Vorsprung durch Technik: U2 Zooropa poll

Does it strike anyone else as awkward or strange at all that these days Bino and Wedge seem to be more interested in making money (vis-a-vis Elevation Partners) than good music?

i was at a u2 show in 1993 and got no pizza alas

i caught two zoo tv shows, a friend was in their fan club so we got amazing seats. first was that spring at the omni, standard basketball arena, pixies opened and it was super apparent that band was gonna break up soon. we'd attempted stalking out their bus (ie we hung around their bus for fifteen minute or so) to no avail; attempting to stalk u2 never even occurred to us, like what were we gonna do - just hang out at the mlk center all day? second time was that fall in the georgia dome (first concert there) w/ the huge set, big audio dynamite II opened which we were kinda :/ about (were hoping for sugarcubes) but (as big a thrill as u2 for me) public enemy also opened, at that point they could do no wrong. our seats were eight rows back from the stage and we were by a pretty huge margin the biggest pe fans in the vicinity so when they went on my friend and i were able to rush the stage and flav and chuck spent pretty much the entire set performing directly to us, two teenagers who were shouting out every word to every song vs a crowd of skeptical yuppies - it was an easy choice. u2 were great also, afterwards i did a writeup for the high school paper, an attempt at recreating 'the kentucky derby is decadant and depraved' titled 'i'm ready for the laughing gas', i think fucking god that thing isn't on the internet and i never kept any copies of my high school paper.

standard basketball arena, pixies opened and it was super apparent that band was gonna break up soon

had this precise experience in chapel hill

jb I would love ... I mean I would LOVE .. to read that thing. You know you still have some sort of copy somewhere. Share it with me, I won't betray you (huge HST fan here, would love even a juvenile attempt, esp from YOU.) Had no idea PE *ever* opened for U2?? how did that fact escape me all these years, that is nuts.

First time I ever saw U2 was 2009 on 360 tour. crazy I know. saw it three times tho ... making up for lost time, I guess

I know I'm on the right board when so many other people pick this as a favourite U2 album!

yeah, I dunno, I feel self-conscious, that it is challopy to say so. but if it is not this one, then it is 'Achtung' or 'Unforgettable'. but at the end of the day it really really is this one

PE also did the Stop Sellafield gig with U2 in 1992. there was a VHS of it and everything

http://g-ecx.images-amazon.com/images/G/01/ciu/a4/63/87e262e89da05d8221434110.L.jpg

Noel Gallagher's favourite *ever* gig he's said since.

i know i've said this before on this board but imo U2 disappeared mysteriously after recording Zooropa, popped in briefly to help Eno with Passengers, and then disappeared again. given the trajectory they were on i have to imagine they would have made some amazing records if only they'd stuck around...

the saddest truth bomb

It's significant that this is the quickest album they've made since the early days and that it followed a big gamble that paid off. Achtung Baby and Zoo TV were really tense and fraught and might have misfired but they did so well that it gave them the sense that they could do anything - you don't lead with Numb unless you're feeling pretty confident. But the failure of Pop put paid to that and ever since they've been hedging their bets and not wanting to risk another flop. The saddest thing about No Line, as Bono has acknowledged, is that it should have been a braver and more unapologetically leftfield record but they attempted to have it both ways with "big" singles that turned out to not be big at all. They can't get back to the headspace they were in when they made Zooropa, when it felt like they could do whatever they liked and momentum would carry them through.

i know i've said this before on this board but imo U2 disappeared mysteriously after recording Zooropa, popped in briefly to help Eno with Passengers, and then disappeared again. given the trajectory they were on i have to imagine they would have made some amazing records if only they'd stuck around...

according to Eno's diary they relaxed in the chateaux Bono and Edge bought in the south of France, drinking wine and hanging out with supermodels by the pool.

daddy's gonna pay for your crashed car

there are more songs from Achtung I love than on this album, but if I have to hear one of their albums front to back this is def my pick

I never saw a concert and didn't bother hearing "Pop" during my high school writing days, but I DID put Zooropa at #9 on the 25 best alternative albums of ALL TIME, between Black Love and The Modern Lovers:

"The classic band really got it right on this one: classic melodies, futuristic sounds and soul searching lyrics. What went wrong between this and 'Pop'?"

This album reminds me so much of my first Inter-rail trip in the summer of 93, despite the fact that I've never owned it or heard it in full. Seems like it was the soundtrack to many a backpacker

http://i.imgur.com/eap1P.jpg

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

The worst album Henry Rollins has made, no less

still haven't voted. so hard!

still in contention:

Zooropa
Lemon
Stay
Some Days Are Better Than Others
Dirty Day

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

poor "Babyface."

Was fully expecting 'Lemon' and 'Stay' to be up there. Pretty surprised that the title track only managed 4 votes, though. I think it's definitely better than 'Numb'.

'babyface' is probably my least favorite track on the album, which isn't to say i don't think it's really good. 'achtung baby' is probably my top U2 album but i think the valleys here are higher than the valleys there. and it's their best 'nighttime listening' lp.

ha, i almost voted babyface there at the end. it's a pretty lazy song, but it kind of works in that way.

I dig its chorus (backup vocals are nice), & the bell sound on the verses. I like it more than "The First Time", which is still great.

Oh, fuck me. It's not just nostalgia for the back of my first drummer's car. I actually *like* this album.

Curse you, Elvis Telecom

::shakes fist::

Yeah, I like this album quite a great deal, and I wouldn't call myself a U2 fan. The first five songs are incredible, and I have more than a soft spot for 'Some Days Are Better Than Others'. What makes this album comparatively more palatable to me in U2's discography, is that Bono (when he's not singing in that ridiculous falsetto as on 'Numb' and 'Lemon') seems to adopt a more restrained vocal style here. Listening to his vocals here and comparing them to say, his vocal approach on The Joshua Tree and most certainly Boy is like day and night. I find "bellowing Bono" gets a bit much.

listening to this right now, crazy nostalgia rush. stormy otm above about 'stay', the context of the album makes it hit so much more than it might - first vaguely "traditional" u2 cut. this thing still sounds fantastic.

stay still catches me off guard no matter how many times I hear it

i just went back & listened to stay for the first time in years

damn

I just love everything about Stay. Great lyrics and a perfect vocal.

put zooropa on just now. i remember thinking it sounded so horrible & alien, but I dont hear any of that now

wish the band that made this record still existed

truth bomb

^^^ how did they go from this to 'Pop'?

(which aside from Discotheque is more like 'Poop' or 'Plop' or something)

wish the band that made this record still existed

― inste grammophon (rogermexico.), Wednesday, April 10, 2013 12:53 PM (56 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

iirc, the story is that they were hastily rehearsing in a hotel basement the night before their Pop tour kickoff. They didn't have their samplers, drum machines etc. set up, so it was just guitars, amps and drums. Their soundman remarked on how much he dug their sound, and they incredulously replied, "Well, yeah, this is what we sound like." A light bulb went off, and they resolved after the tour to go all back-to-basics and shit.

20 years old today...

ive been listening to this a lot lately, i ignored it when it came out . it feels like the last great U2 album. theres no anthemic rockers, it just seems to glide all the way to the end with "the wanderer" (which is a really cool context to put JC into)

The Wanderer; the song i think should be played to people who think they tailed off after Achtung Baby.

the drum loops on daddy's gonna pay for your crashed car are so great

this is my favourite u2 album.

the drum loops on daddy's gonna pay for your crashed car are so great

yea thats incredible

The Edge Says U2’s Next LP Is Coming Together Quickly, Compares It To Zooropa
http://www.stereogum.com/1851251/the-edge-says-u2s-next-lp-is-coming-together-quickly-compares-it-to-zooropa/news/?

I am listening to this for the first time in over a decade (possibly 2) after seeing several people on Facebook and Twitter wax rhapsodic about it today and... idgi

My favourite U2 album, bar none!

yep

the first four songs sound like unfinished demos to me