Have you ever had a crisis in faith with U2....

[bonofaninaustin]

...I have. It started with the release of Pop. I was in the midst of a divorce and I felt disconnected with that album (of course, now I love it). It was a long time before I heard any songs from Pop. Then ATYCLB came out. I heard Beautiful Day and really connected to it because I was getting life back on track at that point but I wasn't motivated to buy the CD for any months. I did not attend any Elevation tour shows. My love returned with the release of HTDAAB. There was a radio contest where you had to call in for a chance at winning a copy of the CD and then all winners of free CDs were put in a hat, so to speak, for a chance at the grand prize of winning a U2 Apple iPod. Well, I won that too! My fandome was back on track culminating withy attendance at the Vertigo show in Buffalo. When the band took the stage playing COBL, I burst into tears because I was so thrilled to see them again after so many years. Anyone else have a similar crisis in faith?

[Droo]

After the release of HTDAAB. I was so crushingly disappointed by how much of a non-event that album was to me. A bunch of loud, noisy generic rock songs with little brains and not much to remember them by. It was such a far cry from their past brilliance. I listened to it a couple of times and then shelved it to collect dust.

Then the Vertigo Tour was even worse. With Bono's ridiculous hair, the tired setlist of HTDAAB songs plus warhorses that seriously needed to be put to rest. A resurgence of Boy songs? Yay, I guess?

Then that was followed by years of no new music from the band, save for the terrible Window In The Skies and that dreadful Green Day collab cover. It just kept spiraling downwards.

Then NLOTH was released, and found the band more experimental than they had been since Pop, with a fantastically over-the-top tour staging, and my love was rekindled.

[Manos73]

I followed the band from Joshua Tree through the radical changes in the 90's with total trust.  I even enjoyed the return to form of ATYCLB. 

My crisis started with HTDAAD and the lackluster Vertigo tour.  It continued with NLOTH which has some high points but I find boring overall. 

At the same time we had the band's promising a quick new album that never happened. And the horrible Spider-man soundtrack.   

I just don't see the old band in the music they generate anymore. And Bono is always talking up releases that either don't live up to the hype or never appear at all.

U2 is still one of my favorite bands but it's all in the past for me.  I find the box sets more interesting then whatever they are working on now. 

[imaginary friend]

no.

[MLP Midnight]

Here and there for a moment, but then I realize "why exactly am I worrying"

Then I get over it 

[Canadanne]

Twice - with ATYCLB (restored by HTDAAB) and with NLOTH (restored by the tour). The low points have been mere blips, so I still believe and hope there could be more greatness ahead.

[Zoost]

Right now.

The 80's were incredible. The 90's of the charts brilliance, and then ATYCLB and HTDAAB were ok albums.

After initial excitment, NLOTH just does not do it for me. I saw one 360 show (compare that to my 41 previous shows and you can see I'm a little underwhelmed). It was a great show but my interest has waned.

Now with all the false promises (Songs of Ascent, the numerous other albums apparently in the works) and Bono harping on about relevance and being radio friendly, well now they have lost me for a while. The only U2 albums I listen to anymore are Pop and Passengers.

The clips that have surfaced (if they are real and recent) have definitely tweaked my interest as they sound promising to me. U2 can win me back,  I hope.

[So Cruel]

I'm in the same boat as Zoost. No Line on the Horizon is in my opinion their weakest album since I became a fan when I was in high school in the late '80's. I saw the 360 show 2x and enjoyed them both, but they are not the live band they were in their prime.

I believe U2 can still create good to great music, but I think the days of creating all time great records like Achtung Baby or Joshua Tree and playing all time great concerts are long gone. Expectations for me have been lowered.

[@lmighty DS]

After the release of HTDAAB. I was so crushingly disappointed by how much of a non-event that album was to me. A bunch of loud, noisy generic rock songs with little brains and not much to remember them by. It was such a far cry from their past brilliance. I listened to it a couple of times and then shelved it to collect dust.

yup. this. this this and this. ATYCLB? LOVED it day of release. HTDAAB? cried day of release.

[Manos73]

After the release of HTDAAB. I was so crushingly disappointed by how much of a non-event that album was to me. A bunch of loud, noisy generic rock songs with little brains and not much to remember them by. It was such a far cry from their past brilliance. I listened to it a couple of times and then shelved it to collect dust.

yup. this. this this and this. ATYCLB? LOVED it day of release. HTDAAB? cried day of release.

+1

[Zooropean]

I'm in the same boat as Zoost. No Line on the Horizon is in my opinion their weakest album since I became a fan when I was in high school in the late '80's. I saw the 360 show 2x and enjoyed them both, but they are not the live band they were in their prime.

I believe U2 can still create good to great music, but I think the days of creating all time great records like Achtung Baby or Joshua Tree and playing all time great concerts are long gone. Expectations for me have been lowered.

+1

[Smee]

Im probably in the minority here....but in 30 yrs (this year) of following u2, i can honestly say, i LOVE all the albums etc, and have never had a fallout with the band. There have been quite a few WTF moments over the yrs (Zoo Station and Please first listens for example) but i soon grew to love the songs. but bottom line is, all my u2 albums are my most listened to albums i  have.
The only bugbear i have with the band, is Bonos lacklusture live performances of the old warhorses. That said, Id rather witness a half assed u2 performance, than a 110 % performance from any other band. And also, Im not a fan of the big fancy stages. I prefer it when the show is all about the music.
But...my faith in the band has never been broken. At times, i feel more like a proud family member than a fan, as i have grown up with the guys, and been around for the whole journey.
I really wonder if they can produce a duff album in my eyes....i think i have an unbreakable connection with their music. It just clicks with me.....probaly more so now, that i have braodened my horizons musically

[mdmomof7]

Im probably in the minority here....but in 30 yrs (this year) of following u2, i can honestly say, i LOVE all the albums etc, and have never had a fallout with the band. There have been quite a few WTF moments over the yrs (Zoo Station and Please first listens for example) but i soon grew to love the songs. but bottom line is, all my u2 albums are my most listened to albums i  have.
The only bugbear i have with the band, is Bonos lacklusture live performances of the old warhorses. That said, Id rather witness a half assed u2 performance, than a 110 % performance from any other band. And also, Im not a fan of the big fancy stages. I prefer it when the show is all about the music.
But...my faith in the band has never been broken. At times, i feel more like a proud family member than a fan, as i have grown up with the guys, and been around for the whole journey.
I really wonder if they can produce a duff album in my eyes....i think i have an unbreakable connection with their music. It just clicks with me.....probaly more so now, that i have braodened my horizons musically

Love this, Smee!

[marvgadgie]

I wobbled with Pop, almost left with ATYCLB.

[Dali]

Having just known "Vertigo", "Fast Cars" and "Mercy" before I mailordered HTDAAB from the UK, I was very disappointed when I got the CD. The track order does not create an arc of suspense but is rather sleep inducing when the power goes off right after the first song. Also, the lyrics of most songs on there are weak. And apart from the few rockers and the slow "One Step Closer", most of the songs are arranged rather similarly. Unfortunately, that kind of arrangement is rather eventless. That's why HTDAAB is good as a "hangover album" for the morning after the party. If that's what they mean by dismantling, getting yourself back in shape, well, they have achieved their goal to record a soundtrack for that but it's just not my favourite album by them.

"Window in the Sky" was a little step up, but the other great song from the Rubin sessions "All My Life / Moment I'm In" didn't come out which given its high quality, is a shame really. They would have been the best bar band in the world with that tune.

By the time of NLOTH, they had largely and luckily recovered in the lyrics department even though there are some tracks that sound like HTDAAB leftovers. But the youtube clips from the Fez sessions were mightily misleading because when compared to those, quite a few of the songs which made it onto the album are boring.

I guess they still have got what it takes to make great new songs but I can only hope they can let go of their quest for the blandness which they have adopted just because radio stations like it.