GEN
Active topics
  1. Originally posted by Bloodraven:[..]

    I really enjoy reading reviews from people still not influenced by U2 online communities, I find them very refreshing.

    Now... if you take a couple of minutes to read any thread, you'll realize that nobody agrees on anything around here so it's not personal
    I know it’s not...what album should I post next, I have AB and War done and ready to go. Think I’ve posted the others I’ve already done.
  3. One Step Closer..... what a small little pearl is that, vulnerable in all its beauty
  4. I use to play this album as a playlist with the single (promo) version of Original of the Species and the Medium, Rare & Remastered version of Yahweh instead of the finished album mixes. Always thought it sounded more polished as a piece of work that way round.

  5. So, as I'm wrapping up another semester of teaching before Christmas (I teach Bible classes at our local Christian school), we've talked a lot about the use of "chiasmus" or "ring composition" used in biblical literature, as well as a lot of other ancient writing. Basically - if unfamiliar - the structure is "ABCDCBA", where concepts are introduced and then, after reaching a midpoint, paralleled in reverse order, circling back to where they started but usually in a new and enhanced way.

    Now...I've always had a soft spot for HTDAAB as it was the first U2 album I got for Christmas back in 2004 after becoming a casual fan. But, despite really loving the album, one of the issues I had with it over the years that others have pointed out, too, is the track order seemed to be lacking, perhaps fueling the perception of the album as being less than the sum of its parts and lacking cohesion.

    But having all this stuff about ring composition in my head recently I decided to finally listen to the album again all the way through, which I hadn't done in years. And...I think there's a discernible ring structure to it, quite likely one that Bono didn't intend but that comes through unconsciously, anyway, probably owing to his skill as a lyricist and his being steeped in the Scriptures, as he often acknowledges.

    See above for my take on the track sequence as a "ring", one that greatly increases my appreciation of the album structurally:

    Some parallels: first, the beginning (Vertigo), middle (ABOY), and end (Yahweh), are the most overtly religious, and chronicle the journey from spiritual uncertainty and temptation in Vertigo, through rebirth because of "I AM" (the meaning of Yahweh!) in ABOY, to trusting even in the midst of darkness in Yahweh. You also have...
    - the theme of drawing out and celebrating the uniqueness of each individual in Miracle Drug and OOTS...
    - Bono's dad's death in Sometimes and One Step Closer...
    - The most overtly "political" songs denouncing war (LAPOE) and neglect of extreme poverty (Crumbs) by western nations.
    - The most obvious "love songs" on the album with COBL and AMAAW.

    Okay, long post over. I enjoyed thinking this through and thought I'd offer it up for discussion in the midst of a lot of grading to go! Cheers.
  6. I wouldn't say it's under rated it got a lot of plaudits at the time and had some big hit singles, I know some people who think of it as an inferior relation of ALTYCLB but it has some really strong songs on it and stands up quite well against it when you look at the track lists.
    1. Vertigo
    2. Miracle Drug
    3. Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own
    4. Love and Peace Or Else
    5. City of Blinding Lights
    6. All Because of You
    7. A Man and a Woman
    8. Crumbs from Your Table
    9. One Step Closer
    10. Original of the Species
    11. Yahweh
    12.Fast Cars

    1.Beautiful Day
    2. Stuck in a Moment You Can't Get Out Of
    3. Elevation
    4. Walk On
    5. Kite
    6. In a Little While
    7. Wild Honey
    8. Peace On Earth
    9. When I Look at the World
    10. New York
    11. Grace
    12. The Ground Beneath Her Feet -
  7. I got this album when I was in Grade 12 at the height of my new U2 fandom and they were their most relevant in my time. I love it.
  8. For me, it was the start of an era when their studio albums sounded incomplete. ATYCLB was a catalogue of songs and moods, end to end. I felt even though it had some superb moments, it didn’t hit the full spectrum as an album.
  9. Last decent and commercially successful album they put out
  10. 1. Vertigo
    2. Miracle Drug
    3. City of Blinding Lights

    the only listenable songs and Vertico is the worst of them.
  11. Sometimes You Can't Make It and Original Of The Species have really been growing on me lately. Esp. the live/single versions of the latter.
  12. Tending to agree with that..NLOTH had some potential but they abandoned the more experimental stuff.. everything since has some flashes of brilliance here and there, but I think Bomb was their last really solid and complete album.. and those songs really excel live.