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Post by Deleted on Nov 22, 2018 18:13:38 GMT -5
The Killers were pretty huge back then too. The funny thing about The Killers is they got huge in America with Hot Fuss thank's to the British Indie sound. Then they decided to go all Bruce Springsteen with their second album Sam Town and didn't do half as good. The Killer's were huge for one album, their biggest markers are UK and Ireland maybe Europe as well. Sam's Town is my favorite Killers album. Love it. I also really dig Battle Born, it gets better and better every time I listen. Never could understand the widespread distain for it. |
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Post by World71R on Nov 23, 2018 2:14:41 GMT -5
U2 for a time were a band that could surprise you, and not many bands can do that to you. U2 went from Anthem Rock of War to the soundscapes of Unforgettable Fire to the heart of America with Joshua Tree to the European alternative rock of Achtung Baby and Zooropa to dance rock of Pop back around to mix all those sounds together but with a modern touch with All That You Can't Leave Behind and How To Dismantle an Atomic Bomb. After that things got shaky with them, but aside from Rattle and Hum I don't think they ever made a truly awful album. Sure Bono talks out of his ass, but Edge is one of my favorite guitarist's, Adam Clayton and Larry Mullan are just a solid bass and Drums combo. Seen them live 3 times and I wasn't ever disappointed and they total blew me away. Definitely one of the greatest bands ever. I don't know, No Line On The Horizon was pretty dire, in my opinion. I rather liked Rattle And Hum. NLOTH had the potential to be U2 reinventing itself again after experiencing commercial success (a la Achtung Baby), but this time with more of a World music-influenced sound, and they could've really done it by adding in Soon (before the title track to open the album), Winter (to replace Boots and SUC), and then also Mercy (to replace I'll Go Crazy) for some good measure to ensure a quality tune like that would get released. They messed it up by not completing the album in Fez and adding in I'll Go Crazy, Get on Your Boots, and Stand Up Comedy, plus with the single choices. I'll Go Crazy would've been a decent standalone single to come after NLOTH for shits and giggles, but not as the third single. What was even worse was putting Boots as the lead single when it deserved to a B-side. That should've been Magnificent in the lead single position, followed by NLOTH, and then Winter, Mercy or Breathe as the final single. The album was just not what it could've been and it shows, which is a shame. It's no coincidence that it's also the last album, to date, that has the legendary trio of U2, Brian Eno & Daniel Lanois altogether. Thankfully the tour was very good, though. |
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Post by Deleted on Nov 23, 2018 4:22:08 GMT -5
I don't know, No Line On The Horizon was pretty dire, in my opinion. I rather liked Rattle And Hum. NLOTH had the potential to be U2 reinventing itself again after experiencing commercial success (a la Achtung Baby), but this time with more of a World music-influenced sound, and they could've really done it by adding in Soon (before the title track to open the album), Winter (to replace Boots and SUC), and then also Mercy (to replace I'll Go Crazy) for some good measure to ensure a quality tune like that would get released. They messed it up by not completing the album in Fez and adding in I'll Go Crazy, Get on Your Boots, and Stand Up Comedy, plus with the single choices. I'll Go Crazy would've been a decent standalone single to come after NLOTH for shits and giggles, but not as the third single. What was even worse was putting Boots as the lead single when it deserved to a B-side. That should've been Magnificent in the lead single position, followed by NLOTH, and then Winter, Mercy or Breathe as the final single. The album was just not what it could've been and it shows, which is a shame. It's no coincidence that it's also the last album, to date, that has the legendary trio of U2, Brian Eno & Daniel Lanois altogether. Thankfully the tour was very good, though. Get On Your Boots might just be the worst single of all-time from any major rock band ever. Right up there with Harlem Shuffle by the Stones. |
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Post by Headmaster on Nov 23, 2018 8:30:36 GMT -5
NLOTH had the potential to be U2 reinventing itself again after experiencing commercial success (a la Achtung Baby), but this time with more of a World music-influenced sound, and they could've really done it by adding in Soon (before the title track to open the album), Winter (to replace Boots and SUC), and then also Mercy (to replace I'll Go Crazy) for some good measure to ensure a quality tune like that would get released. They messed it up by not completing the album in Fez and adding in I'll Go Crazy, Get on Your Boots, and Stand Up Comedy, plus with the single choices. I'll Go Crazy would've been a decent standalone single to come after NLOTH for shits and giggles, but not as the third single. What was even worse was putting Boots as the lead single when it deserved to a B-side. That should've been Magnificent in the lead single position, followed by NLOTH, and then Winter, Mercy or Breathe as the final single. The album was just not what it could've been and it shows, which is a shame. It's no coincidence that it's also the last album, to date, that has the legendary trio of U2, Brian Eno & Daniel Lanois altogether. Thankfully the tour was very good, though. Get On Your Boots might just be the worst single of all-time from any major rock band ever. Right up there with Harlem Shuffle by the Stones. Agree, even if Harlem Shuffle is just a cover, I would put Blur's Crazy Beat too. |
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Post by lahaine on Nov 23, 2018 9:15:13 GMT -5
U2 for a time were a band that could surprise you, and not many bands can do that to you. U2 went from Anthem Rock of War to the soundscapes of Unforgettable Fire to the heart of America with Joshua Tree to the European alternative rock of Achtung Baby and Zooropa to dance rock of Pop back around to mix all those sounds together but with a modern touch with All That You Can't Leave Behind and How To Dismantle an Atomic Bomb. After that things got shaky with them, but aside from Rattle and Hum I don't think they ever made a truly awful album. Sure Bono talks out of his ass, but Edge is one of my favorite guitarist's, Adam Clayton and Larry Mullan are just a solid bass and Drums combo. Seen them live 3 times and I wasn't ever disappointed and they total blew me away. Definitely one of the greatest bands ever. I don't know, No Line On The Horizon was pretty dire, in my opinion. I rather liked Rattle And Hum. I think NLOTH is good but nothing more although releasing Get on Your Boots as the first single was a massive mistake. Rattle and Hum has great singles but just not up to patch for me. Angel of Harlem, Desire and All I Want Is you are fantastic songs though. |
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Post by lahaine on Nov 23, 2018 9:18:52 GMT -5
The funny thing about The Killers is they got huge in America with Hot Fuss thank's to the British Indie sound. Then they decided to go all Bruce Springsteen with their second album Sam Town and didn't do half as good. The Killer's were huge for one album, their biggest markers are UK and Ireland maybe Europe as well. Sam's Town is my favorite Killers album. Love it. I also really dig Battle Born, it gets better and better every time I listen. Never could understand the widespread distain for it. Sam's Town is my favorite Killer's Album too, but it's funny they went for the American sound to get themselves more over with American audience and didn't do half the business Hot Fuss did,I Just find that funny. After that Day and Age has some good stuff on it but the filler started to creep in. Nothing after that has really blown me away. |
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Post by matt on Nov 23, 2018 19:52:03 GMT -5
I don't know, No Line On The Horizon was pretty dire, in my opinion. I rather liked Rattle And Hum. NLOTH had the potential to be U2 reinventing itself again after experiencing commercial success (a la Achtung Baby), but this time with more of a World music-influenced sound, and they could've really done it by adding in Soon (before the title track to open the album), Winter (to replace Boots and SUC), and then also Mercy (to replace I'll Go Crazy) for some good measure to ensure a quality tune like that would get released. They messed it up by not completing the album in Fez and adding in I'll Go Crazy, Get on Your Boots, and Stand Up Comedy, plus with the single choices. I'll Go Crazy would've been a decent standalone single to come after NLOTH for shits and giggles, but not as the third single. What was even worse was putting Boots as the lead single when it deserved to a B-side. That should've been Magnificent in the lead single position, followed by NLOTH, and then Winter, Mercy or Breathe as the final single. The album was just not what it could've been and it shows, which is a shame. It's no coincidence that it's also the last album, to date, that has the legendary trio of U2, Brian Eno & Daniel Lanois altogether. Thankfully the tour was very good, though. There’s a version of Breathe that was closer to the world music vibe they were going for in Fez. Different lyrics to it and sonically very Enoesque and meditative - similar in vibe to E-Bow The Letter from R.E.M apparently. No Line is an album that’s a terrible compromise between mature, adult contemporary music (first three tracks and final third of the album) and an atrocious immature ‘rawk’ shitefest middle section that destroys the entire album. Even then, with regards to the final third of No Line, I can’t bear to listen to Breathe with it’s dumbed down and deeply dull ‘rawk’ sound. Although I do love White As Snow and Cedars of Lebanon to finish it off. Although its high points are much higher than anything on Songs of Innocence - I believe that one to be the worst U2 album with Atomic Bomb. I must admit, I enjoyed it very much on first listen but got tired of it and never go back to it anymore. Which is why I’m surprised at how much I enjoy Songs of Experience. The singles genuinely are the worst songs on there (a shame as the needless drive to create a few radio tunes would have resulted in a far better album), but aside from that, all the other songs are very good, with a couple being genuinely great. I think Lights Of Home and the much praised Little Things are outstanding - there’s very few historic acts that could put this new tune in their setlist and it fit in seamlessly into the setlist. This is a great performance. |
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Post by World71R on Nov 23, 2018 23:23:06 GMT -5
I don't know, No Line On The Horizon was pretty dire, in my opinion. I rather liked Rattle And Hum. I think NLOTH is good but nothing more although releasing Get on Your Boots as the first single was a massive mistake. Rattle and Hum has great singles but just not up to patch for me. Angel of Harlem, Desire and All I Want Is you are fantastic songs though. Totally agree. It was a travesty to leave Magnificent on the sidelines while GOYB got in on the action. NLOTH, the title track, or literally any other song on the album, would've even been a better lead single. |
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Post by lahaine on Nov 24, 2018 19:28:07 GMT -5
I think NLOTH is good but nothing more although releasing Get on Your Boots as the first single was a massive mistake. Rattle and Hum has great singles but just not up to patch for me. Angel of Harlem, Desire and All I Want Is you are fantastic songs though. Totally agree. It was a travesty to leave Magnificent on the sidelines while GOYB got in on the action. NLOTH, the title track, or literally any other song on the album, would've even been a better lead single. For me Boy, War, The Unforgettable Fire, Joshua Tree, Achtung Baby, Zooropa and All That You Can't Leave Behind are where you want to go for peak U2. Fantastic albums. Everything after 2000, became more patchy for me but they still had some fantastic moments on those later albums well worth revisiting. At least they didn't have a massive fall like R.E.M had imo. |
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Post by The Escapist on Nov 25, 2018 6:57:17 GMT -5
They should have retired after All That You Can't Leave Behind.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 25, 2018 8:57:27 GMT -5
Listening to Pop right now. Damn it, to this day I maintain they should have continued down the Zooropa/Pop road to see where it would have taken them, instead of "returning to form" and forcing it.  And no one will ever convince me otherwise. Now get off my lawn! *folds arms* (Yes, I am a cranky old bastard ) |
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Post by matt on Nov 26, 2018 17:26:21 GMT -5
Listening to Pop right now. Damn it, to this day I maintain they should have continued down the Zooropa/Pop road to see where it would have taken them, instead of "returning to form" and forcing it. And no one will ever convince me otherwise. Now get off my lawn! *folds arms* (Yes, I am a cranky old bastard ) Pop is so great when they push the sonic boundaries. And the album contains some of Bono’s finest lyrics. But one of the highlights is the more traditional If God Will Send His Angels. It’s one of the saddest U2 songs ever - the most depressing Christmas song ever, a time of goodwill and all that but everyone in the song is broken. And it does stay consistent with the album theme - the contradiction of matters dealing with ‘goodwill’ and ‘faith’ with mass consumerism (no better summed up at Christmas “ does love light up the Christmas tree?”). Its been a while since we saw that childHanging round this neighbourhoodSee his mother dealing in a doorwaySee Father Christmas with a begging bowlJesus’s sister’s eyes are a blister The high street never looked so lowThe way Bono delivers the melody with those lyrics, they just fit perfectly. Nice chilled downbeat tempo too from The Edge, Adam and Larry. It’s like the perfect companion piece to Stay (Faraway So Close) and must be one of the most underrated U2 songs ever. P.S. While I’m at it, check this lovely Irish folk cover of Bad from Luka Bloom. For a long sprawling song that I thought was largely an impressionistic experimental piece, he sure makes it concise and distils all that beauty into a traditional style. |
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Post by Deleted on Nov 26, 2018 19:02:28 GMT -5
Listening to Pop right now. Damn it, to this day I maintain they should have continued down the Zooropa/Pop road to see where it would have taken them, instead of "returning to form" and forcing it. And no one will ever convince me otherwise. Now get off my lawn! *folds arms* (Yes, I am a cranky old bastard ) Pop is so great when they push the sonic boundaries. And the album contains some of Bono’s finest lyrics. But one of the highlights is the more traditional If God Will Send His Angels. It’s one of the saddest U2 songs ever - the most depressing Christmas song ever, a time of goodwill and all that but everyone in the song is broken. And it does stay consistent with the album theme - the contradiction of matters dealing with ‘goodwill’ and ‘faith’ with mass consumerism (no better summed up at Christmas “ does love light up the Christmas tree?”). Its been a while since we saw that childHanging round this neighbourhoodSee his mother dealing in a doorwaySee Father Christmas with a begging bowlJesus’s sister’s eyes are a blister The high street never looked so lowThe way Bono delivers the melody with those lyrics, they just fit perfectly. Nice chilled downbeat tempo too from The Edge, Adam and Larry. It’s like the perfect companion piece to Stay (Faraway So Close) and must be one of the most underrated U2 songs ever. P.S. While I’m at it, check this lovely Irish folk cover of Bad from Luka Bloom. For a long sprawling song that I thought was largely an impressionistic experimental piece, he sure makes it concise and distils all that beauty into a traditional style. Thanks for sharing, never heard that version before, great cover! I really dig Luka Bloom, btw. 👍👍 |
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Post by Lennon2217 on Nov 26, 2018 21:20:19 GMT -5
They should have retired after All That You Can't Leave Behind.  |
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Post by World71R on Nov 27, 2018 0:51:12 GMT -5
They should have retired after All That You Can't Leave Behind. To some extent, I agree. ATYCLB felt like the band coming full circle with the sound and the end of a story that had been told from Boy to ATYCLB. Pop feels like the character being lost within a materialistic world trying to find the spiritual meaning in it all but giving up in the end when it seems like all hope is lost (Wake Up Dead Man), but then being awakened and starting again with what's left (Beautiful Day). Grace is a nice closer to highlight the character realizing how grace finds good in everything and if you seek to find your way, ultimately you will and you're saved by grace. Going away from that tangent, I think that them retiring after ATYCLB would've been sad, personally. I don't think my fandom would've happened had they retired after ATYCLB and the Elevation Tour. I also feel that SOE is like ATYCLB for 2010s U2 with some songs that would make sense at the end of U2's discography (Love is All We Have Left, The Little Things, 13). If they retire after SOE, I will be sad, but I'll understand, and it'll be a career well-done, their 2000s work included. It just makes me wish that they hadn't half-assed NLOTH, since that could've really been an interesting experiment and revitalization of their sound, and the Apple thing, since that really damaged their image among young generations, but NLOTH still is good when you take out the middle three and put in Mercy and Winter and SOI is solid too. Listening to Pop right now. Damn it, to this day I maintain they should have continued down the Zooropa/Pop road to see where it would have taken them, instead of "returning to form" and forcing it. And no one will ever convince me otherwise. Now get off my lawn! *folds arms* (Yes, I am a cranky old bastard ) I agree. Although, ATYCLB is a natural progression back, especially with the backlash against Pop at the time. ATYCLB isn't completely back to basics, either, and is moreso spiritual/gospel-influenced, which was hinted at on Pop (The Playboy Mansion especially, and especially in the second half, but also If God Will Send His Angels) with some touches from 80s and 90s U2. HTDAAB was the true back-to-basics album, and NLOTH should've been the next reinvention of their sound but it just didn't fully happen, as I talked about above. I do agree that an even more out-there album after Pop would've been really awesome to have heard, but I understand why they didn't go down that route. |
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Post by matt on Nov 28, 2018 21:32:28 GMT -5
I think All That You Can’t Leave Behind was the perfect follow up to Pop.
While the experimental phase of the 1990s is undoubtedly their strongest phase in my opinion, I think the meditative, reflective and optimistic aspect of All That You Can’t Leave Behind is the perfect end point for a band that deals with fairly heavy subject matters.
I think the fact that Joey Ramone died on his death bed listening to that album (more specifically In A Little While) vindicates how peaceful and spiritual that album is. I know there’s a joke to be made amongst U2 haters that he died listening to them but I personally think it’s a beautiful way to go out. It’s a very peaceful album that brings me a lot of serenity in times of doubt, and that’s because U2 have always had that other worldly aspect to them - acknowledging the bleakness and suffering of the world (and despite the egomaniacal public persona of Bono, he himself knows that too well through his own personal experience) but essentially seeing the beauty in it too. It’s a hard act to balance but U2 are undoubtedly the greatest band at doing it.
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Post by lahaine on Nov 29, 2018 6:25:06 GMT -5
I think All That You Can’t Leave Behind was the perfect follow up to Pop. While the experimental phase of the 1990s is undoubtedly their strongest phase in my opinion, I think the meditative, reflective and optimistic aspect of All That You Can’t Leave Behind is the perfect end point for a band that deals with fairly heavy subject matters. I think the fact that Joey Ramone died on his death bed listening to that album (more specifically In A Little While) vindicates how peaceful and spiritual that album is. I know there’s a joke to be made amongst U2 haters that he died listening to them but I personally think it’s a beautiful way to go out. It’s a very peaceful album that brings me a lot of serenity in times of doubt, and that’s because U2 have always had that other worldly aspect to them - acknowledging the bleakness and suffering of the world (and despite the egomaniacal public persona of Bono, he himself knows that too well through his own personal experience) but essentially seeing the beauty in it too. It’s a hard act to balance but U2 are undoubtedly the greatest band at doing it. I don't understand some of the indifference some have with All That You Can't Leave Behind. I think that album is probably U2 at the height of their pomp. I think Bono vocal's are probably his greatest on that album. It has some of U2's best singles in Beautiful Day (the most U2 song they ever wrote), Stuck In a Moment You Can't Get out Of, and one of the most underrated singles Walk On. The album does have a touch of reflective and optimistic, Bono and Edge's father's died I think during that period but they also became father's again themselves. In A Little While (one of Bono's best Vocals imo), was about Bono's wife and him coming home with a hangover that end up been for Joey Ramone. The album has some other gems on it like The Ground Beneath Her Feet, Kite, Wild Honey, When I Look at The World and Elevation. Another great song released during the ATYCLB era was Electrical Storm, which a real underrated gem. I put U2's 90's experimental period up there as one of the best in Rock. Achtung Baby is still there greatest work to date, that album is perfect from start to finish and one of the greatest reinventions in rock music. My Favorite song from U2 is Ultraviolet (Light My Way), just fantastic. Should have been a single. Zooropa is more it's darker cousin, but I love Lemon from that album. Another good album they did during that time was Passengers and especially this song. |
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And no one will ever convince me otherwise. Now get off my lawn! *folds arms*
Nov 4, 2024 5:04:30 GMT -5
Nov 4, 2024 5:04:30 GMT -5