U2...what's wrong with them?

13

Comments

  • Planet of Sound
    Planet of Sound UK Posts: 637
    edited October 2024
    HesCalledDyer said:
    I'll say it. Outside of The Joshua Tree, Pop is my favorite U2 album. It's absolutely fucking phenomenal!
    I’d go further and say it’s the best album of U2, and I have little interest in anything else they’ve done outside of a few 80s/early 90s singles.
    Post edited by Planet of Sound on
  • Merkin Baller
    Merkin Baller Posts: 12,791
    Achtung Baby was and still is an amazing album. 
  • Tim Simmons
    Tim Simmons Posts: 9,595
    elvistheking44 said:
    Unpopular opinion, but I think zooropa is amazing. 
    I think thats generally accepted.
  • nicknyr15
    nicknyr15 Posts: 9,234
    Merkin Baller said:
    Achtung Baby was and still is an amazing album. 
    Absolutely 
  • brianlux
    brianlux Moving through All Kinds of Terrain. Posts: 43,663
    I'm kind of envious of you more loyal, faithful U2 fans- and I go all the way back to when they first started up.  Other that some of All That You Can't Leave Behind, I haven't cared for much of anything past The Joshua Tree. (But still have plenty of respect for the band.)
    "It's a sad and beautiful world"
    -Roberto Benigni

  • Zod
    Zod Posts: 10,906
    I liked the Joshua Tree/Rattle& Hum Era, but to me the Achtung Baby/Zooropa era is Peak U2.   It's crazy how there's an eternal argument of Joshua Tree vs. Achtung baby, and that some people don't even like Achtung Baby, when for me it's a top 5 album of all albums from all bands from all time :)

    For me I really like the stretch of catalog from Joshua Tree to Pop.  I know Pop turn off some U2 fans in the way No Code turned off some PJ fans, but I love that album.  The albums after it were ok, most of them had a few memorable songs, but not so much that I'll play the full albums too often. 

    Seen 'em 6 times now.  I thought I was done at 5, but the sphere hooked us in.
  • HughFreakingDillon
    HughFreakingDillon Winnipeg Posts: 39,473
    edited October 2024
    I love how they are brave and experiment a lot, and in the beginning I didn't give their early stuff the time of day. Now that I've come to appreciate post punk/new wave in my balder years, I listen to the first few albums more than the rest. 
    By The Time They Figure Out What Went Wrong, We'll Be Sitting On A Beach, Earning Twenty Percent.




  • Tim Simmons
    Tim Simmons Posts: 9,595
    I wish they weren’t so precious with refining the songs and put more trust in their song writing instincts. I did t need a raw rock record from them, but I don’ t want 12 hyper polish songs where devoid of some spirit. They overthink stuff now. Work it until you have a solid finished song. 

    The Bomb outtakes prove the songs are good enough without months or years worth of more work. 

    That being said there’s a classic record somewhere in the Innocence/Experience records.
  • nicknyr15
    nicknyr15 Posts: 9,234
    Tim Simmons said:
    I wish they weren’t so precious with refining the songs and put more trust in their song writing instincts. I did t need a raw rock record from them, but I don’ t want 12 hyper polish songs where devoid of some spirit. They overthink stuff now. Work it until you have a solid finished song. 

    The Bomb outtakes prove the songs are good enough without months or years worth of more work. 

    That being said there’s a classic record somewhere in the Innocence/Experience records.
    Couldn’t agree more. They’re a top 3 band for me but you’ve perfectly described their biggest and most frustrating problem. 
  • brianlux
    brianlux Moving through All Kinds of Terrain. Posts: 43,663
    Tim Simmons said:
    I wish they weren’t so precious with refining the songs and put more trust in their song writing instincts. I did t need a raw rock record from them, but I don’ t want 12 hyper polish songs where devoid of some spirit. They overthink stuff now. Work it until you have a solid finished song. 

    The Bomb outtakes prove the songs are good enough without months or years worth of more work. 

    That being said there’s a classic record somewhere in the Innocence/Experience records.

    Do Achtung Baby and Zooropa fall into that category?  I'm almost afraid to go back and give them a second try.  I cringe at overly polished recordings that lack spirit.  That's why bands like Dead Moon work so well for me.  Listen to any Dean Moon LP and you will hear rough and raw like crazy, but real as the day is long!
    "It's a sad and beautiful world"
    -Roberto Benigni

  • Tim Simmons
    Tim Simmons Posts: 9,595
    Achtung famously went through that. And it was wildly successful. So that become their strategy. About 4 years to make a record and tour. Not unheard of. The problem is every record of theirs seems to have a few years of gestation and then the results seems to be pretty milquetoast and too polished. Fans would like them to just bash something out and not over bake it.  
  • Tim Simmons
    Tim Simmons Posts: 9,595
    Basically they need to stop chasing HITS and pushing what they think is their sound envelope, and start chasing U2. Their best songs of the past 25 years have been songs that sound like them.  
  • Tim Simmons
    Tim Simmons Posts: 9,595
    I made this last year. Sort of a best of the last 2 records. I think it flows well and contains the highlights (IMO). It’s u2 enough and features some of their better experiments from those 2 LPs 




  • nicknyr15
    nicknyr15 Posts: 9,234
    edited October 2024
    I thing SOI shits on SOE honestly. I know it’s an unpopular opinion, but I think SOE is easily bottom 3 from them. 
    Post edited by nicknyr15 on
  • Tim Simmons
    Tim Simmons Posts: 9,595
    It was said in this thread or a different U2 thread, but SOI is really great and its rollout marred what is a great record. 
  • brianlux
    brianlux Moving through All Kinds of Terrain. Posts: 43,663
    Tim Simmons said:
    Achtung famously went through that. And it was wildly successful. So that become their strategy. About 4 years to make a record and tour. Not unheard of. The problem is every record of theirs seems to have a few years of gestation and then the results seems to be pretty milquetoast and too polished. Fans would like them to just bash something out and not over bake it.  

    Sorry Tim (and anyone else willing to chine in), are you saying Achtung Baby and Zooropa are "hyper polish songs where devoid of some spirit"?

    "It's a sad and beautiful world"
    -Roberto Benigni

  • Tim Simmons
    Tim Simmons Posts: 9,595
    sorry. No. Achtung has all the swagger. Zooropa has some cold electronic swing. It’s basically developed outtakes from Achtung that’s makes a really great record. The hyper polish is more of a 21st century development


  • brianlux
    brianlux Moving through All Kinds of Terrain. Posts: 43,663
    Tim Simmons said:
    sorry. No. Achtung has all the swagger. Zooropa has some cold electronic swing. It’s basically developed outtakes from Achtung that’s makes a really great record. The hyper polish is more of a 21st century development



    OK, thanks.  Might be time to give them another try. 
    "It's a sad and beautiful world"
    -Roberto Benigni

  • Poncier
    Poncier Posts: 17,892
    nicknyr15 said:
    I thing SOI shits on SOE honestly. I know it’s an unpopular opinion, but I think SOE is easily bottom 3 from them. 
    I'm with you on this. SOI had just a couple missteps (SFS most notably) and has some great tunes.
    This weekend we rock Portland
  • Poncier
    Poncier Posts: 17,892
    Tim Simmons said:
    I made this last year. Sort of a best of the last 2 records. I think it flows well and contains the highlights (IMO). It’s u2 enough and features some of their better experiments from those 2 LPs 





    If I were to pick 13 songs from the Songs of era, it would probably be these (not in any organized rack list for flow)

    Invisible
    Iris
    Volcano
    Raised by Wolves
    Cedarwood Road
    Sleep Like a Baby Tonight
    This is Where You Can reach Me Now
    The Troubles
    The Crystal Ballroom
    Lights of Home
    Red Flag Day
    The Little Things That Give You Away
    The Blackout


    This weekend we rock Portland

Categories