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GoodMachine9 said:
All serving to tell the story. Not every song has to shoot confetti out of its ass. There's room for lyrical depth and complexity and subdued instrumentals in the U2 canon. I speak for the listener who prefers songs like "Exit" and "Velvet Dress" and "Promenade" to sugary melodies that rhyme words like moles and holes.
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Good point
 
GoodMachine9 said:
All serving to tell the story. Not every song has to shoot confetti out of its ass. There's room for lyrical depth and complexity and subdued instrumentals in the U2 canon. I speak for the listener who prefers songs like "Exit" and "Velvet Dress" and "Promenade" to sugary melodies that rhyme words like moles and holes.
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I like good songs
 
redhill said:
Thanks for the link!



For those having trouble with the translation page (didn't work for me):



U2 is done: Can not do more

One of the world's tallest rock bands sounds a bit dodgy on yet another mediocre album



Once upon a time, it was a big event when U2 released a new album. It's not anymore, because the giants' format is dulled.



Megaband's latest 'Songs of Innocence' release from 2014 was a blur of dimensions and will only go into history because, in collaboration with Apple, it was delivered free to 500 million global users of iTunes.



See also: U2 album is 'devastating'



The album's overbearing launch gave backwards, so you would think that U2 like everyone else was interested in forgetting the fadus, but added a complete lack of sense, they call the follow-up 'Songs of Experience'.



It has been an artistic declaration of failure to publish a tour since the New Testament proved to be a popped version of the aftermath.



Uambitious songs

Experience has, however, apparently not made Bono, The Edge, Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen Jr. smarter, and as Metallica released 'Reload' after 'Load' disappointed, the backbone is back with a feeling that the Quartet has lost its grip on its career.



The Irans surrendered to the past in the past months to give album concerts with 30-year-old 'The Joshua Tree', which together with the group's other distinctive slices, 'Achtung Baby' and 'War', has a clearly defined identity.



See also: U2: Not much worth it



On 'Songs of Experience', U2 turns into a musical nobody's country where the most remarkable discovery is that there is astonishing little to come.



U2 is not good and they are not bad. They are only on unambitious songs like 'Landlady', 'The Blackout' and 'Get Out of Your Own Way' who resign without crucial riffs, hooks and ideas.

The legends are visited by Kendrick Lamar on harmlessly stunned 'American Soul', but the presence of the rap star appears to be the veterans' awkward attempts to seem relevant for a time that apparently ran from them.



Sober remnants

The alarm clocks bumble, as 'You're the Best Thing About Me', worryingly reminiscent of the fabric of Bryan Adams.



Just as you've lost all hope that U2 is able to force just a simple good song out of the system in 2017, they are impressed in the form of the little psychic ballad 'Summer of Love' whose cuddly melody suddenly gets d 'Gentlemen to sound like they have something on their minds.



See also: U2: Burned supertanks

Sparky 'Red Flag Day' can also be known, but the number's naive tone and characteristic choir is a strange backstreet echo of the orchestra's first records from the early 1980s.



'I believe my best days are ahead', Bono sings without conviction in the sad remnants of the voice of the clumsy 'Lights of Home'.



He does not even think about it. We do not, at least, do.
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Some of these points hit hard and hit true. It’s an overall fair assessment; I particularly like the Bryan Adams comparison LOL. Even still - yet another nice nod to Summer Of Love and in mitigation of the follow-up/b-side connotation of this album, U2 did release Zooropa so they are capable of pulling it off.
 
CosmoKramer said:
I’m with you. Ceaders is one of the worst U2 songs for me, bottom of the barrel.

However, it just goes to show the different types of U2 fans that some love that song and others love Elevation.
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Put me in the elevation love team :)
 
Expect a lot of the same review scores like 3/3,5 stars (solid but not surprising etc.). Most interweb reviewers listen 2 or if your are lucky 3 times to a record and then they give their verdict. Some well known guy (Bill Flanagan) loves the album but did say that most people would dismiss the album at first. Voila!!
 
I think we need to start a drinking game for these reviews.

If they mention Bono/the bands taxes take a drink

If they mention the SOI Apple download fiasco take a drink.

If they mention that a new U2 album "used to be an event" but it isn't anymore, take a drink....
 
elevated_u2_fan said:
I think we need to start a drinking game for these reviews.

If they mention Bono/the bands taxes take a drink

If they mention the SOI Apple download fiasco take a drink.

If they mention that a new U2 album "used to be an event" but it isn't anymore, take a drink....
Click to expand...

Are you trying to kill us?
 
If, on a four star rating..
1= bad.
2 = average. (ie The bulk of pop music falls in this category)
3 = good.
4 = classic

Then 3stars is probably fair game based on what I've heard so far. If that's where this album falls, on average, with critics, then U2 have done well (well enough) to justify keeping on, keeping on
 
ChurchBay said:
Surprised reviewers haven't given a shout out to 'Little Things'.
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Yeah, it's definitely my favorite of the tunes that've been released. Makes me a bit hopeful, actually, considering the general consensus (at least of the reviews made public so far) of people's favorite tracks consist of stuff we've yet to hear. Now whether this is due to me being an outlier regarding my appreciation of Little Things, or the possibility that the songs listed among people's favorites are just apparently better songs, remains to be seen. But I suppose I'll have the answer to that question sometime next week ;D
 
Registered Dude said:
If, on a four star rating..
1= bad.
2 = average. (ie The bulk of pop music falls in this category)
3 = good.
4 = classic

Then 3stars is probably fair game based on what I've heard so far. If that's where this album falls, on average, with critics, then U2 have done well (well enough) to justify keeping on, keeping on
Click to expand...

Unless otherwise stated reviews are usually on a 5 star scale

Poor, fair, good, excellent, classic
 
I can't wait for the relevance of U2:Burned supertanks, that's cheered me right up

The radio review was solid enough but pity the guy didn't rate it, he seemed far more into it.

Anyway U2:Burned supertanks . . . pew pew lasers pew pew
 
The trouble with reviews is that the best albums in my mind are growers. And reviewers never let an album grow before reviewing.

My dirty little secret: On first listen, I thought Achtung Baby was meh. After multiple listens it became the best album I had ever heard by such a wide margin that I had borderline obsessive disorder.
 
GoodMachine9 said:
You mean the song that singlehandedly elevated U2 into the pantheon of Dad Rock greats?
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You really think that was down to elevation??

it certainly wasn't here in the uk. I was at school,14/15 years old when that song came out and a lot of kids got into u2 because of either beautiful day or elevation in that period.

U2 were a very cool act amongst school kids at that time. U2 were arguably the most relevant they had ever been. The elevation video was played to death on MTV and I think it got to number 3 in the charts here. U2 were massive in that era to all ages of people.

No chance was that the point u2 became dad rock, whatever dad rock means. I assure you in 2001 there were dads and youngsters into u2.

I'm 31 now and a father so if I listen to younger bands like kasabian, Royal blood and the artic monkeys does that make them dad rock :)
 
Tim Wallach said:
The trouble with reviews is that the best albums in my mind are growers. And reviewers never let an album grow before reviewing.

My dirty little secret: On first listen, I thought Achtung Baby was meh. After multiple listens it became the best album I had ever heard by such a wide margin that I had borderline obsessive disorder.
Click to expand...

I had a very similar situation. I couldn't quite make sense of it at first. Once it sunk in how extraordinary it was, I was in disbelief.

I still remember the store I bought it from and most of that day. It's funny the things we remember...
 
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Tim Wallach said:
My dirty little secret: On first listen, I thought Achtung Baby was meh. After multiple listens it became the best album I had ever heard by such a wide margin that I had borderline obsessive disorder.
Click to expand...
I'll one up you--first time I heard Beautiful Day, I thought, "hmm... i kinda like that song." But gradually my appreciation for it increased, so I bought the album.
"wow. this is underwhelming."
But I slowly kept going back to it. Looking into the band, I sought out their most popular record. First was Achtung...
"That's it? wow... underwhelming."
But, yet again, I gradually kept coming back. Then The Joshua Tree...
"I thought this was supposed to be a classic... so underwhelming."
Can you guess what followed, fellow users of Interference? I... kept coming back to it lol. And by this point, the band had its claws deep inside my veins, and I've been obsessed ever since.

So there's Catman's abridged beginnings of his U2 fandom. Hope you enjoyed the story. Maybe one day you'll tell it to your grandchildren like i will


EDIT: strangely, the U2 album that I enjoyed most upon first listen during my post-release discovery of their discography was "Boy." Still find that record incredibly solid for a debut.
 
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Phew, thanks Catman and redhill. I was worried I might be thrown overboard after admitting to that. Glad to see others had similar experiences.

I can't believe there was a time (albeit brief) that I thought Achtung Baby was boring.

Point is: Take quick reviews with a grain of salt.
 
Tim Wallach said:
Phew, thanks Catman and redhill. I was worried I might be thrown overboard after admitting to that. Glad to see others had similar experiences.

I can't believe there was a time (albeit brief) that I thought Achtung Baby was boring.

Point is: Take quick reviews with a grain of salt.
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Indeed, reviews of brand new albums on first listen will either be biased positive (especially fan reviews, because the excitement of hearing new u2 can make you think they are the best songs since fill in the blank) or biased negative (as mentioned the albums may be growers). Really the only accurate reviews should really be made years after an album is released. The test of time is the best indicator of an album’s quality.
 
rennowba said:
You really think that was down to elevation??

it certainly wasn't here in the uk. I was at school,14/15 years old when that song came out and a lot of kids got into u2 because of either beautiful day or elevation in that period.

U2 were a very cool act amongst school kids at that time. U2 were arguably the most relevant they had ever been. The elevation video was played to death on MTV and I think it got to number 3 in the charts here. U2 were massive in that era to all ages of people.

No chance was that the point u2 became dad rock, whatever dad rock means. I assure you in 2001 there were dads and youngsters into u2.

I'm 31 now and a father so if I listen to younger bands like kasabian, Royal blood and the artic monkeys does that make them dad rock :)
Click to expand...

It's the lame guitar riff and stolid lyrics that lend the song that quality of osteoporosis. Generalizations about the kids at school and the top of the charts doesn't change the music on the record, and the music on the record is a far cry from being a good rock song like Sunday Bloody Sunday, Desire, The Fly, and others.

(And I forgive you Kasabian and Royal Blood because of Arctic Monkeys)
 
Finally a lot of words of wisdom on this forum. My faith has nearly been restored in you lovely people!! Songs and albums need to grow and take time to become meaningful for the listener. In this age of the interwebs reviewers don't have or take the time to do just that. And we as consumers of the written opinions of those reviewers take their judgement far to seriously. I am certain their are some people who work for NME that love U2. But they will never admit that to paper because their core audience wouldn't aprove. That's just the power of the interwebs.
 
GoodMachine9 said:
It's the lame guitar riff and stolid lyrics that lend the song that quality of osteoporosis. Generalizations about the kids at school and the top of the charts doesn't change the music on the record, and the music on the record is a far cry from being a good rock song like Sunday Bloody Sunday, Desire, The Fly, and others.

(And I forgive you Kasabian and Royal Blood because of Arctic Monkeys)
Click to expand...

Oh look, another irrational music snob!
 
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