SOE
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U2 - Songs Of Experience (2017)
 Tracks: 14
  1. well, they said SOI wasn't "noisy" enough in the end, even though I think they put some amazingly daring stuff on the album (sleep like a baby tonight) that speaks for itself... maybe that pushes them to be a little "snottier" with SOE experience SHOULD tell them by now that overproducing/perfectionism isn't always good... while being good albums, it stopped HTDAAB from being rockier than it could have been and NLOTH from being the spiritual, morocco-inspired concept album it was supposed to be.


    imo
  2. Their worst album -whatever that is- is still one of my favourite albums of all time.


    Once said that, I thought it was a weird exchange some posts above... I've always thought of Pop as the less half-assed album and/but probably the most overproduced one.

    I've said before that their MO seems to be:
    1. Redefine yourself and release 1 great album. Succeed.
    2. Take that concept to the next step, release another great album and throw it to the hungry masses. Succeed.
    3. Feel like you can't go wrong with that concept, so don't be shy and take it even further away, release another album and get ridiculed or ignored because of it. Go back to step one.
    Just swap October/War and the pattern works.

    Originally posted by bpt3:Anyway, back to SOE. If the I & E tour currently already has an innocence theme and experience theme with the stage and set list narrative, does this worry anyone that the band will end up overthinking the album and not releasing it until the end of the tour?
    I keep saying that (reading directly or indirectly on several interviews) it depends on crowd reactions to the SOI material. If they see people involved the "new" songs, they'll feel encouraged to release another album. Otherwise it could go from holding SOE some more years or why bother and just call it a day.
  3. I'd be really happy to see another album within the next year but I'm not holding my breath.

    Perhaps I'm being optimistic..
  4. Originally posted by Bloodraven:[..]
    I've said before that their MO seems to be:
    1. Redefine yourself and release 1 great album. Succeed.
    2. Take that concept to the next step, release another great album and throw it to the hungry masses. Succeed.
    3. Feel like you can't go wrong with that concept, so don't be shy and take it even further away, release another album and get ridiculed or ignored because of it. Go back to step one.
    Just swap October/War and the pattern works.
    [..]


    That actually makes sense when you think about it
  5. Originally posted by flowerchild:well, they said SOI wasn't "noisy" enough in the end, even though I think they put some amazingly daring stuff on the album (sleep like a baby tonight) that speaks for itself... maybe that pushes them to be a little "snottier" with SOE experience SHOULD tell them by now that overproducing/perfectionism isn't always good... while being good albums, it stopped HTDAAB from being rockier than it could have been and NLOTH from being the spiritual, morocco-inspired concept album it was supposed to be.


    imo
    You are gifted with words.
  6. Originally posted by bpt3:I understand the point of comparison between Pop and ATYCLB production-wise, but how can Pop be labeled "half-assed"?


    Half of it was amazing, but the other half was... ass.

  7. No it isn't.



    Peace be with you.
  9. No matter what they do, in the interviews, it's always "We're writing our greatest material ever!" That joke has worn out with me. When either Eno or Lanois said "Moment of Surrender," was "The greatest moment of my career in the studio," you have to think he's out of his mind. Sure, "Moment" is a nice song, but career defining? No. Not close. I like SOI, but hearing them drone on about how good the songs are is wearing thin. They played 8 or so of the songs at the first Vancouver show, and I'm afraid that a few months in it will be 2-3 and a total clone of 360 where they lost faith in the NLOTH songs.

    The SOE album has to simply have the best songs, and not be overproduced. U2 apparently are over-reliant on producers. Most popular acts are able to self-produce by the time they are 10 years in a career, but nearly 40 years in, they can't do it. I wish they had stuck with Rick Rubin, as his concept of just listening to the band play is probably smarter than we all could ever know. Having Ryan Tedder, Danger Mouse, or (Insert young overhyped name of any producer here) is not such a great thing. Just make a record and stand by it. You don't need anybody's approval.

    And NLOTH was not a failure. They should have played Breathe, Magnificient, Boots, NLOTH every show, and maybe Stand Up Comedy every now and then...But this awful notion that no hit singles means bad albums is contrived, and I have no idea what led them to believe this. If they thought NLOTH was poorly received, SOI gets no airlplay in any city I have been in. Only the acoustic Every Breaking Wave got a few spins, and now has vanished....

    SOE would be a great gift...if they can actually finish it. I'm scared it will take 5 years...but that story has been told before.
  10. What a pessimistic outlook, pleasegone!

    MoS really must have been a great moment in the studio, if it's true that the song was mostly recorded live. I'd have been shivering throughout. And the new album really is good! They've left out some great songs, such as Volcano and TIWYCRMN. I don't think the new songs will wear out during the tour - I'm actually quite confident we'll get to see some new material live next year.

    And: I think Danger Mouse did some fantastic production work on SOI!


  11. while I do support pleasegone's plea for the band to just do their thing and not listen so much to producers for once, I have to agree that danger mouse did some amazing stuff for u2.
  12. i think every album is good and unique in its own way and you cant expect another pop album because it just wouldnt be original then would it ?? but thats my opinion..
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