Next Album Rumours Thread IV - 2 Sing 2 Furious

[DeVaul]

Mamma Mia!

 

[womanfish]

Boots is definitely a bit out of step sonically, but the vocal melody on the "You don't know..." section sounds slightly exotic in a Beatles experimentation sense. So that connects it to the Morocco sessions enough for me to include it on the album.

I can't imagine removing this song from the album but retaining SUC and Crazy Tonight, the first of which is even more tonally inappropriate (and just pretty awful in general), and the latter just desperately vanilla and clearly a last-minute bid for radio airplay. They're both axed from my playlist.

My unconventional move is including both versions of the title track; if memory serves the alt version leaked before the actual album did? And I remember being disappointed upon hearing the album version because the alt was so bouncy, energetic, and new wavy, could have actually been a single. So while I've come to appreciate the official No Line in a deeper way, I can't listen to the album without wanting to hear both, so I've featured it as a reprise in the way that FEZ reprises Boots.

1. No Line
2. Magnificent*
3. Moment of Surrender
4. Unknown Caller
5. Winter
(side break if you're old-fashioned, 30 min. into a 60 min. playlist)
6. Soon
7. No Line (alt. version)
8. Get On Your Boots
9. FEZ-Being Born
10. White as Snow
11. Breathe
12. Cedars

So I've retained the original beginning and ending like most of you and just messed with the middle, but in a different way. I thought about putting the alt. No Line right before the end as a more naturally-placed reprise, but I think Breathe does fit the bill as U2's typical penultimate track showstopper (Acrobat, Exit, Dirty Day, Please), and the orchestral elements keep the album on that grander stage as it heads to the finish. Soon serves as a bit of an intermission between halves here, and while most seem to like it before Winter I think it connects similarly place after it.


*not gonna lie, I started to type "Magnificock" at first because old habits die hard, shout-out to the OG Shuttlecock crew

Nice. I would like to toy around with including Boots, since it is better than the "other two" I mean, the irony of Stand Up having the acronym SUC(K) is almost too perfect.

I feel like I want to put Boots in between No Line and Breathe, or at least Breathe adjacent, since I think Breathe would make Boots feel a bit less jarring. not sure.

 

[phanan]

They could have put together a corresponding EP to NLOTH and it would have been ok, even though I don't really care for any except NLOTH 2. Boots is borderline.

1. Get On Your Boots (version with the intro)
2. Crazy Tonight
3. Stand Up Comedy
4. NLOTH 2
5. Crazy Tonight (Remix)

Or something like that.

 

[womanfish]

They could have put together a corresponding EP to NLOTH and it would have been ok, even though I don't really care for any except NLOTH 2. Boots is borderline.

1. Get On Your Boots (version with the intro)
2. Crazy Tonight
3. Stand Up Comedy
4. NLOTH 2
5. Crazy Tonight (Remix)

Or something like that.

Or just made them B-sides, or "bonus tracks" Since no one except pretty big fans give a shit about those.

I gotta think there is some way better material on the cutting room floor than Crazy and SUC. And if they would have just used some common sense, A toned down Boots could have been ok on the album.

 

[super fly guy]

In other news,Vertigo came out this day in 2004. Where does the time go?!

Anybody win anything playing the game?[emoji1787]

https://www.contactmusic.com/pages/u2x01x11x04

 

[phommel]

(Are there many albums that feature callbacks to previous tracks? All I can think of is Quadrophenia.)

Sgt. peppers (Beatles) and Made in Heaven (Queen)

 

[phommel]

I gave the Sing2 song a better listen over the weekend and it grew on me quite a bit. The ending is still a mess as it feels like they just quit on it.

The ending is indeed a bit of a mess... At ~3:26 it sounds somebody coughs... anyone else hearing this?

 

[DeVaul]

The ending is indeed a bit of a mess... At ~3:26 it sounds somebody coughs... anyone else hearing this?

It’s probably Larry fake coughing the word “shite”

 

[Hewson]

It’s probably Larry fake coughing the word “shite”

You don't think he's on board?

 

[ascender_RS]

I'm still surprised none of them (Edge) have been tempted to try some more soundtrack work in recent years between albums. I've always thought his approach to the guitar and soundscapes would be well suited to some instrumental work. I know he's done it with Captive, but there's so much TV and movies being made these days and it might change things up a bit for the dynamic in the band.

 

[rjhbonovox]

U2 really are shit now aren't they. Not satisfied at trashing everything with their last 2 albums then that euro 2020 crap they've now plummeted to new depths of crapness with this rubbish. Just stop now please cos you are just destroying your legacy even further. To think this band made great music in the past. Listening to this crap you would not think so

 

[mikal]

U2 really are shit now aren't they. Not satisfied at trashing everything with their last 2 albums then that euro 2020 crap they've now plummeted to new depths of crapness with this rubbish. Just stop now please cos you are just destroying your legacy even further. To think this band made great music in the past. Listening to this crap you would not think so

Lol are they more shit than they were when you were calling them shit 15 years ago? Or same level of shit?

 

[womanfish]

So as I mentioned a couple days ago. It was cool seeing people list the rankings of the albums. My brother and I ranked them about 6 months ago. And it's always a little tricky. Cause there are albums that are great, but you just don't feel like listening to them that much or even enjoy listening to them that much. Ones that you go back to after a long break that seem fresh again, etc...

So I went into my rating sort of knowing my constant top 2, but then sort of combining quality and just preference of what I enjoy listening to most. Because to me, an album can be much more than the sum of its parts. Zooropa is a good example of that for me.

So the following list is what I came up with from that.

Achtung Baby
The Joshua Tree
Zooropa
POP
Boy
The Unforgettable Fire
War
Songs of Innocence
Songs of Experience
October
No Line On The Horizon
All That You Can’t Leave Behind
Rattle and Hum
How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb


Then, i decided to take a few months and just listen through each album and rate each song. Cause while I may not really want to hear Pride, or SBS, or I STill Haven't... much anymore, they are still top tier classic, great songs. So I listened to an album every week or so and rated each song and then divided by the number of songs on the album and this is how that list came out. Kind of an asterisk by R&H. I didn't rate the live songs from other albums or the snippets obviously, so take that for what it is.


Classic - Pure Greatness
Achtung - 9.7
JT - 9.5

Very Good to Excellent
UF - 8.4
Boy - 8.3
POP - 8.1
Zooropa - 8.0

Good to very good
War - 7.9
October - 7.7
SOI - 7.5
No Line - 7.4


A bit better than average to good.
R&H - 7.3
SOE - 7.0
ATYCLB - 6.7
Bomb - 6.5

One interesting note, that I said yesterday, If I drop the middle 3 on No Line and add Soon and Winter, it moves from a bottom five album to a top five album on this rated list.

 

[Dragonfave]

Music video of "YSSML".

 

[Lord Vader]

A Big Dump Saved My Life


tried to be open and listened to the song a few times - but it is total shit

 

[rjhbonovox]

Lol are they more shit than they were when you were calling them shit 15 years ago? Or same level of shit?

Definetly more shit. OK there's a downward trend from 2000 onwards and HTDAB was a mediocre effort by their earlier standards but even that's a good listen compared to the crap they're coming out with now. This is a new low along with that crap they released for euro 2020. Its hard to believe a group that made Achtung Baby would want to make music like this.

 

[womanfish]

Definetly more shit. OK there's a downward trend from 2000 onwards and HTDAB was a mediocre effort by their earlier standards but even that's a good listen compared to the crap they're coming out with now. This is a new low along with that crap they released for euro 2020. Its hard to believe a group that made Achtung Baby would want to make music like this.

So a feel good collaboration for soccer/football and a song for a children's animated movie has really pushed you over the edge? Gotcha.

 

[dabiggestu2fan]

Definetly more shit. OK there's a downward trend from 2000 onwards and HTDAB was a mediocre effort by their earlier standards but even that's a good listen compared to the crap they're coming out with now. This is a new low along with that crap they released for euro 2020. Its hard to believe a group that made Achtung Baby would want to make music like this.

Yes the last couple songs were crap but I don’t think u2 2000’s or even SOI and SOE are nearly as bad as you make them out to be! Yes SOE in my opinion is not as great but still has some nice moments. The second half of SOI is pretty awesome! I was listening to it the other day for the first time in a while and the songs felt fresh. Reach around, sleep like a baby, raised by wolves, the troubles are all pretty great songs. Are they up there with things from say Achtung Baby or JT? Ofcourse not, but do you honestly expect a band that has been going on 4 decades to have songs that equal to those released during their prime? Yes this last song is actually terrible but I don’t think U2 are hurting their legacy with the release of a bad song. And this was a song for a kids movie. Did you expect something super amazing?

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

Just wait until the inevitable charitable tie in to this one as well

Music video of "YSSML".

and there it is

 

[MattD]

I've never understood the hate for All That You Can't Leave Behind on here. If we're talking about millennium era U2, it is just streets and streets ahead of every album they've made since.

It's a vibe record, nothing is over the top melodrama with generic cut and paste choruses. It's a very introspective album, and one that I find incredibly meditative and peaceful. Even Elevation, which sticks out like a sore thumb for its cheesiness, does the job and is great live. The album as a whole is genuinely heartfelt, and while not as multilayered like their 90s albums (both lyrically and musically), it is their most refreshing and optimistic album but one that acknowledges the cynical world we live in.

The band had come full circle at this point and if U2 were to maintain such reverence critically, this should have tied it all up in a ribbon and they should have said their goodbyes at this point.

This was the concept of 'Songs of Experience' but done with sincerity the whole way through unlike the actual Experience album. Some moments of beauty like Little Things and 13 contain that middle aged reflection and introspection that could very well have suited the vibe of All That You Can't Leave Behind.

Anyway, here's my U2 album rankings - not necessarily the greatest but favourite.

1) Achtung Baby
2) Joshua Tree
3) Unforgettable Fire
4 Zooropa
5) Boy
6) War
7) Pop
8) All That You Can't Leave Behind
9) Rattle & Hum
10) October

----------------FORGETTABLE CATEGORY-----------------------
12) Songs of Experience
13) No Line on the Horizon
14) Songs of Innocence


The 20 years from Boy to All That You Can't Leave Behind, I absolutely adore. Even the weakest albums of that period - October and Rattle & Hum - are also legitimately decent albums. R&H is messy and unoriginal but damn, the song craft is U2 at its best on the strongest points of the album. No to the naysayers of October too - it's a very loose album with sketchy songs, but the energy and spirit of a youthful band is there in abundance, from the angst ridden vocals of Bono, the raw primitive energy of the bass and drumming, and The Edge's textured guitar work taking on a new level from Boy. If that energy was distilled into tighter songwriting, we'd be looking at a great album but it's spontaneity and rawness is the sound of a group of young lads pouring all that energy and insecurities into music. It's an authentic portrayal of an uncertain group of young musicians trying to make sense of their place in the world. The energy is there, but the doubt is there too - and that thoughtfulness is something rare in a young band.

As for the forgettable category, it can quite simply be summed up by saying there are snatches of the mature and thoughtful band we all know (you could make a brilliant album with the strongest songs from each album), but utterly spoilt and ruined by the incessant need for big songs with unsavoury chart pop producers and writers continuing to piss in the well. Any hints of the beautiful ambient experimentalism that epitomised a deep and thoughtful band are drummed out of them in favour of mindless noise, generic instrumentation, cut and paste choruses and Hallmark style platitude lyrics. The band that the haters thought they were 20 years ago are now, well, that band.

An incredible demise, one exacerbated by the awful management of the cheap Guy Oseary (whose client list reads like a list of horrors in music). For 20 years they could live with fame and fortune without it impacting upon their creativity. But it's slowly taken over in the 20 years since. As I said in an earlier post, an megalomaniac lead singer hellbent on pallying with the most powerful people in the world, who gets his hat flown half way around the world and a guitarist who gets embroiled in land right disputes environmentally destructive property development, is not a band that knows thought, wonder and beauty any more. The material life has finally got the better of them, and any sense of drive, spirituality and wonder- no matter how much they feign it on record - is just not there anymore and has been battered out of them as a result.

 

[AndrewCowley]

I would summarise it this way. U2 can still write songs. It’s just that their songs no longer sound interesting.

 

[lazarus]

“Any hints of the beautiful ambient experimentalism that epitomised a deep and thoughtful band are drummed out of them in favour of mindless noise, generic instrumentation, cut and paste choruses and Hallmark style platitude lyrics.”

This doesn’t apply to most of No Line, though.

And imagine writing that long of a post and then forgetting to include Bomb in your rankings.

 

[wolbersu2]

and there it is

Even the videos are getting worse. The trend of 'Love is bigger...' song ànd video is being continued.
The song is for Sing 2, so I expected an animated band as movie characters (Bono as Clay)and now another video of different people with a kind of message . Another low imo.

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

Even the videos are getting worse. The trend of 'Love is bigger...' song ànd video is being continued.

The song is for Sing 2, so I expected an animated band as movie characters (Bono as Clay)and now another video of different people with a kind of message . Another low imo.

And if the video was what you described, this place would be bitching about that, too.

 

[Irvine511]

So all those children were going to kill themsleves up until they learned how to play this new U2 song and now Bono’s song has saved their lives?








(Seems like another huge miscalculation on their part …)

 

[MattD]

“Any hints of the beautiful ambient experimentalism that epitomised a deep and thoughtful band are drummed out of them in favour of mindless noise, generic instrumentation, cut and paste choruses and Hallmark style platitude lyrics.”

This doesn’t apply to most of No Line, though.

And imagine writing that long of a post and then forgetting to include Bomb in your rankings.

Evidently a forgettable album then! To revise it, second to worst album they've ever made.

 

[mikal]

I agree with the positive sentiment towards ATYCLB. Songs 1-5 are absolute classics. Hate on Elevation all you want, but it's still played in football stadiums. The impact of this album is undeniable. Add in "When I Look At The World" and you have a late album gem as well.

I think the album gets more flack because it marked the true end of their experimental phase, which was such an amazing period. But the album itself is actually pretty damn great.

 

[DeVaul]

So all those children were going to kill themsleves up until they learned how to play this new U2 song and now Bono’s song has saved their lives?

Imagine the bloodbath if it had been “American Soul”

 

[MattD]

I agree with the positive sentiment towards ATYCLB. Songs 1-5 are absolute classics. Hate on Elevation all you want, but it's still played in football stadiums. The impact of this album is undeniable. Add in "When I Look At The World" and you have a late album gem as well.

I think the album gets more flack because it marked the true end of their experimental phase, which was such an amazing period. But the album itself is actually pretty damn great.

I think 1-6 if you include In A Little While. The sentiments are sweet without being saccharine, one of the songs that makes the album so serene.

Wild Honey is a nice little tune too. Peace on Earth and Grace get a lot of hate but I've never thought ill of them, and they are two of the more meditative tunes which adds to the overwhelming sense of calm I get from the album. New York is also an interesting experimental piece.

There's not one tune on there I'd consider bad. From Atomic Bomb onwards, that's where the true stinkers are littered throughout every album since.

 

[Lord Vader]

its ok, U2 is just going through their Phil Collins phase.