What's new
Fantasy Football - Footballguys Forums

This is a sample guest message. Register a free account today to become a member! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members through your own private inbox!

U2 - Songs of Innocence (1 Viewer)

Ghost Rider said:
I didn't like Zooropa at all for a long time, but I've come around to liking it, although the material is spotty. The title track, Stay, the live version of Lemon, and Dirty Day are all really good.

Pop sounds overdone, and the fact that the band had to hurry the finish of it since they had already announced their tour dates hurt the end product, but there is still a certain charm to it. I like it, even though it is majorly flawed.

No Line on the Horizon has some great stuff, but the sound is horrible. The loudness wars have hurt the sound of way too many CDs in the 21st century, and this one is one of the worst offenders. It's like the sound is being suffocated by the mix, instead of it being allowed to breathe. Whomever signed off on it being released like that should be punched in the nads.

All That You Can't Leave Behind and How to Dismantle... were similar for me: a few really good/great songs, a handful of good songs, and a few throwaway songs. Good, solid records.
Click to expand...
Zooropa has a few good tunes...but on a whole I never listen to it. Pop also had a couple of redeeming tunes....U2 always writes some great tunes for every album...no doubt.

 
Yep, even the least best U2 albums have at least a couple of really good tunes. On the flip side, they only have two albums that are great from start to finish: Achtung Baby and The Joshua Tree.

 
Good thing for me I don't give two ####s about Bono's politics and everything that goes with it. It's all about the music with me.

 
They were just one of a series of British and Irish new wave bands that came out of the late 70s and early 80s: the Boomtown Rats, the Police, Squeeze , Ultravox, the Cure, the Clash, Siouxie and the Banshees, Depeche Mode, Tears For Fears , and so many many more. Among these I didn't even find U2 to be especially interesting, just another band with a few hit songs that was part of an era of music. If you asked me at the time to predict the one band from this era that would still be selling out arenas and albums 30 years later, U2 might have been last on my list. Just amazing.

 
AhrnCityPahnder said:
zoonation said:
Bono bashing is the worst shtick going. Seriously.
Click to expand...
No ####ck. He goes after big companies he sees as avoiding their tax responsibility while his band does the exact same thing. You can like his music and thats just dandy, but he's a raging hypocrite.
Click to expand...
:yawn:

perhaps the analysis is a bit more nuanced than "he is a raging hypocrite"? Not to mention the argument is a strawman as I've never heard Bono say corporations avoid their tax responsibility. But whatever gas you need for your fire I guess.

Anyway, this is the best write up I've read since the release: http://prettymuchamazing.com/reviews/review-u2-songs-innocence

 
timschochet said:
They were just one of a series of British and Irish new wave bands that came out of the late 70s and early 80s: the Boomtown Rats, the Police, Squeeze , Ultravox, the Cure, the Clash, Siouxie and the Banshees, Depeche Mode, Tears For Fears , and so many many more. Among these I didn't even find U2 to be especially interesting, just another band with a few hit songs that was part of an era of music. If you asked me at the time to predict the one band from this era that would still be selling out arenas and albums 30 years later, U2 might have been last on my list. Just amazing.
Click to expand...
Except for the fact that U2 basically dwarfed all of those other bands combined in terms of impact on popular culture.

 
zoonation said:
AhrnCityPahnder said:
zoonation said:
Bono bashing is the worst shtick going. Seriously.
Click to expand...
No ####ck. He goes after big companies he sees as avoiding their tax responsibility while his band does the exact same thing. You can like his music and thats just dandy, but he's a raging hypocrite.
Click to expand...
:yawn:

perhaps the analysis is a bit more nuanced than "he is a raging hypocrite"? Not to mention the argument is a strawman as I've never heard Bono say corporations avoid their tax responsibility. But whatever gas you need for your fire I guess.
Click to expand...
YWIA

 
zoonation said:
timschochet said:
They were just one of a series of British and Irish new wave bands that came out of the late 70s and early 80s: the Boomtown Rats, the Police, Squeeze , Ultravox, the Cure, the Clash, Siouxie and the Banshees, Depeche Mode, Tears For Fears , and so many many more. Among these I didn't even find U2 to be especially interesting, just another band with a few hit songs that was part of an era of music. If you asked me at the time to predict the one band from this era that would still be selling out arenas and albums 30 years later, U2 might have been last on my list. Just amazing.
Click to expand...
Except for the fact that U2 basically dwarfed all of those other bands combined in terms of impact on popular culture.
Click to expand...
True, but that came later in the 80s and the early 90s, right? Being someone who grew up watching MTV in the 80s, it was stunning when this band that had some cool songs that MTV played a ton like New Year's Day and Pride suddenly blew up in 1987 thanks to With or Without You and The Joshua Tree. I never saw it coming, although I was only 13/14 at the time.

 
Ghost Rider said:
zoonation said:
timschochet said:
They were just one of a series of British and Irish new wave bands that came out of the late 70s and early 80s: the Boomtown Rats, the Police, Squeeze , Ultravox, the Cure, the Clash, Siouxie and the Banshees, Depeche Mode, Tears For Fears , and so many many more. Among these I didn't even find U2 to be especially interesting, just another band with a few hit songs that was part of an era of music. If you asked me at the time to predict the one band from this era that would still be selling out arenas and albums 30 years later, U2 might have been last on my list. Just amazing.
Click to expand...
Except for the fact that U2 basically dwarfed all of those other bands combined in terms of impact on popular culture.
Click to expand...
True, but that came later in the 80s and the early 90s, right? Being someone who grew up watching MTV in the 80s, it was stunning when this band that had some cool songs that MTV played a ton like New Year's Day and Pride suddenly blew up in 1987 thanks to With or Without You and The Joshua Tree. I never saw it coming, although I was only 13/14 at the time.
Click to expand...
I know I'll get flamed for this, but New Year's Day and Pride are better songs than anything released by any of the above-referenced bands at the time (and I'm a HUGE fan of The Police and The Cure).

 
AhrnCityPahnder said:
zoonation said:
AhrnCityPahnder said:
zoonation said:
Bono bashing is the worst shtick going. Seriously.
Click to expand...
No ####ck. He goes after big companies he sees as avoiding their tax responsibility while his band does the exact same thing. You can like his music and thats just dandy, but he's a raging hypocrite.
Click to expand...
:yawn:

perhaps the analysis is a bit more nuanced than "he is a raging hypocrite"? Not to mention the argument is a strawman as I've never heard Bono say corporations avoid their tax responsibility. But whatever gas you need for your fire I guess.
Click to expand...
YWIA
Click to expand...
Thanks for that. However, exploiting foreign countries' resources is arguably not the same thing as running part of your business in the Netherlands.

 
bigbottom said:
Ghost Rider said:
zoonation said:
timschochet said:
They were just one of a series of British and Irish new wave bands that came out of the late 70s and early 80s: the Boomtown Rats, the Police, Squeeze , Ultravox, the Cure, the Clash, Siouxie and the Banshees, Depeche Mode, Tears For Fears , and so many many more. Among these I didn't even find U2 to be especially interesting, just another band with a few hit songs that was part of an era of music. If you asked me at the time to predict the one band from this era that would still be selling out arenas and albums 30 years later, U2 might have been last on my list. Just amazing.
Click to expand...
Except for the fact that U2 basically dwarfed all of those other bands combined in terms of impact on popular culture.
Click to expand...
True, but that came later in the 80s and the early 90s, right? Being someone who grew up watching MTV in the 80s, it was stunning when this band that had some cool songs that MTV played a ton like New Year's Day and Pride suddenly blew up in 1987 thanks to With or Without You and The Joshua Tree. I never saw it coming, although I was only 13/14 at the time.
Click to expand...
I know I'll get flamed for this, but New Year's Day and Pride are better songs than anything released by any of the above-referenced bands at the time (and I'm a HUGE fan of The Police and The Cure).
Click to expand...
not going to flame you for it, but I think that's pretty subjective. I certainly prefer many other songs by a lot of the bands I referenced.
 
I would not put early U2 and The Clash is a similar grouping with The Police, The Cure, Squeeze, Depeche Mode, Tears For Fears, etc.

Much different genre - and not "new wave"

 
I used to be a HUGE U2 fan back in the 80s. Saw them on the UF tour and twice on the JT tour.

Now I probably couldn't tell you the names of their last 3 albums.

They lost me when they changed musically. Zooropa was doo-doo.

 
timschochet said:
bigbottom said:
Ghost Rider said:
zoonation said:
timschochet said:
They were just one of a series of British and Irish new wave bands that came out of the late 70s and early 80s: the Boomtown Rats, the Police, Squeeze , Ultravox, the Cure, the Clash, Siouxie and the Banshees, Depeche Mode, Tears For Fears , and so many many more. Among these I didn't even find U2 to be especially interesting, just another band with a few hit songs that was part of an era of music. If you asked me at the time to predict the one band from this era that would still be selling out arenas and albums 30 years later, U2 might have been last on my list. Just amazing.
Click to expand...
Except for the fact that U2 basically dwarfed all of those other bands combined in terms of impact on popular culture.
Click to expand...
True, but that came later in the 80s and the early 90s, right? Being someone who grew up watching MTV in the 80s, it was stunning when this band that had some cool songs that MTV played a ton like New Year's Day and Pride suddenly blew up in 1987 thanks to With or Without You and The Joshua Tree. I never saw it coming, although I was only 13/14 at the time.
Click to expand...
I know I'll get flamed for this, but New Year's Day and Pride are better songs than anything released by any of the above-referenced bands at the time (and I'm a HUGE fan of The Police and The Cure).
Click to expand...
not going to flame you for it, but I think that's pretty subjective. I certainly prefer many other songs by a lot of the bands I referenced.
Click to expand...
Subjective to be sure. I guess all I'm trying to say is that if you heard/saw New Year's Day, Pride and Sunday Bloody Sunday, and thought U2 was just another band along the lines of Squeeze, Tears for Fears, etc., or you were shocked by a breakthrough in popularity for them, you weren't paying very close attention. Just my opinion.

 
Last edited by a moderator:
Also a former big fan of the band. I discovered them after Joshua Tree; Achtung Baby was one of my first CD buys. I bought Zooropa and thought it was decent, but I bought and sold back Pop the same week. I even saw a couple shows on the "Elevation" tour. Anyways, they can write a melody and the Edge does some nice guitar work. And the production is usually great. You just have to take the more than occasional vocal and lyrical histrionics from Bono along with the rest of it.

However, I never listen to them anymore. There are too many other current bands out there with great songs, production, and instrumentation for me to devote time to old U2 records.

All that said, I downloaded this new one and plan to give it a listen when I get a chance.

 
Jalapanose said:
Very solid disc. I continue to be amazed at U2's ability to keep churning out fantastic sounds, disc after disc.

My favorite cuts at the moment - 2, 3, 5-8
Click to expand...
Pretty much my exact opinion. I've liked every U2 album save for No Line on the Horizon.

 
timschochet said:
They were just one of a series of British and Irish new wave bands that came out of the late 70s and early 80s: the Boomtown Rats, the Police, Squeeze , Ultravox, the Cure, the Clash, Siouxie and the Banshees, Depeche Mode, Tears For Fears , and so many many more. Among these I didn't even find U2 to be especially interesting, just another band with a few hit songs that was part of an era of music. If you asked me at the time to predict the one band from this era that would still be selling out arenas and albums 30 years later, U2 might have been last on my list. Just amazing.
Click to expand...
Their 1985 performance at Live Aid definitely set them apart from other bands of the era. I think their performance that day may have been the best of the whole concert. It is not surprising that after that is when they really took off commercially.

 
Ghost Rider said:
Yep, even the least best U2 albums have at least a couple of really good tunes. On the flip side, they only have two albums that are great from start to finish: Achtung Baby and The Joshua Tree.
Click to expand...
I still like October the best though I know I'm alone there. Achtung Baby was great and very close and I'd never argue it wasn't better-love that album too. Was never much of a fan of The Joshua Tree, probably just due to it being played to death at the time.All time favorite U2 song: I threw a brick through a window

 
Last edited by a moderator:
Ghost Rider said:
I didn't like Zooropa at all for a long time, but I've come around to liking it, although the material is spotty. The title track, Stay, the live version of Lemon, and Dirty Day are all really good.

Pop sounds overdone, and the fact that the band had to hurry the finish of it since they had already announced their tour dates hurt the end product, but there is still a certain charm to it. I like it, even though it is majorly flawed.

No Line on the Horizon has some great stuff, but the sound is horrible. The loudness wars have hurt the sound of way too many CDs in the 21st century, and this one is one of the worst offenders. It's like the sound is being suffocated by the mix, instead of it being allowed to breathe. Whomever signed off on it being released like that should be punched in the nads.

All That You Can't Leave Behind and How to Dismantle... were similar for me: a few really good/great songs, a handful of good songs, and a few throwaway songs. Good, solid records.
Click to expand...
No Line should have led off with Breathe as its first single. It's the best song on the album and noone's heard it.

 
I think a lot of people have gone back and found Zooropa and Pop to be very quality albums. Gone is one of their all time greats. Wake Up Dead Man is great too. I think part of what killed Zooropa and Pop was the release of Numb as the first single.

 
Thunderlips said:
No Line should have led off with Breathe as its first single. It's the best song on the album and noone's heard it.
Click to expand...
Well, it was the first song they played at every show of the 360 tour for the first few legs, so they gave it the special treatment. I like the song, but I can't say I love it.

Thunderlips said:
I think a lot of people have gone back and found Zooropa and Pop to be very quality albums. Gone is one of their all time greats. Wake Up Dead Man is great too. I think part of what killed Zooropa and Pop was the release of Numb as the first single.
Click to expand...
That probably didn't help, but Zooropa really didn't have anything single-worthy in the sense of it appealing to the masses.

I'm a big fan of Mofo. The studio version is fine, but the live version on PopMart is killer, and I even like the club-like Phunk Phorce Mix of it.

 
timschochet said:
They were just one of a series of British and Irish new wave bands that came out of the late 70s and early 80s: the Boomtown Rats, the Police, Squeeze , Ultravox, the Cure, the Clash, Siouxie and the Banshees, Depeche Mode, Tears For Fears , and so many many more. Among these I didn't even find U2 to be especially interesting, just another band with a few hit songs that was part of an era of music. If you asked me at the time to predict the one band from this era that would still be selling out arenas and albums 30 years later, U2 might have been last on my list. Just amazing.
Click to expand...
At what point? None of those bands, nor can any band after two records be predicted to be legendary. U2 after Unforgettable Fire could stake that claim however. What was that? Three records in?

 
meatwad1 said:
timschochet said:
They were just one of a series of British and Irish new wave bands that came out of the late 70s and early 80s: the Boomtown Rats, the Police, Squeeze , Ultravox, the Cure, the Clash, Siouxie and the Banshees, Depeche Mode, Tears For Fears , and so many many more. Among these I didn't even find U2 to be especially interesting, just another band with a few hit songs that was part of an era of music. If you asked me at the time to predict the one band from this era that would still be selling out arenas and albums 30 years later, U2 might have been last on my list. Just amazing.
Click to expand...
At what point? None of those bands, nor can any band after two records be predicted to be legendary. U2 after Unforgettable Fire could stake that claim however. What was that? Three records in?
Click to expand...
The Police really got rolling with Zenyatta Mondata and by Synchronicity were the biggest band in the world. So they had a pretty good 3 album run themselves.

 
Third time through and I am not crazy about this one so far. Too much synth for my tastes, not enough raw band. Edge's guitar is buried quite a bit. Not a lot of hooks, but sometimes the more subtle twists and so forth really start to work with more listens. Bono can be as much about melody/energy as tangible ideas. So we'll see. These will definitely be better live, that much I'm sure of. Not getting into the lyrics.

Big Zooropa fan.

I think No Line On the Horizon was the right call as album opener on that one. Dig the verse groove/melody and great energy out of the gate.

 
I am a big iTunes customer, having bought hundreds of songs there over the past 2 years. However, I can't access the new U2 album. When I go to the ITunes Store and click on "Songs of Innocence" it states that it has been " "purchased" yet I'd does not appear in my ITunes "purchased" section or anywhere else (under music, albums, Artists). There is no live customer support on iTunes .

Any help, suggestions from anyone with more tech know how than me is appreciated.

 
Wilbur Wood said:
I am a big iTunes customer, having bought hundreds of songs there over the past 2 years. However, I can't access the new U2 album. When I go to the ITunes Store and click on "Songs of Innocence" it states that it has been " "purchased" yet I'd does not appear in my ITunes "purchased" section or anywhere else (under music, albums, Artists). There is no live customer support on iTunes .

Any help, suggestions from anyone with more tech know how than me is appreciated.
Click to expand...
On my phone, they were shown as Purchased, but I couldn't play them. I had to click on one of the songs, click the download/cloud symbol, then the songs started to download for me.
 
Apple Jack said:
Third time through and I am not crazy about this one so far. Too much synth for my tastes, not enough raw band. Edge's guitar is buried quite a bit. Not a lot of hooks, but sometimes the more subtle twists and so forth really start to work with more listens. Bono can be as much about melody/energy as tangible ideas. So we'll see. These will definitely be better live, that much I'm sure of. Not getting into the lyrics.
Click to expand...
Yep, their music always comes more to life live (which is rare for me to say since I am a very much of a studio album over live album guy 99.9999% of the time), and most of these new songs should flourish live.

I'll be shocked if The Miracle doesn't open up shows when they tour next. They always kick off a new tour by playing something from their newest album first.

And they usually end shows with a new song as well (see: Moment of Surrender ending shows on the 360 tour). If The Troubles gets played, I think that's the natural pick to end the show with, but if not, I could see them ending with something like Song for Someone. They have shown in the past that they have no problem ending a show with a mellow song (Wake Up Dead Man closed shows on the Pop Mart tour).

 
TheFly06 said:
Wilbur Wood said:
I am a big iTunes customer, having bought hundreds of songs there over the past 2 years. However, I can't access the new U2 album. When I go to the ITunes Store and click on "Songs of Innocence" it states that it has been " "purchased" yet I'd does not appear in my ITunes "purchased" section or anywhere else (under music, albums, Artists). There is no live customer support on iTunes .

Any help, suggestions from anyone with more tech know how than me is appreciated.
Click to expand...
On my phone, they were shown as Purchased, but I couldn't play them. I had to click on one of the songs, click the download/cloud symbol, then the songs started to download for me.
Click to expand...
In iTunes, look to the right under "QUICK LINKS", there should be a link for "Purchased". Click on that and yo should see the "Songs of Innocence" album there with the cloud icon. Click on that and it should download.

 
flgator said:
TheFly06 said:
Wilbur Wood said:
I am a big iTunes customer, having bought hundreds of songs there over the past 2 years. However, I can't access the new U2 album. When I go to the ITunes Store and click on "Songs of Innocence" it states that it has been " "purchased" yet I'd does not appear in my ITunes "purchased" section or anywhere else (under music, albums, Artists). There is no live customer support on iTunes .

Any help, suggestions from anyone with more tech know how than me is appreciated.
Click to expand...
On my phone, they were shown as Purchased, but I couldn't play them. I had to click on one of the songs, click the download/cloud symbol, then the songs started to download for me.
Click to expand...
In iTunes, look to the right under "QUICK LINKS", there should be a link for "Purchased". Click on that and yo should see the "Songs of Innocence" album there with the cloud icon. Click on that and it should download.
Click to expand...
Thank you, worked like a charm

 
bosoxs45 said:
urbanhack said:
AhrnCityPahnder said:
zoonation said:
Bono bashing is the worst shtick going. Seriously.
Click to expand...
No ####ck. He goes after big companies he sees as avoiding their tax responsibility while his band does the exact same thing. You can like his music and thats just dandy, but he's a raging hypocrite.
Click to expand...
Screw U2.

Biggest sell outs in the history of modern music
Click to expand...
Kiss down?
Click to expand...
Seriously has anyone whored their image more than Kiss?

 
urbanhack said:
AhrnCityPahnder said:
zoonation said:
Bono bashing is the worst shtick going. Seriously.
Click to expand...
No ####ck. He goes after big companies he sees as avoiding their tax responsibility while his band does the exact same thing. You can like his music and thats just dandy, but he's a raging hypocrite.
Click to expand...
Screw U2.

Biggest sell outs in the history of modern music
Click to expand...
What exactly do you mean by "sellout"? Are they not supposed to profit off of their music? Is there a set $ amount they are NOT supposed to go over in order to remain in "non-sellout" status?

 
Last edited by a moderator:
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

T J
2025 NCAA MARCH MADNESS POOL INVITE - pushing 2600 IN AND COUNTING.....
Replies
19
Views
693
QuizGuy66
QuizGuy66
Hot Sauce Guy
Popular Songs With Terrible Lyrics
2 3
Replies
124
Views
4K
Hot Sauce Guy
Hot Sauce Guy
Anarchy99
Top 250 Best Selling Rock Albums (1967 - 1981)
12 13 14
Replies
675
Views
27K
zamboni
zamboni

Users who are viewing this thread

Total: 1 (members: 0, guests: 1)
Back
Top