U2 | Songs of Innocence

[Norah]

I also like Edge's place/lack of dominance. Not really a big guitar album.

He's not really soloing, more just playing patterns.

[McParadigm]

Force of nature would fit really well on this record, now that you mention it.

[Blaine Ryan]

I think "The Troubles" is up there with the best songs of their post-millenial career. Love that Lykke Li guest spot.

[Kaius]

Yeah, it's definitely the best song.

[PryTo]

http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/index.php/ ... 0/u2-blew/

http://www.cultofmac.com/295084/u2-apple-event/

[BurtReynolds]

Seems like Apple got the bad end of the deal. U2 gets a fat check and a decent marketing bump (as decent as they can get at this point in their career), meanwhile Apple basically admits iTunes and the music industry is completely dead by giving away free music.

Giving an entire album away in the Spotify/youtube era is meaningless. Giving something with no value away for free isn't that impressive anymore, especially when that stunt has already been tried.

[Sgt. Crackpot]

Seems like Apple got the bad end of the deal. U2 gets a fat check and a decent marketing bump (as decent as they can get at this point in their career), meanwhile Apple basically admits iTunes and the music industry is completely dead by giving away free music.

Giving an entire album away in the Spotify/youtube era is meaningless. Giving something with no value away for free isn't that impressive anymore, especially when that stunt has already been tried.

Would it have worked better if they paid people to have it? That's the next logical step, right?

[dimejinky99]

I liked No Line on the horizon..it was different.

this sounds familiar so far, but not rehashed.

I'll give it a fair hearing.

Song for someone is good..the only obvious 'U2 doing U2' moment on here, and it works, where they have failed trying to capture that in recent records.

I know cedarwood road..wonder what or who he's talking about?

[dimejinky99]

"U2 are the money lenders in the temple," sez John Doran for The Quietus. An article well worth reading.

http://thequietus.com/articles/16217-bo ... experience

[stip]

"U2 are the money lenders in the temple," sez John Doran for The Quietus. An article well worth reading.

http://thequietus.com/articles/16217-bo ... experience

I have a longish response I want to make to this piece but I may not have time to write until tomorrow. So be patient and in the meantime I want everyone to do the readings and be prepared to discuss. I know Pryto and I are going to disagree. (His blog post he linked was a good read btw).

[stip]

After a few listens (although it needs more) I am worried the more interesting tracks will not survive the descent into familiarity. It bodes poorly that my favorite moment is the guest vocals.

[Heathen]

(His blog post he linked was a good read btw).

The one that goes

RANDOM WORD

random thought

RANDOM WORD

random thought

RANDOM WORD

random thought

RANDOM WORD

random thought

RANDOM WORD

random thought

?

ugh

[stip]

Yeah, that one.

[Heathen]

Terrible writing.

[Heathen]

It's like he's thinking out loud, writing down whatever comes to him, and his own thoughts appear to sound like genius statements to him when they're really mundane or downright stupid.

[Sgt. Crackpot]

The difference between stupid and genius, is that genius has its limits.

[McParadigm]

And you guys think we give Pearl Jam too much shit for making bad records and selling stupid merch.

"This asshole Bono isn't even really saving the world."

[Norah]

Giving an entire album away in the Spotify/youtube era is meaningless. Giving something with no value away for free isn't that impressive anymore, especially when that stunt has already been tried.

It's not meaningless if you care about sound quality. I'd take lossy itunes files over spotify/youtube streams any day.

[nyquillyn]

Spotify Premium streams at 320 kbps (Ogg Vorbis).

[McParadigm]

It's like he's thinking out loud, writing down whatever comes to him, and his own thoughts appear to sound like genius statements to him when they're really mundane or downright stupid.

It's best summarized by this beginning to another post on the site:

Can I recommend a book?

You remember books, that antiquated media model that requires dedication in our fast-moving society that is usually populated by quick-read genre trash.

“We Are Not Ourselves” is not that. If it were a TV show, they’d call it a family drama.

So, to summarize:

1. Opening line

2. Unnecessary bullshit statement, preferably wordy, that sounds switched on but in fact establishes a bunch of false assumptions (average book size has been ballooning for years, "genre trash" is a lazy toss-off implying that, if it has a genre, then it must be trash, and the 13-29 year olds he thinks rule the world average more leisure reading time today than at any time during the 1980-90s).

3. Illustrates that he is, in fact, probably the problem he assumes exists...the best he can think to do is compare the book he's trying to push to a television show genre.