karl
The Fly
Lately, I have noticed a recurring theme among U2 fans here: the sharply split feelings on the merits of ATYCLB and Pop. It seems that those who consider ATYCLB one of U2's finest albums also believe Pop to be one of the worst, and vice versa.
I think the heart of this split centers on the opinions that POP and ATYCLB fans have for U2's work of the nineties. Pop fans believe the nineties to be the period where U2 produced their best work. In contrast, ATYCLB fans think the 80s work was better, although Achtung was a great album, and ATYCLB represented a return to what they loved about U2. ATYCLB fans see Pop as the defining example of where U2 took a wrong turn.
Now, Pop haters feel a sense of vindication with U2 remixing the Pop inclusions in the Best of. Alternatively, Pop fans can see the inclusion of several tracks from Pop on the Best of as validation of the greatness of Pop. I view the remixes not as evidence that Pop was a failure, but more of the completion of some brilliant ideas. It's like a painter who does a draft of a painting and comes back to it 10 years later with new ideas and finishes the product.
Pop wasn't ready to be finished, maybe now it is. U2 is about big ideas, moods, broad themes, rather than individual tracks. Pop caught a certain sense of pain, darkness, disappointment, anger that no U2 album has been about. Maybe some of the individual tracks weren't as polished as they could have been, but the overall product is stronger than its individual pieces. That could be said for a lot of U2's work, but it is most true for Pop.
Furthermore, with Pop, there was a sense that U2 wanted to create an entirely new, definitive sound for the band. U2 didn't care so much about winning a new generation of fans or satisfying their existing base. ATYCLB is less risky, more comfortable and is not a bad album, but it does not represent U2's ambition of the nineties. ATYCLB lacks that sense of U2 reaching into the unknown and taking a chance that it might fail. I miss that. I think that is why there are so many remixes on the B sides album. U2 saw their B sides as a chance to take their experimentation even further than their albums would permit.
karl
I think the heart of this split centers on the opinions that POP and ATYCLB fans have for U2's work of the nineties. Pop fans believe the nineties to be the period where U2 produced their best work. In contrast, ATYCLB fans think the 80s work was better, although Achtung was a great album, and ATYCLB represented a return to what they loved about U2. ATYCLB fans see Pop as the defining example of where U2 took a wrong turn.
Now, Pop haters feel a sense of vindication with U2 remixing the Pop inclusions in the Best of. Alternatively, Pop fans can see the inclusion of several tracks from Pop on the Best of as validation of the greatness of Pop. I view the remixes not as evidence that Pop was a failure, but more of the completion of some brilliant ideas. It's like a painter who does a draft of a painting and comes back to it 10 years later with new ideas and finishes the product.
Pop wasn't ready to be finished, maybe now it is. U2 is about big ideas, moods, broad themes, rather than individual tracks. Pop caught a certain sense of pain, darkness, disappointment, anger that no U2 album has been about. Maybe some of the individual tracks weren't as polished as they could have been, but the overall product is stronger than its individual pieces. That could be said for a lot of U2's work, but it is most true for Pop.
Furthermore, with Pop, there was a sense that U2 wanted to create an entirely new, definitive sound for the band. U2 didn't care so much about winning a new generation of fans or satisfying their existing base. ATYCLB is less risky, more comfortable and is not a bad album, but it does not represent U2's ambition of the nineties. ATYCLB lacks that sense of U2 reaching into the unknown and taking a chance that it might fail. I miss that. I think that is why there are so many remixes on the B sides album. U2 saw their B sides as a chance to take their experimentation even further than their albums would permit.
karl