Zooropa

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Tarvark

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People will swear by Boy and tell you stories about hearing it emerge from the clutter of the 19702.

Lots of people listen to October and find a hidden jem here and there. Always accompanied by the phrase: "U2 cant make a bad album, just a realtivly weaker ones".

War: A legand in its own right. Every sees something in War.

I have not meet a U2 fan who did not love Bad, and fail to find one who doesnt have a few things to say about UF.

The Joshua Tree....Enough said.

Rattle and Hum find legions of fans who seem to appricate and love it.

Atchung...More then enough said.

Pop: If I put the words "bad, alittle off, mediocre, one or two good songs" near the word Pop, I wouldnt really expect to wake up the next mourning.

ATYCLB: Love it or hate it, it gets talked about.

HTDAAB: Same as above.

Where does Zooropa fit it? Why is it seldom mentioned except for it's great tour and the title track? Why has it fallen to the way side? Has it fallen to the wayside?
 
it should be remembered, not just for the great songs on it, but the fantastic and original video's that occompanied the singles released from it :up:
 
1stepcloser said:
it should be remembered, not just for the great songs on it, but the fantastic and original video's that occompanied the singles released from it :up:

:bow:

Absolutely! Numb, Lemon, Stay... :drool: :drool: :drool:
 
It's their second best album, almost right next to Achtung Baby.
Excellence doesn't need advertising. There's already enough advertising in the first four minutes of the album anyway. :wink:
 
The stay video is one of the most incredible things U2 have made. Lemon and Numb videos are also pretty cool :laugh:

Zooropa is my #10 album but I like it. It was the most experimental U2 album and I think that it's a bit short. North and south of the river and HMTMKMKM should have made the album.

I really dislike Daddy's Crashed Car. And I :bow: Zooropa, Stay :)drool: :drool: ) and Dirty Day. The others songs are also cool and very interesting. Lemon and Numb are unique, Babyface and SDABTO have nice melodies; they aren't classics or important songs but they don't deserve some bashing and overlooking that they receive: U2 can't make only songs with deep lyrics. A few light and funny songs are welcome, at least by me.

And then, The First Time, I think it's boring but I love the piano and the lyrics.
 
i don't like Some days are better than others. In Bill Flanagans book it says that at the end of the Zooropa sessions that HMTMKMKM and North and south of the river were good enough to go on the album but they wanted as little guitar as possible and really push it as an experimental electronica album. and i think it worked like that. i think it's a great album.
 
1stepcloser said:
i don't like Some days are better than others. In Bill Flanagans book it says that at the end of the Zooropa sessions that HMTMKMKM and North and south of the river were good enough to go on the album but they wanted as little guitar as possible and really push it as an experimental electronica album. and i think it worked like that. i think it's a great album.

NASOTR has not many guitar. Only that little riff after the chorus. During the verses, the chords are played on piano. Actually I love this song :drool: :drool:
 
Really? North and South of The River comes from the Zooropa sessions. I knew about HMTHKMKM, but not NASOTR...

Were there any other outtakes besides those ones that didn't make the cut. By that I mean finished songs...I know songs like Wake Up Dead Man date back to Zooropa, but I don't think a finished version ever emerged from that time period.
 
if god will send his angels dates back to the zooropa sessions as well. i'm not sure about north and south of the river, but Wake up Dead Man and IGWSHA were the 2 that were near enough ready to go onto the album but were taken off due to the experimental vibe that they wanted.
 
i'm quite sure there was a zooropa appreciation thread a few weeks (or months?) ago, i am quite sure i posted in it. zooropa is my second favorite album and has two songs in it that are in my top 10. i think zooropa the song is one of the best openers for an album, and i think the wanderer is one of the best closers.
 
Zoroopa is definitely in my top 3 or 4. Amazing album. Lemon is AMAZING and...just the entire album is completely awesome. I think of it as The Unforgettable Fire (also in my top 4) of the 90's. All hail. :drool:
 
1stepcloser said:
if god will send his angels dates back to the zooropa sessions as well. i'm not sure about north and south of the river, but Wake up Dead Man and IGWSHA were the 2 that were near enough ready to go onto the album but were taken off due to the experimental vibe that they wanted.

Were the versions of Wake up Dead Man and Angels on Pop the same recordings as the original Zooropa takes?
 
Not my favorite album, but by far U2's most impressive artistic accomplishment. Aside from Lemon, it's the least personal and emotional album they've made, and yet I find it brilliant because of the portrait it painted of the world at the time. The chaos, the confusion, the idea that anything could happen next--it's the essence of ZooTV and thematically it's just so rich with ideas.

I also think Bono was nearing his peak of lyric writing. Between here and POP he really started exploring new ways of writing songs, and new subjects.

Enough can not be said about The Edge on this album. The album is just as fresh despite being completely groundbreaking for its time. I'm still amazed at all the sounds he was able to conjure up, and for someone to sideline their main instrument of choice or render it nearly unrecognizable is just such a bold move.

We also get to see what Eno was capable of without the (in my opinion) too traditional influence of Daniel Lanois. I still believe him, Edge and Flood were the best producing team on a U2 album. It sounds SO COOL.

And in closing, two words: Johnny Cash. One of America's biggest voices, on U2's most European and experimental record. Somehow, it works.


laz
 
lazarus said:
Not my favorite album, but by far U2's most impressive artistic accomplishment. Aside from Lemon, it's the least personal and emotional album they've made, and yet I find it brilliant because of the portrait it painted of the world at the time. The chaos, the confusion, the idea that anything could happen next--it's the essence of ZooTV and thematically it's just so rich with ideas.

I also think Bono was nearing his peak of lyric writing. Between here and POP he really started exploring new ways of writing songs, and new subjects.

Enough can not be said about The Edge on this album. The album is just as fresh despite being completely groundbreaking for its time. I'm still amazed at all the sounds he was able to conjure up, and for someone to sideline their main instrument of choice or render it nearly unrecognizable is just such a bold move.

We also get to see what Eno was capable of without the (in my opinion) too traditional influence of Daniel Lanois. I still believe him, Edge and Flood were the best producing team on a U2 album. It sounds SO COOL.

And in closing, two words: Johnny Cash. One of America's biggest voices, on U2's most European and experimental record. Somehow, it works.


laz

I really agree with most of that. U2 has always done a great job of capturing time in their music. Evidence are albums like Zooropa, War, Atchung, and I think to a large extent ATYCLB.

The one thing though is "The Wander" always sounded off to me. The synths are a weird juxtoposition to his voice.
 
I've always loved the way Zooropa seems to take some ideas from Achtung Baby and just take them further off into space.

BP Fallon wrote a book about the whole Zoo TV / Zooropa tour and said the version he heard of Wake up Dead Man was goth.
 
lazarus said:
Not my favorite album, but by far U2's most impressive artistic accomplishment. Aside from Lemon, it's the least personal and emotional album they've made, and yet I find it brilliant because of the portrait it painted of the world at the time. The chaos, the confusion, the idea that anything could happen next--it's the essence of ZooTV and thematically it's just so rich with ideas.

I disagree with you on the 'least personal' aspect of the album. I think the album is very personal, much more than say War, The Unforgettable Fire, The Joshua Tree or Rattle And Hum. Zooropa sounds a bit detached and not very emotional, but Bono's lyrics are.
Because the album was recorded in such a short time, Bono didn't have much time to edit his lyrics. Thus, they're more from his heart, without his brain/(self)consciousness altering too much.

Daddy's Gonna Pay For Your Crashed Car is describing what's going on when you are touring the world, what's going on in your head. The same can be said of Some Days Are Better Than Others.
The Wanderer is maybe Bono's most explicit statement about what he and the rest of U2 were doing in the Nineties and also describing where he stands. As abstract as The First Time is, it feels as if you're looking around in Bono's head. Only, you don't know where you are yet.

The thing about this album, however, is that you have to understand a bit more where they were in that time. They were in the midst of a giant world tour. So you have to relate many of the lyrics to being on the road, being in the media 24/7 and having your own world to live in.
 
Zooropa is a gem of an album.Im glad in a way that it doesnt get much recognition so it can then be 'our little secret'.Its good to have a different sounding u2 from the rest of their albums.it gives you a choice of which u2 you want to listen to:) As for 'lemon' 'zooropa' 'numb' 'wanderer' :heart:
 
Amazing album - its not perfect but its different + interesting. I would have liked maybe a couple of extra songs on it - especially the ones mentioned in this thread. Given the short time it was conceived written and recorded in it is remarkable. I tend to think that on each u2 album there is a gem thats overlooked, that the general public are unaware of, such as The Ocean, Scarlet, Drowning Man, Promenade, Mothers of the Disappeared, Heartland, Ultraviolet. However in the case of this album I see the complete project as an overlooked gem. Zooropa, Numb, Lemon, Stay, Some Days, The First Time, Dirty Day are all 'the hidden gems' i would expect to find on another album. Wonderful album.
 
2 great EPs......on one album.

It only makes sense if you know the history of ZOOTV.

There was run away success for the album in a live forum. To this day, only STAY has been played in the USA - acoustic form.

and i looooove the album - it's abstract in that you find something new everytime you hear it.

u2fp
 
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