Magnificent (U2)

[(Artie Ziff)]

Announced on the Late Show as "our new single" Tuesday. No official adds date with Get On Your Boots still scoring.

I just got the CD yesterday, and I'm not so sure about Magnificent yet. I like Get On Your Boots the best on the disc so far, with the title track a close second place. Magnificent seems to favor rock radio more than Modern, but it should be a smash all over the charts.

[singingsparrow]

Excellent choice.

"Magnificent" should impress most who were left scratching their heads with "Get On Your Boots" for whichever reason. It is classic U2 at its core with an almost Zooropa-esque opening.

Sincerely,
Noah Eaton

[pen]

Excellent. I knew right away this would be the next single. It's very classic U2 sounding, as Noah said.

[Cody]

Good choice, this is much more 90s U2

[singingsparrow]

While I believe this is the best choice they could make for the second single, it'll nonetheless be interesting to see how it charts on Alternative.

All of the subsequent singles from the "How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb" had very short chart lives, and only "All Because of You" charted respectably high. Thus, regardless of what they release next, U2's days on the format concerning future airplay may tragically be numbered now.

Sincerely,
Noah Eaton

[Crushcrushchris]

They're at Fordham University which is in my borough of NYC.

It looks amazing.

[pen]

March 16th. Boom!

[fran182]

Today, it reached top 50 on Mediabase Alternative:

173 49 U2 Magnificent 174 24 150 0.904

31 stations playing.

[halo19]

Eh, the album's fine but not really up to par with my expectations. Maybe it's a grower, but I think I clearly will end up liking Atomic Bomb considerably more.

I kind of hope the title track becomes a single. That one's great.

[(Artie Ziff)]

If The White Stripes and Mgmt banded together, this is what one of their songs would sound like. I don't mean that in a bad way; Magnificent just doesn't stand out as U2's own in my opinion.

[pen]

Mar 8, 2009 23:19:07 GMT -5 (Artie Ziff) said:

If The White Stripes and Mgmt banded together, this is what one of their songs would sound like. I don't mean that in a bad way; Magnificent just doesn't stand out as U2's own in my opinion.

Are you kidding? It sounds like classic U2. The guitar sound is distinctly like something from one of their older albums.

[singingsparrow]

Mar 8, 2009 17:48:43 GMT -5 halo19 said:

Eh, the album's fine but not really up to par with my expectations. Maybe it's a grower, but I think I clearly will end up liking Atomic Bomb considerably more.

I kind of hope the title track becomes a single. That one's great.

It currently has a score of 71 on Metacritic, which is below that of their previous two records (I'm not sure what "Pop" might rate at if the major reviews were to be averaged there, considering reviews were at first quite positive overall, but got less enthusiastic as time went on)

I for one think this is their best collection of songs since "Zooropa". I agree it's certainly not their best, and you can tell the band sort of struggles between wanting to be more experimental again or playing it safe on familiar territory throughout the record, but it's a more interesting album to me overall. It's just not as immediate as their last two.

Sincerely,
Noah Eaton

[singingsparrow]

Mar 8, 2009 23:19:07 GMT -5 (Artie Ziff) said:

If The White Stripes and Mgmt banded together, this is what one of their songs would sound like. I don't mean that in a bad way; Magnificent just doesn't stand out as U2's own in my opinion.

On the contrary, "Magnificent" to me has a quintessential U2 sound to me, at least after the moderately lengthy electronic-tinged opener that sounds like something reminiscent of "Zooropa".

Other than that, though, The Edge's signature shimmering guitar work and reverb effects are all over this, which are one of the defining features of the traditional U2 sound. I think it's something that would have fit rather nicely on "War".

Sincerely,
Noah Eaton

[Ivy Leegue™]

Maybe the fact that it sounds so classic U2 is the reason why it's one of my least favorite on the CD. It grows on me though.

[singingsparrow]

Mar 9, 2009 20:45:07 GMT -5 Ivy Leegue™ said:

Maybe the fact that it sounds so classic U2 is the reason why it's one of my least favorite on the CD. It grows on me though.

I think that, naturally, some U2 fans are going to always be partial to their more "traditional" approach as best depicted on "The Joshua Tree" and kind of revisited on their previous two albums, while other U2 fans will always be partial to their "experimental" approach, as best depicted throughout the 90's.

One thing I've noticed is that the most ardent defenders of "Pop" in particular are also almost always those who find their pre-90's material overrated. When you really visit some U2 fanboards, there's a lot out there who LOVE "Pop" and actually make some detailed, well thought-out arguments to why it's an underrated era of theirs and how it has been heavily misunderstood. At the same time, most of them usually rank "The Joshua Tree" and "The Unforgettable Fire" closer to the middle in ranking their overall catalog.

I for one hold most of what they did during the 90's in high regard, and have said that "Pop" is an album that had great potential and has some moments of brilliance on it, particularly in tracks like "Mofo", "Please", "Wake Up Dead Man" and "Gone". One may argue that that album only disappointed because it didn't communicate the way it was intended to, and I actually agree with that to a good extent. However, it STILL remains fair game to criticize an album when it falls short of its intended audience and/or purpose, and its moments of inconsistency on other tracks like "The Playboy Mansion" and "Miami" are why I usually rank "Pop" among the bottom of their catalog, above "October" and "Rattle & Hum" but below the rest.

Meanwhile, some fans will always think of songs like "With or Without You", "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For", "Where The Streets Have No Name" and "Pride (In the Name of Love)" as definitive U2, and most everything else as, even if well-intentioned, detours and experiments that go "beyond U2".

I simply think some U2 fans have differing mindsets compared to other U2 fans regarding at what angle they appreciate their music particularly. I for one, though, love both much of their experimental offerings and much of the familiar sound most best know them by.

Sincerely,
Noah Eaton

[Ivy Leegue™]

...and this is why you remain one of the best posters here. Congratulations, sir.

I feel like I, too, like both. Well, I have come to like the old U2 sound a lot more in the last few years but when I was younger (and I am old enough to have listened to their "premium" stuff when it first came out, LOL), I ran away from it. I always think it's funny how I LOVED Vertigo from the minute I heard it, probably think the U2 remixes rank up with their best stuff and still defend Get On Your Boots. Yet, Moment of Surrender and I'll Go Crazy...are easily my favorite songs on the CD (well, add Unknown Caller).

[singingsparrow]

Mar 9, 2009 21:16:02 GMT -5 Ivy Leegue™ said:

...and this is why you remain one of the best posters here. Congratulations, sir.

I feel like I, too, like both. Well, I have come to like the old U2 sound a lot more in the last few years but when I was younger (and I am old enough to have listened to their "premium" stuff when it first came out, LOL), I ran away from it. I always think it's funny how I LOVED Vertigo from the minute I heard it, probably think the U2 remixes rank up with their best stuff and still defend Get On Your Boots. Yet, Moment of Surrender and I'll Go Crazy...are easily my favorite songs on the CD (well, add Unknown Caller).

I think "No Line On The Horizon" could very well either ascend or descend significantly in critical stature as time goes on, for the simple reason that opinions have widely varied between fans over which songs are the strong ones and which ones are the duds.

Generally speaking, it seems "Breathe" and "Magnificent" are being regarded as the two strongest tracks, but even there there's quite a few who don't care for those songs at all and prefer even the songs generally least regarded over it, which are "Stand Up Comedy" and "Get On Your Boots".

Thus, the band may be right in that, in time, the album will be appreciated more than it is now. However, I think it's arguably just as possible the album could ultimately be moved from the middle to the low part of their catalog in terms of opinion because of the widely varying opinion of both the whole and the sum of its parts, which is precisely what victimized "Pop" and, to a lesser extent, "October".

Sincerely,
Noah Eaton

[Ivy Leegue™]

Interesting. I guess, indeed, only time will tell. At least I can say I take great pleasure in the album.

[pen]

I think, to be fair, the band didn't especially care so much for Pop either, in the end. Which is why they remixed and rerecorded like half the album.

[halo19]

I kind of wished they would have left it alone, honestly. It's like Bono, we understand you guys are not always perfect. And it's not like the re-recordings I heard were any way better than the album versions.

As for this new album, Noah pointed out well the reason it disappoints. By playing it safe the record is far more predictable than I hoped for it to be. There's a couple moments that seem like they'll be good, but a lot is U2-by-numbers.

That being said I think that "Get on Your Boots" is/was an underrated single.

[singingsparrow]

Mar 10, 2009 1:28:01 GMT -5 pen said:

I think, to be fair, the band didn't especially care so much for Pop either, in the end. Which is why they remixed and rerecorded like half the album.

Actually Larry Mullen Jr. has repeatedly said even in recent interviews that he likes the album, and The Edge has also defended the album on several occasions. I think Bono is really the only one who evidently doesn't care for this era entirely (although he considers "Please" among the band's best songs)

Sincerely,
Noah Eaton

[singingsparrow]

Mar 10, 2009 2:00:08 GMT -5 halo19 said:

I kind of wished they would have left it alone, honestly. It's like Bono, we understand you guys are not always perfect. And it's not like the re-recordings I heard were any way better than the album versions.

As for this new album, Noah pointed out well the reason it disappoints. By playing it safe the record is far more predictable than I hoped for it to be. There's a couple moments that seem like they'll be good, but a lot is U2-by-numbers.

That being said I think that "Get on Your Boots" is/was an underrated single.

I like the new album, but I nonetheless believe, at this point, it's almost impossible to take anything the band and even its producers say about the recording sessions seriously, given Bono had said that the album would have a lot of "dance floor shock" and "trance" to it, and also that The Edge played a lot of "real molten metal".

In contrast, they composed a fairly reflective record here, aside from the opening title track and a mid-section comprised of more edgier fare. And for that, they shouldn't be surprised why many are scratching their heads here, when they suggest one thing and something much different comes out.

Sincerely,
Noah Eaton

[Pipa]

Mar 9, 2009 21:10:37 GMT -5 @singingsparrow said:

One thing I've noticed is that the most ardent defenders of "Pop" in particular are also almost always those who find their pre-90's material overrated.

Yeah, that's me right there:

Mar 9, 2009 21:10:37 GMT -5 @singingsparrow said:

"With or Without You", "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For", "Where The Streets Have No Name" and "Pride (In the Name of Love)"

Those are my least favourite U2 songs.

[PHOBES]

^Pride is my absolute favorite, and each of the other three are in my top 10, maybe even top 5, U2 songs.

[pen]

I think my favorite U2 song is actually "Mysterious Ways".

By the way, off topic, but
<-----Coca Cola Classic, motherfuckers.

[Nicholas2.0]

Mar 10, 2009 19:58:22 GMT -5 pen said:

By the way, off topic, but
<-----Coca Cola Classic, motherf**kers.

I don't get it. Does it have something to do with you ditching the "willthefutureblameus" handle and reverting to "penance" without the "-ance"? In which case, wouldn't "penance" be the Coca Cola Classic?

???

[pen]

Mar 11, 2009 2:49:37 GMT -5 Nicholas2.0 said:

Mar 10, 2009 19:58:22 GMT -5 pen said:

By the way, off topic, but
<-----Coca Cola Classic, motherf**kers.

I don't get it. Does it have something to do with you ditching the "willthefutureblameus" handle and reverting to "penance" without the "-ance"? In which case, wouldn't "penance" be the Coca Cola Classic?

???

Everyone always called me Pen anyway.

[fran182]

Top 40 on Mediabase Alternative:

71 39 U2 Magnificent 309 79 230 1.678

44 stations playing.

[No Brake$]

Mar 12, 2009 15:52:21 GMT -5 @fran182 said:

Top 40 on Mediabase Alternative:

71 39 U2 Magnificent 309 79 230 1.678

44 stations playing.

Anyone want to bet this doesn't make Top 10? I'm really disappointed with music this year.

[(Artie Ziff)]

I do agree that the guitar riff is classic recycled The Edge. I only meant that the production with the extras disco beats and "kiddy" chorus seem to take the song out of the band's song. It might as well have been U2 featuring Eno. Still a good song to me, but I'll take Boots and Horizon over this all day.