You honestly think that most of the press doesn't receive every U2 album by giving it the benefit of the doubt? One of the most important (thought it doesn't deserve it) music magazines, Rolling Stone, is constantly giving their albums 4 stars even when they don't deserve it; David Fricke gave Boy 4 stars, I think. It's really preposterous because so many music powerful journalists just can't speak ill of the band because they want access. Even the Chicago guy DeRogatis couldn't keep up his criticism when faced with Bono in an interview; he felt he had to soften his criticism. So much of the music industry is gutless this way. I sometimes think Pitchfork goes overboard but it's more right than much of that mainstream press, and, yeah, of all those reviews on metacritic I linked to, theirs was the most correct in terms of a number rating; I didn't agree with their favorite songs, but they were more right than many of those big journalists that gave the band such high praise for a mediocre album, especially in light of The Joshua Tree and Achtung Baby, which pitchfork still recognizes as great albums, though not enough, in my opinion.
Q Review
- Thread starter mikeuk
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The friendliest place on the web for anyone that follows U2.
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Catman
Rock n' Roll Doggie
Yeah, and "The Playboy Mansion" is waaaaaaaaaay better than "City of Blinding Lights."You just singled yourself out by saying something completely ridiculous.
Yeah, "All Because of You" is waaaaaaaaaaay better than MOFO.
See what I did there?
I prefer POP to HTDAAB (and enjoy ATYCLB more than both of them), but I think you might be jumping to conclusions on which songs he thinks are better than others.
EDIT: And Mudfeld, I do agree with your assessment that a lot of major publications give U2 the "benefit of the doubt," in regards to reviews of their records. In regards to Pitchfork (which, IMO, is a little too indie and pretentious for my tastes), I am curious as to what they'll give NLOTH - I think they were fairly spot-on with HTDAAB, but kind of underscored ATYCLB... who knows
This is just not true. See Metacritic's combined reviews for U2's last 2 albums. They are each only 1 and 2 points shy, respectively, from "Universal Acclaim"--universal acclaim obviously implies that they are getting TONS of love from the press, deserved or not.
And a 6.9 review from Pitchfork is not bad at all from them.
dabiggestu2fan
Rock n' Roll Doggie
thats true i do agree with you
dabiggestu2fan
Rock n' Roll Doggie
yes it bodes well for the album indeed.
last unicorn
Blue Crack Addict
I don't talk about music press, because I usually don't read many music magazines, but in general, the media, press, etc. aren't too fond of U2, and that's the stuff everyday people read in their everyday lives. I honestly do not know many casual music fans who read Q or the Rolling Stone on a regular basis, but I know many who read music reviews in our regular papers, and all I can say is that these are not really very pro-U2.
last unicorn
Blue Crack Addict
Is that for the new album?
dabiggestu2fan
Rock n' Roll Doggie
yes it is
BVS
Blue Crack Supplier
GOYB is not Vertigo-ish, you just show your lack of musical knowledge or description by saying so.
The two halfs have nothing to with "mainstream" vs "experimental", it's light vs dark. And there's no evidence Lillywhite had anything to do with this, it just sounds like another one of your half baked theories.
Catman
Rock n' Roll Doggie
Nope, it's for Bomb.
PookaMacP
War Child
Whenever I see a 5-star review from Q I can never forget that they also gave five stars to Be Here Now, X&Y and Reveal.
I got a lot of good music based on their recommendations, but as far as big "event" releases go I wouldn't trust them one bit. Not that I trust any reviewer really but I wouldn't trust Q more than usual,
How about Semisonic's All About Chemistry - that got 5 stars from Q as well!
cdirani
War Child
Reviews suck all the time. Positive or negative.
Matthew_Page2000
War Child
I understand what you're saying but remember that Lillywhite has mixing credits on JT and AB. That's all he's doing on NLOTH.
He mixed the album versions of:
Bullet the Blue Sky
With or Without You
Where the Streets have No Name
Trying to Throw Your Arms Around the World
Even Better than the Real Thing
Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses
So if either Achtung or Joshua Tree are one of your sacred cows
you might want to reconsiderr all the second guessing.
Moo.
last unicorn
Blue Crack Addict
Correct. Given their reaction to GOYB and to the early album remasters, I'm thinking Pitchfork could give NLOTH as high as the 7-8 range. They've been showing the love lately.
I personally find it very hard to judge my enjoyment of the band's post-Achtung Baby work. They're such mixed affairs. I initially rated each successive album as better than the last, but I've found that harder to accept from 2005 onward. ATYCLB is safer and simpler, but I just enjoy it more than Pop, though I enjoy Mofo and Do You Feel Loved?
I used to think HTDAAB was better than ATYCLB, but I now find it too derivative of the band's past work or trying to be a radio hits in its singles that I find it worse; "Vertigo" and "All Because of You" are unforgivable. At the same time, although I can't help but wince at the Coldplayish composition and rip off of Electrical Storm elements in "City of Blinding Lights", I enjoy it more than "Discotheque".
So, I respect Pop more, but I enjoy the later 2 albums a bit more.
biff
Rock n' Roll Doggie Band-aid
I just logged on. Am I correct in assuming that, despite the title of this thread, there is no Q review?
I guess the general public is always something hard to figure out. When my mini-generation got into music was around the time of Zooropa and when I'd tell my fellow highschoolers that U2 was great, they didn't know The Joshua Tree or even Achtung Baby, and they'd point to the weirdness of "Lemon" and go, "You like that?" For the next several years, I was the only U2 fans I knew. Then ATYCLB came out and I saw all these supposed U2 fans in undergrad and none had any interest in listening to the non-singles of Achtung Baby. I think the U2 of this last decade pulled in a lot of people who never would have appreciated the band's subtler greatness in the late '80s and early '90s. They would always have been into the hits.
U2 needs to forget composing music for them.
Yeah. The thread-starter read it in an ad on The Observer website. You can't find it on the newsstands or on the Q website, I'm afraid.
As far as I can tell, this thread is about getting ready for the Q review by debating each other's opinions of past albums. Then debating whether it's ok to have an opinion, or whether one opinion holds more water than another.
If there was a review, I missed it..
Catman
Rock n' Roll Doggie
think that's only natural- typically I like the "latest" album more than it's predecessor simply because it is the latest album (although there are exceptions- the latest Madonna album is a good example)- and there is the excitement of new material- it takes time to get to know an album and for me a few years has to elapse before I can do the compare game
in the case of U2- I still rate Atomic Bomb way above Pop and ATYCLB- although I accept that Atomic Bomb is very safe by U2 standards- I just really like the songs
nope.
there was something with 5 stars and best record evaahhhh
Since GOYB is the best leadsingle ever recorded by U2 and maybe by any artist in the history of modern music they might be right.
GET ON YOU BOOTS YEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
(Why are you such a dick about anything I say. I swear since I criticized Israel you've been after me at nearly every turn; it's like you've got something really personal against me, but try to frame it in terms of what I'm discussing. Then again, it could be just U2 fan-love, and you're taking it out on me.)
Anyway, by "light", do you mean bogus, fake supposedly uplifting "joy" (as in "Elevation" or "Walk On" or "Beautiful Day" or "Vertigo" or "All Because of You") versus something more interesting and honest. I'm so tired of the new Bono's lyrics; all this guilt-ridden self-deprecation is actually so ego-centric. All this crap about "big ideas" and "celebrity"; stop it! Joshua Tree Bono was not so obsessed with himself or at least talked about his surroundings in a less superficial, buzzword way.
He's needs a psychologist to figure out how to talk about these things in a more interesting and genuine way and to address his inner needs, so he can stop feeling as guilty and just do the right thing.
Good to know I'm not alone. I was telling everyone I knew that HTDAAB was going to be better than Achtung Baby, based on what Bono was saying, and it took several months to figure out how lame it was, but I still enjoy "Miracle Drug" and "Original of the Species" and "Fast Cars", but it's important to note that "Fast Cars" was left off the album because the band was somehow put off by its marketability and that's sad.
so wait... is there a Q review or no?
Catman
Rock n' Roll Doggie
Is it just me, or was it obvious that the Observer and Q were going to give NLOTH high marks? I mean, U2 gave Q a lot of early details, and The Observer had the "behind the scenes" Q&A back in Fez (From Fez to Dublin and beyond, via presidents and royalty, Sean O'Hagan charts the making of the new U2 album | Music | The Observer) - more readers, more sales, more hits, etc.,. I don't want to assume that these positive reviews were given out of some misplaced affiliated gratuity, but it happens.............................. I really just want a review from someone who was more reluctant to give HTDAAB a 4 or 5-star rating.
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