Reviewed by: Nick Southall
Reviewed on: 2004-11-23



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Posted 11/23/2004 - 10:52:35 AM by milliard:
	haven't read the review yet, but i have to say it's good to see that SOMEBODY is giving this an F
Posted 11/23/2004 - 01:16:18 PM by carmela:
	oh, i just loved the last phrase "is a very good album, in a very OK way"
Posted 11/23/2004 - 05:18:06 PM by beercan:
	Er, milliard, last time I checked, a "6" was not an "F". Meanwhile, while some of Nick's review was pretty funny, if he was half as clever as he thinks he his, he'd still be totally pretentious.
Posted 11/23/2004 - 07:12:06 PM by scaramouche:
	If he was half as pretentious as you think he is, he still wouldn't be Bono
Posted 11/23/2004 - 09:27:51 PM by mvdu76:
	Well, yet another stupid Stylus review. For a review that says how I feel, see Edna Gundersen's at USA Today. This album is excellent.
Posted 11/24/2004 - 12:26:26 AM by skuter666:
	Edna's review is "atomic bombastic" (tm), hyperbolic, historically revisionist, and ridiculously premature. Let's take a waitsee and watch how it settles before we declare it the best album of their career, let alone the greatest thing since penicillin. But then, I place U2's peak at 11 O'Clock Tick Tock. It goes up to 11, see?
Posted 11/24/2004 - 01:23:32 AM by mvdu76:
	This review is what is bombastic - and he doesn't even like U2 - but I guess we'll never agree. I go by what MY ears tell me. No one else's.
Posted 11/24/2004 - 03:52:34 AM by NickSouthall:
	Why the fuck are you even reading reviews then? A review that does not hold the same opinion as you is not "stupid", it simply doesn't hold the same opinion as you.
Posted 11/24/2004 - 04:00:41 AM by clem_bastow:
	U2 are like The Police; you know they're good - or at least considered to be - only you don't really know why, and don't really want to admit it either way. I think it's a good album, an improvement on some of their recent stuff, but it's no 'Joshua Tree'.
Posted 11/24/2004 - 11:26:39 AM by mvdu76:
	It is stupidly written IMO.. you should be able to accept criticism. I only read reviews for entertainment value. But since I've disliked so many at Stylus lately, I may just stop reading here. Reviewers have no real influence. They're just more ears.
Posted 11/24/2004 - 12:32:46 PM by NickSouthall:
	Please yourself.
Posted 11/24/2004 - 03:16:03 PM by milliard:
	i dunno beercan, i haven't exactly "checked" lately, but if i remember grade-school, where i'm from a grade of 60% is pretty much an F. to be fair we can call it a D--. in any case, this certainly ain't no positive review. and i for one am glad. the last thing we need is another U2 album. i haven't heard this, and don't plan on buying it. i have been seeing the advertisements on the tele for it though, which have been pretty disgusting. btw, any of you (bono/U2 fans or not) who haven't heard the negativland cover of "still haven't found what i'm looking for" should check that out. it's brilliant and funny. so much in fact that it drew negativland a "bonofied" law-suit! oh well, as was mentioned in the review, i'm sure it's hard paying the rent when you're U2.
Posted 11/24/2004 - 03:31:14 PM by milliard:
	oh yeah, clem, it's no mystery to me why the police are so good: it's cause they evoke an ancient spirit deep down inside of me that moves immediately to my ass muscles causing unrestrainable shaking, and a lot of it. i do like the comparison though, becuase sting and bono remind me a lot of each other. they're both greedy, reprehensible, cursed men who ruined everything.
Posted 11/24/2004 - 04:57:54 PM by mvdu76:
	Well, I already boought it, and U2 never gets tired where I[m concerned.
Posted 11/24/2004 - 05:02:58 PM by mvdu76:
	BTW, milliard, doesn't look like we agree on ANYTHING. The Police are great. U2 and Police forever! In response to the post about the grade scale, the school grading scale is not used here. A 5 would be like two stars out of 4 - or a C. A 6 would be C+/B-. And a 10 is what this album is. :-)
Posted 11/24/2004 - 07:00:49 PM by mvdu76:
	OK, I've said all I intend to in regards to this album. This album is U2 at its heart and soul, and that's why I love it. Of course, others can disagree, but I've had too many snobs looking down at me for liking some pop music, so I get assertive. Maybe I'll become a reviewer and get my voice out there since I think a lot of reviews seem unfair. Everyone have a great Thankgiving.
Posted 11/24/2004 - 07:01:34 PM by mvdu76:
	Meant Thanksgiving of course.
Posted 11/24/2004 - 11:16:26 PM by milliard:
	ah, i apologize for not checking, as i actually confessed to in a smart-assed remark! yay for me, i'm a dick! sorry, i'm pretty new to the site, hadn't really noticed the ratings guide. checking around other sites, however, i notice that a 6/10 is a rather low score in a lot of cases. not usually indicative of "good", as it is here. thanks for pointing that out to me about this site, mvdu. i stand corrected. ps. while we agree on nothing apparently, viva the police!! (: enjoy a meal and a nap tomorrow!
Posted 11/25/2004 - 12:34:31 AM by skuter666:
	I enjoyed this review. Quite a bit. I disagreed with some of the specifics, but on the whole it very much illustrated an experience common to a lot of us. Which is that we listen to U2 in cherrypicked fashion, because only the true believers love all – or most of -- their moments. The rest of us have idiosyncratic and often exclusive playlists. Nick is still inspired by the first three tracks of Joshua Tree, all of which I find unlistenable. For me, the essential U2 would be an ep that consisted of 11 O’Clock Tick Tock, I Will Follow, Gloria, One, Numb, Lemon and It’s a Beautiful Day. I have pretty much everything U2 but for this latest album and while I respect the rest of their work, it’s only in an abstract and uninvolved way. I feel as if I should love it all, but I usually end up merely in admiration.
Posted 11/26/2004 - 12:17:22 AM by tallcool1_69:
	what the hey - i actually like Pop. I liked the stuff where they moved away from being U2 for a bit. Rattle & Hum is a shocka, and why listen to their last disc Whatever It Was Called when you can listen to Joshua Tree?
Posted 11/26/2004 - 05:58:38 AM by Lambert:
	Okay. I have a question for all of you. How do you feel about the Zooropa album? I understand the album wasn't very well received when it first appeared, but when I listen to it I cannot help but thinking it is the best album U2 ever made. It did something to me other U2 albums lacked. Achtung Baby was fantastic, but Zooropa is even better. How do other people feel about this?
Posted 11/26/2004 - 01:56:14 PM by Sotoalf:
	Count me in as a Zooropa fan, an album I love as much (if not more than) as Achtung Baby, and I'm far from a U2 fan. It's probably the best Bowie circa 1977 rip/update ever recorded; Eno sounds like the fifth member, and for once that cliche means something. The title song and "Lemon" seemed to capture pre-millenial tension almost as chillingly as any of Tricky's soundscapes. By the way, I've now heard HTDAAB a couple of times: I love it. A much better album than its overrated predecessor.
Posted 11/28/2004 - 09:11:01 AM by meatbreak:
	I'm not sure when it became acceptable to rate U2. I don't think that time has actually arrived yet. Have we forgotten just how vulgar and crass, unimaginative and derivative, commercial stadium rock is. Bono certainly never has. File under Vile
Posted 11/29/2004 - 01:10:57 PM by berger:
	get over yourselves...you either love U2 or you don't...if you love them (as I do) you basically accept everything they do without question..that's what love is. unconditional. I for one can find a bit of merit in EVERYTHING these lads do..and, I can see faults. But I'll still love 'em forever. That's faith. That's love. That's U2, and that's all.
Posted 11/30/2004 - 03:45:00 AM by NickSouthall:
	That's also fundamentalism.
Posted 12/02/2004 - 08:45:35 PM by Lambert:
	Excuse me, in Holland there's a great tune going on: Mr. Z - "Bootykiller". Check it out.
Posted 01/06/2005 - 10:23:53 PM by tallcool1_69:
	Lambert... in answering yer question... i don't mind Zooropa. at least it was different? i'd give it a 7 outta ten. ok... maybe a 6.5 - but it far from sucked.
Posted 01/20/2005 - 07:49:09 PM by patient:
	when it comes to U2 i really dig war, achtung baby, and kind of dig joshua tree and october. i havent heard zooropa, sounds interesting. el oh el, and whoever said that about loving u2 unconditionally cracked me up. why would u love them if they made a shitty cd?
Posted 01/25/2005 - 06:42:57 AM by Daniel_Fullard:
	C for me as well. I really was taken a back by the album at first. I wasnt expecting such a solid effort from u2 in 2004 but then what I call the "u2 factor" kicked in and the songs began to irritate me. Its a decent album with some really cracking songs but Bonos voice annoys me after a while and its an album I wont be able to listen to ona regular basis as it is the "u2 factor"
Posted 02/08/2005 - 09:51:37 PM by ieatseeds:
	"very good album, in a very OK way" is SPOT ON, because it's just blah. sometimes "Blah" can be more horrendous than "horribly bad," in my opinion.
Posted 03/04/2005 - 02:42:50 PM by icelander11:
	Is it just me, or does there seem to be two distinct U2 fan bases - pre Joshua Tree and post Joshua Tree. Anyone of the former group has to share the feeling that we want to give our boys points for trying, but they're just dismantling more from album to album. I cant even get through this one, and the little spanish inflections in Vertigo are one of the more ridiculous things I've heard in recent memory. Glad to see the've been reading an Intro to Spanish book. Dont get me started on the IPod commercials. Just listened to Boy for the first time in a decade, and it's still amazing. Less is truly more. Bono's gotta stop writing his lyrics on the back of customs cards in between his inflight movies to whatever African country he's en route too. In fact, his most graceful bow out would be to just do the world bank/humanitarian stuff and get out of the silly rock and roll biz.
Posted 06/02/2005 - 05:37:31 PM by Nick.Southall:
	Actually after repeated listenings this album is top notch. If I could change the review I would give it an A+ for being so fabulous. U2 have achieved here what the likes of Bloc Party fail even to dream. This is currently my favourite album. It rocked me to my socks.