U2 thread

[Kotowboy]

Not yet. i'll wait til it's out / on Spotify.

I don't really download music as it spoils the end product for me.

When the album is released physically - does the album just stop working on your iTunes ? What if you burned it to CD ?

PS - i've sequenced the album so that Invisible is track 2 and Ordinary Love is Track 13. Works for me.

[Kotowboy]

I'm still amazed by the backlash to them giving this new album away for free.  Reading reviews on various sites, the vast majority of negatives ones mention Apple or something about it being bull shit that the album was shoved on to them and their iCloud.  Hell, I've been around long enough to know that people love to bitch about the stupidest shit (this is DTF, after all ), but this really takes the cake.  It's like, some are so pissy about it that they want to hate the album.  It's pathetic, really.

I really don't know what there is to hate about them apart from people don't like Bono's rockstar behaviour.

Even if Bono can be a bit of a rockstar at times - it shouldn't affect how people feel about the band as a whole or their music.

The other day I watched a video on YouTube where Adam Clayton was talking about Streets Have No Name - and the sole comment was " wanker ".

I don't get it. It's not like the music is god awful or they're all four of them completely humourless rockstar divas.

They all seem like really decent down to earth people.

[KevShmev]

I can't imagine it would stop working in iTunes.  Not sure why it would.

I haven't thought about where those tracks go in the sequence yet, but Ordinary Love last seems odd; that doesn't seem like a last track kind of song.  And I cannot imagine The Troubles not being the closer.

[Kotowboy]

Invisible stands out wherever it's sequenced . The album is quite melodic and catchy but that song is especially poppy with that synth bass intro playing octaves.

[KevShmev]

I really don't know what there is to hate about them apart from people don't like Bono's rockstar behaviour.

Even if Bono can be a bit of a rockstar at times - it shouldn't affect how people feel about the band as a whole or their music.

The other day I watched a video on YouTube where Adam Clayton was talking about Streets Have No Name - and the sole comment was " wanker ".

I don't get it. It's not like the music is god awful or they're all four of them completely humourless rockstar divas.

They all seem like really decent down to earth people.

I'm not sure I would call Bono down to earth; he comes across as quite the arrogant mofo, to me.   But then again, isn't the music ultimately what matters?  You'd think so, but a lot of people have such a strong hatred for this band, it's weird.  What's odd is the people I know who have been or who are U2 fans aren't much of ones anymore.  My younger brother went with me to the show here on the 36 tour, but I doubt he'd pay to see them again.  My older brother was a huge fan of theirs in the 80s, but he jumped ship when Mysterious Ways (which he thought was total dog shit) came out and he hasn't been a fan of anything new of theirs since.  I have a few friends who still sorta like them, but not sure any of them would pay $100+ to see them, so if/when they come here on the next tour, finding someone to go with me might be difficult.

[KevShmev]

Invisible stands out wherever it's sequenced . The album is quite melodic and catchy but that song is especially poppy with that synth bass intro playing octaves.

True.  I haven't thought about where I would rank Invisible in regards to the other new songs, but I know my favorites are Iris, The Troubles, This is Where You Can Reach Me Now and Song for Someone, and Volcano is definitely my least favorite.

[Kotowboy]

I really don't know what there is to hate about them apart from people don't like Bono's rockstar behaviour.

Even if Bono can be a bit of a rockstar at times - it shouldn't affect how people feel about the band as a whole or their music.

The other day I watched a video on YouTube where Adam Clayton was talking about Streets Have No Name - and the sole comment was " wanker ".

I don't get it. It's not like the music is god awful or they're all four of them completely humourless rockstar divas.

They all seem like really decent down to earth people.

I'm not sure I would call Bono down to earth; he comes across as quite the arrogant mofo, to me.   But then again, isn't the music ultimately what matters?  You'd think so, but a lot of people have such a strong hatred for this band, it's weird.  What's odd is the people I know who have been or who are U2 fans aren't much of ones anymore.  My younger brother went with me to the show here on the 36 tour, but I doubt he'd pay to see them again.  My older brother was a huge fan of theirs in the 80s, but he jumped ship when Mysterious Ways (which he thought was total dog shit) came out and he hasn't been a fan of anything new of theirs since.  I have a few friends who still sorta like them, but not sure any of them would pay $100+ to see them, so if/when they come here on the next tour, finding someone to go with me might be difficult.

I don't think i've heard Bono say anything quite like " Yeah we're the best band ever and we're all amazing musicians " etc..

Probably the opposite actually.

[KevShmev]

He's never that blatant with it, but read the "U2 By U2" book; his arrogance just leaps off the pages at times.  Off the top of my head, I remember his comment how he thought Zooropa was a work of genius at the time.  And of course his famous comment after the release of All That You Can't Leave Behind about them reapplying for the title of best band in the world just reeks of arrogance. 

But, don't get me wrong, Bono's arrogance is a large part of why he is such a great entertainer on stage; he has no fear for doing whatever it takes to make a show great, and that takes a little bit of fearless arrogance.

[Kotowboy]

So it's out & on Spotify including the 10 track bonus disc.

I didn't think Bono would hit the high note in "Raised By Wolves" live but he does it fine - which is weird as it sounds really tuned on the album...

Maybe it was a style choice.

[KevShmev]

I'm not a fan of many of the acoustic versions on the bonus disc.  It's like they brought the music down to a more subdued vibe, but Bono was still all loud and "shouty" with his vocals too often.  I doubt I'll ever listen to any of those versions over the proper album ones.

[Kotowboy]

It's nice to have though. I'll buy the 2CD version when I can.

[Kotowboy]

Having had Songs Of Innocence in my headphones a lot recently - I think i'd now place it #1 of their 2000s albums but All That You Can't Leave Behind is not far behind.

It just doesn't have a duff track and ATYCLB has "Grace" - which is just meh.

Listening to Songs Of Innocence today - a lot of it actually makes me think of Pop - albeit much better executed. Some of the vocals and guitar parts etc.

[KevShmev]

I can sorta see that.  U2 sure does love to end their albums with a song that is a bit of a downer, don't they? 

I'll be interested to see what new song they end with on the next tour, given that they almost always pick a new song to use as the last encore on a given tour (Love Is Blindness on Zoo TV, Wake Up Dead Man on PopMart, Walk On on the Elevation tour, Moment of Surrender on the 360 tour).

[Kotowboy]

U2 were awesome on Later With Jools Holland tonight.

They opened the show with Volcano - and closed with Every Breaking Wave - with Edge on piano and a string section. Bono's voice was outstanding.

[KevShmev]

Volcano was a bit disappointing, mostly cause Bono can't really go all out live like he used to, and that song has some really powerful vocals.

Every Breaking Wave was nice.  It won't surprise me if that becomes their "go to" way to perform it live, sans the strings of course. 

[Kotowboy]

Volcano was a bit disappointing, mostly cause Bono can't really go all out live like he used to, and that song has some really powerful vocals.

Every Breaking Wave was nice.  It won't surprise me if that becomes their "go to" way to perform it live, sans the strings of course.

I'd sa his voice was amazing for how long he's basically been belting it out and for his age.

[Kotowboy]

So what do we think is Bono's singing range ?

On " New York " - from All That You Can't Leave Behind -he sings really low and on " Sleep Like A baby Tonight " on the new album - his falsetto is pretty damn high.

[KevShmev]

I've seen quite a few U2 fans online criticizing that falsetto in Sleep Like...  I think it sounds good, but what do I know?

[Kotowboy]

He is struggling slightly but it's totally fine.

[KevShmev]

Well, the guy is 54 now, so I certainly do not expect him to nail notes like he did back in the 80s or early 90s.  There's a reason they rarely play Bad live anymore, and I cannot imagine him attempting to sing Lemon nowadays. 

I think in the case of that live Volcano clip, I guess I was expecting more cause it was a show where they were only playing a few songs, so he can afford to go all-out, as opposed to a normal show where he can't go all-out too much or else he'll have no voice left by the time the halfway point of the show hits. 

[Kotowboy]

I think his voice is in good shape but he is noticeably trailing off at the end of vocals. I think he's fine for the forseeable....

[fadetoblackdude7]

The new album finally clicked with me and I think it's fantastic. Same rankings as everybody else: ATYCLB, SOS, HTDAAB, NLOTH.

Every Breaking Wave, California and Song For Someone are my favs on it.

[Kotowboy]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PmJp6QWWV4g   - Volcano on Jools Holland.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jpZgpeFsDmk - Every Breaking Wave - Piano version on Jools Holland.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=taR_2WGflds - California on Jools Holland

[KevShmev]

I'll quote this here since this is basically the official U2 thread:

U2 tour:
https://www.msn.com/en-us/music/news/u2-announces-innocence-plus-experience-tour/ar-BBghIIs

Bummer that they are doing so few cities in 2015, but they are supposedly gonna do more in 2016, so that gives me more time to save up the arm and leg they charge for shows now.

[TAC]

Thanks, I knew the other thread wasn't right, but took a quick skim and I couldn't find this one.

[Kotowboy]

I don't have the money for a U2 concert. And they all sell out in 2 seconds anyway.

[KevShmev]

Even though I love their music, this is another dick move on their part:

-Making fans pay an arm and a leg for concert this far in advance.
-Announcing it during the holiday season with very short notice - "Hey, here are the dates, and tickets go on sale in four days!"

[Fluffy Lothario]

I'm still amazed by the backlash to them giving this new album away for free.  Reading reviews on various sites, the vast majority of negatives ones mention Apple or something about it being bull shit that the album was shoved on to them and their iCloud.  Hell, I've been around long enough to know that people love to bitch about the stupidest shit (this is DTF, after all ), but this really takes the cake.  It's like, some are so pissy about it that they want to hate the album.  It's pathetic, really.

I realise this is an old topic now, but:

I like U2's earlier material and don't buy into the pointless bashing of the band, and yet if I had found their new album in my iTunes without me asking for it to be there, I probably would have deleted it and not listened to it based sheerly on that fact. Giving away your album for free? Cool. Manipulatively forcing it on people? Not even remotely cool.

And I realise that it was actually a matter of the way the auto-download thing worked, but even if you could show me the band and Apple explicitly stating that they weren't intentionally taking advantage of the fact that many people will have it set to manual, and it's thus "their fault" if it ends up in their library when they don't want it, I still don't think I could completely believe it.

[KevShmev]

With all due respect, I still think that's a silly stance (I said it back then when some bitched about it). 

*below is meant in general and not directed at you, Fluffy*

Complaining about getting free music?  Good grief, people.  If you don't like U2, then don't listen to it.  Some people just love to complain about anything.

[Kotowboy]

Noel Gallagher joins U2 onstage for " I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For "

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6bWM6dnjCXQ

[SebastianPratesi]

OK, seems there was no need to start a new thread. I'm still surprised there's not that much talk about U2 in this forum (only one post in the last year 15 months?!).

These are 10 nice U2 songs I like, from throughout their history:

From the '80s
1980 "The Electric Co." (that 'solo' )
1983 "Surrender"
1984 "Pride" (obviously)
1987 "In God's Country"

From the '90s
1991 "Lady With The Spinning Head" (the 'extended dance mix')
1997 "Discothèque"

From the '00s
2000 "Walk On"
2004 "Yahweh" (favourite U2 song)
2006 "Window In The Skies"

From the '10s
2014 "Sleep Like A Baby Tonight"

[Stadler]

He's never that blatant with it, but read the "U2 By U2" book; his arrogance just leaps off the pages at times.  Off the top of my head, I remember his comment how he thought Zooropa was a work of genius at the time.  And of course his famous comment after the release of All That You Can't Leave Behind about them reapplying for the title of best band in the world just reeks of arrogance. 

But, don't get me wrong, Bono's arrogance is a large part of why he is such a great entertainer on stage; he has no fear for doing whatever it takes to make a show great, and that takes a little bit of fearless arrogance.

Little late to the party on this, but I wanted to chime in on this thought in particular.   I have "U2 By U2" and I'm familiar with the comment about "best band in the world", so I know where you're coming from, but I take it differently.  I don't take it like he KNOWS that, I take it in the sense of "I need to be better".  You can say a lot about U2 both good and bad, but you CANNOT say they do things halfway, and you CANNOT say they phone it in.   So if that's Bono's way of saying "we're giving it everything we have!" then it's hard to knock.   With the new album, supposedly they had an entire album ready to go, and it didn't seem right, so they went back and came up with TWO MORE albums, one of which was released as "Songs of Innocence".   

I don't know; I kind of wish more bands pushed the envelope like they do.  And for all the comments about Bono, that little fucker can still sing live.  You watch him walk out on the runway, with just Edge strumming an acoustic guitar, and you listen to EVERY FUCKING WORD he sings.  I think it's a really weak argument to say they aren't one of the three best bands in the world right now (Springsteen is another, and I'll leave the third for the discussion).

[Stadler]

1991 "Lady With The Spinning Head" (the 'extended dance mix')

Nice call!  Obscure B-side, but excellent song!

No U2 list for me is complete without "Ultraviolet", "One Tree Hill" and "Original of the Species". 

[Kotowboy]

I find that all the hate U2 get is mostly because people think Bono is an arrogant tosser.

But it's mostly an act. Mostly.

They never really say they're shit musicians or that bono can't sing or larry and Adam can't play.

They do like to trot out that Edge plays the same thing in every song but that guy can play..He plays guitar. Piano, can sing as well as Bono if not better...He's amazing.

Songs of Innocence was a brilliant album and light years better than the bland, compressed, too many cooks sound of No Line On The Horizon.

I'm looking forward to the next album because Eno & Lanois have nothing to do with it again.

[SebastianPratesi]

You can say a lot about U2 both good and bad, but you CANNOT say they do things halfway, and you CANNOT say they phone it in.

I think it's a really weak argument to say they aren't one of the three best bands in the world right now (Springsteen is another, and I'll leave the third for the discussion).

About the 1st part: didn't they release Pop half-baked? I remember reading that they weren't pleased with some of the songs/mixes, and that's why they included many different versions on The Best Of 1990-2000.

About the 2nd part: if U2 is a Top 3 band, Maiden also have to be in the Top 3. They've been around for basically the same ammount of time than U2, they keep releasing strong music, the musicians have a strong bond with the fans (and amongst themselves), they tour all the time, etc.