Subscriber HansasHeroes1991 Posted October 10, 2015 Subscriber Share Posted October 10, 2015 Oh, seriously, do not start me on Zooropa, currently my least preferred of all! But I suppose that's my 80's Unforgettable Fire bias A buddy of mine just texted me last night the words, "COOL SONG! What album?" He included a photo of the satellite radio readout that said U2 Elvis Presley And America. Yeah, that's a pretty damn cool song alright! He appreciates the Zoo TV era and he witnessed a Popmart show in KC but doesn't consider himself a fan. So, that's the last text I was expecting to get from him! I suppose I'm saying all of this because it just shows how sometimes a song has to hit a person at the right time for it to really connect. With Zooropa, it's so different to what had gone before. Certainly quite a different experience when placed back to back with The Unforgettable Fire. I never really questioned any of it. It was only the Pop LP that left me feeling that I wasn't connecting to the music. If you haven't already, you might read U2 At The End Of The World. I find that reviews and a bit of backstory can help me get into a piece of music. Zooropa is a special moment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subscriber kastee Posted October 10, 2015 Subscriber Share Posted October 10, 2015 Oh, seriously, do not start me on Zooropa, currently my least preferred of all! But I suppose that's my 80's Unforgettable Fire bias A buddy of mine just texted me last night the words, "COOL SONG! What album?" He included a photo of the satellite radio readout that said U2 Elvis Presley And America. Yeah, that's a pretty damn cool song alright! He appreciates the Zoo TV era and he witnessed a Popmart show in KC but doesn't consider himself a fan. So, that's the last text I was expecting to get from him! I suppose I'm saying all of this because it just shows how sometimes a song has to hit a person at the right time for it to really connect. With Zooropa, it's so different to what had gone before. Certainly quite a different experience when placed back to back with The Unforgettable Fire. I never really questioned any of it. It was only the Pop LP that left me feeling that I wasn't connecting to the music. If you haven't already, you might read U2 At The End Of The World. I find that reviews and a bit of backstory can help me get into a piece of music. Zooropa is a special moment. Thanks for your insight Hans, will look into it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subscriber HansasHeroes1991 Posted October 10, 2015 Subscriber Share Posted October 10, 2015 (edited) LOL, go for it! I Would love to get your insight into WHY you and others prefer Zooropa. Pretty much my favourite U2 albums at the moment are: 1. TUF (ok, so this hasn't changed since 1984) 2. ATYCLB 3. undecided between SOI+, HTDAAB, NLOTH, Pop, War I think I preferred TUF back in 1993, just because I still hadn't come completely to terms with the massive contrast reinvention that was Achtung/Zoo TV/Zooropa. I remember a bit later thinking that Miss Sarajevo seemed quite akin to the TUF period, actually. I tend to not listen to records front to back these days. I like to mix things up. I go for the more abstract impressionist sonic landscape moments of Elvis Presley And America, 4th Of July, Promenade, and the b-side Sixty Seconds In Kingdom Come. The stream of consciousness approach on Promenade, Bad, and Elvis makes me think of Van Morrison's Astral Weeks LP. I love that U2 are stylistic gadflies, moving on constantly. It's so different from War and though I love both albums, TUF is a welcome change. The Zooropa LP... It's telling the story, as I see it, of someone who has left everything they know to experience a new world. The main interface with the new world is via media, which permeates everything, hence the barrage of advertising babble bubbling up during the opening Blade Runneresque sequence of the title track. This person could be an immigrant from an Eastern Bloc nation, completely unprepared for the world they are entering. They are perhaps overwhelmed at first in this new world and, like many of us in the West, resort to experiencing the world at a distance through television, seemingly having relationships with celebrities, game shows, adverts, the nightly news... Thematically, the only misstep on Zooropa is Some Days Are Better Than Others. I think it's a great song, mind you. I say it is a misstep though because a Fathers theme arises in Daddy's Gonna Pay, The First Time, Dirty Day, and certainly the arrival of Johnny Cash at the album's closing underlines the theme, given how Bono has so many father figures he has embraced through the years. Some Days is a fine tune, it just interrupts the Fathers theme. Why a switch from a wanderer in a new world overwhelmed by media to a story of fathers and sons? Well, I don't know exactly. I will say that it's also quite a lot to do with those who left family behind. The First Time is the Prodigal Son who decides not to come back. Dirty Day is the return of the father, "the bad guy who walked out". The Wanderer is self-explanatory. While TUF is, for me, an endlessly beautiful winterscape of Monet-like imagery, Zooropa adopts the sonic tools of disorientation in a media saturated world and gives more of a theme upon which to chew. Neither is better to me, just unique to each other, offering very specific riches to those who dive in. Edited October 10, 2015 by HansasHeroes1991 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subscriber pain_18_ Posted October 10, 2015 Subscriber Share Posted October 10, 2015 ZOOROPA FOR EVVVEEEEEEREEER AND POP AND ACHTUNG BABY BABY BABY BABY!!!!!!!!!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subscriber lionwehr240579 Posted October 10, 2015 Author Subscriber Share Posted October 10, 2015 ZOOROPA FOR EVVVEEEEEEREEER AND POP AND ACHTUNG BABY BABY BABY BABY!!!!!!!!!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subscriber kastee Posted October 10, 2015 Subscriber Share Posted October 10, 2015 LOL, go for it! I Would love to get your insight into WHY you and others prefer Zooropa. Pretty much my favourite U2 albums at the moment are: 1. TUF (ok, so this hasn't changed since 1984) 2. ATYCLB 3. undecided between SOI+, HTDAAB, NLOTH, Pop, War I think I preferred TUF back in 1993, just because I still hadn't come completely to terms with the massive contrast reinvention that was Achtung/Zoo TV/Zooropa. I remember a bit later thinking that Miss Sarajevo seemed quite akin to the TUF period, actually. I tend to not listen to records front to back these days. I like to mix things up. I go for the more abstract impressionist sonic landscape moments of Elvis Presley And America, 4th Of July, Promenade, and the b-side Sixty Seconds In Kingdom Come. The stream of consciousness approach on Promenade, Bad, and Elvis makes me think of Van Morrison's Astral Weeks LP. I love that U2 are stylistic gadflies, moving on constantly. It's so different from War and though I love both albums, TUF is a welcome change. The Zooropa LP... It's telling the story, as I see it, of someone who has left everything they know to experience a new world. The main interface with the new world is via media, which permeates everything, hence the barrage of advertising babble bubbling up during the opening Blade Runneresque sequence of the title track. This person could be an immigrant from an Eastern Bloc nation, completely unprepared for the world they are entering. They are perhaps overwhelmed at first in this new world and, like many of us in the West, resort to experiencing the world at a distance through television, seemingly having relationships with celebrities, game shows, adverts, the nightly news... Thematically, the only misstep on Zooropa is Some Days Are Better Than Others. I think it's a great song, mind you. I say it is a misstep though because a Fathers theme arises in Daddy's Gonna Pay, The First Time, Dirty Day, and certainly the arrival of Johnny Cash at the album's closing underlines the theme, given how Bono has so many father figures he has embraced through the years. Why a switch from a wanderer in a new world overwhelmed by media to a story of fathers and sons? Well, I don't know exactly. I will say that it's also quite a lot to do with those who left family behind. The First Time is the Prodigal Son who decides not to come back. Dirty Day is the return of the father, "the bad guy who walked out". The Wanderer is self-explanatory. While TUF is, for me, an endlessly beautiful winters ape of Monet-like imagery, Zooropa adopts the sonic tools of disorientation in a media saturated world and gives more of a theme upon which to chew. Neither is better to me, just unique to each other, offering very specific riches to those who dive in. Wow, that is such a deep analysis. It will take me some time to process. This part: They are perhaps overwhelmed at first in this new world and, like many of us in the West, resort to experiencing the world at a distance through television, seemingly having relationships with celebrities, game shows, adverts, the nightly news... is quite telling, basically in the 90's I eschewed and withhdrew from all of that, and lived a back-to-nature lifestyle, with minimal material posessions, so Zooropa and Pop certainly did not resonate with me at the time, but looking back I can see how relevant they would have been for others at that time... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subscriber kastee Posted October 10, 2015 Subscriber Share Posted October 10, 2015 ZOOROPA FOR EVVVEEEEEEREEER AND POP AND ACHTUNG BABY BABY BABY BABY!!!!!!!!!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subscriber HansasHeroes1991 Posted October 10, 2015 Subscriber Share Posted October 10, 2015 (edited) I was withdrawing a fair bit back then as well! Numb was at first quite shocking sonically but lyrically it made immediate sense for me. One of the truly beautiful facets of the album is that it deals with our relationship with images, particularly television images. We are advertised to through them (Zooropa), we fantasize and idealize through them (Babyface), we can become overwhelmed by them (Numb), we preserve memory with them (Lemon), and we disengage from harsh realities with them (Stay). Lemon alone is such a poignant and danceable moment, taking on more and more yearning as it reaches the climax. I think it's meant to be heard after midnight, though I sometimes like it at dawn. Edited October 10, 2015 by HansasHeroes1991 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subscriber kastee Posted October 10, 2015 Subscriber Share Posted October 10, 2015 (edited) Hmmmm, am now listening to Zooropa as we speak. Will see how that goes. Gunna go to bed with it as it is 11pm and I want to wake up at 6 to listen to Barcelona 4 on Mixlr. Not quite after midnight. Thanks for the chat! Edited October 10, 2015 by kastee Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subscriber HansasHeroes1991 Posted October 10, 2015 Subscriber Share Posted October 10, 2015 Hmmmm, am now listening to Zooropa as we speak. Will see how that goes. Gunna go to bed with it as it is 11pm and I want to wake up at 6 to listen to Barcelona 4 on Mixlr. Thanks for the chat! Indeed! You are most welcome! Thank you as well!! Are you in Spain? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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