Fangirl Alert!

[river_rain44]

I am so in love with U2's new album. I'm not super crazy about "Get On Your Boots" or even "Stand Up Comedian" but basically every other song is fantastic. I've listened the the album over and over the last 2 days and I hear things I haven't heard since "Unforgettable Fire" and also this moody, visionary, lyrical tone that moves me like nothing has since "Achtung Baby." Edge's guitar sounds like a harp and Bono's roughened voice keens over these atmospheric spaces in a uniquely Irish way. I admit, I expected to be a little disappointed (as I have been with the previous 2 albums) and I am so happy to be swooning. I've missed the extra degree of depth and character that U2 is capable of, both in lyrics but also in the music itself. "Magnificent" is gorgeous and basically proves that U2 can do Coldplay better than Coldplay can. *ahem* "Fez--Being Born" is so lovely it aches and "Cedars of Lebanon" is that quintessentially U2 song--perfectly balanced between beauty and relevance. "White as Snow" is a song that grants bittersweet visions of old highways and battered Bibles. And of course there are some great up-tempo songs, like "Moment of Surrender" and "I'll Go Crazy If I Don't Go Crazy Tonight" and "Breathe." Even these songs seem to have evolved out of "Achtung's" melancholy German Industrial music influenced stuff vs. the pop stuff of the last 2 albums. Anyway, I love the album. I feel closer to U2 than I have in a long time; they were the band that summed up a crucial time in my life personally("Achtung Baby" came out the same year my Papa died) and defined a larger moment in time. I've been loyal since and I haven't missed a tour since I first went in 1992. This album has the potential to be as significant. I better be able to afford a ticket!

On a related note...I still think that "Zooropa" is U2's most underrated album. I have the tape in my car and I keep thinking "Damn, this is a really fantastic song!"