U2 POP. Anyone out there like it?

Pop received mixed reviews upon release, but in hindsight the prevailing view amongst critics, presumably fans, and even apparently the band themselves is that Pop is their absolute low point commercially and creatively before the obligatory ‘return to form’ of All That You Can’t...

The case against the record seems to stem from these complaints: it was a long unending slog to record, the band second-guessing the arrangements, mixes and recordings of several tracks even well after they submitted the record to Island. There were like 4 producers. Management had already scheduled the monstrous tour well before the album was complete so they ran out of time. They (U2!) dressed like the Village People in the lead off music video?! The album, tour and video are all too ironic, cynical and not U2 enough to be the next big U2 event. The band didn’t touch these songs live since PopMart. Probably more criticisms out there but for brevity’s sake let me say this:

I loved it then and I think it still holds up. It’s actually the last great and interesting work of art they have done. Naturally I could make a case for it but what do you think? Anyone disagree with the apparent consensus?

 

POP is the last interesting album that U2 made. I love it, but that’s probably because it’s one of the first U2 records I listened to. The only song I would remove (or replace with Holy Joe) is Miami.

 

It is a fascinating failure. In many ways the band was traumatized by the experience and never really recovered.

 

Worry not. They all took solace in their millions of dollars.

 

I do but then I'm crazy that way.

 

I think it's a better and stronger record than it's given credit for. I like it much better than Zooropa, which I still find hard to appreciate. Maybe leading off with "Discotheque" (and its video) put a lot of people off (including me, a bit) but the album has some very strong moments. I also think it's got a poor album cover, which generally (rightly or wrongly) tends to affect my hearing of the music. U2 tends to be damned if they do and damned if they don't though, they either get slammed for being too earnest and sincere, or slammed for being a bit ironic and trashy.

 

Pop is where I got off the train.

 

I like it. Really think Please is a great track.

Hated the tour.

 

My favorite period of U2 music are the Achtung Baby/Zooropa/Pop albums. Their music just felt more fun and so much less sanctimonious. Achtung Baby is one of my top 5 all time albums from anybody, but I enjoy all three of these works quite a lot.

 

U2 always write great songs (even today, with rare exceptions), and they're always committed to whatever they're doing. So, when a U2 project goes a bit south, it's not because of a lack of material or energy or commitment. Rather, it tends to be because the band over-reached themselves a bit, or just went too far re-doing everything and over-thinking everything. Pop does suffer from those latter problems.

The "problem" with Pop can perhaps best be summed up by my saying that it has more good songs than either Zooropa (before it) or All That You Can't Leave Behind (after it), and yet somehow it's a less satisfying listening experience than either. It adds up to less than the sum of its parts.

 

I like every U2 album. They are one of my favorite bands. Pop holds a special place in my heart because my mom bought it the year it came out and played it often. We were very close that year because my dad was stationed overseas for the entire year and we were still home in America. Pop isn't a perfect album, but it is daring, interesting, eclectic and it includes some wonderful songs that are among my favorites in the U2 catalog.

Songs on Pop I absolutely love
Discotheque | If God Will Send His Angels | Staring at the Sun | Last Night on Earth | Gone | Please | Wake Up Dead Man

Songs on Pop I think are noble experiments and interesting to hear
Do You Feel Loved | Mofo | If You Wear That Velvet Dress

Songs on Pop I personally don't connect with
Miami | The Playboy Mansion

It's a good album for summertime and I quite like the production on a lot of these tracks. I think time has been kind to this album and it has aged quite well. I like how it contrasts the sacred with the profane; the spiritual with the material...

 

It's good but it's just too long. Suffers from 90s bloat syndrome. As an 8 or 9 or even 10 song album it would be a lot more respected now.

AS usual no one will ever agree on what songs to cut but for me I'd probably cut "Mofo" and "Gone"

But when it's good it's very good and it really captures an dark gritty aspect of 90s culture really well: it's like a time capsule and it really brings the sights, sounds and smells of that time back to me -- and I think it's more than just nostalgia. There are certainly records from that time that I like more, but they dont quite capture the essence of 90s culture.

They really had their finger on the pulse of global pop culture for the last time, IMO, on that album.

 

Didn’t buy it at the time, but then saw it in vinyl at my local a few months after release. I was surprised how good it was given all the negativity I had heard at the time. Across four sides it makes sense:
-electro side
-pop side
-experimental side
-moody side

I like Miami more than most especially after seeing the documentary where Ginsberg reads the lyrics. Staring at the Sun is my least favourite. That Leslie guitar sounds was a real cliche in the late 90s.

It is definitely a little overcooked, yet U2 swear to this day it was rushed and they wished they had more time to keep mixing (and overdubbing i presume). The remixes for the Best of didn’t really improve anything.

 

My third favorite U2 album after Zooropa and Achtung. I always liked their "hits" before AB, but most all the songs from this trio got into my head in a wonderful way.

 

I like it. For me, it's the last U2 album in which they were exploring new boundaries. I have see U2 six times in concert starting with the Zoo TV tour and the Popmart tour is still my favorite.

 

Only U2 could start recording an album in 1995 with 5 songs already written, have it come out 2 years later and claim it was "rushed."

 

Yeah, it’s pretty good. And the remixed tracks on the second Best Of cd showed that they got it right the first time.

 

I'm not a big U2 fan and mostly only know their singles and some other songs, but Pop is one of two U2 albums I know in full and like a lot.

 

i dug Staring At The Sun but it's been years since i've listened to the whole thing...time to get reacquainted

 

That's how I'd characterize it. I like it, but it's a failure. Not a top U2 album by any means, but I'd rather listen to it than anything that came out after it.

 

I thought 5 songs on Pop were outstanding, Disco, Do U Feel Loved, Mofo, SAS and Gone, and I did like it better than Zooropa.

But what a bizarre roll out for the album.
A presser in NYC at a K-mart, and then an opening night tour special narrated and hosted by Dennis Hopper on ABC.
It was the lowest ever rated program for ABC, I read, and I actually tuned in and watched that thing.

Always imagined if they had put Hold Me/Thrill Me, the 5 Pop songs, then Numb and Crashed Car off Zooropa, that would have been a helluva an album in that particular style.

 

Tour was a little too much, for sure.
But man that opening, with the band walking through the stadium audience like a boxing entourage approaching the ring, was pretty damn exciting in my book.

 

I always felt like U2 never quite handled the mantle of "biggest band in the world" all that well.

Especially after they weren't.

 

I agree with whoever said they like '90s U2 the best...less sanctimony, faux-profundity and religious nonsense. Some great songs on here, "Last Night On Earth," "Gone," "Staring At The Sun," and I loved the show I saw on that tour (even if I was relatively poor back then and sitting a million miles away in the top deck of the Oakland Coliseum). Some say it was overproduced, but I'd argue it was just differently produced. It's the last four or five albums that have been way overproduced, in my opinion!

 

Loved it at the time but haven't played it in years. I'd suspect it hasn't aged well but now i may just have to find out.

I thought it was a great step forward while still maintaining the integrity of the band. But heck, I even loved that "Passengers" album they released that got totally overlooked. U2 and Eno to me were a perfect fit.