standard basketball arena, pixies opened and it was super apparent that band was gonna break up soon
had this precise experience in chapel hill
― mookieproof, Monday, 14 May 2012 02:19 (twelve years ago) link
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
― Stormy Davis, Monday, 14 May 2012 04:41 (twelve years ago) link
I know I'm on the right board when so many other people pick this as a favourite U2 album!
― EveningStar (Sund4r), Monday, 14 May 2012 04:50 (twelve years ago) link
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
― Stormy Davis, Monday, 14 May 2012 04:54 (twelve years ago) link
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.
― piscesx, Monday, 14 May 2012 05:05 (twelve years ago) link
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...
― all yoga attacks are fire based (rogermexico.), Monday, 14 May 2012 06:02 (twelve years ago) link
the saddest truth bomb
― hot slag (lukas), Monday, 14 May 2012 06:30 (twelve years ago) link
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.
― Get wolves (DL), Monday, 14 May 2012 09:04 (twelve years ago) link
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.
― Exile in lolville (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, 14 May 2012 12:20 (twelve years ago) link
daddy's gonna pay for your crashed car
― da croupier, Monday, 14 May 2012 12:54 (twelve years ago) link
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
― da croupier, Monday, 14 May 2012 12:58 (twelve years ago) link
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'?"
― da croupier, Monday, 14 May 2012 13:08 (twelve years ago) link
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
― licorice oratorio (baaderonixx), Monday, 14 May 2012 13:23 (twelve years ago) link
http://i.imgur.com/eap1P.jpg
― ♆ (gr8080), Monday, 14 May 2012 17:47 (twelve years ago) link
Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.
― System, Monday, 28 May 2012 00:01 (eleven years ago) link
The worst album Henry Rollins has made, no less
― Morrissey & Clunes: The Severed Alliance (PaulTMA), Monday, 28 May 2012 00:52 (eleven years ago) link
still haven't voted. so hard!
― all yoga attacks are fire based (rogermexico.), Monday, 28 May 2012 14:48 (eleven years ago) link
still in contention:
ZooropaLemonStaySome Days Are Better Than OthersDirty Day
― all yoga attacks are fire based (rogermexico.), Monday, 28 May 2012 15:02 (eleven years ago) link
Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.
― System, Tuesday, 29 May 2012 00:01 (eleven years ago) link
poor "Babyface."
― go down on you in a thyatrr (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 29 May 2012 00:49 (eleven years ago) link
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'.
― The Jupiter 8 (Turrican), Tuesday, 29 May 2012 00:51 (eleven years ago) link
'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.
― omar little, Tuesday, 29 May 2012 19:27 (eleven years ago) link
ha, i almost voted babyface there at the end. it's a pretty lazy song, but it kind of works in that way.
― tylerw, Tuesday, 29 May 2012 19:28 (eleven years ago) link
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.
― Euler, Tuesday, 29 May 2012 20:15 (eleven years ago) link
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::
― I want to smother him in electronic butter. (White Chocolate Cheesecake), Wednesday, 1 August 2012 10:37 (eleven years ago) link
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.
― The Jupiter 8 (Turrican), Friday, 3 August 2012 20:30 (eleven years ago) link
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.
― balls, Wednesday, 10 April 2013 03:04 (eleven years ago) link
stay still catches me off guard no matter how many times I hear it
― jokestoldforu (gr8080), Wednesday, 10 April 2013 04:24 (eleven years ago) link
i just went back & listened to stay for the first time in years
damn
― set the controls for the heart of the sun (VegemiteGrrl), Wednesday, 10 April 2013 04:50 (eleven years ago) link
I just love everything about Stay. Great lyrics and a perfect vocal.
― Kitchen Person, Wednesday, 10 April 2013 04:56 (eleven years ago) link
put zooropa on just now. i remember thinking it sounded so horrible & alien, but I dont hear any of that now
― set the controls for the heart of the sun (VegemiteGrrl), Wednesday, 10 April 2013 05:05 (eleven years ago) link
wish the band that made this record still existed
― inste grammophon (rogermexico.), Wednesday, 10 April 2013 16:53 (eleven years ago) link
truth bomb
― set the controls for the heart of the sun (VegemiteGrrl), Wednesday, 10 April 2013 17:35 (eleven years ago) link
^^^ how did they go from this to 'Pop'?
― Will you see a political publicity stunt? (snoball), Wednesday, 10 April 2013 17:37 (eleven years ago) link
(which aside from Discotheque is more like 'Poop' or 'Plop' or something)
― Will you see a political publicity stunt? (snoball), Wednesday, 10 April 2013 17:38 (eleven years ago) link
― 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.
― Pope Frank is the messenger of your doom (Tarfumes The Escape Goat), Wednesday, 10 April 2013 17:58 (eleven years ago) link
20 years old today...
― Mr. Mojo Readin' (C. Grisso/McCain), Friday, 5 July 2013 21:16 (ten years ago) link
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)
― Old Boy In Network (Michael B), Wednesday, 24 July 2013 17:26 (ten years ago) link
The Wanderer; the song i think should be played to people who think they tailed off after Achtung Baby.
― piscesx, Wednesday, 24 July 2013 18:11 (ten years ago) link
the drum loops on daddy's gonna pay for your crashed car are so great
― ᶓ͠סּᴥ͠סּᶔ ᶓͼ᷆ₓͼ᷇ᶔ (gr8080), Thursday, 25 July 2013 17:32 (ten years ago) link
this is my favourite u2 album.
― mark e, Thursday, 25 July 2013 17:44 (ten years ago) link
yea thats incredible
― Old Boy In Network (Michael B), Thursday, 25 July 2013 17:53 (ten years ago) link
The Edge Says U2’s Next LP Is Coming Together Quickly, Compares It To Zooropahttp://www.stereogum.com/1851251/the-edge-says-u2s-next-lp-is-coming-together-quickly-compares-it-to-zooropa/news/?
― djmartian, Monday, 4 January 2016 21:52 (eight years ago) link
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
― ornate orchestral arrangements (DJP), Tuesday, 28 February 2017 17:22 (seven years ago) link
My favourite U2 album, bar none!
― Working night & day, I tried to stay awake... (Turrican), Tuesday, 28 February 2017 17:27 (seven years ago) link
yep
― the Rain Man of nationalism. (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 28 February 2017 17:48 (seven years ago) link
the first four songs sound like unfinished demos to me
― ornate orchestral arrangements (DJP), Tuesday, 28 February 2017 17:55 (seven years ago) link
u guys
i think
maybe
Dan is
NUMB?
― Flamenco Drop (VegemiteGrrl), Tuesday, 28 February 2017 18:01 (seven years ago) link
:D
"Stay (Faraway, So Close)" is good, I'll grant that
― ornate orchestral arrangements (DJP), Tuesday, 28 February 2017 18:04 (seven years ago) link