U2 Unleashes New Song, Signals Need to Rock Again
Full confession: I may have had an early listen to maybe half a dozen songs from U2’s upcoming album some time back. I won’t say how or where, but let’s just say that no laws were broken or trusts betrayed.
Here’s what I came away believing: U2 wants radio stations to play their stuff again. Not just their catalogue material, but the new singles like they did in the old days. And from what I’ve heard, U2 is very serious about putting out songs that will get radio airplay.
Come September 6, we’re going to get a single called “You’re the Best Thing About Me,” a song that’s undergone numerous iterations since I first heard an alternate mix last fall (It was played for me by a U2 insider at a secret location.) It’s definitely a pop song, one that Hot AC and AAA stations might consider adding. But the other songs I heard were all about the RAWK. One of them, “The Blackout,” started streaming today.
Thoughts?
Expect the rest of the album to be released December 1.
If U2 were a new band, that song would never get on the radio. It’s mundane, cliche, echoes a sound from thirty years ago and doesn’t have a singable hook. Not an epic fail, but a fail nonethe less.
…and that’s just the music. The video harkens back to vintage Rattle n Hum, with the black and white film and the bright white lights. It’s a club setting trying to show that they are still ‘edgy and cool.’ It’s tired and cliche too, right down to Bono’s obligatory Jesus Christ pose. The moshing audience is supposed to tell the listener/viewer ‘this is where you dance’ but if that was played in a club today, the drink line ups would be gargantuan…
U2 are over. And have been for quite some time. They’ll sell out arenas for boomers and gen-xers looking for nostalgia. And that should be good enough for them, because the only reason they want to be on the radio is to make money. They’re the once-Kings of corporate rock, and now they’re just corporate schlock. I still can’t get them off my iPhone. I hear Van Halen are touring this year too…maybe they can co-headline.
I like it. Wasn’t sure at the beginning but they hit their stride at the chorus.
Dynamic groove……. great introduction of the upcoming album
I don’t agree with Jay, but agree with Daryl and Tonmoy. This is return to form, long-awaited, because I haven’t liked much they have done since “All That You Can’t Leave Behind,” except for a few songs.
I don’t agree with Jay, but agree with Daryl and Tonmoy. This is return to form, long-awaited, because I haven’t liked much they have done since “All That You Can’t Leave Behind,” except for a few songs. Why does everyone have to be so cynical about everything these days?
I enjoyed this song. Great beginning-raw, simple and rocking. If the rest of the album sounds like this, it’ll be worth buying the vinyl edition.