Shuttlecock XIX - send $40 now for your opportunity to not get a presale code

[Headache in a Suitcase]

this song is dumb as fuck, but, they do sound like they're having a laugh. if they release a video, or play it live, and they actually have fun with it, I'm on board. it's fucking stupid as hell, but it has this nice sort of early-60s pop sound to it, which doesn't sound too forced.

perhaps I'd hate it if I was sober, I don't know, but I can forgive this song.

I'm telling ya... A video of Bono riding his bike through a park and almost smashing into things. They should hire me.

 

[Axver]

Seriously Love Is Bigger is one of the only songs on the album that makes me feel anything.

And I laughed until I cried when I saw that song title for the first time. Why couldn't they have called it literally any other combination of words?

That run of Landlady/Blackout/Love Is Bigger is absolutely the best sequence on the album, but the only title I'd dare to utter with any non-U2 fanatic in earshot is The Blackout. Landlady I guess isn't too extremely bad, but oh man Love Is Bigger - the song is bigger than it's title, that much is apparent.

So, huh, my third listen was rather depressing, but this listen was kind of encouraging. There's a decent EP in here. All my previous criticisms stand, especially of Bono and of the tracks 3-5 trainwreck. But there are some worthwhile things to take away from this album.

 

[dan_smee]

who the fuck could possible like this 13 tripe? what a fucking shithouse song. it's worse than Song for Someone. what a fucking anodyne, tepid ending to an occasionally quite bloody good album.

I don’t share the extreme view on 13, but it seems to be an insipid whimper to end an album that has been a real statement for them.

Good news is the album is a grower and gets better with time and repeat listens.

 

[Axver]

Imagine if the album ended with Love Is Bigger. Now that would be finishing with a statement.

And it would help if Book of Your Love Thing Way were on the album too.

 

[dan_smee]

Imagine if the album ended with Love Is Bigger. Now that would be finishing with a statement.

And it would help if Book of Your Love Thing Way were on the album too.

Both these things are true. But I understand the idea of bookending the album with something similar to the opener and calling back to SOI.

 

[LemonMelon]

Might bump the album from 5.5/10 to 6/10 on second listen, making it not conclusively my least favorite. It's OK.

Boy - 9/10
October - 7.5/10
War - 9/10
TUF - 8.5/10
Joshua Tree - 10/10
R&H - 8/10
Achtung Baby - 9.5/10
Zooropa - 10/10
Passengers - 8.5/10
Pop - 9/10
ATYCLB - 7/10
HTDAAB - 6.5/10
NLOTH - 7.5/10
SOI - 6/10
SOE - 6/10

 

[kiwilad]

Edge is a guitar god on that album, largely through his choice of tones.

1. He picks the ultimate robotic guitar sound for Numb

2.

The shimmering backdrop for this entire song...that's Edge, playing the most delightfully psychedelic guitar part of his career.

3. He picks the spot on perfect melancholy guitar tone for Stay. It sounds fucking mournful and drained of life.

4.

That squirming, hideously ugly sound in the break before the first verse (and throughout) is Edge, crafting the ideal backdrop for the track.

5.

2:07-2:40, enough said.

6. Not on the album per se, but DIRTY DAY LIVE OH MAN

1. Isn't that a pre-programmed tone from that korg unit he was using during Achtung? And isn't it an Achtung music track with a fresh vocal?

2. Edge discovers tremolo. It's cool, but not very adventurous.

3. Yes you're right. But it's very fucking minimalist. I do love it but always felt like he started an idea and then ran out of time and never progressed it. Which actually is probably not a bad thing as the last 20 years have shown...

4. Fair point

5. Even fairer point.

6. Live doesn't count. But if it did.. I dunnon, four chords and an overdriven wah. It's a cool guitar part.

I'm not arguing Edge was shit after Achtung. But he went from JT to RAH to Achtung and then... he tapered off.

 

[cobl04]

Well, that was so much better than I was expecting it to be. I mean, I am drunk, and will very likely go the way of the last three U2 albums in that after a few spins I'll probably never listen to it again, but right now I feel quite happy with it. And the fact that there's any genuine happiness, when my expectations were so low (I was so ready for the worst of their career) makes me bloody happy, so I'll take that.

In the cold heart light of day my frustrations will all come out - the really shit songs peppered throughout, the incredibly fucking stupid flow/tracklisting, Bono sounding terrible about half the time, Edge putting in perhaps the worst effort of his career, most of the good songs ending way to early, the knowledge that they will only play six or seven songs off this album live and the best songs won't be included, the overall extreme frustration that, for the third album in a row, greatness is tantalisingly out of reach... but for now I'll smile.

 

[dan_smee]

Might bump the album from 5.5/10 to 6/10 on second listen.

Boy - 9/10
October 7.5/10
War - 9/10
TUF - 8.5/10
Joshua Tree - 10/10
R&H - 8/10
Achtung Baby - 9.5/10
Zooropa - 10/10
Passengers - 8.5/10
Pop - 9/10
ATYCLB - 7/10
HTDAAB - 6.5/10
NLOTH - 7.5/10
SOI - 6/10
SOE - 6/10

If this album is behind October and NLOTH, your hipster cred is in tact, but I fear you’re ignoring something quite worthwhile underneath the posturing

 

[Axver]

If we're dismissing Numb as an Achtung track with a new vocal, then Daddy's Gonna Pay doesn't count (it's one of the best-represented songs on the Axtung Beibi out-takes) and COBL is a Pop song.

 

[LemonMelon]

2. Edge discovers tremolo. It's cool, but not very adventurous.

Please share some guitar tones that sound anything like Lemon's. I would love to hear more. That may sound sarcastic, but it's not.

 

[djerdap]

Pretty much the first song that comes to mind when talking about Edge being "adventurous" is Lemon. The instrumental section before the final chorus is utterly beautiful.

 

[dan_smee]

Well, that was so much better than I was expecting it to be. I mean, I am drunk, and will very likely go the way of the last three U2 albums in that after a few spins I'll probably never listen to it again, but right now I feel quite happy with it. And the fact that there's any genuine happiness, when my expectations were so low (I was so ready for the worst of their career) makes me bloody happy, so I'll take that.

In the cold heart light of day my frustrations will all come out - the really shit songs peppered throughout, the incredibly fucking stupid flow/tracklisting, Bono sounding terrible about half the time, Edge putting in perhaps the worst effort of his career, most of the good songs ending way to early, the knowledge that they will only play six or seven songs off this album live and the best songs won't be included, the overall extreme frustration that, for the third album in a row, greatness is tantalisingly out of reach... but for now I'll smile.

Glad you got something out of it for now, mate. I am a true believer that this is a better effort than SOI, NLOTH, HTDAAB and ATYCLB. Even if it isn’t in complete songs, but in ideas, melodies, and execution. There is clunk, there is sap, but there is some quality there too, and I hope when they finally resign themselves to their true position in the music world they make an album that isn’t trying to be anything it isn’t.

 

[LemonMelon]

If this album is behind October and NLOTH, your hipster creed is in tact, but I fear you’re ignoring something quite worthwhile underneath the posturing

Gloria, Rejoice, October, Tomorrow, NLOTH, Moment of Surrender and Fez are all far better in my eyes than anything on SOE, and I value inspiration over pure consistency from one of my favorite bands of all time. Not that SOE is especially consistent.

 

[dan_smee]

Gloria, Rejoice, October, Tomorrow, NLOTH, Moment of Surrender and Fez are all far better in my eyes than anything on SOE, and I value inspiration over pure consistency from one of my favorite bands of all time. Not that SOE is especially consistent.

Hey, de gustibus non est disputandem, my good friend - just saying if we are consigning this to their worst ever, it’s probably a bit premature

 

[Axver]

If this album is behind October and NLOTH, your hipster creed is in tact, but I fear you’re ignoring something quite worthwhile underneath the posturing

Oh good my hipster cred is definitely intact with October my fifth favourite U2 album.

Not sure where I'd rank this with NLOTH. I used to put NLOTH and SOI above HTDAAB and ATYCLB but I have a sneaking suspicion HTDAAB has maybe gone up a little in my estimation while NLOTH has fallen. That's why I plan to relisten quite extensively ahead of LN7's ranking exercise. My gut at the moment is that I would rate ATYCLB last, then NLOTH, SOE and SOI together but unsure on order, then HTDAAB the best of the 2000s (damning with faint praise). But I'm really unsure.

 

[kiwilad]

Is there much point splitting the Achtung/Zooropa sessions, really? It's basically a continuous era. But no, I don't think 1990 Edge would have written what he did in 1992-93. Lemon in particular, I can't even imagine that being realised to the same level of perfection in 1990. It would perhaps be closer to a frivolous playful song than one of the most profound soundscapes the band have made, I don't know. And Numb to me seems to have clearly come from ZooTV and from wanting to take further the shit he had done on Zoo Station, The Fly, etc.

But I suppose we're talking at cross-purposes. You're suggesting his guitar-playing peaked in 1991, while I took the idea of progressing more to mean that he continued to challenge himself creatively and push beyond what he thought were his limits. And that definitely continues past Achtung through to Pop. But rarely does he seem to be pushing himself since then. Quite often he's falling back on old tricks, on overly straightforward shit, or thinking that he needs to emulate Led Zep to write a perfect rock riff.

Yeah I'm more interested in why he stopped pushing himself as a guitarist. Of course I agree with LM's points about his sonic mastery in the 90s. It's epic. But his playing kinda petered out at the same time. Why didn't he combine the two?
And now, he must be a seriously competent guitarist behind closed doors. He was already decent in 1980. Yet the best solo he can conjure is these little repeated runs we keep getting?

 

[LemonMelon]

And, rest assured, there's no posturing coming from me. I'm among friends. It is decidedly not cool by any means to praise NLOTH in this thread or anywhere on the internet really, but I'll go to bat for it any day.

Just not feeling the last two albums, that's all.

 

[Axver]

Please share some guitar tones that sound anything like Lemon's. I would love to hear more. That may sound sarcastic, but it's not.

Pretty much the first song that comes to mind when talking about Edge being "adventurous" is Lemon. The instrumental section before the final chorus is utterly beautiful.

to both of you. If you asked me to name one song that shows Edge at his most adventurous and creative and brilliant, Lemon would be a serious contender.

 

[dan_smee]

And, rest assured, there's no posturing coming from me. I'm among friends. It is decidedly not cool by any means to praise NLOTH in this thread or anywhere on the internet really, but I'll go to bat for it any day.

Just not feeling the last two albums.

Fair enough. I’m one who has certainly fallen off the NLOTH bandwagon - HTDAAB is the only 00s album that has grown on me over a couple of years.

 

[kiwilad]

to both of you. If you asked me to name one song that shows Edge at his most adventurous and creative and brilliant, Lemon would be a serious contender.

Seriously??????

It's bar chords with (admittedly very cool) effects

 

[cobl04]

Before I bow out for the night, I have to give a plug to Love is Bigger.

The half-robotic 'oh oh oh' bit is fucking terrible, it's straight out of a Maroon 5 song, but this song is fucking glorious and literally (almost) everything else is terrific.

The reason why I like it so much is really simple - it's all down to the vocals. Post-NLOTH, Bono's vocals have been by and large trash, because he's trying so fucking hard to be appealing and clean and resonant. It's probably the main reason SoI is comfortably my least favourite album, and I just hate them, and these same vocals are all over the worst songs on this album.

But on Love is Bigger, not only does he not sing that way, he sings in the exact way he was singing on HTDAAB, on Mercy, on ATYCLB, in that first verse, and then he starts going for it beyond that. And this is definitely tied to my nostalgia, because HTDAAB is literally the reason I'm here and I love ATYCLB, so I'm not really objective on those, but Love is Bigger is the first song they've done in over a decade that really hits me the way U2 hit me as a lonely 15-year-old.

Again, I'm drunk, so tomorrow I'll probably be embarrassed to read these posts cos I might not like it, but for now, for these beautiful couple of hours, I'm happy.

 

[dan_smee]

Lemon certainly not MOST adventurous - but it’s different, and quite cool.

I still think Edge peaked with Pop. He went right out on a limb, had some amazing tones and ideas, but has retreated into his box ever since.

 

[Axver]

Seriously??????

It's bar chords with (admittedly very cool) effects

Mate you should know that as a shoegazer I'm all about the effects.

You can strum the shittest chord progression in the world and it'll be awesome with a good pedalboard.

 

[LemonMelon]

Seriously??????

It's bar chords with (admittedly very cool) effects

Inventive guitar work isn't about how many notes you play or how hard you have to try to contort your hand to make the chord, it's about making the song around it better. Edge dug deep into his bag of tricks and found the perfect surreal foundation for one of U2's most sublime tracks.

I mean, for fuck's sake, I'm a Neil Young fan. As far as I'm concerned, keep it simple and meaningful. My issue is that I think Edge's recent playing is simple but not necessarily making the songs better. It often feels like something required to be there, rather than an inspired part of the mix.

 

[kiwilad]

Mate you should know that as a shoegazer I'm all about the effects.

You can strum the shittest chord progression in the world and it'll be awesome with a good pedalboard.

Haha look, I don't disagree. I love the Dirty Day and Mysterious Ways riffs, which are just that.

But the guy can play. He really can. And I truly can't fathom why he refuses to in the studio.

 

[kiwilad]

Inventive guitar work isn't about how many notes you play or how hard you have to try to contort your hand to make the chord, it's about making the song around it better. Edge dug deep into his bag of tricks and found the perfect surreal foundation for one of U2's most sublime tracks.

I mean, for fuck's sake, I'm a Neil Young fan. As far as I'm concerned, keep it simple and meaningful. My issue is that I think Edge's recent playing is simple but not necessarily making the songs better. It often feels like something required to be there, rather than an inspired part of the mix.

Agree with every syllable.

 

[dan_smee]

Haha look, I don't disagree. I love the Dirty Day and Mysterious Ways riffs, which are just that.



But the guy can play. He really can. And I truly can't fathom why he refuses to in the studio.

I’ve been a bit concerned with has want to play piano live too much lately. He just doesn’t seem to want to get amongst it like he used to

 

[cobl04]

thank you kiwilad for taking the attention away from my great posts

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

My other idea for the Showman video involves Bono riding his bike through Central Park throwing free albums at people... hitting them in the head, doing their coffees and shit