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  1. Pop represents what most bands long for, but will never be able to do. It's a band's achievement diving into the unknown and coming out alive. Pop is breathtaking in its entirety. Sure it seems unfinished in places, but in others its absolutely perfect. This was U2 completely tilted on its axis. They went in and created something so unique... so not U2(by most people's standards). After the 180 they took with Achtung Baby, they pressed further into the unknown with Zooropa and finished us off with Pop. I commend them for this album. Having the drive to just create and express how much they CAN do. This is what has always set U2 apart from other bands.

    I'm reminded of what Edge said about the album when it came out (I believe I read this in the Propaganda book). "It's very difficult to pin this record down. It's not got an identity because it's got so many." And that's exactly what it has. This record is all over the place, but somehow flows together naturally. Maybe that's just because I've heard it so many times.

    Let me just say, I did not like this album immediately. It took a while to grow on me. After all I can stand techno or most Pop music, but this album has gotten into my blood. I was riding in my car at night with it blasting and it just sunk in. Ever since then, its been my magnetic north. I always go back to it.

    I can totally understand why someone wouldn't like this album, but hearing someone stomp on it, only makes me spin it more. If you don't enjoy it, don't give up on it. It's there, just waiting...
  2. Originally posted by popmarterU2 forgot who they were with this album and tried to be something they were not : a dance/pop band a lot of the songs were of little substance and didnt have the strength that previous songs had,however Gone DYFL Mofo and please will always be the standout tracks for me and have stood the test of time,


    Woah. Okay, let me preface by saying I was one of those fans who heard Discotheque and was totally turned off until ATYCLB came out. But since then I've gone back to Pop and realize that they didn't forget who they are at all. Last Night on Earth is a pretty typical rockin U2 song as is Gone (could have been on AB if you ask me) And all the dark beauties like Velvet Dress, Please, and Wake Up Dead Man are beautiful U2 songs (much better than the likes of Wild Honey or Grace if you ask me). I really have to disagree with your statement about them forgetting who they are. They knew exactly who they were and were just looking for different ways of expressing it.

    Just my opinion though, I guess, as everyone's entitled to their own.

  3. Originally posted by fendermanPop represents what most bands long for, but will never be able to do. It's a band's achievement diving into the unknown and coming out alive. Pop is breathtaking in its entirety. Sure it seems unfinished in places, but in others its absolutely perfect. This was U2 completely tilted on its axis. They went in and created something so unique... so not U2(by most people's standards). After the 180 they took with Achtung Baby, they pressed further into the unknown with Zooropa and finished us off with Pop. I commend them for this album. Having the drive to just create and express how much they CAN do. This is what has always set U2 apart from other bands.

    I'm reminded of what Edge said about the album when it came out (I believe I read this in the Propaganda book). "It's very difficult to pin this record down. It's not got an identity because it's got so many." And that's exactly what it has. This record is all over the place, but somehow flows together naturally. Maybe that's just because I've heard it so many times.

    Let me just say, I did not like this album immediately. It took a while to grow on me. After all I can stand techno or most Pop music, but this album has gotten into my blood. I was riding in my car at night with it blasting and it just sunk in. Ever since then, its been my magnetic north. I always go back to it.

    I can totally understand why someone wouldn't like this album, but hearing someone stomp on it, only makes me spin it more. If you don't enjoy it, don't give up on it. It's there, just waiting...




    this has been the record that always gets me back into U2, which might be ironic for some people. But i agree with you about the 'magnetic north', there is a subtle magic in it that has to be looked for, but when it's found...oh lord...you know you've found it
  4. Originally posted by thefly07[..]



    this has been the record that always gets me back into U2, which might be ironic for some people. But i agree with you about the 'magnetic north', there is a subtle magic in it that has to be looked for, but when it's found...oh lord...you know you've found it


    Absolutely agreed. It's really hard to express how I feel about this record. I would have to say your right with "Magic." That's just it.
  5. i've tried to really like this album, but i can't! I agree that the album could have benefited from more production time. I was amazed at how "incomplete" Last Night On Earth sounds after having had listened to the single version for so long. I think the reason I don't appreciate it as much is because it followed Achtung and Zooropa. Those two albums were so much of a shock (in a good way, of course) from what they had been doing the previous decade, and for me, they still hold up well individually and as albums. POP has some good songs, but if i had to choose between a POP song and an Achtung/Zooropa song for a compilation, usually the POP song would be left off. I think a line from Staring at the Sun sums it up perfectly, "nearly great, but there's something missing......" I think a good idea would have been to combine Zooropa and POP to make one great album. That way they could have refined the songs (most of the Zooropa/POP songs much better live than on the actual cd) and come out with one GREAT album. Just my 3 cents worth here.....
  6. Originally posted by 44rmani've tried to really like this album, but i can't! I agree that the album could have benefited from more production time. I was amazed at how "incomplete" Last Night On Earth sounds after having had listened to the single version for so long. I think the reason I don't appreciate it as much is because it followed Achtung and Zooropa. Those two albums were so much of a shock (in a good way, of course) from what they had been doing the previous decade, and for me, they still hold up well individually and as albums. POP has some good songs, but if i had to choose between a POP song and an Achtung/Zooropa song for a compilation, usually the POP song would be left off. I think a line from Staring at the Sun sums it up perfectly, "nearly great, but there's something missing......" I think a good idea would have been to combine Zooropa and POP to make one great album. That way they could have refined the songs (most of the Zooropa/POP songs much better live than on the actual cd) and come out with one GREAT album. Just my 3 cents worth here.....


    I see Pop completely out in left field when it comes to even their 90s material. Achtung Baby and Zooropa I think could be one album considering Zooropa was born out of the energy of Zoo TV. Pop is just so different to everything even coming out of Zooropa. I've equated this album to being on a cocaine binge during the first 3 songs and then crashing hard during IGWSHA and the rest of the album is just crawling or stumbling through the city or your heart. During Miami, I can get imagine someone just completely strung out / withdrawing stumbling around the city, given the song's kind of sleaze aspect to it. The Playboy Mansion has this person contemplating death and pop culture. Velvet Dress could be our junky reaching out to the one girl who he thinks can save him. Please could be some sort of epiphany, to save or be saved. and of course Wake Up Dead Man is the ultimate conversation with one's Maker

    I didn't plan on going through it like that but I'm glad I did, I hadn't really thought it out before

    EDIT: I need to include STATS LNOE and Gone

    So Staring at the Sun is waking up after passing out after the crash and having the sun hurt your eyes and then setting out (for miami?), last night on earth sounds like it could be an inner monologue of a junky or someone who just can't remember how to care, and Gone is more like staring at the sun where the junky just feels dizzy and his eyes hurt and all these thoughts are going through his head, although the line "not coming down" kind of ruins my whole "the latter part of the album is a crash" theory, BUT im sure you get it
  7. Originally posted by thefly07[..]

    I see Pop completely out in left field when it comes to even their 90s material. Achtung Baby and Zooropa I think could be one album considering Zooropa was born out of the energy of Zoo TV. Pop is just so different to everything even coming out of Zooropa. I've equated this album to being on a cocaine binge during the first 3 songs and then crashing hard during IGWSHA and the rest of the album is just crawling or stumbling through the city or your heart. During Miami, I can get imagine someone just completely strung out / withdrawing stumbling around the city, given the song's kind of sleaze aspect to it. The Playboy Mansion has this person contemplating death and pop culture. Velvet Dress could be our junky reaching out to the one girl who he thinks can save him. Please could be some sort of epiphany, to save or be saved. and of course Wake Up Dead Man is the ultimate conversation with one's Maker

    I didn't plan on going through it like that but I'm glad I did, I hadn't really thought it out before


    Ahh Yes! Great view on Pop! Its definitely a journey. I'm sure we can all relate to that at some point in our lives. I'm listening now. The spiritual depth to it is just as heavy as there is on a any of their other albums.
  8. Originally posted by fenderman[..]

    Ahh Yes! Great view on Pop! Its definitely a journey. I'm sure we can all relate to that at some point in our lives. I'm listening now. The spiritual depth to it is just as heavy as there is on a any of their other albums.



    yes! that seems to get over looked by some fans, the album is heavy with spiritual issues, as Edge said and i paraphrase, "it's got everything we always have, love, desire, faith in crisis, the usual."
  9. Originally posted by thefly07[..]

    yes! that seems to get over looked by some fans, the album is heavy with spiritual issues, as Edge said and i paraphrase, "it's got everything we always have, love, desire, faith in crisis, the usual."


    I hear that. The line in Mofo sums it up, "Still lookin' for the face I had before the world was made." I'm all about this album.
  10. Originally posted by fenderman[..]

    I hear that. The line in Mofo sums it up, "Still lookin' for the face I had before the world was made." I'm all about this album.



    love that line. end of story. such a great song
  11. I'm new to the forums, but I thought I would weigh on this topic because my opinion probably differs so much from most . . .

    First off, I'm not a fan of Pop! It's my husband's favorite album and because he's the one who got me interested in U2, I have tried to like it . . . It's a good album, and much better than most bands, however when I try to name my top 25 U2 songs (it's really hard for me to narrow it down to 10 ) none of them come from Pop.

    Originally posted by popmarterU2 forgot who they were with this album and tried to be something they were not : a dance/pop band


    Now I'm originally a fan of pop music, which is why I prefer JT, ATYCLB, and HTDAAB . . . A lot of songs from these albums are played on the radio, or at least the stations I listen to, which most people call pop = popular music. However, I have to defend Pop as a really smart album because it is truly a diatribe against pop music !! If you don't recall what was popular back then, it was the era of the boy bands, the Backstreet Boys, N'Sync, 98 Degrees, etc. I think this is where Bono's quote about U2 being a "man band" came from!!! Pop doesn't sound anything like the bubblegum music every record company was pushing back then, and even though the album is my personal least favorite I can't help but respect U2 for continuing to put out albums that aren't like everyone else !!
  12. Originally posted by Shula8205I'm new to the forums, but I thought I would weigh on this topic because my opinion probably differs so much from most . . .

    First off, I'm not a fan of Pop! It's my husband's favorite album and because he's the one who got me interested in U2, I have tried to like it . . . It's a good album, and much better than most bands, however when I try to name my top 25 U2 songs (it's really hard for me to narrow it down to 10 ) none of them come from Pop.

    [..]

    Now I'm originally a fan of pop music, which is why I prefer JT, ATYCLB, and HTDAAB . . . A lot of songs from these albums are played on the radio, or at least the stations I listen to, which most people call pop = popular music. However, I have to defend Pop as a really smart album because it is truly a diatribe against pop music !! If you don't recall what was popular back then, it was the era of the boy bands, the Backstreet Boys, N'Sync, 98 Degrees, etc. I think this is where Bono's quote about U2 being a "man band" came from!!! Pop doesn't sound anything like the bubblegum music every record company was pushing back then, and even though the album is my personal least favorite I can't help but respect U2 for continuing to put out albums that aren't like everyone else !!

    Except the band were trying to make an "ode to club culture" and wanted to combine dance/club influences with rock'n'roll, a sort of juxtaposition if you will?...with that in mind, I'm afraid I can't agree with you when you say it's an attack on pop music...but we all allowed our say and everyone's opinion is valid

    The PopMart tour was an attack on consumerism though, with all the big theatrics and the McDonalds arches etc., just as ZooTV was an attack on the whole concept of TV and the media, i.e. that we can watch anything on TV at the press of a button, yet not feel any kind of genuine emotion or connection, so I guess that's the attacking intent of the Pop era...but the album? I wouldn't have said so...
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