Classic or Dud: U2

I thought you guys were kidding about a five-star Fricke review. How'd I fool myself?

I didn't even want to read the review, but it just popped up in my email box this morning.

your neighbors overheard Fricke whispering, "Hee hee, this'll get Josh."

have you tried deleting it?

You can't.

What happened to Danger Mouse? Gorillaz & Gnarls productions were flawed and fun. This is slick and boring.

Considering the band has now worked with some 13 or so producers credited on their last three records, I've come to the conclusion that this all might just be the band's fault.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LG4hOjJ9tEs

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/albumreviews/u2-songs-of-innocence-20140911

the photo's so perfect - larry looking up confused at the five stars, bono and the edge trying to walk past like they didn't see it, adam oblivious

Just find one of your own. Then shout as hard as you can.

Clickhole should republish that review verbatim.

When they release "Songs of Experience" in five years, I bet they retroactively bill half a billion people for their free download of "Songs of Innocence." Plus interest. Everyone will be like, what, I didn't download any U2 album! "Songs of Innocence," I've never heard of ... oh, wait, that thing? I totally forgot about that. My bad, just take my money, I'm sure it was good.

It is a clear-eyed and inspired U2 who crafted Songs of Innocence, an insuperably strong record that in time may well reveal itself to be a classic. World, meet U2, Irish band.

Fricke, you go to war with the army you have, not the army you might want or wish to have at a later time.

i can hardly read it for all the saliva

A FB friend of Mr Veg's wrote "It's their best album since Pop!" to which we were both like, ok that's a REALLY low bar.

ouch.

i happen to think that POP was their last really good album ..

That SFJ post is the glibbest, snarkiest thing I've ever seen from him. It's a weird thing to have on the New Yorker website.

You think the publisher brought Fricke into the office, poured a couple glasses of whisky, leaned over the table and said "I need you Fricke, I got a bad one here, worst yet, I need the old David Fricke review, I need your magic."

lol

bet it's more like "hey dave, new u2 album" "five?" "yup" "cool"

dude might not even bother with the star ratings himself, just pump out the copy and let someone else sweat where on the four-to-five spread this lands

I doubt he even pumps out the copy himself.

c'mon it's not a nancy drew novel, it's just seven paragraphs

Pump it out dave

U2 needs u

lol chr1sb3singer! bad U2 really brings ILX's funny to the fore.

confession - had to google the ref

Confession (Had to Google the Ref) - lyrics by Bono and the Edge / production by Dangermouse

ok.

forgive the noob (uk vs usa perhaps) groove, but all this inner circle joke thing is going over me.
but is there history between david fricke and u2 ?

i read the review, and even i found the review somewhat over zealous.

[ ftr : as a fan of achtung baby onwards, i think the album is ok. nothing more, nothing less.
hoping a few more listens may reveal its secrets more]

i wonder if there was just one guy in the boardroom that went 'uh.. guys.. '. he probably got shouted down left right and centre, and is now pulling his 'what did i tell you?!' face.

^ assuming you're talking about Rolling Stone here

is there history between david fricke and u2 ?

There's history between David Fricke and five-star bands

ahh.
he has form then.
fair enough.

At first listen this has a couple of solid cuts but the rest passed me by, kinda like how to dismantle an atomic bomb ended up for me. I think pop was actually pretty great and no line on the horizon was also really good except for the middle section. I imagine this will grow on me a bit since I generally like their sound but it'll also probably end up with HTDAAB and october and rattle & hum, which are basically the last ones I'd listen to in their discography at this point.

i agree with omar.

Carefully!

(is how you dismantle an atomic bomb)

RS' deal for years has been to give bands they want to do "exclusive" cover stories on a 5-star review -- hence the nutball writeups for the Who's It's Hard and whatever the fuck that Jagger solo thing was.

huh, beasties didn't get a cover in 2004. maybe fricke's 5 star of To The 5 Boroughs was a labor of love

I think sometimes RS does it to cover their asses just in case, cf. publishing a 5-star review of The Final Cut on the off chance it took off/Floyd toured that year.

same drill as Q in the mid-90s mega-selling era. hence Oasis' BHN getting 5 stars.

To be fair to Fricke he kind of gives 5 star reviews to everything. In his King Crimson live review he stopped just shy of calling the new line-up the greatest rock band that has ever existed.

ahh.
that said, is there anything wrong with loving music to that level.
people who know me IRL know that i flip from genre/band to genre/band on a daily basis declaring the latest groove to be the best ever.
i realise this a shallow take on the art, but so what.
a quick hit of momentary bliss is sometimes all you need to get you through the day to day grind.

all this fake surprise that U2 are shit

is there anything wrong with loving music to that level.

It's go nothing to do with love and everything to do with marketing.

how you dismantle an atomic bomb

I thought the answer was practice, practice, practice?

give it five stars

It's go nothing to do with love and everything to do with marketing.

ahh, such a cynic.

there are times i love my world of innocence and naivety.

(and my bills are paid by the world of marketing software - so i should be more attuned to such darkness !)

can't give it away

http://www.deathandtaxesmag.com/227923/u2s-free-album-downloaded-by-less-than-5-of-users/

Millions of people have U2 and don't even know it. Please: discuss U2 with your children. The more you know ...