SOE 30: With a Fanscore of 5 Bananas

[patternshirt170]

Hmm, Get Oot Of Yer Ain Way is one part Beautiful Day and one part Autobahn 66 by Primal Scream, just not as good as either...

 

[david]

Who knows what 5 years would have given us.

 

[Nick66]

Wow...I haven't seen this many lurkers since I peaked in over at the Kevin Spacey fan club forum a few days ago!

 

[Gilead12]

Yes. The Blackout is the best thing I've heard from this bunch of songs so far. The rest of it just isn't very....good.

I dunno. Am I the only one who think U2 is regressing as a band?

No. I think GOOYOW is a better pop-rock song IDEA than anything since HTDAAB, but it sounds to me so far like production and even songwriting-wise they've doubled down on the Tedder-y SOI, which for my money is, bar none, the worst iteration of U2 yet.

Meanwhile Bono's lyrics are getting shallower by the day, in line with his own insistence these days that TJT is "unfinished" writing.

I guess they're old.

 

[AcrobaticFly]

How much was red zone this past tour?

 

[U2girl]

This may be the official tour image. Far, far better than the four of them in bed lol

Yeah...from being in bed to riding escalators. Not much of an improvement.

As for Get out : 3 strikes and you're out re: lead singles.. This should have been the lead single. Nice flow of the verses, catchy chorus. Very ATYCLB-ish, which is not necessarily bad. Not sold on rhyming "allright" with "allright" ...

 

[Achtung Ya'll]

Yes. The Blackout is the best thing I've heard from this bunch of songs so far. The rest of it just isn't very....good.

I dunno. Am I the only one who thinks U2 is regressing as a band?

I feel that way, yeah. Sometimes.

I think they're just running out of the ability to really stun anymore.

However they still have it when it comes to perform live, so really I just look at these as vehicles that get them to a tour where the songs really come alive and new versions come out.

They always talk about finding the songs live, but I think they do it way more substantially than other bands.

 

[trevgreg]

So we have a song that's a BD copy cat

then they literally copied the Volcano break guitar line as the chorus of American Soul?

And it still took them 3 years?

The choruses to The Wanderer, Wild Honey and and Volcano are all centered around a Em-C-G-D progression. With or Without You and Miracle Drug both use D-A-Bm-G.

The instrumentation, I assume, can sound similar from time to time if you're using the same gear. Hence, the Beautiful Day riff in the studio version having a Gibson Explorer that reminds some people of the War-ish era.

I haven't heard American Soul yet, but yeah, stuff will sound similar from time to time in music if you're at it for a long time.

 

[ChurchBay]

The fucking Tedder effect.

You can't deny the melody, but there doesn't seem to be any emotional impact within the song. Usually there are multiple songs per U2 album that can touch the strings, whether instrumental, or Bono's singing.

SOI and so far this song just seems to be a "good pop song".

Maybe in some time it'll grow and feel differently

Does Tedder have dirt on Bono and blackmailed into working with U2 or something?

He's the Piers Morgan of music - I'm at a complete loss as to what people see in him for him to keep getting work. So utterly talentless, a presence without any merit or purpose at all and just an all round irritation.

 

[Nick66]

Meanwhile Bono's lyrics are getting shallower by the day, in line with his own insistence these days that TJT is "unfinished" writing.

Maybe they are shallower, but that's not the problem (IMO).

I think the problem is that his lyrics have become so literal. He used to write in poetry, now it's prose...and the distinction is clear as day.

And there's nothing wrong with prose, lots of songwriters do that. But it's clunky prose, with awkward phrasing that more often than not doesn't work, and detracts from the song's musical qualities (see Unknown Caller).

 

[womanfish]

I had to listen through 3 times each before spouting off.

Get Out - First listen i liked it but wasn't blown away. By third listen I liked it so much more. I do feel the heartbeat drum is too direct a connection to BD, but I kind of prefer this song to BD, which I have never loved. The first couple verses of lyrics are really good stuff. Agree with muted drums and Edge only really entering towards the end.
Like the Kendrick bit at the end.
Overall, I like it slightly better than TBT right now. Probably a 6.5 for TBT and a 7 for Get Out.

Blackout - This one gets an 8.5 from me. VERY cool and just what we needed. Love the intro. Adam just kills on this song. Some of the bass sounds are just really gritty, which is cool.
The song goes along well, but starts to plod a bit, until the 3 minute mark. From that point on it really gets more cool and propels forward. Great tune.

Any luck on anyone getting American Soul???

 

[david]

So is American Soul that bad?

 

[BEAL]

Edge really has trouble letting go of riffs

 

[super fly guy]

So is American Soul that bad?

For people who hate U2 rock songs,yes. But I'm not one of them.

 

[david]

I’d preorder the deluxe CD but U2’s website store hates iPhones and safari apparently.

 

[Achtung Ya'll]

Maybe they are shallower, but that's not the problem (IMO).

I think the problem is that his lyrics have become so literal. He used to write in poetry, now it's prose...and the distinction is clear as day.

And there's nothing wrong with prose, lots of songwriters do that. But it's clunky prose, with awkward phrasing that more often than not doesn't work, and detracts from the song's musical qualities (see Unknown Caller).

Holy moly thank you for this. You've pinpointed exactly why I haven't liked Bono's lyric writing in a long time. I just never knew it was *this*!

So is American Soul that bad?

No. I quite like it. It's gonna be fun as hell live.

 

[BEAL]

Maybe they are shallower, but that's not the problem (IMO).

I think the problem is that his lyrics have become so literal. He used to write in poetry, now it's prose...and the distinction is clear as day.

And there's nothing wrong with prose, lots of songwriters do that. But it's clunky prose, with awkward phrasing that more often than not doesn't work, and detracts from the song's musical qualities (see Unknown Caller).

I feel this way too. It was before ATYCLB Bono was interviewed about how they were changing their writing style. He said he wanted to have the lyrics DONE before they finished the songs. Where in the past, it was last bit they did.

ATYCLB wasn't too bad. But he started creeping into the way too literal phase with Bomb.

While I appreciate the openness of SOI, I still miss his ability to paint so many pictures with his lyrics. It was poetry, and now it comes off as slogans

Refu-Jesus? Why?

 

[Gilead12]

Agreed, Nick -- I feel like you could put BD beside GOOYOW and see exactly where modern-day Bono has slid more toward making ill-phrased "statements" and away from anything like poetic suggestiveness.

 

[LuckyNumber7]

For whoever questioned KL at the end of Gooey, I think it sounds pretty clear that it's a segue into another track.

 

[atomicblade]

I had to listen through 3 times each before spouting off.

Get Out - First listen i liked it but wasn't blown away. By third listen I liked it so much more. I do feel the heartbeat drum is too direct a connection to BD, but I kind of prefer this song to BD, which I have never loved. The first couple verses of lyrics are really good stuff. Agree with muted drums and Edge only really entering towards the end.
Like the Kendrick bit at the end.
Overall, I like it slightly better than TBT right now. Probably a 6.5 for TBT and a 7 for Get Out.

Blackout - This one gets an 8.5 from me. VERY cool and just what we needed. Love the intro. Adam just kills on this song. Some of the bass sounds are just really gritty, which is cool.
The song goes along well, but starts to plod a bit, until the 3 minute mark. From that point on it really gets more cool and propels forward. Great tune.

Any luck on anyone getting American Soul???

My feelings too [emoji122]

 

[Vlaco]

I ordered the deluxe version too (bol.com: Dutch/Belgian web store), but I don't have the opportunity to hear American Soul unfortunately....

 

[popacrobat]

For whoever questioned KL at the end of Gooey, I think it sounds pretty clear that it's a segue into another track.

yes - right into American Soul.

 

[dk42]

I quite enjoy The Blackout, though I wish the drums were a bit more prominent, but Clayton slays it here. He seems to the star on SOI and potentially this album as well.

Not feeling GOOYOW, but maybe it will grow on me.

Does anyone have a link to American Soul by any chance? Pretty please.

 

[Haywa1979]

The Blackout is just flat-out amazing stuff from U2. This is going to rock the house live in concert, and is an excellent track from the band. 9/10

After a couple of listens I am really enjoying Get Out. And the lyrics are fine. Not surprisingly, the naysayers are out in force trashing the "production" and complaining about the things they always complain about. 7.5/10

 

[Jarvio]

Can someone post the link to the 30 second snippets?

 

[david]

For whoever questioned KL at the end of Gooey, I think it sounds pretty clear that it's a segue into another track.

Yeah, American Soul which can be heard if the deluxe cd is pre ordered.

 

[hasin73]

I will try.

Please send me, friend.
hasinrhmn@yahoo.com

 

[mama cass]

just got home - what's happening? where do i start? what do i do? who am i?

 

[AcrobaticFly]

Joshuafkitchen@gmail.com if someone is sending American soul

 

[Xanax]

Please send me, friend.

hasinrhmn@yahoo.com

Me too: worgetwoncer@teleworm.us