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

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I take it as Bono trying his best to reach an audience even if it’s full of people who hate him or don’t care. His view has always been to get something done that helps the most people.

Here’s hoping that his plea for more grace and charity planted in some listeners
 
Not a good review.



it's also "not a good review" in that it's analysis is filmy as fuck and basically clickbait for Bono haters. there's nothing of actual substance in the review, as if people haven't been saying Bono has a big ego for the past 45 years. much insight! such brave!

I think you can tell a lot about someone based on their reaction to Bono. it doesn't bother me if people don't like their music, or find him annoying, or don't like his singing, or whatever. that's taste. but to repeatedly hit the easiest punching bag/lowest hanging fruit in rock music says a lot about a reviewer's lack of analysis and imagination and is basically bullying. the fact remains that he's still the face of the most successful post-1980 rock band and has (or, had, thanks to Trump) more real results when it comes to making the world a better place than any celebrity activist I can think of.
 
Bought an Apple Vision Pro (that will be returned, sorry not sorry trillion dollar megacorporation) to watch Surrender in special immersive mode or whatever the fuck they called it.

I'm glad I can compare and contrast it with seeing the show at the Beacon. I found Surrender to be much, much tighter than the stage show, but also worse in many ways. The stage version opened with the thesis that this was the story about how Alison Stewart saved his life...and then proceeded to not really be about that. It was always a show about Bono, his father, and Pavarotti, and the recorded version almost sticks that landing. I still feel like there was a tighter point Bono could have made, but this was close enough. The issue is that to squeeze in With or Without You, we had to double back to Bono and Ali at the end of the show, which I could swear was near the beginning of the stage version. Bono also monologues over With or Without You, which I found tacky and accused Bono of the pompous self-indulgence that all his critics do.

The immersive stuff was impressive, but think it could have gone much further. The best angle was the side-shots, which felt like you were seeing a close up version of a stage show. The worst angles are where Bono is looking straight into your eyes, about two feet away from you. It's unnerving, weird and unfortunately cringe. I found the most effective moments were where the movie was playing like it would in a theater, and the scribbles and such came off the screen in 3D.

Overall, a fun experience. It's a good, not great, stage show. I'm glad we have it saved for history, although I do wish there would be an extended release of the actual show, sans post-production magic.
 
Wait. What?
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Love and Peace or Else
4 Jun 2025

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I don't hate the hoodie as a gift in theory, but it feels like such a big departure from their normal gifts that it feels like a real "eh, we don't really give a shit about you" to some of their biggest fans.
 
I was in the fan club in 23 for Sphere tickets, but the prior gifts and minimal benefit otherwise never enticed me (aside from maybe that e+i tour DVD that was never made commercially available).

This hoodie almost makes me want to sign back up...almost. I don't care for pullover hoodies, but this feels like a step in the right direction for the gifts and I'm a bit surprised by the reaction here. It seems generally positive in social posts that I've seen. I'd take this over a CD of live tracks I'll listen to once or a book of lyrics that'll gather dust on a shelf.
 
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