U2 Songs of Experience

[PHATJ]

Holy shit. The new song is so bad. It's embarrassing.

[burl jam]

I thought the Joshy Tee Tour would rejuvenate them..

This is very bland.

[LetMeSleep]

It's fucking simple and daft. Holy shit this is so characterless

[evenslow]

Somewhere there is an alternate universe in which the boys from Ireland pack it in after How To Dismantle an Atomic Bomb and ride triumphantly off into the sunset with "City of Blinding Lights" echoing in our collective memory.

[Jorge]

Crazy to think that album came out nearly uno dos tres catorce years ago

[evenslow]

holy shit you're right. i would not have guessed it's been that long.

[VinylGuy]

yeah the single is so boring and bland. From the production to the lyrics ...everything is such a big meh.

[Strat]

Oh man that single is awful.

So it's 3 straight albums with an absolutely terrible first single (boots, joey ramone, this thing). I like the last two albums (and the blackout) a lot, so I'm still optimistic.

[Superblood Wolfmoon]

What happened to that musically adventurous band they became in the 90s? Pop got such a bad rep (despite being a great album) that they wrapped themselves in their security blanket and just started phoning it in. Such a shame, they were my favorite band for a long time and I had such high expectations for what they might do in the latter part of their career.

[PHATJ]

Agreed, meatwad. Joshua Tree is classic. Actung & Zooropa are masterpieces. Pop was a great album. I quite enjoyed ATYCLB and Atomic Bomb. No Line has some good moments, but the fall has been drastic and dramatic. I listened to the last album only a few times before discarding it and never looking back. This new song is probably the worst U2 song I've ever heard. It's god-awful in every sense. Where did the creativity go???

[EJ]

Agreed, meatwad. Joshua Tree is classic. Actung & Zooropa are masterpieces. Pop was a great album. I quite enjoyed ATYCLB and Atomic Bomb. No Line has some good moments, but the fall has been drastic and dramatic. I listened to the last album only a few times before discarding it and never looking back. This new song is probably the worst U2 song I've ever heard. It's god-awful in every sense. Where did the creativity go???

Completely lifeless. They really spent years on this album and this is their lead single?

Weakest U2 single ever.

[LetMeSleep]

Phat, listen to the last 5 tracks on SoI. It's quite the run of material.

[PHATJ]

Phat, listen to the last 5 tracks on SoI. It's quite the run of material.

I'll give it a go as soon as I can.

[VinylGuy]

Agreed, meatwad. Joshua Tree is classic. Actung & Zooropa are masterpieces. Pop was a great album. I quite enjoyed ATYCLB and Atomic Bomb. No Line has some good moments, but the fall has been drastic and dramatic. I listened to the last album only a few times before discarding it and never looking back. This new song is probably the worst U2 song I've ever heard. It's god-awful in every sense. Where did the creativity go???

They are still creative....there are plenty of good songs in their last records. But i agree they have been playing it safe and very concern about what the market will think about them.

[PHATJ]

Phat, listen to the last 5 tracks on SoI. It's quite the run of material.

Ok, I listened to all 5 tracks a couple of times now. It was enjoyable to hear these songs again. I totally remembered "Raised By Wolves", which is a decent to good song. It's nowhere near the same level as the better song on Atomic Bomb, but it's all right for what it is (3.5 stars). I vaguely remember "Cedarwood Road" too. Not a big fan of this one, it's not offensive but it's not that interesting either 2-2.5 stars. When "Sleep Like a Baby Tonight" started I was immediately interested, but within a couple minutes I was hoping that it would go somewhere. It kind of just plods along for five minutes. Again, not bad by any means but also not compelling (2.5-3 stars). "This is Where You Can Reach Me Now" is kinda a cool song, but again it doesn't come close to matching the better songs on any of the album that preceded it (3 stars). Finally we get to "The Troubles". Now this is a legitimately strong song. I will want to listen to this a bunch more, but I know I like quite a bit. This feels like it deserves a spot in the U2 cannon. Some of these songs could benefit from being shorter but this feels the opposite to me. I really wish that short but cool Edge solo went on for another minute at the end of the song. Maybe they do that live? Other than that, this one is a big thumbs up from me (4+ stars).

[VinylGuy]

Sleep Like a Baby Tonight and The Troubles are amazing. I love them...i love how they sound, the lyrics and Bono´s performance. I wish they could go further with those song instead of the obligatory pop rock ballad.

[PHATJ]

Sleep Like a Baby Tonight and The Troubles are amazing. I love them...i love how they sound, the lyrics and Bono´s performance. I wish they could go further with those song instead of the obligatory pop rock ballad.

Yeah, I'd love them to focus in that direction too. Maybe I'll get more out of Sleep Like a Baby Tonight with more listens. Totally agree that The Troubles is really good.

[LetMeSleep]

Cedarwood Road is the lesser song from that run of 5. The others are all pretty tasty. This is Where and The Troubles finish it off so well.

[Kalevi]

NLOTH is more creative than any u2 since pop. Good album. So is songs of innocence. Every breaking wave is top notch. Ed's probably pissed that Bono's trespassing on his property