"You've been living underground, eating from a can"
U2 is easily the most overrated band ever. Or, at least, the
most overrated band for a last 20 years. Every album that these Irish lads have
released is proclaimed to be masterpiece by almost everybody, and the frontman
called Bono seems to be some kind of Messiah for the new generation. But it’s
all crap – U2 is obviously a good band, but too far to stand in the line with
The Beatles or The Who. The main problem I have with this band is that they
wrote much more mediocre songs than the good ones. Almost every of their albums
have a lot of great classics surrounded by a lot of stupid, annoying fillers.
Plus, the whole band started some crappy experiments with electronica and techno
in the beginning of 90’s and it was the main reason why such awful albums like
Zooropa and POP were released (although electronica heavily influenced on one
of their best albums – Achtung Baby). And their “rocking” comeback in 2000 wasn’t
better, believe me.
Finally, one of the main reasons for me to dislike U2 is Bono. He is a good
rock songwriter and amazing vocalist (maybe one of the best ever), but his obsession
of USA is VERY annoying and he pretends that his is a mouth of God or something
– and that’s awful. And he is guilty for those awful techno experiments!
Apart from Bono, there are three more guys in the band: a great guitarist The
Edge, a good bassist Adam Clayton and a very loud drummer called Larry Mullen
Jr. That’s all for now.
- BOY
- OCTOBER
- WAR
- ZOOROPA
- ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACKS 1, Released as 'Passengers'
- POP
- ALL THAT YOU CAN'T LEAVE BEHIND
So it’s their debut. In the beginning, U2 played college rock,
indie rock, post punk, whatever, and did it with a lot of energy. And they were
really good songwriters. Not great, perhaps (ah, come on! U2 never were great
songwriters!), but they surely knew how to write a good melody. The only problem
the band had at the beginning is their ability to make songs entirely unmemorable.
However good melodies on here are, however interesting hooks on here are, I
doubt you to hum anything after two or three listens. OK, the opener – minor
indie classic called “I Will Follow” – surely will stuck in your head (thanks
for a great chorus), but apart from it there is no song that people without
excellent memory can remember. Of course, if you start to listen to Boy for
about 10 times a day, you will learn the album by heart, but what can I do?
I have a lot of other albums to listen, even though I kinda like U2 debut!
But, apart from a big disadvantage, the album has a lot of pluses, too. Nobody
sounded like these guys in 1980. Echoey guitars, booming drums, atmospheric
basslines. And get in mind that it all was played on a maximum level of energy.
The guys, of course, didn’t make this sound themselves – it’s all honor of Steven
Lillywhite, the producer of this album. But sound isn’t really my favorite thing
on the record – it’s Bono who makes Boy. He sounds young, aggressive and has
a lot of passion in his voice. Forget that guy from Zooropa – this Bono is the
best Bono you can ever find. His lyrics suck, of course, but can you remember
one U2 album with good lyrics?
Speaking about the songs, most of them rule. “I Will Follow” is a classic and
a damn good song. “An Cat Dubh”/”Into the Heart” is an art-rock epic, but it
doesn’t sound out of place on the indie rock album. Moreover, it has arguably
the best basswork in the life of Adam Clayton. “Out Of Control” and ‘Stories
For Boys” are both punk rockers, and they rule, because they are catchy. Finally,
we’ve got the hard-rockin’ “The Electric Co” – quite possibly the most driving
song on here. Oh, and there’s “The Ocean” – extremely beautiful piece of mood
music that lasts only for one and a half minutes, but still manages to be gorgeous.
Unfortunately, there are some crappy songs on Boy too. A couple of throwaways
like “Twilight” and “A Day Without Me” are not offensive and even may sound
atmospheric to your ears (mostly because of The Edge’s guitar), but, overall,
they are an obvious filler. They are not as bad as “Shadows And Tall Trees”
and “Another Time, Another Place”, anyway – these two are just boring and long
songs with almost no ideas or melody to be found. But these are just two disappointing
songs on overall good album.
One word about lyrics – the album seems to be conceptual. Lyrics are mostly
devoted to Bono’s childhood and to his mother who died when Bono was just a
child. They suck, of course, but it’s a very nice theme for an album written
by a bunch of 19-years olds. Hey, did I mention that the guys were just 19 when
they recorded the album?! Well, now you know it.
OK, so the U2 debut, while being a worthy album, isn’t an item that must be
in every CD collection. Look out for some classic future U2 albums instead.
Still, if you want to hear a little bit different U2 that the U2 you see every
day on MTV, grab this one. It surely will help you to understand the guys weren’t
always releasing crap like “Electrical Storm”.
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October should be called Boy, Volume Two – everything on here has the spirit of the previous U2 album. Same booming drums and same echoey guitars; same singing from Bono; even melodies are absolutely unmemorable but cool at the same time! The only thing that has changed is that Bono suddenly fell in love with God and Catholic Church and every song on here is more or less devoted to Bono’s new found faith. In short, if it was indie rock with lyrics about little boys, it became indie rock with lyrics about Second Coming, Jerusalem and everything like that. Still, there is a great touching ballad called “Tomorrow”, dedicated to mother of Bono. And it is my personal favorite on here – gorgeous, catchy and with a great use of Irish folk instruments.
“I Will Follow” of October is called “Gloria”. It is yet another minor classic and a first U2 US hit. Great riff from Edge, awesome vocal melody and cool hooks all around. “Fire” and “Rejoice” were some kind of hits too. But while “Rejoice” is powerful guitar set to vocals, “Fire” is more melodic rocker with simple, but catchy back vocals. Oh, and Bono screams on all three of these tracks just like it is last day of his lifetime. “With A Shout (Jerusalem)” sounds like them too, but it is a little bit boring and somewhat uninteresting for me.
“October” and “Scarlet” are “The Ocean” of this album. The title track is semi-instrumental with a lot of good piano and “Scarlet” is just some jamming with Bono screaming “Rejoice! Rejoice! Rejoice!” None of these tracks is as beautiful as “The Ocean”, but they are the cutest tracks on the record bar “Tomorrow”.
“I Threw A Brick Through A Window” is “An Cat Dubh” of the record and it means it is really good. Drums/guitar jamming in the middle may be a little bit boring for you, but for my ears, that mini drum solo sounds fantastic and weird. “I Fall Down” and “Is That All?” are “Stories For Boys” of this album – powerful punk rockers that are absolutely unmemorable. Still good, anyway. Finally, there is “Stranger In A Strange Land” that is as boring as “Another Time, Another Place”, for instance.
Oh, so that’s all about October. I don’t need to describe the sound of this album at all, because it is a rip-off, you know. And I don’t like rip-off albums at all, but this is an exception. Actually, I prefer October to Boy, whatever you may say. And you know why? Because it has “Tomorrow” and “Gloria” and these two songs beat everything that Boy can boast of.
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OK, so we have passed through Bono's childhood nostalgia, through Bono’s Christianity obsession, and now what? Bono’s gone politics? Who asked him? In result, we have some of the worst lyrics in the guy’s career (check out his awfully stupid “The Refugee” or hilariously bad religious rant in “40”). He didn’t bother too much about music, though – I’ve found out (thanks to oneU2 fan-site) that it was The Edge who wrote all of the music on here. He has done everything great, of course – there is probably no bad or even mediocre song on here.
It is the album that made them somewhat famous in US, mostly due to two big hit singles – “Sunday Bloody Sunday” and “New Year’s Day”. Both of them ROCK. I mean, ROCK. ROCK! “Sunday Bloody Sunday” ‘s drums attack your ears, Edge’s guitar riff just kills and powerful vocal melody from Bono with the guy’s angriest singing ever kicks everyone’s ass. And it has the best lyrics on the album (and the only good ones, anyway). “New Year’s Day” is fully built on a powerful guitar/piano riff and soulful singing from Bono (can’t believe I’m talking about Bono here… Ah, wait, there’s “With Or Without You” too). Two great classics on a U2 record, allright!
Other songs rule too, anyway. A minor hit “Two Hearts Beat As One” kick ass. Especially the ending, where Bono screams with his psychopathic voice: “I SAID I CAN’T STOP THE DANCE!!!!!! MAYBE THIS IS MY LAST CHANCE!!!!!” A killer. “Seconds” and “The Refugee” are both very funky pop songs that are catchy and simply unforgettable. “Like A Song” sounds like an outtake from Boy/October sessions, but who said that it’s a bad thing? Song is fantastic! And how about that fat guitar sound at “Surrender”? Maybe the finest Edge’s moment!
“40” is quiet and beautiful closer. Just forget these lyrics and the song will rule. “Red Light” has – guess what? – horns and that “I GIVE YOU MY LOOOOOOOVE” line. The song rules! Oh, and there’s beautiful dark ballad “Drowning Man” where Edge throws away his electric guitar and his pedal just to play on a wonderful acoustic guitar.
As you see, every of these 10 songs rule and that makes the album not only my absolute favourite U2 album (although Under A Blood Red Sky comes very close), but one of the best albums of 80’s. Go get it.
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This album rules. It is a live record, recorded at Red Rocks, Colorado, on U2’s War tour. The album is only 35 minutes long and consists only of eight songs, but all of the songs rule. You have your early classics (“Gloria”, “Sunday Bloody Sunday”, “I Will Follow” and “New Year’s Day”), minor surprises (“40” and “The Electric Co”) and their first single – “11 O’Clock Tick Tock”/”Party Girl”. Pretty good. And all of the songs rock and catchy, as they must be. Get this one today.
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If Bono the political prophet has arrived on War, Bono the
America lover has arrived on The Unforgettable Fire. Nearly every song on here
is dedicated to the USA, the country’s heroes, the important historical facts
and everything like that. You know, I haven’t got anything against America,
but this unexplainable obsession is just weird. Moreover, he doesn’t really
concentrate on America all of the time – he concentrates on its’ musical and
political idols. A fine example is this album with Elvis Presley and Martin
Luther King being the key persons of the album.
Hey, do you know who has produced the record? Brian Eno! But don’t try to find
Talking Heads, Bowie, Krautrock or even Roxy Music on The Unforgettable Fire
– it’s the same old U2, only with a lot of synthesizers and much more echoey
sound. Good old Steve Lillywhite can only dream of it. The only songs that have
Eno influence are “4th of July” and “MLK”. The former is just Adam playing something
tuneless on his bass with some overdubbed keyboards and guitars at the background.
And “MLK” is just a piece of pseudo-ambient set to a beautiful vocal from Bono.
Needless to say that “4th Of July” sucks and “MLK” rules.
Other songs? Well, the album begins with “Sort Of Homecoming” – catchy pop-rocker.
A good one, but doesn’t Bono wail “TONIGHT!” on here at the same way he did
on “Sunday Bloody Sunday”? Yes, he does. He also does rip-off “Gloria” a little
bit for a tune of the song. But I kinda like it anyway.
“Pride (In The Name Of Love)”. You have probably heard it a lot of times, but
it doesn’t mean that the song sucks. The song is, actually, my absolute favourite
on The Unforgettable Fire and certainly one of my favourite U2 tracks ever!
Melody is catchy, Bono’s screams in chorus are great as always, so “Pride” is
probably better than pasta. But although the song rules, lyrics suck major ass.
They are dedicated to Martin Luther King, but they are terrible anyway. “Early
morning, April 4/ The shot rings out at the Memphis sky/ Free at last, they
took your life/ But they couldn’t take your pride”. I wrote such dumb lyrics
when I was at the seventh grade, I guess.
“Wire” is a rocking monster that has a lot of energy and clever use of hooks.
A great song. The only problem with it is that it leads right to the title track
which is so boring that I often find myself sleeping at the end of its’ fourth
minute. And it has lyrics about Hiroshima! Or whatever, I don’t know if these
lyrics mean something. But the title was taken from the exhibition dedicated
to Hiroshima, so it means it is about Hiroshima. Got it?
“Promenade” is a beautiful little thing, absolutely unmemorable though. And
it leads into “4th Of July”. I said everything I think about this song, so I
won’t repeat it again. However, the next track – “Bad” – is really great. It’s
six minutes long, it has just two notes for melody, it has just Bono singing
his lyrics, but it rules. How? I can’t understand. Maybe it’s in production?
Anyway, the song sounds great and majestic even when it is performed live (check
out a great version of “Bad” on their Wide Awake In America EP).
“Indian Summer Sky” rocks and hooks you in the same way as “Wire”. And “Elvis
Presley And America” bores me in the same way as “The Unforgettable Fire”. It’s
longer than “Bad”, but this time the guys just forgot the word “melody”. It
is just Bono singing his “poetry” about Mr. King Aaron Presley, as you might
guess. Bad stuff. Good thing “MLK” is right after it. And it closes this album.
So it is your The Unforgettable Fire. It isn’t unforgettable and it doesn’t
burn your ears, but it’s a pretty album. Go buy it only because it’s God’s favourite
U2 album. He told me so. And he hates Bono too. God is a good guy.
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I saw the copy of this EP (that lasts for 20 minutes!) today and it costs $12! And I got my copy for less than a dollar! Cool, isn’t it? Anyway, anyone who will buy this record for $12 is idiot, simply because it is 20 minutes long. And it gets only four stars out of five on Sam Ulward’s Reviews! Well, some more facts about Wide Awake In America. The first side has eight minutes of live “Bad” and it’s probably my favourite U2 track ever (no joke) and catchy crowd-oriented version of “Sort Of Homecoming”, also recorded live. The second side has beautiful “The Three Sunrises” with excellent vocal harmonies and somewhat boring guitar saga “Love Comes Tumbling”. That’s all! Go get it somewhere, but, please don’t waste $12 on it if you are not a U2 fanatic.
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The Joshua Tree is the album that made U2 superstars. In other words, it is their big commercial breakthrough. No, War and The Unforgettable Fire was popular before, but how many copies of them were sold in the world? Much less than copies of The Joshua Tree. Plus, it was the first U2 album to reach no. 1 in charts all over the world, and three most noticeable singles from this album – “Where The Streets Have No Name”, “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For” and “With Or Without You” – are among the most overplayed songs of 80’s. All of the music critics loved it in 1987 and love it now, too. In fact, almost every musical magazine chose The Joshua Tree to be their pick for the best album of 1987, and at the end of 20th century almost every of ‘em put it at least in the top 30 of best albums ever made. Nowdays, it is proclaimed to be an immortal album with eleven perfect songs, a classic of classics, the best album of 80’s, the album that can produce the emotional heights no other album of the decade can, etc., etc., etc. Me? I think that there are some songs that can really fit on the classic album, but the album isn’t a masterpiece for sure. I don’t even have it in my top 5 studio U2 albums. You see, the biggest problem of The Joshua Tree is that it starts nicely, but then it grows just to a big and uninteresting bore. By the ending of the album, you really can fall asleep.
The album starts really great, though. The opener, “Where The Streets Have No Name” begins from a great intro (which reminds me about “MLK” from The Unforgettable Fire”) and then turns into an amazing rocker with a great, memorable chorus. A little bit gospel-influenced “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For” comes next. I used to hate the song, because I found it to be boring and all, but I have finally got it. It has a good one-line chorus! “With Or Without You” is even better – a gorgeous ballad (heavily influenced by Police’s “Every Breath You Take”) with and excellent bridge and fantastic singing from Bono. I love this song. Oh, and the fourth winner in a row is “Bullet The Blue Sky” – the song that returns us to a hard-rocking U2 of “Sunday Bloody Sunday” and “New Year’s Day”. The highlight of the song is that weird half-sung/half-spoken section by Bono. I love the way he reads it. “OUTSIDE IS AMERICA! OUTSIDE IS AMERICA!” Cool.
But then, after this powerful four songs blast, the album loses it all. “Running To Stand Still” and “Red Hill Mining Town” are both ballads, wonderfully enjoyable while they’re on and wonderfully forgettable in any other cases. “Trip Through Your Wires” pretends to be bluesy, but it hasn’t got enough melody or imagination for it; “One Tree Hill” is nice, but way too overlong (clocking at 5:22); “Exit” is a lousy try to mix a ballad with a rocker and “Mothers Of The Disappeared” is just five minutes of wasted space. The only song out of first five I kinda like is “In God’s Country” – simply because it has more energy and drive than any of the album’s filler tracks does.
And I’d like to say that the album seems to be a Bono’s tribute to America. But I don’t think so. In fact, half of the album’s tracks are simple love song and half of them are devoted to any other subject but America. Really.
Oh, and one more fact about Bono. In 1987, he was obsessed with hills and trees. I’m surprised he didn’t write his “ecological” album. And he hasn’t written it yet anyway.
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After the success of The Joshua Tree, U2 became self-important and decided to make a movie about U2 touring all over the world. Then and recorded a pair of live performances all over the world. But that wasn't enough, so U2 went to the studio and recorded some studio songs, half of which was written on a tour and half of which was The Joshua Tree outtakes. And then they got the movie called Rattle And Hum and soundtrack to it.
Sounds good?
Not for me, at least.
Well, if there are too little facts about this album to tell ya, let's see what songs are on here. Let's begin with the studio ones, OK? Well, "Van Diemen's Land" is an Edge's song. It's a complete rip-off of early Dylan. Even singing is as terrible as on some Bob's records. But the song is good. Allright, the next song. It's called "Desire". And it's a rip-off of Bo Diddley's entire career. But the song is (surprisingly) good, because it's: a) short; b) catchy. Allright, the next song. "Hawkmoon 269". Beside having the dorkiest title in the history of music, the song hasn't got any advantages. It's pure crap. It's six minutes of repeating drum rhythm with Bono reading his poetry around. Who needs Bono's poetry, after all? Only his die-hard fans or Australopithecus robustuses (especially since Bono's die-hard fans and Australopithecus robustuses are the same darn thing). Allright, the next song. "Angel Of Harlem". Now it's a (surprisingly) good song. It has horns, catchy melody, godawful video and lotsa jazz references in lyrics. Allright, the next song. It's called "Love Rescue Me", and it's ofically co-written with Bob Dylan, who doesn't have anything to do with the song at all, because he can't write such idiotic pseduo-bluesy melody even in his dreams and surely can't write such idiotic lyrics. Allright, the next song. Now it is a duet with B.B.King and it's called "When Love Comes To Town". You know, I knew that the U2 and B.B.King duo is not a good thing, but I never ever in my life thought it can be so bad. And it was released as single. And reached some place at top 20. And B.B.King got some money too. Everybody's happy, so I can say: "Allright, the next song". This what I'll do right now. Allright, the next song. Unfortunately, the next song is called "Heartland" and it means I can't remember it at all. Allright, the next song. "God, Part 2" is a sequel to John Lennon's song "God" and it's yet another surprisingly good song. And it has drum-machine or something instead of good ol' Larry. Allright, the next song. It's called "All I Want Is You" and it's somewhat beautiful. But it's too boring to be a good song. So, let it be a "not-so-bad" song, OK? Allright, the next song...
What?! No more studio songs? OK, let's discuss the live song. "Helter Skelter" is an unknown Charles Manson song and U2 covered it in concert. It's fun, but too slow. Allright, the next song. A Dylan/Hendrix cover! Right, you guessed it, a U2 version of "All Along The Watchtower". Bono said that they learned all of the chords five minutes before they went on stage. Isn't it cool? Unfortunately, this cover sucks. Allright, the next song. Wow! A live version of "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For". Starts quite promising, but then, at the 0:57 it loses all hope to be good. Simply because at 0:57 comes the cheesiest gospel chorus I have ever heard and it goes on through the whole song. And it lasts for friggin' six minutes. Allright, the next song. "Silver And Gold". It is six minutes of Edge's echoey guitar with a two-note drum rhythm set to a simple unmemorable vocal melody that changes to a Bono's speech in which he tells us how good Nelson Mandella is and how the song was written.In other words, if you have browsed all Internet in search of two paedophiles gays eating each other's poop with adding Heinz ketchup to it and still haven't found anything, go buy Rattle And Hum and listen to "Silver And Gold". Allright, the next song. It's a version of "Pride (In The Name Of Love)", and an awesome one! Almost at the same level as any of Under A Blood Red Sky. And Bono let the crowd sing along. And it was the first U2 song ever to be released in USSR. It was on the double Greenpeace compilation of various artists (there was R.E.M.'s "It's The End Of The World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine) on it, so it's good), and Edge evern came to Russia to advertise it. But I still think nobody but my parents bought it. Allright, the next song. It is "The Star Spangled Banner". You know, the American national anthem. Jimi Hendrix played it at Woodstock! But since Edge is no Jimi, U2 guys put the tape of Jimi playing "The Star Spangled Banner" and for some reason recorded it. Allright, the next song. "Bullet The Blue Sky". It lacks any energy at all. Oh, and Bono for some reason inserts the other weird half-spoken/half-sung part in the middle of the song. "THE GOD I BELIEVE IN ISN'T SORT OF CASH, MISTER!!!!!!" - he roars. Ha ha, look who's talking! Allright, the next song.
Oh, there's no live songs. Ha! It seems I have mentioned all tracks on here and can end the review. Oh, wait, there's "Freedom For My People" - 38 seconds of some boogie recorded in 20's style. It is like Rattle And Hum, you know - short, pointless and mediocre.
Except that this album is long.
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I normally don't review compilations, but this one is an exception, because it's a double album with a collection of U2's greatest hit of 1980-1990 era on the first CD and with a collection of b-sides from the same era on the second one. Well, you can find the CD with the hist only, but, originally, this collection was released with b-sides on the second disk. And that's a big mistake, simply because the hits rule and the b-sides suck.
Well, not always, though. I gave a 9 to the first CD only because it has "When Love Comes To Town", "All I Want Is You" and absolutely needless re-mix of the 1987 b-side "The Sweetest Thing". Plus, there's no "Gloria", no "Two Hearts Beat As One" and even (and THAT'S a pure horror) no "Hawkmoon 269". That's the reason for me to break down and cry, you know. *Sigh* Bono, it hurts when you forget about that album you have released in 1981.
The b-sides varue from good songs to the loads of forgettable filler. There are some good songs on here, though. "The Three Sunrises" and 'Love Comes Tumbling" from Wide Awake In America are catchy, "Spanish Eyes" has one of the best vocal performances in the career of Bono Vox, "Hallelujah Here She Comes" with its' unforgettable refrain, "Trash, Trompoline And Party Girl" is the studio version of that "Pary Girl" from Under A Blood Red Sky (see! It was released in 1982, on the b-side to "Gloria"! I was mistaken in my Under A Blood Sky review when I said it was an "11 O'Clock Tick Tock" b-side! Forgive me, please); and the collection contains a really funny and cool cover of 'Everlasting Love".Yeah! Other tracks? Well, they all suck. Especially their cover of "Unchained Melody". The song itself is worth my shit, but U2 made it even more terrible with awful noise everywhere. Unlistenable.
That's all. Go back to eating your apple jam and drinking your tea, people.
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Did I say that War is my favourite U2 album? Forget it, because right now I prefer Achtung Baby to it. Really. It wins because the songs on here are better. Simple? Yeah. Right? Also yeah. So, no arguing with myself, I name Achtung Baby the better album than War. Or Under A Blood Red Sky. It's your choice which one is better. Back to the album now. It was the first U2 attempt in making electronica album. Fortunately (or unfortunately), they didn't make a pure electronica album. This album sounds like a techno-funk rock, if you ask me. And it's all danceable! Really! And almost all of the songs are catchy, groovy and exstremely well produced. In fact, I could give it a 9.5 (or even a 10!), if not two awful ballads - "Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses?" (fuck. U2 goes adult pop) and "So Cruel" (three repeating chords for six minutes. Way to go, Bono). And a couple of throaways like "Trying To Throw Your Arms Around The World" and "Acrobat" can't really interst me.
But other songs? They are great! We open with "Zoo Station" - a song that blows your mind immediately. Roaring guitar part, techno drumbeat and awesome vocal part - this is the song I like. "Even Better Than The Real Thing" is even better. "You're the real thing... You're the real thing... EVEN BETTER THEN THE REAL THING!" A classic chorus. But the third song is completely mindblowing - it's "One", a classic U2 ballad. And quite probably my favourite U2 song. Two guitars plays funky melody, some Hammond organ rolls and Bono gives an excellent performance. Lyrics are shitty banalities, but if the part when he goes "Sisters! Brothers!" doesn't bring a tear into your eye, you just suck.
"Until The End Of The World" has a classic U2 guitar and awesome melody. But lyrics are simply awful. Lyrics are horrible through all of the album, by the way. Has someone tried to count how many cliches Bono have used on this album, eh? Anyway, back to Achtung Baby, two next tracks are mentioned "Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses" and "So Cruel". What do you need after eleven minutes of sissy balladering? Right, a bunch of cool rockers. And U2 give them to you! Two hit singles - dancey "The Fly" and funky "Mysterious Ways" are amazing. The former has a great guitar melody and fantastic chorus. You know, that one where one Bono sings in his falsetto voice in yourleft speaker and the other, moody Bono sings in the right one. Awesome! "Mysterious Ways" is a pop perfection. If that "It's alright! It's alright! ALRIGHT!" line doesn't stuck in your head, you either haven't listened to the song or just have a fucking bad memory.
The end of the album is kinda dissapointing, you know. After a fillerish "Trying To Throw Your Arms Around The World", "Ultra Violet (Light My Way)" is the thing you need not to be bored to sleep. Catchy half-ballad/half-rocker with an awesome guitar part. I certainly prefer it to be released as the single instead of "Wild Horses" or something (hey! I didn't mention that the album had SIX hit singles! Eat your heart out, The Joshua Tree!). The next song - "Acrobat" - doesn't touch my feelings, but "Love Is Blindless" is simply gorgeous. The album is worthy for this song alone. Buy it anyway.
Geez, that must be the worst review I have ever written. But, don't worry. I'll get better soon.
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OK, let's imagine that you are U2 circa 1992. You are great. You are famous. You have released your best album ever. And you fucking rule. You decide to make an EP, a good one, you know. Produced by Brian Eno and everything. Ah - the most important thing is that you use a lot of synths and modern technologies in the process of recording this EP. But then the record company says: "We don't need your EP. We need your fucking LP. And we want it now". What do you do then? You record some synth-heavy techno crap and throw it all on the CD to make your worst album.
Do you know how many songs on this album I like? Two. Out of 10. "Lemon" is a clever psedo-disco number, strongly influenced by Brian Eno (he even sings on here), with Bono singing verses in a stupid gay falsetto, which I just love. Oh, and keyboard part is awesome too. Unfortunately, they killed all success of this good song with godawful video. The other song I like is "Numb". This one is weird. Just weird. It's just Edge singing (or should I say "reading"?) some rap with his funny robotic voice. And then all these crazy noises and more gay falsetto from Bono. Cool.
All other eight are kinda dumb, you know. Ah, wait. there's a title track which I kinda like too, because it is catchy and all, but the opening three minutes of ambient bores the shit outta me. "Babyface" has crappy simple keyboard melody and even worse crappy simple lyrics. And it's cheesy. "Stay (Faraway, So Close!)" is amazingly boring ballad that has the same repeating melody for five or so minutes. "Daddy's Gonna Pay For Your Crash Car" begins with wonderful sample of symphonic orchestra playing some good old folk Russian song, but then it turns to a brainless techno song for absolute dumbasses. "Daddy's gonnna pay for your craaaaaaashed caaaaar". More like "Bono's gonna pay for my crashed brain". Anyway, back to Zooropa. "Some Days Are Bigger Than Others" is a big dumb synth bore. "The First Time" is stupid piano that goes through these four minutes of nothing. And then there's "Dirty Day" - the song that is absolutely unmemorable. Finally, "The Wanderer" (where Johnny Cash of all people takes lead vocals) is an awful synth bore, with minimum melody anywhere.
In short, the album sucks. Buy it only if your life depends on it.
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Passangers is a one-album side project of Brian Eno and U2. They decided to call their little band "Passangers" and released various songs that can be used as soundtracks to their favourite movies. I don't know any of these movies, except for a pseudo-intellectual anime called Ghost In the Shell ("One Minute Warning" was written specially to it, I suppose), and even that one really sucks.
Now let's talk about this album and songs on it, ok? Songs can be divided into two categories: Eno ones and U2 ones. Of course, Eno is baked by U2 and U2 gets help from their fellow producers, but it’s clear who wrote what. And if Eno songs rule, U2 ones suck. And suck badly. The only U2 song I really like is “Elvis Ate America”. Three minutes of minimalistic musical background with Bono singing his awesome (!) lyrics about Elvis. This one is simply mindblowing. One of my favourite U2 track ever. And there’s also a great haunting ballad “Corpse (These Chains Are Way Too Long)”, and even that one is Eno-influenced. Don’t ask me about other U2 songs, please. “Slug”, “Miss Sarajevo” and “Your Blue Room” are direct children of “So Cruel” or “Stay (Faraway, So Close!)” – boring ballads that drag for their 5 or so minutes. They simply suck. “Theme From Let’s Go Native” is a boring piece of techno trash that, for no reasons, closes the album.
Yes, it’s pure crap, but there’s Eno stuff and it really saves the record. All of his songs are amazingly great, with only one exception (“A Different Kind Of Blue” – a weird number without any influence and with very irritating robotic vocal), but even that one isn’t as offensive as U2 crap. The opening “United Colours” is scary and use damn clever horn that comes out of nowhere and falls on your ears. “Always Forever Now” is just gorgeous, with that awesome drum part and simply beautiful chant “Always... forever... now” from Bono and some unknown voices at the background. “Beach Sequence” is Eno’s own “Diamond Head” (a truly majestic instrumental from The Beach Boys’ LP called Friends), and Brian really succeed in making a beautiful little tune that gives you an atmosphere of an evening beach. “Ito Okashi” is a damn weird tune with some Japanese spoken lyrics and ambient musical background. It really works and it really rules. “One Minute Warning” is a piece of apocalyptic techno-ambient and it gives you the feeling that the end of the world is damn near. And Larry kicks ass on here! His percussion is just crazy. It is arguably the finest moment in the guy’s career. “Plot 180” is weird and atmospheric instrumental where Brian plays a little with his synthesizer. Finally, there’s “Theme From The Swan” – it quite bores me, but it isn’t really something offensive. Pure atmospheric peace. And it’s still better than “Theme From Let’s Go Native”.
And one more thing. Back in 1995, nobody even noticed that this album was released, simply because a U2 single called ”Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me” (they wrote this one for that awful Batman & Robin film) that grabed all fame. It’s surely a great song, rocking and everything and could easily fit on Achtung Baby, but, please, don’t forget about this album too. It’s not a U2 album, but it features them and it’s good. Very good. In fact, it’s certainly better than everything that U2 released after Achtung Baby. Buy this one
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In 1996 U2 decided to make their techno album. Awesome. They
tried to play techno before, on Zooropa and Achtung Baby, but now they decided
to make their techno album. (Un)fortunately, they didn’t make it. Yeah, they
made this album, but it has no techno at all. OK, it has some moments (like
some parts of “Mofo”), but, overall, it’s the same old U2 making old fake elctronica
with a lot of guitar everywhere. And it sucks.
Well, some of it rules, actually. The opening single “Discotheque” is awesome,
with catchy guitar riff and chorus. It’s maybe the most rocking track on the
album and it really works on the album full of boring ballads and boring electronic
songs. “Mofo” is even more awesome with fantastic middle part where Bono sings
so gently and touching over simple and effective synth background. “Staring
At The Sun” is very melodic and has cool sing-along chorus. Finally, “If You
Wear That Velvet Dress” is weird beyond words, but it is also very good and
memorable. These four songs are certainly in my list of the best U2 songs and
add some points to the rating.
Some of these songs are kinda good. “Do You Feel Loved” is nothing interesting,
but that “Do you feeeeel loooooooooved” chorus is awesome. Same goes for “If
God Will Send His Angels” – the song isn’t very special, but it has very nice
chorus. And there’s simple “Please” which I enjoy from time to time. All other
songs suck beyond any imagination. “List Night On Earth” is awful pseudo-rocking
ballad; “Gone” is a complete borefest, without any obvious reasons to exist;
“Miami” is absolutely worst song the band have ever written – a horrible synth/guitar
noise dubbed over pseudo-rapping from Bono; “The Playboy Mansion” has no melody
at all and has one of the worst lyrics ever and “Wake Up Dead Man” is a strange
crazy experiment that sucks sucks sucks. Just sucks.
Hey, I have just reviewed an album in three paragraphs! I’m getting quite short
in these reviews, you know... That’s probably because I listen to mediocre albums
much less than I listen to good albums. For example, I have listened to this
U2 album only twice and I doubt if I listen to this one again. U2 demonstrated
that even an album that starts promisingly can turn into horrible mess of background
music and awful songs.
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And so, in 2000, U2 have finally returned to their “rocking” style. Or, at least, pretended that they have done it. In fact, they haven’t forgot about synthesizers, haven’t thrown their crappy electronica features away. In fact, if you forget about the presence of more or less generic rocking guitar from Edge, you’d get your sequel to POP. For instance, take the closing “Grace”. You know, when I listen to this awful electronic monster without any melody that drags for five and a half minutes, I want to come home to Bono, turn on “Grace” at a maximum volume, and, while showing how he slowly dies in this musical torture, tell to him: “What, you can’t smell your own shit, guy?! Remember the days when you used to write GOOD songs, for fuck’s sake!!!”
Anyway, almost half of the album is filled with song as bad as “Grace”. “Elevation”, for example, was a hit single, and a terrible one. Cheesy, terrible song with dumb as hell chorus and pseudo hard-rock guitar. What else need the band of the guys who have lost their talent years ago to get some attention these days? Fortunately, the other hit single “Beautiful Day”, had better success, and that’s good, because “Beautiful Day” is a great song. Catchy, with beautiful synthesizered verses and mighty, uplifting chorus. Plus, it was the first U2 song I have ever heard. “Stuck In A Moment You Can’t Get Out Of” was a hit (or something like that) too, and it’s damn good. What a cool, memorable melody this song has! And I simply adore these choruses. A great song.
After I have described first three songs on the album (and the last one, but that doesn’t matter), it’s time to talk about the fourth one, right? It’s called “Walk On” and it simply stinks. Bono’s made his entire career on making long and unmemorable boring songs, and, once again, he wrote one of them. “Kite” is short and unmemorable, but it doesn’t make it any better than “Walk On”. In fact, this song is even worse. Or maybe not, who cares?
“In A Little While” is an interesting little item. In this song Bono kills even that little group of people who call themselves their fans going soul. I mean, the song isn’t really soul itself, but Bono sings awful “soul”. Whoever thinks it is cool, must be burned or something... Or listen to Al Green or someone. It might help.
“Wild Honey” comes next, and... Hey! This song is GREAT! I mean, it has the actual melody and it doesn’t bore! And it is an ACOUSTIC GUITAR-DRIVEN SONG! It is some kind of unusual to hear it in between the sea of rocking electronica, but the song rules because of that! And if they covered the Beach Boys song with the same title, it would be even greater! Imagine a Beach Boys cover of a Theremin classic on U2 record!
“Peace On Earth” is dull and has the most horrible lyrics in Bono’s life. “When I Look At The World” is dull too, but it has got better lyrics, so it’s not as bad as “Peace On Earth”. Finally, the album closes with “New York” and already mentioned “Grace”. The former is almost the same thing as “Grace”. You need to replace the “gorgeous” atmosphere of “Grace” with a “dark” atmosphere of “New York”, and you got the same damn thing.
That’s all. The album sucks. It sucks horribly, but instead of giving it 4 or something, I give it “just” 5.5, because I’m in a good mood today. I repeat, this album SUCKS.
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Their second collection of their hits and b-sides. The first CSD is more or less good collection of songs, with a lot of stuff from Achtung Baby and cool new mixes of “Numb”, “Discotheque”, “Staring At The Sun” and “Gone”. Plus, there is an awesome single from 1995 called “Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me”. But, why the hell are “The First Time”, “Stay” and “Miss Sarajevo” on here? Where are “Lemon” and “The Fly”?! Why the hell their new song “The Hands That Built America” suck so much?! Why have they chosen to place an inferior mix of their new song, ‘Electrical Strom’, on the CD? An eight.
The b-sides are absolutely terrible. Most of them are dumb techno remixes of good old songs like “Discotheque”. There are two awful b-sides (“Summer Rain’ and “North And South Of The River”), an awful techno cover of Beatles’ “Happiness Is A Warm Gun” and Passangers’ “Your Blue Room”. In fact, the only songs from the second CD that you can listen are great new song “Electrical Storm” and a fantastic Achtung Baby b-side “Lady With The Spinning Head”. A three for this second CD.
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