Thanx for the album reaction! The biggest surprise was that you didn’t like Bad, but with this album I think I understand better what gets the thumbs up in your reactions or not…
Don’t know if it’s still true today but back when this song was released The Martin Luther King museum had this playing throughout. In the right mind set it’s a beautiful simple song.
Emotion is to Bono as Fantasy is to Jon Anderson.....and these can evade some listeners' interest, but served both well throughout respective catalogues. I prefer War with more raw expressiveness but U.F. has a few excellent tunes.
I always think albums like War, The Unforgettable Fire and All that you can’t leave behind are all 3 songs away from being great albums. They are good records but have some tracks you skip . Achtung Baby and The Joshua Tree are masterpieces. Most their other records are always a couple of tracks short of greatness
This track is a mostly acapella requiem, inspired by MLK, with just a hint of stadium-crowd-like sounds created by the synths. It’s an unusual but fitting closer to TUF. Intimate yet aware of a greater social fabric/consciousness. Scaled down yet subtly alluding to a bigger experience. It has a beautiful melody and creates a peaceful, settling down mood. And I love how the same synths that fade out here … will fade in to open U2’s next album, the masterpiece The Joshua Tree. Like you’re putting an experience to bed here…and then sometime later starting it up again in continuation, but it is different-just as you are different by then.. Overall, I simply love TUF-with a love that never seems to wane. This album grew & grew on me, because of its malleable nature that seemed to transform into whatever I needed it to be at different times in my life. Even the tracks that I thought at first were “forgettable” turned out to surprisingly hold my interest and change over time and bloom. It never fails to put me in a mood and uplift me. It was interesting to hear the album through your eyes as a first-time listener. Thanks. (But sorry, BAD-especially the live extended version-is just sublime..)
I am a "hardcore" U2. I mostly agree with your album assessment. Side 1 great, Side 2 has ideas, colors, atmosphere, but lacks songs. To this day, I HATE the album version of Bad but LOVE it live. However, I am not sure if musicians would get anything out of it. A few have noted the subtle note vrariances within a minimalist song. Live, Bono REALLY goes for it. I think the band also find a better groove. At its core, it has a hypnotic feel and seems to expand and fold into itself. But as a whole album, while many fans love this album and some find it as their favorite, it's more unfinished than Unforgettable, mostly due to side two. Its still simple and repetitive, but I LOVE the versions ua-cam.com/video/dKWb4xuxnmk/v-deo.htmlsi=iuHuv-M8EIuEz3ga
It's not a bad album, although I prefer the first three over it. It does mark U2's shift toward a stadium band. The next album I could really enjoy is Achtung Baby.
MLK would have been a lot better tune if the second side would have had more energy. It would have been a nice way to end the album if the listener had been coming off some energetic tunes like Wire and Pride, but it just felt as flat as the other tunes on the second side.
![U2 MLK & Walk On (360° Tour Live From Zagreb) [Multicam 720p By Mek with U22's Audio]](/img/n.gif)
Thanx for the album reaction! The biggest surprise was that you didn’t like Bad, but with this album I think I understand better what gets the thumbs up in your reactions or not…
This is a good use of the ambient approach. To the point and peaceful.
Don’t know if it’s still true today but back when this song was released The Martin Luther King museum had this playing throughout. In the right mind set it’s a beautiful simple song.
The Joshua Tree kicks off with this synth. So there you go.
please check out Bad on the Live Aid concert. very emotional and was the second best performance behind Queen in the concert
As a massive U2 fan at that time, it had been the other way around for me 😊
When this album was released, I would listen to this song at night to help me fall asleep lol.
Emotion is to Bono as Fantasy is to Jon Anderson.....and these can evade some listeners' interest, but served both well throughout respective catalogues. I prefer War with more raw expressiveness but U.F. has a few excellent tunes.
I always think albums like War, The Unforgettable Fire and All that you can’t leave behind are all 3 songs away from being great albums.
They are good records but have some tracks you skip . Achtung Baby and The Joshua Tree are masterpieces.
Most their other records are always a couple of tracks short of greatness
MLK ..... Martin Luther King
This track is a mostly acapella requiem, inspired by MLK, with just a hint of stadium-crowd-like sounds created by the synths. It’s an unusual but fitting closer to TUF. Intimate yet aware of a greater social fabric/consciousness. Scaled down yet subtly alluding to a bigger experience. It has a beautiful melody and creates a peaceful, settling down mood. And I love how the same synths that fade out here … will fade in to open U2’s next album, the masterpiece The Joshua Tree. Like you’re putting an experience to bed here…and then sometime later starting it up again in continuation, but it is different-just as you are different by then..
Overall, I simply love TUF-with a love that never seems to wane. This album grew & grew on me, because of its malleable nature that seemed to transform into whatever I needed it to be at different times in my life. Even the tracks that I thought at first were “forgettable” turned out to surprisingly hold my interest and change over time and bloom. It never fails to put me in a mood and uplift me. It was interesting to hear the album through your eyes as a first-time listener. Thanks. (But sorry, BAD-especially the live extended version-is just sublime..)
I am a "hardcore" U2. I mostly agree with your album assessment. Side 1 great, Side 2 has ideas, colors, atmosphere, but lacks songs. To this day, I HATE the album version of Bad but LOVE it live. However, I am not sure if musicians would get anything out of it. A few have noted the subtle note vrariances within a minimalist song. Live, Bono REALLY goes for it. I think the band also find a better groove. At its core, it has a hypnotic feel and seems to expand and fold into itself. But as a whole album, while many fans love this album and some find it as their favorite, it's more unfinished than Unforgettable, mostly due to side two.
Its still simple and repetitive, but I LOVE the versions
ua-cam.com/video/dKWb4xuxnmk/v-deo.htmlsi=iuHuv-M8EIuEz3ga
It's not a bad album, although I prefer the first three over it. It does mark U2's shift toward a stadium band. The next album I could really enjoy is Achtung Baby.
Yeah..
Has this just been posted? Great album.
40 years ago today :)
I prefer the first 3 albums and Actung Baby. Zooropa and Joshua Tree were good too.
I agree! 😊 And also to the omission of 'Rattle And Hum'! 😀
Just like you enjoyed the first Queen albums, I’d bet you similarly enjoy the first U2 straight-forward rock albums.
Kurt Loder apparently loves alliteration. Bono does a great job on MLK. In retrospect I probably like War better than TUF.
MLK would have been a lot better tune if the second side would have had more energy. It would have been a nice way to end the album if the listener had been coming off some energetic tunes like Wire and Pride, but it just felt as flat as the other tunes on the second side.
Now I know why I haven’t listened to this album in over 30 years. The second side is pretty forgettable.
Ironically, this is completely forgettable.
I Disagree.