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  1. Up until recently, I didn't give Pop and the Popmart tour much "respect." However, I've come to appreciate the album (and songs from earlier albums) because of the great concerts available for download on this site. I think the best one is the Santiago show while the Leeds performance is also very good. Obviously, the Mexico City concert is great (although Bono says "Mexico" way to much during that show) and the Sarajevo show is a classic, but too bad Bono had lost his voice.
  2. Is this thread actually necessary? lol. ZooTV was basically the ultimate peak of U2, this thread should be called

    ZooTV vs. The Rest of Their Career


  3. They both had their ways. PopMart was visually and aesthetically better but ZooTV had it's kick-ass sound and sublime, faultless performances. PopMart had some absoutely brilliant shows - Mexico City, Sarajevo, Santiago, Leeds, Rotterdam and Tokyo.

    Yeah, PopMart had it's faults but because Pop over-ran, the performances were rubbish for the first few shows. But IF Pop had been finished earlier than expect, we would have seen a completely different Las Vegas and San Diego show. I've listened to 27 PopMart shows and I don't regret it and it's actually raised my opinion of PopMart. I find PopMart almost equal with ZooTV. You should really listen to a few PopMart shows which were good.

    ZooTV, I haven't really listened to many shows. Probably about 5. I wasn't too keen on a couple of shows that I listened to - Frankfurt and East Rutherford. I don't know why that is. Of course, Stockholm, Dublin and Sydney were mind-blowing. Maybe I amn't picking the right shows. I paid more attention to what were the good PopMart shows. I really want to know more ZooTV shows that are enjoyable and great to listen to - aka, great performance, good sound.


  4. Yes. And Zoo TV wins!
  5. Zoo TV was miles ahead of PopMart. Forget U2, its arguably the greatest tour in the history of music. It wasnt labelled The Greatest Show On Earth for nothing.

    I loved Popmart but in 92-93 U2 were a band at the peak of their powers - a peak that they will never scale again. In the 20 years since Zoo TV, nothing or no-one has come close to matching it either musically or conceptually.


  6. +1 to Mr. Maloy, absolutely right. Zoo TV was a true landmark, a milestone, the kind of tour that every band dreams of making
  7. Originally posted by KieranU2:[..]

    They both had their ways. PopMart was visually and aesthetically better but ZooTV had it's kick-ass sound and sublime, faultless performances. PopMart had some absoutely brilliant shows - Mexico City, Sarajevo, Santiago, Leeds, Rotterdam and Tokyo.

    Yeah, PopMart had it's faults but because Pop over-ran, the performances were rubbish for the first few shows. But IF Pop had been finished earlier than expect, we would have seen a completely different Las Vegas and San Diego show. I've listened to 27 PopMart shows and I don't regret it and it's actually raised my opinion of PopMart. I find PopMart almost equal with ZooTV. You should really listen to a few PopMart shows which were good.

    ZooTV, I haven't really listened to many shows. Probably about 5. I wasn't too keen on a couple of shows that I listened to - Frankfurt and East Rutherford. I don't know why that is. Of course, Stockholm, Dublin and Sydney were mind-blowing. Maybe I amn't picking the right shows. I paid more attention to what were the good PopMart shows. I really want to know more ZooTV shows that are enjoyable and great to listen to - aka, great performance, good sound.


    I disagree about Popmart being visually and aesthetically better whole heartedly. Sorry, but to me it was just U2 in front of a giant screen that showed some video clips and up close shots of the band. Sure some of the stuff was neat (last night on earth video, giant Lemon, strange outfits) but to me ZooTV even trumps those. The words during the fly that had people thinking they saw something that they didn`t, the video clip during numb, the whole mirrorball man and macphisto performances, it just worked much better in my opinion. Like you said, had they had time to finish up they might have had an entirely different TOUR, however that`s not an excuse to say it rivals ZooTV.

    As for performance, I`d say popmart did have a lot more crappy performances than Zoo did. Santiago was awesome, but I can name so many more awesome ZooTV shows.

    ZooTV also added controversy to teh show, the whole sarjevo thing, the calls to the UN and white house, (k, maybe not controversy, but something else entirely). To me ZooTV just had this different element, as did other U2 tours, but ZooTV was just something else. I`ve always thought if I could go back in time to any U2 show, it would be a ZooTV one.

    I`m not saying I dislike Popmart, or I think its bad, I love it, I just mean that when compared to Zoo, well, it doesn`t.
  8. Zoo TV was just one epic song after the other with Bono's falsetto giving me goosebumps. Both tours were probably ground breaking at the time, i know the popmart screen is in the guinuss book of world records for ther largest ever. and popmart had songs like discotheque and last night on earth etc. too close for me to call, i'll have to sit on the fence
  9. PopMart for me.

    I could give several reasons why (including the fact that I'm a "mismatcher" - I tend to not go with consensus), but I'll focus on 1 thing in this response.

    PopMart had Santiago and Sarajevo.

    ZooTV had calls to the White House.

    Nuff said.

    To be fair, ZooTV played a role in publicizing the Siege of Sarajevo in a naked, unfiltered fashion before high speed Internet.

    But in the full balance, the very things U2 hinted at in ZooTV with regards to social justice and dreaming of a united Europe, they actually accomplished in PopMart.

    Bringing the mothers of the disappeared onstage (in both Buenos Aires and Santiago) and challenging Pinochet in Santiago took a bigger set of balls than anything they ever did in ZooTV, including Salman Rushdie's cameo, and gave those women a public voice they had never before been given.

    The Sarajevo concert united warring factions - a crowd including Bosnians & Serbs - who were literally killing each other a year before.

    ZooTV did nothing on that scale - I don't mean the lemon, the screen, and the arch - I'm talking cultural impact of peace-making & fighting injustice.
  10. Originally posted by u2met86:PopMart for me.

    I could give several reasons why (including the fact that I'm a "mismatcher" - I tend to not go with consensus), but I'll focus on 1 thing in this response.

    PopMart had Santiago and Sarajevo.

    ZooTV had calls to the White House.

    Nuff said.

    To be fair, ZooTV played a role in publicizing the Siege of Sarajevo in a naked, unfiltered fashion before high speed Internet.

    But in the full balance, the very things U2 hinted at in ZooTV with regards to social justice and dreaming of a united Europe, they actually accomplished in PopMart.

    Bringing the mothers of the disappeared onstage (in both Buenos Aires and Santiago) and challenging Pinochet in Santiago took a bigger set of balls than anything they ever did in ZooTV, including Salman Rushdie's cameo, and gave those women a public voice they had never before been given.

    The Sarajevo concert united warring factions - a crowd including Bosnians & Serbs - who were literally killing each other a year before.

    ZooTV did nothing on that scale - I don't mean the lemon, the screen, and the arch - I'm talking cultural impact of peace-making & fighting injustice.


    I never understand people that go against the conensus just for the point of going against the consensus. For example, I know people that like bands strictly because not many other people like them, and what do you know, most people don't like the bands because they truly suck, performance wise and writing wise, which to me is why ZooTV was better.

    If the comparison of these two tours was strictly concerning political and social issues, than yes, perhaps you are right. But seeing as how a full comparison should be mostly about the music, (which is why a band goes on a tour..) I'd say you only scratched the surface of the argument, Popmart shouldn't win just because U2 achieved something politically during popmart, more so than ZooTV. Fact of the matter is, to me U2 was at their peak on the ZooTV tour, in terms of musical writing, feeling, and performance, which is why ZooTV wins this argument. I go to a concert to see my favourite band perform live music from the albums I love, I don't go to watch a protest or a political movement. That being said, having U2 as your favourite band requires this kind of factor, and yes it does set them apart from most other artists, and yes it does come into play when discussing their tours, and I do support their political ventures, even during concerts on tours, but again, when comparing tours I'd say 90% of the argument should come down to performance of the music and band, and ZooTV tops em' all.

    Alex
  11. Changed my mind. ZOOTV is the best.
  12. Zoo TV is probably their best, but the best dvd is the Popmart one
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U2start is run by fans for fans. Help us reduce personal costs. Consider to make a donation to support us.
U2start is run by fans for fans. Help us reduce personal costs. Consider to make a donation to support us.