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  1. Originally posted by germcevoy:the collection of songs theme about Leave Behind is one thats popping up everywhere.

    Bono did say that they wanted to make an album of singles. An album where any one of the songs could top the charts. There you have the problem. If the song writer wants to make a group of single rather than an album then that CD just ain't gonna go well on the ears

    Not to mention that they didn't make an album of singles - they got some strange amalgamation of the two (i.e. cohesive thematic work + album of singles). I think Achtung Baby was as close as they've ever got to nailing that balance...
  2. Of course, maybe the problem in comparing ATYCLB and POP is that we are trying to compare apples and oranges. They are very different kinds of albums. I would have to acknowledge that, lyrically, with the exception of Discotheque and If God Will Send His Angels, POP is more sophisticated than ATYCLB. MOFO, Please and Wake Up, Dead Man are among my favorite U2 songs. But I rather like the collection of songs on ATYCLB more than POP, mostly because of the music and the renewed optimism in songs like BD and Walk On.

    To claim that Pop is more of a musical leap from AB/Zooropa than AB was from JT/RH is just ridiculous, however.
  3. That they tried to make an album of singles rather than a cohesive album is what is wrong with HTDAAB.

    Its why Springsteen's Born In The U.S.A. is not as good as The River or Born To Run or even Nebraska. In both cases, Born In The U.S.A. and HTDAAB are good albums, not great ones.

  4. Comparing Pop to ATYCLB is not comparing apples to oranges, it's comparing apples to zebras... They are things that are not so camparable.

    ...And as for Born to Run being merely good or very good? Are you kidding? Born to Run is fantastic!

    Tracklist:
    Thunder Road
    Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out
    Night
    Backstreets
    Born To Run
    She's The One
    Meeting Across The River
    Jungleland

    ...all great tracks. This is why it came in at # 18 in Rolling Stones top 500 albums ever. Sure that is a poll, a magazine... but there is something positive to be said about such an accolade.

    All That You Can't Leave Behind came in at # 139. Impressive. Very good. But hardly as highly placed as 'Born To Run'.

    Of the 8 tracks on Born to Run', Bruce still regularly plays at least 6 of them, if not more. (Thunder Road, Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out, Backstreets, Born To Run, She's The One, Jungleland)

    Of All That You Can't Leave Behind's 11 tracks - by the following tour (2005-2006 Vertigo tour) U2 was playing 2 of the 11 song regularly (Beautiful Day & Elevation) only occasionally pulling out acoustic versions of "Walk On", "Stuck In A Moment" and later on the last leg of the tour... "Kite". Considered that only Beautiful Day and Elevation were the only tunes were played regularly, it doesn't appear that even U2 belive it to be their strongest album.

    More proof? Today's Super Bowl 1/2 time show. Bruce played FOUR song - TWO of them were from the 'Born To Run' album. Yet more proof that 30+ years later, 'Born To Run' is still held in high regard by Bruce and The E Street Band... and from the looks of things... the fans and crowd at today's game too.
  5. ...for the sake of clarity, I like ATYCLB. I think it's a very good album. But in my honest view, Bruce's 'Born To Run' smokes it, track for track.
  6. Originally posted by anstratdubh1979:
    Of All That You Can't Leave Behind's 11 tracks - by the following tour (2005-2006 Vertigo tour) U2 was playing 2 of the 11 song regularly (Beautiful Day & Elevation) only occasionally pulling out acoustic versions of "Walk On", "Stuck In A Moment" and later on the last leg of the tour... "Kite". Considered that only Beautiful Day and Elevation were the only tunes were played regularly, it doesn't appear that even U2 belive it to be their strongest album.


    That doesn't have to mean that it's not a strong album , UF songs is played a little during Vertigo tour and it's one of their best albums
  7. Hold your horses


    Originally posted by BonoIsTheMessiah:
    Its why Springsteen's Born In The U.S.A. is not as good as The River or Born To Run or even Nebraska. In both cases, Born In The U.S.A. and HTDAAB are good albums, not great ones.


  8. Considering the thread title:

    Actually, after 11 pages I don't see or hear anyone ripping on ATYCLB. Some people do complain about aspects of HTDAAB - but I do remember that others hyped it with statements like "Their first album was 'Boy', they should have named this one 'Man'".

    Some people just rank some U2 albums higher or lower than other U2 albums for their own reasons, which I don't consider any problem. People's reception of art is always different.

    I've heard some interesting opinions in this thread but I won't let myself be forced to rank any album different than I did before. HTDAAB is from the position of my personal taste, as I stated before, still my third favourite U2 album after JT and AB.

    I gave ATYCLB a few more spins last week, and my feelings toward it indeed have changed - for better and for worse.

    Now it feels to me like divided into three parts, sadly each of them a little weaker than its precedessor. The first two songs are different but perfect in their own right, then comes "Elevation" which kind of distracts me musically and heavily disturbs ATYCLB's listening flow - it's another great song with great guitar riff but it sounds like a sudden flashback to ZooTV. So far the album indeed sounds uneven, more like a song collection than like an album. From then on we have some "meaningful" midtempo songs with lyrics that probably sound a little too willfully constructed, leaving behind all the irony from the previous trilogy. This does give some cohesiveness and album feel. My personal problem with ATYCLB is that I think it ends with its three weakest tracks. WILATW might still be quite okay, but I can't connect to "New York" at all, and I consider "Grace" a failure to lyrically hit the target. The line "Grace is the name for a girl" sounds awfully cheesy to me while I miss a reference to God without whom the whole concept of grace doesn't seem to make much sense.

    After all the album is definitely worth knowing, buying and listening, even if it's not a masterpiece like JT and AB. It's still closer to my soul than POP, Zooropa and the first three albums.

    I agree to the wikipedia quotes about POP. Couldn't have said it better. I admit that I prefer the "Best of 1990-2000" versions to the POP album versions. Just the improvement in drum sound alone was IMHO already worth the remixing. I'd really like to hear MOFO rerecorded "Vertigo"- style - I always thought the song could need a heavy lead gutar.

    Just my 0.02, as always. No offence intended.

    Peace and Love

    Alex


  9. I actually can't believe how many posts this thread has received. It's quite comical.
  10. Originally posted by flowerchild:[..]

    velvet dress a filler? *is appalled* D:
    lol.

    seriously though. I don't think pop can be put into the same 'electronica' genre as ab and zooropa. pop got a whole different 'feel' to it, imo, which makes it stand out so much.


    Listen to the Jools Holland version if you think the song is filler.
  11. Originally posted by WojBhoy:[..]
    Not to mention that they didn't make an album of singles - they got some strange amalgamation of the two (i.e. cohesive thematic work + album of singles). I think Achtung Baby was as close as they've ever got to nailing that balance...


    Agree completely. AB is by far the strongest album on a song by song basis, yet still retains thematic cohesion.

    ATYCLB though billed as an album of singles, certainly didn't come out that way, many of the songs simply wouldn't succeed mainstream (BD aside). Cringeworthy songs like Elevation just showed up their age.

    And I don't think anyone really dislike's ATYCLB anyway, the whipping boy seems to be HTDAAB, it is quite possible that this is mainly due to thefact that they followed up one conservative album with another. If they hadn't this topic would be nonexistent.
  12. I rather like ATYCLB. Great cover, and I adore New York.
    HTDAAB, on the other hand, is not very good, although by each listen I begin to see it differently. The quitar is flat, and the "riffs" are not inventive, Bono is at his worst, and the prodution is just meh. OOS is great though, and COBY is fairly good, albeit poppy.
    I think Born in the USA is great, but Nebraska and Born to Run are better. Still, BITUSA is better than HTDAAB and ATYCLB(maybe tied on the last one).maybe.
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