What the hell is so wrong with Pop?

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BrownEyedBoy

BrownEyedBoy

Rock n' Roll Doggie
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Jun 18, 2001
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I know it's been said a lot and I know you've covered this, but I don't get it. What the hell is so bad about Pop? This was the album that made me a fan and then I come over to interference and all of you are dissing it so bad. So, go ahead. Explain to me what is so bad about it.

Most of the songs are good, like so:

(the tracklist may be off because I don't have the CD with me right now)

1. Discotheque ..............................good
2. Do you feel loved.......................good
3.Mofo ..........................................good
4. If God Would Send His Angels.....great
5. Staring at the Sun.....................good
6.Gone............................................Good
7.Last night on Earth...................good
8. Miami ..........................................bad
9.Playboy Mansion...........................decent
10. If you wear that velvet dress....very cool song, no one's ever done anything like it
11. Please.......................................good
12.Wake up Dead Man...................good


There you go. Only one bad song in the whole thing.

Pop is a great album. :madspit:

..................:wink:
 
IMO I like the IGWSHA single/ radio version better than the album version. I feel like Last Night on Earth sounds weak on the album compared to the live version The live solo would have helped and I think the album version's tempo is a bit slow). Velvet Dress sometimes sounds to muddy to me and I've said before, I hate raising the volume on that song b/c for some reason they produced it weird and its too quiet compared to the other tracks. Otherwise it's one of my favorite tracks.

I actually like Miami in limited doses though the live version is better.

Something's missing from Staring at the Sun but it has all the elements of a great song...

Outside of that, I think POP is as good as ATYCLB if not slightly better.
 
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I don't think a lot of U2 fans think Pop is actually a "bad" album. It's just very different from the others. A U2 fan is usually from the Joshua Tree/Achtung Baby era (A lot anyway, sorry if you don't like that time period). I think it's a great album, U2's had better though.
 
Flying FuManchu said:
IMO I like the IGWSHA single/ radio version better than the album version. I feel like Last Night on Earth sounds weak on the album compared to the live version The live solo would have helped and I think the album version's tempo is a bit slow).
Click to expand...

much like igwsha, the lnoe and poe single was superior to the album version by leaps and bounds.

listen to the album with those 3 subbed and it is stellar (sub the best of version of gone to make it perfect, though gone was fantastic to begin with, do not sub the disco redux however).
 
POP is actually the first album from U2 that I listened to fully and seriously (i.e. read the lyrics over and over and read about other people's interpretations and junk). So it does have a place in my heart, always... hell, I bought it three times b/c I would either lose a copy or scratch one up. :(
 
Mm, U2 gets stuck in a rut at the end of every decade. Personally I thought R&H was great. :)reject: ) I love most of the ballads on Pop (IGWSHA, Please, Staring at the Sun, - though that's not really a ballad - Wake Up Dead Man), and I love Gone, but some of the rest of it (Mofo, Discotheque, Do You Feel Loved, Velvet Dress, Playboy Mansion) I can only take on occassion, or I get sick of it and don't like it anymore.

And then there's Miami, but don't get me started. :grumpy: I really don't like that one.

Pop just wasn't as solid, I don't think. And Bono's ego was getting a little out of control again (like I said, the turn of the decade thing), which was turning people off as well. They were so caught up in making a point that (I think) the music suffered a little.

Still, IGWSHA and Please are two of my absolute FAVORITE U2 songs, so don't get me wrong. That's just why Pop isn't on my own, personal list of favorite U2 albums. (Don't ask me why it isn't and Zooropa is, though.)

:shrug: Takes all kinds. I definitely don't want to try to turn you off Pop, and I'm sure you don't agree with me on all this; I just figured I'd put my excuses down.
 
Jack In The Box said:
nothing is wrong with it, Pop is my second favorite U2 album
Click to expand...

same here, it's practically tied with Acthung as my fave :yes:

This has been discussed time and time again. Some people love Pop, some people hate Pop, some people like Pop, some people dislike Pop, some people could care less about what other people think of Pop, some people's lives seem to depend on what other people think of Pop, some people are sick of talking about Pop-pop-pop muzak!, some people want to talk about Pop for the rest of their lives, some people think Pop is the pedestal of U2's creativity and ambition, some people think Pop is U2 trying to experiment and failing miserably, some people like giant lemons, some people don't like giant olives, some people think of soda when they see the word Pop, some people think of their dad when they see the word Pop, some people hate Miami and therefore hate Pop.

I'm not gonna debate the merits of Pop. I love Pop with all my heart, it was the album that got me into U2 and will always be a part of my life. What I wanna know is - what the hell is everyone's problem with MIAMI? Everyone's opinions of Pop seem to be based on this one song. Sure, it's not the greatest song in the world, but it ain't that bad. I like Miami. In fact, I love Miami. It's a catchy, fun, silly rock 'n roll song. I'm confused as to why it is painted as the worst song ever written by anyone ever. Is it the lyrics? Sure they're not standard U2 fare but that's part of what makes it interesting. I love the "her eyes are swimming pool blue" line... and the "gettin hot in a photo booth" part is damn sexy. Of course, I'm a Bono girl so perhaps I'm just slightly biased :p Granted the lyrics are NOT U2's best in the slightest, but still, even if the lyrics are complete shite, does that ruin the whole song for ya? What about Adam's bassline or Bono screaming "MIAMIIIIIIIIIIII!" after the bridge over Edge's guitar? That's bloody brilliant right there. So could someone please tell me WHY you don't like Miami?
 
'Miami' isn't bad. 'Miami' is badass. I think it's another case of people not letting U2 be something other than what is (stereo)typically U2, for a little while. Even the band is afraid to truly be wild and different, anymore. And, it isn't because it's 'bad'. It's because it's too different for some peoples' tastes.
 
Sorry Atomic, I'm not sure why I don't like Miami so much. It may have been a bad first impression that never got changed, since I certainly don't listen to it that much. It's something about the lyrics and the quality of Bono's voice, if I remember. (Granted, it's a delicate balance between bad vocals and great bass, but something about my dislike of the vocals tips it.) And it definitely isn't the only reason I have some problems with Pop.

But it certainly isn't the worst song ever written. That has to go to that horrible Hoobastank song - The Reason. :scream:

(And nice first paragraph, by the way. :wink: Definitely agree.)
 
There aint nothing wrong with it. It is U2's 2nd best album just behind Achtung Baby. It contains one of their finest ever songs "Gone" and the others are with their best work as well. I have been a fan since The Unforgettable Fire 1984 so I grew up on the 80's sounds as it were. Oh yes and Miami aint no weak track its fuc#ing great.

Weather round here chopping and changing.......:wink:
 
MrBrau1 said:
The problem w/ Pop is Discotheque and it's video. It sunk the ship from day one.
Click to expand...

Very true, that was a dumb video! :der: But the lyrics are stupid too. The only thing I like about it is the chorus.

Dammit, we've been having Popfights and ATYCLB tied with Pop threads for THREE FUCKING YEARS and in all that time, what has everyone said? WE NEED A NEW ALBUM so people will finally shut up about the last 2! And now, on the day we have one, here's yet ANOTHER Pop thread, and it's one of the most active here! :banghead: What does this say? :huh:
 
Nothing is wrong with Pop

Nothing is wrong with Pop, it's a good album, a great friggin tour and the nay sayers can have their opinion, what do they know. Don't worry about what they say, only your opinion counts anyway, so I wouldn't worry about other say, to me a real fan likes all of a particular bands work, not just some, and for sure don't diss them either, so they probably aren't real fans! I would go on and on like a foamy cartoon, but I'll stop there.

Rock on,

Zooropanator.
 
U2Kitten said:


Very true, that was a dumb video! :der: But the lyrics are stupid too. The only thing I like about it is the chorus.

Dammit, we've been having Popfights and ATYCLB tied with Pop threads for THREE FUCKING YEARS and in all that time, what has everyone said? WE NEED A NEW ALBUM so people will finally shut up about the last 2! And now, on the day we have one, here's yet ANOTHER Pop thread, and it's one of the most active here! :banghead: What does this say? :huh:
Click to expand...

It maybe says that the new album is not quite as good as people are saying it is, else everybody would be talking about that and not dragging the pop issue up again.:wink:
 
Flying FuManchu said:
I like it in doses... but it is a rather plain/ boring song...
Click to expand...

It's all in the words, and the space that surrounds them. And those two stark, repeated notes on the synthesizer in the second half of the song - I can just see the heat rippling off the sand at South Beach, the beautiful people walking around, displaying their tanned, fleshy plumage like a bunch of shallow birds of paradise, while pasty, out-of-shape tourists take snapshots of what they believe are gods, far beyond their reach. I can feel it in this song, and I've never even been to South Beach.
 
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rjhbonovox said:


It maybe says that the new album is not quite as good as people are saying it is, else everybody would be talking about that and not dragging the pop issue up again.:wink:
Click to expand...

They could at least bash it instead of dragging the old ones out again.

In the new bashing threads, will these other 2 be drug into it, or will it be bashed alone? Will it be compared to one or the other, and which one more favorably? :hmm:

:scream:

:banghead:

:grumpy:
 
Pop's brilliant and a success worldwide.

But in the USA many ppl didn't really get it. They saw the Discoteque video and thought it was "gay". Then they didn't buy the album, the album failed in the USA and now we have ATYCLB/HTDAAB to please those americans who never quite understood Pop. And Bono's wearing a cowboy hat on the Vertigo video. They look "macho" in the view of the american audience so they will buy this new album.
 
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