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Post by npht on Sept 3, 2019 2:26:00 GMT
At one time I might have said yes but no I consider Boy thru Unforgettable Fire as their peak. They have had plenty of highlights since but those are the days. Still a fan but don't listen to much these days except maybe b sides, Unforgettable Fire, Live stuff and Boy.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 3, 2019 16:45:06 GMT
This is where I fell off the bandwagon.
I loved U2 before this. Here were guys my age making music that I could really get into. Boy, October, War, and then I lost interest for some reason. I came back on
I went to see them on their first tour here and on the War tour. I jumped back on for Achtung Baby, but jumped back off after that.
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Post by tory on Sept 3, 2019 20:08:50 GMT
It's the moment when everyone realises what a giant bell Bono is.
I mean, what sort of twat has a mullet and a sleeveless leather waistcoat?
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nolamike
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Post by nolamike on Sept 3, 2019 21:41:06 GMT
I mean, what sort of twat has a mullet and a sleeveless leather waistcoat?
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Post by Deleted on Sept 3, 2019 22:04:26 GMT
It's the moment when everyone realises what a giant bell Bono is. I mean, what sort of twat has a mullet and a sleeveless leather waistcoat? Just think if he'd grown a big bushy handlebar mustache like some Houston lawyer.
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Post by npht on Sept 4, 2019 2:28:32 GMT
It's the moment when everyone realises what a giant bell Bono is. I mean, what sort of twat has a mullet and a sleeveless leather waistcoat? if I stopped listening to musicians that I thought looked stupid I wouldn't have many left.
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Post by oleandermedian on Sept 9, 2019 22:11:34 GMT
It's an absolute shocker. Not just a low point in the history of pop but of civilization in general.
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rayge
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Post by rayge on Sept 10, 2019 9:06:30 GMT
I'd got off the U2 wagon before this was released. I much prefer the Pet Shop Boys version.
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Post by Reactionary Rage on Sept 12, 2019 11:20:27 GMT
Jesus Christ, I spend a week off and just look at the mince y’all are talking. I bet some of you still actually believe Echo and The Bunnymen did better. LOL. YOU GUYZ.
It’s one of my favourite songs. In fact I think it’s one of the last truly great rock n roll songs full stop and arguably their finest moment. That one song where all that Irish longing and Celtic romanticism combined with the wide open spaces of America to create a vision of spiritual utopia where the vast and the intimate combine into one magnificent whole. Not an easy trick in my book but this is where they nailed it.
Stadium skiffle! Anthemic bombast! Bono’s mullet! Bill Bailey’s Edge impression! The eeeeeiiiightiiiiiiiies!
Yawn. The intro is so, so wonderful. One of those remarkably reliable passages of music that always seems to work regardless of how many time I’ve heard it. It’s mostly Eno presumably. Those stately synths have a celestial grandeur and the finger beckoning promise of transcendence that still gives me goosebumps. When Edges guitar part emerges from the heat haze it’s like Omar Sharif emerging on the horizon in Lawrence of Arabia. Pure magic! The introduction of the bass, Larry’s galloping drums building to a crescendo at 1.17. Christ, who doesn’t feel that particular moment? Notice the subtle and shifting synth part in the background too. Lovely stuff. I’d go as far to say it’s BEAUTIFUL *sniff*
Bono sings the fuck out of it and how could he not. It’s the kind of song that demands total and sincere commitment which, et’s face it, is about all Bono could offer at this stage (the “irony” would come a bit later). Often in rock the simplest statements are the most powerful. Of course that can slip into facile banality – especially on paper - but here, elevated by the power of the music it really works. “I want to run, I want to hide, I want to tear down the walls that hold me inside”. “I want to feel, sunlight on my face”. That’s all you need sometimes. I get it, I feel it, I can relate. Even the biblical imagery works for me which is unusual but it gives it an elemental, atavistic force that I find really quite moving.
It's got some real moves. The chord at the end of the verse – I presume this is what JSJ is referring too – adds just that extra delicious layer of unresolved tension. The obvious release of the chorus and the wonderful assurance of “And when I go there I go there with you...” actually makes me a little bit teary. Seriously.
Then the storm clouds appear but before paradise comes hell I suppose and the music has a, I dunno, a dignity, a very human stoicism and the moving assurance that if we can just hang on in there we’ll make it through the storm and that kills me too. When Bono sings “I’ll show you a place, high on a desert plain....” I think it’s a wonderful, romantic statement that could be out of a John Ford movie.
By the time we get to 3.50 the fucking thing is really flying. The little touches really work. Larry putting the beat down for example has a simple power that cuts through all the “he’s a shit drummer” brickbats. And then at 4.14 they go up another gear and Bono responds magnificently. The resolution of “Oh when I go there, I go there with YOU, it’s all I can do” followed by Edges guitar hook offers sublime closure. A happy ending. They made it. Fuck yeah.
The fucking thing is like the quintessence of U2.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 12, 2019 12:09:23 GMT
As you say it's a very powerful indictment of the inefficiency of town planning departments in local councils at properly signposting their roads. Thank goodness we now have sat nav, otherwise we'd never be able to go anywhere without getting lost!
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Post by Deleted on Sept 12, 2019 13:18:27 GMT
I should also add that was a great piece of writing Dougie.
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Post by Reactionary Rage on Sept 12, 2019 17:22:03 GMT
It's actually kind of low-key, and serves as a decent album opener - but no more. There's nothing exciting about it at all (unlike, say, 'Pride' or 'Sunday Bloody Sunday'). The two tracks that follow are much more anthemic and memorable. You're right but that works in its favour. Its big moments aren't as brazen as "in the naaame of love!" or any of that. It's more subtle, moodier, evocative. It's the better for it.
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Post by *LARK* on Sept 12, 2019 17:30:29 GMT
yes but
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Post by Deleted on Sept 12, 2019 18:25:16 GMT
It's actually kind of low-key, and serves as a decent album opener - but no more. There's nothing exciting about it at all (unlike, say, 'Pride' or 'Sunday Bloody Sunday'). The two tracks that follow are much more anthemic and memorable. You're right but that works in its favour. Its big moments aren't as brazen as "in the naaame of love!" or any of that. It's more subtle, moodier, evocative. It's the better for it. Don't forget John likes that one that goes "Wahaay, wahaay" on the chorus.
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Post by Reactionary Rage on Sept 12, 2019 19:01:26 GMT
Yeah he doesn't get U2 at all
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