U2 - Songs of Experience

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WestwayKid
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Re: U2 - Songs of Experience

Post by WestwayKid »

WestwayKid wrote:
08 Dec 2017, 3:58pm
Win a chance to play mini golf with U2! :)

https://www.omaze.com/experiences/U2-pl ... a_h=fmaxqx
We should all enter!! :mrgreen:
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laxman
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Re: U2 - Songs of Experience

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Marky Dread wrote:
07 Dec 2017, 4:21pm
Low Down Low wrote:
07 Dec 2017, 10:41am

I've still not heard this new U2 record but without listening to it thus far I expect there to be a couple of songs I like a couple that are OK and the rest is just the rest. I know that plenty of people will not bother to listen to it and slag it off regardless because they hate Bono or whatever. I hope never to get that jaded.
I appreciate this viewpoint marky, but it doesn’t take into account the sheer hype that comes with a U2 release and the heightened expectations this is inevitably going to create. On another forum, where I lurk mostly, there’s a U2 fan thread where, quite laughably, even the mildest criticism of the album is met with cries of “Bono hater”, probably haven’t even listened to the record etc. I have listened to a lot of it, it’s non stop on the radio over here, and I’m struck by how ordinary and uninspired it sounds. That might go for a lot of bands, but U2, like em or not, are no ordinary band.

I still love War, though. They don’t make riffs like those anymore and yet, I hear bono going on and on about how they are trying to keep things simple these days.
Yeah of course and they were incredibly big headed when they "So called" kindly gave away their album to iTunes users for free. I understand the hype but never buy into any of that nonsense. No band should have to live up to former glories. How can you move on if you constantly make the same album over and over again. People enjoy a certain style a certain feel to music and bands will lose fans along the way as they progress musically. It's a very rare thing that any group with longevity will ever match their first run of albums.
What happened to the iTunes give away album? I thought I had the whole album due to the free download but only seem to have 3 tracks now. Was it withdrawn?

Marky Dread
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Re: U2 - Songs of Experience

Post by Marky Dread »

laxman wrote:
08 Dec 2017, 4:23pm
Marky Dread wrote:
07 Dec 2017, 4:21pm
Low Down Low wrote:
07 Dec 2017, 10:41am

I've still not heard this new U2 record but without listening to it thus far I expect there to be a couple of songs I like a couple that are OK and the rest is just the rest. I know that plenty of people will not bother to listen to it and slag it off regardless because they hate Bono or whatever. I hope never to get that jaded.
I appreciate this viewpoint marky, but it doesn’t take into account the sheer hype that comes with a U2 release and the heightened expectations this is inevitably going to create. On another forum, where I lurk mostly, there’s a U2 fan thread where, quite laughably, even the mildest criticism of the album is met with cries of “Bono hater”, probably haven’t even listened to the record etc. I have listened to a lot of it, it’s non stop on the radio over here, and I’m struck by how ordinary and uninspired it sounds. That might go for a lot of bands, but U2, like em or not, are no ordinary band.

I still love War, though. They don’t make riffs like those anymore and yet, I hear bono going on and on about how they are trying to keep things simple these days.
Yeah of course and they were incredibly big headed when they "So called" kindly gave away their album to iTunes users for free. I understand the hype but never buy into any of that nonsense. No band should have to live up to former glories. How can you move on if you constantly make the same album over and over again. People enjoy a certain style a certain feel to music and bands will lose fans along the way as they progress musically. It's a very rare thing that any group with longevity will ever match their first run of albums.
What happened to the iTunes give away album? I thought I had the whole album due to the free download but only seem to have 3 tracks now. Was it withdrawn?
Don't think so mate.
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laxman
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Re: U2 - Songs of Experience

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I must have deleted some of the tracks then. Not sure I ever listened to any of them, probably being contrary because it was a freebie. Never look a gift Bono in the mouth.

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Re: U2 - Songs of Experience

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laxman wrote:
09 Dec 2017, 4:41am
I must have deleted some of the tracks then. Not sure I ever listened to any of them, probably being contrary because it was a freebie. Never look a gift Bono in the mouth.
I have deleted it twice but it somehow keeps sneaking back again, like dry rot. And what’s worse, if I go into shuffle mode, those unwanted tracks seem to crop up every second track.

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Re: U2 - Songs of Experience

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Low Down Low wrote:
09 Dec 2017, 1:54pm
laxman wrote:
09 Dec 2017, 4:41am
I must have deleted some of the tracks then. Not sure I ever listened to any of them, probably being contrary because it was a freebie. Never look a gift Bono in the mouth.
I have deleted it twice but it somehow keeps sneaking back again, like dry rot. And what’s worse, if I go into shuffle mode, those unwanted tracks seem to crop up every second track.
Ha ha, that's cruel. Having said that, I do have a few U2 albums, they are alright. Showing my age, but I always think of them as one of the bands that got promoted by The Tube, in their case in their Live at Red Rocks days.

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Re: U2 - Songs of Experience

Post by 101Walterton »

laxman wrote:
09 Dec 2017, 4:41am
I must have deleted some of the tracks then. Not sure I ever listened to any of them, probably being contrary because it was a freebie. Never look a gift Bono in the mouth.
Then you are luckier than me I have been trying to delete it for years to no avail.

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Re: U2 - Songs of Experience

Post by Low Down Low »

[/quote]Hello,

As others have expressed, I like early U2 (saw them first with about 100 people in JB Scott's in '81, Albany, NY, then later in college '83). I agree with the above post. For the last few years, it seems as if they've tried to release albums that will change the world. They're better off trying to write a great rock and roll album - a simple thing that's so difficult.
[/quote]

Saw them first in ’82, on the war tour, and was a fan. But even then you could see Bongo was a bit of a twat with all his silly posing. Still saw em in ’83 with Big Country, Simple Minds & Eurythmics and it was one of the best gigs I ever attended. Saw them next in 85 in a 70,000 capacity stadium and that was the end of it for me.

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Re: U2 - Songs of Experience

Post by Low Down Low »

101Walterton wrote:
09 Dec 2017, 4:01pm
laxman wrote:
09 Dec 2017, 4:41am
I must have deleted some of the tracks then. Not sure I ever listened to any of them, probably being contrary because it was a freebie. Never look a gift Bono in the mouth.
Then you are luckier than me I have been trying to delete it for years to no avail.
You definitely can delete but problem seems to be once you upgrade or change phone, the whole damn thing just comes gleefully flooding back.

Marky Dread
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Re: U2 - Songs of Experience

Post by Marky Dread »

Low Down Low wrote:
09 Dec 2017, 4:22pm
101Walterton wrote:
09 Dec 2017, 4:01pm
laxman wrote:
09 Dec 2017, 4:41am
I must have deleted some of the tracks then. Not sure I ever listened to any of them, probably being contrary because it was a freebie. Never look a gift Bono in the mouth.
Then you are luckier than me I have been trying to delete it for years to no avail.
You definitely can delete but problem seems to be once you upgrade or change phone, the whole damn thing just comes gleefully flooding back.
You know that Bono, he move in mysterious ways.
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Forces have been looting
My humanity
Curfews have been curbing
The end of liberty


We're the flowers in the dustbin...
No fuchsias for you.

"Without the common people you're nothing"

Nos Sumus Una Familia

muppet hi fi
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Re: U2 - Songs of Experience

Post by muppet hi fi »

Marky Dread wrote:
09 Dec 2017, 5:06pm
You know that Bono, he move in mysterious ways.
:lol:
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Jimmy Jazz
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Re: U2 - Songs of Experience

Post by Jimmy Jazz »

Maybe my expectations were just so low after hating their new music for over 10 years, but I thought Songs Of Innocence was a surprisingly solid album which unfortunately got overshadowed by the whole Itunes giveaway thing. Songs Of Experience seems decent, nothing special but certainly not terrible. I'll never be passionate about the band again but I can't really ask for better albums from a 40+ year old band fronted by an unrelatable millionaire.

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Re: U2 - Songs of Experience

Post by WestwayKid »

Jimmy Jazz wrote:
12 Dec 2017, 4:16pm
Maybe my expectations were just so low after hating their new music for over 10 years, but I thought Songs Of Innocence was a surprisingly solid album which unfortunately got overshadowed by the whole Itunes giveaway thing. Songs Of Experience seems decent, nothing special but certainly not terrible. I'll never be passionate about the band again but I can't really ask for better albums from a 40+ year old band fronted by an unrelatable millionaire.
Interestingly, I think I prefer Innoncence to Experience. I think on Innocence there were traces of what made U2 good. I can catch glimpses of Boy, October, War, Fire and so on. I agree the iTunes thing was a mess, but not a terrible album. I don’t dislike Experience. It has some moments.
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Re: U2 - Songs of Experience

Post by revbob »

Low Down Low wrote:
09 Dec 2017, 4:22pm
101Walterton wrote:
09 Dec 2017, 4:01pm
laxman wrote:
09 Dec 2017, 4:41am
I must have deleted some of the tracks then. Not sure I ever listened to any of them, probably being contrary because it was a freebie. Never look a gift Bono in the mouth.
Then you are luckier than me I have been trying to delete it for years to no avail.
You definitely can delete but problem seems to be once you upgrade or change phone, the whole damn thing just comes gleefully flooding back.
Upgrade to a non-Iphone and be Bono free forever if you so choose.

Or you probably have to delete them from your stupid I-cloud or whatever other ridiculous I-device/service in addition to your phone.

I like apple products about as much as I like U2 which is to say not at all.

WestwayKid
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Re: U2 - Songs of Experience

Post by WestwayKid »

Listening to Songs of Innocence while I make dinner. It has been awhile, but it is a better album than Songs of Experience. Hard to put my finger on it, but it sounds like U2 without trying too hard to sound like U2. Like I mentioned earlier, it has a lot of moments that harken back to earlier albums - while still somehow sounding contemporary. It’s like they were not so afraid of their long shadow on this album, but on Experience they tried too hard to capture a ton of different sounds that were not U2 and by doing that they sound lost. They can’t escape being U2 and they shouldn’t try at this point.

Iris just came on - and if you “squint” it sounds like it could almost have come off one of their earlist albums. Bono’s lyrics are tight because he’s writing about something he connects with (his mom) and not trying to make some huge global statement. The track is fairly simple from a musical standpoint: Adam & Larry play with a nervy urgency and The Edge isn’t lost in a sea of effects pedals. It doesn’t sound overproduced or overthought.

I really think U2 has the ability to make really good music. I know I won’t convince some of you and maybe they won’t ever find their way back, but I think they can.
"They don't think it be like it is, but it do." - Oscar Gamble

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