namkcuR
ONE love, blood, life
I have an admission to make. Some of you may recognize me as being one to regularly express negative opinions about new millenium U2. I, like many others, am guilty of having lumped ATYCLB and HTDAAB together. I shouldn't have. I've been listening to ATYCLB a lot the past few days, and I have developed a newfound appreciation for it, and I have realized that. I think, if the band needed to find their footing, so-to-speak, after the 90s, there was a few ways they could have gone about doing it, and while I still don't think ATYCLB was the best of those ways, I do think it is horribly underrated here at Interference and I do think it's head and shoulders above HTDAAB. I've always heard this sort of unspoken rule about the rock music business - and any of you that might actually be in or around that business, feel free to tell me if there's any validity or truth to this - that you sort of get one 'going back to roots, finding your sound again' type record per career. I think for U2, that was ATYCLB. And I think they tried to break that unspoken rule and make a second 'roots' record with HTDAAB, and I think that is why you hear so much more 'sellout' complaints and questioning of U2's motives this time around than during ATYCLB(at least I percieve it to be more this time around). Anyway, ATYCLB is a good record and doesn't imo deserve the constant almost factual references to HTDAAB being better than it.
Beautiful Day > Vertigo
BD is good, catchy pop-rock song. Vertigo is catchy and all, but it doesn't have near the staying power of BD. It sounds like a band desperately trying to keep the 15-20 crowd's attention.
Stuck In A Moment > Miracle Drug
The last minute or so of MD is great, but a great guitar solo and a repeat of the chorus does not a great song make. The album version of Stuck has some - shall we say, over-the-top - production. But underneath that production is possibly the best pure pop song U2 have ever written(mind you they haven't written all that many pure pop songs). It is catchy, the lyrics are very good for the most part(in tribute to the late Michael Hutchence), and Edge's falsetto is icing on the cake. If you focus on the great song beneath the production, you can get past the horrendus bells and whistles(figuratively speaking). If not, listen to the stunning acoustic version.
Elevation > Sometimes
Now, I know you all will give me the hardest time about this one. Maybe I'm just burnt out on Sometimes right now after hearing it so many times....maybe I think Elevation is underrated here. I don't know, but whatever the case, at this point in time, Elevation excites me more. This could change in the future, I suppose. But I'm not going to try to explain my reasoning here any further because I have a suspicion that no explanation will be good enough to justify this one in the eyes of most of you
Walk On = Love And Peace Or Else
I love both songs. Walk On is much more melodic and anthem-y, but it's a beautiful song...especially the 'home' verse, which imo doesn't get enough praise. That verse is one of the best sheer melodies I can think of in U2's catalog. LAPOE is a great rocker and one of two ore three songs on HTDAAB that I find memorable. If they had made a whole record of songs like this, it would've been something. Oh, and Edge has stunning guitar solos on both songs.
Kite > COBL
COBL is quickly becoming the most overrated song in U2's entire catalog. It's a good song. It's nice, it's catchy, it's quite a good opener on the tour, but it is nothing we haven't heard before from U2. Kite seems more unique to me, and I think its chorus is much better - whereas COBL's chorus is built for an arena of 20,000 to sing along, Kite's chorus can fit that bill but at the same time can fit the bill of a guy singing to himself in a room alone. If U2's aim with ATYCLB was to make the sound of four guys in a room, Kite, to me, is one of the best examples of that. Additionally, the guitarwork in this song is mouth-watering. I can't put my finger on it exactly, but the guitar riffs in Kite have always reminded me of melting chocolate.
In A Little While > All Because Of You
IAWL is maligned by some here and I don't know why. I still think it could have been a big single. It's damn catchy. But it's catchy in a way that leaves you feeling like it wasn't trying to be, like it just couldn't help being catchy. ABOY, on the other hand, seems like it exists only to be catchy. Bono's double-layered vocals usually work, but not so much here. The chorus is pretty underwhelming. But then Edge comes in gives us a kickass solo that single-handedly salvages the song. ABOY is the kind of song you love the first ten times you hear it, and then grow bored of it. IALW is the kind of song you listen to ten years after its release and wonder 'why wasn't this song more popular?!' Also, I would be remiss if I didn't point out the poetry of IALW's lyrics. I personally think the whole man in a rocket ship verse is a metaphor for Bono's take on his/U2's career.
Wild Honey = A Man And A Woman
Two songs that are not much loved here. But they should be. AMAAW is one of the few songs on HTDAAB that I think is memorable. Gorgeous. As for Wild Honey, yeah, Bono's voice cracks all over the place on this song. Get over it. It is a good, catchy pop song. Accept both of these songs with open arms please. Stop hating on them. It hurts their feelings.
Peace On Earth > Crumbs From Your Table
Up until a few weeks ago, POE was my least favorite U2 song. I was being too hard on it. It's actually quite good. Let the record show my position on that song is officially reversed. It takes a while to get going but once it does it's pretty beautiful, and it really hits home with the world events of today. Crumbs...in it's rawest state is a quite a good song, though the lyrics could be a little more subtle. The problem is the production. This might be my least favorite production of any U2 song. It is SO overcooked. Listen to the HQ version, and there are some really nice and catchy guitar hooks/riffs during the chorus. On the album version, they seem to be diluded, sort of relogated to the background. Melted. Overcooked. The outo is really good though. This may change to a = sometime, but for now it's a >.
When I Look At The World > One Step Closer
WILATW is a great song. Lyrics that make you think, a catchy melody, and a positively other-worldly guitar solo later in the song. Underrated here. One Step Closer...is nice, nothing wrong with it. There's just not enough there. They got the atmospherics they wanted in that song but, imo, they forgot to put a song in the atmosphere. 'The First Time' is, imo, a much better example of putting a song inside an atmosphere. Anyway, nothing wrong with OSC for what it is, but it can't compete with WILATW.
New York > OOTS
I debated over this. OOTS could be really beautiful, but I think it needs to be stripped down a bit. I don't agree with the Hey Jude comparisons. Beatles, sure. Hey Jude, no. If the album version was more like the live version, I might have to give it the edge over NY, but as it is...New York rocks. Dark, brooding, sort of reminiscent of something off of 'War'. Also, the guitar riff is one of my favorite U2 guitar riffs this decade. This song keeps growing on me(even though my brother is ademant about hating it).
Grace>>>>>>>>Yahweh
I don't understand what the big deal is about Yahweh. It is boring. I also don't understand why so many people think Grace is crap. Is it because it doesn't have a real chorus? I think Grace is beautiful. It is atmospheric. It is melancholy while simultaniously providing hope. I LOVE the lyric, 'grace finds beauty in everything' and 'grace makes beauty out of ugly things'. I feel like lines like that provide a more real, down-to-earth kind of hope than Yahweh does. I think Bono has always been very good about not making his religious lyrics so religious that some people are turned off by them. Yahweh is one of the few exceptions I think. Lyrically, it's just a little too 'god is good god is great' for me. Musically, I think it's just bland. I'm sorry, I know a lot of you love it, but I think Yahweh is just bland. Live, they made some changes that I think benefited it greatly, musically. But other than that, bland. Grace is not all that musically interesting in any kind of obvious way either, but it does have some good, albiet very subtle, melodies and harmonies. They're not very obvious, but they are there. That, along with superior lyrics, make me think Grace is much better than Yahweh.
So, I think ATYCLB was a very good record, for what it was supposed to be. Like I said, you get one 'roots' record, and U2 has tried, imo, to make a second one. And to me, it feels like it's striving to accomplish the same goals as ATYCLB, but it's trying, and having to try, much harder to achieve those goals. Trying to make a second record like this was a big risk, iImo, because U2 have always thrived on doing the unexpected. Nobody expected ATYCLB to be what it was. Everybody expected HTDAAB to be what it was. I think a third record in this vein will be a HUGE risk.
I cannot emphasize enough, though, that this is NOT meant to be an HTDAAB-bashing thread. Yes, I much prefer ATYCLB to HTDAAB and I have said as much. And yes, I don't care that much for HTDAAB right now, but that might change in the future. There was a time just six months ago when I wasn't into ATYCLB. But the point of this thread was to compare and contrast these two records, and to show the differences, and to explain thouroughly why I think one is superior to the other, and to explore why these two records can be so similar yet so different too.
And also, to appreciate ATYCLB
Beautiful Day > Vertigo
BD is good, catchy pop-rock song. Vertigo is catchy and all, but it doesn't have near the staying power of BD. It sounds like a band desperately trying to keep the 15-20 crowd's attention.
Stuck In A Moment > Miracle Drug
The last minute or so of MD is great, but a great guitar solo and a repeat of the chorus does not a great song make. The album version of Stuck has some - shall we say, over-the-top - production. But underneath that production is possibly the best pure pop song U2 have ever written(mind you they haven't written all that many pure pop songs). It is catchy, the lyrics are very good for the most part(in tribute to the late Michael Hutchence), and Edge's falsetto is icing on the cake. If you focus on the great song beneath the production, you can get past the horrendus bells and whistles(figuratively speaking). If not, listen to the stunning acoustic version.
Elevation > Sometimes
Now, I know you all will give me the hardest time about this one. Maybe I'm just burnt out on Sometimes right now after hearing it so many times....maybe I think Elevation is underrated here. I don't know, but whatever the case, at this point in time, Elevation excites me more. This could change in the future, I suppose. But I'm not going to try to explain my reasoning here any further because I have a suspicion that no explanation will be good enough to justify this one in the eyes of most of you
Walk On = Love And Peace Or Else
I love both songs. Walk On is much more melodic and anthem-y, but it's a beautiful song...especially the 'home' verse, which imo doesn't get enough praise. That verse is one of the best sheer melodies I can think of in U2's catalog. LAPOE is a great rocker and one of two ore three songs on HTDAAB that I find memorable. If they had made a whole record of songs like this, it would've been something. Oh, and Edge has stunning guitar solos on both songs.
Kite > COBL
COBL is quickly becoming the most overrated song in U2's entire catalog. It's a good song. It's nice, it's catchy, it's quite a good opener on the tour, but it is nothing we haven't heard before from U2. Kite seems more unique to me, and I think its chorus is much better - whereas COBL's chorus is built for an arena of 20,000 to sing along, Kite's chorus can fit that bill but at the same time can fit the bill of a guy singing to himself in a room alone. If U2's aim with ATYCLB was to make the sound of four guys in a room, Kite, to me, is one of the best examples of that. Additionally, the guitarwork in this song is mouth-watering. I can't put my finger on it exactly, but the guitar riffs in Kite have always reminded me of melting chocolate.
In A Little While > All Because Of You
IAWL is maligned by some here and I don't know why. I still think it could have been a big single. It's damn catchy. But it's catchy in a way that leaves you feeling like it wasn't trying to be, like it just couldn't help being catchy. ABOY, on the other hand, seems like it exists only to be catchy. Bono's double-layered vocals usually work, but not so much here. The chorus is pretty underwhelming. But then Edge comes in gives us a kickass solo that single-handedly salvages the song. ABOY is the kind of song you love the first ten times you hear it, and then grow bored of it. IALW is the kind of song you listen to ten years after its release and wonder 'why wasn't this song more popular?!' Also, I would be remiss if I didn't point out the poetry of IALW's lyrics. I personally think the whole man in a rocket ship verse is a metaphor for Bono's take on his/U2's career.
Wild Honey = A Man And A Woman
Two songs that are not much loved here. But they should be. AMAAW is one of the few songs on HTDAAB that I think is memorable. Gorgeous. As for Wild Honey, yeah, Bono's voice cracks all over the place on this song. Get over it. It is a good, catchy pop song. Accept both of these songs with open arms please. Stop hating on them. It hurts their feelings.
Peace On Earth > Crumbs From Your Table
Up until a few weeks ago, POE was my least favorite U2 song. I was being too hard on it. It's actually quite good. Let the record show my position on that song is officially reversed. It takes a while to get going but once it does it's pretty beautiful, and it really hits home with the world events of today. Crumbs...in it's rawest state is a quite a good song, though the lyrics could be a little more subtle. The problem is the production. This might be my least favorite production of any U2 song. It is SO overcooked. Listen to the HQ version, and there are some really nice and catchy guitar hooks/riffs during the chorus. On the album version, they seem to be diluded, sort of relogated to the background. Melted. Overcooked. The outo is really good though. This may change to a = sometime, but for now it's a >.
When I Look At The World > One Step Closer
WILATW is a great song. Lyrics that make you think, a catchy melody, and a positively other-worldly guitar solo later in the song. Underrated here. One Step Closer...is nice, nothing wrong with it. There's just not enough there. They got the atmospherics they wanted in that song but, imo, they forgot to put a song in the atmosphere. 'The First Time' is, imo, a much better example of putting a song inside an atmosphere. Anyway, nothing wrong with OSC for what it is, but it can't compete with WILATW.
New York > OOTS
I debated over this. OOTS could be really beautiful, but I think it needs to be stripped down a bit. I don't agree with the Hey Jude comparisons. Beatles, sure. Hey Jude, no. If the album version was more like the live version, I might have to give it the edge over NY, but as it is...New York rocks. Dark, brooding, sort of reminiscent of something off of 'War'. Also, the guitar riff is one of my favorite U2 guitar riffs this decade. This song keeps growing on me(even though my brother is ademant about hating it).
Grace>>>>>>>>Yahweh
I don't understand what the big deal is about Yahweh. It is boring. I also don't understand why so many people think Grace is crap. Is it because it doesn't have a real chorus? I think Grace is beautiful. It is atmospheric. It is melancholy while simultaniously providing hope. I LOVE the lyric, 'grace finds beauty in everything' and 'grace makes beauty out of ugly things'. I feel like lines like that provide a more real, down-to-earth kind of hope than Yahweh does. I think Bono has always been very good about not making his religious lyrics so religious that some people are turned off by them. Yahweh is one of the few exceptions I think. Lyrically, it's just a little too 'god is good god is great' for me. Musically, I think it's just bland. I'm sorry, I know a lot of you love it, but I think Yahweh is just bland. Live, they made some changes that I think benefited it greatly, musically. But other than that, bland. Grace is not all that musically interesting in any kind of obvious way either, but it does have some good, albiet very subtle, melodies and harmonies. They're not very obvious, but they are there. That, along with superior lyrics, make me think Grace is much better than Yahweh.
So, I think ATYCLB was a very good record, for what it was supposed to be. Like I said, you get one 'roots' record, and U2 has tried, imo, to make a second one. And to me, it feels like it's striving to accomplish the same goals as ATYCLB, but it's trying, and having to try, much harder to achieve those goals. Trying to make a second record like this was a big risk, iImo, because U2 have always thrived on doing the unexpected. Nobody expected ATYCLB to be what it was. Everybody expected HTDAAB to be what it was. I think a third record in this vein will be a HUGE risk.
I cannot emphasize enough, though, that this is NOT meant to be an HTDAAB-bashing thread. Yes, I much prefer ATYCLB to HTDAAB and I have said as much. And yes, I don't care that much for HTDAAB right now, but that might change in the future. There was a time just six months ago when I wasn't into ATYCLB. But the point of this thread was to compare and contrast these two records, and to show the differences, and to explain thouroughly why I think one is superior to the other, and to explore why these two records can be so similar yet so different too.
And also, to appreciate ATYCLB
Last edited: