Shuttlecock XVII - The Best Title That Ever Happened a Thread

[Zoomerang96]

The remix is unquestionably better than the original (or whatever you want to call the official release).

There's at least something going on with this mix. Not exciting by any means but again, there's only so much much to work with on this track

 

[patternshirt170]

There have been some more than decent remixes in the post Bomb era like the Falke Magnifcient Remix or the GOYB Fish Out Of Water & Justice mixes which make a slightly duff song less duff and the SLABT Remix/Invisible one is pretty good too.

Mostly I remember the EBTTRT remixes charting higher than the album version CD single at the time, granted the Perfecto Mixes of that song, Mysterious Ways and Leee-emon were rather exceptional, this Kygo thing kinda isn't.

 

[aviastar]

The remix is unquestionably better than the original (or whatever you want to call the official release).

There's at least something going on with this mix. Not exciting by any means but again, there's only so much much to work with on this track

I prefer the U2 single. The Kygo mix gets a bit boring to me. The U2 single version keeps me engaged because I like the instrumental bridge. I just wish Edge had put a real nice solo in that section.

To me, I think my ultimate determination is it's not a top 50 U2 song, but not a bottom 50 U2 song either. It's just somewhere in the middle.

 

[corianderstem]

Not a fan of the remix. Have liked a lot of their remixes from recent albums (mostly NLOTH, I guess), but this EDM shit is super meh.

 

[lazarus]

Show in St. Louis canceled tonight because city couldn't provide enough security for the show due to ongoing public protests over recent court decision.

Obviously the band doesn't want to be seen as responsible if something should go wrong. But I was hoping to hear Bono snippet NWA's "Fuck The Police".

 

[iron yuppie]

Just heard The Best Thing on the radio for the first time. It was number 1 on Sirius Spectrum's most requested list, for whatever that's worth. Spectrum is a pan-rock station that plays everything from The Doors to War on Drugs.

I don't know if this comparison has been made yet, but TBT seems like a cousin to Window in the Skies: both are stubbornly midtempo with an ultra-sugary sentiment and some really bizarre lyrical turns.

 

[namkcuR]

From the first listen I thought it fit the mold of both WITS and Ordinary Love.

I just listened to Please live from both Rotterdam and the 1997 VMAs last night for the first time in a while. Oh my god is it good. I fear they will never play it again, at least not like that(i.e. full band), and it's a damn shame.

 

[david]

I made a playlist for the Two America's version of The Joshua Tree based off articles about it and now I'm thinking of tacking on Wave of Sorrow towards the end. But right now I've omitted Trip.. and included Heartland. Heartland and Wave.. we're intended for TJT but of course finished later. It's a cool listen.

The Two America's:

1. Beautiful Ghost/Introduction to Songs of Experience
2. Where the Streets Have no Name
3. Silver and Gold
4. I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For
5. Walk to the Water
6. Luminous Times (Hold on to Love)
7. With or Without You
8. Spanish Eyes
9. Bullet the Blue Sky
10. Running to Stand Still
11. Red Hill Mining Town
12. In God's Country
13. Heartland
14. Sweetest Thing
15. One Tree Hill
16. Deep in the Heart
17. Exit
18. Race Against Time
19. Mothers of the Disappeared

Runtime 1 hour 25 minutes.

 

[kabigon]

Looks good but have to find a spot for Trip somewhere. After seeing it live, any questions about it being disposable have disappeared imo.

 

[BoMac]

I just listened to Please live from both Rotterdam and the 1997 VMAs last night for the first time in a while. Oh my god is it good. I fear they will never play it again, at least not like that(i.e. full band), and it's a damn shame.

Well I was having a good day until I read this post. It's so damn depressing. I just can't seem to let it go. I understand age is a factor and priorities change as people get older, but what the fuck happened to this band? WHAT.THE.FUCK.HAPPENED?

There's been flashes of brilliance since 1997 (i.e. the second half of SOI), and I saw a glimpse of that old band during that amazing performance of Bullet on Fallon, but more often than not they leave me frustrated, especially with their apparent blacklisting of Pop material.

 

[BoMac]

Also, find me a song that they're currently not playing that is more relevant to what's going on politically and culturally than Please. That song could be a showstopper and make a powerful statement, but noooooooooooooooo.

 

[iron yuppie]

Yeah, you could make a good argument that Please is their most politically relevant song. It captures the zealotry and polarization of the current climate better than anything else in their catalogue.

Edit: Ha, BoMac and I were thinking the exact same thing.

 

[corianderstem]

I didn't like Miss Saraejvo on this tour, but loved the video and message ... Please would be a nice substitution.

 

[Axver]

Plus Please would've actually been a good encore opener, unlike Miss Sarajevo.

Speaking of Sarajevo, the performance of Please from the Popmart gig there is out of this world. Best one, in my books.

 

[cobl04]

I'd say they can't see the forest for the trees, but I don't think they're even aware there's a forest anymore, it's more about pruning the trees at the front over and over and over.

 

[HeartlandGirl]

Hi everyone. Just went back and read through about two weeks' worth of posts. Nice to catch up, and I'm enjoying all the discussion.

Gonna weigh in on the whole U2 appealing to the youth topic.

My take, as a middle school teacher, is that most of my students don't listen to much music at all. They aren't music fans who sit in their rooms and listen to albums the way many of us did growing up. Their knowledge of music is not deep. The boys might listen to hip hop, and the girls wear Bieber and boy band shirts (generalizing here; there are exceptions). It's the rare kid who listens to a band not easily found on the radio. At the beginning of the school year, I asked my students to name their favorite band or singer. Most said they didn't have one, and few could even tell me what they listen to at all, let alone music they're passionate about.

That said, I do play U2 in the classroom. The kids will sometimes recognize a song like Beautiful Day, but not know who sings it. We watched The Blackout video, and the kids were into it. I've seen two kids with Joshua Tree shirts on this month, and the tour has yet to stop here, so that is promising. Those are kids whose parents listen to U2, and that's how they've seen the light.

Maybe the kids I'm talking about are younger than what y'all envision when you mention U2's missed opportunities at connecting to a younger audience. I honestly only see a limited opportunity anyway. My students are way more into YouTube and video games than music, which makes me sad.

 

[corianderstem]

Oh, that makes me sad, too.

Also, I know of two other teachers who played the two new songs to their students as well. Ha! My kind of classrooms.

 

[cobl04]

That is really sad good to see you around tho HG

 

[nielsgov]

From the first listen I thought it fit the mold of both WITS and Ordinary Love.

I just listened to Please live from both Rotterdam and the 1997 VMAs last night for the first time in a while. Oh my god is it good. I fear they will never play it again, at least not like that(i.e. full band), and it's a damn shame.

The live version of Please is my favorite U2 song. That VMAs performance is just amazing. Edge's guitar solo along with Bono's wailing...

 

[Hewson]

My students are way more into YouTube and video games than music, which makes me sad.

As a father of a 13 yr old (who I took to the Foxboro JT show), I can fully attest to this.
While he enjoyed the show, he has since shown zero interest in any further exploration of U2 music.
His free time is basically split between the 2 things you mention, YouTube and video games.

 

[Axver]

My take, as a middle school teacher, is that most of my students don't listen to much music at all. They aren't music fans who sit in their rooms and listen to albums the way many of us did growing up. Their knowledge of music is not deep.

I don't see this as much different at all to when I grew up. The people who sit in their rooms and listen to albums - whether that was on records, CD, MP3, or whatever - have always been the minority. For most people of any generation, music is a bit of background noise or something to dance to. Your description of asking students to name a favourite artist reminds me of a few classes I had in undergrad (so, about a decade ago now), where the tutor asked us to do the same. I'd inevitably have a hard time choosing and name a few. Many struggled to name one. I remember one time when we had to introduce the person next to us, and the girl I was paired with stared at the ground, said she didn't have one, and then stammered out Phil Collins because she remembered that she liked "In the Air Tonight".

And certainly whenever I find myself with new colleagues I'm struck by just how little engagement most of them have with music. So I'd say this is pretty common to all generations.

 

[martha]

And certainly whenever I find myself with new colleagues I'm struck by just how little engagement most of them have with music.

This always surprises me when it happens. Someone new will come on staff, and if they're younger than me, I think that maybe this'll be the one, the one I can talk to about music. Then, nope, not that one. The new guy last year, you know, the one in a band, 13 years younger than me? Nope. I have to introduce him to current bands.

 

[Kieran McConville]

I like both kinds of music. Country and western.

 

[Kieran McConville]

On a more serious note, it is what it is. It's like when people say in online profiles that they like reading. That could mean anything, and if you're me, it almost certainly does not mean what you might hope.

 

[Hewson]

I like both kinds of music. Country and western.

 

[elevated_u2_fan]

I have a hard time dealing with people who don't enjoy listening to music

 

[Mack_Again]

hey some of my lab mates/first-year Master's students don't know what Abba is. I'm not even fucking joking here.

 

[corianderstem]

The Edge on New U2 Album, Bono's 'Brush With Mortality' - Rolling Stone

New Edge interview. Sounds like the delay was also caused by a major health scare for Bono - that's how it reads, anyway. Poor guy. Getting older sucks.

 

[DaveC]

that definitely puts a new twist on the "if this is the last album" comments bono made a couple weeks ago.

 

[corianderstem]

I can only hope it turned out to be a false alarm, as here they are planning the next tour and all that jazz.