Zooropa vs. Pop

[pop marter]

Pop for me. That album is criminally underated, even by the band themselves. Gone, Staring At The Sun and Discotheque are among their best songs for me. Velvet Dress has a gorgeous ambience to it, Do You Feel Loved has a great groove and Dead Man, although very melancholy, is a powerful song. Miami is spoilt by Bonos lyrics, but musically its great.

 

[U2Kitten]

These are without a doubt my two least favorites not that they're bad, they're just worse than all the rest for me. Let's see, I like SATS but Stay is better, I like Zooropa but Gone is better. The band looked hotter during Zooropa. Zooropa has the worst cover art and liner notes ever with no pics of the band at all. Lemon MacPhisto is cool but I don't like the song, but it's better than Discotheque. Numb sucks, but it's better than Velvet Dress, or is it? Okay, Pop loses because it has Miami on it. I give up. Buy them both.

 

[U2FAN4LIFE]

I get the feeling that Zooropa ended being exactly what the band envisioned for it.

YES!!!! best way I've heard this album described... There is a tremendous amount of confidence behind this album and you get the feeling it was executed perfectly

LEMON.... a masterpiece.... the last two minutes and in particular the end of the "cello part" is my favorite moment for U2 as composers... listen to this with headphones in a dark room and close your eyes!

 

[jick]

Zooropa = brave, ambitious, and confident
POP = unfinished, disjointed, and uncertain

Just take your pick.

Cheers,

J

 

[Aardvark747]

Zooropa = brave, ambitious, and confident
POP = unfinished, disjointed, and uncertain

Just take your pick.

Cheers,

J

But what's YOUR pick Jick?!

 

[Zoomerang96]

These are without a doubt my two least favorites not that they're bad, they're just worse than all the rest for me. Let's see, I like SATS but Stay is better, I like Zooropa but Gone is better. The band looked hotter during Zooropa. Zooropa has the worst cover art and liner notes ever with no pics of the band at all. Lemon MacPhisto is cool but I don't like the song, but it's better than Discotheque. Numb sucks, but it's better than Velvet Dress, or is it? Okay, Pop loses because it has Miami on it. I give up. Buy them both.

this is the kind of thing that drives me insane about u2 fans.

i don't mean to pick a fight with you or anything, and you're certainly entitled to your opinions, but seriously, the basis of your arguement is criminal when you somehow criticize an album for not having "pics of the band" in it.

 

[UnforgettableLemon]

I actually think Zooropa has the most interesting cover art and liner notes of any of the albums

 

[Sleep Over Jack]

I actually think Zooropa has the most interesting cover art and liner notes of any of the albums

I love it too, very chaotic, colourful and strange

 

[U2Kitten]

this is the kind of thing that drives me insane about u2 fans.

i don't mean to pick a fight with you or anything, and you're certainly entitled to your opinions, but seriously, the basis of your arguement is criminal when you somehow criticize an album for not having "pics of the band" in it.

Well sorry, I was just thinking out loud, and being funny too (something I was never good at) My final conclusion stands, let the person buy them both and decide for themselves. We all have our own taste anyway so we can't pick one for somebody else.

 

[chicagopepper]

Real quick....probably been asked tons of times here....what does Zooropa mean?

 

[U2Kitten]

a bluer kind of white?

 

[LMP]

These are without a doubt my two least favorites not that they're bad, they're just worse than all the rest for me. Let's see, I like SATS but Stay is better, I like Zooropa but Gone is better. The band looked hotter during Zooropa. Zooropa has the worst cover art and liner notes ever with no pics of the band at all. Lemon MacPhisto is cool but I don't like the song, but it's better than Discotheque. Numb sucks, but it's better than Velvet Dress, or is it? Okay, Pop loses because it has Miami on it. I give up. Buy them both.

LemonMacPhisto...thatz me! don't u just mean the song Lemon?

 

[U2Kitten]

Hey! Cool name!

I mean the MacPhisto on the Lemon video, like you!

 

[mystery girl]

I think they're both great albums. They both show what a broad musical spectrum U2 are capable of. This, in my opinion, is what makes U2 a much better band than most of the others out there, and is what has given them the longevity that they have. Pop was, I think, the second U2 album I listened to - the first was The Joshua Tree - and I just couldn't believe that both albums were made by the same band!
Buy them both to fully appreciate the different musical styles U2 are capable of doing (well!)!

 

[Roland of Gilead]

They are both great albums! I can't live without ANY version of Gone and Please. Incredible songs!... But if you want me to get picky, Zooropa wins by a country mile. Title track, Lemon, and the beautiful Stay (in any version mind you!) reach too deep inside of my heart and grip me.

 

[saxgoddess]

I decided to buy Zooropa first. It was on sale! It is a little hard to get into because it's so different, but I LOVE IT! I especially like Zooropa, Lemon, and Daddy's gonna pay for your crashed car. It's so layed back and sexy. The only songs that I really don't like are "The wanderer" (doesn't fit on this album at all!) and "Babyface". The only thing is, I don't really get what any of the songs are about! but this album makes me feel like I'm high, so I guess I don't need to understand! Thanks for your help! I'm gonna get Pop as soon as I get more funds!

 

[Miggy D]

Babyface - Bono is singing a love song to a film/tv actress he has an obsession with. 'I've got slow motion on my side', etc.

Stay - a song about an abusive relationship, and more specifically, the messed up girl who is in said relationship.

The Wanderer is actually a really great song once you realize it's all about Bono during the Zoo TV tour. All of the 'sin' he was partaking in during the time, partying, drinking, the night life in general - 'I want to taste and touch and to feel as much as a man can before he repents' It says a lot about Bono's frame of mind during that era, after the whole 'clean living' he had done during the Joshua Tree times. Anyway, that's how I looked at it, after having read 'At The End Of The World' by Bill Flannigan.

Anyway - I'll leave the rest to you. Well - (Zooropa is a song all about Europe).

-Miggy D

 

[Zoocoustic]

"Zooropa", I believe, was a knock at the time on Europe and the European nations, and the chaos or "zoo" that existed in 1993 as U2 saw it.

Europe was a Zoo - Zooropa instead of Europa.

 

[Pero]

i'll give you my ratings(/5)

ZOOROPA:
1.Zooropa-3
2.Babyface-2
3.Numb-3
4.Lemon-6(that's exceptional song)
5.Stay-5
6.Daddy's gonna pay for you crashed car-2
7.Some days are better than others-2
8.The first time-3
9.Dirty Day-2
10.The Wanderer-5

POP:
1.Discoteque-5
2.Do you feel loved-5
3.Mofo-5
4.If God will send his angels-4
5.Staring at the sun-5
6.Last night on Earth-3
7.Gone-4(i love live version)
8.Miami-1(the lamest song ever)
9.The Playboy mansion-1(because it shows bono as a lame
guy who has nothing on his mind than thinking on the girls)
10.If you wear that velvet dress-2(boring)
11.Please-4(holds the album as one piece)
12.Wake up dead man-2

Zooropa-3.3
Pop-3.4

Anyway, BUY THEM ALL!!!!!!!

 

[LMP]

Hey! Cool name!

I mean the MacPhisto on the Lemon video, like you!

ooooo, thanx

ya kno wut they say, "off w/ the horns, on w/ the show"

 

[U2Kitten]

Babyface - Bono is singing a love song to a film/tv actress he has an obsession with. 'I've got slow motion on my side', etc.

I used to hate it until I noticed how much it reminded me of PLEBA and our stills Now it's funny

Stay - a song about an abusive relationship, and more specifically, the messed up girl who is in said relationship.


-Miggy D

I can relate! Love the song!

 

[U2Kitten]

ooooo, thanx

ya kno wut they say, "off w/ the horns, on w/ the show"

 

[The OOTS]

There are some gems on both, but PoP lyrically is better.

 

[ponkine]

After listening carefully both albums, I´d go with Pop. It´s more complete and different, I´m in love with Pop, really !!!!

Don´t think I hate Zooropa, NOOOO I love it but if I had to go to a lonely island, I´d go with Pop, the last U2 masterpiece

Peace

 

[barrett]

Pop is at least listenable to me.
My vote for U2's two worst albums.

 

[bsp77]

The only thing is, I don't really get what any of the songs are about!

Zooropa - not really sure, except disorientation

Babyface - Lusting after someone through the TV, sounds kind of pornographic

Numb - well, basically just being numb about everything, possibly about the future

Lemon - it is a reference to his mother, but don't know too much. Lot of Lemon lovers here, someone should know.

Stay - as others have said, a woman in an abusive relationship and her guardian angel as well (or maybe I am just getting that from the movie and video)

Daddy's Gonna Pay... - always wondered about this, though if you think that Daddy may be God, it becomes very interesting. Bono wanted to give the lyrics to John Lee Hooker for a Blues song, but they recorded it instead as Industrial Blues

Some Days... - well, it is as the title says. Kinda moronic lyrics

First Time - about the Holy Trinity. Lover = Holy Spirit. Brother = Jesus. Father = God. Bono wrote this one for Al Green originally as a Gospel song.

Dirty Day - it has something to do with Bukowski. Not really sure

The Wanderer - perfect lyrics for Johnny Cash as it is all about the search for God but in a very earthy, almost violent, way

Great album overall, glad you got it before Pop, which I also enjoy by the way.

 

[Sydneyvicious]

Pop =Gone
nuff said

 

[Seven Oaks]

Pop =Gone
nuff said

I agree Gone has to be one of U2's darker songs and sounds thrilling live. In terms of a whole album though, Zooropa is the better. Pop is strong but I think they could have done with another fortnight or so in the studio to try and sort the songs out. Last Night On Earth could have been explosive as vertigo but it gets a bit buried in samples and doesn't really take off as much as I would like. Discotheque, though entertaining also sounds dis-jointed. My favourite songs are If You Wear That velevet Dress, Gone and If God Will Send His Angels.

Zooropa has more great songs IMHO such as lemon, Stay and Babyface which I actually like. I think Dirty Day is excelent with a sinister feel to it but it never gets the credit it deserves. Bono's voice is also a lot better on Zooropa.

 

[Sleep Over Jack]

I prefer Zooropa as it feels more fluid and conceptually it seems to be executed better, whereas POP, while a great album, feels slightly awkward in places and the latter part of the album is too one-paced..plus I feel the best tracks of Zooropa are better than Pop's and rank up there with the band's best songs..

 

[Lemonfix]

My thought was always that Pop may have a lot of individual songs on it that are just some of the best U2 has ever done (Disco/DYFL/MOFO trilogy, Please, Gone, Velvet Dress, WUDM and hell, I'll admit it, I am a huge fan of Miami). BUT, as a whole the album doesn't have the flow that it could have. The first three songs are all going in one direction, then that direction changes a bit to a more traditional U2 sound. Pop is a case of the whole being lesser than the sum of its parts (but God knows I still love it).

Zooropa is just awesome. People say Pop is easier to get into, but honestly, as a teenager when I listened to both these albums I loved Zooropa right from the beginning. Maybe it's because when I listened to the album it reminded me of all the things that were going on at the time in the world and it took me back to the feeling of ZooTv, which, unfortunatley, was staged before I became a fan and had only heard about. It's a great companion to AB.