(I am posting now reviews planned for the zine but now I have moved online, so some of these reviews are older and I'm just putting them digital now).
Bono! The Edge! The other guys! This band is been around a long time and for good reasons. These songs are very thought out. In fact, this is a deep recording for such a popular music group, maybe the most popular. There's a lot of things in the far away parts of the songs that can be discovered as the more the listener is into it. Challenging perhaps for those that 'I Will Follow' or even 'Vertigo'.
Let me say this is a band that seems to have a heart. This is difficult, especially at a level of what they have achieved. This goof ball shows up in sunglasses and puts them on the pope! What can you say to this? Not much!~ They say John Lennon said The Beatles were bigger than Jesus, but John Lennon did not have his sunglasses on the Pope!
So in listening to this album, I have a lot of thoughts. They are hard to all put down but I will put an attempt in. I will deal with this album as if it was a record as it seems to be in two parts: the first part is a little more challenging and though provocative. The second part is a little more pop and dance oriented (most of it), so I will address these both here.
First the album begins with the track as the title. This song is very different for this band. It has a lot of left and right going on. Bono comes in with simple lyrics, but sung very high up in his singing range. This is a good thing. Remember the song 'With Or With Out You', one of their most popular, and Bono is singing very high. This is something he continues often on the record. It is a demonstration of sincerity, I believe. He is not wimping out. I have read reviews of their last recordings of Bono being the weakest person on them. Maybe this is a reaction? On track two he sings 'Only love can leave such a mark.' It is his passionate voice that takes this line into the metaphorical and not the literally, unless he is maybe discussing physically abusive relationships or perhaps rough sexual intercourse. The band is in top form. The layers are all in the right places. I am popping my head, too.
The third song 'Moment of Surrender' is reminiscent of older U2 track 'Trying to Throw Your Arms Around The World'. It's string and claps are perfect. Again Bono is singing very high. Sometimes his lines are very cliched, actually a lot, but somehow his delivery makes them work. Other singers would be laughed at I am sure! Reading these lines would be silly. On 'Unknown Caller' I think I hear the great Brian Eno singing. Maybe this is just my want. This song is goose bumps. One thing I do not like is the line 'ATM Machine' which is a redundancy. Sometimes even a minor mistake slips by the editor I suppose!
'I'll Go Crazy' is a bad song. I skip it every time!
Next is part two as I see the album, beginning with the song 'Get On Your Boots'. Here is the fun U2! What is interesting is that this is not the first song on the album. This alone shows awareness that this band means it. Because if this song was first, it's like 'Vertigo' on the last record. Now, this is a great pop song. It's got many amazing elements, simple lyrics, and great beats. No one can get away with this as a rock band except this band anymore I don't think. You can't fault the groove, babe!
'Stand Up Comedy' is like Achtung Baby era sounds. It reminds me of that time. It's got standard arrangement and harmonies with Edge's cool guitar not guitar sounds. He really is an underrated musician I think. The rest of the record is a mixed version. 'Breathe' has lots of nice things in a waltz. 'Cedars Of Lebanon' is too dramatic for this listener but I am sure it is well meaning. Bono needs an editor sometimes as I said. But hey, perfection is relative!
The bonus is an alternate version of the title track, which is raw and sounds like it could have been recorded during 'War' or 'Boy' with its energy and sounds. Awesome! Overall this keeps U2 in its place as the 'World's Rock Band'. Let's see what comes next.
This is a great review! So true what you said about Bono, only Bono could put glasses on pope. He is goofy but means well, and it is known by the world that he cares about things of meaning like AIDS and pollution of the ozone layer. A country like Ireland should be proud of its son!
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