{"id":40768,"date":"2008-03-02T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2008-03-02T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/reviews\/zooropa-3\/"},"modified":"2008-03-02T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2008-03-02T00:00:00","slug":"zooropa-3","status":"publish","type":"review","link":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/reviews\/zooropa-3\/","title":{"rendered":"Zooropa"},"content":{"rendered":"

There have been many pop\/rock artists who have tried their hand at electronic music over the years, but only a select few have recorded an entire trilogy of albums devoted exclusively to the genre. Back in the day, David Bowie was among the first to experiment with the latest in music technology, leading the way for the likes of U2 and Madonna to learn by his example. In the early nineties, U2 would even snag one of Bowie<\/st1:place><\/st1:city>\u2019s producers, Brian Eno, to bring electronica into a new age. Molding and sculpting a synthesized sound that would suit a stadium rock act like U2 was a tall order for any producer, so it\u2019s hardly surprising Eno would seek out assistance from other legendary, cutting-edge producers like Daniel Lanois and Flood.<\/o:p><\/p>\n

After Achtung Baby <\/i>turned out to be a resounding success, U2 decided to continue on this new and exciting path they had discovered. As their eighth studio release, 1993\u2019s Zooropa<\/i> would push the envelope even further in the experimental direction, with very impressive results. Granted, there would also be a couple traditional-sounding U2 tracks thrown into the mix to satisfy long-time fans of the band. For starters, there is \u201cStay (Faraway, So Close),\u201d a ballad that is very much in the same vein as their previous hit single \u201cOne.\u201d There are also a few songs on Zooropa <\/i>that may as well have come out of the Rattle And Hum <\/i>phase of their career; both \u201cThe First Time\u201d and \u201cDirty Day\u201d sound eerily comparable to the tone of \u201cAll I Want Is You.\u201d<\/o:p><\/p>\n

For an album that was recorded on the fly in between stops on their Zoo-TV tour, Zooropa <\/i>doesn\u2019t sound as if it was hastily put together. If anything, the spontaneous patchwork quality only adds to its appeal. Sometimes the best efforts come when you put the least amount of thought or time into them. In my estimation, this is U2\u2019s last truly great album (though something tells me producer Rick Rubin will see to it that their 2008 album will be even better.) <\/o:p><\/p>\n

Like Madonna, U2 is always at their best when they explore irony. As their most successful tour to date, the strength of Zoo-TV was in how they sought to condemn the technology that was taking over the world as well as the band. It was a pure adrenaline rush from start to finish, an all-out assault on the senses. Some of their statements about world politics and the media were right on the money, and there was no shortage of controversy that came along with them.<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Now that this foursome have reached \u201celder statesmen\u201d status, U2 have become more serious about their work and their humanitarian crusades. Another element that Zooropa <\/i>has that subsequent U2 albums lack is a sense of humor. It\u2019s a shame that so many entertainers seem to lose their youthful exuberance and adventurous natures as they get older. Today, you probably won\u2019t hear Bono sing in a falsetto like he does on U2\u2019s finest dance song \u201cLemon,\u201d nor will you hear The Edge perform a monotone rap like he did on my favorite U2 track of all time, \u201cNumb.\u201d And now that Johnny Cash has died, there won\u2019t be any more edgy and unique U2 songs like \u201cThe Wanderer\u201d for the likes of him to join in on. I\u2019ve always wondered how many of these songs would sound with different arrangements. For instance, how would \u201cNumb\u201d sound with a marching band supplying the music? Or, what would the swirling and trippy \u201cBabyface\u201d have been like had it been recorded by The Beatles instead of U2? <\/o:p><\/p>\n

All hypothetical \u201cwhat if\u201d questions aside, Zooropa <\/i>is just perfect the way it is, thank you.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":57,"featured_media":24709,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"artist":[5708],"rating":[5646],"class_list":["post-40768","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-u2","rating-rating-a"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/40768","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/57"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=40768"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/40768\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/24709"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40768"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=40768"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=40768"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}