Re: Where The Streets Have No Name / The U2 Thread
Fri July 06, 2018 8:32 pm
After a couple failed attempts to engage with it via Youtube videos, I'm finally taking some time to really listen to "Songs of Experience," and my attention is not being rewarded. Apart from a few highlights ("Red Flag Day," "Summer of Love," "Landlady"), this still strikes me as potentially their weakest album (and this is from someone who thinks "No Line on the Horizon" and "Songs of Innocence" are both pretty strong). In my ratings its only real competition for the bottom is "October," which just sounds like a rush-job from an inexperienced band trying to crank out a follow-up. There's a lot more squandered potential here. It's not unlike "Lightning Bolt" in a lot of ways: It's eclectic, and it's not like the songs aren't crafted well or aren't catchy at times, or that they have nothing to say -- they just don't work. They don't grab you around the throat the way great pop songs do, and there's nothing below the surface to make me think there's something I'm missing. Even songs that seem kind of okay ("Get Out of Your Own Way," "The Showman") just feel like competent, characterless pieces of product that happen to have Bono on vocals. I blame Ryan Tedder.
Last edited by Kevin Davis on Sat July 07, 2018 1:28 am, edited 1 time in total.
Re: Where The Streets Have No Name / The U2 Thread
Sat July 07, 2018 1:32 am
LoathedVermin72 wrote:Yeah it’s not very exciting. I picked the good tracks of Innocence and Experience and combined them into one 14-song album and that’s all I need.
I like all but a couple songs on "Innocence" ("The Miracle," "Song for Someone"). My combo album would basically be "Innocence" minus these two, plus a few add-ons from the new one (the ones I listed above, maybe one or two more).
Part of the problem with "Experience" is that it just takes so long to get going. The first song I like is track six. For some reason that always makes a record feel weaker than if it comes out swinging and loses steam.
*Interesting/not really that interesting observation: The way Bono sings the word "love" in the chorus to "Summer of Love" is the exact same melody he uses to sing the same word in the chorus to "California."
Re: Where The Streets Have No Name / The U2 Thread
Sun July 08, 2018 12:55 am
Has a studio version of she's a mystery ever surfaced? As far as I can tell, u2 wrote it and gave it to Roy Orbison, who did a great version, u2 have performed it live, but a studio version has never leaked, Tis a great song.
How did so cruel go in the recent tournament? I think it is my favourite u2 song.
Re: Where The Streets Have No Name / The U2 Thread
Sun July 08, 2018 2:44 am
This thread sent me down a youtube rabbit hole of Zoo TV videos. So glad it was caught on film. And damn they were good. I think it's the best tour ever. The band was firing on all cylinders and at their most adventurous.
Re: Where The Streets Have No Name / The U2 Thread
Sun July 08, 2018 3:32 am
surfndestroy wrote:This thread sent me down a youtube rabbit hole of Zoo TV videos. So glad it was caught on film. And damn they were good. I think it's the best tour ever. The band was firing on all cylinders and at their most adventurous.
Re: Where The Streets Have No Name / The U2 Thread
Fri July 27, 2018 4:52 pm
Dublin is to get a U2 museum. Built in around and on top of their studio. That they’ve had forever and it’s still their main base. It looks cool I’ll give them that. They’ve also signed a new ten year contract with live nation. So they aren’t going away any time soon it seems
Re: Where The Streets Have No Name / The U2 Thread
Mon July 30, 2018 7:48 pm
Been listening to (the songs I like from) Innocence and Experience a lot lately. Some thoughts:
-I love “The Crystal Ballroom”; crazy it was just a bonus track. -The way the guitar gets kinda frantic and sloppy at the end “Red Flag Day” is great; I wish they would have dialed back the slick production a bit more to really bring that out. Amp up some distortion, blow out the sound a bit. -The personal themes in these albums are very interesting, and a lot of the lyrics are surprisingly (to me) good. -The sequencing of these albums is an absolute mess and most of Experience is worthless filler. -“The Miracle (of Joey Ramone)” is one of the worst songs I’ve ever heard and they never, ever should have released that garbage.