Intro to Lovers in Japan = U2

[mryark]

Anyone else agree? That beginning part sounds like someting from How to dismantale an atomic bomb. Maybe the song Miracle Drug? I can't put my finger on it...

[mountainloafers]

maybe, with a little joshua tree bass line in it


runs and ducks from all the U2 haters

[gus]

lol all the brian eno influenced bands have similar intros not only u2. i listen all the u2 albums and nothing produce me the feeling that LIJ produce in me.

[oporras]

When I first heard it through I thought I was listening to a new U2 track. The whole entire structure of Lovers in Japan seems to be ripped from couple of U2 tracks as well as the vocals. IMHO

[gus]

When I first heard it through I thought I was listening to a new U2 track. The whole entire structure of Lovers in Japan seems to be ripped from couple of U2 tracks as well as the vocals. IMHO
lol think what you want it sounds more like depeche mode and nine inch nails for me only the intro have similarities with u2.(and all we know that this is the brian eno sound not the u2 sound. if brian eno would didnt work with u2. u2 now would sounded like green day grown ups hahahaha.) and 1 coment lol i think you dont like coldplay but who cares think what you want.

[gmalool]

good call. Agreed. But amazing

[captnjeter]

The whole song reminds me "A Sort of Homecoming", which doesn't surprise me since Chris has said that the opening song from The Unforgettable Fire is one of his favorite works.

[uwwedoogie]

chris almost seems to be following the footsteps of u2...

U2 first album = boy
coldplay first album = parachutes

both set the way for their music

second album = october
second album = rush of blood

bit of the same with more confidence

third album = war
third album = x&y

shades of old stuff with more kick and faster paced album

fourth album = unforgettable fire
fourth album = viva la vida

newer direction, trying more melodic songs and instrumentals...

see a pattern?

[Silverspira]

I can't do anything but agree, it sound very much like U2. Way to much. It doesn't even feel like a Coldplaysong.

[Malcolm-Edge]

Im a huge HUGE U2 fan. I got super excited for Viva La Vida at first for one reason...Brian Eno.

He has worked wonders on Coldplay. LIJ is a U2 esque song...But not a HTDMAAB type song though....maybe City Of Blinding Lights meets Miracle Drug.

I agree with the pattern thing. I really expect big things for LP5.

[- Gabriel]

It's no trouble for me to imagine Bono singing this song. Or writing it, for that matter. The opening chords remind me of U2 so much it's ridiculous. However, the up-beat piano is something I would not expect in a U2 song.

I agree with the pattern thing. I really expect big things for LP5.
Me too. It's impossible not to draw a parallel between Viva La Vida and The Unforgettable Fire, and we all know what U2 album came after The Unforgettable Fire.

[MrMagpie]

lol think what you want it sounds more like depeche mode and nine inch nails for me only the intro have similarities with u2.(and all we know that this is the brian eno sound not the u2 sound. if brian eno would didnt work with u2. u2 now would sounded like green day grown ups hahahaha.) and 1 coment lol i think you dont like coldplay but who cares think what you want.


Umm I'm pretty sure that it IS the U2 sound and not the Brian Eno sound.
The Edge has had his own classic sound his whole career which other guitar players such as Jonny Buckland have copied.

[Tnspieler1012]

Umm I'm pretty sure that it IS the U2 sound and not the Brian Eno sound.
The Edge has had his own classic sound his whole career which other guitar players such as Jonny Buckland have copied.

I agree that the edge has his own patented ringing reverb sound and that u2 has influenced coldplay a lot, but jonny buckland does have developed a sound his own.

In the pre parachutes era he emphasized wet, drippy, reverb-cranked up, vervy effects such as in don't panic (blue room), brothers and sisters (E.P. version especially), no more keeping my feet on the ground, ode to deodorant and you only live twice.

Jonny also always had a thing for tremolo picking (bigger stronger, spies, such a rush etc.), and especially the E-bow/bottle-neck slide (spies, see you soon, for you?)

Later on, during the time around the parachutes sessions, the drippy effects were replaced by more subtle, drier reverb accompanied by individually picked notes characteristic of most songs on parachutes example: don't panic, spies, sparks, trouble, high speed(although that was left over from the blue room), we never change, and everything's not lost as well as b-sides, for you and careful where you stand etc.

To me, this is the signature parachutes jonny buckland guitar sound. I especially love Buckland's reluctance towards power chords, as he doesn't play one at any time during this album (with the possible exception of imitated chords in WNC) and scarcely during others.

AROBTTH merited the more straight forward u2-esque rock you were referring to, the best examples being "one I love" and "moses", but with this came a new fresh, slightly distorted ringing tone (the one liveforgig is always raving but) that showed up in "in my place", clocks, warning sign, AROBTTH, moses, and his e-bow in Amsterdam.

By X&Y this tone got blurred by new effects and distortions like in square one and white shadows and talk, although we still saw signs of the previous jonny in X&Y and Speed of Sound.

Now in the time of VLV, Jonny has even more new toys. In Lost! and Lovers In Japan Jonny achieves a surprising new level of sustain that we had never quite witnessed before.

Anyway, although the band is always trying new things from album to album, Jonny has managed to produce a "parachutes sound" and a "AROBTTH" sound we will always attribute to him. and while the latter is clearly edge inspired, in my opinion "with the exception of one I love" it is expressed in a new stylistic way with more emphasis on the bottle-neck and/or steel slide then the edge.

The key inspiration I get from watching jonny play guitar though is that he finds new way's to do things when other bands simply crank up the distortion and play powerchords. He shows that playing carefully placed individual notes can be far more effective and colorful. Especially during live 2003, things never got boring, you went from politik to trouble, to daylight, to everything's not lost, to shiver, to see you soon to clocks etc. And when Jonny rocks out you'll be hard pressed to find him playing a powerchord.

[gus]

Umm I'm pretty sure that it IS the U2 sound and not the Brian Eno sound.
The Edge has had his own classic sound his whole career which other guitar players such as Jonny Buckland have copied.
i think is the brian eno sound. sorry. the athmoseferic sound is from brian eno like it or not the guitars make me remember were in this together NIN and maybe a little drum beat from arcade fire.

[MrMagpie]

I think what you're saying is outlandish. Calling the sound of a band not their sound, but the sound of their producer?
Have you ever heard somebody referring to Radiohead songs as having the Nigel Goodrich song? Not, its because its the bands sound. Perhaps a producer helped cultivate the sound. But its not just Brian Eno. U2 sound has been perfected by Daniel Lanois, Flood, and Steve Lillywhite just as much.

As mentioned above, people have been saying it sounds like songs of HTDAAB, which actually was not produced by Steve Lillywhite and Jackknife Lee, not Brian Eno.


So the moral of the story is: This sounds like a U2 song, not a Brian Eno song.

[localola86]

It's no trouble for me to imagine Bono singing this song. Or writing it, for that matter. The opening chords remind me of U2 so much it's ridiculous. However, the up-beat piano is something I would not expect in a U2 song.


Me too. It's impossible not to draw a parallel between Viva La Vida and The Unforgettable Fire, and we all know what U2 album came after The Unforgettable Fire.

I have read these kind of comments before. Not about the song we're discussing, but about Coldplay following U2 in terms of albums.

I'm hoping that the 5th album Coldplay wants to release at the end of next year is THE album. :D

[Sleep]

Yeah, i dont know why but when i first listened to it, it sounded so familiar and i was like =o? U2?

[tauiwi]

I think I missed this connection... Would like to hear bono sing LIJ though!

[digital02]

This is the album version of Lovers in Japan; it is actually a medley of the
songs Lovers in ... between this song and amy macdonalds' mr rock and roll?
intro is similar. ... Has a lot of "Ultraviolet" by U2. But it's a great track!