AB overrated?

[NShaik]

I know I'm going to get critisized for saying this, but I really don't think Acthung Baby is a very good album (by U2's standards).

I know that without it, Zooropa and Pop would never have happened, which would have been a tradjedy, but individually, I really don't think its actually that good.

There are some classics, particularly when played love - The Fly, Mysterious Ways, One, Love is Blindness are all brilliant song, but I do think some songs are simply just boring. TTTYAATW for example I think is the most spineless song U2 have ever written. Even Better than the Real Thing, allthough I do sing it in the shower, it doesn't really do anything.

It is a good album, but I just don't think its as good as everyone here thinks, musically. Lyrically, its probably their best, but musically it just doesn't hit the right buttons with me. So Cruel is a nice idea, but the production ruins it I think. THere are a few songs which I really wouldn't have missed if they were never made.

Zoo Station - musically, very static. A slinky guitar riff, but that's all there is to it really.

Even Better than the Real Thing - Dull Riff, nice lyrics though. Solo doesn't do it for me. Like the Edge singing though.

One - A Perfect U2 moment. One of those songs that just can't be improved upon.

Until the End of the World - NOt a very good song. Its given some life when played live, but has been overplayed. Good lyrics.

Who's Going to Ride your Wild Horses - I really like the Temple Bar Mix, but the album version is all wrong. The PLayful Acoustic summer sound of the Temple Bar mix really suits the song, nice vocals, but weak lyrics.

So Cruel - Not a bad idea, but ruined by studio production. Some of the best lyrics ever though. "And you don't know if its fear or desire, danger the drug that takes your higher."

The Fly - Deep, Dark and Sexy, with one of the best solos of all time. And its just gets even better when they play it on Elevation 2001.

Mysterious Ways - U2's most sexual song to date, great guitar sounds, interesting if slightly confusing lyrics.

Trying to Throw Your Arms around the World - ARGH!!! NOOO - this song is a waste of 4 minutes. Awful Lyrics, awful song, awful mixing. Becomes mildly interesting live, but still awful.

ultraviolet - Not much to it really - usually skip past it. Good lyrics though. Better live

Acrobat - very cool song, but it feels a little understated. Feels like it should be a 6 minute epic. But what is there is fantastic.

Love is Blindness - hate this song on the album, but on Zoo TV is becomes just the most wodnerful thing, with a lovely solo.

I do think its good, but I just don't see it as a classic. I don't really know what everyone sees in it. On an album like Joshua Tree, or Pop, every song is essential, there is no song I skip past (with the possible exception of the Playboy Mansion).

 

[Bonochick]

Who's Going to Ride your Wild Horses - I really like the Temple Bar Mix, but the album version is all wrong. The PLayful Acoustic summer sound of the Temple Bar mix really suits the song, nice vocals, but weak lyrics.

I personally do not think that AB was overrated, but I wanted to make a specific reply to that comment. WGRYWH is my all-time favorite song, and I love the lyrics to it...I think they are painfully beautiful.

 

[adamswildhoney]

I dont think AB is overrated either bc its such a different sound for the time that it came out in. When it came out we were in the midst of the Grunge/Pre teeny bopper music and to have that album come out then was such a breath of fresh air!

 

[Zoocifer]

Someone get the rope. There's gonna be a hog-tying...

-[z]-

 

[wertsie]

Someone get the rope. There's gonna be a hog-tying...

-[z]-

AB saved my life. A few years ago I was going through a really hard time in my life and AB spun in my CD player a lot...

 

[gherman]

I could really give a flying shit about averything you said in the post but your remark about Until The End Of The World hurt me.

 

[LarryMullen's POPAngel]

Sorry, AB came out in the middle of the grunge era and sounded totally different than anything else at that time. Its songs were about relationships and searching, and it was gorgeous and painful and dreary and dark yet hopeful underneath it all. It was the first U2 album I bought and it's still my favorite to this day.

 

[Seconds]

I guess we're each entitled to our opinion. I have to disagree with you. In my opinion Achtung Baby is U2's best album.

I don't understand why everyone hates TTTYAATW so much. It's a simple beautiful song.

I a agree that the Wild Horses single is much better than the album version though.

 

[*BOOMCHAA!*]

AB is my favorite album

 

[NShaik]

Sorry, AB came out in the middle of the grunge era and sounded totally different than anything else at that time. Its songs were about relationships and searching, and it was gorgeous and painful and dreary and dark yet hopeful underneath it all. It was the first U2 album I bought and it's still my favorite to this day.

I agree that AB is hugely original and when it was released was a stand-out record. and it must have been refresing in the middle of all the grunge shit.

What I am saying as, irrespective of other U2 albums, and the time it was released, and whatever anyone else was doing at the time it was released, individually, I don't think it is a particularly strong album (by U2's standard. Compared with Anything else, except for Radiohead + Sigur Ros, it is off the scale of brilliance)

 

[TheDaddy]

I love AB it's a classic. And another thing is I personally love TTTYAATW. Its definitely the most atmospheric song on the album and it is a good bridge between the loud middle and even louder and darker end of the album. It helps to paste the album together but is also a good track in its own right. The synth sound and gentle drumming and guitar at the end are great. I think it's quite underrated actually.

 

[KhanadaRhodes]

On an album like Joshua Tree, or Pop, every song is essential, there is no song I skip past (with the possible exception of the Playboy Mansion).

i do agree with you about pop, but i don't think achtung baby is overrated. however, i think joshua tree is, so if i took your post, changed the songs and everything, it'd be what i'd say about jt, so i can see where you're coming from.

 

[U2morrow]

I started a thread similar to this one once about my feelings on AB. I fell in love with "One" when it first came out and promptly went out to buy AB. It was my favourite album and I listened to it all the time. After buying every other U2 album, however, I decided AB was one of my least favourites. It is a bit strange, AB is what got me hooked on U2 but I quickly found it to be one of their weakest efforts. I could not understand how so many people praised it for being a masterpiece. Anyway, over the last year or so I decide to give it another chance. I started listening to it again, keeping in mind the reasons Interferencers gave for loving it so much. So listening to AB brought back lots of amusing memories from when I first discovered U2 and I guess made me remember why I started listening in the first place. It is still not my favourite album but I definitely look at it a lot differently now and appreciate its part in their carreer.

 

[Salome]

It is a good album, but I just don't think its as good as everyone here thinks, musically. Lyrically, its probably their best, but musically it just doesn't hit the right buttons with me.

same here, it's not one of my top 5 fav U2 albums

overrated over here?
well, unless it really is the second coming it probably is

 

[Matthew_Page2000]

AB is staggeringly good

AB is so much better than any other U2 album that it's almost like some other, superior band came down from the heavens and inhabited U2's bodies, made AB and then left forever.

Without AB U2 would still be my favorite band. They'd still be one of the greatest bands ever...but...well...

I've been a U2 fan since '83. They've been my favorite band since Live Aid and I've enjoyed every era of the band but AB is the only album that actually STAGGERED me. Whenever U2 release a new album I nod my head knowingly about how great it is. I smile when I hear something new, something unique. But Achtung. Geeze. I spent the entire hour of my first listen with my jaw dropped down to my chest. I distinctly remember mumbling, "holy shit" in a dazed voice over and over. And then I found out it sounded even BETTER live!!

I've gone through periods where Zooropa and UF were my favorite albums. I spent a good part of 1995 bummed out that I had missed out on the War tour and the glories of hearing Boy, October and War live. But best album? It's not even close. AB all the way.


MAP

p.s.- to be fair I stopped paying attention to what you were saying when you dissed So Cruel and Zoo Station.

 

[Lemonator]

ARE YOU OUTTA YOUR MIND? AB is second best to JTree.

 

[Matthew_Page2000]

Nope.

ARE YOU OUTTA YOUR MIND? AB is second best to JTree.

If you had told me in 1987 that U2 would one day make an album indisputably better than JTree I would have laughed. Then I heard Achtung. Not even close.

MAP

 

[Hawk269]

Achtung overrated? How dare this blasphemy go on in interference! Let's string him up!


(I am joking)


AJ


P.S. How could the best album of the 90's be overrated? If anything, it didn't gets its due - no Grammy.

Someone get the rope. There's gonna be a hog-tying...

-[z]-

 

[kariatari]

Re: Re: AB overrated?

overrated over here?
well, unless it really is the second coming it probably is

My sentiments exactly.

It'd probably rank AB No.4 on my list of faves after JT, Pop, and UF. While I wouldn't say AB is my favorite album, I would agree that the AB/Zoo period was the band's creative zenith in every aspect.

 

[wertsie]

You know, I just noticed something...The lead smiley for this thread looks like this......which is exactly what my face looks like thinking that AB is overrated!

 

[Bonochick]

P.S. How could the best album of the 90's be overrated? If anything, it didn't gets its due - no Grammy.

 

[KhanadaRhodes]

I could not understand how so many people praised it for being a masterpiece. Anyway, over the last year or so I decide to give it another chance. I started listening to it again, keeping in mind the reasons Interferencers gave for loving it so much. It is still not my favourite album but I definitely look at it a lot differently now and appreciate its part in their carreer.

that's exactly how i feel about atyclb. i listened to it when it first came out, thought, "eh" and put it away. then, when i started becoming more active on the forums and heard everyone's praise about it, especially when i saw how successful it was (i've been a fan since AB, but i was too young to really like follow the charts, go to concerts, etc. like an avid fan till pop) i thought i must've missed something, and made sure to listen to it at least once a day at work. i still didn't like it.

i can appreciate what it's brought to the table, at the very least several grammies, i can appreciate that lots of fans love it and many may even call it their favourite. but it'll never be one of my favourites.

 

[*BOOMCHAA!*]

Re: AB is staggeringly good

it's almost like some other, superior band came down from the heavens and inhabited U2's bodies, made AB and then left forever.

Heh

 

[Cask]

Love is Blindness - hate this song on the album, but on Zoo TV is becomes just the most wodnerful thing, with a lovely solo.

While I disagree with AB breing an overrated album, and it is my favorite one, I agree with what you said about Love Is Blindness. It is the song that has been more improved when played live, a longer solo, better drums, that made a boring song on the album to become a very powerful and emotional live song!

 

[wertsie]

that made a boring song on the album to become a very powerful and emotional live song!

Love is Blindness? Boring????

 

[Cask]

My thoughts on the album version, I never listened to it there, and not after hearing a great song like acrobat. But the live version is one of my favorite live songs, it took a whole new life on stage.

 

[U2DMfan]

I just wanted to echo what MatthewPage_2000 said.

U2 are one of the greatst bands ever, by far my favorite band, but when they made AB, it was like some aliens took over their bodies just so they could trump JT and stick it to the press.

AS far as being overrated?? Anything that is praised to that extent runs the risk of being overrated. I think ATYCLB is highly overrated and AB isn't, just an opinion.

 

[Saracene]

To be honest, AB as a whole album never really did it for me. If I was asked where it stands in my personal U2 ranking, I'd say that it shares a second or third place with JT, but I'm only saying that because of the individual AB songs I absolutely adore rather than the whole album. Lyrically, it is unquestionably their best effort, but unfortunately I also need a song to be interesting musically and quite a few AB songs fall short in that respect.

I can totally appreciate the giant creative leap U2 made with this album. But since I wasn't paying much attention to the music scene in the early nineties, the whole U2 re-invention shock was not much of a personal shock to me in the year 2000, especially since I've already listened to POP and Zooropa. If I was to break down the album song by song, here's how I feel about it:

Zoo Station - IMO a pretty boring rocker and the least exciting U2 album opener.

Even Better Than the Real Thing - now you're talking! Sexy, thrilling, with a riff so great Oasis nicked it for their "Hindu Times".

One - makes me weep like a baby when played live, but I cannot stomach the album version because of Bono's too-nasally singing.

Until the End of the World - great song, but frankly the live version is so much better that I have absolutely no desire to listen to the studio one.

Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses - a pretty good song I just never really warmed up to for some reason.

So Cruel - great, gut-wrenching lyrics, shame about the boring tune that puts me to sleep.

The Fly - can't say enough gushing praise about this one. A perfect song in every way.

Mysterious Ways - ditto.

Trying to Throw Your Arms... - decent if not terribly memorable.

Ultraviolet - I always thought this song sounded like a poor cousin of The Fly, so most of the time I just go back and listen to The Fly again.

Acrobat - I didn't like this song much at first, but it grew on me enormously and became one of my favourites.

Love Is Blindness - great start, unfortunately doesn't go anywhere much interesting.

So yeah, there're basically four, maximum five songs on the album that I actually care to listen to, plus two others that I love when they're played live. Which is pretty good considering how picky I usually am when it comes to albums, but for me personally AB just doesn't have a sustained consistency of, say, PJ Harvey's "To Bring You My Love".

 

[Whats The Story?]

AB is by far the greatest U2 album. I loved that remark about "al superior band taking over U2's bodies made the album and left again" because thats how it seems when I listen to this album in relation to all their other records. Its the titan of the U2 catalogue, and they'll probably never better it or even equal it. Perfect musically and lyrically.

 

[yertle-the-turtle]

The Oasis riff actually sounds like a rip of the Stereophonics' Same Size Feet, but that's a digression.

Achtung Baby is a pretty good album, goes without saying. The thing is while the lyrical quality is pretty brilliant most of the time, there are a few lapses. Love Is Blindness started off with that lovely guitar intro, and hooked me in - only for it to be completely ruined for me by Bono's "I took the money/honey" line. It just stuck out to me as very amateurish rhyming, and wasn't helped by my personal dislike of the way Bono sang it, something just grated. I can't find anything memorable aside from Edge. In short, yes, it's almost boring.

Fine album nonetheless.