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  1. One year later and I'm certain everyone still knows what I've got to say about this album.
  2. What? That you hate it and wish they would made another Pop?



  3. I actually wish they would take a second attempt at making an album using the same musical and ideological basis of Pop, but actually put forth the proper time to get it right. I still contend that Pop as an idea had great potential but a lot of it somehow got lost in translation. It didn't help that they tried to patch it up with those "new mixes."
  4. Originally posted by kris_smith87:[..]
    I completely disagree- which I always find so interesting; we are all die hard U2 fans but have such varied opinions on their work...

    One thing I don't think is fair is when you say that some songs are too "sentimental"- I mean...I get it but given the subject matter of them how can they not be?


    By being too sentimental, I primarily mean Bono's lyrics in those songs. As a dad now myself, I really do appreciate the sentiment of Bono either singing about his dad or singing about his own experience as a dad with his kids on "Kite", but lyrics like "Don't wanna see you cry...I know that this is not goodbye" just don't do it for me. Same for the string loop and Edge's slide guitar musically...

    Likewise for "Walk On" - I love its inspiration from Aung San Suu Kyi's house arrest and as a Christian personally I find the overall message of hope conveyed powerful...but the delivery of the song itself has never stood out to me: lines like "I know it aches and your heart it breaks and you can only take so much" and "home, that's where the hurt is" = And musically it's just too typical "Edge guitar", I guess. Whatever it is, maybe my seeing it live on 360 with the weird masks negatively affected my opinion, because I thought it was the worst moment of the show. (And that's saying something considering how much I love the "Hallelujah" ending of Walk On during Elevation Tour).

    Just my thoughts. I hear you, though, in that the subject matter of ATYCLB deals with stuff like mortality and loss and hope in the midst of darkness.
  5. All that You Can't Leave Behind will always be one of my favorite U2 albums. For what it's worth, I was 30 when the album came out, and I had already been a fan since 1983. I heard portions of Beautiful Day before the album was released, and was cautiously, but most definitely excited to hear more. When I first listened to the album in full, it really affected me. I loved how Beautiful Day reminded me of 80's U2. Pop left me cold. I did like quite a few of the songs on Pop, but the overall sound of the album, for me, was soulless and very downbeat, two things that should never be associated with U2, in my opinion. Even in AB's most depressing moments, there was still hope and that great U2 uplift, but I digress. I will always remember the sheer joy of hearing Edge's chiming guitar at the beginning of Walk On. It just put a huge smile on my face! Of course the tour was an absolute triumph for U2. Just a great time to be a U2 fan!
  6. Yeah, All That You Can't Leave Behind was an important time for U2. It was a sincere and legitimate "back to basics, listening to songs that made us want to be in a band in the first place, playing small clubs on promo tour, etc." I felt like Bono was at his most humble, true, and real self during the Elevation tour too. No stage personas, gimmicks, or 12 minute long speeches (even though I personally don't mind when he gets all humanitarian at shows I go to). Any time he spoke or sang it was truly from the heart, it was what he truly felt at that moment.
  7. Originally posted by Release3:Yeah, All That You Can't Leave Behind was an important time for U2. It was a sincere and legitimate "back to basics, listening to songs that made us want to be in a band in the first place, playing small clubs on promo tour, etc." I felt like Bono was at his most humble, true, and real self during the Elevation tour too. No stage personas, gimmicks, or 12 minute long speeches (even though I personally don't mind when he gets all humanitarian at shows I go to). Any time he spoke or sang it was truly from the heart, it was what he truly felt at that moment.
    Well said.
  8. Originally posted by Release3:Yeah, All That You Can't Leave Behind was an important time for U2. It was a sincere and legitimate "back to basics, listening to songs that made us want to be in a band in the first place, playing small clubs on promo tour, etc." I felt like Bono was at his most humble, true, and real self during the Elevation tour too. No stage personas, gimmicks, or 12 minute long speeches (even though I personally don't mind when he gets all humanitarian at shows I go to). Any time he spoke or sang it was truly from the heart, it was what he truly felt at that moment.
    This is why I've always said the Elevation Tour is by far the strongest display of U2's performance ability and almost all of my top tracks come from this tour.
  9. To this day I regret missing that tour. I did see the Vertigo 2005 tour, which was very close to Elevation, but not quite the same. I loved how seamlessly the songs from All That You Can't Leave Behind (and the Atomic Bomb songs on the following tour) flowed together with the songs from the 80's and from Achtung Baby.
  10. The Elevation Tour was great because the warhorses they were playing like Sunday Bloody Sunday and I Will Follow had been retired for a tour or 2 (or at least the proper versions) and other rarities popped up on the tour too like The Fly (at the time), Out Of Control, 11 O'Clock Tick Tock, etc. And songs like Pride and One were always special because they weren't played at every show. Not to mention Discotheque and Gone were being played as well.
  11. Originally posted by Release3:The Elevation Tour was great because the warhorses they were playing like Sunday Bloody Sunday and I Will Follow had been retired for a tour or 2 (or at least the proper versions) and other rarities popped up on the tour too like The Fly (at the time), Out Of Control, 11 O'Clock Tick Tock, etc. And songs like Pride and One were always special because they weren't played at every show. Not to mention Discotheque and Gone were being played as well.
    Ironic that some of the more consistent performances of Pop songs took place during this tour. Discotheque, Gone, acoustic Please, Wake Up Dead Man.
  12. I always consider Zoo TV as their best tour. But Zoo Tv was a good tour for your eyes and ears, Elevation was good for your heart and soul hahaha.