Next Album Rumours Thread IV - 2 Sing 2 Furious

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Joey788 said:
I’ll throw in a few additions:

Sleater-Kinney 1997 to 2002

Dig Me Out
The Hot Rock
All Hands on the Bad One
One Beat

Depeche Mode 1986 to 1991

Black Celebration
Music for the Masses
Violator

Pj Harvey 1995 to 2000

To Bring You My Love
Is This Desire?
Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea

Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds 1992 to 1997

Henry’s Dream
Let Love In
Murder Ballads
Boatman’s Call
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Thank you! I was trying to get them in there. But was trying to squeeze People are People in there. I agree with that 5 year stint from them. Fantastic.

I'm most familiar with Let Love In and Murder Ballads from Nick Cave, i will have to check out the other two more.
 
the tourist said:
The National, 2005-2010

Alligator
Boxer
High Violet
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I was torn here. The National is one of my current favorites. Trouble will Find Me is one of my favorite albums of all time. But their gap between albums is U2 esque. lol.

This is still very strong. Nice.
 
womanfish said:
Nice! my relative ignorance of any deep knowledge of The Cure led me to not guess on the best period for them. But yes, this is very good.
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The Cure is maybe my favorite band depending on the day, but that’s fairly recent that I’ve done multiple deep dives of listening to nothing but them for a month or two. They’re oddly parallel with U2 (the other band I might consider as a favorite) in that they were fairly great for a long time with a few missteps and then fell off a relative cliff during their third decade.
 
ferball415 said:
That was/is the problem with "Beautiful Day": awesome song that was like a deal with [MacPhisto]. Its success has warped their thinking & expectations ever since. (Not to mention all those who would imitate them.) And yes, the past two albums make ATYCLB look like a minor masterpiece (which, maybe...).
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They have also been trying to re-write vertigo, I'm looking at you boots. And they have ended up somewhere in the middle.
 
Green is not a great album so I wouldn't put R.E.M's 1980s run in there.

But I'll nominate:

Pavement
Crooked Rain x2 (1994)
Wowee Zowee (1995)
Brighten The Corners (1997)
Terror Twilight (1999)
(most would start that instead with Slanted & Enchanted from 1992 instead of Terror Twilight)

Super Furry Animals
Radiator (1997)
Guerilla (1999)
Mwing (2000)
Rings Around the World (2001)

Or you could start with Mwing and also include

Phantom Power (2003)
Love Kraft (2005)


New Order
Power Corruption and Lies (1983)
Low-Life (1985)
Brotherhood (1987)
Substance (1988)
 
MattD said:
How much of U2's insipid, bland and generic songwriting of late is down to poor creative influences and how much of it is down to themselves?

I get the feeling all desire and determination for creativity has left them as they become tired and old, leaving the likes of artistic vacuums like Tedder and Guy Oseary in charge (in charge of Madonna I believe, says it all).

It was all down hill after they hired that coffee salesman who wrote 'my humps, my humps, my lady lumps' to help create I'll Go Crazy.

It's a kids film for sure, but that doesn't mean quality should be any less. Randy Newman wrote some beautiful songs for Toy Story 2 like When She Loved Me without needing to water things down for the target audience. Maybe it will take a 5 year old kid to openly swear about U2's music for them to leave the stage with whatever dignity they have or revert to being serious about music.
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I actually think the biggest plague on U2's last 15 years was the more musically credible Rick Rubin convincing him that they needed to be pop melody writers, which is fundamentally not how U2 created music prior to 2005.
 
Back in 2013, Laura Snapes of NME was on the right track with this.

https://www.nme.com/blogs/nme-blogs/nme-staff-pick-their-top-10-greatest-albums-of-all-time-21877

Laura Snapes
1. The National – Boxer
2. The National – Alligator
3. The National – Trouble Will Find Me
4. The National – High Violet
5. Mogwai – Young Team
6. Papa M – Live From A Shark’s Cage
7. The National – Sad Songs For Dirty Lovers
8. Bat For Lashes – Fur And Gold
9. Sun Kil Moon – Ghosts Of The Great Highway
10. The Microphones – The Glow II

Of course it needs to be updated to make space for Sleep Well Beast and I Am Easy To Find.
 
I listened to "Your Song Saved My Life" and got a bit sad about this meaningless irrelevant song, but after that Spotify directed me into "Until The End of The World", "Acrobat" and "ZooStation" and made me really happy again! :) Let's hope for an Achtung Baby celebration Tour!
 
dan_smee said:
So, I’ve had a few hours away after maybe 3 listens, and I’ve just listened again. I pretty much remembered the melody and every word. Love it or hate it, it has an infectious quality that will play well in certain demos with certain audiences.

The fact it is a bit vanilla and beige, or that it doesn’t peak are probably causing people to over hyperbolise it’s deficiencies rather than be happy about some of the good points. And it is irrefutable that some elements of this song represent real progress away from some of the most frustrating and “bad” elements of recent U2 outputs - lyrical vomit, one dimensional melodies, perfunctory chord progressions, dynamic range - all things they have really struggled with for neigh on 20 years. This song is one big positive stride away from all of those issues. The lyrics are still saccharine, but they have integrity of concept, and are constructed more thoughtfully. The melody is interesting.

I think it’s far better than The Miracle or GOOYOW or American Soul. It shits on Boots. It’s sin is it’s boringness - which I would argue is a symptom of placement and purpose. It’s for a kids movie and sonically it is appropriate.

The longer I sit with it, the more comfortable I am. I don’t love it, but it could have been FAR worse. It’s a B-.
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Ding ding ding.

I don't love this song. It's fine, and it fits the purpose.

It's MUCH better than I had feared - I was expecting a full on Ryan Tedder pop extravaganza aimed at pop radio relevance. This... this isn't that. And I'm happy about that.

The hyperbolic "oh my god this is the worst thing they've ever done they've lost it they'll never do Achtung Baby again the world is over" reaction in here is honestly just sad and played out.

Like, no shit.

They're an old band for old people.

They still have some magic left in them - and we've seen hints of it on the previous albums, but their biggest problem IMO has been ruining their vision by trying to sound too hip and cool with the kids and shoehorning poppy radio friendly (in their eyes) tracks in.

This isn't that. It has a more adult, grown up, almost old feel to it. And I'm okay with that, because I'm old.

My main critique of the song is the lack of anything from the Edge. I think they could have added some classic chimey shit in their and it would have made it more U2ey.

Alas - the song it reminds me of on the last album is Landlady. I'm ok with that.
 
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Question: Did U2 ever win an Oscar? I recall this was a thing back a few years ago.

This song sounds like another attempt at that.

The song starts ok but sheesh the ending with B & E singing together is piss weak.
 
I just had a second listen myself. This is a NICE SONG. I keep harping on how I wish we didn't have to listen through all of Bono & Edge's goofy ass growing pains as "traditional" songwriters over the years. In the past, they've thrown key changes, blue notes and passing chords at a song just because it's what John and Paul might have done. The chord movement on YSSML is subtle but interesting (by U2 standards), and it doesn't feel like two or three or four songs stapled together.

I like the dueling falsetto section. It's better than a BIG ADELE MOMENT.

Do I want to watch 17 morning talk show performances of Bono and Edge playing it, just piano and vocals? Absolutely not. A really well thought out, orchestrated full band (but stripped down) performance? Hell yea.

Though it'll be playing over the credits, it is the first track on the album - that's algorithm bait if I've ever seen it. My friends' daughters might be singing a U2 song all year, after all.
 
womanfish said:
Ok, since we have some fresh faces here. And REM has come up. I have a question that I really am too lazy to make a new thread about.

Who had the greatest five years of music output in Alt/modern/indie rock history. I am leaving out just straight rock, cause i really don't want to have to talk about The Beatles and Zep and the like.

So here are a few to get things going

R.E.M. 1986 to 1991

Life's Rich Pageant (My number 1 REM album)
Document (My number 2)
Green
Out of Time

R.E.M. 1991 to 1996

Out of Time
Automatic For The People
Monster
New Adventures in Hi-Fi

U2 1983 to 1988

War
Unforgettable Fire
The Joshua Tree
Rattle and Hum

U2 1987 to 1991

The Joshua Tree
Rattle and Hum
Achtung Baby

The Smiths 1984 to 1987 (Jesus Christ!)

The Smiths
Meat is Murder
The Queen is Dead
Strangeways Here We Come

Radiohead 1995 to 2000

The Bends
OK Computer
Kid A

The Pixies 1988 to 1991

Surfer Rosa
Doolittle
Trompe Le Monde

The Replacements 1984 to 1989

Let It Be
Tim
Pleased To Meet Me
Don't Tell a Soul

Nirvana 1989 to 1993

Bleach
Nevermind
In Utero

Not really a big Nirvana guy, but figured I'd put em on there.

What do you think?

I lean toward REM or The Smiths just because of the sheer volume they had within a 5 year span. But U2 with 2 perfect albums does get close.

Please give your thoughts on the ones here and add any new ones you think could contend.

GO!
Click to expand...

You have to include Pearl Jam’s first 5 years in there too.
 
mikal said:
You have to include Pearl Jam’s first 5 years in there too.
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My Pearl Jam era would be Vitalogy through Binaural (which is 1994-2000, forgive the extra year).

Nine Inch Nails '94-'99 - though only two albums - are two of the best albums ever made.

Genesis '81-'86 - pretty monumental (I feel like I should brace myself for this opinion, but I'd consider trio-Genesis to be a part of this conversation).
 
And for me, Biffy Clyro's last 5 years:

Ellipsis
MTV Unplugged
Balance, Not Symmetry
A Celebration of Endings
The Myth of The Happily Ever After

Just crazy output for a band in their 25th year.
 
Rattle & Hum is still regarded as a low point critically-speaking, so if you remove that from the list and just go with studio albums, U2 have had some run. In fact, if you go back a bit and go War, Unforgettable Fire, Joshua Tree, Achtung Baby - that's an almost unbeatable hand by anyone's standards if we're talking how albums are generally held in public opinion.

REM from 91 to 96 IMO is the strongest one out of the rest as its the one I had the most emotional connection-to at the time.

Nirvana though? One of the most influential periods of music in our lifetime?
 
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womanfish said:
Ok, since we have some fresh faces here. And REM has come up. I have a question that I really am too lazy to make a new thread about.

Who had the greatest five years of music output in Alt/modern/indie rock history. I am leaving out just straight rock, cause i really don't want to have to talk about The Beatles and Zep and the like.

Please give your thoughts on the ones here and add any new ones you think could contend.

GO!
Click to expand...

Any random 5 years from REM's 83-96 run.
The Smiths, too, as you said.

For modern bands, Deerhunter were flawless between 2007 and 2011:
Cryptograms
Fluorescent Grey EP
Microcastle/Weird Era Continued
Rainwater Cassette Exchange EP
Halcyon Digest
Halcyon Digest b sides
60 Cycle Hum one off, final track with their original bassist

Smashing Pumpkins, 91-96, might be my winner though. A staggering amount of material was released, an even more staggering amount of ground was covered, and the quality was consistent.
 
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lazarus said:
Green is not a great album so I wouldn't put R.E.M's 1980s run in there.

But I'll nominate:

Pavement
Crooked Rain x2 (1994)
Wowee Zowee (1995)
Brighten The Corners (1997)
Terror Twilight (1999)
(most would start that instead with Slanted & Enchanted from 1992 instead of Terror Twilight)

Super Furry Animals
Radiator (1997)
Guerilla (1999)
Mwing (2000)
Rings Around the World (2001)

Or you could start with Mwing and also include

Phantom Power (2003)
Love Kraft (2005)


New Order
Power Corruption and Lies (1983)
Low-Life (1985)
Brotherhood (1987)
Substance (1988)
Click to expand...

Nice thoughts here. I gotta disagree on Green. I used to feel that way, but over the years, I actually like Green better than Out of Time and Automatic.

Thank you for the Pavement reminder!

I was hoping to put New Order on my list, but their albums are just a bit to hit and miss for me and Substance is a compilation, so I wouldn't really count it. But great stuff nonetheless.
 
Pavement, yessss

Malkmus (&Jicks) Pig Lib - Face The Truth - Real Emotional Trash run was even better imo. I think that was over 6 years though, 03-08.

Sonic Youth, 85-90:
Bad Moon Rising
Evol
Sister
Daydream Nation
Goo
 
ascender_RS said:
Rattle & Hum is still regarded as a low point critically-speaking, so if you remove that from the list and just go with studio albums, U2 have had some run. In fact, if you go back a bit and go War, Unforgettable Fire, Joshua Tree, Achtung Baby - that's an almost unbeatable hand by anyone's standards if we're talking how albums are generally held in public opinion.

REM from 91 to 96 IMO is the strongest one out of the rest as its the one I had the most emotional connection-to at the time.

Nirvana though? One of the most influential periods of music in our lifetime?
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Yeah R&H is the wrench in the gear here. Keeping it to just a 5 year stint, and if you really go song by song, its a close call.

You have have about 26 fantastic songs from 87 to 91 and you have maybe like 24 to 25 from 83 to 87. Both amazing periods.

REM - 86 to 91 is where i lean.
 
So after Bono's bike accident when he said he might never be able to play guitar again, he was apparently misquoted...he apparently actually said, "Edge will never play the guitar again"
 
Hewson said:
So after Bono's bike accident when he said he might never be able to play guitar again, he was apparently misquoted...he apparently actually said, "Edge will never play the guitar again"
Click to expand...

If I can't play, you can't FOOOKIN PLAY!!!
 
mikal said:
I like Consequence of Sound for rock recommendations, but there's no need for them to even review it. That's my biggest complaint with Pitchfork over the last 15 years. They review U2 not to actually review U2, but to play into their U2 hating audience.
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Yea, it's exhausting. I've come to expect U2 bashing, but that article is just unnecessary. Kind of what I was alluding to a few pages back... just ignore the song, ffs. The thing I hate most about clickbait is that it typically just further foments negativity, which spreads, and people get caught up in being angry over something that is ultimately meaningless.

I don't know. Everyone - myself included - is just such a miserable sack of shit these days, I guess anger feels easy and safe for most people. Sucks.
 
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