New Album Discussion 1 - Songs of..... - Unreasonable guitar album

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So if a band are going through a really creative spell, what's to stop them releasing an album which could be "sci-fi folk" whilst working on the next "proper" one. I guess that's how we got to hear Passengers all those years ago.
What's to stop them? The fact that 30 years ago they had artistic integrity and courage, and now they don't.
 
What's to stop them? The fact that 30 years ago they had artistic integrity and courage, and now they don't.

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Pictures of You
Good. Has way more life than Fast Cars and a much better chorus. Just call it Xanax and Wine though ya fuckwits. 7

Evidence of Life

Love this. It almost sounds like a Boy offcut; Bono's vocals are different and how's that jangly guitar from The Edge! Something a little bit different! 8

Luckiest Man in the World

How wonderful to have it. The lyric changes do annoy me and take me out of the song, but I wonder how I would have reacted if I'd never heard Mercy. As I said earlier, having this song 95% in tact is pretty special. 9

Treason

Fantastic. The Edge's solo rules and it's the best Bonorap since Wire. 8

I Don't Wanna See You Smile

This sounds untouched from the version we got many years ago? Fantastic song, very sweet, simple, not overworked. I love it, horrible title change though. 8

Country Mile

This has warmed on me quite a bit. I like the chorus quite a bit. 7

Happiness

I like the crunchy chorus, "I'm here for the atomic bomb." Still a mess, but warmed on me. 6

Are You Gonna Wait Forever?

I feel like this one has been touched up a bit, with re-recorded vocals? I prefer the original, but it's a terrific song. The guitar and the chorus refrain are outstanding. 8

Theme from 'The Batman'

Where is this from? It's nice. 6

All Because of You 2

This rocks hard. Prefer the original. 6


And while we're here... I listened to the original album too.
Vertigo
Still a banger. 7

Miracle Drug

Great Coldplay song. Pretty classic U2 song. Maybe not as much love for it as I once had. Lyrics are a little silly. 7

Sometimes You Can't Make it On Your Own

I love this song. 8

Love and Peace or Else

Some good aspects to it. Just doesn't quite hit in the way that it should. Maybe I'm scarred from those 20-minute interminable sections of the Vertigo shows where they'd play this and then turn Bullet into a boring dirge. 7

City of Blinding Lights

The song that started it all for me. Perfect. No notes. 10

All Because of You

This song whips. I think the chorus is a bit weak, and maybe the lyrics and Bono's performance for the whole song are too. Which is a shame, because listening to this I was like, goddamn, there's some amazing guitar here. 8

A Man and a Woman

Amazing song, everything about it is wonderful, from the bass to the pre-chorus to the vocals. Brilliant. 9

Crumbs From Your Table

I've always loved this song. Surprised it didn't take off a little more. Some lyrical and vocal delivery misses, but a good tune. 8

One Step Closer

Always loved this one too. 8

Original of the Species

Probably the one that's dropped the most in my estimation. Found this hard to listen to. 4

Yahweh

I think I prefer it stripped down a bit, the version that played over the U23D closing credits is great, but I think this song is really sweet and I love it. 8


Some final thoughts...
  • How good is Adam's work on this album.
  • I'd be quite happy to hear a bunch of the Reassembled songs live, honestly.
  • You could make a really, really, really good single album from the two.
  • Wish they'd given us Native Son, too.
  • Anything else missing? I looked up the era and there were covers of Neon Lights by Kraftwerk and Ave Maria too. And a bunch of remixes and other alt versions.
 
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Pictures of You
Good. Has way more life than Fast Cars and a much better chorus. Just call it Xanax and Wine though ya fuckwits. 7

Evidence of Life

Love this. It almost sounds like a Boy offcut; Bono's vocals are different and how's that jangly guitar from The Edge! Something a little bit different! 8

Luckiest Man in the World

How wonderful to have it. The lyric changes do annoy me and take me out of the song, but I wonder how I would have reacted if I'd never heard Mercy. As I said earlier, having this song 95% in tact is pretty special. 9

Treason

Fantastic. The Edge's solo rules and it's the best Bonorap since Wire. 8

I Don't Wanna See You Smile

This sounds untouched from the version we got many years ago? Fantastic song, very sweet, simple, not overworked. I love it, horrible title change though. 8

Country Mile

This has warmed on me quite a bit. I like the chorus quite a bit. 7

Happiness

I like the crunchy chorus, "I'm here for the atomic bomb." Still a mess, but warmed on me. 6

Are You Gonna Wait Forever?

I feel like this one has been touched up a bit, with re-recorded vocals? I prefer the original, but it's a terrific song. The guitar and the chorus refrain are outstanding. 8

Theme from 'The Batman'

Where is this from? It's nice. 6

All Because of You 2

This rocks hard. Prefer the original. 6


And while we're here... I listened to the original album too.
Vertigo
Still a banger. 7

Miracle Drug

Great Coldplay song. Pretty classic U2 song. Maybe not as much love for it as I once had. Lyrics are a little silly. 7

Sometimes You Can't Make it On Your Own

I love this song. 8

Love and Peace or Else

Some good aspects to it. Just doesn't quite hit in the way that it should. Maybe I'm scarred from those 20-minute interminable sections of the Vertigo shows where they'd play this and then turn Bullet into a boring dirge. 7

City of Blinding Lights

The song that started it all for me. Perfect. No notes. 10

All Because of You

This song whips. I think the chorus is a bit weak, and maybe the lyrics and Bono's performance for the whole song are too. Which is a shame, because listening to this I was like, goddamn, there's some amazing guitar here. 8

A Man and a Woman

Amazing song, everything about it is wonderful, from the bass to the pre-chorus to the vocals. Brilliant. 9

Crumbs From Your Table

I've always loved this song. Surprised it didn't take off a little more. Some lyrical and vocal delivery misses, but a good tune. 8

Original of the Species

Probably the one that's dropped the most in my estimation. Found this hard to listen to. 4

Yahweh

I think I prefer it stripped down a bit, the version that played over the U23D closing credits is great, but I think this song is really sweet and I love it. 8


Some final thoughts...
  • How good is Adam's work on this album.
  • I'd be quite happy to hear a bunch of the Reassembled songs live, honestly.
  • You could make a really, really, really good single album from the two.
  • Wish they'd given us Native Son, too.
  • Anything else missing? I looked up the era and there were covers of Neon Lights by Kraftwerk and Ave Maria too. And a bunch of remixes and other alt versions.
Great to hear your thoughts.
I was more invested in your enjoyment of this than is reasonable because I respect your views, but really felt like there was a lot to love here.

Just a couple of notes - Edge sings Evidence of Life (Bono only does the backing at the end) and Edge does the rap in Treason.
 
My thoughts on ABOY and Crumbs in particular have changed recently. I think I like both of those more now than the first time around.

When the album first came around, I seen it more as a collection of singles and there wasn’t this great cohesion you would expect from an album, that hasn’t changed. I like it still and I would say it was the last hurrah but we didn’t realise it at the time
 
Pictures of You
Good. Has way more life than Fast Cars and a much better chorus. Just call it Xanax and Wine though ya fuckwits. 7
Definitely has more life than Fast Cars, but they totally fucked up the song structure on this one. Two verses, broken up by an awkward cut back to the main riff, into two choruses back to back is just too startling. It killed it for me.
Original of the Species
Probably the one that's dropped the most in my estimation. Found this hard to listen to. 4
I agree with this. I *loved* Original of the Species when the album came out but, 20 years later, I find it hard to sit through. There’s something too saccharine about it. I think if they nixed the orchestra, given a more “sci-fi” twist to the sound of the band, and rewrote the lyrics, there could be a great song there (though I suppose it would be a different song, then, wouldn’t it?). Still, the bones of the song are good. This is the one song of theirs I wouldn’t mind if they revisited.
 
I’ve always loved Crumbs. Like When I Look at the World for me - I’m glad people have come around to them both through these remasters.
 
Oh wow that's fucking cool as!
Right? Edge is the hero of this whole collection.

I will also say that Happiness keeps growing. It’s fun, loose and shows a side of them I think we all want to see more of. Lyrically it is very Bono paint by numbers, but Edge is on fire and I think it’s quite an ear worm.
 
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“The Batman” was a 2004 animated series that aired for 5 years on the Kids WB. Edge composed the theme which was used for the first two seasons. I had no idea the show existed and Edge had any involvement until this whole shadow album came out. I don’t even remember it being mentioned on this forum back then either.
 
I agree with this. I *loved* Original of the Species when the album came out but, 20 years later, I find it hard to sit through. There’s something too saccharine about it. I think if they nixed the orchestra, given a more “sci-fi” twist to the sound of the band, and rewrote the lyrics, there could be a great song there (though I suppose it would be a different song, then, wouldn’t it?). Still, the bones of the song are good. This is the one song of theirs I wouldn’t mind if they revisited.
It's definitely overproduced.

The live versions where Edge plays electric guitar is pretty damned great. Amsterdam on the Vertigo tour, if memory serves (where they also played Wild Horses electric, the best live version before Sphere).
 
"you can run from love
and if it's really love it will find you, catch you by the heel
but you can't be numb for love
the only pain is to feel nothing at all
how can i hurt when i'm holding you?"

sheesh that's nice
 
"You were pretty as a picture
It was all there to see
Then your face caught up with your psychology
With a mouth full of teeth
You ate all your friends
And you broke every heart thinking every heart mends
You speak of signs and wonders
But I need something other
I would believe if I was able
But I'm waiting on the crumbs from your table"

there's a lot of really excellent poetry on HTDAAB.
 
Double edged sword - it’s both clever and gorgeously poetic. Since then Bono has felt that if he achieves clever the other bit follows…
 
It's definitely overproduced.

The live versions where Edge plays electric guitar is pretty damned great. Amsterdam on the Vertigo tour, if memory serves (where they also played Wild Horses electric, the best live version before Sphere).
The early live versions, including the Chicago DVD just sucked the life out of the song and the room. I think the single version tried to capture the electric live feel with moderate success - but you’re right, I think they did nail it eventually, but it seems they sort of gave up on it about the same time and it disappeared from the set altogether.

I feel like the song’s quality always laid in its clunkiness - like the subject itself was so earnest that it needed some repeated word rhymes and basic imagery to hit in the right way. I think the remaster really made this song pop sonically, but also laid bare some of the clunkier elements so it became this polar thing that now sits in no man’s land. Again, we can go over Bono’s clunky/clever recent lyric obsession, but like the examples DaveC gave above, this song had an honesty about it that can seem phoned in on subsequent albums. Having a remaster so clean and pure (that it changes the atmosphere…) just shifted loveable clunky into kinda awkward.
 
The childish emphasis on "ate" has always undermined Crumbs for me... and those jilted lover lyrics contrast very strangely with the help-the-poor vibe of the other half of the lyrics.
 
The live versions where Edge plays electric guitar is pretty damned great. Amsterdam on the Vertigo tour, if memory serves (where they also played Wild Horses electric, the best live version before Sphere).
I'd never heard this before - such an improvement. I still think there's some work that can be done on it - the lyric needs a rewrite, for one - but this is the best version of the song that I've heard. The vocal harmonies to start the song are a nice touch.

Listening to this live version made me revisit some of the Bomb tour. I remember not enjoying this period of the band's career - this, to me, was when they started to fall off track both musically and perceptually.

That said, listening to some old shows - man, Bono's voice was in fine form. Maybe back in 2005, I was still longing for the guy who sang on the Zoo tours, but 20 years later I can appreciate how much Bono was killing it vocally on this tour. Especially after the Elevation tour, where he was still trying to find his voice again.

I remember attending the 2nd night in DC in 2005 - I thought the setlist fell apart halfway through but man the opening of the show was absolutely flawless. COBL into Vertigo into the Flirty Version of Elevation into the best version of Electric Co. I've ever heard into Out Of Control. They burned the house down.
"You were pretty as a picture
It was all there to see
Then your face caught up with your psychology
With a mouth full of teeth
You ate all your friends
And you broke every heart thinking every heart mends
You speak of signs and wonders
But I need something other
I would believe if I was able
But I'm waiting on the crumbs from your table"
Ooph. Crumbs From Your Table also belongs on my "songs I don't like." The lyrics are way too on-the-nose and clunky. Sonically I always found it kind of boring, but lyrically I cringe listening to it.
I feel like the song’s quality always laid in its clunkiness - like the subject itself was so earnest that it needed some repeated word rhymes and basic imagery to hit in the right way.
I could never quite figure out where they were going with this one, lyrically. What started out as a song for Edge's daughter became a song about...young people accepting themselves? It never quite landed for me and I think the nature of the lyric undermines the song.

Also, I hate when Bono references himself with a wink to the audience. "Some things you shouldn't get too good at, like smiling, crying, and celebrity...some people got way too much confidence, baby." Ooph. That's right up there with "stand up to rock stars, Napolean is in high heels, Josephine, be careful of small men with big ideas."
 
The childish emphasis on "ate" has always undermined Crumbs for me... and those jilted lover lyrics contrast very strangely with the help-the-poor vibe of the other half of the lyrics.
Wasn't this song recorded while they were drunk?

Can explain some of the eccentricities (including his shouted "Yeah!" after one of the choruses).
 
Wasn't this song recorded while they were drunk?

Can explain some of the eccentricities (including his shouted "Yeah!" after one of the choruses).
Yes. Edited to add: Actually, it seems like it was written while drunk. Unlikely recorded while drunk. Though I seem to remember an article that suggested that Fast Cars was re-recorded while drunk on the last night of recording, but I can't seem to locate it. (Also, the verses on Fast Cars are pulled from Xanax + Wine, so the only new recording would be the instrumentation, Bono's shouting that starts the song, and the "I know these fast cars will do me no good," line.)

Edge: "Crumbs From Your Table started with a chord pattern hit on in Hanover Quay studios. Bono and myself finished that one off in France, off our trolleys. It's the only time we've ever successfully written a song with more than a few on board. We're famously bad at that."

Bono: "We were out, it was very late, the sun was coming up. I'm not a late-night person, I'd much rather get up early in the morning, but Edge is like an owl. He would just sit there and days could go by and he wouldn't need sleep. So he didn't want to go to bed and we ended up getting the guitar and singing, off our faces, one of those moments where two mates are not talking sense, but they're doing it at the same time and then, eventually, it sort of coagulates into a thought and out came this beautiful song, words, title, melody, boom, it all arrived in the middle of this lunatic night."
 
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I remember attending the 2nd night in DC in 2005 - I thought the setlist fell apart halfway through but man the opening of the show was absolutely flawless. COBL into Vertigo into the Flirty Version of Elevation into the best version of Electric Co. I've ever heard into Out Of Control. They burned the house down.

I was there, and you're right -- the first half of this was rip-roaring and perfect. And I still remember how good Electric Co was. I also remember enjoying the second half -- we got Bad and Wild Horses? If memory serves? I remember it being significantly better than DC1, but I had way better seats for DC2.

I remain an unapologetic lover/defender of OOTS. The song was there for me when I needed it. I agree that the orchestra hasn't aged well, but as a song it goes to that rare place beyond cringe and into joyful sincerity tinged with the bittersweet, and it also has the loosest, most joyful moment on the album, one where they seem to actually set aside the "job" of the album and sunlight bursts through with the seemingly improvised "sugar come on, show your soul ..." after all those doody-doodies.

bottom tier tracks on this album for me:

L&P -- not Bullet, wants to be; Bono with the "CoExist" gear on stage way more cringe than the sincerity of OOTS
ABOY -- it's fine but tries too hard
OSC -- I like the lyrics but musically inert; tries to be meditative but the problem is it "tries;" wants to be RTSS but isn't.
Crumbs -- trying to be "loose" but feels sloppy and a bit pointless; good lyrics though
Yahweh -- glorious background music, Bono can't find a chorus; maybe the disappointment comes from a 2004 internet rumor I remember that this was the best song they'd ever written
 
I was there, and you're right -- the first half of this was rip-roaring and perfect. And I still remember how good Electric Co was. I also remember enjoying the second half -- we got Bad and Wild Horses? If memory serves? I remember it being significantly better than DC1, but I had way better seats for DC2.
Yes! We got Bad and acoustic Wild Horses. I want to say Wild Horses was abridged, but I could be wrong about that.

Electric Co. was divine. He inserted a bit of Neil McCormick's "People I Don't Know Are Trying To Kill Me" for the last time and, man, it was special. It was 19 years ago and I still think of that performance.
it also has the loosest, most joyful moment on the album, one where they seem to actually set aside the "job" of the album and sunlight bursts through with the seemingly improvised "sugar come on, show your soul ..." after all those doody-doodies.
I can agree with this. There's a bittersweet quality to the final chorus, where Bono kind of whispers it rather than belts it before the Edge comes in for the "oh no" harmonies that I just love. That's why I love the song, I'm just not crazy about the lyric or the production in general.
L&P -- not Bullet, wants to be; Bono with the "CoExist" gear on stage way more cringe than the sincerity of OOTS
Ugh, yes. One of my least favorite U2 songs. This era was when U2 became decidedly "uncool" - Bono with the coexist gear and the 10 minute speech before One were just hard to get through.

That said, one moment on L&P I love - the moment just before the solo where Edge's guitar seems to rise up in the mix. It sounds like the solo is coming from underwater, and there's a brief moment of static that, in my mind, sounds like that moment when you reach the water's surface and gasp for air as the Edge's solo rips into the song. I've always loved that part.
ABOY -- it's fine but tries too hard
It's just too flat to me. Pedestrian verses. Terrible chorus. Though I love the "hiiiiiiiiiii-yeah" section in the middle. There's something transcendent about that moment.
OSC -- I like the lyrics but musically inert; tries to be meditative but the problem is it "tries;" wants to be RTSS but isn't.
I can agree with this too. It just needs more. Running To Stand Still had Bono's falsetto moment and a truly outstanding vocal. A song like The First Time is similar in nature to One Step Closer, but - again - Bono's falsetto comes in and lifts it and the final chorus has that absolutely heartbreaking piano come in which takes it to another level and gives the listener a cathartic release. One Step Closer could have used something like that.
Crumbs -- trying to be "loose" but feels sloppy and a bit pointless; good lyrics though
To me this one just sounds like U2 by numbers. I hate the verses - there's a sing songy childlike quality to the melody that I can't stand. The chorus has a great melody - though "I would believe" always sounds clunky in it. Needs a new lyric.
Yahweh -- glorious background music, Bono can't find a chorus; maybe the disappointment comes from a 2004 internet rumor I remember that this was the best song they'd ever written
I'm a Yahweh apologist. I've always loved that one in its full electric glory on the album.
 
i saw 9 shows on Vertigo - one of the perks of a) living in NY and b) working for a U2 tribute band whose singer was asked to mingle and entertain people during the VIP pre-parties.

the first four shows - philly, jersey x2 and MSG - setlist was all very static - but was very well laid out. Wake Up into EVERYONE into City was a tremendous opening. i remember at first not realizing that Bono popped up at the top of the ellipse and having my entire focus on the main stage, only to have him suddenly there just to my left without any idea of how he got there. it was great showmanship. then to come back with Vertigo, which was a monster live (still is, sorry not sorry) and then throwing all the way back to the early 80s after elevation - it was just a perfect start.

beautiful day, miracle drug and sometimes slowed things down a bit - but i don't think the set suffered at all.

love and peace or else - was bono's drumming corny in retrospect? sure. but it was also unexpected and honestly the crowd ate it up. and that little interlude where bono kept drumming alone until SBS kicks in was pretty killer.

where it took a turn for the worst was the worst version of Bullet The Blue Sky they've ever played... specifically from the solo on. that solo is mean to melt your face off. i get what they were trying for, but, yea, no. please don't. it was a less than stellar Running To Stand Still - but it was the first time i had heard the song so i was still pretty happy with it. Pride is Pride, but then they also fugged up by switching up Streets' traditional red entrance. the green and africa flag motif just didn't have the same impact, which was unfortunate. bono yelling over the intro didn't help, either.

i had zero issues with the encores - the first part with the nod to ZooTV, and then bringing it back to the current album. i'm a fan of all because of you, so that probably helps. and most U2 songs suffer when done acoustically - but i thought Yahweh improved. and who can complain about 40?

heck - even vertigo x2 melted the faces of the crowd... when it was done the first time, improvised and not part of the actual setlist. it was a nice nod back to when they didn't have enough songs and would play 11'0'clock tick tock twice. until later on when they started doing it all the time, which, nah.

that said - speaking of later on - the fall MSG shows were pretty fucking great, and had a lot of setlist movement in the encores - and replacing Running to Stand Still with Miss Sarajevo, with Bono doing the Pavarotti part, was pretty great. the October 10 show is on my top 10 list... i was inside the ellipse on Adam's side, they brought back Electric Co after having dropped it for that leg, did the ZooTV encore, and tossed in Bad in between Yahweh and 40.
 
i saw 9 shows on Vertigo - one of the perks of a) living in NY and b) working for a U2 tribute band whose singer was asked to mingle and entertain people during the VIP pre-parties.

the first four shows - philly, jersey x2 and MSG - setlist was all very static - but was very well laid out. Wake Up into EVERYONE into City was a tremendous opening. i remember at first not realizing that Bono popped up at the top of the ellipse and having my entire focus on the main stage, only to have him suddenly there just to my left without any idea of how he got there. it was great showmanship. then to come back with Vertigo, which was a monster live (still is, sorry not sorry) and then throwing all the way back to the early 80s after elevation - it was just a perfect start.

beautiful day, miracle drug and sometimes slowed things down a bit - but i don't think the set suffered at all.

love and peace or else - was bono's drumming corny in retrospect? sure. but it was also unexpected and honestly the crowd ate it up. and that little interlude where bono kept drumming alone until SBS kicks in was pretty killer.

where it took a turn for the worst was the worst version of Bullet The Blue Sky they've ever played... specifically from the solo on. that solo is mean to melt your face off. i get what they were trying for, but, yea, no. please don't. it was a less than stellar Running To Stand Still - but it was the first time i had heard the song so i was still pretty happy with it. Pride is Pride, but then they also fugged up by switching up Streets' traditional red entrance. the green and africa flag motif just didn't have the same impact, which was unfortunate. bono yelling over the intro didn't help, either.

i had zero issues with the encores - the first part with the nod to ZooTV, and then bringing it back to the current album. i'm a fan of all because of you, so that probably helps. and most U2 songs suffer when done acoustically - but i thought Yahweh improved. and who can complain about 40?

heck - even vertigo x2 melted the faces of the crowd... when it was done the first time, improvised and not part of the actual setlist. it was a nice nod back to when they didn't have enough songs and would play 11'0'clock tick tock twice. until later on when they started doing it all the time, which, nah.

that said - speaking of later on - the fall MSG shows were pretty fucking great, and had a lot of setlist movement in the encores - and replacing Running to Stand Still with Miss Sarajevo, with Bono doing the Pavarotti part, was pretty great. the October 10 show is on my top 10 list... i was inside the ellipse on Adam's side, they brought back Electric Co after having dropped it for that leg, did the ZooTV encore, and tossed in Bad in between Yahweh and 40.
Yes, the 3rd Leg Chicago show was one of the best shows I've seen them do. Opening up the first encore with Bad/First Time was mind blowing.

The weird thing about Bullet, is that it actually would have been ok if the Edge had used the right guitar tone on the solo. he chose to do that same solo but with an almost clean effect. Yeah, a Strat sounds great clean but like you said, that solo is meant to melt your face off. Should have turned the Gain up and doubled it with a Scream pedal and let it rip. And then the whole "Hands" snipped, use the same effect but maybe dial the Gain down slightly, add some Phaser and Delay and it would have sounded pretty cool.
 
My shows didn’t have the ZooTV segment, which I believe was a later leg, no?

For me, the opening salvo on the early shows was just so damn good. COBL, Vertigo, Elevation, Electric Co, Out of Control. Stellar.

ISHFWILF is a major hit…but live, I’ve always felt it was a bit of a dud. The recorded version is so incredible because it relies on the power of Bono’s voice. His third phase, more fragile delivery actually does boost some songs. But not this one.

Beautiful Day always takes off live. That was a good one.

Miracle Drug just didn’t work live. SYCMIOYO is dependent on Bono’s vocals and that big “sing” note. It was kind of a snoozer for the crowd.

LAPOE, the less said, the better.

I can’t recall the Bullet solo - what was so off about it? I seem to recall Edge playing it on an acoustic, which is odd. Was it that different from the Elevation version? (Edit: it was LAPOE that was played on an acoustic.)

Miss Sarajevo was cool to *me* but absolutely killed the vibe for the crowd.

Pride is always a big hit, but I’m in the camp that doesn’t care for it live.

Streets intro was lame, but Streets will always be Streets.

I live in the Washington DC area, so you can only imagine how long Bono’s speech before One was. It was tough to sit in the crowd as people around you rolled their eyes and carried on conversations through it.

I also got unlucky in that my encore was an acoustic Walk On (no thanks) and WGRYWH, which was awesome. Then WOWY - another crowd pleaser, but one that I never connected with live due to Bono’s delivery.

ABOY for the encore was Meh. Then I got Bad for a closer. Now Bad is a song I love, but not as the final song of the night.

That said, look: not my favorite album, not my favorite tour, not my favorite era of the band. But those first 5 songs or so might be the most exhilarating opening to a rock show I’ve ever seen.
 
Yeah I think other than the Bullet solo which I was talking about earlier, the only thing about Vertigo Tour that I didn't like was the "Africa" stuff. It was just too much of it. I really appreciated the I&E Tour where Bono barely talked about his causes. They just played music.

What's funny is that the one Joshua Tree 30 Year show I saw in Chicago, Bono mentioned "America" way too many times, got the whole "It's an idea" talk. My friend that I went with and I were actually mocking Bono about 3/4 into the show. It was overdone. And the encore sucked.
 
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