U2 - "Pop": How do you rate the album? (Poll).

I'm with Stephen on this one and really like Monster. After all the mandolins and banjos and acoustic guitars, it was fantastic to hear Peter Buck rock again.

What I find interesting about Pop is that several of the songs date back to AB sessions. I recall seeing a photo one time of a white board in the studio and it had 2-3 songs including Wake Up Dead Man on it. Someone else may have more specific details.

 

Agree with others who prefer the songs from 'Pop' performed live. Mofo, Please and Miami were live gems. Pop Muzik into Mofo was such a huge opener.

As for R.E.M., Monster has always been my favorite album from them. It felt like their response to Achtung Baby / Zooropa at the time. INXS' "Welcome To Wherever You Are" felt like their response to AB back in '92 as well. Another album I really love.

 

I don't claim no one liked "Monster". I do claim that it was much less loved by more purchasers than "Out of Time" or "Automatic" were.

At the risk of seeming obsessed with used CD bins, if fans enjoyed "Monster", "Automatic" and "Out of Time" in fairly equal measures, why did only one of those become a used rack staple for decades? Why did so many more people dump their copies of "Monster" while they kept the other 2?

 

Monster was and is a major step down for REM. As a fan since the first EP, when I heard Monster, I realize that they had completely lost their magic.

 

As a huge U2 fan since just before "War", with my favorites being "Unforgettable Fire", "Joshua" and "Achtung", "Pop" is easily my least favorite.

 

Huge U2 fan from the time I saw the video for Gloria on the nascent MTV. Loved every album. Until this one. This wasn't the U2 I liked. I don't know what this was but I knew I didn't like it. Unfortunately they've not done much since that I enjoy. And they were my #2 band right up until this album. It's a shame... but I guess we've always got Achtung Baby.

 

Great shout. Apparently Strange Currencies off Monster was created with Hutchence in mind.

 

I'm not sure if some songs date as far back as to the Achtung Baby sessions(*), but certainly to sessions for Zooropa. The front cover of Zooropa mentions some titles of songs that did not make the album. That's the purple 'interference' covering the pictures. Fragments of song titles that can be recognized are "Wake Up D" (for Wake Up Dead Man), "Ss Me Kill" (for Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me) and "Dress" (for If You Wear That Velvet Dress).

(*) The Achtung Baby sessions did produce a track called Wake Up Dead Man, but that one did not sound anything like the released version on Pop. The AB version resulted out She's Gonna Blow Your House Down (which was released on the bonus disc of the remastered AB in 2011) and was in sound quite similar to that song. Only the phrase "Wake up dead man" do the two songs have in common.

 

Big fan of U2 but hate this one LOL

 

Remember, just because 20 other people on a forum say the same thing from their experience doesn't mean they are reflecting the global truth. It's a collection of anecdotes. And, people are probably more likely to chime in when they see something trivial they agree with. E.g., if someone posts "I see tons of Monster in the CD bins" and I've seen it too, I'm more likely to take the time make a reply post saying "I've seen that too!" than if i read that and it doesn't jibe with what I've seen. More likely to just pass right over that. You have a kind of "file drawer problem" there.

One other thing to consider: in the early to mid 1990s, CD sales were on the marked upswing. E.g., CD sales were 80% higher when Monster was released in late 1994 compared to when Out of Time was released in early 1991. They were 50% higher than when AFTP came out in late 1992.

So on that basis alone, we would expect 80% and 50% more used copies of Monster in the racks than either of the other two 4x platinum sellers, that's a big difference there. There's little doubt that far more copies of Monster were sold on CD than any other REM album, including the other two biggest sellers.

To me, though, the big thing is just the patterns we've seen with other acts. When a record is a "career killer", its hallmark is that it just does not sell nearly as well as the record that proceeded it. That fits Hi-Fi, not Monster.

 

Honestly surprises me that you'd like "Achtung" and "Zooropa" but dislike "Pop".

Not that they're three of a kind, but I'd get the "this isn't my U2" if they lost you after the 80s. Not sure what makes "Zooropa" appealing but then makes "Pop" unappealing...

 

We're never gonna see eye-to-eye on this. Let's just agree that I'm smarter and better-looking and move on!

 

Achtung Baby is probably my favorite U2 album.Wasn't a big fan of Zooropa but I still felt so much good will towards the band that it didn't derail the U2 train. Yet. I just didn't expect the dross on Pop. That was the last straw.

 

No offense was intended!

 

Love 'Pop', it was the last time U2 took a big chance artistically. I do agree with many others that a lot of the tracks really came into their own from the live perspective (but U2 have always been known to do that). The thing I have always wondered is how this album would have turned out if the band weren't going through so many medical problems. I think Larry's back was acting up delaying production and increasing the use of electronic beats on the record, along with Bono having vocal troubles which in the end was an allergy to wine(?).

 

I liked U2 a lot until The Joshua Tree, which I didn’t like. Then I really liked Achtung Baby.

But when I heard this one is when I stopped listening I’m afraid.

 

The funny thing is that I'm not sure U2 felt this was a "big chance" album - and I don't think it really felt that way in 1997.

"Achtung" was the "big chance" album, as it offered a clear departure from the style that made U2 so successful.

"Pop" felt more like a continuation/evolution. I don't see it as a radical shift from the "Achtung"/"Zooropa" model - and if we toss in side projects like "Passengers" or the Larry/Adam "Mission: Impossible" theme, it feels even less like a "big chance" release.

I think "Pop" feels more adventurous in retrospect because it was a commercial disappointment and the band "retreated" after it...

 

Zooropa is by far my favourite U2 album, and Pop to me is the first drop in quality after a great run of albums.
That said I do love a couple of songs on there, especially "If god will send his Angels".
The next album also has a couple of songs that I love, but after that, U2 seems to lose their magic altogether for me.

 

Funny - that's how I always viewed "Zooropa"!

It's not a bad album, but it's a major drop from "Achtung". It has some good songs but overall it feels like a throwaway album to me.

I thought "Pop" was a return to form after the disappointment of "Zooropa"...

 

I'm sure most fans would agree with you too, it is a very oddball album.
I'm not really sure why I love Zooropa as much as I do, it just has something about it that I really dig.

 

I am not surprised to see opinions all over the map regarding this album, but I do wonder if thoughts on it would be more positive by some had the band given the album more love in the live sets this century. U2 is notorious for putting virtual rough drafts on studio albums and then finally "getting it right" after playing it live a lot, and you have to think some of the Pop songs would have had the kinks worked out the more they got played, but U2 has mostly abandoned the album, so the songs simply never stood a chance.

 

Summer 1997...

U2's Pop.
Faith No More's Album of the year.
Nintendo 64.
And booze and general fun.

 

"Zooropa" is unusual because it's the only example of U2 not "overthinking" an album in decades.

Seems like they're unable to release an album without years of tinkering at this point - though one could argue "SOE" slipped out in quicker than expected time.

"Zooropa" was recorded during a tour and came out without the usual fuss and muss.

I might not be wild about the album, but I like the approach. U2 could stand to obsess over their work less!

 

I find it odd someone would like Pop but not Zooropa. They are cut from same cloth.

 

All of this discussion about Pop caused me to listen to the album the other night. I listened to it straight through and remembered how much I like it. It really works as a complete record. There are some moments I'm not crazy about, but overall very good.