Nothing about U2’s new album Songs of Innocence makes any sense. Suddenly foisted on everyone this September, the album is the group’s 13th and first since 2009’s largely ignored No Line on the Horizon, which was the first since 2004’s largely terrible How to Dismantle An Atomic Bomb. Despite working with a smorgasbord of producers for…
Sometimes, even our biggest heroes falter. Below is a list of bad songs by our favorite artists. Whether they’re disappointing, dull, or downright disastrous, these twenty tracks remind us of that lesson Billy Wilder taught us so many years ago. As always, we’ve included a Spotify playlist so you can listen as you read. Enjoy! (Or,…
I can’t lie—I’ve been accused of wallowing in depressing music more than is probably healthy for a (moderately) well-adjusted person. I consider myself both happy and positive (when I’m not reviewing a terrible movie), but my thirst for drama in music is often sated by tortured romanticism, sepulchral synths, self-paralyzing lyrics, the works. But it’s…
This is an Earn This Mixtape For the sixth entry in the Earn This Mixtape Series, Grant and I came up with twenty songs that give us serious cognitive dissonance. The first half of this mixtape is a list of songs where the chorus overpowers the rest of the song. The second half…
In the fourth entry of our ongoing Mixtape series — in which one or more writers picks about twenty songs from under a single umbrella — we’re digging deep into some of our favorite non-singles from well-known artists. As always, we’ve included a Spotify playlist to listen to as you read. Someday’s Gone – All-American…
I’ve mentioned in past articles that I feel a little bit underqualified or redundant when I try to encapsulate the greatness of some of the things on my list. Well, never will that be more true than for today’s entry. Grant is a bigger fan of U2 than most people are a fan of anything.…
A little while back, you might recall, Dan wrote a paean to Billy Joel’s 100 Greatest Songs. Naturally, as a male, my first reaction was: I have to equal or surpass his work–by providing a list of the top 100 songs from my favorite (probably) artist, U2. As someone whose number of U2 concerts is in…
Rating: 5 stars (out of 5) With War, U2 build skyscrapers upon the foundation of their debut album Boy. If the startling cover art—the same young boy staring at the viewer, only with a face of righteous anger replacing innocence—wasn’t enough of an indication, these men, just 23 at the time of release, expand upon…
Placebo (1996) – 3 stars Without You I’m Nothing (1998) – 4.5 stars Black Market Music (2000) – 4 stars Sleeping With Ghosts (2003) – 3.5 stars Meds (2006) – 5 stars Battle for the Sun (2009) – 3.5 stars Placebo, I suppose you could say, is a cult band, one of those prototypical you-get-them-or-you-don’t…