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

[wolbersu2]

Ok, boring discussion here.

With the world on fire and a lunatic president in the US it's time for WAR pt II, an European/Irish focust album with the fire that put them into their heights in the 80's.

 

[lazarus]

Lately I've been watching / listening to shows from this era (Irving Plaza, Brit Awards 2001, Live From Boston) and there's a real sense of humility from the pre-tour shows they played. Bono's line "we're reauditioning for the biggest band in the world job" sums it up nicely

Compare that to the victory lap of the Bomb era. As a fan it was great to see them swagger back with the in-your-face buzz of Vertigo and making every appearance aa capital E Event. But looking back at Bono's demeanor at the time, I can see why it pissed a lot of people off. He found the venn diagram between cocky and cheesy, and swallowed it down like a haloumi baked zinger burger.

I assure you that the "We're auditioning for..." line that Bono repeated about 100x pissed plenty of people off as well. There's an art to making a humble statement so obnoxious that he excels at.

 

[lazarus]

Ok, boring discussion here.

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

Oh my god people enough sports talk. Take it to the appropriate forum.

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

Ok, boring discussion here.

With the world on fire and a lunatic president in the US it's time for WAR pt II, an European/Irish focust album with the fire that put them into their heights in the 80's.

I'm interested to see how things go over the next couple of years.

There does come a point where artists will simply not play the US in protest. I don't think we're at that point yet, but we have to be getting close.

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

I hadn’t seen the Prince halftime for whatever reason. I think I’m missing something? Good performance of good songs with some fireworks and a bit of rain? Not trying to be snidey - why is this rated the best of all time? I think both Kendrick and U2 top this be a considerable margin. U2 for the moment and the emotion and the way they just summed it all up perfectly. Kendrick because he managed to say so many incredible things, the way he weaved messages in was a work of art, and again the context and moment was summed up beautifully.

He played Purple Rain and a friggin monsoon. And he was flawless.

To the point people are making about it being overtly corporate - most acts use the halftime performance to promote their most recent album or song, and jam that down your throats even though you just want to hear the hits.

Half of Prince's songs weren't even his own. He just put together what he thought would be the best show. And he was right.

Doc



Performance

 

[lazarus]

Oh my god people enough sports talk. Take it to the appropriate forum.

 

[Irvine511]

He played Purple Rain and a friggin monsoon. And he was flawless.

To the point people are making about it being overtly corporate - most acts use the halftime performance to promote their most recent album or song, and jam that down your throats even though you just want to hear the hits.

Half of Prince's songs weren't even his own. He just put together what he thought would be the best show. And he was right.

Doc



Performance

While this might be a tad bit unfair, as was pointed out in Zoo TV, death is a career move.

However, what I think happened is that after his hits in the 80s and early 90s, Prince went well out of the mainstream in his highly publicized battles with the record companies, and he never really had hits again. I think people had forgotten that he was a staggeringly talented musician and performer, and the Super Bowl — that boring corporate event — came as a huge reconfirmation of his talents. He owns that stage, and he owns that guitar — along with most other instruments —and is absolutely a top tier stadium act.

I always loved this performance:

 

[Rich79]

Ah yes, the Prince video that everybody thinks nobody knows about.

 

[Irvine511]

I think that 2004 video has become much more popular since the 2007 Super Bowl.

I also like this performance:

 

[RUBIKSCUBE]

I really hope they release the Fez demos with a reissue down the road. The chorus that they had at that stage was much more impactful, in my less than humble opinion.

100% agree. I remember hearing that demo version and thinking it sounded fucking epic. The chorus on the album version, lyrics aside, I mean the vocals just sound plain bad. It's like a 4 part vocal but all the voices clash with each other, and aren't rhyhmically in sync. I don't get how it was released like that.
I still find a lot to like in that song, but it's a wasted opportunity that could've been a classic.

 

[lazarus]

However, what I think happened is that after his hits in the 80s and early 90s, Prince went well out of the mainstream in his highly publicized battles with the record companies, and he never really had hits again. I think people had forgotten that he was a staggeringly talented musician and performer, and the Super Bowl — that boring corporate event — came as a huge reconfirmation of his talents.

He may not have hit the heights of Purple Rain again, but he had a pretty epic appearance on SNL in 2006 to promote the 3121 album (my personal favorite of his post-1990s work). Fury might not have been a hit single, but it should have been. Shred city.



The second song he performed is also one of his better late tracks:



Also worth noting that 2004's Musicology hit #3 on the Billboard charts, it went 2x Platinum and won 2 Grammys. He was definitely going through a wave of popularity in the mid-2000, through the Super Bowl and all the way up to his legendary appearance at Coachella (with that unreal cover of Radiohead's Creep).

 

[Registered Dude]

I really hope they release the Fez demos with a reissue down the road. The chorus that they had at that stage was much more impactful, in my less than humble opinion.

I'm getting old. There's audio of an early version of UC?

 

[The John Tree]

There's audio of an early version of UC?

I might be talking about something else entirely, but I do remember video footage of the sessions that were released before the album. I believe the footage came from a Daniel Lanois documentary, but I could be mistaken. The things that stand out in my memory are Bono singing an as-yet-unreleased song called "Tripoli" (which was apparently turned into Fez, though I don't hear the connection), and then a version of Unknown Caller. I remember being *really* excited for Unknown Caller, as I thought the chorus on the Lanois documentary sounded huge. The album version ended up sounding not so huge, and they really committed to the Apple/cell phone terminology (you know the name, so punch it in, force quit and move to trash). The original version, if I recall, was "You know the name, so shout it out." More importantly, the song sounded through the documentary as if it had more lift, dynamically speaking. The chorus sounded bigger. I remember listening to the NLOTH wondering when it was going to take off, and it just never did.

 

[Registered Dude]

ahh. perhaps this? last 1:30 or so is UC

 

[Registered Dude]

or..

 

[The John Tree]

Neither of these - though thanks for digging these out, I haven't seen them in a while. Interesting hearing Unknown Caller in the first clip - the more upbeat groove Larry plays first would have changed the song significantly. Interestingly, the groove he settles into is more like what made it on the album, which makes me wonder if my memory of the chorus having more liftoff is just my mind pulling a Mandela effect.

The clip I'm referring to appears to be Bono, Edge, Eno, and Lanois standing around a microphone performing the gang vocals for the chorus. It's in black and white and the camera angle is from above. I specifically remember the lyric "you know the name, so shout it out" or "you know the name, so call it out."

Edit: this is from a post on this forum in 2007 by a user named Muldfeld:

U2 songs
There really wasn't much in terms of the Fez footage, but that's probably because I only saw it once and couldn't absorb much; most of you would have done a much better job of taking it all in. About 3 song samples were shown -- each from 20 seconds to 50 seconds, I'd guess.

1. The first and longest sample was a crunchy guitary piece with The Edge, Bono and Daniel Lanois all on guitars. Bono was singing, too, but it was hard to tell much because the melody seemed a bit repetitive and not as nuanced as I would have liked. Yet that was just a first impression.

2. The next had Bono on electric guitar strumming with Lanois and Eno around him, and he giggled after he broke off and stopped playing, seeming uncertain of the lyrics, remarking "or something." I wasn't sure if it was just a cover, but The Edge (without guitar), standing, seemed amused. Couldn't tell much from this. I was more stunned that Bono was playing guitar, as the footage started on the player's feet and scanned upward.

3. The last one was a shot from overhead of Bono and (I think) The Edge and Lanois, but perhaps Brian Eno also, all singing into a microphone. When I spoke to Mr. Lanois in the question period, He referred to this as the choir piece, I think. It seemed the most interesting.

It's really hard to tell anything; I was just excited at seeing the footage, though it was not in the best quality picture.

The second clip he's referring to is Tripoli. The third is the clip of Unknown Caller that I'm talking about.

 

[Irvine511]

wasn't there a Battlestar Galactica clip as well?

 

[lazarus]

Edit: this is from a post on this forum in 2007 by a user named Muldfeld:

wasn't there a Battlestar Galactica clip as well?

 

[The John Tree]

I don't get it.

 

[Irvine511]

I don't get it.

It was an Interference deep cut regarding that specific poster.

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

They should have force quit and moved to trash that chorus amirite?m

 

[lazarus]

It was an Interference deep cut regarding that specific poster.

No Cylon the Horizon

 

[PookaMacP]

The clip I'm referring to appears to be Bono, Edge, Eno, and Lanois standing around a microphone performing the gang vocals for the chorus. It's in black and white and the camera angle is from above. I specifically remember the lyric "you know the name, so shout it out" or "you know the name, so call it out."

I'm 90% sure this is from Daniel Lanois' film, Here Is What Is, though I can't find a clip of it anywhere.

 

[MrsSpringsteen]

Anyone who was interested in this Record Store Day release it's available for order on U2.com

 

[Achtung Ya'll]

Went to renew my U2.com sub and - a.) they now have a fourth option for the "unannounced new gift" and b.) it's $60 now. Has it been that expensive for a while? Kinda ballsy to keep upping the price while not actually providing anything.

 

[Hewson]

Went to renew my U2.com sub and - a.) they now have a fourth option for the "unannounced new gift" and b.) it's $60 now. Has it been that expensive for a while? Kinda ballsy to keep upping the price while not actually providing anything.

It was $50 for new subs and $40 to extend current subs the past many years. Now its $60 for new and $50 to extend.
They are tone deaf to be sure.

 

[MrsSpringsteen]

Are there tariffs on U2 products and memberships because they're libs?

 

[lazarus]

There will always be simps willing to pay it.

 

[DeVaul]

There will always be simps willing to pay it.

True. Me, for instance.