U2 - Pop
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Music CD Cover
Artist: U2Edition: Music CD
Audio: English (Original Language)
Published: 1997
CD Release Date: 1997-03-04
Music Label: Island
Product features:
- U2 POP
- Discotheque
- Do You Feel Loved
- Mofo
- If God Will Send His Angels
- Staring At The Sun
- Last Night On Earth
- Gone
- Miami
- The Playboy Mansion
- If You Wear That Velvet Dress
- Please
- Wake Up Dead Man
Free Music Notes for Pop
Free Music Review: BOOM, BOOM CHA, DISCOTHEQUE
Hit: 5 Stars
Well, well, well. I have finally arrived at POPmart, where the irony is served straight up, with a twist. Perhaps U2's most maligned album, right up there with Rattle and Hum. I shall initiate this review with a theory that I have read in other places, the U2 3-Album Cycle. I will place POP the the end of the final 3-album cycle.
1)Boy, October, War---A friend of mine called this "Boy, Teen, Man." A somewhat linear beginning for the band, as they bring innocence and wonder on BOY, discovery and (religious) thunder on October, and greed and plunder on WAR. Each album maturing from the last. WAR is U2 finally going back to their punk influences after being "rootless" on their 1st 2.
2)Unforgettable Fire, Joshua Tree, Rattle & Hum---Again, 3 albums that have a definite connection to another. Another WAR would have pigeonholed the band's "sound", so they go back to another "beginning" for them; a more mature "European" album. Joshua Tree sounds like the blend of WAR and UFire, making the sound more expansive while the songs more compact. The logical conclusion of this 3 album cycle is a "live" album, and one where U2 goes back to roots they never quite owned, American music. (Note: UABRS, another U2 "live" album, came out after WAR).
And Now the final 3 album cycle
3)Achtung, Zooropa, POP
Having cleared their creative decks twice, U2 followed the Rattle and Hum bombast underground, where they meant to "dream it all up again", another beginning, if you will. But this time, their beginning was the end and everything in between, as U2 created arguably their finest ALBUM (i.e. beginning to end) Achtung Baby. In many ways the manic energy level was akin to BOY; U2 were on fire. They followed it up mid ZOO TV Tour with Zooropa, setting a very chill and fluid mood after the giddiness and grandiosity of Achtung baby.
U2's POP was U2's first studio album in 4 years. They had redefined music and concerts, cut a swath of flash and fury across America, and catured it all on ZOO TV: Live In Sydney, argualby their best concert video. But now, they slowly emerged in early 1997 as ironic hipsters, a little jaded and a lot more mature. They announced their new album/tour by playing a show at K-Mart. They were tossing out names like Portishead, Prodigy, and Theivery Corp. as turn-ons. They announced that their tour would be one of a kind. Judging off of ZOO TV, what else could the boys do to top that? Had U2 gone techno? What's "space junk?" What can we expect?
The best.
From the intro to "Discotheque" you can tell the boys have fun on their minds. The edge fades in a great guitar intro, almost a reverse "Streets" riff, but thicker, with more funk and attitude. "Do You Feel Loved" showcases Bono's falsetto at the end, while Edge both chimes and chars the guitar with fire and ice. Perhaps the song that most detractors point to as U2 gone "techno" is "Mofo." This not quite surprisingly, is the best rock song on the album. Thge Edge launches one bent note into the stratosphere over an unbelievable Adam-Larry groove. Then at the midpoint, Bono pleas to hear his mothers' voice from beyond the grave as the music stops, then; just as quickly, the groove turns on again. The first of two true ballads on this album, "Angels" is a great number about doubting your faith and God. The other ballad," Staring at the Sun" is propelled by Edge's guitar sound and great lyrics from Bono. Now the album takes a twist towards "Last Night On Earth", a manically ferocious rock song with the loud refrain "YOU GOT TO GIVE IT AWAY", a song addressed to a woman strung out and party-hungry, maybe having danced to "MOFO" earlier in the booze-soaked night. This song had the same effect "The Fly" did in AB. Now Bono seeks penance in the slower-tempoed rocker "Gone" as Bono declares "Goodbye/You can keep this suit of lights" an obvious reference to his rockstar status; more specifically the characters he played on the ZOO TV tour. Another dense musical gem. Next song "MIami" another song often brought up with disdain by those who felt U2 went "techno". This song does sound like a B-side at times, but in the context of the album, it fits perfectly. Bono compares Miami to a woman with some pretty funny lyrics "Miami! My mammy!" but it is also the sound of a lost soul looking for a place to go no matter how bad it is for him when he gets there. Same goes for "The Playboy mansion" a bit of funk blues guitar from Edge opens the doors to this song, as Bono states "We'll go driving through that pool/It's who you know that gets you through/the gates of the Playboy Mansion." Still hasn't found what he's looking for....The album starts to crowd in on itself with the slow ballad "Velvet Dress." A wonderful bass line from Adam sets the tone for this song, a plea from Bono to his lover. Then midpoint, Edge's guitar kicks in a very original way. Next song "Please" Bono's update on Sunday Bloody Sunday" but with another great groove from ADam and Larry and a beautiful guitar riff by Edge.
U2 has taken their fans to the edge of hell and the brink of heaven over the last 3 albums, and now POP collapses under its own weight and we are left with Bono pleading for Jesus' return in "Wake Up Dead Man". As he sought to close his eyes at the end of AB with "Love is Blindness", as he sought redemption through Johnny Cash in "The Wanderer", Bono seeks to close this chapter of U2 by singing through what sounds like a broken nose, as Edge's melody is an insistent call above. "Jesus help me/I'm alone in this world/and a f***ed up world it is too." What a way to end an era for the world's greatest band.
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