Slug (song)
[2] The result was Original Soundtracks 1, an experimental album of ambient and electronica music, created as a side project between U2 and Eno under the pseudonym "Passengers".
[6] U2 spent time in Shinjuku, Tokyo, at the end of the Zoo TV Tour in 1993, and their experience in the city influenced the recording sessions.
[12] As producer,[5] Eno had most of the artistic control during the sessions, limiting U2's creative input on the recordings, which prompted the Edge to ensure extra work was put into arranging the song.
[18][19] The liner notes describe the plot of Slug as the story of a young car mechanic who aspires to attract the attention of a cashier by staging a robbery and pretending to be the hero.
However, the "robbers" decide to abandon the scheme and commit an actual robbery, causing a shootout where the cashier accidentally shoots a security guard and is arrested, and the mechanic must find a way to get her released from prison.
[3][20][21] Jon Pareles of The New York Times described the song's sound as a mix of "shimmering echoed guitars with swampy electronic rhythms".
[7][25] Lyrics were also inspired by the presence of the yakuza in Shinjuku; the group saw gang members with amputated fingers as punishment for their misbehaviour, which Bono has described as a "very, very surreal" experience.
Shortly following its release, Tony Fletcher wrote in Newsweek that it is one of the album's "instantly rewarding songs" and that Bono's vocals show "genuine tenderness".
[2] In retrospective reviews, Pitchfork wrote that "Slug" is the high point of the album, featuring a "beautiful, slow-motion groove",[30] and Slate praised the experimental nature of the song, calling it "lovely and melodic".
[1] In an otherwise critical review of Original Soundtracks 1, Irvin Tan of Sputnikmusic commented that "Slug" is one of several "strangely beautiful numbers" from the album, and that its "attempt at creating an overarching time/place set actually comes off quite well".
[9] Hot Press editor Niall Stokes said "the song has a genuinely reflective quality and it underlines the fact that, some 15 years on since the release of their debut album Boy, U2 are still running.
