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"EVERYTHING YOU KNOW IS WRONG” flashed forth in big letters when push came to shove and the world's biggest stadium rock band discovered leather pants and irony.
They used to be incredibly shit. Then they were quite good for a while in the early 90's, and started going shit again. This is an album that makes great songs sound average and average songs sound... dull.
But all their early 90's radical reinvention meant was wrapping the songs in deliberately obtuse production to make it seem cutting edge. Since then they’ve been clawing their way back to commercial sensibility, and this second “Best of” compilation covers their so-called ‘experimental’ years. Hardly experimental by comparison to Aphex Twin though.
In this running order, the reinvention of 'Achtung Baby!' suddenly seems cynically calculated. 'Even Better Than The Real Thing' and the naff 'Mysterious Ways' seem much more conventional now than then...
Whilst sometimes they were far better than dull stadium rock would suggest - the beautiful 'One', for example - mostly they were just an old dog with a lick of paint. But the stand out track here is 'The Fly' which gives the game away that Bono knew he was faking it all along when he sings in the closing seconds of the album …"I gotta go, I'm running out of change". Running out of change means no change, and means the same as before. Same shit, different production eh?
So what do you get? 2 CD's and a 20 minute promotional DVD. Not bad value, 'til you walk into HMV and balk at the £20 price tag. You do get 7 otherwise unavailable (mostly poor) new mixes and tracks, whoopdedoo - that's roughly £3 per 'new' version or song. And record companies wonder why people don't buy new CD's anymore. Like, duh!
There's a bonus 14 track B-sides CD if you're quick, which will be the main bait for most fans - but mostly comprised of flaccid 12" remixes instead of actual songs. There's too many omissions on this set to call it a true 'best of' - only including 2 out of the 6 singles off 'Pop' is taking the piss, especially when the sublime 'Lemon', 'Elevation_', and the overlooked 'Pop Muzik' are left behind in favour of the average 'Electrical Storm' .
There's some great songs wrapped up in a load of dross and crappy remixes. When the band care so little, why should we? 4 out of 5 for the songs, 0 out of 5 for the execution. Don't start here, get the original albums first. This truly is a bit of a lemon....
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U2 - The Best of 1990-2000
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You pathetic excuse for a journalist, what right do you have to say that anything is shit!
You sum up all that is wrong with this site, its seems to be full of people who think they know everything.
Re: U2 - The Best of 1990-2000
ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha
Re: U2 - The Best of 1990-2000
U2 - The Best of 1990-2000
Re: U2 - The Best of 1990-2000
In my opinion, if you said to me "write a review on the Best of U2 and pretend you're an 18 year old student who thinks they're alternative" that review is exactly what I would have written.
Especially saying that U2 aren't experimental and Aphex Twin is, I also like Aphex Twin but I certainly don't think he's particularly experimental, all the albums I own by him sound pretty much in the same vein, I just like the sound of them.
Compared to what happened with most other stadium rock bands U2 have done well. If they'd carried on making records like The Joshua Tree they'd be working in McD's with Simple Minds and The Alarm now. Instead they're still selling well and sounding good.
As for being beaten by Blue to No.1, well... will Blue beat them to No.1 in the US chart this week... I doubt it, they'd be lucky to be No.501!
Re: U2 - The Best of 1990-2000
Secondly, this website just stink stink stinks of student...I mean, you post all these so-called reviews and articles and you quite clearly have no editorial boundaries or control. Instead of trying to be subversive and alternative, why not try wheedling out the crap (of which there is realms) and concetrate on actually commissioning people to go out and write for you? It really is important if you want to succeed in not just posting any old thing that some pissed up angsty student(don't you read the NME?)/ex-student 'drop-out' writes. This was a rant about the packaging and marketing of the music industry, very little was recorded about the actual music. U2 are not cutting edge, they were and they are still one of the best bands around. they have always been starkly political but unlike the pretentions of the Manics or the more contemporary Miss Black America, they didn't have to cut themselves up or screach-preach the usual middle-class 'life is so unfair for the poor' bolox. You can't really sensibly knock a band that has been causing a stir for nigh on the last thirty years...I wonder where the Libertines and the suchlike or indeed Aphex Twin will be in thirty years??
Re: U2 - The Best of 1990-2000
Less student wank please. If we wanna read read boring student comments we can look on the NME message boards. You can predict 95% of the comments on there.
They're all so worried about being cool that they don't know who they are anymore!
Re: U2 - The Best of 1990-2000
Comments from nasty and others....
They were good in the 80's (though Rattle and Hum was shit and should have been released as seperate live and studio discs), but only 'Joshua Tree' has IMHO, stood the test of time : there's a lot of filler and not v.good tracks on the other albums, though a lot of brilliant songs. I think they got so much much better with 'Achtung baby' and 'Zooropa', which i count as among 2 of my favourite albums of all time.
However, this compilation is indeed, a poorly sequenced bag of shit. The same great music put in a different frame to make it sound derivative and crappy. thats Why i say buy the original albums instead, they're far more consistent and indeed, a far better listen.
Re: Comments from nasty and others....
It was one hell of a shock, "Unforgettable Fire" aside, when they made their first decent album with "Achtung Baby". "Joshua Tree" is OK, but very over-rated.
Re: U2 - The Best of 1990-2000
Music has always influenced in image in many ways but at the moment I think it's vice versa, which is a shame because most new bands just look like art-scholl sacks of crap!
U2 - The Best of 1990-2000
I Love This Mediocrity Stuff! It Makes Me Feel So Alive! It Makes Me Believe In Human Kindness! It Makes Me Want To Hug George Bush! It Makes Me Want To Sign! Oh Baby, Baby!
WHERE'S MY CAR?
Re: Comments from nasty and others....
Re: Comments from nasty and others....
get OVER yourself, you dick
I bet you cross over the other side of the road when you see a tramp as well don't you
Re: Comments from nasty and others....
Re: U2 - The Best of 1990-2000
Must have been a different Irish sunglassed rock star in Brighton this week talking about the Third World then. Ooops.
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