U2's 'The Fly' - Are you JOKING?
Diamond Dave
Lewis + MAF) says:
>If 'The Fly' is any indication of the rest of 'Achtung, Baby' and
>U2's musical direction, I think we can fashion 4 caskets, and label
>them: Bono, Edge, Adam, and Larry. U2 is dead. What an unimaginative
>piece of garbage.
Obviously, you are not a true U2 fan. U2 has been alternative ever since
their inception (minus R&H). Alternative rock keeps changing, so do they.
Granted, this album is a departure from even I am used to but I will get
used to it soon.
'Diamond' David Perrussel Penn State Univ.
DBP103@PSUVM DBP...@psuvm.psu.edu
"Those who can but do not think for themselves are parasites and burdens
to society."
Paul M. Lewis + MAF
If 'The Fly' is any indication of the rest of 'Achtung, Baby' and
U2's musical direction, I think we can fashion 4 caskets, and label
them: Bono, Edge, Adam, and Larry. U2 is dead. What an unimaginative
piece of garbage.
Paul Lewis | 'The love you take is equal to the love you make.' |
| -The Beatles, 'The End' |
Watch: | 'Where does time go? I don't know.' |
The Men Who| -Michael Stipe, 'Get Up' |
Killed JFK | 'True leaders gone, of land and people.' |
on A&E Fri.| -Perry Farrell, 'Three Days' =Farewell, Jane's= |
9PM EST | 'We turned in horror toward the back of the grassy knoll |
| where it seemed the sounds had originated.' |
__PML+MAF__|_______-Cheryl McKinnon, witness to the murder of J.F.K.___|
Jodi Shapiro
I like it, but I think they're getting to be like Depeche Mode. A U2 dance mix
is a pretty ludicrous idea!
--
-->> Jodi "Magic Jay Bone" Shapiro <> js1...@csc.albany.edu <<--
"If they smiled, they'd all get the joke"-Das Damen
Joseph Kung
>In article <23109118....@lehigh.bitnet>, PM...@NS.CC.LEHIGH.EDU (Paul M.
>Lewis + MAF) says:
>
>
>>If 'The Fly' is any indication of the rest of 'Achtung, Baby' and
>>U2's musical direction, I think we can fashion 4 caskets, and label
>>them: Bono, Edge, Adam, and Larry. U2 is dead. What an unimaginative
>>piece of garbage.
>
>Obviously, you are not a true U2 fan. U2 has been alternative ever since
>their inception (minus R&H). Alternative rock keeps changing, so do they.
>Granted, this album is a departure from even I am used to but I will get
>used to it soon.
>
I would say that the previous poster was a fan of music, and that he
had a particular opinion about U2's present music. Which is good in
the sense that he is not blind enough to follow whatever U2 puts out.
To say that you are just a fan of U2 (and NOT their MUSIC) and that
whatever they put out is good, or that you could "get used to it" is
not an indication that U2 is on the cutting edge of alternative rock;
in fact, it says to me that you believe that they establish the edge
(no pun intended), and that whatever it is, you'll like it. Which is
sort of a sad statement, given the fact that U2's arguably strongest
points (which brought them to the forefront) were the harsh edge,
strong drums, and delayed guitars of Steve Lillywhite's expert
production -- an element no longer present in their albums after
_War_, though flashes appeared throughout _The Unforgettable Fire_ and
_The Joshua Tree_, but not at all on _Rattle & Hum_.
I remember this band back in 1981 when no one even cared about them --
their driving rhythms, angry lyrics, delayed/echoed guitars, and
Bono's voice. The production was what really made this band take off
(I tip my hat to Steve Lillywhite who has done this with countless
bands, most notably Simple Minds and Big Country). Proper marketing
and propaganda converted them into arena pop/alternative, and of
course, their music radically changed. To say that whatever they do is
cutting edge is ridiculous. I just wish that some of what made them
great to begin with -- the guitars, the production, the anger and
energy -- would come back ... and with less hoopla and spectacle. I'd
like to see more musician than rock celebrity. We have more than
enough celebrities cranking out musical fodder for image-conscious
teenagers ....
- Joe
Brian E. Saunders
>
>I like it, but I think they're getting to be like Depeche Mode. A U2 dance mix
>is a pretty ludicrous idea!
Tell me if I'm wrong, but I thought they sounded like INXS, at least the
dance-oriented INXS of their last few albums. Sounds like Bono is even
singing like Hutchins (sp?). The one thing that will always set U2 apart
from the crowd are those Edge guitar riffs. Hell, he could be jamming with
Devo and I'd still recognize his style. He's the only reason I can stomach
the U2 of recent.
--
Brian E. Saunders saun...@luther.che.wisc.edu
Visual Mark
In article <1991Oct24....@sarah.albany.edu> js1...@sarah.albany.edu (Jodi Shapiro) writes:
>
>I like it, but I think they're getting to be like Depeche Mode. A U2 dance mix
>is a pretty ludicrous idea!
Tell me if I'm wrong, but I thought they sounded like INXS, at least the
dance-oriented INXS of their last few albums. Sounds like Bono is even
singing like Hutchins (sp?). The one thing that will always set U2 apart
My personal thought was that they sounded like the Cure + Robt. Smith.
Rhaspy near-whispered vocals and all... But that's just me...
--
Larry Daffner ----> craz...@mentor.cc.purdue.edu / daf...@ecn.purdue.edu
bash% Larry | "This must be Thursday," said Arthur,
Illegal reality error(core dumped) |"I never could get the hang of Thursdays"
bash% | -Douglas Adams, HHGTG.
Tim Oldham
Does being ``a true fan'' make you a better person?
Tim.
--
Tim Oldham, BT Group Computing Services. t...@its.bt.co.uk
No Christmas for John Quays!
Matthew A. Lewis
In a previous article, saun...@luther.che.wisc.edu (Brian E. Saunders) says:
>In article <1991Oct24....@sarah.albany.edu> js1...@sarah.albany.edu (Jodi Shapiro) writes:
>>
>>I like it, but I think they're getting to be like Depeche Mode. A U2 dance mix
>>is a pretty ludicrous idea!
>
>
Listen, they say this is the most aggressive track from the album
The rest of the tracks are more mass-appeal. The next single Mysterious
Ways (Nov.6th) is rumored to be the With or Without You or
I Still Haven't Found What I'm lookinf for of the new album.
Give U2 a chance. The Joshua Tree was a great album, and they may never
live up to it, but I will always be interested in anything they
produce.
Later.
--
Mathieu A. Lewis "My friend, he took his final breath.
ma...@po.cwru.edu Now I know the perfect kiss is the kiss of death."
mle...@utdallas.edu -Substance 1987
Phillip R. Scarr
>Lewis + MAF) says:
>
>
>>If 'The Fly' is any indication of the rest of 'Achtung, Baby' and
>>U2's musical direction, I think we can fashion 4 caskets, and label
>>them: Bono, Edge, Adam, and Larry. U2 is dead. What an unimaginative
>>piece of garbage.
>
>Obviously, you are not a true U2 fan.
The bringer of truth and knowledge has spoken. Thou
art a U2 fan and thou art not.
Get real and get off your horse, butthead. I've been listening to U2
since I saw them in Hartford CT on the Boy tour (with 20 other people)
so don't you go telling people they're not real U2 fans. That is just
the kind of arrogance the band tries to get their fans to avoid. You
should like U2 because they're U2, not out of some slavish adherence to
fandom. I like U2 and I think The Fly is a shitty song.
> U2 has been alternative ever since
>their inception (minus R&H). Alternative rock keeps changing, so do they.
>Granted, this album is a departure from even I am used to but I will get
>used to it soon.
If it's something that you "have to get used to", is it really worth it?
Playing the album 100 times in a row to drill the chords and melody
(such as they are) into your brain along with all the Led Zepplin, Pink
Floyd and Rush you have burned into your EPROMS is not MY idea of a
quality record. And I think if you were as real about U2 as you seem to
think you are you would be a bit more of a free-thinker instead of a
slave to musical fashion.
-Phil
>
> 'Diamond' David Perrussel Penn State Univ.
> DBP103@PSUVM DBP...@psuvm.psu.edu
>"Those who can but do not think for themselves are parasites and burdens
> to society."
you could stand to learn a thing or two from your own sig file.
--
(--)== pr...@virginia.edu === Phil Scarr === Department of Anthropology ==(--)
"Believing, with Max Weber, that man is an animal suspended
in webs of significance he himself has spun, I take culture
to be those webs, and the analysis of it to be therefore
not an experimental science in search of law but an
interpretive one in search of meaning." -C. Geertz
Marck L. Bailey
> If it's something that you "have to get used to", is it really worth it?
I find myself trotting this example out again and again recently, but it
keeps seeming germaine to discussions, so here we go again:
When Stravinsky's "Le Sacre du Printemps" was first performed in front of
an American audience, the audience rioted and the piece was not completed.
Everyone hated it, and it was denounced far and wide by critics. The
piece is now considered to be one of the most important works of the 20th
century, if not all classical music.
Now, I am certainly not trying to raise "The Fly" to the level of
Stravinsky; I'll get to my feelings about that song in a moment. But I am
saying that whether or not YOU choose to "get used to it", there is the
possibility that the rest of the "culture" (if something so amorphous
actually exists) may eventually pull in that direction, and we don't know
what may GROW OUT of songs like "The Fly". Certainly, Phillip can express
his own opinion about how he feels about this song or album, but we won't
know where this is really taking U2 and the rest of the
progressive/pop/fill-in-the-blank music world until a few years/decades
down the line.
Now, as for my feelings about the single:
I was listening to it in the car for about the 7th time the other day when
I realized that I was giving this song a major benefit of the doubt
because it was coming from one of the most "important pop bands" (if there
is in fact such a thing) of the 80s and 90s. But truth is: I don't like
it.
I know I was interested to see where the new album would take them after
their rendition of "Night and Day" on _Red, Hot + Blue_ ... I thought that
U2's entering the arena of dance music would potentially send that music,
which I've despised, in a more palatable direction. The Edge's guitar on
the Cole Porter track was spectacular and uplifting, and I bought the
album on the strength of that one single.
"The Fly", however, seems to me to be something of an experiment, and
perhaps a failed one. There are interesting parts to the song, but they
don't add up to much of anything. Contrary to someone else's posting, I
don't find The Edge's guitar at all interesting on this track, but hey:
he doesn't have to be the star of EVERY track these guys put out.
I'm still looking forward to the album, though. I would find it hard to
believe that U2 would go wrong for 10 or 12 tracks in a row...
--------------
Marck L. Bailey
"The nation's morals are like teeth, and the more decayed they are, the
more it hurts to touch them."
-- G.B. Shaw
Alan McBride
I've always found U2 hard to swallow, but this song is
perhaps the first I can listen too, if not like. We owe
it a great debt for relieving us from the tedium of yet
another week with Bryan Adams at the top of the British
charts; U2 came straight in at number one.
----------------------------------------------
e-mail: amcb...@axion.bt.co.uk (Alan McBride)
Phone: +44 473 646077 Fax: +44 473 644605
Mail: sdd, g61, b81, btl, ip5 7re, uk
--------------------------------------
Material enclosed is my responsibility
--------------------------------------
Joseph Kung
>>
>> [stuff deleted about U2's 'The Fly' being bad ...]
>>
>
>Hey! Bite your tounge. I really like 'The Fly', and really like U2.
>Supposedly 'The Fly' is the most 'alternative' track on the album, and
>their next single, 'Mysterious Ways', will have more of a universal
>appeal to it.
>
>Personally, one could see this techno sound coming on. The remixes
>from the Rattle and Hum 12" and cd singles pointed in this direction.
>Also, the 'Night and Day' Cole Porter cover was similiar.
>
>Face facts. A band could never followup War or The Joshua Tree. If they
>had tried, I would have given up long ago. I like the idea of them
>trying new directions. It shows that their blood still flows.
>
The problem with 'The Fly' is that it sounds like what INXS has been
doing for a while now. In fact, I thought it was INXS when I first
heard it. And I didn't hear any trademark Edge guitar either. I don't
mind them following NEW directions, but this doesn't seem new to me.
What would have been new after WAR was to beef up the atmosphere a bit
with some drone keyboards, but keep the delayed/echoing guitars, the
upfront drums, and the tight bass. Instead, they lightened up on all
three, and made the smooth transition from alternative rock to pop. I
blame this somewhat on the change of producers from Steve Lillywhite
[a genius] to Eno and Lanois [see Peter Gabriel's SO]. And in keeping
with that tradition, they also turned into celebrities, not musicians.
- Joe
--
Microsystems +---------------------------------+ 77 Massachusetts Avenue
Technology | Joseph Kung, jtk...@caf.mit.edu | Room 39-627
Laboratories, MIT +---------------------------------+ Cambridge, MA 02139
Andrew Bennett, Miami U., Oxford, Ohio
> All I have to say is this:
>
> If 'The Fly' is any indication of the rest of 'Achtung, Baby' and
> U2's musical direction, I think we can fashion 4 caskets, and label
> them: Bono, Edge, Adam, and Larry. U2 is dead. What an unimaginative
> piece of garbage.
Hey! Bite your tounge. I really like 'The Fly', and really like U2.
Supposedly 'The Fly' is the most 'alternative' track on the album, and
their next single, 'Mysterious Ways', will have more of a universal
appeal to it.
Personally, one could see this techno sound coming on. The remixes
from the Rattle and Hum 12" and cd singles pointed in this direction.
Also, the 'Night and Day' Cole Porter cover was similiar.
Face facts. A band could never followup War or The Joshua Tree. If they
had tried, I would have given up long ago. I like the idea of them
trying new directions. It shows that their blood still flows.
Andrew
--
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Andrew Bennett ajbe...@miavx1.acs.muohio.edu [@miavx1.bitnet]
Oxford, Ohio ab55...@miamiu.acs.muohio.edu [@miamiu.bitnet]
usr5...@tso.uc.edu -- at...@cleveland.freenet.edu
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Edwin lived reclusively in his midtown apartment with his dog, Lola, whom
he secretly loathed."
Andrew Bennett, Miami U., Oxford, Ohio
>
> The problem with 'The Fly' is that it sounds like what INXS has been
> doing for a while now. In fact, I thought it was INXS when I first
> heard it. And I didn't hear any trademark Edge guitar either. I don't
> mind them following NEW directions, but this doesn't seem new to me.
> What would have been new after WAR was to beef up the atmosphere a bit
> with some drone keyboards, but keep the delayed/echoing guitars, the
> upfront drums, and the tight bass. Instead, they lightened up on all
> three, and made the smooth transition from alternative rock to pop. I
> blame this somewhat on the change of producers from Steve Lillywhite
> [a genius] to Eno and Lanois [see Peter Gabriel's SO]. And in keeping
> with that tradition, they also turned into celebrities, not musicians.
Gees. have you heard the studio track off of INXS upcoming live album?
It's real bad, IMHO.
It's good that you realize the importance of new directions. I don't
blame it on producers, but on the $$$ they have received from past
successes, which allowed them to expand and get better equipment (in
a nutshell).
If you heard the track from the _Red, Hot and Blue_ compiliation, you
probably would have realized that something like this change was going
to happen.
Rumors are that "The Fly" is the most 'alternative' track on the album.
Supposedly the next single will appeal to a much wider audience. Keep
an open mind. "The Fly" will grow on you.
Andrew
--
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Andrew Bennett ajbe...@miavx1.acs.muohio.edu [@miavx1.bitnet]
Oxford, Ohio ab55...@miamiu.acs.muohio.edu [@miamiu.bitnet]
usr5...@tso.uc.edu -- at...@cleveland.freenet.edu
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Knowing the lion's preference for red meat, the spamalopes remained
calm but wary."