Question for those who say U2's *new* music is utterly worthless/crap, a question

hatrickpatrick

NB: This discussion is purely about U2's MUSIC, old vs new, if your problem with U2 is that they don't pay tax on royalties or that you think Bono is [insert Bono hate here] thats fine, but this isn't the thread for it. kthx

So we all know that modern U2 gets a huge amount of hate. Not counting the people who just hate U2 full stop, you often see people, fans even, posting things like "They were good, but everything they've done since AB has been crap, they should have broken up years ago" and similar.

I'm not here to challenge or disrespect those opinions in any way, but I've been wondering whether this new song they have is what those people are looking for? The first time I heard it my first thought was "This is classic U2" and then "This is probably what all the haters of 'new U2' have been looking for, I wonder if they'll like this one or hate it too?".
I'm just curious to be honest because as someone who was introduced to their newer music before their older music my viewpoint is probably very unusual (They're my absolute favourite band, but the first time I properly listened to them was when my parents brought me to see Vertigo in Croke Park '05, so my U2 fan-ness has always included their new work as well as their old). So I'm just wondering, do people regard this as a "classic U2" type song, or a "modern rubbish" song?

(Note that I love their modern stuff, I'm just curious about what those who hate it think of this particular new song)

This is an unreleased song from their stalled "Songs of Ascent" album, it was supposed to be the first single, and I dearly hope a finished version of it still ends up on their next album or released as a B side, or something, anything!

So if you have a second, I'm just curious as to whether those who loathe new U2 but liked 80s U2 regard this song as a good comeback to the old sound, or do you bracket it with the modern stuff you don't like?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q9C-z-dljsY

-Chris-

It's not doing much for me - it doesn't actually seem to go anywhere.

I don't see it becoming any kind of anthem or hitting the encore list anyway...

OKeeffer

Can't be bothered even watching that.

They haven't been relevant in any way since Achtung Baby and that was 20 years ago.

They just churn out the same sh*t now to be bought by "mad" germans and austrians and further line Bono's pockets.

If they had any integrity between the lot of them, they would have done some experimenting in music at some stage.

The closest they got to diverting from their usual rock-anthem-by-numbers formula was "Pop", and that was piggybacking the already successful dance music of the 1990s.....again, trying to fill their pockets on the back of an existing market created by actual music pioneers.

They are a despicable band. Their contribution to music fades with every new album they release and will soon be forgotten.

Their woeful appearance at Glastonbury was the final nail in the coffin. At least they admitted it was muck in Q magazine this month, I will give them that and nothing else.

-Chris-

OKeeffer wrote: »

Can't be bothered even watching that.

Wow, why even comment on a person's thread if you can't even be arsed to put any kind of effort in?
I'm sure there's a U2 rant megathread somewhere where you'd feel more at home...

judas101

Bono nicely off key at many parts of that video

Technocentral

I've so little interest in their pedestrian music that I'm not even bothered to reply to this thread.

A Primal Nut

That song's not too bad. The most stereotypical Edge Riff but nothing wrong with that.

I suppose everyone has got their own opinion about when U2 became irrelevant.

I remember I loved Pop and really loved U2 around that time but not many of my friends liked them. I couldn't wait for the next album and downloaded Beautiful Day as soon as I could. I thought it was cheesy and hated it and expected everyone to not think much of it either. I literally stopped listening to U2 for a few years I was so disappointed. Well, Beautiful Day and the album blew up and everyone suddenly loved them for a while. I hated Vertigo and that album as well, but I liked a few songs from their last album. Preferred it to the previous two mainly because of Magnificent and Unknown Caller.

They have re-invented themselves a lot throughout their career - Boy, Unforgettable Fire, Rattle and Hum's rock n'roll, Achtung Baby's harder rock style, Zooropa and Pop were all different to their predecessors. They have had a lot of great songs over the years. Even the people who hate U2 the most always have to admit to liking some of their songs....One, With or Without You, etc

A Primal Nut

Technocentral wrote: »

I've so little interest in their pedestrian music that I'm not even bothered to reply to this thread.

But you just did.

Technocentral

A Primal Nut wrote: »

But you just did.

I was been post modern, mate.

karaokeman

OKeeffer wrote: »

Can't be bothered even watching that

I think this is the line drawn under anyone who criticizes U2 for their "new" music. I agree with -Chris- that if you won't even watch the video you can't really comment on how it constitutes to U2's new music being crap. A lot of the people who claim to hate U2's new music have only heard "Get On Your Boots" and maybe "Magnificent", I would be hard pressed to hear them comment on any other song on their latest album. That is the point the OP is trying to make and you're making no effort to refute his argument by not watching the video.

In my experience for most people who claim to hate U2's new music, its because they just listen to whats in the charts or they hear the lead single and judge the entire album just on the basis of that one promotional track. "No Line On The Horizon" was by all means a good album. Whenever I hear anyone slating it, it is always over the lead single "Get On Your Boots". Its a provable contradiction, U2 are accused of all their songs sounding the same but yet when they do experiment those experimental songs are put down for being crap or modern rubbish.

OKeeffer wrote: »

If they had any integrity between the lot of them, they would have done some experimenting in music at some stage.

And that's what they have done with "Get On Your Boots" and other singles, which they have wrote just as an attempt to dabble in different areas. "Pop" is not the only example, in general yes most of what Bono writes are stadium rock-type anthems but there is a little bit more for everyone here and there. The song used by the OP is a perfect example of some of the solid mellow folk rock type songs that we would relate to Newton Faulkner and Mumford & Sons. "All I Want Is You" was another good song that is not exactly mainstream today.

The likes of "(Pride) In The Name of Love" and "Beautiful Day" are examples of mainstream U2 songs that are played on the radio a lot. People hear these two songs and assume everything by U2 sounds the same. Likewise they hear "Get On Your Boots" and think everything on their latest album is groovy-dance type music.

Unless you listen to whole albums and those albums in sequence you will never be able to make an informed judgement on U2 as a whole.

hatrickpatrick

Just to clarify I'm not exactly trying to argue anything here, everyone is completely entitled to their opinion, I'm merely wondering if, based on this new song, their next album might be a return to the sort of sound those "new U2 haters" say they miss from the old days.

In one of Edge's interviews he talks about that riff near the end of beautiful day, the high riff with the chime and the delay (played as Bono sings "Touch me, take me to that other place) and explains that himself and Bono had an argument about whether it was ok to go back to the old chime-delay style when they were trying to push in a completely new direction. In the final mix, the riff is played quite quietly, I imagine as a sort of compromise - however, when they play it live, Edge absolutely lets rip with it. It's the only song on the album which uses that sound. It comes back in a bit more on Atomic Bomb, most notably throughout pretty much all of City of Blinding Lights. Then No Line on the Horizon was absolutely jammed with it.

It seems to me that they were sort of testing the waters to see if a return to the old sound would be a good idea and ultimately decided that it's not such a bad thing to do.

So all I'm wondering with this thread is whether those who hate "new U2" will like this particular song, as to me it sounds like a very classic U2 sound albeit a bit gentler than you would expect (bear in mind though that this had never been played live before and so Adam and Larry didn't have parts in it yet, which presumably they will in the final version)

What I find interesting about the responses here is that a few people are assuming it's sh!te without actually listening to it. Based on the fact that a lot of my friends who bashed No Line did so purely based on Get On Your Boots, I wonder if automatic dismissal of U2 is now an ingrained thing, such that no matter what kind of music they produce, people will automatically write it off because it was written by U2 and it wasn't written before 1990?

It's an interesting social experiment if nothing else, especially for me as an aspiring songwriter

JerryHandbag

OKeeffer wrote: »

If they had any integrity between the lot of them, they would have done some experimenting in music at some stage.

I'd call their Zooropa, Passengers project and Pop pretty experimental tbh for a standard drums-bass-guitar rock band. Granted its not ground breaking mind blowing stuff, but when you consider other bands, Oasis or ACDC for example, where adding a few keyboards is probably about as experimental as they get.

OKeeffer wrote: »

The closest they got to diverting from their usual rock-anthem-by-numbers formula was "Pop", and that was piggybacking the already successful dance music of the 1990s.....again, trying to fill their pockets on the back of an existing market created by actual music pioneers.

And 90s dance music was piggybacking on the music at the turn of the 80s by New Order, Kraftwerk, Human League etc.

Sl!mCharles

They are a despicable band. Their contribution to music fades with every new album they release and will soon be forgotten.

Their woeful appearance at Glastonbury was the final nail in the coffin. At least they admitted it was muck in Q magazine this month, I will give them that and nothing else.

A despicable band? Ridiculous statement. They may have gotten less relevant in terms of quality over the years, and certainly their new album is no masterpiece, but to name U2 "despicable" is a bit much. They will not be soon forgotten either.