Good news for U2 fans..

[Sir Stewart]

ENO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[jcroach]

Rolling Stone is giving the album five stars...not surprised, since they give all the veterans high ratings.

 

Link? I couldn't find the review on their site.

[Azzurri]

Link? I couldn't find the review on their site.

 

you can see it on the cover of the current edition - it's with Taylor Swift. in the corner, it says "U2's Five Star Masterpiece"

 

i haven't seen the text though

[solace]

how they didn't pick 'Magnificent' as the first single is beyond me... retarded business decision really.

it BETTER be the second single at least...

 

my guesses:

 

2nd: Magnificent

3rd: Moment of Surrender

4th: Breathe (maybe a shorter edit?, this is a stretch that the album has 4 single worthy tracks)

[airtaco]

PM pleaseeeee

[redpillbox]

P(lease)M(e)?

 

I'm pretty sure I read they were going to release "Crazy Tonight" as a single.

[Duck-Billed Catechist]

I think they went in tracklist order for the singles on the last two albums. I could be wrong, though.

[solace]

P(lease)M(e)?

 

I'm pretty sure I read they were going to release "Crazy Tonight" as a single.

 

oh god, that's one of the worst songs on the album... but wouldn't surprise me if they did it

[Analogman]

My first thought is that the songs seem to start out nice, and then go off into something else. I was really actually getting into No Line On The Horizon, and then the music changed course about 3 times, or however many times it is. I have to say once again, Larry is a great drummer.

[Azzurri]

My first thought is that the songs seem to start out nice, and then go off into something else. I was really actually getting into No Line On The Horizon, and then the music changed course about 3 times, or however many times it is. I have to say once again, Larry is a great drummer.

 

isn't that a good thing? i like when songs have tempo changes and do not follow verse-chorus-verse formula

[Analogman]

I guess I just prefer the The Unforgettable Fire/Joshua Tree/Rattle and Hum period above all else. Anything else is sort of hard for me to get into. I'll have to check it out some more.

[u2roolz]

Hey All,

 

I came home last night and I was shocked to hear this strange/conspiratorial news about the leak. I waited an hour online waiting for a PM.

I listened to the album for the 1st time at 415am. It really moved me and blew me away. Not one song is weak in my opinion.

If I were to rank the last 3 records I'd probably put All That You Can't Leave Behind 3rd and Atomic Bomb and Horizon in a close picture perfect finish.

 

I've kept my U2roolz screen name for VC to show that even a once die hard well let's put it this way when U2 goes on a 4 year hiatus I usually venture elsewhere for music. One of those places I ventured was here in Wilco land ( circa 2003 lol). Friends dropped jaws when I told them that a certain band blew U2 out of the water. Well, that was before these friends saw Wilco live and bought their records. So I guess I wear that nomenclature of U2roolz as a reminder that I still love U2 even if they only come around once every election year. But as a tipoff that a once U2 fanatic who captured all their bootlegs and has seen them 16 times over 3 tours can switch camps into Wilco's fan community. I guess a bit of Bono's megalomania rubbed off on me thinking that people would go why is this guy U2roolz on a VC message board. But here's the thing : I love it here and feel/see the love for Wilco and their unique brand of generosity amongst the usual. Over at the U2 forums there seems to be a negative vibe. Fans were bashing the record already based off of 2 songs. Obviously they are entitled to their opinion and I'd be upset if I looked forward to a new record every 4 years and was a little bit let down. I'm aware of the people who don't like Sky Blue Sky and I get their gripe but well what can you do ?

 

Thanks,

 

Kristofor

 

PS I feel that the U2 and the Wilco concert experiences are both completely different and I wouldn't give up either. I'm lucky to have seen them as much as I have. I've lost count of Wilco so...I should figure that out...(checked it out .... 15 times from 2003-2008 and one Jeff Tweedy and one Autumn Defense show)

[Analogman]

It does seem to have energy. I did notice that.

[Moss]

Looking forward to hearing it, a new U2 is always an event. When is the actual release date?

[u2roolz]

Hey Moss,

 

Friday February 27th for UK/Japan/Australia...i think maybe a combo of those 2 locales

Tuesday March 2nd in the US/Canada

 

 

Thanks

 

Kristofor

[jcroach]

Hey Moss,

 

Friday February 27th for UK/Japan/Australia...i think maybe a combo of those 2 locales

Tuesday March 2nd in the US/Canada

 

 

Thanks

 

Kristofor

 

Tuesday, March 3rd in the US.

[bigideas]

does the bass player do that thing where he plays eighth notes throughout the song of the root note of the chords?

[EL the Famous]

only listened to it once so far and i'm pretty much down w/ almost all of what kyle said...exception being that I really liked ATYCLB. this is definitely better than atomic bomb. outside of that, my only comment is that while tweedy can make an ATM machine work lyrically, Bono...not so much.

[LenF]

Listened to it twice. Not sure where I am at with it, which can range in eventual meaning from "there's a lot of depth to explore and eventually it will reveal its greatness" to "it's a mess".

[redpillbox]

I did the whole black-out thing with the last album (read no reviews, didn't listen to the single) and went in cold. This time I've been reading pretty much everything...downloaded the single. I was encouraged when I read that it would be pushing the envelope a bit and then discouraged when I read reviews that said it wasn't as big a departure as advertised...I listened to the album for the first time and the overall impression I gleaned was that it is anything but a "safe" record. All the experiments (and there are many) MIGHT not work in the long run, over repeated listens, but for a band at this point in their career, the record feels like they put everything on the line with it (no pun intended). They took chances.

 

They may fall flat on their face, but at least they'll go down swinging (this applies to Bono's vocal lines especially). This is what I've missed with the last two records (which I enjoyed), I missed the adventurism and the feeling of "what will they do next." The album is dense and sonically diverse. It'll take a while to process. I wouldn't read too much into the many snap reviews (both praising and panning), which at this point can only be described as "first impressions." Hell, I can put on Achtung Baby today and hear something new in it...it's always been amazing to me that people can take an album after one listen and attempt to wrap it up in a nice critical bow. Anyway, that's just an aside on the nature of criticism I suppose.

 

Bottom line: This has me pretty excited.

 

Another thing: I don't see how they can work the majority of these songs into the live set. They've always tailored their albums to be live vehicles...even choosing which songs to include based on what will be a better song to play live (I'm thinking specifically of cutting "Heartland" in favor of "Trip Through Your Wires" on JT here). It feels like Eno finally won them over on this album...he's always tried to get them to use the studio more as an instrument and not worry too much about the live show when recording. I can really see that in this record...it'll be curious to watch how they try and pull it off.

[u2roolz]

Hello,

 

Yeah, I was thinking the same thing. It's an odd time to choose to go back and play stadiums. I mean I get the chew and screw concept of it. 1 night instead of 3.

But they had trouble with Zooropa trying to translate it live. I have a couple of bootlegs and the song sounds ok live but it starts at the "And I have no compass...".

They only played Zooropa 3 times, Babyface 5 times (which somehow kind of worked, took the place of Tryin To Throw Your Arms Around The World as female audience participation), they actually I think tried Stay (Faraway, So Close) full band electric only a couple of shows and than went to the acoustic version that's on ZooTV Live From Sydney. Although, they somehow managed to pull off Dirty Day (which was amazing), Daddy's Gonna Pay For Your Crashed Car, and Lemon all 3 of which weren't played until they hit Australia/Japan for the last 5 shows or so of the Zooropa/Zoomerang tour. So the point I'm making is that the bulk of the Zooropa 1993 tour was mostly like the Outside Broadcast/ZooTV shows of 1992. With the exception of the Mirror Ball Man being out in 1993 and being replaced by Mr. MacPhisto. I remember the opening of PopMart in Las Vegas being a somewhat disaster. They could never get Staring At The Sun right with the full band plugged in so they stripped it down and it sounds better acoustic. But on the last 2 tours they've pulled off the new songs beautifully, although this record I think will break that run. I don't know if I'd rather have them tour with Eno/Lanois or settle for U2 performing NLOTH just as a 4 piece.

 

I can't wait to see what Wilco's record sounds like in the spring/summer. Could this be the year that both U2 and Wilco end up on Year End lists? I personally think that Wilco is more that suitably capable of taking down U2 in a better album this year.

 

Thanks,

Kristofor

[Sir Stewart]

I listened to the album for the first time and the overall impression I gleaned was that it is anything but a "safe" record. All the experiments (and there are many) MIGHT not work in the long run, over repeated listens, but for a band at this point in their career, the record feels like they put everything on the line with it (no pun intended). They took chances.

 

They may fall flat on their face, but at least they'll go down swinging (this applies to Bono's vocal lines especially). This is what I've missed with the last two records (which I enjoyed), I missed the adventurism and the feeling of "what will they do next." The album is dense and sonically diverse. It'll take a while to process. I wouldn't read too much into the many snap reviews (both praising and panning), which at this point can only be described as "first impressions." Hell, I can put on Achtung Baby today and hear something new in it...it's always been amazing to me that people can take an album after one listen and attempt to wrap it up in a nice critical bow. Anyway, that's just an aside on the nature of criticism I suppose.

 

Bottom line: This has me pretty excited.

 

Another thing: I don't see how they can work the majority of these songs into the live set. They've always tailored their albums to be live vehicles...even choosing which songs to include based on what will be a better song to play live (I'm thinking specifically of cutting "Heartland" in favor of "Trip Through Your Wires" on JT here). It feels like Eno finally won them over on this album...he's always tried to get them to use the studio more as an instrument and not worry too much about the live show when recording. I can really see that in this record...it'll be curious to watch how they try and pull it off.

 

I like all of this.

[Three dollars and 63 cents]

Since I've managed to avoid the leak for the first 24 hours, I think I'll manage to hold out for the official release. Usually I don't bother waiting, but when it's a band I love, I like to bring the CD home and really savor it the first few times. I like what I've been reading about other people's reactions so far, though. I definitely think my most diehard days as a U2 fan are behind me, but I'm still looking forward to this.

[u2roolz]

Hey All,

 

I listened to it again today and it is an amazing record in my opinion. Fearless. Exciting. Pushing the envelope. Expanding the U2 myth.

Everything just clicks. The melodies, chord changes, arrangements, backing vocals, The Edge's solos, Bono's vocals (he's actually singing again and not speaking the lyrics). A real grower. In my ears and eyes a real masterpiece. Simply blown away!

 

Thanks,

 

Kristofor

[solace]

lol.