womanfish
Rock n' Roll Doggie ALL ACCESS
Hello everyone! I am popping in from my long hiatus. Post-election, I took a break from all things I became too obsessed with during the election. Hence the sabbatical.
Loved reading through months worth of this thread.
Few things I'll comment on that I can think of...
SFS is a terrible song. Yet surprisingly 13 is a fantastic song.
Headache is right about Rubin. I blamed him for a long time. But people get bad advice all the time, and it was the band's fault that they, for whatever reason, took his criticism/advice about "songwriting" to heart. I think ol' Rick's production credits on Window In The Skies, is about all you need to know of how badly he was paired with the band. Just bad.
EBW is also a fantastic song. I don't get the negative feelings people have for it. I think when you know all of the background of the song, sometimes it really warps your view. I think if that song came out as the lead single from SOI, and they had never played versions of it live prior to that, and we had no idea who had produced it, people would have been gushing over how good it was, especially coming off of No Line.
I really like this Doxxer guy. Glad to see a new face with good knowledge and well thought out opinions.
That said, since there was a lot of reflection on SOI and SOE, I agree with a lot of what Doxxer said. Also his list of skip songs on the last several albums mirrors mine almost exactly. I'd probably add a couple more
I think SOI has aged a bit better for me. SFS really is the only skipper for me. And I skip about 4 songs each (sometimes more) on ATYCLB, Bomb and No Line.
If The Crystal Ballroom had been the first song on the album, and the second single, and EBW had been the lead single, and Miracle was just a middle of the album non-single track, and they ditched SFS, it would be a damn near perfect U2 album. Sleep Like a Baby, and The Troubles being huge highlights, with the rest being in the very good range.
SOE would take a little more repair. I think the opener and closer are perfect. But leave off Get Out, American Soul, and The Showman. Add in Book of Your Heart and use the St. Peter's String version of Lights, and it would be a much stronger album. Huge highlights for me being Red Flag, Summer of Love, Little Things and Landlady. With the rest being in the very good range. I still really like Best Thing. And as much as I like Little Things, there is always something nagging at me when I listen to it, that something is just... missing. That it could have been something greater. Still an awesome song.
As for moving forward. I think the best thing would be if they actually did go in and tear through the recording process and then just let it be. But we know that won't happen. So second best would be to stick with 3 producers - Andy Barlow, Flood and Jolyon Thomas.
Obviously it's been said a million times, they need to bury the idea of shoehorning "hits" into a record. But really. REALLY. They need to embrace their age and wisdom. Just live in that moment, this time that they are in. Forget the love, and grace, and peace, and politics and feeding the world. Go inward, reflect. My hope would be darker more somber songs with palpable atmosphere, where you could almost feel the room they are creating it in.
They need that sort of... what now... third of forth chapter of their career. The final chapter, and go out as respected statesmen of rock, and have your name mentioned more with the Cohen's and Cash's of the world than the Nickelback's.
Loved reading through months worth of this thread.
Few things I'll comment on that I can think of...
SFS is a terrible song. Yet surprisingly 13 is a fantastic song.
Headache is right about Rubin. I blamed him for a long time. But people get bad advice all the time, and it was the band's fault that they, for whatever reason, took his criticism/advice about "songwriting" to heart. I think ol' Rick's production credits on Window In The Skies, is about all you need to know of how badly he was paired with the band. Just bad.
EBW is also a fantastic song. I don't get the negative feelings people have for it. I think when you know all of the background of the song, sometimes it really warps your view. I think if that song came out as the lead single from SOI, and they had never played versions of it live prior to that, and we had no idea who had produced it, people would have been gushing over how good it was, especially coming off of No Line.
I really like this Doxxer guy. Glad to see a new face with good knowledge and well thought out opinions.
That said, since there was a lot of reflection on SOI and SOE, I agree with a lot of what Doxxer said. Also his list of skip songs on the last several albums mirrors mine almost exactly. I'd probably add a couple more
I think SOI has aged a bit better for me. SFS really is the only skipper for me. And I skip about 4 songs each (sometimes more) on ATYCLB, Bomb and No Line.
If The Crystal Ballroom had been the first song on the album, and the second single, and EBW had been the lead single, and Miracle was just a middle of the album non-single track, and they ditched SFS, it would be a damn near perfect U2 album. Sleep Like a Baby, and The Troubles being huge highlights, with the rest being in the very good range.
SOE would take a little more repair. I think the opener and closer are perfect. But leave off Get Out, American Soul, and The Showman. Add in Book of Your Heart and use the St. Peter's String version of Lights, and it would be a much stronger album. Huge highlights for me being Red Flag, Summer of Love, Little Things and Landlady. With the rest being in the very good range. I still really like Best Thing. And as much as I like Little Things, there is always something nagging at me when I listen to it, that something is just... missing. That it could have been something greater. Still an awesome song.
As for moving forward. I think the best thing would be if they actually did go in and tear through the recording process and then just let it be. But we know that won't happen. So second best would be to stick with 3 producers - Andy Barlow, Flood and Jolyon Thomas.
Obviously it's been said a million times, they need to bury the idea of shoehorning "hits" into a record. But really. REALLY. They need to embrace their age and wisdom. Just live in that moment, this time that they are in. Forget the love, and grace, and peace, and politics and feeding the world. Go inward, reflect. My hope would be darker more somber songs with palpable atmosphere, where you could almost feel the room they are creating it in.
They need that sort of... what now... third of forth chapter of their career. The final chapter, and go out as respected statesmen of rock, and have your name mentioned more with the Cohen's and Cash's of the world than the Nickelback's.
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