Now, this is not necessarily a bad thing, as GOYBs reminds me of a amalgamation of the “raw” production feel, and stacatto lyric delivery of “Vertigo”, mixed with the pop sheen of “Elevation”, and “Beautiful Day”, and a VERY catchy groove vaguley reminiscent of “Discotheque”. Does this mean that U2 have run out of ideas, that they’re merely rehashing “old tricks”? No. Does it mean that at this stage, with studio album number tweleve, and each previous album inhibiting a unique sound and grouping of lyrical motifs and metaphors, that we, the audience, are going to wean out some similiarities in songs regarding their musical and lyrical arrangment from time-to-time? Yes. I can’t think of another contemporary, mainstream popular music rock band that have created such a beautiful artistic tapestry as U2 have, if someone does know of such a group, please tell me, as I’d like to hear what they have to offer in comparision.

I “discovered” U2 with “Discotheque”, which is still my favorie all-time lead off single for an album, and one of my favorite videos. So I’m a little bias when it comes to their 90s output, and the Pop album in particular. For me, Pop is easily their most sonically adventurous album of their 90s triad, with some of Bono’s best lyrics, albiet it was an album deemed not quite complete by band members’ admission. Not that if they’d “completed” it, that it would’ve changed much, nor been more “accepted” in America in my opinion, as they were attempting to juxtapose rock music with electronic dance music, something I feel the album balances quite well.

But, back to the crux of my point, that of adventure and experimentation. These two terms are what make U2 who they are, at least for me. While each lead off single kind of makes people do a sonic double-take; eventually, we the audience, adjust to the “new” sound and incorporate it into the larger U2 canon, at least that’s what I do. What will NLOTH sound like, based off of GOYBs, its anyone’s guess. Though judging from initial press releases of those journalists fortunate enough to gain privy to the album, it looks to be quite eclectic in its range of songs and sounds.

Personally, I feel it’ll be a closure to ATYCLB and HTDAAB, as well as an opening to a new artistic direction, the same as Pop closed the 90s triad and offered hints of ATYCLB (listen to it and focus on the musical arrangment of how each of the songs have a similar “essence” feel to them as ATYCLB, but whose production is overlayed/interspeced with elements of electronic dance music, and then listen to ALYCLB). Will this be another “back-to-basics” album, as the previous two are commonly deemed, I don’t think so, and judging from inital press reports, it will be very eclectic.

Not that ATYCLB and HTDAAB are anything remotely close to “back to basics”, because if they were, they’d be pure punk, as U2 started out as part of the punk movement, and still identify themselves as coming from that movement. If anything, the last two albums are, for me a sort of quintisential “essence”, a sort of organic sound that belies the maturity and depth that are found in the lyrics. They may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but they (and NLOTH) were inspiring for U2, each in their turn, and eventually they were (and NLOTH will be) the same for me.

I’d like to close with two quotes, one from an earlier post from John, and one from Bono, as each hit upon what I’m attempting to articulate, better than I can.

Jon states: “I think we’ve all got to be a bit more honest with ourselves as fans, and approach this album as fans of the music, not fans of the institution of the band. Because then we’re not doing the band, the music, or ourselves any favors.”

Bono notes, in reference to Irish poet Brendan Kennelly’s notion of “the best way to serve an age is to betray it” and how that idea played a large role in the years between Achtung Baby and the end of the ZooTV Tour, but an idea which, in my opinion, also holds true to all U2 albums:

“That became our theme for the next couple of years, to do everything U2 weren’t supposed to do. We had a deep-seated belief that the spirit of the band was true enough and imperishable enough to not rely on any obvious guitar sounds or signatures to come through. It would come through anyways. . . . What we were trying to say was: ‘We exist as a band. It’s our chemistry, not a formula.’ And so we threw out all the sounds and themes that were associated with our band.” (U2 By U2, p 225)

While, some more “familiar” elements sounds have found their way onto ATYCLB and HTDAAB, as well as GOYBs, I still feel U2 are as alive with adventure and experimentation as ever, even if I’m stilll warming up to GOYBs (lol!!) I think its important to let the music speak for itself, and not let our expectations of what that music may sound like, speak for us instead. I look forward to the new sound of NLOTH, let me in, let me in, “LET ME IN THE SOUND!!”

i do agree with the last post that this is likely the most commercial song, which does bode well for the new album, because i think in general, for us old u2 fans, the less commercial the better.

i also wonder…do the fans who really like GOYB also really like ATYCLB & HTDAAB…and vice versa?

let’s face it, any U2 release at this stage in their marketing life is going to be anticlimatic for many. but i predict they will have the last laugh; we need to remember that this is track #6, and it’s the first single because it’s likely the most commercial. goyb will be the record that links nloth (the 3rd lp in the current trilogy) with atyclb & htdaab. from there, i am hoping and praying for the amazing.

and “Boots” is a fricking groove machine. ; )

Flame away!

but is Boots a strong single? nope. i predict it’ll flop in the charts like Discotheque – a quick hit number one then fade miserably. Discotheque is like Boots in that there really isn’t anything THERE, other then it’s just different then what u2 did before.

Yes, there are bands that have played that long, but most break up long before then or deteriorate into tribute bands. The most successful artists who remain hit makers are solo acts, like Bruce Springsteen, even though he’s brought the E Street Band with him at times.

I’m happy to see U2 give it a go, especially since I think 3/4s of the band still looks extremely hot. They’re the same age as Obama, basically, and he’s considered a “young” president with a lot less experience at governing than U2 have in playing music. Don’t start counting them out on age alone, judge them on what it sounds like.

I wasn’t trying to compare that. I was comparing the fan’s reactions to the two songs.