Michael Griffiths
Rock n' Roll Doggie
...RIGHT NOW (FOR ME), at least. It's kind of funny, because I've always believed it to be, but now I'm having some doubts. I guess it all totally depends on what's going on in your life at the time, because right now I'd almost say Achtung Baby is better, by a nose, but for totally different reasons. Achtung Baby is much more in your face rock 'n roll, with heavy experimentation in industrial, edgier sounds. It's almost like industrial pop, if there ever was such a thing. Songs like 'Acrobat' are what rock music should be about: music that grabs you, because it's got you by the throat. Achtung Baby has the squeeze on tight, pretty much all the way through, and Edge has never sounded as bold, nor as confident. While listening to the guitar solo on 'The Fly', it's hard to believe you're listening to the same guitar player as the one from Joshua Tree, although you can definitlely see how and why he is.
Joshua Tree, however, has something that Achtung Baby doesn't: an eternal sound, a sound that resonates the idea of heaven, possibly even heaven itself. Achtung Baby has a sound that resonates earth. It's much more dirty, but that's what makes it so good. It's pop music with more than just an edge. It also happens to have, in my opinion, U2's best song, "One" (definitely Bono's finest moment as a songwriter -- he certainly didn't have to use the John Lennon handbook on this one, rest assured. One actually wonders if John was in the room at the time). However, the Joshua Tree will always be the album with the most "great" songs on it. It is very organic, and Bono's voice is so much inside the ebb and flow of the music. You'll never hear Bono ache as profoundly as he does on a song like "Mothers of The Disappeared," ("See their teaaaaarsss.....in the rain fall") for example. The imagery on this record is weaved so densley, it's almost like watching a movie. Your are trasported to a physical place, but it's almost in a mystical sense. It's an amazing record, really, because the songs that were the most successful commercially, happen to also be the most creative. That's a rare feat unto itself.
So, on second thought, since they're both so good, and so different to each other, I really can't pick. It's a draw. (Sorry for the ramble.)
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The Tempest
[This message has been edited by Michael Griffiths (edited 12-18-2001).]
[This message has been edited by Michael Griffiths (edited 12-18-2001).]
Joshua Tree, however, has something that Achtung Baby doesn't: an eternal sound, a sound that resonates the idea of heaven, possibly even heaven itself. Achtung Baby has a sound that resonates earth. It's much more dirty, but that's what makes it so good. It's pop music with more than just an edge. It also happens to have, in my opinion, U2's best song, "One" (definitely Bono's finest moment as a songwriter -- he certainly didn't have to use the John Lennon handbook on this one, rest assured. One actually wonders if John was in the room at the time). However, the Joshua Tree will always be the album with the most "great" songs on it. It is very organic, and Bono's voice is so much inside the ebb and flow of the music. You'll never hear Bono ache as profoundly as he does on a song like "Mothers of The Disappeared," ("See their teaaaaarsss.....in the rain fall") for example. The imagery on this record is weaved so densley, it's almost like watching a movie. Your are trasported to a physical place, but it's almost in a mystical sense. It's an amazing record, really, because the songs that were the most successful commercially, happen to also be the most creative. That's a rare feat unto itself.
So, on second thought, since they're both so good, and so different to each other, I really can't pick. It's a draw. (Sorry for the ramble.)
------------------
The Tempest
[This message has been edited by Michael Griffiths (edited 12-18-2001).]
[This message has been edited by Michael Griffiths (edited 12-18-2001).]