U2 - "BEAUTIFUL DAY"
i like u2. it's probably not a popular opinion to hold nowadays but fuck it. every time they release something i hope it'll be, you know, good. i haven't bought a u2 album since achtung, baby which seems like ages ago now. reading descriptions about the new single indicated that it'd be an attempt to recapture past glories, which sounded just fine to me. unfortunately, u2 have a penchant for making things sound great; hell, even pop seemed like a good idea at the time...in theory. in theory, communism works. in theory.
so would the new single actually be any good or would it be a disastrous manic street preachers-like attempt to get back to their roots? well, for me, it works. unlike u2, the manics both had a signature sound (loud, punky) and a signature message (power to the people, down with the man): "masses against the classes" was loud and angry but it was also extremely calculated and lacked heart and, oh, the lyrics! luckily for u2, they just had to concentrate on getting the sound right and for the most part, they do.
for a point of reference, think "pride (in the name of love)" or "where the streets have no name": those wide-open epics of yesteryear where the edge's guitar blares in its trademark way and bono is given to vocal flights of fancy. "beautiful day" is a song that fits into that tradition, one that truly deserves the adjective "skyscraping": the chorus soars in a way we haven't heard in quite some time now (and, indeed, i didn't think bono's voice could quite hit those heights anymore). it's one of those good, old-fashioned u2 anthems. the lyrics seem to concern themselves with seizing the day and all that; even though things may not be going right for you, they could be a lot worse, so just be glad that you're alive and there's still so much within your reach. with "beautiful day," u2 seem to be trying to remind us that they're still very much alive too; hopefully it's a trend that continues with the new album.
(c) 2000 - fred solinger -
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