Return of U2

stickyfiddle

I know not everyone's cup of tea but I'm excited. Invisible is a good song- not the same kind of song as Vertigo but a good song. I've hoped they stick to their usual pattern- last album of a decade a bit rubbish, first album of next decade BRILLIANT. It's worked so far...

Rattle & Hum, Pop & Horizon all a bit meh; Boy, Achtung Baby and ATYCLB among their very best. 

And then last night they played on Fallon with a hell of a backdrop:

(and now I want a Duo Jet.. )

RocknRollDave

Bono's way past his best, but it's an enjoyable enough song. Good, not great.

Looking forward to the album. I actually thought No Line On The Horizon was the most interesting thing they had put out in a long time.

Bron_Yr_Aur

Was the Edge miming?

RocknRollDave

Bron_Yr_Aur said:

Was the Edge miming?

Doesn't sound like it to me. When he comes out of the solo - from a boosted sound to a quieter sound - it seems a bit clumsy to me. It certainly doesn't sound smooth and overdubbed, which you'd expect a solo to be.

joneve

I don't mind some of their tracks per se, but Bono is now so far up his own bottom that his voice is muffled when he speaks which makes it hard to like them. 

stickyfiddle

Bron_Yr_Aur said:

Was the Edge miming?

I did wonder if it was a backing track but I doubt the up-pulled bigsby wobble after the solo would've been in there if it was pre-rec. In any case I love the guitar sound at 2:55

Cirrus

They did play it through twice the day before the live broadcast so my guess is the synths, bass, second guitar and drum machine are on a backing track, the percussion group, edge's performed guitar part and the backing vocals were recorded live the day before the show, and the result was played with Bono singing live over the top on the night (but his vocal would have been recorded the day before too to use in the event that he lost his voice)

U2 were my favourite band growing up so I find it hard to be objective. I think both the above and Ordinary Love are great pop songs, very catchy. But when they were at their best they were transcendent - On the way up from Boy through to the Unforgettable fire they made up for lack of songwriting/ musicianship prowess by being such a vital force full of energy and obviously pushing themselves to be great - both as a popular act and as artists. Joshua Tree, Achtung Baby, Zooropa and Pop are perfect albums to me because the band constantly reinvent themselves for an entire decade and remain relevant, each album is a work of art unto itself with unifying themes. Even on Rattle and Hum and Passengers there are great songs. Through this period they tick all the boxes - great songs, great performances, great inter-band dynamics and creating real art.

Since then I feel like it's become more of a commercial enterprise. ATYCLB got a pass because just going back to roots was in itself a change, and Beautiful Day was such a breakthrough song. I do consider it to be an album with a lot of filler - the sentimentality starts to get a bit cloying, the lyrics begin to be more ostensibly about saving the world, sometimes the lyrics are cringe worthy where before they would have stood alone as poetry.

I think of them now as a band that does great individual songs (Kite, Sometimes you Can't Make it, Moment of Surrender) but the music lacks both the energy and the sublime for me these days. I'll listen again, but it's not going to move me to tears or make the hair stand up on the back of my neck the way Stay, Red Hill Mining Town, The Unforgettable Fire, The Fly etc still do.

As for the Bono-bashing, it's terribly tedious and lame after 20 years of the same. I think if I wanted to make a real difference in the world and I had the money and influence to bend the ears of people in positions of power, I'd go about it in much the same pragmatic way Bono has - I'd lobby governments, set up corporations and support charities that work towards things I think will make the world better. And if I really believed in it I wouldn't care that people sat at home saying I'm a megalomaniac.

RocknRollDave

^Lots of wisdom there, but you're never going to convince me that Pop was a "perfect album" !

not_the_dj

I love "Rattle and Hum". Maybe because it was the first U2 album (ok cassette) I ever got, but apart from "Love Resue Me" being a bit dull the rest is great.

RocknRollDave

I will always have a soft spot for Rattle and Hum, too, as it was the album that got me playing guitar.
Their version of Helter Skelter was the first song I ever learned all the way through - as in lead parts and all. Pretty basic, so a good place to start.

ICBM

I always liked the earlier stuff, and hated Rattle & Hum for its pomposity - to the point it put me off listening to Achtung Baby initially, when it came out. I have since reappraised R&H though, and although there are a couple of cringeworthy moments, it's actually pretty good overall.

I genuinely don't think there is a bad U2 album, although the last two took a while to grow on me. I always liked Pop even at the time, I thought it was quite a brave step even if not all of it works perfectly.

As to Bono… there are bigger dicks in the world.

Cirrus

RocknRollDave said:

^Lots of wisdom there, but you're never going to convince me that Pop was a "perfect album" !

Haha fair play. I think I have a soft spot for "difficult" albums from the late '90s - Pop, Blur's 13, REM's Up all came out around that time (edit; and OK Computer of course!)... the sound of a band trying to find common ground and not really managing is interesting to me! The thing I like about Pop is how the imperfections in the production add to the mood of alienation between the modern world and the spiritual - listening to Bono Sing "If God Will Send his Angels" over the sound of Howie B the DJ mangling the synths and drums is cool. And Wake up Dead Man is just brutal.