Big isn't always better....

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an tha

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Big isn't always better....
« on: July 30, 2019, 06:01:15 PM »
I was going over some SoE reviews online to punctuate a point I wanted to make and I came across a review of it by SPIN.

The review made a point that it used as the main thread of it - and it really got me thinking and made a lot of sense to me.

Essentially it was saying that u2's bigness is why they have become so bland and so safe and they are trapped by it/slaves to it.

I thought it was a great point.

Review starts with:

"U2 and the Rolling Stones have taught us that being the biggest band in the world is the most joyless of rituals. They record albums as excuses to tour, they embark on tours as excuses to transport massive steel structures from city to city and set world records for Largest Stage Ever. Sales and chart success aside, when bands reach this point they’re done. The problem’s less that they succumb to nostalgia, though they may, than how massive scale and routine professionalism suck the content from the music–suck the need for content from the music. U2 may not have recorded the same album five times since 2000, but they may as well have; by now U2 albums as individualities don’t matter. Of course their latter-day albums are bland, cursory collections of gargantuan arena-rock generalization. Could they really hit the road, fill the stadiums, and touch the souls of every living human in the audience with anything less?"

Review ends with:

"They call one song “Love Is Bigger Than Anything in Its Way,” a platitude that suits. This band knows what it means to be bigger than anything in its way. They’re so big specific albums don’t matter. Nothing specific they do matters. They’ve swept themselves up in their own bigness; it subsumes them."

https://www.spin.com/2017/12/u2-songs-of-experience-review/

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Re: Big isn't always better....
« Reply #1 on: July 30, 2019, 06:35:16 PM »
(pah) (she whispers quietly)
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Shank Asu

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Re: Big isn't always better....
« Reply #2 on: July 30, 2019, 06:35:43 PM »
I didn't realize that Spin was still around even.  Good points though.

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THRILLHO

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Re: Big isn't always better....
« Reply #3 on: July 30, 2019, 06:37:13 PM »
nah. esp. not this line

f course their latter-day albums are bland, cursory collections of gargantuan arena-rock generalization.

uh, they arent Motley Crue...gargantuan arena rock? i def enjoyed the last 2 quiet a bit more on the whole than the previous 3 but there's no arena rock on it. they tried i guess but i def wouldn't call it that.

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THRILLHO

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Re: Big isn't always better....
« Reply #4 on: July 30, 2019, 06:47:53 PM »
i also think the WAY scaled down tours is a counter argument to their tour accusation. Ya 360 was a monstrosity to look at and they scrapped the new songs in favor of past hits. they learned their lesson with that and JT and did us all a huge favor and shelved the war horses and brought out recentish singles like ABOY to play in their place, along with the majority of the songs off the 2 albums they toured. hardly nostalgia.

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Aviastar

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Re: Big isn't always better....
« Reply #5 on: July 30, 2019, 07:03:13 PM »
My buddy saw the Stones a few weeks ago and I’m going to see The Who in sept. Of course these acts are trading on past glories but their shows still get rave reviews. I’ve watched footage of this year’s Stones tour and it looks awesome.

The album format is a dying effort for most rock bands anyway, and U2 and their ilk are in a bit of a « damned if you do, damned if you don’t » conundrum. They could focus on new releases and nobody would care, it would be inauthentic, and they’d probably catch shit from the reviewers for not being as fresh as they were 30 years ago. They could tour the old stuff and the fans turn out in droves but attract the criticism of professional reviewers. I think U2 strikes a good balance.

I don’t know what is expected from them..they are an old band in the backstretch of their careers in a genre that has lost most of its prominence. After decades of being a top pop-rock act it would be a bit silly if they tried to downshift into being a smaller act. The way they are going, at least they are giving fans what they want.

I like that they tour big...they have always been about this...might as well stay true to who you are.


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So Cruel

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Re: Big isn't always better....
« Reply #6 on: July 30, 2019, 07:03:49 PM »
I’ve been arguing bigger isn’t always better with TD for years

O, this thread isn’t about women.....
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an tha

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Re: Big isn't always better....
« Reply #7 on: July 30, 2019, 07:08:34 PM »
I’ve been arguing bigger isn’t always better with TD for years

O, this thread isn’t about women.....

I heard TD chatting up a lady recently...."I like 'em fat"
"I like 'em proud"
"Ya gotta have a mother for me"
Now move your big ass 'round this way
So I can work on that zipper, baby"
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Shank Asu

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Re: Big isn't always better....
« Reply #8 on: July 30, 2019, 07:08:52 PM »
I’ve been arguing bigger isn’t always better with TD for years

O, this thread isn’t about women.....
and if it was, Bono has already spoken- Big Girls are Best.

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Re: Big isn't always better....
« Reply #9 on: July 30, 2019, 07:11:40 PM »
You guys are cracking me up! (thanks...I needed that!)
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So Cruel

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Re: Big isn't always better....
« Reply #10 on: July 30, 2019, 07:12:57 PM »
I’ve been arguing bigger isn’t always better with TD for years

O, this thread isn’t about women.....

I heard TD chatting up a lady recently...."I like 'em fat"
"I like 'em proud"
"Ya gotta have a mother for me"
Now move your big ass 'round this way
So I can work on that zipper, baby"

Geez, what a sweat talker he is. Probably had Fat Bottom Girls playing in the background.
Talk U2 2023 Awards

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WINNER - THE DAVID LEE ROTH BEST USE OF A MEME/GIF AWARD

WINNER - GOLD MEDAL 2024 OLYMPIC POST. MPARE SILVER.

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Re: Big isn't always better....
« Reply #11 on: July 30, 2019, 07:13:38 PM »
Does all this mean that size really DOES matter?
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an tha

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Re: Big isn't always better....
« Reply #12 on: July 30, 2019, 07:17:49 PM »
I’ve been arguing bigger isn’t always better with TD for years

O, this thread isn’t about women.....

I heard TD chatting up a lady recently...."I like 'em fat"
"I like 'em proud"
"Ya gotta have a mother for me"
Now move your big ass 'round this way
So I can work on that zipper, baby"

Geez, what a sweat talker he is. Probably had Fat Bottom Girls playing in the background.

I think your typo is probably a better description than what you meant to put.
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So Cruel

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Re: Big isn't always better....
« Reply #13 on: July 30, 2019, 07:22:11 PM »
I’ve been arguing bigger isn’t always better with TD for years

O, this thread isn’t about women.....

I heard TD chatting up a lady recently...."I like 'em fat"
"I like 'em proud"
"Ya gotta have a mother for me"
Now move your big ass 'round this way
So I can work on that zipper, baby"

Geez, what a sweat talker he is. Probably had Fat Bottom Girls playing in the background.

I think your typo is probably a better description than what you meant to put.

Haha, just noticed that
Talk U2 2023 Awards

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WINNER - THE DAVID LEE ROTH BEST USE OF A MEME/GIF AWARD

WINNER - GOLD MEDAL 2024 OLYMPIC POST. MPARE SILVER.

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So Cruel

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Re: Big isn't always better....
« Reply #14 on: July 30, 2019, 07:24:31 PM »
Does all this mean that size really DOES matter?

You tell us, is there a reason you were hanging around Adams side of the stage in your Avatar?
Talk U2 2023 Awards

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