SOE
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U2 - Songs Of Experience (2017)
 Tracks: 14
  1. What's the problem? U2 is still a great live band, no matter what they put out on CD.I've seen that recently on the JT tour 2017. Still an awesome rockband!!!
  2. Originally posted by ahn1991:I feel that people who leave their passions at what they perceive to be the "perfect moment" always end up with regrets and eventually come back to try and satisfy those regrets. For people who are truly passionate about what they do, they will only stop when forces above their control force them to stop. You see this in athletes and artists all the time.

    As much as I would hate to see U2 struggle at the tail end of their career, I would hate even more to see them struggle to come back after leaving.
    I don't know, I mean R.E.M hasn't come back, have they?

    I get what you mean, and I do respect the notion, but I don't know. U2 have always maintained the "two crap albums and we're out" mantra. By my count, they've certainly had two at this point, whether you're counting the ones THEY consider to be crap, or ones that their fans do. At the very least I'm sure everyone here could pick at least one, and that one is probably one the band consider crap too (October seems to be universally panned, both by fans and by the band, Pop has been referred to as a good moment by people like Edge, but it's clear that Bono probably considers it a misstep (despite their hardcore fans loving it, I don't think their more "casual" fans do), and I know I read interviews where they said NLOTH didn't turn out the way they had hoped it would, etc. - but it's all beyond the point).

    The question is, have they failed to recognize that this might've already happened? Have they recognized it but refuse to leave their legacy where these albums may have come out?

    Originally posted by hkle77:What's the problem? U2 is still a great live band, no matter what they put out on CD.I've seen that recently on the JT tour 2017. Still an awesome rockband!!!

    The problem is, and this is my opinion, that an old band who goes on tour like that looks like they're only doing it for one reason - money. If they're doing it to support more artistic output, that's a different thing. As much as I agree with you and have loved seeing U2 live, I never want to see them become a touring Vegas act.
  3. Was it not two crap albums in a row Bono said rather than just 2 crap albums? That would make sense it suggests they need to have the ability at least to bounce back.
    Edit: found the quote and you were right the first time. Maybe he was talking in general especially for less established bands that can't afford a failure and certainly not two.
  4. Originally posted by RattleandHum1988:[..]
    I don't know, I mean R.E.M hasn't come back, have they?

    I get what you mean, and I do respect the notion, but I don't know. U2 have always maintained the "two crap albums and we're out" mantra. By my count, they've certainly had two at this point, whether you're counting the ones THEY consider to be crap, or ones that their fans do. At the very least I'm sure everyone here could pick at least one, and that one is probably one the band consider crap too (October seems to be universally panned, both by fans and by the band, Pop has been referred to as a good moment by people like Edge, but it's clear that Bono probably considers it a misstep (despite their hardcore fans loving it, I don't think their more "casual" fans do), and I know I read interviews where they said NLOTH didn't turn out the way they had hoped it would, etc. - but it's all beyond the point).

    The question is, have they failed to recognize that this might've already happened? Have they recognized it but refuse to leave their legacy where these albums may have come out?

    [..]

    The problem is, and this is my opinion, that an old band who goes on tour like that looks like they're only doing it for one reason - money. If they're doing it to support more artistic output, that's a different thing. As much as I agree with you and have loved seeing U2 live, I never want to see them become a touring Vegas act.
    How about one nostalgia tour and one crap album and you're out?
    That sounds an awful lot llke a Vegas act to me.
  5. It all comes down to SOE, now
  6. No doubt.

    It's too bad, because I feel like there've been a few examples since NLOTH where the band has hinted at doing something creatively risky (at least as risky as they'll be post-2000) but have shied away.

    First there was NLOTH, which to me still sounds like half of an album full of interesting tunes (title track, MOS (not a fan, but I recognize it), White as Snow, Cedars, Winter (if they had left it) Fez) and half of an album of them trying to ensure that the experimental stuff isn't too much for listeners. I would love to hear the demos they did in Fez. Imagine if they put an album out full of all these weird, quiet, sometimes loud tunes? What would the show have been like? What if they had played a theatre tour? Could've been different and awesome.

    Then, on the SoI tour, it was obvious that they scheduled that tour with something completely different in mind, two completely different shows one night after the other - and they chickened out.

    Now, Edge hinted at doing a show that's ONLY SoI and SoE, but then backpedaled and said they'd probably never do it. I understand why, but WHY. DO IT.

    I've always supported the band writing hits that aren't super experimental, because a ton of their post-2000s hits are fantastic and some of their best work IMO. But if the songs they're using to promote a new album aren't coming off as that great already, it's a bit worrying.
  7. Originally posted by bpt3:[..]
    I hear what you're saying about the band last having both popular and critical appeal with Vertigo and not really consistently since then...but the critical reviews of Best Thing so far have been overall good, right? Even the Kygo remix has gotten love from an unlikely fan base source. And regarding SOE early listens from radio stations, feedback has been positive, too.

    Don't know if I'd sound the alarm just yet.


    Apparently we're looking at the world from the same angle...

    ---

    TBTAM has been received by the U2less world (apparently) way better than Boots and Joey were received back then.
    And even if many fans aren't excited by it, many others are, so, this is far from being a bad call or a crisis point.

    Blackout and Little Things sound pretty good and -I think- worthy of being in a millenial U2 album. If that's not good enough for you, fair enough, but then I think you're seeing this crisis since several years ago, so there's nothing new in here.

    The only thing I'm not excited and a bit worried, is the lyrics... they sound like a lazy narrative sprinkled with cliches here and there. But whatever, I never understand the lyrics unless I'm reading them anyway, so I can live with it.
  8. Originally posted by Bloodraven:[..]


    Apparently we're looking at the world from the same angle...

    ---

    TBTAM has been received by the U2less world (apparently) way better than Boots and Joey were received back then.
    And even if many fans aren't excited by it, many others are, so, this is far from being a bad call or a crisis point.

    Blackout and Little Things sound pretty good and -I think- worthy of being in a millenial U2 album. If that's not good enough for you, fair enough, but then I think you're seeing this crisis since several years ago, so there's nothing new in here.

    The only thing I'm not excited and a bit worried, is the lyrics... they sound like a lazy narrative sprinkled with cliches here and there. But whatever, I never understand the lyrics unless I'm reading them anyway, so I can live with it.


    Haha, fair enough - but this bolded part, the lyrics are hugely important to me.
  10. I really like the lyrics to the SOE songs Ive heard. The thing that lets me know we may not get a great U2 album is that they dont trust their instincts anymore. The truth is that the type of music U2 is known for playing isnt the most popular anymore. So do they make a great U2 record or one that is really popular and not them?
  11. It does, I'll definitely give you that. It has a few modern Bono-isms that are a little bit "ehh" like "you were talking at me, not to me". Leave the second part out Bono, we're smart enough to know what you mean I do wish the music itself had a little more going on - but maybe the album version will! The last part of the song is definitely great though.
  12. Yeah, that's not new to Bono...

    And when you talk, you talk at me - Stay, 1993