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Free Music Notes for ZooropaFree Music Review: Amazing - Sorely Underrated Hit: 5 StarsAs a serious U2 fan, this review is bound to be a little bit biased. That aside, "Zooropa" is a criminally underrated album.
Released amid their early to mid-1990's experimentation with techno/dance/rock, it isn't as accessible as their more iconic work, but what is offered on this release is nothing short of brilliant.
'Numb' is an easy and obvious single, and may be a good place to start if you want to get a feel for what this album is like, although it may have been a better fit on their next album, "Pop." 'Stay (Faraway, So Close!)' is one of the better-known tracks from the album, and is certainly a great song, but 'Babyface' is oft-overlooked, and - although very pop-y - is a gorgeous song. 'Lemon' has an absolutely beautiful refrain, and 'The First Time' is eerily reminiscent of 'All I Want is You' in its haunting simplicity: a two-chord guitar part supported by strong lyrics. And 'The Wanderer,' U2's collaboration with Johnny Cash, is, arguably, the best song on the album.
If you haven't heard this album, definitely give it a listen.
Free Music Review: A classic U2 record that should not be ignored Hit: 5 StarsI'll be the first to say that U2 did experiment here, and this is very different from records like, say 'The Joshua Tree' or 'The Unforgettable Fire.' But hey, it's still a great U2 record.
Many fans of 1980s U2 disliked this record, and I never (and still to this day) don't understand why. It's got great songs. 'Numb' features The Edge on vocals, with Bono and his great high falsetto singing background vocals, and a good quiet song in 'The First Time.'
The intro to 'Zooropa' is great. It features great piano parts from The Edge, as well as some experimental synthesizer sounds.
The legendary country music hero Johnny Cash stops by to sing lead on 'The Wanderer,' a great classic country music song that's well worth checking out if you're a Johnny Cash and/or U2 completist.
Overall, it's a great record that should not be condemned. It's a masterpiece. A great addition to anyone's U2 collection.
Highly recommended. ENJOY!!!
Free Music Review: The Dark Side Of U2 Meets Brian Eno Hit: 5 StarsZooropa can easily be seen as a natural progression in the band's musical evolution as rockers, social commentators and human beings, when examined through a religious and prog-rock grid.
actually, the heavily synthesized sound of this album is entirely appropriate because of its predominating subject matter, the alienation of modern man as a result of gross consumerism, technological dependence and moral declination.
there is also an interesting, yet subtle tension throughout many of the songs, a cry for both a natural balance in the world (and the self) and supernatural intervention; both of which have been upset or largely ignored on the surface.
musically, Zooropa offers many traditional blues-influenced ballads with the band's usual instrumentation while Brian Eno assists with a heavily syhthesized-yet-innovative sound that often chills and refuses to soothe.
the cd book inside is heavily colored and assaults the viewer with disturbing images distorted by a computer-imaging software program, and easily supports the theme of the overarching theme of the album.
one of my favorite U2 albums, this is a must-have album for fans of U2 and Brian Eno, but they may not know it yet...
Free Music Review: ahead of its time Hit: 5 StarsI hated this album after it first came out. Little did I know that it would be U2's last great album and now I think it is a haunting, dark creation.
Free Music Review: for the ages Hit: 5 StarsI listened to this album for the first time in about 10 years today. I hear it in a way that I never use to hear it. Before I perceived it as kind of a candy coated Achtung Baby redux, but I think there is something here. The sounds used are odd and innovative for U2. The lyrics--somedays are better than others, crashed car, dirty day, he turns his money into light to look for her, days run away like horses over the hill, numb, because when he hurts you you feel alive, wandering...bleak stuff, a real thread of alienation, looking for warmth and soul. I think Bono's lyrics on this are far ahead of the lyrics, for instance, on Joshua Tree, which is generally acknowledged as their masterpiece. I suspect that Zooropa might be the one that stands out for the ages.
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