The right way to view new U2 records

[MrBrau1]

I see all these stupid VS or AND threads and all I can think is why? HTDAAB is a great record, but it builds on the back catalogue of U2. Pop is still there, so is ATYCLB, R&H, etc. It doesn't replace them. Am I the only one who thinks U2 are great because each new record makes the older ones better? I can appreciate Zooropa ALOT more knowing there are songs like ABOY and Vertigo out there. I can appreciate the insane pop expirements of Passengers and Pop alot more knowing the same band recorded straignh songs like Kite and Walk On. I can love the fist pumping of Elevation, because they also get very sophisticated on AMAAW. They cover as much musical ground as The Beatles. Do ya know what I mean? Being a U2 fan when a new album comes out is like the rich getting richer.

 

[FullonEdge2]

I was thinking about this earlier today. well put.

WORD.

 

[AtomicBono]

Amen.

Don't think, just listen to U2. The songs will speak for themselves, no matter the album.

We are lucky, lucky people to be around during the days of U2.

 

[MrBrau1]

HTDAAB just added 11 songs to my 229 song ITunes U2 library. I want them all there. I wanna play shuffle and hear all of it.

 

[pianorocker]

Took me three years to like Pop....every time I listen to HTDAAB, I like it better. Plus, I often like many U2 songs after they "apply" to events in my life.

 

[MrBrau1]

Fuck Yeah! I've got my U2 playlist in ITunes on shuffle right now. BRILLIANT!

 

[mikal]

great thread Mr. Brau!

now to:

omfg!!111 htdaab maiks da old songs wurse cuz da liriks r mising!!!!111

 

[ultrraviolette]

I see all these stupid VS or AND threads and all I can think is why? HTDAAB is a great record, but it builds on the back catalogue of U2. Pop is still there, so is ATYCLB, R&H, etc. It doesn't replace them. Am I the only one who thinks U2 are great because each new record makes the older ones better? I can appreciate Zooropa ALOT more knowing there are songs like ABOY and Vertigo out there. I can appreciate the insane pop expirements of Passengers and Pop alot more knowing the same band recorded straignh songs like Kite and Walk On. I can love the fist pumping of Elevation, because they also get very sophisticated on AMAAW. They cover as much musical ground as The Beatles. Do ya know what I mean? Being a U2 fan when a new album comes out is like the rich getting richer.

You hit the nail on the head!

 

[MrBrau1]

I'm so stoned right now. U2 catalog on shuffle is just right.

 

[U2DMfan]

You should just view them as for what they are not what you want them to be.

It's much easier to look critically at something if you aren't pre-disposed to think one way or the other.

I had a pretty open mind about HTDAAB, expected something in the vein of ATYCLB (an album I don't love) and I have been really pleased so far with HTDAAB. It's not their best album but I never thought it would be, or expected it to be, it's just good music by a great band.

 

[ADecentMelody]

That's a great observation. I remember hearing Numb for the first time, expecting another Achtung Baby. I was so disappointed - where's the melody, where's the ache, where's the emotion???

But then, I eventually learned to like the other songs on Zooropa, starting with Stay. It's like I had to approach Numb from different angles through the other songs.

Then Pop came out. And again, I was blindsided. What the hell is Discotheque?!?! Same questions as above. Again, I focused on the other songs, starting with Staring at the Sun. I soon learned to really like that album as well.

And now here we are with hut dab. I can learn to appreciate U2 as an ever-changing, ever-reinventing monster. That's why I don't worry about this band nor its supposed fans who like to whine about this or that. The bottom line is, the music will prove itself once again. Yes, it's been easier to like the last two albums from first listen. However, they have the same impact as past albums. Whatever level of enjoyment they give you, they will still grow from that point as time passes.

It's a constant characteristic of U2, in my opinion.

 

[anitram]

I absolutely agree.

We are not talking about a bunch of songs from different artists, completely unrelated to one another, that can be gauged separately and individually only.

Everything fits into a context. There would be no AB without JT and no HTDAAB without Pop and no Zooropa without War. I've had the entire collection up on my iPod for a year now, and it's such an amazing thing to start at the beginning and follow the evolution of sound, the lyrics, to listen to those subtle songs that sometimes get lost in between the greats, and then to hear something like Streets with its soaring sound and be reminded of the tour and what it feels like to be up front and in the thick of things.

Yes, of course you can have an album preference, and I still think AB is the best. But it's not that everything that preceeded or followed it is bad: the ones that came before it laid out the foundation and the ones that came after it carry a bit of its soul and flavour in them.

 

[Jamila]

Great thread and great ideas -

Personally, I don't understand all the VS threads regarding U2's music. For me, each album and each song is to be appreciated for itself and not to be compared to another work of U2's.

U2's music is unique. It is to be first HEARD WITH YOUR HEART AND SOUL and then with your mind.

If you overanalyze it too much, you will probably lose its possible significance in your life.

To me, it doesn't really matter what notes Bono is hitting nowadays or which particular chords Edge plays on various songs. What matters is how the song makes me feel.

So - to each his/her own. But I am glad that I'm not the only one here that finds so many of the threads which dissect and overanalyze each of U2's albums and songs baffling.

I recommend that we all relax and enjoy HTDAAB and just BE THANKFUL FOR U2's presence in our lives.

 

[intedomine]

I like the Vs threads.

It offers the curious an opportunity to recieve others feedback when it comes to taste between 2 songs/albums/tours.

Like a survey kinda, and gives good grounding for discussion.

If ya dont like them, dont read them.

U2 are such a great band because they write songs that are worth analysing, and no matter how intensely analysed they are, they rarely lose appeal.