Where The Streets Have No Name / The U2 Thread

[VinylGuy]

Listening right now...Its really bad. Are they trying to sound hip again??? U2 is the Madonna of rock music. They are more interested in staying relevant than actually making music.

[dimejinky99]

That's what in left with too. It's current. In the wrong way.

[stip]

Aren't they kind of famous for leading with their best punch?
They certainly didn't on the last one. Hopefully not this time either.
It does say Super Bowl version or red version

Perhaps it's just a different mix?

Not really, dime. U2 usually has pretty deep records

[stip]

What lament said

[Jorge]

The weakest sneak peak, then

https://twitter.com/stealthmountain

[Heathen]

Heard this on the radio this morning. It blended masterfully with all the other boring, forgettable songs that were played before and after it.

[stip]

Lament, what did you like about it besides the fact that it is new U2?

[Bob Loblaw]

Woah. There's new U2 out there?

Kinda sad (though un-shocking) to see all this negative feedback.

[stip]

a song available for download on itunes. Presumably from the new album. If you can't find it send me a pm

[stip]

this new song has made me want to listen to No Line on the Horizon for the first time in probably a few years.

The title track song was REALLY good. If I recall, it was all a bit downhill from there.


yup, the song No Line on the Horizon is still excellent.

[warehouse]

Listening right now...Its really bad. Are they trying to sound hip again??? U2 is the Madonna of rock music. They are more interested in staying relevant than actually making music.

that was excellent

[stip]

I like the start of magnificent until it devolves into a bit of U2 by numbers. Actually, the music in this one is pretty good if hardly groundbreaking. Comfortably familiar. But Bono's performance is generally pretty weak. He can't hit the soaring notes (and trying and failing calls to mind all the past songs where you did), the vocal melody is boring, and the lyrics are lame.

It's just uninspired, and its disappointing, since the first song is really good and seems harder to sing.


I don't remember moment of surrender very much. Sounds like So Cruel lite. Bono sounds a little overdone for the music (which isn't that great to begin with). The chorus would be decent if Bono had a more subdued performance in the verses. But the verses are so oversold the chorus feels a bit too much like an afterthought or a continuation rather than a statement. Amongst the Waves' chorus has the same problem, but those verses are much more interesting.


I think I really disliked Unknown Caller. Sounds very u2ish so far. Oh yeah, the flat oh oh oh ohs are a bad 'past glory' moment. The chorus is terrible. And the computer lyrics are just awful. Awful. THESE are ACTUAL cringe-worthy lyrics.

I have no issue in practice with bands sounding like themselves. It's just risky, because the songs invite comparisons that may not be favorable. REM's Collapse into Now and U2's How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb are good examples of albums that tacked really close to the archetypical sound of the band but did it well.. This run of songs (really the first half of this album, iirc) not so much

[stip]

I'll Go Crazy If I Don't Go Crazy Tonight is okay. Super familiar, but a decent callback to classic U2. It would stand out more if it wasn't surrounded by so many similar songs. This album is probably asking this song to lift more weight than it can safely carry. Actually by the end of the song I'm kind of bored with it

Get On Your Boots: Not their best single, but it's got a lot more life than much of what has preceded it, despite Bono's pushing. It's still a safe song (this is, thus far, a really safe record) but it's a safe song with some personality that has the good sense to mask its earnestness behind a too cool to care facade. Call back to 90s U2, which is not a bad thing. There's a fun sunglasses at night swagger to this one.

Yeah, I like this song. Album is 2/6


Stand Up Comedy: Didn't recognize this one at the start. Continues with the swagger of the last song, but in a bluesier vein U2 has never been that comfortable with. This is probably this album's Let The Records Play, but LTRP is a better song. It's a bit of a filler track on an album that can't afford them. Still, at least we're moving away from u2 by numbers territory a bit

[stip]

FEz being born: I had zero recollection of this song. Musically it's one of the more interesting pieces on here, something of a bridge between 80s and 90s u2 in terms of its sound. But again, not interesting enough given what's come before. Still, this is fairly intriguing song.

White As Snow: This is a good song. Stark and lonely in a way that U2 usually isn't, with surprisingly straightforward storytelling. I'd like to see them pursue this side of things--would probably play better to aging strengths

Breathe: I forgot about this song too. This one is pretty good. A bit bizarre, and it doesn't always work, but it's fun, and these visits back to the classic sound play much better when they're not tripping over each other. It's hardly a classic, but it's worth a listen. Michael Stipe tends to do these kinds of stream of consciousness songs better. I wonder what REM would have made of this.

Cedars of Lebanon: see white as snow. Something that actually feels different that they execute well. This is probably the second or third best song on the album (No Line and Maybe Get on Your Boots are better).

A lot of the melodies on this album are kind of awkward, but usually not in a good way. That's true here, but at least this song is meant to be a bit unsettling.


This is actually a better album than I remembered. The problem is that after the strong first track the next 5 songs are probably the worst on the album--all boring retreads. Everything after that is pretty good. About half the album is a keeper, but for the most part these are keepers that need stronger songs to anchor them. Better than I remembered, but still disappointing.

[digster]

I really like Moment of Surrender, besides they're being some pretty blah elements to it. Bono on the verses is easily my favorite part of it; I like the feel of abandon it has, it comes as very unexpected and forces you to pay attention.

[surfndestroy]

I really like Moment of Surrender, besides they're being some pretty blah elements to it. Bono on the verses is easily my favorite part of it; I like the feel of abandon it has, it comes as very unexpected and forces you to pay attention.

I really like Moment of Surrender as well. My biggest criticism of Bono now is that he is way to wordy and his songs too precise. "I want to run, I want too hide" would now be two verses as he tells you where he wants to run and why he wants to hide. There's no space any more in his singing.

[Lament]

Lament, what did you like about it besides the fact that it is new U2?

I like the subtle, low key intro, especially the synth blasts. I think Bono sounds really good. The hook is catchy. There's a very fatigued defiance in it which I feel like I can personally relate to. Edge's playing is very tasteful. I like how they take a pretty un-U2 verse into something more traditional on the chorus in a pretty organic manner. I get a rush when they hit the "I'm more than you know" part. I don't mind them resorting to classic U2 tricks when it works, and it definitely works for me here.

This has really raised my personal excitement level for the new album. My level of indifference to U2 reached it's nadir with Ordinary Love, but this has got me going. I woke up with the song in my head this morning, which probably hasn't happened with a "new" U2 song since Discotheque.

[stip]

what do you guys think of this album in general? And what about the new song?

[VinylGuy]

what do you guys think of this album in general? And what about the new song?

What album stip the new one or No line...?

[stip]

no line.