SOE 25 - The Freakout

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trevgreg said:
I think that's common for any new release by any band though. And it makes sense, since it is new material after all, so its exciting in that way. I don't think it's ever 100% positive approval though.

As for the Boots and Vertigo arguments, I couldn't find threads for initial thoughts on the two... but there was one that compared initial reactions to GOYB to Vertigo after the former was released.

http://www.u2interference.com/forums/f196/boots-vs-vertigo-192523.html
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and now most people agree both songs are fairly rubbish. funny how these things work out
 
On initial listens, it sounds forced and overproduced but with great bass work. The chorus guitar and vocals are brickwalled to the point of obnoxiousness. No majesty here, but I definitely want to hear a clean studio version to get a better handle on it.
 
Hollow Island said:
- i don't like those chord changes in the verse which are what I presume reminds people of Muse. It's supposed to be exciting but it's hackneyed
- i don't like the slow bit before the chorus; it's lazy and makes the chorus predictable
- i don't like the chorus, it's too long and boring.
- i don't like the DRAMATIC BRIDGE, it's a mess. It's something that they relied on Bomb and couldn't do it well then and can't do it now.
- i don't like they lyrics; the Mac and Zack rhymes aren't funny
- i don't like how Edge does next to nothing in during the verses and plays boring lines in the chorus. He's still on autopilot. That muting shit he's been relying on during verses for the last decade plus is boring beyond belief
- i don't like how fucking long the song is. This is the first time that during my initial listen of a U2 song I was wanting it end halfway through

Maybe the studio version, or version without the distracting crowd noise, will be better but I doubt it. It's just not a good song. It doesn't flow organically like the SOI songs did. It's one of their worst songs. I like everything from SOI and most of NLOTH a lot more than this song. I was very excited for the album but now...not so much. This and Little Things are disappointing. I'm shocked that I don't like this.
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and-i-do-not-like-raisins-in-my-raisin-bran.jpg
 
U2girl said:
Presumably live given they recorded the video in front of an audience ?
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What you see ≠ what you hear. Just look at Larry's drumming, he's hardly moving during some of the more intense parts of the song.

It seems they took the studio song, added a lot of reverb and overdubbed in the clapping/cheering to give it that energetic 'live' sound. And it works.

I think what we're hearing (minus the crowd) is probably going to be pretty faithful to the eventual studio release. It's reminding me now of a rawer/better Lucifer's Hands.
 
Yeah, the Vertigo/Boots thread is pretty funny.

But, an important aspect of a song is how it holds up over time. I would say most fans have a favorable view of Vertigo and not so much for Boots.
Vertigo became a live staple, and just didn't age as badly.

Also, i think Boots gets hit because of how off it was as a lead single for NLOTH. It just didn't fit and in that respect, it gets looked poorly on.

If Boots was just a non single, song on an album like Bomb, it would probably be liked quite a bit more.
 
Vox16 said:
I love the intro to Magnificent but then Bono has to ruin it with the repeating of the title. The Blackout fixes that with a similar intro, but he lets the song breathe. Love it.
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I haven't listened to The Blackout yet, but this is good news to me. I think that Bono wailing over the intro the Magnificent was a terribly misguided production/arrangement decision.
 
trevgreg said:
I think that's common for any new release by any band though. And it makes sense, since it is new material after all, so its exciting in that way. I don't think it's ever 100% positive approval though.

As for the Boots and Vertigo arguments, I couldn't find threads for initial thoughts on the two... but there was one that compared initial reactions to GOYB to Vertigo after the former was released.

http://www.u2interference.com/forums/f196/boots-vs-vertigo-192523.html
Click to expand...
God I'm so happy to read myself not liking Boots right from the start.

Unlike, say, Axver... ;)
 
I have a feeling the chorus will age a bit over time, but the verses and pre-chorus are interesting and restrained enough that I genuinely believe I'll always think it's one of the best grooves they've achieved. It's really, really good.
 
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Haha so many miserable souls on here. I don't chime in much, but lighten up. The song is lit, not even an argument. They just delivered a monster. F-in monster
 
I'm going to love seeing this song live, with the stage and arena presumably becoming nearly pitch black and then a burst of light and energy at the end. Going to be awesome.
 
Soooo. With an official single coming out next week for The Best thing I'm assuming we will get album artwork and a track listing popping up on streaming services?
 
Can't even watch The Blackout video. Tried multiple browsers, clearing cache, etc. Any other video site is working fine for me like usual, but Facebook video is a bust.

Why can't they just be real modern people and just upload it to YouTube? It's 2017 for Christ's sake.
 
yeah, they teased all the details for Songs of Experience for Sept. 6.

curious if they play an SOE encore in Detroit and Buffalo.
 
BigMacPhisto said:
Can't even watch The Blackout video. Tried multiple browsers, clearing cache, etc. Any other video site is working fine for me like usual, but Facebook video is a bust.

Why can't they just be real modern people and just upload it to YouTube? It's 2017 for Christ's sake.
Click to expand...

Pretty good way to increase social media follower count/presence. No idea what could be precluding Facebook video from working, but that's definitely an issue on your end and not on U2's marketing team. You don't even need an account to watch.
 
womanfish said:
Yeah, the Vertigo/Boots thread is pretty funny.

But, an important aspect of a song is how it holds up over time. I would say most fans have a favorable view of Vertigo and not so much for Boots.
Vertigo became a live staple, and just didn't age as badly.

Also, i think Boots gets hit because of how off it was as a lead single for NLOTH. It just didn't fit and in that respect, it gets looked poorly on.

If Boots was just a non single, song on an album like Bomb, it would probably be liked quite a bit more.
Click to expand...

Yeah, that's why I can't really put stock into any critic reviews or even anyone's initial thoughts these days. Anyone's opinion on a song can change over time and is pretty fluid overall. I can't even count all the times that i initially didn't care for a song, but had it grow on me over time... or vice versa, or hover somewhere within the areas in between.
 
BigMacPhisto said:
Can't even watch The Blackout video. Tried multiple browsers, clearing cache, etc. Any other video site is working fine for me like usual, but Facebook video is a bust.

Why can't they just be real modern people and just upload it to YouTube? It's 2017 for Christ's sake.
Click to expand...


It's on atu2.com 's home page
 
Angtre01 said:
Haha so many miserable souls on here. I don't chime in much, but lighten up. The song is lit, not even an argument. They just delivered a monster. F-in monster
Click to expand...

this is easily my favorite form of rebuttal

I'm not miserable either - I'm content and greatly enjoying the new War on Drugs album
 
Eh.

I'll say this. There is no doubt in my mind that this will be a stronger album than its predecessor. The band has mentioned feeling let down by SOI's overproduction and wanted this new record to be more muscular and direct and that's clearly the case with both this song and "Little Things" - both of which are more inspired than almost everything from the last cycle.

But it's still just a song that isn't really going to sweep anyone off their feet. It chugs along and the production is kind of cool. Maybe you just really want to hear U2 regardless or you'll listen enough to learn to love it, but this band's days of writing a great song passed almost a decade back with NLOTH and writing a classic with some of HTDAAB's tracks.

I've kind of been contemplating an "exit" from this band. The live performances are getting more tired and are a huge hassle to begin with while their latest records just don't really do anything for me. Going out with seeing them perform Joshua Tree in its entirety about 10 feet in front of me seems like the perfect capper.
 
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