SOE
Active topics
U2 - Songs Of Experience (2017)
 Tracks: 14
  4. Yes we are indeed drifting into the arena of the meandering.
  8. Thanks! Sounds awesome to me, quite a sonic mix, maybe not as raw as I'd hoped. I think this mix/song will also divide fans.
  10. Sounds awesome! I'm really excited for a proper version of The Blackout. I bet it'll be a real killer live.


  11. Exactly! Achtung Baby and Zooropa and the whole ZooTV circus didn't exactly make a lot of sense as a procession from The Joshua Tree and Rattle and Hum. Although I do sort of hate the 'they couldn't have fun and were way too serious in the 80s' thing - listening to many JT and especially Lovetown bootlegs, they're being silly, being funny, enjoying themselves a lot more than people give them credit for - it is pretty clear that U2 were in danger of painting themselves into a (potentially rather dull and unpleasant) corner with their big ideas and grandiose stances. With ZooTV, they let the fun, the humour, the silver suits and televisions, take the forefront.

    So while I'm sure it's a bad idea to directly compare SOE to ZooTV (as making comparisons to ZooTV is almost always questionable, since just about all of us agree it's the band's highest point and putting anything in direct juxtaposition with it is bound to lead to disappointment), I think it might be best to remember that SOE seems like it might be coming from a similar place. Remembering Achtung Baby's relationship to TJT tour and Rattle and Hum, rather than remembering and drawing comparisons with Achtung Baby as an album itself might be one of the ways the band are approaching SOE/'want' SOE to be received (by 'want' I don't mean they literally are trying to give us this sort of detailed approach on its backdrop, etc, just that it may be a way that they themselves are considering its relationship to their past albums and its current release environment). So, no, I'm not saying SOE is going to be 'the next Achtung Baby' or will be nearly as good as Achtung Baby (we've heard three songs off it, I like all of them, love two of them, and consider one a true U2 classic - so it's already shown, to me and most of us I think, from just three tracks it's not going to be on par with Achtung Baby in terms of sheer objective quality - but that shouldn't be even a bit surprising) - but I am saying that for people who are feeling unsure about the approach to SOE, that perhaps this is one way of thinking of it, as it seems to be a fairly lighthearted, poppy record from the bits we've heard so far, that makes it a little more appetising, or makes it fit more familiarly in the U2 canon.

    Of course, maybe a lot of us just won't like it. That's fine, although I can't see myself being among them. You sure don't have to like everything this band does to be a fan, that'd be a rather insane requirement, considering how much they've done. I'm just thinking of the album in a possible context, given what we've heard and given the band's recent remarks on it, and that's already made me appreciate it just that little bit more.

    Whew, that was long. Sorry.