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Eclectic_Tunes
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Name: Glenn
Country: Australia
Metro: Brisbane
Gender: Male
Interests: Music across a wide spectrum of styles and genres. Here's an A-Z which I will change from time to time... Audio Adrenaline, Benjamin Gate, Creed, Downhere, Eagles, Further Seems Forever, Gospel Gangstaz, Huupercon, INXS, Jebediah, Kutless, Lifehouse, Matisyahu, Newsboys, Oasis, Project 86, Queens of the Stone Age, R.E.M., Soulframe, Travis, U2, Void If Removed, Whitesnake, Weird Al Yankovic, Zilch
Expertise: Upcoming Albums of the Week...
Audio Adrenaline - Lift
Johnny Cash - American Recordings
Bernard Fanning - Tea & Sympathy
Matisyahu - Youth
P.O.D. - Testify
Switchfoot - Nothing Is Sound
and more!
Message: message me
Website: visit my website
Member Since:
10/28/2005
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| 1. Gloria
Two, three, four! From the very first fade in of that opening drum beat, this song has me hooked. I try to stand up, but I can't find my feet - this is the quintessential early U2, when the earnestness in the lyrics comes from a youthful searching, rather than from a greying postmodern cynicism (as great as that is too for song inspiration). Around the three-minute mark, there's some nice solo work on bass from Adam Clayton, before the Edge comes back in with his ringing guitar as Bono resumes the Gloria, in te domine finale. Lyrics are all viewable at the band's website.
2. I Fall Down
This song begins with a piano intro (the Edge isn't just a guitarist  )... I want to get up, when I wake up, but when I get up, I fall down. Not a particularly great song in itself, but it works... as a U2 fan, I usually listen to their albums all straight through regardless.
3. I Threw A Brick Through A Window
This is one of my favourite titles of any U2 song. The first twenty seconds or so are just Larry Mullen Jr on the drums, before he's joined by the rest of the band. The lyrics read to me like a young man trying to find a way out of what seems to be an inescapable situation... I was talking, I was talking to myself... After about three minutes (the No one, no one is blinder part) there is some very nice drumming, and the Edge's guitar perfectly complements Adam's understated bassline.
4. Rejoice
This is my current favourite song from this album. And what am I to do? What am I supposed to say? Larry Mullen's drumming really shines through on some of these early tracks. And Bono's lyrics are fairly deep for someone still only in their early 20s... Just tell me what am I supposed to say? I can't change the world, but I can change the world in me... Rejoice. Rejoice.
5. Fire
There's an almost chant-like vocal introduction to this song before the guitar, drums and bass kick in. Falling, falling, the sun is burning black... From a guitar perspective, this is one of my favourite songs to listen to on this album. With the Edge, there's never anything really complicated to listen to (not in this early work, anyway), but he's the master of understatement and "less is more".  Lyrically, it appears to have some Biblical inspiration... verses about the end times spring to mind, with Bono's mentions of the sun and moon going black and red. And there's the lines There's a fire in me, when I call out, You built a fire, fire, I'm going home.
6. Tomorrow
I remember this being a favourite of mine when I was in university around 1999. I really only got heavily into U2 in my last year or so of high school (1998). I started with The Joshua Tree, and after borrowing all their albums from the local public library, I bought every U2 album. I worked backwards from Joshua Tree to Boy and then forwards... I've been a fan well and truly ever since. This album is the most "gospel" of U2's releases, in a lot of ways... here are some lyrics from this song: Open up, open up, to the Lamb of God... to the love of He, who made the blind to see... He's coming back...
7. October
A short, simple song, with Edge on piano. I really like this. I was born in October 1981. According to the information on U2.com, this album, October, was released in Octoer 1981.  The song's only just over 2 minutes long. It's a nice interlude before...
8. With A Shout (Jerusalem)
Larry's drumming starts up, and then at the 13-second mark, the Edge comes in on guitar. At 26 seconds, Adam joins them. At 39 seconds, Bono comes in, with yet more spiritually-themed lyrics. Here's a sample from the second verse: I want to go, to the foot of Mount Zion, to the foot of He who made me see... This is a kind of musical pilgrimage, declaring intent to return to Jerusalem someday. It's currently one of my favourite tracks from this album, along with Rejoice and Scarlet.
9. Stranger In A Strange Land
This song hit me recently when I was on a train ride listening to a random mix of songs. A lot of the lyrics seemed apt in my situation, stuck on the far side of a pond, no matter where I seem to be... Oh, and I wish you were here. Oh, and I wish you were here.
10. Scarlet
An almost entirely instrumental song. Bono sings his simplest lyrics ever over the beautiful music of Larry, Edge and Adam. Simple, yet profound at the same time... the entire lyrics consist of a single word repeated 4 times, at 0:48, 1:42, 2:00, and at 2:17. Rejoice... It would've been a good track to close the album, in my opinion (Open with Gloria, close with Scarlet... ), but there's one more song still to come.
11. Is That All?
The guitar comes back in for one last assault. I personally think this song would've fit better between the previous two tracks, or before Scarlet... Is that all you want from me? is Bono's earnest plea... in different verses, he says the song makes him angry, makes him happy, and makes him want to dance... looking back now, it sounds a bit like David and his Psalms. The song comes to a somewhat abrupt end on a couple drum hits and some whistling in the background.
Perhaps the most "spiritual" of their albums, this is my favourite album out of U2's first four. (Yep, their 5th was The Joshua Tree... look out for a future review ) Some of my all-time favourite U2 tracks can be found here. It's a good look back at U2 before the days of stadium tours... but even then, the signs of future greatness shone with promise.  My only minor quibble with the album is that Scarlet may have been a better choice as closing song... but other than that? Five stars. * * * * * | | |
| Just to let everyone know...
This site will continue to be updated. I promise. 
I'm a bit busy at the moment (I fly out of the UK in under a week) so some of the reviews are actually here, but "hidden" till I have time to finish listening to all the albums. Don't be surprised if ten albums suddenly appear at once... I will update with a complete list of dates and albums so far for those who are interested in "back-tracking".
Thanks for your patience.
Glenn. | | |
| 1. Ode To My Family
Do do-do do, do do-do do, do do-do do, do do-do do... This is such a sad-sounding song  - plenty of minor chords. But Dolores O'Riordan's voice is quite simply amazing, in my opinion. Cause we were raised to see life as fun and take it if we can...
2. I Can't Be With You
This song shows off O'Riordan's voice yet again. It's fun copying, especially at copying the Irish accent and the changing single-syllable words into two... for example You're not heh-err (here), and of course you-hoo-oo... But when I listen to the words today, a few are hitting home...  Oh, if you're after lyrics to any of the songs on this album, this is the page you want.
3. Twenty-One
For a long time I thought I would play this song at my twenty-first birthday party. But then with too many songs to choose from, I restricted my party playlist to my favourite songs from the years leading up to my birth... so the most "modern" songs were from U2's October album. So this song wasn't played. But I like it.
4. Zombie
This was the first Cranberries song I ever heard, back in about 1995 or 1996. A friend of ours, Eric Toupin, had a cassette of this album, and I think Alastair and I copied Zombie on to one of our mix tapes... Sure, it's the same 4 chords over and over (variations on Em, C, G, and D/F#), but it's such a good song. An emotional anti-war one, as well, about "the Troubles". With their tanks, and their bombs, and their bombs, and their guns... I remember Mum thinking once that the lines What's in your head, in your head were actually "what's in your hair". This song was used in the Australian film Blackrock. It was also a fun one to sing with Ryan at karaoke in Japan.
5. Empty
I worked out the piano intro to this song once, but I can't really play, so I've quickly forgotten. The piano is joined by strings first, then guitar... The chorus itself is pretty simple: Empty-ee-hee-ee-hee-ee-hee-ee-hee, empty-ee-hee-ee-hee-ee-hee-ee-hee...
6. Everything I Said
Another sad song. The change in music around the line Cos if I died tonight, would you hold my hand gets me every time, but usually I skip to the next track.
7. The Icicle Melts
This is another song I remember listening to when we were in Ghana. Whe-he-hen, when will the icicle melt, the icicle, icicle, and whe-he-hen, when will the picture show end, the picture show, picture show... I recently learnt the guitar chords to this song. Like quite a few other songs on this album, it's on the sad side, about the loss of a child.
8. Disappointment
The title is Disappointment, but there is hope: it won't get any harder, and I hope you'll find your way again. There seems to be a thread of disappointment/loss/etc running through all these songs.
9. Ridiculous Thoughts
This is one of my favourites on this album. You're gonna have to hold on, to meeeeeeeeeeeeee. This song was used in the film Butterfly Kiss (I haven't seen the film, but that's what IMDb said ).
10. Dreaming My Dreams
Another nice slow one. I'll be dreaming my dreams of you.  
11. Yeat's Grave
The drumbeats and guitar rhythm in this song seem more "Irish" than the more standard rock beats in the previous tracks. At the halfway point, and towards the end of the song, Dolores O'Riordan recites some of Yeats' poem Second. Her speaking accent reminds me of my Irish co-workers in Japan, Dermott and Sandra. Irish accents are cool.
12. Daffodil Lament
Another song about disappointment, this time about deciding to leave someone, and make a new start, and the daffodils look lovely today. There are some very strange keyboardy-type effects over the top of the verses that I can't quite wrap my head around.
13. No Need To Argue
I love the low organ intro to this song. This song was used in the film Butterfly Kiss, and I remember it from the funeral scene of Blackrock. It's under three minutes in length, and is followed by four minutes of silence before the final track, which is un-named on the rear CD cover in Australia but is actually...
14. So Cold In Ireland
This was a b-side on the Ode To My Family single, but is included as a "hidden track" on the album in Australia and Japan (where I believe it's listed on the rear cover). This is another good song, with a rocking chorus reminiscent of Zombie in some regards.
For those of you who care about numbers, here's some information for ya, found by following links in the band's official website. Here's how the album fared in the Swiss album charts: it entered the charts at #35, but stayed in the top 10 from the first week of January 1995 to the last week of May that year, peaking at #2 for a week. It's achieved platinum (and beyond) status in over thirty countries.
There are some classic songs on here. As a listen-straight-through experience, it's a good kick-back-and-reminisce-about-junior-high-school album for me. It's not my favourite Cranberries album, but it is a good one. Four out of five stars. | | |
| 1. Set It Off
This is how all rock albums should start - crazy drums, then straight into the heavy guitars. Brisbane was the last city on the last leg (Asia-Pacific) of the Youth of the Nation tour, and a group of us from church got together for a meal and then carpooled in to the city for the gig. Over pizza, we made our "predictions" of opening song and closing (pre-encore) song... from memory, Paul Stret won, picking this song as opener. He was right - and it's a great kick-start to a concert.
2. Alive
Before the counter has even reached the 0:01 mark, this song is instantly recognisable. It got quite a lot of airplay on radio stations in Brisbane, and the video clip was on heavy rotation on Saturday morning television as well... Now that I see You, I could never look away... I feel so alive, for the very first time, I can't deny You, I feel so alive... It's such a good song. Alive was nominated in the Best Hard Rock Performance for the 44th Grammy Awards in 2002.
3. Boom
Haha, I never knew that a kid like me could take his mic around the world and flash the big S.D., and rock the masses from Madrid to Calabassas, Tijuana Mexico, bootleg demos in Tokyo... With this album, the San Diego rockers certainly hit the big time. The only radio station in Brisbane that played anything from their first major-label album The Fundamental Elements Of Southtown was the local Christian radio station. With songs like Alive, Boom and Youth of the Nation, P.O.D. reached a much wider audience. This song won P.O.D. a Dove Award for Hard Music Recorded Song Of The Year in 2003.
4. Youth Of The Nation
This is my second-favourite song on the album - P.O.D.'s response to outbreaks of school violence on the news. Some of the lines are chilling... such as Or maybe this kid wanted to be hugged... about a school shooting. Each verse deals with different characters, all high-school age, all outsiders (I didn't really know this kid though I sit by him in class). Just before the final choruses, Sonny asks Who's to blame for the lives the tragedies claim, and There's gotta be more to life than this, there's gotta be more to everything I thought exists... we are, we are, the youth of the nation... A children's choir joins in for the final choruses, making their statement even more powerful. Youth Of The Nation was nominated in the Best Hard Rock Performance category at the 45th Grammy Awards in 2003, and nominated in the Song Of The Year category in the same year's Dove Awards.
5. Celestial
One thing I like about P.O.D. is their inclusion of instrumental tracks on their albums. This is slightly slower than YOTN, and has a long slow fadeout at the end... the perfect lead-in for...
6. Satellite
One cymbal hit, and then the guitar starts. I remember hearing this song on a QANTAS flight once... Alastair and I both tuned to the rock station on the inflight audio at the same time, and mouthed words across the aisle... Mum gave us funny looks, but eh well. As I look up to the sky today, well I can see you looking down on me, it brings a smile to my face again... P.O.D. have their own strange genre-mixing sound, with elements of rock, rap, reggae, and punk. On this album, and in this track, you can hear more melody than on their previous album. It's fun singing along with the rap-like rhymes in the following section: It's truly one of a kind, like starshine beyond night time, are you there, my eyes stare to find just what's behind this blind notion of mine, is it genuine, cause sometimes it plays tricks on my mind, some call it asinine...
7. Ridiculous
P.O.D. are joined by Jamaican DJ Eek-A-Mouse for this song. This is another of my brother's favourites. It's a fun song, that's for sure. The lyrics of this song are more rap-like, while the instruments fill out a very reggae-flavoured rhythm.
8. The Messenjah
This is my favourite song on the album. I had hung back a bit from the mosh pit when I saw P.O.D. in Brisbane, but I got in there for this one. It has such a powerful rocking chorus. This I pledge and I'll take it to my death, I'll lay my life down for you and die over again, I and I, I'm not ashamed of the Most High, even if I die tonight, if I die tonight, this I pledge and I'll take it to my death, you can bet your life on my words and everything I said, you can't take away my love for this sacrifice, even if I die tonight, if I die tonight...
9. Guitarras De Amor
This is the second instrumental track on the album. It gives me the chance to have a bit of a rest after the head-banging energy of The Messenjah. It's just over a minute long, and consists of guitars (you'd never guess that from the title, would you?) played over the top of some "wind" sound effects and a strange voice that sounds like it's being played backwards.
10. Anything Right
Once again, P.O.D. are joined by a guest artist in the studio - this time it's Christian, lead singer of Swedish rock group Blindside (who can be seen playing table tennis against P.O.D. in the video clip for Boom). He does a good job of backing vocals on this song, whether it's his singing in the verses, or his screaming echoes of "Riiiiight" in the choruses.
11. Ghetto
This song sounds more laid-back than Anything Right, and then the rock builds up to the chorus and Sonny screams out The world is a ghetto! over and over. I'm not too sure how to describe this song musically. But it rocks... I like it more each time I give it a listen.
12. Masterpiece Conspiracy
Traa's drumming is in fine form on this track. This is more old-skool P.O.D. - rapped lyrics, heavy guitars, thumping drums and bass, and a screaming chorus. Melody? What's that? Liar, backstabber, betrayer, deceiver... liar! Towards the end of the song, there's a sudden shift in the music... the timing changes, there are a few scratches, and more of that awesome drumming.
13. Without Jah, Nothin'
One, two, three, four! This song kicks off suddenly, with a guest appearance by another of P.O.D.'s influences, H.R. from Bad Brains. It's a fast-paced screaming-punk-style song. Without Jah nothing... with Jah everything... a minute in, those reggae-flavoured guitars come in, and it slows right down, moving away from punk entirely.
14. Thinking About Forever
After the previous two songs, the melodic side of P.O.D. has returned. This track mourns the loss of a loved one, and was written after the death of Sonny's mother. I'm thinkin' 'bout forever, missing you... I know you're so much better, you made it through... It's a very bittersweet song.
15. Portrait
I love the guitar intro to this song, but I've got to be in the right mood to listen to the screaming verses. It does have good lyrics, it's a pity you can't hear them well... or maybe that's intentional, to make people read the CD insert. Portrait was nominated in the Best Metal Performance category in the 45th Grammy Awards in 2003.
bonus track...
16. Rock The Party (Off The Hook) (remix)
A remix of a track from P.O.D.'s previous album, The Fundamental Elements Of Southtown. There are some interesting effects in the background. The beats are slightly "dance-y"... it's fun, but I've never been a huge fan of remixes.
some more bonus songs... from my brother's "bonus edition" of the album...
17. Alive (semi-acoustic version)
I do like this version. I heard it on radio a few times. It's slightly more subdued than the single version, but it still rocks in the choruses. Just not as much as before. Sun shine upon my face, a new song for me to sing, tell the world how I feel inside, even though it might cost me everything. The acoustic guitar solos near the end are great. They lend an almost Spanish taste to the mix.
18. Youth Of The Nation (remix)
I know what I said earlier about remixes, but this one's not too bad. There are some interesting strings added... yeah, I still prefer the un-remixed version.
19. Boom (remix)
Boom! Industrial-dancy-effects, slidey sound effects... *skip* For a party, maybe... but just for a listen/rockout? Gimme the original any day.
I was impressed with their genre-blending rock on The Fundamental Elements Of Southtown. Satellite showed me P.O.D. could be more melodic. Had Sonny been taking singing lessons? I don't know, but the rock is turned up a notch all through this album. There are a few songs towards the end I may not listen to a lot (especially the remixes), but this is usually a listen-straight-through album. Four and a half out of five. | | |
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