Songs of Ascent - Part III

[digitize]

Vertigo > Native Son, but I don't really like Vertigo.

 

[mikal]

see digi, i have nothing against Vertigo or Elevation. if you take them for what they're worth, they're quite enjoyable tunes.

 

[ozeeko]

I like Elevation- in the hands of steve lillywhite that could've been disasterous, but Eno finds a way to make it all soar. love that sci-fi middle 8, reminds me of Moby for some reason.

If Eno produced Vertigo...who knows...cuz the version out there just sounds like noise to me.

 

[Niceman]

Actually, I think Elevation sounds tinny and facile on the album, but grew to be something better live.

 

[BVS]

Do you ever take a break? Does an alarm go off in your house everytime someone makes a subjective post? Take a day off, man! You're so predictable. Do I seek you out and lecture you on your opinions of U2's music? I don't think I have ever approached you once on here.

I was being serious. I like how you pretend to know what goes on in the heads of U2 or how you know exactly why they did things the way they did, almost like you were a fly on the wall. It makes your posts interesting

 

[ozeeko]

I was being serious. I like how you pretend to know what goes on in the heads of U2 or how you know exactly why they did things the way they did, almost like you were a fly on the wall. It makes your posts interesting

Oh, well in that case thank you.

 

[Irishteen]

And the perfect example of disregard for "hit singles" is Springsteen, who is a major concert draw and still majorly relevant despite the fact that "Working On A Dream" didn't have a hit single on it. And, despite it's lack of a single, WOAD got great reviews and was accepted as a great album by the music community and Bruce's general fanbase..

WOAD was received as a great album? Eh someone is mistaking that with Magic. WOAD was awful

 

[PookaMacP]

I think Native Son was crap; both as a pop song and even more as a lyric - Talk about dull and obvious and preachy! I can't stand Smile, and I'm not a fan of any of the alternate takes off of HTDAAB (well, Yahweh is interesting at least...)

I'm with you on this.

 

[powerhour24]

And the perfect example of disregard for "hit singles" is Springsteen, who is a major concert draw and still majorly relevant despite the fact that "Working On A Dream" didn't have a hit single on it. And, despite it's lack of a single, WOAD got great reviews and was accepted as a great album by the music community and Bruce's general fanbase.

I don't get why bands don't get that hardly ANYONE is selling records anymore. Is it ego? Do they think they can beat the internet? Don't feel bad if NLOTH didn't sell as many copies as you thought, because I guarantee that even if it didn't sell 4 million in the USA, 4 million people still own it, whether it's legal or not.

I agree with the second part of your post 100%. But Springsteen's 'Magic' and 'Working on a Dream' aren't exactly out-there for Bruce, and do feature pop-made songs like "Radio Nowhere" and "What Love Can Do", I love those records and those songs, but its not like Bruce is completely disregarding the market when it comes to the E Street Band albums (The Rising is almost an exception, that soared on topicality rather than stereotypical sound), Devils & Dust/Seeger Sessions are a different breed.

 

[Zooronaut]

It's like they can never truly experiment with the music again because they won't go out of their safety zone. ... And enough of the Edge using the same basic guitar sound he has for the past 10 years. I get it already!

Actually, while Edge has a very recognizable sound, according to Dallas Schoo he often won't use the same combination of effects twice in 23 songs. Compare that to the pop punk bands who not only use the same sound on every song, but they sound exactly like each other.

 

[Irvine511]

anyone else not digging SOA so far? i think it just sounds so poppy.

it's like they got all nervous about the lack of singles on NLOTH and we like, "i know, let's put out something obvious with a chiming edge riff and we'll have bono sing about how he's going to heal people while feeling on his knees."

 

[Niceman]

Achtung baby was an album of 12 singles.

Who complained about that?????

 

[AiRMaRcI9o0]

I don't know if anyone else has seen this yet on youtube, but someone outside the stadium appears to have captured U2 rehearsing songs from Songs of Ascent. Sounds pretty awesome! Check it out!

YouTube - U2 360 - LIVE IN RALEIGH - 10/03/09 - Soundcheck #1

YouTube - U2 360 - LIVE IN RALEIGH - 10/03/09 - Soundcheck #2

 

[VintagePunk]

anyone else not digging SOA so far? i think it just sounds so poppy.

Can't stand it, it's calculated tripe. They're catering to the pop kids, trying to live up to some unrealistic standard that shouldn't be relevant to them anymore.

I'm no longer a fan, but I'm still going to hang around the boards to bitch about them, and talk about what I don't like, ad nauseum. I also plan to post significantly about their glory days, a 6 month period in 93, when all was right with the world.

 

[The John Tree]

AiRMaRcI9o0, those clips sound very interesting.

The first one sounds alright, almost like a slower "She's Gonna Blow Your House Down", if slightly lifeless. I'm sure the studio magic will add some otherness to it.

I reallllly like the second one.

Both of these sound a little darker than the U2 we're used to, which I'm cool with. If this is the "poppy" songs they're trying to dream up, then I'm on board.

 

[The John Tree]

Also, re: Springsteen. I loved WOAD, and I think a large majority of the critics did as well.

 

[digitize]

I don't know if anyone else has seen this yet on youtube, but someone outside the stadium appears to have captured U2 rehearsing songs from Songs of Ascent. Sounds pretty awesome! Check it out!

YouTube - U2 360 - LIVE IN RALEIGH - 10/03/09 - Soundcheck #1

YouTube - U2 360 - LIVE IN RALEIGH - 10/03/09 - Soundcheck #2

These two songs are entitled King of Trash and I Want To Live, respectively. They would be great additions to SOA if we ignore the fact that they are already-released Gavin Friday songs.

 

[Gonna Run 2 U]

I think "I want to live" is along the lines of the sound they would like to achieve on SOA.

 

[The John Tree]

Damn. Didn't know that.

Question: where can you hear Gavin Friday's music? I remember searching before and all I could find were the three on his MySpace page.

is he any good?

 

[digitize]

I think "I want to live" is along the lines of the sound they would like to achieve on SOA.

I hope so; it's a good song.

Damn. Didn't know that.

Question: where can you hear Gavin Friday's music? I remember searching before and all I could find were the three on his MySpace page.

is he any good?

I like Gavin... YouTube is a useful resource for finding his music.

 

[AiRMaRcI9o0]

These two songs are entitled King of Trash and I Want To Live, respectively. They would be great additions to SOA if we ignore the fact that they are already-released Gavin Friday songs.

Damn...guess I should have done my homework

Im assuming they're rehearsing this for the upcoming event with Gavin Friday?

 

[digitize]

Damn...guess I should have done my homework

Im assuming they're rehearsing this for the upcoming event with Gavin Friday?

Don't worry about it. It took me a bit of time to realize that they were the Gavin Friday songs, too.

Yes, I'd assume they're rehearsing for the Gavin show, which is... uhh... tonight!

 

[Vlad n U 2]

Thanks to digitize/John for spotting that pretty early, or there would've been some massive stampede going on 'ere.

 

[djerdap]

Those clips are Gavin Friday songs (King of Trash and I Want To Live), that's not new material.

 

[AiRMaRcI9o0]

Those clips are Gavin Friday songs (King of Trash and I Want To Live), that's not new material.

Yeah digitize just said that. False alarm! My bad

 

[digitize]

Anyone know if there's a recording of U2 rehearsing The Jean Genie? I'd... uhh... like to hear my favorite musical act play one of my least favorite songs by my second favorite musical act.

 

[Gilead12]

Thanks for the info digitize.

In my mind I was already trying to explain away why I didn't really care for these SOA snippets. You saved me the effort.

 

[Vlad n U 2]

Anyone know if there's a recording of U2 rehearsing The Jean Genie? I'd... uhh... like to hear my favorite musical act play one of my least favorite songs by my second favorite musical act.

IIRC there's a snippet of it before "The Fly" in Sao Paulo in '06, I think. You can find it on youtube.

 

[digitize]

IIRC there's a snippet of it before "The Fly" in Sao Paulo in '06, I think. You can find it on youtube.

Yeah, but that's just Bono playing the riff... there's a little more complete one from after The Fly in New York (I would almost call it a separate performance from The Fly), when Bowie was in the house. I'd still like to hear this soundcheck, though.

 

[HansaTonImbiss]

You know, for SOA I really would welcome a new, wild departure. In fact, it's what I'm (hopefully) expecting. Maybe that's baseless, but I think they could do something so incredible by stretching the soundscape more in the direction of Fez/BB, NLOTH track, and Cedars. I agree with the "pop song" comment Larry mentions though, too. That dichotomy and debate- striking the balance between invention and pop sensibilities- is what, IMO, was the hallmark of JT, UF, and AB, and really the best of U2's works over the years.