Red Mosquito

Grungy Sea Ice wrote:I am opposed to the central idea of this thread. Pearl Jam have a legacy where it counts and U2 are a bunch of cheese balls. If PJ broken up a decade ago, face it, you'd kill for a some new c side to be unearthed. With Back spacer you get 10 plus. Avocado is actually a really cool album and if you feel differently, you have to admit its got 5-10 minutes of pure recorded Pearl Jam gold, like the intro to Severed Hand or the whole song for that matter, or the first part of Inside Job, or Army Reserve for the music, granted the vocals and lyrics are off. The secret noise track alone is pure emotion as one friend put it succinctly. Then their is Parachutes. One of my favourite songs since Pink Floyd's Paint Box.

I don't know where to start with this one.

harmless wrote:

Grungy Sea Ice wrote:I am opposed to the central idea of this thread. Pearl Jam have a legacy where it counts and U2 are a bunch of cheese balls. If PJ broken up a decade ago, face it, you'd kill for a some new c side to be unearthed. With Back spacer you get 10 plus. Avocado is actually a really cool album and if you feel differently, you have to admit its got 5-10 minutes of pure recorded Pearl Jam gold, like the intro to Severed Hand or the whole song for that matter, or the first part of Inside Job, or Army Reserve for the music, granted the vocals and lyrics are off. The secret noise track alone is pure emotion as one friend put it succinctly. Then their is Parachutes. One of my favourite songs since Pink Floyd's Paint Box.

I don't know where to start with this one.

I'm sayin', friend

You may not like U2's music, and you might think Bono is over the top, but they have produced some era defining music, and are one of the most important bands of the last several decades. I don't like the Beatles or Pink Floyd, but I don't discount what they did

stip wrote:You may not like U2's music, and you might think Bono is over the top, but they have produced some era defining music, and are one of the most important bands of the last several decades. I don't like the Beatles or Pink Floyd, but I don't discount what they did

Truth. I could never get too much into U2 beyond a greatest hits thing but I respect their impact.

stip wrote:You may not like U2's music, and you might think Bono is over the top, but they have produced some era defining music, and are one of the most important bands of the last several decades.

Absolutely. I don't go out of my way to listen to U2, but The Joshua Tree is one the best rock albums of all time.

broken iris wrote:

stip wrote:You may not like U2's music, and you might think Bono is over the top, but they have produced some era defining music, and are one of the most important bands of the last several decades.

Absolutely. I don't go out of my way to listen to U2, but The Joshua Tree is one the best rock albums of all time.

I partly agree. I think it's one of the best albums of the late 80's, but for me there are several albums in the 90's era that bypass it.

Sgt. Crackpot wrote:

broken iris wrote:

stip wrote:You may not like U2's music, and you might think Bono is over the top, but they have produced some era defining music, and are one of the most important bands of the last several decades.

Absolutely. I don't go out of my way to listen to U2, but The Joshua Tree is one the best rock albums of all time.

I partly agree. I think it's one of the best albums of the late 80's, but for me there are several albums in the 90's era that bypass it.

the amazing thing about the Joshua Tree is that the two best songs on it (One Tree Hill and Running to Stand Still) were never even released. One Tree Hill is probably U2's best song.

broken iris wrote:

stip wrote:You may not like U2's music, and you might think Bono is over the top, but they have produced some era defining music, and are one of the most important bands of the last several decades.

Absolutely. I don't go out of my way to listen to U2, but The Joshua Tree is one the best rock albums of all time.

It put me to sleep after several failed tries to dig it, with all respect to the fact that I am Irish and they are practically patron saints. I've always felt they are something I can't enjoy in the nature of their music, a polar opposite to Pearl Jam in so many vital ways. I don't say they never had talent, but it seems vastly overrated because they were one of the better popular bands during when they first came out. Bono's pontificating is too much and he is treated like a head of state in my country, where he shows up to grate on the national conscience for reasons beyond me. Back to the point, I think their output past Achtung is total tripe, unlike Pearl Jam's later records which still have a lot of merit (and Mcready/Ament/Gossard's fine sounds).

Zooropa is a pretty challenging record. So is Pop, in its way. And while I could take or leave most of the 2000 output, which felt a little too throwbackish to me, these were still monstrously successful albums that clearly struck a chord with a large audience.

If you don't like it you don't like it, but U2 is a hard band to dismiss.

stip wrote:Zooropa is a pretty challenging record. So is Pop, in its way. And while I could take or leave most of the 2000 output, which felt a little too throwbackish to me, these were still monstrously successful albums that clearly struck a chord with a large audience.

If you don't like it you don't like it, but U2 is a hard band to dismiss.

If only I could, but I know they are well loved. Sorry to rub anyone the wrong way but its one band I struggle to see the profound merit in. Ok, I admit, Mysterious Ways and Better then the Real Thing are two songs that enticed this proud Columbia House patron to pick up a disc. Can't compare them to true greats like AIC/Nirvana/PJ/Beatles and a great deal of less mainstream acts that totally blow them away in my mind. Again, no disrespect to fans intended, I love some cheesy acts myself!

How about this, I can barely stand REM but they are phenomenal, I hear the quality. U2 sounds like bad overblown 80's rock opera to me.

Lament wrote:I'm glad I'm not the only one who thinks the 90's were their strongest decade.

I'm always inclined to put "Zooropa" as my number one too, as it's definitely the one I reach for most these days, but it's not fair of me to dock "Achtung" points just because I played it to death and rarely have the desire to put it on as a result, because every time I do I'm reminded of what a near perfect album it is. There was a genuine sense of adventure and creativity in those records, a real desire to see how far the U2 sound could be pushed without breaking what it inherently was--"Zooropa" in particular, it's rare that you get to see a band with such a commercial system around them, with so many expectations placed on what they're supposed to be and how many records they're supposed to sell, release such a creatively uninhibited product into the market for seemingly no one but themselves (and then release arguably the least marketable song from it as the first single). There's also some wonderfully dark, cynical, at times Dylanesque humor in those albums--in a way they were kind of the anti-Pearl Jam around that time, not running from their fame but treating it like their plaything, making a spectacle of its many absurdities and extremes. Around the time of "All That You Can't Leave Behind," much of that sarcasm disappeared from their music, which just made them look like a bunch of guys who took being famous really, really seriously.

Red Hill Mining Town came on the radio today...forgot how much I loved that song.

Always wanted to hear Pearl Jam take a stab at that song...

Ed or Mike. Whose legacy is ruined more by continuing...

harmless wrote:Ed or Mike. Whose legacy is ruined more by continuing...

That's a tough one.

Vic Cognac wrote:Red Hill Mining Town came on the radio today...forgot how much I loved that song.

Always wanted to hear Pearl Jam take a stab at that song...

That song is a monster - love it. Way too high a register on the chorus for Ed to ever sing though really.

I've never been really big into U2 (although I do love Joshua Tree and Achtung Baby) so I can't really comment on their legacy.

I know with Pearl Jam though, I feel like they have been increasingly embarrassing to me (for lack of a more fitting word right now) ever since the opening notes of the recorded Severed Hand intro followed by all those green lasers in Toronto in '06. Such an alienating moment in my life.

LikeLukin wrote:I've never been really big into U2 (although I do love Joshua Tree and Achtung Baby) so I can't really comment on their legacy.

I know with Pearl Jam though, I feel like they have been increasingly embarrassing to me (for lack of a more fitting word right now) ever since the opening notes of the recorded Severed Hand intro followed by all those green lasers in Toronto in '06. Such an alienating moment in my life.

I hope you can somehow recover and live a full life without alienation via lasers.

evenslow wrote:

LikeLukin wrote:I've never been really big into U2 (although I do love Joshua Tree and Achtung Baby) so I can't really comment on their legacy.

I know with Pearl Jam though, I feel like they have been increasingly embarrassing to me (for lack of a more fitting word right now) ever since the opening notes of the recorded Severed Hand intro followed by all those green lasers in Toronto in '06. Such an alienating moment in my life.

I hope you can somehow recover and live a full life without alienation via lasers.

Thanks man, I've been trying

WtOB? wrote:

harmless wrote:Ed or Mike. Whose legacy is ruined more by continuing...

That's a tough one.

Very tough. Would have to give the edge to Ed

1. Achtung Baby
2. Joshua Tree
3. Zooropa

4. All That You Can't Leave Behind
5. Pop
6. Unforgettable Fire

7. War
9. No Line On The Horizon
10. How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb

11. Boy
12. October