I agree with this...
...but it's like your copy of HTDAAB came without three of U2's worst songs of all time, namely SYCMIOYO, OOTS, and Yahweh, not to mention the lyrical atrocity of LAPOE.
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I agree with this...
...but it's like your copy of HTDAAB came without three of U2's worst songs of all time, namely SYCMIOYO, OOTS, and Yahweh, not to mention the lyrical atrocity of LAPOE.
Interesting. I love OOTS, like SYCMIOYO, and don't mind Yahweh. LAPOE=atrocity, AMAAW minor atrocity, ABOY peak meh.
I do find HTDAAB and ATYCLB to be more evenly matched than most. For me, ATYCLB is Side 1 classic, Side 2 filler. HTDAAB more even.
One key difference, though, is that most Eno+Lanois produced bad songs are still kind to my ears.
I do find HTDAAB and ATYCLB to be more evenly matched than most. For me, ATYCLB is Side 1 classic, Side 2 filler. HTDAAB more even.
One key difference, though, is that most Eno+Lanois produced bad songs are still kind to my ears.
Nick66
Rock n' Roll Doggie ALL ACCESS
Very much sums up my feelings as well. I remember listening to Bomb the first time on an LA-Sydney flight and being underwhelmed. I had just loaded the record onto my iPod and specifically saved listening to it the first time for the long flight. Then as one song went to the next and the next, I kept hoping it would get better and remember getting this sinking feeling about the whole thing...it just never got very good and then it was over. And the production on that record is so harsh I was just fatigued at the end.
Still, it was U2 and I continued to give it a chance hoping it would grow on me. I listened to it all around Wellington and Christchurch the next few months, but never really connected with it. It's not a bad record (U2 hasn't made a bad record), it's just a mediocre one. I rank near the bottom of my list, trading places with SOI.
The best thing I'll say about it is, a few years later I went back to Wellington to teach at the Uni there one summer, and listening to it again brought back a lot of great memories of the first time I was there. Music is amazing that way.
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DaveC
Blue Crack Addict
The Slow Loris
War Child
I think I am biased for the Eno/Lanois side of U2...but tell me, is there anything as transcendent as Kite or the ending of Walk On or the subtle background upliftment of Beautiful Day that permeates those songs like daylight? To me that's just it. Eno & Lanois give sunlight and air to U2's songs so we can see, feel, and breathe what U2 are hoping to convey. God tends to walk into the room a lot more when they are around.
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dan_smee
ONE love, blood, life
Nick66
Rock n' Roll Doggie ALL ACCESS
Yes! Very well put. U2 is a different (lesser) band when those two aren't around.
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Catman
Rock n' Roll Doggie
Regarding ATYCLB vs. HTDAAB, I find there's a certain genuineness to the former's content that's lacking in the latter. It's not something I can really articulate... I mean, both albums seem, on some basic level, to strive for "hits." But whereas the tunes on ATYCLB may sound a bit simple--simple melodies, relatively simple production, simple lyrics--the songs have an effortless sincerity to them that I just find refreshing. Bomb, on the other hand, sounds a bit more forced, as if U2 finally felt comfortable chasing that "U2ey" sound. And the songs definitely sound (to me, at least) like U2 making U2 songs. or rather a band crafting tunes based on their blueprint for what a U2 song should be.
Writing this, I feel like I'm coming off as an incredibly elitist U2 fan lol. It's not like I view the record as some abomination--songs like COBL and OSC are some of my favorites from the band, and Vertigo is just a fantastic staple live (OOTS is another tune I find myself coming back to every now and then). But on the whole... it's not an album that really resonates with me. So it goes.
Writing this, I feel like I'm coming off as an incredibly elitist U2 fan lol. It's not like I view the record as some abomination--songs like COBL and OSC are some of my favorites from the band, and Vertigo is just a fantastic staple live (OOTS is another tune I find myself coming back to every now and then). But on the whole... it's not an album that really resonates with me. So it goes.
gweeps
War Child
Maybe once U2 hit their 40s they collectively had a midlife crisis? Wasn't most of Leave Behind written/recorded in their latter 30s?
david
ONE love, blood, life
Yeah, pretty much. Adam and Bono turned 40 in 2000, while Edge and Larry were 39 still.
purpleblackeye
War Child
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I was listening to ATYCLB today and I realized how much I love the song When I Look at the World....can’t explain why it hits me emotionally. It doesn’t get much attention and was overlooked when the album came out too.
Rachel D.
Rock n' Roll Doggie VIP PASS
To me, ATYCLB is U2 dropping whatever they were trying to do with Pop and being more real and honest. HTDAAB was them saying, "Hey, that worked out pretty well! Let's do it again!" and feels more contrived.
dan_smee
ONE love, blood, life
By saying transcendent, or uplifting you are equating style to quality. I prefer rock to rap, but I’m not going to tell someone rap is ‘garbage’.
I think Vertigo is a better song than Beautiful Day. This is based on a number of factors well beyond what I like or dislike.
I don’t assess the album’s quality based on how transcendent certain moments are. I think ATYCLB has some magic on it, and the crap on it means that those magic moments are isolated, reducing the impact of the album as a whole. I think COBL, Vertigo, Miracle Drug etc are wonderful songs, and the rest of the album holds to a level of consistency that doesn’t negate their effect.
The Slow Loris
War Child
Fair enough. We all have different tastes. I just prefer my U2 served with Eno and a side of Danny, Lanny.
Sickly Vulpine
The Fly
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Very much sums up my feelings as well. I remember listening to Bomb the first time on an LA-Sydney flight and being underwhelmed. I had just loaded the record onto my iPod and specifically saved listening to it the first time for the long flight. Then as one song went to the next and the next, I kept hoping it would get better and remember getting this sinking feeling about the whole thing...it just never got very good and then it was over. And the production on that record is so harsh I was just fatigued at the end.
Still, it was U2 and I continued to give it a chance hoping it would grow on me. I listened to it all around Wellington and Christchurch the next few months, but never really connected with it. It's not a bad record (U2 hasn't made a bad record), it's just a mediocre one. I rank near the bottom of my list, trading places with SOI.
The best thing I'll say about it is, a few years later I went back to Wellington to teach at the Uni there one summer, and listening to it again brought back a lot of great memories of the first time I was there. Music is amazing that way.
Thanks for the reply, Nick66. Sorry for this long response!
I strongly agree it is a very disappointing and empty feeling to realize you have not connected with an album from a favorite and personally treasured band/artist. Now I don't take such an occurrence so seriously, but up until that time U2 had been batting an extraordinarily high average with me. So it was a tough blow to realize perhaps these guys didn't speak to me - in a musical and lyrical sense - the way they used to. Thankfully, the last two albums have been mild improvements in this personal regard.
In my opinion what also hurt the album, in comparison to ATYCLB, was the expectations versus the final product. With ATYCLB, a lot fans knew ahead of time there was going to be a certain amount of going-back-to-basics. I felt what they delivered was a successful attempt at going back to the well without tripping or completely copying themselves along the way. It was probably as strong a retreat back to an older sound as U2 could do at that point, and they pulled it off.
So what was next? I had hoped for them to attempt something a little more daring and risky after "righting the ship", so to speak. Bomb was not that album for me. It seemed different enough from ATYCLB, but also strangely felt like more of the same. Unlike ATYCLB, it actually now sounded like they were in a holding pattern or treading water. They were not taking the next leap I had hoped for. Maybe, after all the success of ATYCLB and the Elevation tour, Bomb is exactly what they thought the public wanted from them....but it felt like a letdown of sorts to me.
I'll also admit, through my own naiveté I got suckered by Bono's comments. It's all on me, but I totally bought into the whole "mother of all rock tunes", "punk rock on Venus" and, of course "The Edge is on fire". The band also mentioned comparisons to their early albums. Add it all up and I was pretty disappointed with the album. Again, it's my bad for buying in...but still.
About the no bad albums: I think there are several U2 albums that "don't work", but I would not classify them as bad records overall - certainly not skeletons in the closet or anything. For whatever faults they have, they always meet a minimal level of quality and consistency on each album. How many artists or bands who have been recording as long as U2 can honestly claim that? Don't know whether to chalk that up to professionalism or what, but they don't have a complete dud in all of their LPs. I'll always defend this about U2.
The Slow Loris
War Child
I must say, I agree! War was a very good album with two or three classic songs....but Unforgettable Fire was a classic album despite having the same number of classic songs. That is the difference for me when Brian and Danny are in the studio. As Bono once said, "They just force you to be better," and, "Danny gets physically ill unless he's around (or making) beautiful music."
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Sickly Vulpine
The Fly
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Actually, I think you articulated it quite well. Better than I could have, rambling on and on.
standrums
War Child
Great song! Edge's guitar later in the song is sublime. Best song on the album for me. I remember reading that they forgot how to play it, can't find how to set it up on Edge's guitar etc.
Yahweh_OMG
New Yorker
Yes. WILATW is the best song from ATCLB
ascender_RS
Refugee
Same here. Love that song.
Are we on the verge of something very rare, a unanimous agreement on here about how good a U2 song is?
standrums
War Child
Yeah I know, I'm chomping at the bit here. I've gone back to being a teenager trying to find out even the smallest bit of news.
Popmartijn
Blue Crack Supplier
What do you want?
There have been several media review the past couple of days (Mojo, Q, Uncut). Those were from the print editions of the magazines, which are coming out now. For online publications, there's no incentive yet to publish their reviews now. Release date is still more than a week away. So there's a better fit if the album's out (or just a few days before).
Marko
War Child
Hollow Island
New Yorker
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I bought that BS too!
That hype plus the title made me think it was going to be massive, loud album of guitar worship showing yet another new side of U2...I still remember the disappointment. I was pretty naive!
Sickly Vulpine
The Fly
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I bought that BS too!
Yeah, pretty much. I've been especially ever so cautious of what they've had to say about upcoming music since then. How could any acutely aware fan of that period not be??! I'm not sayin' U2 were trollin' us fans or anything....but.
Hollow Island
New Yorker
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I hope so! That's a great song. I love the distorted guitar buried in the verses.
The Slow Loris
War Child
Kite, Miss Sarajevo, and Stay are the three greatest U2 songs written since 1993 IMO (with Stay being the greatest out of all 3). Kite is a near perfect song (if only Bono didn't try to rhyme "media" with "idea" with that deplorable last line).
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