tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9602155.post6887984736784225875..comments2024-03-04T08:47:21.895-06:00Comments on The Nicsperiment: Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds -- Push the Sky AwayThe Nicsperimenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08101227163387381013noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9602155.post-32346744071077066252016-03-20T23:00:54.720-05:002016-03-20T23:00:54.720-05:00Yeah, I know what you're talking about with Un...Yeah, I know what you're talking about with Unforgettable Fire. I have always loved "4th of July" and that was just The Edge and Adam playing together during some downtime, if I remember coreectly. It's so wonderfully eerie and moody.<br /><br />And sheesh, while they're obviously practiced and polished in concert, they do things in the moment there that can hit harder than the album version of a song. I personally like Rattle + Hum, but I feel like the album left off some of the most raw and energetic moments from the movie itself. One of my roommates from college ripped all the music off of their and I loved listening to that CD. I agree that they seem to try to polish things to death... though that might be the slight savior complex they have going on... from comments I've seen from the band (especially Bono), they're always really engaged with their sound and playing with it, and aware of their prominent place in the music world. <br /><br />That's both a good thing and a bad thing, as it has kept them from being one of those "greatest hits, just slightly remixed bands," for the most part. I quibbled big time with someone that argued with me that they always sound the same. You can't listen to the progression from War to Joshua Tree to Achtung Baby and then Pop and not see some massive changes. <br /><br />Anyway, knowing that Eno and Lilywhite have said that, I really wish the band would take some of that under advisement. Guys, you've worked with those two extensively, and they have worked with some really good bands--they're not perfect, but they know their stuff!<br /><br />I'm approaching Songs of Innocence like I do Boy or How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb. Yeah, there's some songs that don't click with me as much, but then there are ones that are great. But even then, as I look at the list... I think it's mostly California that throws me off. I don't care for the dabbling back into the usual U2 anthems in some of the songs, but many of them are different enough (and doing something interesting enough) that I enjoyed it. U2 hasn't had a whole lot of guest singers on their albums, so "The Troubles" is fun, and I get a kick out of the 70s/modern dance feel of "The Crystal Ballroom." I'd listen to that over the stuff they were playing at their club in Dublin when I was there (not sure if it's still around, but other than the decor of The Kitchen, the music seemed like every other club I've been in or heard of). Nealnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9602155.post-44078889768339367612016-03-17T13:33:07.883-05:002016-03-17T13:33:07.883-05:00I had many bands in mind when I made that referenc...I had many bands in mind when I made that reference, though certainly I was thinking of U2, as well (among Echo and the Bunnymen, Peter Gabriel, The Police, etc). I merely meant that the feeling of discovery and innovation I've felt with every Nick Cave album in the last decade has been absent from the new work of anyone else I listen to who got their start in the 70's or 80's. <br />With Songs Of Innocence, I've had a hard time listening all the way through. I actually enjoyed No Line on the Horizon, though I feel like there is a much better album somewhere underneath what they released. I think that whole Brian Eno and Steve Lillywhite thing about U2 over-thinking everything has become extremely apt in recent years. I feel like the band could just go with their gut and put out something new every couple of years, and whatever raw, perhaps unfinished sounding things they released would be more enjoyable than the over-thought, over-polished stuff they've put out the past twelve years. Case in point, I think the best song by far that U2 have released since 9/11 is "Moment of Surrender." It's almost unbelievably good. According to Eno, the band essentially improvised that track in one take and he somehow convinced them not to meddle with it. Eno seems to give the impression that if U2 so chose, they could do that all the time. Instead, there's a five-year wait for something the band have essentially been microwaving long past the cooking-time on the box. Unforgettable Fire is my favorite U2 album for the reasons that I like "Moment of Surrender." Of course I don't expect anything U2 releases today to sound like Unforgettable Fire, but I wish they could re-learn how to operate by the same ethos. <br />I must point out here in a huge spoiler alert that U2 is my favorite band of all time. I have frequent dreams where I have somehow been chosen to produce their records, and in those dreams I am always shouting at them, "All right, perfect, let's move on to the next one. NO, EDGE, WE ARE NOT GOING TO ADD ANOTHER LOOP AND RUN YOUR GUITAR LINE THROUGH ANOTHER FILTER! BONO, THE FIRST LYRICS THAT CAME TO YOU WERE FINE! WE ARE LEAVING THE SONG THE WAY AIT IS! NEXT!!!"<br />At this rate, I may make it to U2 by 2019, I hope. Maybe Songs of Innocence will have grown on me by then. I can't think of any of their albums I've been able to move past quite so quickly, except maybe Rattle and Hum.The Nicsperimenthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08101227163387381013noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9602155.post-73296211895535369242016-03-16T17:33:58.198-05:002016-03-16T17:33:58.198-05:00I can't comment much on Nick Cave (other than ...I can't comment much on Nick Cave (other than occasionally appealing to the part of me that doesn't mind listening to the Doors from time to time, they just don't do it for me for whatever reason), but I've been meaning to bring up U2's latest with you for awhile. I'm assuming that's what those references are to (sorry to bring it up in a Nick Cave post, but hey, I did like the Biggs-Hoson Blues). <br /><br />I feel like U2's Songs of Innocence is rather hit or miss, much like How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb (of their newer albums, No Line and of course All That You Can't Leave Behind are much more consistent), but at the same time, I've enjoyed it when I've had the chance to listen to it. I could give some songs a pass, like California (but that's mostly a lyrical thing... "Santa Barbara" being chanted just kills that opening, to my mind). Even then, what's good about the album is the band is actually pushing new sounds. The reason bands that were once good have those albums that crowds don't care for is because they quit trying... they're almost a "remember that song you like? here's another that kind of sounds like it but isn't as good" band. If that makes any sense whatsoever. <br /><br />It also feels more completely lyrically. Other than some misses, I actually feel like Bono's more in a groove than he's been in awhile (well, and The Edge, since they've been sharing those credits a lot). <br /><br />Where Songs of Innocence doesn't work for me, really, is when they bring in the typical "U2 anthem" touches. "Song for Someone" is Bono at a heartfelt moment I haven't heard from him enough in the 2000s (other than maybe "Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own" from Atomic Bomb... and even then the acoustic version is more where I feel Bono digs into his feelings of loss over his father). But then they bring in some typical Edge anthem guitar 3/4 of the way in that would be great if I haven't heard that in a lot of their other music. <br /><br />I might be a weird U2 fan, though. I can certainly see the strengths of All That You Can't Leave Behind, but that and Joshua Tree always feel like "popular U2," that people want, and why Atomic Bomb got a better reception than No Line and now Songs of Innocence. But I first connected with U2 in their Unforgettable Fire Days, where they were bringing in varied sounds beyond the three (four? counting Bono's singing? I dunno) piece approach. I love it when they're digging for something more and what results there. I don't think I'm entirely crazy there, either... some of the live versions of their songs where they lose the album polish and go full out emotion can really nail audiences. <br /><br />Anyway, sorry for the thesis on the subject. I've obviously been sitting on this and wanted to talk about it--feel free to save the discussion for when you get there in... a year? two? Not sure how many albums you have between here and U. Nealnoreply@blogger.com