In this episode of Manic Joy, a funny couples podcast about midlife marriage, Dave and Reese wake up to a surprise U2 release and immediately hit play.
What follows is a real-time reaction to Easter Lily, how it compares to Days of Ash, and why this version of U2 feels different.
They talk favorite tracks, lyrics that hit harder than expected, and why this one might be less about hooks and more about something deeper.
If you’re a longtime U2 fan or just wondering what this band sounds like now, this one’s for you.
[00:00:00]
Dave: And we are recording on a Friday.
Reese: Yes.
Reese and Dave: At 7 40 49 9.
Intro Music: This is Dave. This is Reese, and this is Manic Joy, a podcast about life, love, and, and uncertainty.
Dave: we did not practice that, by the way.
Reese: No. That was impromptu.
Dave: I know you're pretty surprised by how delicious that was.
Reese: Yes. It was like the drink. Happy...
Dave: So I made
Reese: Friday.
Dave: Happy Friday to you. I made earlier for us. I made a Guinness and a cider, which I believe, I'll have to look this up. It's called the Black Velvet I, or a Snake Bite. There's two different names. There's a Snake Bite or a Black Velvet. I think it, maybe it's a Snake Bite. [00:01:00] I don't know. There's always a
Reese: Either way.
Dave: Either way. It was good.
Reese: It's good.
We haven't had that. In a while,
Dave: so a long, long time. Yeah. But because we were listening to what we're gonna talk about here today Yeah. Is, sorry for those of you who aren't U2 fans, but for those of you who are, you're in for a treat.
Reese: It's a big night for you.
Dave: So I woke up this morning
Reese: feeling like
Dave: doing my business.
Reese: P Diddy.
Dave: And
Reese: I hope not. That would be bad. Sorry, I, it was Kesha . I Kesha-ed.
Dave: I, I hope not.
Reese: I, Kesha-ed
Dave: Too?
Reese: Yeah. No, you're good.
Dave: Anyway,
Reese: you're good.
Dave: I check my email in the morning doing my business and there's an email from U2.com. They dropped another album. And you knew about this 'cause you happened to be awake at two and three in the morning last night.
Reese: Well, because
Dave: something about it I saw you message after the fact
Reese: When I fall asleep. Like before 10 o'clock. That's like nap time. Yeah. Like I take a nap and then I wake up at, you know, 2 30, 3 [00:02:00] o'clock in the morning, like wide awake. And I was like, all right, you know what, I'm gonna bop around on my phone a little bit and
Dave: bop
Reese: and it
Dave: Beep-boop, beep-boop. Beep.
Reese: No email, no nothing. All of a sudden just, I go to Instagram and it's right there and I'm like. Whoa. And what sucked is I just bought a new headband with the Bluetooth.
Dave: Bluetooth, yeah.
Reese: In there when I sleep and I couldn't find it. So I couldn't listen to it.
Dave: Did you find it?
Reese: I think it fell behind the bed and I really don't, we don't feel like injuring my back back.
Dave: We'll have to, we'll have to remember to
Reese: look trying to get it
Dave: for it before we get comfy.
Reese: But, oh my God. I was like and I, I sent it to the, the family Instagram. Thread that we have. Um, at two 30 in the morning. I was like, everybody's sleeping. It's fine. I'm gonna send this. Yeah. I was so jazzed.
I had no idea that that was gonna happen either.
Dave: I was like, I was like, what?
Reese: Listen.
Dave: Big surprise. So they dropped the first one, which we talked about a little bit.
Reese: Mm.
Dave: On Ash [00:03:00] Wednesday. This is Good Friday? Is that what this is considered? Yep. Good Friday. Good
Reese: Friday.
Dave: It's the best Friday. So the first one Days of Ash.
Reese: Mm-hmm.
Dave: This one called Easter Lilly.
Reese: Mm-hmm.
Dave: Another ep. So six songs on both of these so far. And a complete surprise they did it again.
Reese: Yeah.
Dave: Just surprised everybody
Reese: just, and I'm, I'm here for it.
Dave: Yeah. Well, I'm always here for it.
Reese: I didn't even realize that they, that it was gonna be a continual, event.
Dave: Well,
That's the surprise. Yeah. Element of this whole thing. Yeah. And so
Reese: I'm, I'm loving, I'm loving our favorite bands doing these surprise things. Oh,
Dave: with the Weezer. Oh. So you should probably mention, uh, so I'm I have to say I'm a little disappointed in the Weezer thing.
Reese: You don't like it?
Dave: No, I don't mind it.
Oh. But what I'm saying is what I'm disappointed out is like the album is not coming out for a while.
Reese: I know.
Dave: That feels like too much. You know what I mean?
Reese: It, you know what it, they're, I think they're gonna trickle out the songs.
Dave: I guess so,
Reese: but, and, and then eventually, because also they are like masters [00:04:00] of marketing.
Mm-hmm. They are really good at like building up the, um, excitement to stuff. U2 used to kind of be like that. And now they just kind of. Like Throw shit at you. I'm like, I
Dave: what I appreciate about them just kind of doing these ep
Reese: and I'm not saying it's a bad thing.
Dave: No. Well, what I appreciate about it and we'll, we're gonna get into the album, the new, this newest one, but what I appreciate about what they're doing now is that they are just releasing these things because I think what they fallen victim to, particularly in the later years, I think is.
Overproduction. And just like doing too much.
Reese: Yeah.
Dave: Where I actually find a lot of times like the BSides or the songs that they just kind of release on the side, like think of like, uh, Ordinary Love for example, or, uh, what was the other one? Invisible, right? Like all those little songs they do as like side projects almost.
They're so good because they just do them and they're, there's this [00:05:00] pressure
Reese: Lady with the Spinning Head. Was that also?
Dave: That was a B side.
Reese: I, that's one of my favorites. Yeah. And it doesn't get enough.
Dave: Yeah. So it's for, it's like, it's stuff like that that I'm like, I like the impromptu-ness because, they are a really good band, but they think they get too into the production of it, that they overproduce it sometimes and it loses something.
Reese: So I, I took some notes as we were listening to it. Yeah. And one of the things that I noticed. Especially about this one. It's very much stripped down, low key. And I think they are, 'cause they're older. And I think they are just doing things when they feel inspired to do things
Dave: well. I hope so. I like that.
Reese: I love that. Yeah. Because I hate when bands, it's like a constant like, listen, I'm a swifty, I'm not, I'm like level. Medium, Swifty
Dave: level? Medium Swifty?
Reese: Yes.
Dave: Okay.
Reese: I'm not like, I'm not over the top. She and I [00:06:00] appreciate when the albums come out 'cause she does so many. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. And it's like, it's a lot.
It's an onslaught of like, I just got used to the last one and then all of a sudden here's another one and here's, and it has three. Albums to it. Yeah. I'm like, okay, it's too much. I feel like at this point, I honestly feel like we're blessed when we get any type of U2
Dave: Oh yeah.
Reese: At all at this point. Yeah.
Because they could lock it down when uh, Larry had the issues with this hand and he couldn't do the spear.
Dave: That's what I'm, I mean, like look, the spear,
Reese: The sphere.
Dave: Oh, it sounded like you said the spear.
Reese: No, the sphere.
Dave: So. Look, I think there it, him included was wondering if he'd ever play again.
And it's great to have him back now. Right. Actually playing Right. Which is really cool. Yeah, I, I know what you mean. Like it, I'm excited for the Weezer stuff actually. So we got tickets for that. I'm excited for that. That's God gonna be a good,
Reese: all the tickets. We got tickets for all the things. I'm, I'm very excited for the next
Dave: summer.
Summer [00:07:00]
Reese: of the year.
Dave: Summer summer of concerts.
Reese: Yeah. We got the Weezer, we got the Muse. We got Weezer Shins.
Dave: The lineup is Weezer, The Shins,
Reese: and Silversun Pickups.
Dave: And Silversun Pickups
Reese: get
Dave: all great. I've actually, I don't think I've ever seen The Shins, so I'm excited about that.
Reese: Yeah. I don't think I've seen The Shins as well,
Dave: but I like them as a band.
Reese: Yeah.
Dave: Silver spun. Sun Pickups are great.
Reese: Yep.
Dave: And Weezer's great.
Reese: Yep.
Dave: So that's gonna be a good rotations
Reese: Who's opening for Muse? Do we know?
Dave: Bloc Party.
Reese: Oh, Bloc Party.
Dave: Which also fantastic.
Reese: We love them.
Dave: So Muse.
Reese: We love them. They were great.
Dave: If you've ever seen Muse or if you haven't, you should go.
Reese: I fucking love
Dave: they're, they're an interest, I think they're like a unique sound.
You gotta like that stuff. 'cause they're very heavy.
Reese: It's very heavy. But
Dave: an operatic too.
Reese: What I, yes. What I love about them is that
Dave: it's just three of them. The sound that they put out is fantastic.
Reese: Their lyrics and their,
Dave: yeah, it's very, uh,
Reese: vibe is always very timely
Dave: in conspiracy and government and [00:08:00] yeah, all that stuff,
Reese: it's all my favorite stuff, so I'm super psyched.
The last time we saw them was a very long time ago, and we really like them. They, it was a. Show
Dave: they put on a great show. Yeah.
Reese: Um, who else did we get tickets for? We also got got tickets for
Dave: Young the Giant
Reese: Young the Giant and Cold War Kids. Which,
Dave: which also Young the Giants really a good band.
Reese: They are. It just pisses us off because Cold War Kids shouldn't be opening for them. But
Dave: I mean, now listen, the problem, I've said it before, I'll say it again. Problem with Cold War kids is they do not. They haven't reached that level where they've figured out how to perform their songs to a big stage.
Reese: Right.
Dave: They're great in a small club
Reese: like House of Blues and MGM, all of that,
Dave: I absolutely love their music,
Reese: they thrive, but,
Dave: but on the small stage, they get dwarfed.
Reese: Yeah.
Dave: And like even with like, the only reason we enjoyed them so much at when we saw them open for Kings of Leon was because we were able to get down to the front.
Reese: Yeah. [00:09:00]
Dave: And that's the only reason why it was so much fun. Yeah. Because we could actually see them and be right there. But if you're in the back,
Reese: but they're such a great intimate band
Dave: and you don't know them,
Reese: yeah.
Dave: You're not paying attention. Know, I'm sorry. They, they don't know how to, they don't know how to project it enough.
Reese: It's just, they're it's fine. It's fine.
Dave: But
they're
Dave: good, so I'm excited about both of those.
Reese: I'm also going to, well, I'm seeing two shows without you. I'm gonna see with a,
Dave: With or Without You.
Reese: There it is. But you should have waited for that. Oh. But, okay. Seeing Gorillaz, which has been on my bucket list, um, I'm a huge Blur fan.
So the lead singer is also
Dave: mm-hmm.
Reese: Created. Gorillaz. Yeah. So I'm very excited about that. And then Emily got me for my birthday.
Dave: I know
Reese: Djo.
Dave: Yeah. We, we were, and Jonnie and I were both like,
Hey, you were Jonnie,
Reese: were bullshit.
Dave: Oh, cool. Have fun.
Reese: I know. Well, because it was, was a whole thing where Emily and I were
Dave: Yeah.
Reese: Driving around and. She had gotten a notice that
Dave: Jonnie and I will figure out something to do.
Reese: I know
Dave: we'll go to our own damn concert.
Reese: Fine. You that
Dave: maybe actually we'll play our own concert over here,
Reese: Oh, you should do that.
Dave: We'll get her on the piano and
Reese: But [00:10:00] anyway, it's, it's gonna be this, it's just such a great time right now with all the shitty stuff going on in the world that there is all this great concerts and music and artful happenings.
Yeah. That I think cure. And mend all the garbagey stuff that goes on. Yeah. At this time
Dave: Yeah.
Reese: Is all okay. Alright. Right.
Dave: Well let's do this. Let's, let's talk about this album. Mm-hmm. Because we wanna make this a quick one because I gotta go to bed. I'm like exhausted already. Really? It's seven 50. It's like
Reese: eight
Dave: o'clock.
It's eight o'clock.
Reese: I feel like
Dave: by the time we're done it'll be eight 30 and then well, you know, time to get in bed
Reese: and I have to find my, my.
Dave: Yes. We gotta find your headband.
Reese: Headband back.
Dave: Who knows how long that will take.
Reese: Oh my God. Forever. Well, no, we'll find it right away. It's gonna take me forever to crawl under the bed.
Get it, pull it out, hurt my neck.
Dave: We'll see what we can do.
Reese: It's gonna be a good time. So,
Dave: all right. So,
Reese: okay.
Dave: Here's the deal. So Easter Lilly is the name of the ep,
Reese: [00:11:00] and we're coming upon Easter weekend, right? So this Sunday is Easter.
Dave: Good Friday's.
Reese: Today's Good Friday, right?
Dave: I,
Reese: and I love that. It's called Easter Lilly.
I love that. They're
Dave: well, so far everything has had a very and they've always been this, but the, but each album has been very specifically religiously, yes, toned.
Reese: Yes. However. I'm gonna say something controversial, and I've only listened to this album twice so far today.
I like it better than Days of Ash. Oh. Because I'm gonna be honest, this
Dave: is interesting. Okay.
Reese: And I'm gonna tell you why.
Dave: Okay.
Reese: I thoroughly enjoyed each one of the songs because it I. The vibe,
Dave: there's a different vibe
Reese: is very different and it's more hopeful and it's more,
Dave: yes.
Reese: I, I, there are, there's the rock U2,
Dave: A path to the light.
Reese: Yes. There's Rock U2, there's political U2. Mm-hmm. There's religious U2.
Dave: Mm-hmm.
Reese: Sometimes [00:12:00] they all intertwine. Mm-hmm. Sometimes they are rocking this and rocking that. They're a little bit country, a little bit rock and roll. Thank God they're not country.
Thank God.
Like this one better because I am very much into. And trying to step away from it into the political world.
Mm-hmm. I love political discourse. I love debate. I love knowing, no, I don't love, I have to know what's going on politically in the world. It's just how I am. Mm-hmm. I need to be like in tune in what's going on, on, on every spectrum. I, I'm not in one bubble.
Dave: You're on every spectrum for sure.
Reese: I'm on this. We cannot deny, and so I.
As much as I appreciate the political side of U2 and Bono I'm done. I don't need that right now, but I understand like the last, the Days of Ash. I [00:13:00] get it. And I think that was for a separate audience and I feel like this one, this album, this little ep. Spoke to me. Mm-hmm. In a way that I feel I need hope, I need there to be light.
Dave: Yeah. So it definitely is more of that.
Reese: Yes.
Dave: So it's interesting and we will, maybe we'll save this to the end, but I would say, I'll just say this subject matter aside, some of the songs on Days of Ash I think are. Better songs than the song, uh, in terms of like a song where, oh, I can sing that song. I, there's a chorus that I remember, like, this is my big point with kind of this one and we'll, we will talk about it, but Okay.
I would say I maybe prefer Days of Ash to this one, but I've only listened to this a few times, and as with any U2 album, I do have [00:14:00] to. Sit with them for quite a few listens before I'm really like ingrained in the vibe.
Reese: Right.
Dave: So I'll preface it with that. Okay.
Reese: So, so I will say I did write down a lot of the lyrics
Dave: Oh, good.
Reese: Spoke to me. So it'll, and I wrote down lyrics.
Dave: I'll be interested to see what you wrote down. So I, I only wrote down lyrics to one song because I was just, I'm picking up, 'cause again, I'm not,
Reese: well, let's go through them.
Dave: I, I know. That's what I'm trying to do.
Reese: Okay.
Dave: So six songs, Song for Hal. In a Life.
Reese: I keep thinking you're saying song for Hal.
Yeah. I'm like, Hal? Who?
Dave: I am saying song for Hal.
Reese: How?
Dave: Hal. HAL
Reese: Hal.
Dave: That's what I said.
Reese: I thought you said how
Dave: no Song for Hal.
Reese: How, go ahead, keep going. This is
Dave: welcome to our show.
Reese: Welcome to Midlife. Welcome to Midlife. Where? I
Dave: What? Huh?
Reese: It's fine. Go ahead. Yeah. You're
Dave: wearing headphones. Uh, what? Okay, number three is Scars.
Reese: Mm-hmm.
Dave: Number four, Resurrection Song number five. Number [00:15:00] five. Yeah.
Reese: You're doing good.
Dave: Easter Parade. You
Reese: need to go to bed
Dave: and number six,
Reese: and learn how to do math
Dave: Coexist. In parentheses, I Will Bless the Lord at All Times question mark. Which is interesting.
Reese: It's not because,
Dave: anyhow,
Reese: it's in the, it's in the lyrics of the song.
Dave: So that's the, that's that's the last, that's the last, that's the track listing.
Reese: Mm-hmm.
Dave: That's what I meant to say. I put them both together.
Reese: This is gonna be an award-winning.
Dave: So let's
Reese: episode,
Dave: Let's, let's start with, let's start with song for
Reese and Dave: how, Hal,
Dave: which is a friend of the band. Mm-hmm. A friend of Edge's that died during 2020, the COVID Times.
Reese: Mm.
[00:16:00]
Dave: What's your first reaction
Reese: right out the gate? My first note was, it's very subtle for the first song.
Dave: Mm.
Reese: Out. Mm-hmm. But I also love that Edge gets showcased.
Dave: So I wrote that like, there's, there was definitely a, a very.
You signature jangly guitar sound coming in that I love that. I was like, oh, okay, cool. Like I love this sound. I love the Edge doing his Edge thing. And then you are waiting for, okay, what's gonna happen? [00:17:00] And then when the song starts, you're like, wait a minute. That's not Bono.
Reese: Mm-hmm.
Dave: That's The Edge.
Reese: Mm-hmm.
Dave: And
Reese: I love when, we love when Edge sings.
Dave: So I'll say this. There's something like there's a version on the Songs of Surrender that Edge sings that is a piece on Earth that I think is heartbreaking.
Reese: Mm.
Dave: I love Edge's, harmonies with Bono, and he sings like an angel.
Reese: Yeah.
Dave: But I'm glad he's not the lead singer.
Which is because it's like, it's missing the Bono. Stuff that Bono has. Right. But it's beautiful every once in a while and I thought this was beautiful. There's something about his voice,
Reese: I feel numb.
Dave: And him
Reese: or Numb.
Dave: Ha ha ha. It.
Reese: No Numb.
Dave: I thought, I thought you were saying you feel numb.
Reese: No, no, no, no.
Dave: But okay.
Reese: One of my favorite
Dave: It wasn't a pun
Reese: U2. It was actually, it was actually being for real. Yeah. One of my favorite U2 songs is Numb. Numb. And I used to be infatuated with the video.
Dave: Yeah, yeah, yeah. That was a good video.
Reese: And I, and I [00:18:00] just. And it just really connected me with Edge at that point because, you know, U2 is always a, oh, it's Bono.
But then it made me realize, like I just really, I mean they all four are, but Edge is really,
Dave: their harmonies together are always amazing.
Reese: Amazing.
Dave: Yeah. And then my third note on this was that, and this is how I kind of feel on all of new U2 lately. Is that too restrained on guitar? Like I want, I, so I love early U2.
Not that what they're creating now isn't beautiful. But just every once in a while I'm like, just go off Edge. Give me a good, like everything is too. Safe, for lack of a better word for me sometimes with him now, like the way he used to play, even Adam and Adam I think is having a renaissance.
He's playing pretty well, but like both, [00:19:00] like they were unbridled in their playing back then, and I think they've learned how to restrain themselves, but I almost think. To a fault. It's kind of like that thing where, 'cause when they started, they weren't musicians. They were just people who picked up instruments and taught themselves to play and made a sound that was theirs and unique to them, which is why I love them so much.
But somewhere along the way, they've actually become really good musicians, almost to a fault, if that makes sense. Where it's too. Clean. It's not as messy as it was back then, I think. And they did things that they didn't know they were maybe weren't supposed to do.
Reese: I think, you know what I mean? Right now it is about the lyrics and about the content and less about being extravagant and experimental with the sound.
Mm-hmm. I think for them now it's like we have a message and we don't want it. We don't want it to be negated with [00:20:00] people complaining that Achtung Baby doesn't sound like Where the Streets Have No Name and everybody was all in, get their panties in a bunch about it.
Dave: I just wanna, I want Edge to go off and they've been threatening of a heavy guitar, like I don't want, and I want 'em to go off in the way of not the.
The cheesy riffs that he's been doing a lot lately. Like the little punk,
Reese: they're comfortable, they're comfortable and easy
Dave: The little punk riffs, like, I love the soundscapes that he creates, but I also love the, the solo in, Love Is Blindness.
Reese: I know, I know, know.
Dave: And you know, like, like that type of stuff. And I want in the early days of like, let's just going nuts where
Reese: I feel like they, they might get there.
Who knows? So we were talking today also like what is gonna be the next. Installment of this. So maybe that's where that's heading
Dave: either. Yeah. It's either the album or I, I wouldn't mind a third ep.
Reese: Right.
Dave: And then an album.
Reese: Right.
Dave: That would be amazing.
Reese: Right.
Dave: Anyway. All right. So that was Anything else to add?
Reese: That's all I, I have on that one. I
Dave: But Beautiful song. I really like it.
Reese: Beautiful. It was fine.
Dave: But a theme I'll continue through each of these songs is I couldn't sing a [00:21:00] lick of it to you.
Reese: Mm. Well we just listened to it.
Dave: I know, but I've listened to it a few times. But you know how usually you'll get an earworm
Reese: Mm.
Dave: Or something? I couldn't, I don't know. I couldn't sing anything to you In a Life.
Reese: Very, no. Line on the horizon coated.
Dave: Interesting. Interesting you say that. So [00:22:00] I have a different view on that,
that it had that like, kind of scratch guitar in the beginning, like the, just a but Beautiful Day drums.
Reese: Mm.
Dave: Those drums were very beautiful day, kind of sequenced drums, like, kind of like electronic, but not really.
Reese: Yep.
Dave: Reminded me very much a Beautiful Day.
Reese: Yeah.
Dave: Okay. Which is interesting.
Reese: I can see that.
But it, it also, 'cause now you're, you're so, you have some Edge at the beginning.
Dave: Mm-hmm.
Reese: And now we're getting Bono. Mm-hmm. And I really feel that his voice is still so strong.
Dave: Y Yes, I think so too. I will say, so this is where, again, if you compare the two albums, I feel as though. The other album Bono is showcased much better there?
Reese: No, I, but I feel like in this album
Dave: the lyrics might, I don't know, the lyrics might be stronger here, but the, the, the, just the,
Reese: I feel like his,
Dave: he's got some of it here. I've gotta listen more,
Reese: but I feel like, so feel like also I made a note in one of the songs, but it's, in most of them, his cadence has changed [00:23:00] dramatically on how he sings.
Dave: Well, sure, yeah.
Reese: Certain lyrics, which is very different. Than he has in the past. So for me, that's what I've noticed.
Dave: So, speaking of cadence, so this was one where there's sometimes, like, I will often hear other songs in people's songs and the cadence and the, the melody that Bono sings in this song.
Reminded me of a Phantom Planet song for some reason. Right. And I, we couldn't really find it. We were listening to it after to find exactly, but I think it may have been Turn, Smile, Shift, Repeat by Phantom Planet. There's just something about it it's just like one little phrase a couple of times in there.
It's not like the whole song, right? But like, I'm like, Ooh, that sounds like, like I'll get those moments. But that was when, not in a negative way or anything, but it reminded me of that.
Reese: But here's the thing, there is no, there's nothing new. There's nothing there.
Dave: Oh, no. Well, yeah.
Reese: So everything is an influence of everything.
And you're gonna hear,
Dave: and I love how you hear all the influences of all their music Yeah. Rolled up into Right. The [00:24:00] songs. Right. Which is also interesting.
Reese: Right.
Dave: And also, you gotta keep in mind that what are they coming up on? 50 years in the business?
Reese: Yeah, I know.
Dave: So think about that. Like they've been doing this for 50 years, freaking bananas.
How can, how can they not? Sound like themselves,
Reese: and it's just crazy.
Dave: You know what I mean?
Reese: Because a huge portion of my life from when I was
Dave: Yeah.
Reese: 13
Dave: yeah.
Reese: Has been this band.
Dave: Yeah. So my third note on this, two things I wrote. So no real hook in this song again, one that like couldn't sing a lick of it to you.
Don't remember anything about it, but I know I enjoy it when I listening to it.
Reese: Right.
Dave: I think this song is a little too. Adult contemporary for me.
And I feel this song, and I also feel like the song they did with Ed Sheeran on Days of Ash kind of has that sound.
Reese: Yeah. But you, you want, you, you want them to be the people they were like 30 years ago.
Dave: No, I don't want them to be that, but I'm saying, I'm saying there's a sound. I don't, there's a sound to certain songs that [00:25:00] I'm like, eh, that's not really the song that I like.
Reese: I hate to say this to you.
Dave: I know who we are.
Reese: Certain bands, once they hit a certain age, are not going to aspire to, to create new sound or create new things like they honestly,
Dave: well, if there's any band that would it would be them.
Reese: It would be them.
Dave: So there,
Reese: but they are old dude.
Dave: Yeah, that's fine.
Reese: We're old.
Dave: I'm just saying that, that
Reese: I'm trying to remember lines.
Dave: It's got a little bit of that
Reese: for a play that I'm in and my brain and I don't have that many. You get to a certain point where you are limited in your capabilities, where it's muscle memory at this point, you're good at what you do, and you wanna do stuff that is not mediocre.
'cause I don't think this is mediocre at all.
Dave: But, so this is what I'm saying though, that the adult contemporary puts it in the mediocre camp.
Reese: I don't think it's, I don't think this album is mediocre.
Dave: I'm not talking, talking about the album. I'm talking about this specific song and that one other song.
Oh, okay. I'm saying this song here. Leans [00:26:00] a little too much that way for me.
Reese: Okay. You're entitled to your opinion.
Dave: I am.
Reese: And you're wrong. No, I'm just kidding. Go ahead.
Dave: No. Well, I'm sure they'll tell me online once. Mm-hmm. Once we mm-hmm. Once we publish these, so,
Reese: oh, I can't wait for the commentary.
Dave: I know it's gonna be a good one.
Reese: I'm very excited.
Dave: It's gonna be a good one. Alright. Scars was the next one.
Reese: Yeah.
[00:27:00]
Dave: So I like the song. Not I, there's a couple that I actually like. I'm like, I like this one.
Reese: You can't break what's already been broken.
Dave: I like this one is, that was one of the line.
Reese: My, I love it. You can't break what's already been broken.
Dave: So I love the, there's a driving base in this one. I like that. It feels a little bit like this. Got a little older U2 for me. It has a bit of a, uh. A Wire sound to it. Mm. But slowed down. Mm. Which I thought was really cool, if you know that song. Yeah. More mellow and the guitar sounds also hearkened back to early Edge with some of the things coming out of there.
So I, I liked that musically. I thought that was really good. I think this is a decent song.
Reese: I think so too.
Dave: I felt though, I feel the vocal track is a little bit muffled. And I think that's maybe a stylistic choice.
Reese: Oh, I have to listen to it again.
Dave: But it fe it [00:28:00] seems mu muffled to me. Okay. And I didn't, I didn't love that.
Reese: Alright.
Dave: And then I thought there were also some signature riffs in there from Edge, which I thought were really cool. That I liked. But again, couldn't sing a a damn word of it.
Reese: Oh, I love the lyrics. I actually like the lyrics of this one. And I love you can't break what's already been broken.
Dave: No, they were good lyrics.
Reese: I'm a lyrics gal like. I the vibe of a, a song, the tone of a song, the beats of a song, like if I don't even care about the lyrics, like if it's like something I can bop to, I like that. But I especially love when you two gives me lyrics that I can, I can feel and I can digest and I can connect with, and I loved the.
I'm also keeping in mind this is a religious album.
Dave: Mm-hmm.
Reese: And I know that's gonna piss some people off. They are very spiritual, religious, not woo woo, spiritual, like, they believe in Jesus and God.
Dave: Mm-hmm.
Reese: This is a religious [00:29:00] album and so I am listening to this as it being. Almost like a revival, like a church choir album to me.
So I'm not taking these lyrics and making them into my own daily relationship things. I'm taking it as like an inner soul searching.
My own religion, which is not, I'm not highly religious, but we're not. In that way. I mean, I'm spiritual. Where I believe in some things and yeah, you know, it's fine. But
Dave: how can you say these are songs are, are, are religious? Let's talk about the next one. Resurrection song.
Reese: I, yeah, I know I might be a little off base.
Dave: Yeah.
[00:30:00] [00:31:00]
Dave: So this was one that I liked on the first, listen, like right away I was like, oh, I like this. And this is like, first listen on the toilet.
Like
Reese: exactly the way Jesus would want it.
Dave: Yep, exactly. So this had a very Unforgettable Fire vibe to me, this one.
Reese: Correct.
Dave: And I like that. 'cause I, Unforgettable Fire is probably one of my favorite albums because it is the transitional album for them, I think. Mm-hmm. Right. Like that was an album that got them to.
Joshua Tree. Right, right. Where they really matured into their sound. And so I love that. I love the, the he heavy tom drums that were going on in the beginning. And this is one where I wrote a lyric down. Oh. Which is, "if I sound ridiculous, I'm not done [00:32:00] yet."
Reese: Yep.
Dave: Perfect.
Reese: So you ready for my take on this one?
Dave: Yeah, let's hear it.
Reese: I did enjoy this one, this one, and I and it's, I think it's tongue in cheek and very clever. Mm-hmm. The Death and Resurrection Show, it's one of the lyrics, the Death and Resurrection Show. Jesus was the original creator of the prestige. So the movie, the Prestige mm-hmm. Was about like when magicians or illusionists Michael,
Dave: "It's an illusion, Michael."
Reese: "It's an illusion." When it, it's like the big showstopper, the thing that gets the audience to like wow them.
Mm-hmm. Not only did, so, we always say, oh, Jesus died for our sins. He, you know, was nailed to the cross. They take him down, they put him in the tomb, and he, they go to open the tomb and he's not there. He disappears. [00:33:00] He's the originator of the prestige. The song is about the showmanship of Jesus.
Dave: Hmm. I like it.
Reese: You know what I mean?
Dave: I need to, I need to listen more closely.
Reese: You so listen to the lyrics of it. 'cause while. You were just listening. I need to these days print up the lyrics and listen to mm-hmm. A song. I used to do that when I was a kid. You used to get the tape. Sure. And the tape had all the lyric in it.
And I would sit there and like,
Dave: well that's why you'll need to look, like I said, you have to read the magazine. 'cause they talk about all the songs. They have the lyrics
Reese: That's next. I really, I'm in full Easter mode.
Dave: You know where you'll have to look at that?
Reese: And I had to do shopping and stuff.
Dave: On your iPad.
Reese: Oh my, my brand new iPad.
Dave: It has, it flips the pages for you
Reese: for my birthday. Thank you.
Dave: Alright, next one. This was another one I liked.
Reese: This is my
Dave: This is probably
Reese: my number one favorite song.
Dave: This is probably my favorite song too.
Reese: This is, is my favorite song too.
Dave: Easter Parade.
[00:34:00] [00:35:00]
Reese: Love it.
Dave: First note, very zooropa vibe. Mm-hmm. It's got the nice build mm-hmm. With the synth and the piano comes in Harkens to old U2 too, where they always would do the piano stuff. And then the baseline killer very baseline sounds a little bit like the baseline from Tax Man by the Beatles, which I love.
Mm-hmm. And then just in a general, the song itself has a very Beatles esque, probably the, the most Beatles esque song. That they have, that's an original of theirs. I'm not gonna say Helter Skelter. Mm-hmm. 'cause they do that and they do like Rain and they do covers of Beatles songs. But when they do their own songs, I would say probably Window In the Skies, which again, another just throwaway song is probably the most Beatles type of song
Reese: coded. It's Beatle coded.
Dave: Code coded. Yeah. [00:36:00] Right, right. But this is very much Beatle-coded, I would say.
Reese: I like the vibe of this a lot. Yeah. And the beat is it.
It's a bop.
Dave: It's fun.
Reese: I like a bop.
Dave: It kind of goes And I like the, I like when they go different places with things. Right. And when you're not expecting where it's gonna go.
Reese: And I like the lyrics in this one too. Yeah. So I, I'm gonna give it a few extra listen,
Dave: But once again to really couldn't sing it for you right now at all.
Reese: But I'm just saying it's my number one on this album so far.
There is a part at the end where there's a repetition of the
Dave: Oh, yes.
Reese: How would you say it? Rie Ky
Dave: Kyrie Kyrie, I think. Yeah.
Reese: It's Greek for Lord have mercy.
Dave: Oh, it's a Greek.
Reese: It's Greek.
Dave: Interesting.
Reese: Um, and it is. Also kind of used, I went and I did a deep dive and it's 1980 five's Broken Wing, Mr. Mr. 'cause. So it's kind of like
Dave: That's beautiful.
Reese: All of that. You like that one.
Dave: So now we might not be able to publish this because they're gonna copyright.
Reese: Oh, really?
Dave: It sounds [00:37:00] just like it.
Reese: Oh, I, I'm sorry. I'm so good. Like sometimes I don't realize like how good I actually am. So. My apologies to Mr. Mr mm-hmm. On how great I did this. Okay. Anyway, so I looked it up. And in that song, especially by Mr. Mr. It serves as a musical prayer or a mantra asking for divine protective, oh, uh, protection.
That sounds right. Comfort and guidance during life's journey. Often interpreted as a plea for strength to navigate difficult times.
Dave: Perfect.
Reese: Which I think
Dave: perfect is definitely what they did here,
Reese: emulates in this, and I, that key phrase like, got to me.
Dave: Yeah. Well, they, they chant that at the end
Reese: they chanted at an it's,
Dave: yeah. It's very pretty. It's, I like,
Reese: it's a mantra, so. Yeah.
Dave: Yes, I agree. Okay.
Reese: Now we can move forward. No.
Dave: Okay.
Reese: We can move forward.
Dave: So this last song is called Coexist,
Reese: Which is my second favorite song.
Dave: And interesting. So in parentheses, it's called I Will Bless the Lord at All Times with a Question mark.
Reese: Right?
Dave: Interesting.
[00:38:00]
Dave: That's a Brian Eno.
Reese: Nice. That makes sense.
Dave: Atmospheric thing going on in there.
Reese: 'Cause I also think this song is very Kanye coded because there's a point
Dave: Interesting.
Reese: Where they get, it [00:39:00] almost sounds a little, a little autotune. And we just listen to the recent
Dave: Yeah,
Reese: Kanye.
Dave: Okay. I could see,
Reese: Bully
Dave: I could see Kanye in that. So, okay.
Reese: That album also give that a listen.
Dave: The new Kanye is great. Yeah.
Reese: Amazing.
Dave: So you, you said Kanye, I said Bon Iver.
Reese: Oh, interesting.
Dave: A vocal effect there.
Reese: Okay.
Dave: On some of that stuff. And then it's very, it's sung the parts that aren't the vocal effect. E very Lou Reed Walk in the Wild Side style.
Reese: Mm. Okay. I could see that.
Dave: But what I love about that actually is at the end of the song,
Reese: mm,
Dave: everything stops.
Reese: Mm-hmm. Bono's voice
Dave: and it's a solo low vocal, clean.
Just Bono that'll give you his voice. Sounds great on that.
Reese: the last acapella moment.
Dave: Yeah.
Reese: Heart bono's voice.
Dave: Yeah.
Reese: Is my note.
Dave: Yeah.
Reese: Amazing. I think the song's about loving a God, even though bad things may happen,
Dave: I,
Reese: which gives you,
Dave: that sounds great.
Reese: I will bless the Lord at all times because [00:40:00] we were not put here to be blessed all the time.
Jesus died for our sins. Mm-hmm. Because we are sinners here and we have free will and we can decide whether or not we wanna do the right thing or the wrong thing. Mm-hmm. And no matter what we do, bad things are still gonna happen. And it's up to us how we deal with those situations. We can't change things that are out of our control.
Mm-hmm. Sometimes we make a bad decision. Sometimes we make a good decision and bad things happen. But there are people that, and I think U2 Bono especially, still have faith and belief.
Dave: Mm-hmm.
Reese: That when you listen to the lyrics of the song, I will bless the Lord at all times. Meaning I'm still gonna praise Jesus.
I'm still gonna think that. God is number one, that God is looking out for me. [00:41:00] That even though there are trouble times mm-hmm. Scary times, bad things happen to us. Mm-hmm.
Dave: Hopeful
Reese: you have to remain hopeful.
Dave: Mm-hmm. You gotta have faith,
Reese: you gotta have, and you gotta coexist
Dave: because you gotta have. Now we'll never get this cleared.
Reese: I clapped it. I clapped it. Instead of saying singing it beautifully.
Dave: I know you heard
Reese: so we don't get sued.
Dave: You heard? You heard what I did, didn't you? The vocal stylings. All right. So here's my overall assessment.
Reese: All right,
Dave: you ready?
Reese: I'm ready.
Dave: I'm happy to have it.
Reese: Yep.
Dave: I need to listen to it more.
Reese: Yep.
Dave: But on the few listens that I've had, nothing really memorable or earworm me.
I'm like, oh,
Reese: yet
Dave: I could sing yet. Exactly. Yet
Reese: I feel like we, we have to sit with it.
Dave: And so for
Reese: a little bit,
Dave: but from that standpoint. I think Days of Ash is stronger because I could sing some of those songs to you
Reese: and I feel it's purposeful
Dave: The Tears of things, it's fabulous.
Reese: [00:42:00] It's, he's done it. That is purposeful because that is meant for an audience for their political side.
Dave: Yeah, I guess so.
Reese: Because they want the people to have the earworm.
Dave: I, thats, that's a fair,
Reese: I feel like this is a spiritual album for you to reflect. And it's inner and it's for your soul, and it's not meant for,
Dave: you know what? It has a little bit more of that.
Reese: That's why I Can I need this? Yeah. Well, I don't need that.
Dave: Yeah, I hear you.
Reese: Although I appreciated it.
Dave: I hear you.
Reese: I need this. I'm looking forward to sitting down on Easter with our children, eating our ham. Very excited and our deviled eggs that we're making and listening to this album. And seeing their reaction to it and talking about it. Because I think we, we also take Easter for granted.
It is really the high holiest of the Catholic holidays. Mm-hmm. You, everybody thinks Christmas is, it's Easter because it's the, it's a time of [00:43:00] reflection. And just really quick, the Easter lily. It symbolizes purity, rebirth, hope, and the resurrection of Jesus In the Christian tradition often called called white robed, apostles of hope, the flower, which I think they are very beautiful.
Fun fact. They are deadly to pets and cats especially who like to eat that shit. So that would not be good. But. Their white color represents innocence. While the trumpet shaped bloom symbolizes the message of Christ rising it, they also represent new life and renewal, and that is something that I can definitely get behind especially in the age of AI and where we're going and where I'm in the analog thinking mode of trying not to get too caught up in.
The intricacies of what is going to be the future in technology. Yeah. Which kind of [00:44:00] freaks me out a little.
Dave: Yeah.
Reese: And I don't wanna lose the analog experience of communication mm-hmm. And handwriting and all of these great things that make, make us who we are.
Dave: Yeah.
Reese: And I love the idea that this album is about that, about rebirth and Renaissance and.
Dave: The fact that you, what you were saying, how one was more geared towards, you know, more mainstream and one is more geared toward the introspective and, and whatever I can see that very much and this, this, to me felt very Unforgettable Fire.
Mm-hmm. Still as a whole, because that was another album that was like, right, this feels very Coca-Cola football radio to me in its lyrics. And in that it didn't, although that had. In the Name of Love in it and all of that. But otherwise a lot of songs that weren't really radio friendly.
Reese: Right.
Dave: Realistically Bad maybe, but that's, I feel like that's more of a performance song. But,
Reese: but that's the thing. [00:45:00] But there's always a hint of religion.
Dave: Oh yeah. Of course.
Reese: In every one of their songs.
Dave: Yeah.
Reese: If you really. Listen.
Dave: Oh yeah.
Reese: You know what I mean? And, and Where the Streets Have No Name that was a big With or Without You. All these songs that became like their big mainstream. There's always a little peppering. Of course. Yeah. Little hint of religion.
Mm-hmm. In there. And some people like retract on that aspect and they like the. Political side and then, then you'll find like vice versa. There were people that are just like, oh, why are they gotta, yeah. 'cause a lot of the shit that they got for the last EP is too political. Hello? Yeah. Have you just met them?
Yeah. So it, you know what I mean? Like, for me, I, I think this album is gonna be, this EP is gonna be something that [00:46:00] I sit with and I'm, I'm really, it's making me feel. Good. Yeah. And it's been a long time. I always say, and when we met the Edge, and I told him this mm-hmm. And I got to tell him this, their music saved me.
Mm-hmm. I had, like I had a rough time in high school and I had a, there was like a little bout where I was being really bullied. I, I, I was not in a good place. And then, and I've been a huge U2 fan since I'm kid. And, Baby came out and that album just did something, it refreshed my whole meaning of life.
Mm-hmm. And it, it sounds very extreme.
Dave: No,
Reese: it, but if it wasn't for you too, I think when I was younger, I would not have felt this Air of rebirth importance. Mm-hmm. And just feeling like there's hope. [00:47:00] There's something there. Yeah. And it really just made me feel like, all right, I'm gonna keep going.
Because sophomore year of high school was, was horrible. Yeah. And when that album came out, it just, it just, I would sit and listen to it on repeat and it just filled me.
Dave: Yeah. Well that's the power of, of music in general.
Reese and Dave: That's the power, right. Power of I love that. Music in general. And there there's a Yeah.
And I think they're really good at.
Dave: There. There's definitely a bigger thing with their music. There's like an
Reese: but so many
Dave: uplifting and
Reese: yes, but there's so many people spiritual that do not appreciate them. Now. There's so many people that still hate them. I don't understand the hate in your heart for U2.
I don't get it. Maybe you don't like Bono as a person because he's so terrible. Is not on the Epstein List idiots. Anyway.
Dave: Ooh. Now that's definitely gonna get commented.
Reese: Go ahead.
Dave: So that's our thoughts. Yeah, I was gonna say this. Whatever it is, both of these get me really excited for what a full album is gonna be.
Reese: Right. For what's to come
Dave: and what that's gonna be. Right. Right. Because these are [00:48:00] songs that are not on the album. Right. Right. And so it's not gonna be these, so what is it going to be? I'm always,
Reese: I cannot wait,
Dave: I'm always here for, and you know, like, look. A lot of people may disagree with this, but I would say one of my most favorite albums, I love when they go experimental, like I loved No Line On Horizon.
Reese: Mm,
Dave: love it. First Half I think is very strong, gets there's a couple clunkers in there, but also then it gets really strong again. I love that album. I love and although that would not be one that would be a commercial success and not have, probably has more.
Reese: Yeah, but you know what? I'm fucking tired of the commercial success shit.
But also the same, like they have more money than freaking God.
Dave: I know there are,
Reese: they can do whatever they wanna do. What fulfills them? What makes them feel good?
Dave: Yeah,
Reese: and I don't care.
Dave: I'm just saying either
Intro Music: I don't want it to be
Dave: I don't care.
Reese: Co commercial
Dave: care either. But they do. That's the interesting part of it.
Because of, because they want their,
Reese: well, it's the industry
Dave: they want. No, it's more about they want their music, they view it as they want their music to be heard by as many people as [00:49:00] possible. And so when that doesn't reach the masses, they get upset about it. I mean like
Reese: is that what they told you?
Dave: That's what they told me.
Reese: When you talked to them the last time.
Dave: Yes, it is. Exactly.
Reese: When you FaceTimed them?
Dave: When you were Snotting on The Edge, he was saying to me, you know what we really think. Yeah. So, and also it's like Pop, right? Like I think Pop. I actually think Pop.
Reese: I loved Pop though.
Dave: Pop. I wish they would do something with Pop,
Reese: but I'm biased
Dave: because I think that is some of the best of, yeah.
When I talk about like Edge doing things like that album has so many. Edge things going on
Reese: that concert when they came out of the disco ball, lemon Shit. I know. I was like, I know this is amazing.
Dave: I know I,
Reese: and everybody's like, oh, they sold up. Shut the fuck up.
Dave: That album, I think stands like, if you put that album out today, it would do better than it did that
Reese: probably,
Dave: I think. But anyway,
Reese: they're always underappreciated.
Dave: Those are our thoughts.
Reese: And you still, and I'm waiting for the idiots. I would be like, dude, you put the music on for free on my I.
Dave: Oh God. That's the worst.
Reese: My iPhone idiot.
Dave: The worst thing ever. Idiot. Anyway,
Reese: you're an idiot
Dave: with that note. Remember [00:50:00] this, friends life is a group project.
Be kind to each other idiots, no idiots.
Reese: Happy Easter.
Dave: Happy Easter.
Reese: Welcome back. Jesus.
Outro Music: We got the right stuff, we put the hammer right down.
We got the right stuff we put the hammer right down.
