that something that you regularly skip/find boring would be somewhere between a 3 or 6 - a 6 being something that you're currently not digging, but have appreciated in the past and understand its worth, a 5 being as innocuous as possible, and from there on out it should be fairly self-explanatory. A 2 is just plain shitty, Creed style. 0-1s should probably be reserved for pure blind, red hatred, an opinion more beast than man.

I tend to agree with you. I can't really see giving ANY U2 song less than a 3 or a 4, even if I never listen to it. I mean, if it's got anything in the way of a decent tune or some adequate musical competence it's probably at least a 3. Even a B-side of Adam's bowel movements after eating a chili-dog is probably around a 2, depending on how tight the rhythm is.

 

[digitize]

I personally am perfectly willing to give 0s, because the rankings are only comparative. To me, there's no inherent "meaning" in the ranks. 0s just represent the worst of U2's catalog and 10s the best. I try to use the scale as much as possible in order to maximize my ability to differentiate between songs of various quality levels.

 

[The Panther]

I personally am perfectly willing to give 0s, because the rankings are only comparative. To me, there's no inherent "meaning" in the ranks. 0s just represent the worst of U2's catalog and 10s the best. I try to use the scale as much as possible in order to maximize my ability to differentiate between songs of various quality levels.

I dunno, I tend to think a 10 is a 10 and a zero is a zero. Since we're talking about one of my favorite bands, I'm very unlikely to give anything a zero. Any song by a group I like is bound to have some merit. A zero, to me, means it's the worst song I've ever heard in my life (akin to something like "Achy-Breaky Heart" or "Touch my Bum"), not just the worst U2 song.

Perhaps we should have an online panel debate, moderated by a mod, to determine the correct philosophy of the 'Rate the Song' series. The Sad Punk and Digitize can lead the opposing teams in arguing for the essence of what a 10 and a zero are, while U2Girl will earn attention by insisting that some other, minority opinion is correct, and GVox will immediately tell everyone what is wrong with their argument.

Alternatively, we could just flame each other in these threads.

 

[digitize]

Perhaps we should have an online panel debate, moderated by a mod, to determine the correct philosophy of the 'Rate the Song' series.

No.

I don't actually care what voting philosophy people use in this regard. I was just explaining my own.

 

[gvox]

I think (but not sure) good ol' numbers was trying to be funny again, Digitize.

 

[coolian2]

I personally am perfectly willing to give 0s, because the rankings are only comparative. To me, there's no inherent "meaning" in the ranks. 0s just represent the worst of U2's catalog and 10s the best. I try to use the scale as much as possible in order to maximize my ability to differentiate between songs of various quality levels.

thank you!

Alternatively, we could just flame each other in these threads.

now that's funny! or ironic. one or either.

 

[digitize]

Maybe in the future I should have the scale be from 3 to 13, so people don't feel so bad using the lowest ranking.

 

[coolian2]

you mean so other people don't feel bad that people use the lowest ranking.


novel idea though!

 

[KhanadaRhodes]

what it boils down to is everyone needs to not take the votes so personally. it's great if you love this song or that song, but not everyone does - and vice versa if it's a song you hate.

and i'm an admin, so you have to listen to me.

 

[flybabe]

Edge's monotone throughout the song is weird, but interesting. 7.

 

[LemonMelon]

Your face is weird and uninteresting. -7