U2 thread

CaseOfAce

Emp_Fab said:

ICBM said:

It's hilarious how much abuse jealousy The Edge and Adam Clayton get from supposedly "good" musicians as well - for me, they're both perfect examples of really great players who play only for the song, and what they do is actually far harder than it sounds. 

FTFY

See also AC/DC's rhythm section. Completely in the pocket and playing for the song. No extraneous fills or showboating - straight down to business doing the simple things exceedingly well.

russpm

Cirrus said:

I think "All that You Can't Leave Behind" is the transition for me from a group genuinely trying to push themselves and create real art. An illustration of who they were before; The same band that released "I Still Haven't Found..." played a song at the MTV awards 10 years later based on a pitch shifted, fuzzed out screaming note sliding around over a sequenced bass groove, in an utterly un-ironic, non-cash in attempt to bring their love of dance culture into their music.

After "All that you can't...", they just aren't the same to me; either on record or live shows. Yes, they still have the odd great song here and there but they're trying to be good instead of being true.

My "deep cut" is probably the live version of Lemon from Zoo TV. A song that presents itself as fairly flat and emotionless on record reveals itself to have hidden depths and Bono starts to stray into Operatic drama "Midnight... Midniiiight". The segue into "With or Without You" and Lemon holds its own against that classic.

Lemon is a wonderful track live and a song written by Bono about his mother who died when he was a boy. I Will Follow and MOFO were also written about his mother.

RocknRollDave

russpm said:

Cirrus said:

I think "All that You Can't Leave Behind" is the transition for me from a group genuinely trying to push themselves and create real art. An illustration of who they were before; The same band that released "I Still Haven't Found..." played a song at the MTV awards 10 years later based on a pitch shifted, fuzzed out screaming note sliding around over a sequenced bass groove, in an utterly un-ironic, non-cash in attempt to bring their love of dance culture into their music.

After "All that you can't...", they just aren't the same to me; either on record or live shows. Yes, they still have the odd great song here and there but they're trying to be good instead of being true.

My "deep cut" is probably the live version of Lemon from Zoo TV. A song that presents itself as fairly flat and emotionless on record reveals itself to have hidden depths and Bono starts to stray into Operatic drama "Midnight... Midniiiight". The segue into "With or Without You" and Lemon holds its own against that classic.

Lemon is a wonderful track live and a song written by Bono about his mother who died when he was a boy. I Will Follow and MOFO were also written about his mother.

As was Iris, which for my money is the best of their most recent output.

russpm

Danny1969 said:

dindude said:

I was listening to Achtung Baby the other day, still one of my fav guitar records, the guitar tones, textures and playing on that album are on fire.

I like this - forget Jimmy Page and Slash, this is what a Les Paul should sounds like, beefy yet chimmey. 

https://youtu.be/WGZQn-8yefg

I love this version and yeah this is a superb tone.

It's also a great example of how rhythmically accurate he is as well .... I've tried very hard over the years to do this number but it's very difficult to do right 

He used to play this song a lot on his 1975 Gibson Les Paul Custom. He donated this guitar to charity - Music Rising. He was a tad gutted as it was his favourite LP. Later a package arrived with his guitar tech Dallas. Without him knowing Gibson had created a copy of the guitar especially for him. They had gone to the trouble of matching it exactly including scratches, dings, etc.

https://u2log.com/2007/03/28/the-edge-parts-with-1975-gibson-les-paul/

LPManic

We give U2 plenty of stick on this side of the water but that is just the Irish way of doing things. Of course Sunday Bloody Sunday is about my wee town so we have that connection, but I'm not sure how I really feel about that song.

Achtung Baby and the Zoo TV tour are both genuinely amazing. Return to both of them pretty regularly.

The majority of my favourite U2 songs are from the 90s (Stay, Hold Me Thrill Me..., Gone, Please) but I have a weird soft spot for New Year's Day. The electro mix they did of NYD on one of the recent tours was fantastic.

Some YouTube highlights for me are Bullet on Jimmy Fallon, Beautiful Day MTV awards 1999, Hold Me Thrill Me live in 2011, and of course all Zoo TV. The Fly in Boston 2001 is also magic.

RocknRollDave

Songs of Innocence is a very strong album.


Doesn’t seen to get much loves from U2 fans. I don’t understand why.

ICBM

RocknRollDave said:

Songs of Innocence is a very strong album.

Doesn’t seen to get much loves from U2 fans. I don’t understand why.

Because there are a dozen stronger ones?

I don't think it's a terrible album, but literally every one they made before it is better.

russpm

ICBM said:

RocknRollDave said:

Songs of Innocence is a very strong album.

Doesn’t seen to get much loves from U2 fans. I don’t understand why.

Because there are a dozen stronger ones?

I don't think it's a terrible album, but literally every one they made before it is better.

Hmm, definitely not No Line On The Horizon though.

RocknRollDave

ICBM said:

RocknRollDave said:

Songs of Innocence is a very strong album.

Doesn’t seen to get much loves from U2 fans. I don’t understand why.

Because there are a dozen stronger ones?

I don't think it's a terrible album, but literally every one they made before it is better.

Not to my ears, but fair enough if that’s how you hear it.

innit funny how opinions can differ so much , even amongst fans?

stickyfiddle

I don't think any of the last 3 are terrible, but none of them are great either. 

No Line needs reordering and I'll Go Crazy, Boots and Stand Up Comedy removing completely.

Innocence needs Invisible and a little more fire up it (less Edge just on autopilot and no more slightly stilted slide playing)

Experience just needs better songs, for the most part. Everything sort of plods in a mid-tempo way. Again less Edge just on autopilot & stilted slide playing. 

 There are great songs throughout the period - Breathe, Moment of Surrender, Every Breaking Wave, Song for Someone, Invisible, The Blackout. But none on the level of the first half of ATYCLB, Vertigo, City of Blinding Lights, All Because of You or Original of the Species. 

Teetonetal

stickyfiddle said:

And my favourite version of All I Want is You from the BBC concert a few years back. Just lovely

You know, I've always struggled with U2 - Mainly due to Bono I think, come to like / appreciate them more in recent years, especially The Edge's guitar work, which is deceptively tricky to nail and highly recognisable.

 That video though, is fantastic. new to me and thoroughly enjoyed it!!

theimageofall

As a result of this thread, I've revisited U2's albums after Pop to see if I remembered incorrectly that I thought they were a bit "meh"...no, I still find them a bit dull with only a few tracks on each after Pop that I enjoy. Frequent use of the skip button required for me!

I then put Pop on and immediately noticed the difference in quality to my ears. So much more invention in the songs and sounds being used. I'm listening to it as I type actually and find it great. No use of the skip button required for me on this one! Mofo is amazing!

I hadn't listened to them in a while actually, so will be listening to the back catalogue again over the next few days.

stickyfiddle

@Teetonetal yeah, that one's really special - it's why I posted it  

I don't have any problem with Bono most of the time, but I can understand why some find him annoying. This is just the pure magic of the band though - no staging, no lighting to speak of, no politics, no gimmicks. 

russpm

theimageofall said:

As a result of this thread, I've revisited U2's albums after Pop to see if I remembered incorrectly that I thought they were a bit "meh"...no, I still find them a bit dull with only a few tracks on each after Pop that I enjoy. Frequent use of the skip button required for me!

I then put Pop on and immediately noticed the difference in quality to my ears. So much more invention in the songs and sounds being used. I'm listening to it as I type actually and find it great. No use of the skip button required for me on this one! Mofo is amazing!

I hadn't listened to them in a while actually, so will be listening to the back catalogue again over the next few days.

Glad you are enjoying it. Pop has always been an album that has divided U2 fans. For me personally it’s a great album. I also think ATYCLB and HTDAAB are also excellent. Most of my memories are embedded in the tours and for me the standout tour was Elevation. I think Edge’s tone was just the best in this period.

Alterlifeson

russpm said:

theimageofall said:

As a result of this thread, I've revisited U2's albums after Pop to see if I remembered incorrectly that I thought they were a bit "meh"...no, I still find them a bit dull with only a few tracks on each after Pop that I enjoy. Frequent use of the skip button required for me!

I then put Pop on and immediately noticed the difference in quality to my ears. So much more invention in the songs and sounds being used. I'm listening to it as I type actually and find it great. No use of the skip button required for me on this one! Mofo is amazing!

I hadn't listened to them in a while actually, so will be listening to the back catalogue again over the next few days.

Glad you are enjoying it. Pop has always been an album that has divided U2 fans. For me personally it’s a great album. I also think ATYCLB and HTDAAB are also excellent. Most of my memories are embedded in the tours and for me the standout tour was Elevation. I think Edge’s tone was just the best in this period.

I agree that the Elevation/HTDAAB era was one of the best for tones. I love the sound he gets for Mysterious Ways from this era. That massive filter sweep just hits you in this version. Love the extended slide solo too. Not Bono's best night however.



Pride and Bullet from the same show also have brilliant tones. This is the tour where he paired the effects right back for the Bullet solo, just sounds like the strat into an AC30 with a touch of reverb.

RocknRollDave

Mysterious Ways has always been the lightweight fluff that I skipped on the way to better tracks.

Props to Edge for really reinventing his sound totally from the ground up at this point, but MW has always left me cold.

I was such a boringly serious lad in the 90’s, I admit…