Since the primary concern here is to tear into albums I find nauseating, and since my inaugural post was nostalgic gushing for a mediocre disc, I've opted to tear into something deserving of ire. To do this, I googled "greatest albums" and picked a target from the resulting list. The resulting sacrificial turd is U2's 7th album, released in 1991. Oh, boy, does this album ever sound like it was released in 1991. So much so, in fact, that it sounds like a fucking Jesus Jones album. Look at the hits: "Mysterious ways" and "Even better than the real thing" are positively dripping from the firehose spunk gusher unleashed upon it by that conveniently culpable "Zeitgeist". I remember thinking it sounded like Jesus Jones at the time, and the years have done nothing to change my opinion. Let's leave the bukkake out of this and take a slightly more objective look, though, shall we? Squishy sounding synthesizers abound on this record, which is probably Brian Eno's fault, and really doesn't suit the band. Bono is writing bouncy pop songs, probably to get it out of his system, and The Edge, who usually saves the band from sounding twee, is out to lunch on this record. The shining beacon of this album, "One", isn't a bad song, but as Johnny Cash later proved, it's not a good song for U2 to be playing as U2 plays it. If you disagree, download "Right here right now" and I DEFY you to tell me this album doesn't sound the same.
1 comment:
Everything, it seems, is Brian Eno's fault -- one of the many reasons this record is almost entirely unlistenable at times. I do have a weakness for "One" and "Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses." The Edge isn't so much out to lunch as he is coked out of his mind. He does here what Andy did on Ghost In The Machine -- except Andy did a better job. I don't think I'd give it an F, but it's closer to that than an A or B or even C for that matter.
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