New Album Discussion 9 - Larry needs new arms, ba rum pa pum pum

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This was much better than Pride, but that's not a huge surprise as WITH OR WITHOUT YOU is a musical tour de force and any way Bono sings it rules... also it sounds like the song, so that helps.

Hard As A Rock Scale -- I give it Two Boners!
 
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As someone who thinks Songs of Surrender will be more disappointment than triumph, I’m sort of angry how good this is.

Around a minute in, there’s the atmospheric synth, and the Edge comes in with that clean delay. Larry comes in louder and louder. Bono changes register. THATS reimagining. I literally got chills.

So why the fuck does it start with the stupid acoustic guitar again. Maybe if we hadn’t been “treated” to subpar acoustic versions of songs the last 2 albums as bonus tracks, I’d find it more interesting. But right now it’s my least favorite part of SoS. This is soooo close to being magic.

I dig it, a lot,.
 
In fairness pride has grown on me a little bit. My main problem with it is the same as every U2 lead single - they pick the wrong thing to get their point across. That version of Pride would be a fine album track. That version of WOWY is a great intro to the project.
 
TinKnight said:
As someone who thinks Songs of Surrender will be more disappointment than triumph, I’m sort of angry how good this is.

Around a minute in, there’s the atmospheric synth, and the Edge comes in with that clean delay. Larry comes in louder and louder. Bono changes register. THATS reimagining. I literally got chills.

So why the fuck does it start with the stupid acoustic guitar again. Maybe if we hadn’t been “treated” to subpar acoustic versions of songs the last 2 albums as bonus tracks, I’d find it more interesting. But right now it’s my least favorite part of SoS. This is soooo close to being magic.

I dig it, a lot,.
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I get what you’re saying about acoustic, but worth remembering they’ve layered acoustic onto many of the songs we know and love, and agree that recent acoustic versions have made it harder to get behind. Original WOWY has plenty of acoustic layered into the outro, and AIWIY is built around it.
 
A little disappointed with WOWY on first listen. I was expecting a bit more towards the end of the song.

One of my favourite parts of the U2 catalogue is that last minute or two on the studio version of WOWY, they could have incorporated that somehow rather than it abruptly ending.
 
Bono's voice really sounds amazing in this, especially towards the end. I swear there's a split second where he gets his 80s voice back (2:26). Between this and the book tour performances, I'm looking forward to hearing him on the next proper album!

I feel like this arrangement of WoWY almost works, and I think an acoustic arrangement really lends itself to this song (certainly more than Pride). The climax of the song just doesn't click for me - the guitar riffs sound too... Busy? I'm not sure what, but to my ears they don't quite suit Bono's vocals.

Seems like Edge was trying his hardest to avoid relying on the original riffs (which makes sense); problem is, the original guitar melodies suited the vocals perfectly and worked to make the whole song tie together. Whereas here, ironically it feels like he's trying these new riffs more to get away from the original than to service the song as a whole, and it ends up holding the song back from properly taking off.

I really do admire what they're doing with this project. I think a lot of it works, and creates a vulnerable yet powerful sound (which suits the band at this stage of their career very well). I think it frustrates me because this style feels so close to being great, but doesn't quite there for me.

I reckon they could make some quite special new material if they followed this vein but weren't afraid to add some lush atmospheric synths, and stronger riffs. An Aaron Dessner produced, 'Folklore' style album could suit this direction really well.
 
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dan_smee said:
In fairness pride has grown on me a little bit. My main problem with it is the same as every U2 lead single - they pick the wrong thing to get their point across. That version of Pride would be a fine album track. That version of WOWY is a great intro to the project.
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Maybe there will be more guitars on SOS than we think so Pride got the nod first.

This one is really good, if somewhat abrupt ending. Definitely has me intriguided about the album more than Pride. Wonder if well get a "Adam" and "Larry" CD singles before the release date since Pride and Wowy had Bono/Edge CD picks
 
It's pretty good, though as Dan mentioned, does end a bit too abruptly.
This song definitely fits with this type of reworking, we'll see how some of the other songs on the album fare.
But I still hope Bono isn't 100% lying about the "noisy, uncompromising, unreasonable guitar album" they are supposedly going to do, cause while this style is OK for a departure project, it's not what I want to hear going forward. I want Edge to get back to being Edge.
 
Registered Dude said:
for me, the vocals have been the highlight of the tracks we've heard
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For me, these new song versions are in the neighborhood of Grace and 13. I know Grace was from 20 years ago, but 13 is a recent example of Bono giving a great vocal take at that low register. The two new tracks we've heard so far don't come close to 13 re: Bono's delivery.
 
These re-imaginings are really really good and will be curious to see if the ambient theme is throughout. WOWY could have been atleast 3 minutes longer and hell I’d listen to an hour version of that song.
 
Hewson said:
It's pretty good, though as Dan mentioned, does end a bit too abruptly.
This song definitely fits with this type of reworking, we'll see how some of the other songs on the album fare.
But I still hope Bono isn't 100% lying about the "noisy, uncompromising, unreasonable guitar album" they are supposedly going to do, cause while this style is OK for a departure project, it's not what I want to hear going forward. I want Edge to get back to being Edge.
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i'd argue that this is closer to edge being edge than most of the previous two (and possibly three) albums.

the best Edge - whether it's loud, experimental, chimey or subdued - is when he's doing his whole "painting landscapes" thing. i feel he's doing that on these tracks. it's not just straight acoustic, which many of us feared. there's a lot going on in the background here.

so if anything? yea, i think this bodes well for the future and the return of Edge being Edge.
 
Some of you are more musical nerds than I’ll ever be. I just know what sounds good to me.

However I’m a lyrics and voice man. Some people I know never know the lyrics to songs. I don’t get that. That’s the part I like best.

Anyway Bono singing voice is always good. Some of the songs he sings can stink but Jesus anyone saying his voice isn’t good is crazy to me.
 
ndmaxfield said:
This project could have been something really special if Bono had delivered better vocals, and if they had recruited someone like Brian Eno to produce the ambient feel.
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If he does this low register relaxed thing across 40 tracks I could see it getting a bit tiresome if the instrumentation isn’t up to snuff. Which is why here I say I’d take at least an album’s worth in the vein of the Craig Armstrong mix of Stay…
 
I think some of you must have listened to the original on accident and thought it was the new one. (I'm being overly dramatic)

I've only had one listen so far, but it's...not great. For about 20+ years, I've been hoping Bono would go back to using his lower register and not forcing these high-end soaring anthem vocals on almost every single track. Unfortunately now that so much time has passed, it sounds (for lack of a better term) weak or feeble in places. This isn't the silky/sultry "It's no secret" or "Tonight the moon is a mirror-ball" voice. I don't think he's incapable of getting back there, it just hasn't been part of his arsenal in a while. Book of your Heart went there, but it too had these cracks that could have been resolved just by running through a few more takes I'd think.

I get it. He's older now; but I don't think his strength as a vocalist is gone. I think this project is him finding his new elder statesman voice and we're here to enjoy (or not) the results of the experiment. It worked a little better on Pride.

I think the other thing that took me out of it was the forced different phrasing of the words. Being so used to the original, it's jarring when he's not hitting "reach the shore" in the same cadence as before. I'm all for covers being wildly different than the source, but that just feels too forced.

There's definitely a lot of promise for this Edge guy on this project though. Already he's doing way more interesting things than on SOE and the way the music has built in just a short amount of time on each track...masterfully done. Then again, that track-building effect has always been a strength of this band.

Pride, I was mostly happy with. 7 out of 10
WOWY maybe 4 or 5 out of 10

38 more to go!
(sorry, I was originally going to write like one sentence on this)
 
TinKnight said:
As someone who thinks Songs of Surrender will be more disappointment than triumph, I’m sort of angry how good this is.

Around a minute in, there’s the atmospheric synth, and the Edge comes in with that clean delay. Larry comes in louder and louder. Bono changes register. THATS reimagining. I literally got chills.

So why the fuck does it start with the stupid acoustic guitar again. Maybe if we hadn’t been “treated” to subpar acoustic versions of songs the last 2 albums as bonus tracks, I’d find it more interesting. But right now it’s my least favorite part of SoS. This is soooo close to being magic.

I dig it, a lot,.
Click to expand...

SURRENDER your expectations! :hug:
 
Hm, I like Pride way more. I’ve actually become quite fond of the SOS version of Pride for the amazing instrumental in the back half. This is a bit more consistent throughout and has some better Bono vocals, but the instrumentation wasn’t as inspired and the abrupt ending caught me by surprise.

I know it’s getting a lot of hate but I continue to enjoy having this project to look forward to.
 
Headache in a Suitcase said:
sir i'd like to double down with my fourteen cents
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I'd say Pride was a much better redo than WOWY. Overall I've found both songs to kinda be boring and lacking more than a few listens.

On one hand I find that U2 used to make music that would force you to listen a few times to pick up everything going on, maybe that's the case here.

I am not sure I want 40 songs of this style though.

I'm more disappointed that the trend of having Bono being 50000x louder in the mix still continues. Especially since his voice is definitely the weakest it's ever been.
 
Rich79 said:
I think some of you must have listened to the original on accident and thought it was the new one. (I'm being overly dramatic)

I've only had one listen so far, but it's...not great. For about 20+ years, I've been hoping Bono would go back to using his lower register and not forcing these high-end soaring anthem vocals on almost every single track. Unfortunately now that so much time has passed, it sounds (for lack of a better term) weak or feeble in places. This isn't the silky/sultry "It's no secret" or "Tonight the moon is a mirror-ball" voice. I don't think he's incapable of getting back there, it just hasn't been part of his arsenal in a while. Book of your Heart went there, but it too had these cracks that could have been resolved just by running through a few more takes I'd think.

I get it. He's older now; but I don't think his strength as a vocalist is gone. I think this project is him finding his new elder statesman voice and we're here to enjoy (or not) the results of the experiment. It worked a little better on Pride.

I think the other thing that took me out of it was the forced different phrasing of the words. Being so used to the original, it's jarring when he's not hitting "reach the shore" in the same cadence as before. I'm all for covers being wildly different than the source, but that just feels too forced.

There's definitely a lot of promise for this Edge guy on this project though. Already he's doing way more interesting things than on SOE and the way the music has built in just a short amount of time on each track...masterfully done. Then again, that track-building effect has always been a strength of this band.

Pride, I was mostly happy with. 7 out of 10
WOWY maybe 4 or 5 out of 10

38 more to go!
(sorry, I was originally going to write like one sentence on this)
Click to expand...





I’ve only listened once, but this was pretty close to my initial reaction. It made feel old and sad, not old and reflective like PITNOL did. The sadness comes from how frayed his voice is, and you really hear the cracks here … and WOWY relies so much on powerhouse vocals, and the high note in the original is what originally filled those stadiums from 1987 onwards.

And it’s gone.

Time is cruel.
 
Irvine511 said:
I’ve only listened once, but this was pretty close to my initial reaction. It made feel old and sad, not old and reflective like PITNOL did. The sadness comes from how frayed his voice is, and you really hear the cracks here … and WOWY relies so much on powerhouse vocals, and the high note in the original is what originally filled those stadiums from 1987 onwards.

And it’s gone.

Time is cruel.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I'm pretty hopeful he can get into the right headspace to use it in a context that works well (like Johnny Cash's later cover albums or Dylan's wise and well-traveled kind of feel) for the brand new material. Like I said, I think this was an experiment to find that space and that's how I'm treating it. Pride was better, but it wasn't without it's weary-sounding cracks and falters, either.

Time is cruel, but I think if anyone can adapt with grace, it might be our dude. I'm in no way in the "You're too old for this" camp.
 
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