Zooropa...strange, wierd, different, but alright

[Zoots]

HTDAA is ok. I prefer Unforgettable Fire or October. You don't have to be Rude.

I apologize. I know I was rude. But your constant comments dissing Zooropa is getting very difficult to read, honestly.

 

[Justin24]

I will stop. I finished stating my opinion on the album.

 

[Screwtape2]

Seriously Why is this one of there best albums???? I have listened to it and it's very Bland. Can you enlighten me please.

An album cannot simply be judged by the individual quality of its songs. The overall feeling of the album is how you should judge it. I like to think of Zooropa as the hangover from the pain, confusion and disillusionment of Achtung Baby. I also like to think that the album is backwards. The Wanderer is the journey and Zooropa is the light at the end of that journey. To understand where one is going you have to know what's at the end.
Zooropa is musically the coolest song that they have ever done. Non-U2 fans that I have played the band's work to always see to love this song. It's cinematic and beautiful. It's like a rollercoaster you have to build to the big drop. When it hits the 3:58 mark the song explodes.
Babyface is so beautiful. Adam's bass sounds so seductive. You have to listen with the lights off to really appreciate this song.
Numb is a brilliant song. The Fat Lady voice works perfectly with Edge's. The duet between the conscience and desire shows just how creative the band was during the nineties.
Lemon is perfect.
Stay is the second most beautiful song they have ever written.
DGPFYCC is a another great song. I don't know if this was intention but I like how the production gives the song a sense of suffocating.
SDABTO is a playful song like Party Girl. Don't try to read too much into it. I love the music so much that Bono's vocals sometimes disappear during a listen.
The First Time is a song I hate. Some people have said that it's beautiful and the lyrics are special.
Dirty Day has some great guitar work from Edge. A great song hidden near the end of the record.
The Wanderer is a song that seems to be loved or hated by people, I fall under the latter segment

 

[Zoots]

Screwtape2, you just gave me a terrific idea for a thread.

 

[Screwtape2]

Okay. I'm not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing.

 

[Zoots]

you'll see!

 

[lmjhitman]

htdaab wipes zooropa's ass.

that's all i have to say.


wow. i haven't posted in this forum in like, a really long time.

 

[LMP]

I like to think of Zooropa as the hangover from the pain, confusion and disillusionment of Achtung Baby. I also like to think that the album is backwards. The Wanderer is the journey and Zooropa is the light at the end of that journey. To understand where one is going you have to know what's at the end.

that's an interesting concept about the backwards thing, I've never thought of it that way

And I do agree about Zooropa being a hangover of sorts to Achtung Baby.

It's almost like the metaphorical character from Achtung Baby was always at the edge of temptation but knew where he stood. And the declaration of:

And I have no compass,
and I have no map,
and I have no reason
no reason to get back

in Zooropa shows the beginning of an aimless journey where the character attempts to find salvation but only falls farther into darkness.

The Wanderer would be that recollection of the entire album.

There's also a very interesting Zooropa interpretation floating about the Web relating the entire album to God, Satan, and Jesus, it's really quite cool.

 

[cobl04]

Which songs haven't been played live?

 

[Screwtape2]

Which songs haven't been played live?

SDABTO, is the only one never to be played.

 

[Earnie Shavers]

And I have no compass,
and I have no map,
and I have no reason
no reason to get back

A lot of Achtung Baby, to state the obvious, isn't just about being on the receiving end of heartbreak, but dishing it out. The temptation, the action, the reaction, to be the betrayer, not just the betrayed. "You know the sun can sometimes be eclipsed by the moon, you know I don't see you when she walks in the room". Mysterious Ways, Even Better than the Real Thing, Tryin' to Throw your Arms... Temptation, sex, betrayal. Mostly temptation though, and I think that spun itself into reality through the Zoo tour. Maybe not in some awful way, but certainly in that some of the band members were happy to let themselves go, dance very close to whatever line they previously would have stayed far away from. I think that's definitely the place where Zooropa, and the above lyric, is coming from. If you haven't read "U2 At the End of the World" you should. I don't think it's the hangover though. I think Achtung is all the dark thoughts leading through to about 2am. Then they say "f*ck it", pop the red pill and shoot off into Zooropa where they soak it up and don't really give it second thought. When they wake up, two days later, they're confused and angry and guilty and bitter - coming down - and you get Pop.

 

[Screwtape2]

If you haven't read "U2 At the End of the World" you should. I don't think it's the hangover though. I think Achtung is all the dark thoughts leading through to about 2am. Then they say "f*ck it", pop the red pill and shoot off into Zooropa where they soak it up and don't really give it second thought. When they wake up, two days later, they're confused and angry and guilty and bitter - coming down - and you get Pop.

I've read U2 At The End Of The World, which is a great book, and I've found that the band was coming down at the time. It is all about interpretations though. Reading that book, I got the sense that they could feel the tour starting to wind down and realized that thier crazy lifstyle on ZooTv was coming to a close. It's that realization of having to return home, in Edge's case to an empty one, that causes some soul searching not a journey into drugs. But it is all opinion and interpretation.

 

[LemonMelon]

This thread is wrong in every way physically possible.

Dude, I'm so glad you bought Zooropa, but your ratings are seriously off. And I'm not going to tell you that "it grows on you" because outside of Daddy's, and maybe The Wanderer, it didn't have to for me.

Zooropa - 10 (more like 10,000 really )
Babyface - 8.5
Numb - 7
Lemon - 9
Stay - 10
Daddy's - 8
SDABTO - 9.5
The First Time - 8
Dirty Day - 9
The Wanderer - 6.5

This album is perfect!

If you want something constructive, I've got to say that your heart is in the right place. Mine wasn't when I bought this album. I really thought it was going to be worthless, but I was amazed by the record, and still am. I tell you, I almost cried when I heard my copy of the album skip. It's just...I don't know, it's one of those albums that'll be with me forever. I seriously don't think it's a grower (love at first sight here), but keep playing it, and maybe it will be. Good luck; I love hearing your first-time opinions...they remind me of my own.

 

[jonnytakeawalk]

I seriously don't think it's a grower (love at first sight here),

I don't know why people say you have to keep listening to certain albums to start to appreciate them. If I don't get into the album from the first time I listen to it then I never get into it

 

[cobl04]

This thread is wrong in every way physically possible.

Dude, I'm so glad you bought Zooropa, but your ratings are seriously off. And I'm not going to tell you that "it grows on you" because outside of Daddy's, and maybe The Wanderer, it didn't have to for me.

Zooropa - 10 (more like 10,000 really )
Babyface - 8.5
Numb - 7
Lemon - 9
Stay - 10
Daddy's - 8
SDABTO - 9.5
The First Time - 8
Dirty Day - 9
The Wanderer - 6.5

This album is perfect!

If you want something constructive, I've got to say that your heart is in the right place. Mine wasn't when I bought this album. I really thought it was going to be worthless, but I was amazed by the record, and still am. I tell you, I almost cried when I heard my copy of the album skip. It's just...I don't know, it's one of those albums that'll be with me forever. I seriously don't think it's a grower (love at first sight here), but keep playing it, and maybe it will be. Good luck; I love hearing your first-time opinions...they remind me of my own.

Well thank you, and I understand all that. Was that the same for you (and johnnytakeawalk) for Achtung Baby? Did you love it straight away? Because AB took me a long while to get into. What about others here? Would you say its a grower?

PS - I hate to admit/say this, but did was anyone else a little weired out by DGPFYCC's lyrics? Maybe being a teenager my mind is a little dirty, but that's what I thought. I'm listening to it now, it's already growing. It's kinda like Zoo Station in the way that it is so not 80's U2 in that it is so different. And that distordeness comes back.

 

[cobl04]

I don't know why people say you have to keep listening to certain albums to start to appreciate them. If I don't get into the album from the first time I listen to it then I never get into it

Do you continue to listen to them though? For example, I definitely was not a fan of AB at first but it was the only album I listened to for two weeks. I committed myself to it and now its my favourite album.

 

[Screwtape2]

What about others here? Would you say its a grower?

PS - I hate to admit/say this, but did was anyone else a little weired out by DGPFYCC's lyrics? Maybe being a teenager my mind is a little dirty, but that's what I thought. I'm listening to it now, it's already growing. It's kinda like Zoo Station in the way that it is so not 80's U2 in that it is so different. And that distordeness comes back.

1. AB was a great instantly, I've grown to appreciate certain songs more so today than when I first listened to it. Zooropa was a little different in that I had a harder time liking The First Time and Wanderer so my view of the album wasn't as great as it is now. I've come to like the album and Wanderer more but I still hate The First Time. Albums don't grow on me, songs do.

2. I was in middle school when I first heard DGPFYCC and didn't think that there was anything weird about the lyrics. After Horses's "salt water kisses' and UTEOTW's oral sex references, I would think Daddy's pretty tame.

 

[cobl04]

2. I was in middle school when I first heard DGPFYCC and didn't think that there was anything weird about the lyrics. After Horses's "salt water kisses' and UTEOTW's oral sex references, I would think Daddy's pretty tame.

It was the whole 'daddy gives you as much as you can take' and 'you're licking your lips' lines. I hate to say this word. But I thought incest.

 

[Screwtape2]

It was the whole 'daddy gives you as much as you can take' and 'you're licking your lips' lines. I hate to say this word. But I thought incest.

I have to confess, for a long time I thought Acrobat was about sex of the S & M kind. Don't feel bad.

I was wondering what U2 albums you do have.

 

[cobl04]

Going by the order in which I purchased them I own:

1. How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb - Christmas '04
2. All That You Can't Leave Behind
3. The Best of 1980-1990
4. Achtung Baby
5. The Joshua Tree/War
6. Boy
7. Under a Blood Red Sky (for $2 from cashies)
8. October/the Unforgettable Fire
9. Passengers: Original Soundtracks 1 (for $6 from cashies)
10. Rattle and Hum
11. Zooropa - Saturday

So it's just Pop to go!

 

[Screwtape2]

So it's just Pop to go!

Oh God. That's what I was afraid of. Pop, U2's most controversial album. I can't wait for that thread.

 

[RademR]

It's wierd how people don't give STAY 9 or 10s to me. It's such a brilliant song. well, different strokes....

anyway, ZOOROPA is a great album to me, just a lot of balls for u2 to release it. More of a different direction, did it while they were on the road....it took awhile to grow on me but its a great record.

On the other hand, i know some u2 fans that literally can't stand it. One of my friends told me "I don't like u2's last album, but it's better than that damn ZOOROPA".

 

[Tiger Edge]

So it's just Pop to go!

But take your time with Zooropa before you hit Pop.

 

[Tiger Edge]

It's wierd how people don't give STAY 9 or 10s to me. It's such a brilliant song. well, different strokes....

Yeah, to be honest the entire ride home I regretted giving Stay a 7 when it deserved so much more. I'll change it to an 8.75, just the middle between 8.5 and 9.

 

[An Cat Gav]

It was the whole 'daddy gives you as much as you can take' and 'you're licking your lips' lines. I hate to say this word. But I thought incest.

There's a bit of that going on in Babyface too, "slow down child let me untie your lace".

 

[BVS]

It was the whole 'daddy gives you as much as you can take' and 'you're licking your lips' lines. I hate to say this word. But I thought incest.

Think heroin. 'Daddy' being the drug,

"A little uptight
You're a baby's fist
Butterfly kisses up and down your wrist
When you see daddy coming
You're licking your lip
Nails bitten down to the quick"

Think of someone licking their lips for a hit, butterfly kisses being the tack marks on her arms.

 

[GibsonGirl]

BVS beat me to it. Context is always important!

 

[edge_2125]

Zooropa is a bit hit and miss but given how brilliant it is when it hits, I still think it's probably U2's third or fourth best album.

Zooropa is an amazing, amazing song. It's one of those "lights-off + headphones" tracks. Then, when it finally explodes after the shimmeringly creepy intro and the hypnotic middle-section, you can really, really feel it. An absolutely unequivocal 10/10.

I'm not so fond of Babyface. I don't think it's as bad as some people make it out to be, but it certainly isn't much better than mediocre. 6/10

I go back and forth on Numb. The constant repetition - although, it helps to make the point - gets annoying. 7/10

Lemon is gorgeous. I love the tinkling little piano line during the repetition of "Midnight is where the day begins" - and the falsetto - one of the best features of Bono's singing during this era - during the verses. 10/10

Stay is simply beautiful. 10/10

Daddy's Gonna Pay has a certain menace about it, especially the opening minute or so, but fades a bit after that. The live version rocks though. 7/10

Some Days is a bit of a throwaway track. It does have a couple of cute lines though: "Some days are sulky, some days have a grin; And some days have bouncers that won't let you in." 6/10

The First Time is nice but not much else. 6/10

Dirty Day is brilliant. "You can hold on to something so tight, you've already lost it" and "You can't even remember what I'm trying to forget." It's this sort of pithy writing I really miss in Bono's lyrics nowadays. But to truly appreciate this song, get the live version from Sydney. 10/10

The Wanderer is a bit different from the rest of the album. It almost feels like a bonus track sometimes. Lyrically, it's one of Bono's best and the lyrics suit Johnny Cash's voice. 8/10

Zooropa, Lemon, Stay and Dirty Day are up there with their very best songs. Considering that it takes them four years to knock out an album these days, the fact that they were able to carve out one, which included the four gems above, in under a year - a year on tour, no less - indicates just how creative they were during those peak years.

 

[RavenBlue]

I just recently replaced my Zooropa cassette with CD because I adore this album so much.

 

[LemonMelon]

Well thank you, and I understand all that. Was that the same for you (and johnnytakeawalk) for Achtung Baby? Did you love it straight away?

Because AB took me a long while to get into.

Same here. I still don't love it, but I appreciate it, and realize that it has a bucketful of great songs. It's not their best, but it's still strong.

Besides Radiohead's Kid A, there's no record I've tried as hard to get used to as AB, but now I really like both of them.