SOE
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U2 - Songs Of Experience (2017)
 Tracks: 14
  1. No problem!

    (I'm only pretending I know what's going on here )
  2. Originally posted by KaiserJose:Define 'relevance'.

    One thing I've noticed from the last decade or so is that very few songs that were hits have stayed relevant in the long run. I'm at an age now where if I'm on a night out in a drinking area with a load of uni students, I'm expecting to hear the music they grew up to, not mine.

    'Sex on Fire', 'Mr. Brightside', 'Sexy Back' were all songs played when around the time of my first degree, and they're still being played now. And get to a certain hour of the night with a certain level of imbibing of particular beverages, and people will sing aloud those tracks.



    But the last two albums have failed to produce a single song that has stayed in the heads of the casual listener beyond a month or two. Can't be too surprised at this direction folks


    From one point of view, yes, but I have a friend who bought NLOTH and still listens to Breathe, Magnificent, and the title track, and he is quite the casual fan. Sadly, other than the acoustic Every Breaking Wave, nothing on SOI made a mark on the same friend, who somehow stumbled on SOI in his Eye Tunes, but I had to copy the bonus disc. Seems this "casual fan" liked Crystal Ballroom, Lucifer's Hands, Invisible, and the acoustic Wave more than what was on the album. Sure my friend has similar taste in music to me, but did not dig California, perhaps my favorite on the album.

    So despite, none of the NLOTH or SOI songs becoming "relevant" or hits, they mean a lot to some fans, mainly diehards of course, but some casual fans among the 450 trillion who have SOI in their Eye Tunes. But it seems society could care less about music anymore anyway. People my age simply listen to oldies stations that play the same 100 songs over and over again. Like Def Leppard's Pour Some Sugar, Billy Joel's Piano Man, and Prince's Raspberry Beret, U2's With Or Without You, etc.


  3. Sure it was played, however, I was asking specifically about the "radio edit". I guess they just played the song which has been released and not a specific "radio edit".
  4. Originally posted by pleasegone:[..]


    From one point of view, yes, but I have a friend who bought NLOTH and still listens to Breathe, Magnificent, and the title track, and he is quite the casual fan. Sadly, other than the acoustic Every Breaking Wave, nothing on SOI made a mark on the same friend, who somehow stumbled on SOI in his Eye Tunes, but I had to copy the bonus disc. Seems this "casual fan" liked Crystal Ballroom, Lucifer's Hands, Invisible, and the acoustic Wave more than what was on the album. Sure my friend has similar taste in music to me, but did not dig California, perhaps my favorite on the album.

    So despite, none of the NLOTH or SOI songs becoming "relevant" or hits, they mean a lot to some fans, mainly diehards of course, but some casual fans among the 450 trillion who have SOI in their Eye Tunes. But it seems society could care less about music anymore anyway. People my age simply listen to oldies stations that play the same 100 songs over and over again. Like Def Leppard's Pour Some Sugar, Billy Joel's Piano Man, and Prince's Raspberry Beret, U2's With Or Without You, etc.
    Eye Tunes is brilliant
  5. If U2 had followed a more traditional release strategy for SoI (maybe keep the surprise release, but without pissing a ton of people off) and made Crystal Ballroom the first single, I've no doubt it would've had more traction.

    Just like if the Kygo Best Thing was the first single, it would've had more traction too
  6. Originally posted by RattleandHum1988:If U2 had followed a more traditional release strategy for SoI (maybe keep the surprise release, but without pissing a ton of people off) and made Crystal Ballroom the first single, I've no doubt it would've had more traction.

    Just like if the Kygo Best Thing was the first single, it would've had more traction too
    The one thing that went wrong with the release is that it was downloaded into everyone's phone, so it became an opt-out instead of an opt-in. That's what pissed people off. Of course the promo tour was also halted by Bono's injury.
  7. Originally posted by dieder:[..]
    The one thing that went wrong with the release is that it was downloaded into everyone's phone, so it became an opt-out instead of an opt-in. That's what pissed people off. Of course the promo tour was also halted by Bono's injury.
    True, true. But the album still didn't really have a strong lead single either.
  8. I've seen that in some releases on iTunes and other online sites, you could hear snippets of 30 seconds or even 1 minute a couple of weeks before launch.

    Do you think we could listen to SOE snippets before launch?
  9. Other than the crazy mistake of "Boots" instead of "Magnificent," the single choices have not been that big an issue. Even in 2009 they were in that age 50 range where it is nearly impossible to have a hit, especially in the USA, where we are programmed like lifeless morons to only listen to 4-10 songs by the artists we grew up with. As long as those 4-10 songs are really really old. A station may play a new song for a week or two, but then it will be gone, forever. The acoustic version of "Wave" is the only song I have heard in the state of Florida on the radio from either SOI or SOE. And that was maybe five times. Sad.
  10. Originally posted by pleasegone:[..]
    Other than the crazy mistake of "Boots" instead of "Magnificent," the single choices have not been that big an issue. Even in 2009 they were in that age 50 range where it is nearly impossible to have a hit, especially in the USA, where we are programmed like lifeless morons to only listen to 4-10 songs by the artists we grew up with. As long as those 4-10 songs are really really old. A station may play a new song for a week or two, but then it will be gone, forever. The acoustic version of "Wave" is the only song I have heard in the state of Florida on the radio from either SOI or SOE. And that was maybe five times. Sad.
    Yeah, it is, but I still think there's a bit of U2 not really knowing what's best for a first single, either. It always seems like they're chasing what was popular a few years before rather than either what IS or what might be popular, you know?

    But it's definitely a science, and you're right, there's a good chance that no matter what they put out as a first single, it wouldn't give them much traction anyway. My local alternative rock station plays U2 all the time, but it's never anything after 2005.
  11. Originally posted by RattleandHum1988:[..]
    Yeah, it is, but I still think there's a bit of U2 not really knowing what's best for a first single, either. It always seems like they're chasing what was popular a few years before rather than either what IS or what might be popular, you know?

    But it's definitely a science, and you're right, there's a good chance that no matter what they put out as a first single, it wouldn't give them much traction anyway. My local alternative rock station plays U2 all the time, but it's never anything after 2005.
    Interesting discussion. I don't know that they could not have had a hit in 2009. After ATYCLB and HTDAAB, NLOTH was very, very highly anticipated. GOYB just disappointed everyone I think (although I quite liked it at the time and still don't hate it). If they would have released Maginficent up from everyone would have said 'Yes they're back!'. But damn, those were different times. Muse was also quite big then. Rock wasn't as dead as it is now.
  12. Originally posted by RattleandHum1988:If U2 had followed a more traditional release strategy for SoI (maybe keep the surprise release, but without pissing a ton of people off) and made Crystal Ballroom the first single, I've no doubt it would've had more traction.

    Just like if the Kygo Best Thing was the first single, it would've had more traction too
    The Crystal Ballroom, urgh.
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Contribute to the U2 community with uploading photos or by telling us which shows you have visited.
Contribute to the U2 community with uploading photos or by telling us which shows you have visited.