"pop"

u2mikie · 10-26-2009, 11:20 PM

Hey guys!!

Is it just me or is "POP" not that bad of an album after all?

I haven`t listened to it for a while so i decided to put it in my car the other day. I know it got canned in certain circles, and even by the band themselves at times, but to me apart from a couple of forgettable tracks most of the others are pretty good songs! Listening to MOFO with the volume turned way up still sounds cool too!
When i was listening to it today it reminded me of that era and i started remembering everything that i was doing at the time. Going to the Virgin Megastore in Melbourne to buy a copy of the cd at the midnight launch, buying the singles as they were released, going crazy looking for these wierd orange sunglasses...he he (Mikli`s). Which i finally ended up finding by pure luck, and of course going to POPMART, and very nearly meeting the band before the show!

Anyway, if anyone agrees drop me a line!

Cheers, Mikie.

mikal · 10-26-2009, 11:21 PM

"POP" is brilliant. in my top 5. i'm sorry to be the one to inform you that this thread will be filled with flame wars and many posters thinking their opinions are better than everyone else's. you seem like a good guy, so i hope you continue to post here. don't take the future results of this thread personally.

Vlad n U 2 · 10-26-2009, 11:25 PM

Pop's also in my top five, so I cannot complain about this thread.

digitize · 10-26-2009, 11:26 PM

I love Pop... and don't worry, it's generally revered on Interference. Mofo is possibly still the greatest piece of sonic awesomeness I've ever heard.

mikal · 10-26-2009, 11:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by digitize

I love Pop... and don't worry, it's generally revered on Interference. Mofo is possibly still the greatest piece of sonic awesomeness I've ever heard.

even tracks 8-12, which many tend to slag off, are wonderful tunes. i'm one of the few that really likes Miami and Playboy Mansion. they both create atmospheres really well, and then tracks 10-12 are just so fucking dark.

digitize · 10-26-2009, 11:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mikal

even tracks 8-12, which many tend to slag off, are wonderful tunes. i'm one of the few that really likes Miami and Playboy Mansion. they both create atmospheres really well, and then tracks 10-12 are just so fucking dark.

I like Miami and The Playboy Mansion... and Please is one of my all-time favorites.

mikal · 10-26-2009, 11:38 PM

you know, i'm on my laptop right now, and my Itunes is on my other computer, but i really need to post the awesome Pop double album playlist i made a couple years ago.

ozeeko · 10-26-2009, 11:38 PM

People will tell you this was U2 at their most bandwagon jumping, what with all the electronica/techno influence. And people like me will say, "how is that any different than what they jumped on during the Achtung Baby Manchester rave scene? And yet that album is praised unanimously?!" And then those people will have nothing more to say except..."uhhh well Bono said it could've been better and i agree" and then i'll say, "he said the same thing about HTDAAB- your favorite album!"...and then they'll say "but music is subjective"..and then i'll say "no, it's not. It's common sense. POP rules and HTDAAB sucks big f-ing elephant d-ck!" And then they'll start crying and i'll get banned from the site.

POP is in my top 5 U2 albums. It's the last time U2 really tried anything out of their comfort zone. And no, ATYCLB wasn't out of their comfort zone trying to write hit songs. (see Sweetest Thing for proof of that). But i did like ATYCLB because luckily for me i liked the songs. But if anyone was out of their comfort zone on HTDAAB, it was definitely me, because i felt truly uncomfortable while listening to that album.

POP rules. The end.

mikal · 10-26-2009, 11:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ozeeko

People will tell you this was U2 at their most bandwagon jumping, what with all the electronica/techno influence. And people like me will say, "how is that any different than what they jumped on during the Achtung Baby Manchester rave scene? And yet that album is praised unanimously?!" And then those people will have nothing more to say except..."uhhh well Bono said it could've been better and i agree" and then i'll say, "he said the same thing about HTDAAB- your favorite album!"...and then they'll say "but music is subjective"..and then i'll say "no, it's not. It's common sense. POP rules and HTDAAB sucks big f-ing elephant d-ck!" And then they'll start crying and i'll get banned from the site.

POP is in my top 5 U2 albums. It's the last time U2 really tried anything out of their comfort zone. And no, ATYCLB wasn't out of their comfort zone trying to write hit songs. (see Sweetest Thing for proof of that). But i did like ATYCLB because luckily for me i liked the songs. But if anyone was out of their comfort zone on HTDAAB, it was definitely me, because i felt truly uncomfortable while listening to that album.

POP rules. The end.

i agree with most of this, except i really enjoy ATYCLB and HTDAAB too. U2 are my favorite musicians, so i generally enjoy most of the music they make.

Vlad n U 2 · 10-26-2009, 11:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by digitize

I like Miami and The Playboy Mansion... and Please is one of my all-time favorites.

Oh yes.

I could listen to Pop all the way through without wanting to skip a track, i'd happily listen to Miami and the Playboy Mansion, If You Wear Your Velvet Dress is an underrated favourite of mine.

Please is one of the greatest pieces of music ever produced (along with Lemon IMO).

Slapnutz · 10-26-2009, 11:46 PM

I consider Playboy Mansion to be almost unforgivable (good concept, terrible execution). Aside from that, I'm also a big fan of Pop. All the cool kids are.

BVS · 10-26-2009, 11:47 PM

I love Pop, but I think it suffers from two things, and when I say "suffer" it means minus these two things and it would be a classic up there with JT and AB.

It had a little bit too much of a bandwagon flavor(and some of it sounds very dated to me) and it lacked a little focus.

That's it...

I think NLOTH lacks a little focus as well... I actually think these albums have a bit in common in the sense that they really could have been classic albums.

Earnie Shavers · 10-26-2009, 11:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ozeeko

People will tell you this was U2 at their most bandwagon jumping, what with all the electronica/techno influence. And people like me will say, "how is that any different than what they jumped on during the Achtung Baby Manchester rave scene? And yet that album is praised unanimously?!" And then those people will have nothing more to say except..."uhhh well Bono said it could've been better and i agree" and then i'll say, "he said the same thing about HTDAAB- your favorite album!"...and then they'll say "but music is subjective"..and then i'll say "no, it's not. It's common sense. POP rules and HTDAAB sucks big f-ing elephant d-ck!" And then they'll start crying and i'll get banned from the site.

You forgot:

Bringing someone in to use synthesizers to create atmosphere in the 80s was great and CLASSIC and =

Bringing someone in to use samples to create atmosphere in the 90s was TOTALLY DIFFERENT and =

Earnie Shavers · 10-26-2009, 11:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BVS

I think NLOTH lacks a little focus as well... I actually think these albums have a bit in common in the sense that they really could have been classic albums.

Me too actually. In both cases, both kinda stumble at the finish line. They’re both “something” short of slamming it home, so to speak. For Pop, it’s in the finish. It is rough, poorly mixed and poorly edited at points. It's obvious. There’s no work needed on the songs or structure or lyrics or likely any individual part, it’s all in the mixing and editing. You can tell there’s a scramble there in that last stage. For NLOTH, it is to me those three middle songs. Not so much those as much as what could have been there, could have been what belted it out of the park.

BVS · 10-27-2009, 12:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Earnie Shavers

Me too actually. In both cases, both kinda stumble at the finish line. They’re both “something” short of slamming it home, so to speak. For Pop, it’s in the finish. It is rough, poorly mixed and poorly edited at points. It's obvious. There’s no work needed on the songs or structure or lyrics or likely any individual part, it’s all in the mixing and editing. You can tell there’s a scramble there in that last stage. For NLOTH, it is to me those three middle songs. Not so much those as much as what could have been there, could have been what belted it out of the park.

I agree with this, with the exception that Miami would need different lyrics(I know it's suppose to be some fun postcard type of song but to be classic it would have needed something else) and I do think WUDM suffered slightly in the structure department, especially hearing some of the early jams where this lyric comes from...

I honestly think NLOTH could have been classic with Boots and Crazy, but maybe a slightly different version of Crazy(I think some of the mixes sound really interesting), and if SUC was replaced with the right song it could have it hit it out of the park like you said.

10-26-2009, 11:20 PM	#1
u2mikie The Fly Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Melbourne, Australia. Posts: 37 Local Time: 06:12 PM	"pop" Hey guys!! Is it just me or is "POP" not that bad of an album after all? I haven`t listened to it for a while so i decided to put it in my car the other day. I know it got canned in certain circles, and even by the band themselves at times, but to me apart from a couple of forgettable tracks most of the others are pretty good songs! Listening to MOFO with the volume turned way up still sounds cool too! When i was listening to it today it reminded me of that era and i started remembering everything that i was doing at the time. Going to the Virgin Megastore in Melbourne to buy a copy of the cd at the midnight launch, buying the singles as they were released, going crazy looking for these wierd orange sunglasses...he he (Mikli`s). Which i finally ended up finding by pure luck, and of course going to POPMART, and very nearly meeting the band before the show! Anyway, if anyone agrees drop me a line! Cheers, Mikie.

10-26-2009, 11:21 PM	#2
mikal BLIND SHEEP Premium Gold Member Join Date: Nov 2000 Location: Fez Posts: 12,412 Local Time: 01:12 AM	"POP" is brilliant. in my top 5. i'm sorry to be the one to inform you that this thread will be filled with flame wars and many posters thinking their opinions are better than everyone else's. you seem like a good guy, so i hope you continue to post here. don't take the future results of this thread personally. __________________ Come On Ye People! Stand Back And Don't Shove! Shove! Shove! Shove! Shove! Shove!

10-26-2009, 11:38 PM	#7
mikal BLIND SHEEP Premium Gold Member Join Date: Nov 2000 Location: Fez Posts: 12,412 Local Time: 01:12 AM	you know, i'm on my laptop right now, and my Itunes is on my other computer, but i really need to post the awesome Pop double album playlist i made a couple years ago. __________________ Come On Ye People! Stand Back And Don't Shove! Shove! Shove! Shove! Shove! Shove!

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10-26-2009, 11:25 PM	#3
Vlad n U 2 Rock n' Roll Doggie VIP PASS Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: In the passengers seat of a car driven by God (aka The Stig) Posts: 6,423 Local Time: 05:42 PM	Pop's also in my top five, so I cannot complain about this thread.

10-26-2009, 11:26 PM	#4
digitize Rock n' Roll Doggie ALL ACCESS Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Doing His Disappearing Act (actual: Austin, Texas) Posts: 7,042 Local Time: 01:12 AM	I love Pop... and don't worry, it's generally revered on Interference. Mofo is possibly still the greatest piece of sonic awesomeness I've ever heard.

10-26-2009, 11:38 PM	#8
ozeeko Refugee Join Date: Jan 2006 Posts: 1,259 Local Time: 07:12 AM	People will tell you this was U2 at their most bandwagon jumping, what with all the electronica/techno influence. And people like me will say, "how is that any different than what they jumped on during the Achtung Baby Manchester rave scene? And yet that album is praised unanimously?!" And then those people will have nothing more to say except..."uhhh well Bono said it could've been better and i agree" and then i'll say, "he said the same thing about HTDAAB- your favorite album!"...and then they'll say "but music is subjective"..and then i'll say "no, it's not. It's common sense. POP rules and HTDAAB sucks big f-ing elephant d-ck!" And then they'll start crying and i'll get banned from the site. POP is in my top 5 U2 albums. It's the last time U2 really tried anything out of their comfort zone. And no, ATYCLB wasn't out of their comfort zone trying to write hit songs. (see Sweetest Thing for proof of that). But i did like ATYCLB because luckily for me i liked the songs. But if anyone was out of their comfort zone on HTDAAB, it was definitely me, because i felt truly uncomfortable while listening to that album. POP rules. The end.

10-26-2009, 11:46 PM	#11
Slapnutz War Child Join Date: Jun 2000 Location: Under Your Bed Posts: 871 Local Time: 07:12 AM	I consider Playboy Mansion to be almost unforgivable (good concept, terrible execution). Aside from that, I'm also a big fan of Pop. All the cool kids are.