[AAL2014]

TELL ME MORE ABOUT- #2: U2

Admitting Defeat: How this 22 Year Old Midwesterner Finally Caught The U2 Bug

The title sure seems dramatic, but it's all in jest.

Today I have to admit something. I've become a fan of U2. I am quite a Tool fan an intellectual so I don't want to sound tongue in cheek when I say I kind of get U2 now. Although about 2 months ago at this point, I saw U2 kickoff their Joshua Tree US Tour in Detroit, Michigan. Not only that but my friends and I managed front row on the general admission grounds of Ford Field.

Previous to this, I tried keeping in tact this thought that i was impervious to the U2 bullet. I respected them as a group and what they've been able to accomplish, I enjoyed a handful of their songs (even proclaiming Sunday Bloody Sunday to be pretty close to a perfect song), but before seeing them in concert, there were only 3 U2 albums I had listened to in full. The Unforgettable Fire, The Joshua Tree, and Achtung Baby. Achtung being my favorite thus far. I had an idea of why people really liked U2 and even why I probably should too, but it just never fully clicked. In the midst of this every-so-often battle, I saw a quote from someone, and I can't remember who, but it was thought provoking and funny. To paraphrase:

"Who even actually likes U2. No really, think about it. Where are all these motherfuckers wearing their U2 shirts on the streets. Nobody is at the bar with their buddies going "I fuckin love U2, bro".

But then I saw them live.

And I kind of understand.

Seeing U2 is much more than going to a concert, it's very much an event for people. Ford Filed was packed, not a seat available, shoulder to shoulder on the ground floor. But there was an energy in the room that night. Thinking back on certain and different concerts I've been to, certain bands I've seen bring with them an energy. Which is generally fed back to them by their like-minded audiences. I've seen Iron Maiden 3 times. They have the same energy in every venue I've seen them at. Metallica as well, and don't get me started on the Red Hot Chili Peppers.

But this energy was very different. It was one of feeling and emotion. It was a bunch of people (roughly 50 thousand I heard) with a like minded goal. Enjoying U2. There was no pushing, shoving, fighting, harassment (that I saw). There was a kind and positive energy in the building that night. U2 took the stage and it was electric. Not like Iron Maiden or Metallica where everyone is going nuts and rowdy and yelling, but one giant wave of "Oh how great, there they are". All eyes on Larry Mullen as he came out to the center stage drum kit, sat down as the song on the pa was fading out and began the infamous Sunday Bloody Sunday groove. It was fabulous to be apart of.

Seeing this particular show was perfect for me to click with, hits oriented with the center of the set being an entire classic album, closing with none other than Patti Smith singing Mothers of the Disappeared. Somewhere within this crazy nearly 3 hour show, Bono came walking down the stage left ramp, stopping no further than in front of where I was standing front row. Between lines he gaze down upon the row below him head slowly turning from his left to his right meeting vision balls with everyone there, myself included. A very powerful glare, one with not a shred of self doubt in the eye. He's a truly great frontman. I became a fan that night.


So yeah, a great great show but I needed time to sort of process it. Not only to tell myself I saw U2 front row upon the same stadium ground in which my Detroit Lions go anywhere from 5-11 to 11-5 with a wildcard loss perennially, but what if Bono-glare gave me some kind of U2 based super power akin to Peter Parker's radioactive spider bite? I just needed time. Well, I've taken some time. And I can't help but look back on that night with nothing but reverence for the band, their music, their style, their seemingly authentic personal connection with each city they play.

If you've made it this far, you're a Trooper (there's a Maiden pun). Even though I just wrote an essay on U2, I want to know why you may like U2. What's your favorite U2 album? What about their music appeals to you? Which album is your favorite? And what have your U2 concert experiences been like?
_________________
Attention all planets of the solar federation: We have assumed control.

[Repo]

yeah, U2 are awesome live. I know exactly what you're talking about. Part of it is the fans. Them singing certain songs all together & with such emotion. Knowing all the words by heart. It's hard not to be moved by a mob of ten thousand people all singing the same thing with so much emotion.

There best albums are easily Boy, War & Unforgettable Fire for me. I like October too & think that one is underrated actually.

Rattle & Hum sucks eggs. lol. Seriously it should qualify for a Razzie or whatever that award is called.

Achtung Baby is interesting. It's kind of like Def Leppard's Hysteria in a way. A rock band fully embracing the production studio and whiging out their sound for an interesting effect.

[RoundTheBend]

Please tell me to shut up if I get annoying (the fanboi in me got excited that someone took U2 seriously, haha).

But let me first start out with the fact that U2 has really gone down hill. Super glad you saw them for the Joshua Tree Anniversary tour or whatever it was, and not the tour supporting their last album. I'll say it this way - as a diehard U2 fan (growing up as such at least), they've really gone the way of the Rolling Stones via 1983 to 2005ish. They just are starting to suck, and it's depressing.

Having said that, when I say they suck, I think they are better than the Stones in the 90s and often I compare a shit U2 record to another artist and I'm like, yeah, but at least it doesn't sound like that tripe.

Ok so now for my experience with U2 and why they mean(t?) so much to me.

And what have your U2 concert experiences been like?
My experience sounds quite a bit like how you described it. They were my first concert... Phoenix, AZ. And it was like they took this arena and made it feel like my living room. And I literally was second to last row in the nose bleeds. They have a known amazing presence live. This was in 2001 (saw them twice actually for that tour again in SLC). I saw them again in 2009 and it just wasn't the same. That 2001 tour is easily still my favorite concert. I was told by others, yeah, that excitement, emotion, universal connection, almost spiritual experience... yeah you get that at any concert. Thing is I haven't. Not at Radiohead, not at RHCP, not at Foo Fighters, Weezer... you name it- it just isn't the same.Last time I cared to look - U2 has nearly taken the cake for best live act for probably over 20 years. And there really is a reason for it - beyond the giant stages/lighting, etc., although I'm sure that helps.

What's your favorite U2 album?
Geez... this one is really hard for me. To be honest, U2 was the first band where I liked them so much I listened to all their albums. Before Beatles/Nirvana... you name it. I put Joshua Tree as my number 1 partly to give the finger to those who under appreciate it (I know, I'm an ass).

What I find intriguing is listening to other U2 fans and finding out when they think U2 went down hill. They have their post-punk era of Boy through War. Then their maybe new wave (I suck at genre's) phase of Unforgettable Fire to Rattle and Hum. And then their I'll say electronic phase from Achtung Baby to Pop, and then whatever the hell phase they are in now. Each one of those phases it feels like you get a fan become mad a them. Like they betrayed them. And that's actually what I love. U2 wasn't afraid to go new places. And they did it well in my opinion. Even with the phase they are in now - part of the reason they are still a band is because their songs are still popular up until 2009ish.

Here's how I rank their albums now. At another time I may have done it differently:
The Joshua Tree
Achtung Baby
Zooropa
War
Under A Blood Red Sky
Boy
Original Soundtracks 1
Rattle And Hum
All That You Can't Leave Behind
Pop
The Unforgettable Fire
No Line On The Horizon
October
Songs of Innocence
How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb


What about their music appeals to you?
Their music isn't conventional. Yes it is simple, but they have this really powerful rhythm section (yes, I know Adam Clayton isn't considered the most amazing bassist, but I think he is more solid than people may realize), and to be frank, quite the wizard of a guitarist. No he doesn't play these fast runs of a scale (which I find boring to be honest) - rather he discovers unique sound scapes. At a typical U2 concert, he changes guitars probably 20 times to get unique tones. Bono - well he's kind of a blowhard, everyone knows that, but he also really tries to make music sacred - he really is the one who makes those shows the way they are. He even would mock himself during the ZooTV time as a televangelist and later as MacPhisto. Idk... on one hand he's an asshat and on the other hand he's quite the intellectual and rooted in true poetry and art in the finest sense. Not everyone chills will Solomon Rushdie or Pavarotti.

[craola]

something like:

Top Tier:
War / The Unforgettable Fire / Boy / October

Second Tier:
The Joshua Tree / Achtung Baby / All That You Can't Leave Behind / Pop

3rd Tier:
Songs of Experience / Rattle And Hum

Tripe Tier:
Songs of Innocence /No Line On The Horizon / Zooropa

No:
How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb

i like(d): the edge create(s/d) nearly inhabitable landscapes. larry and adam lock into a reliable groove. bono sings with conviction. makes for relate-able music. anthems you can get on your feet for. and yes, live, it's an experience. unfortunately, as they've catapulted into super-stardom and mega millionaire status and gotten more-and-more out-of-touch, i think the edge's soundscapes have gotten cramped, larry and adam overcompressed, and bono... well, i don't have a time to write that essay zine novel.
_________________
follow me on the bandcamp.

[rkm]

This is gonna take me a lot of thought to come up with any decent answers, but U2 have definitely been the most important band throughout my life, and all of the changes they've been through have been meaningful to me, and have tracked with me through personal changes in my own life.

Even the not so great albums have had moments that are worthwhile for me, and at this stage they could probably release 20 more not so great albums and I'd still buy them. Once you buy into a story, you want to see how it ends.

Seth, the last album of theirs that I really connected with was "How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb" (although I've gotten into the habit of starting it at track 2 and bypassing Vertigo). The first album that I discovered was "Under A Blood Red Sky" when I was 12 or 13, and it was a revelation. I heard the earlier albums after that, but have experienced every other album as it's been released.

I think of the albums in threes:

Boy
October
War (Masterpiece)

Unforgettable Fire
The Joshua Tree (Masterpiece)
Rattle & Hum

Achtung Baby (Masterpiece)
Zooropa
Pop

All That You Can't Leave Behind (Masterpiece)
How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb
No Line On The Horizon

Songs of Innocence
Songs of Experience
???

So, in my mind, they've produced one masterpiece in every three album bracket (a pretty good ratio). I think of ATYCLB as one, although I know some of you don't. I still hold hope that Songs of Experience or the next one will be the next measterpiece (although the single disappointed me).

At their best, I think they're able to make personal themes universal. And further to this, where many bands may match them in emotional authenticity, U2 go beyond, to raise the human experience toward hope and redemption. I think this is the key to why their live performances are so powerful: it's like a secular version of a church service, and the congregation, erm... audience, are swept up in the ecstatic moment, connected to something greater than themselves.

[glynspsa]

I love every album through Achtung Baby, Zooropa is OK at best I hate POP and I am meh about everything after that. When they started to seem like they were playing dress up is when i lost interest.

Id Put them as:
1. Achtung Baby
2. Under A Blood Red Sky
3. Rattle and Hum
4. The unforgettable Fire
5. War
6. Joshua Tree
7. Boy
8. October
9. Wide Awake In America
10. Zooropa

[Yann]

The Joshua Tree is interesting. It’s epic but in the same time the production of Lanois and Eno is subtle, quiet (as opposed to the loud sound of today), a rather “packed” sound, a bit static yet atmospheric. Nice contrasts.
That’s also what makes it a masterpiece.

[Puncture Repair]

To me War is their best album by a large margin, and then everything else ranges from eh to awful.

Everyone knows U2 is a contentious band, so I won't bore anyone by lingering on too many negatives. I think War holds true to the '10 great songs by angry kids with guitars' genre. Bono just teeters between the lines of eccentric and pompous. The Edge is a really boring guitarist, but in War he gets way with just slamming out some clumsy riffs and it sounding raw and punky. I think above everything is that it's the band just being true to themselves. The album is rooted in Ireland and Irish conflict, not American dust bowls or queer Berlin culture.

Joshua Tree has some gorgeous songs, thanks mostly to Bono's vocal performance and Eno's production. I think once you start peeling away the layers, you notice there's only about four of them. I think a good half of the album is difficult to get through. There certainly isn't anything that sounds quite like it coming from 1987.

I often hear U2 are the biggest band in the world, I've never personally come across that in my own life, maybe it came before my time. I've not seen them live, but then I've seen very few artists live. I've heard a number of stories.

[LedZep]

My favourite has always been The Unforgettable Fire, maybe a bit inconsistent but Bad is my favourite by U2, the title track and Pride are hymns of the 80s rock, A Sort of Homecoming is fantastic and there are several more really good songs.

Joshua Tree and War (also Under the Blood Red Sky), and I guess Achtung Baby are close, great albums. And I'll admit something: I like all of their newer work. The 360 Tour was my first concert ever, and I really like No Line On Horizon album. Songs of Innocence is a good album, it's just the whole Apple thing that went wrong. I don't like them as rock stars anymore cause they have gone too far from their original ideology, basically became a joke. But the music is still good imho.
_________________
Overall chart
Fake overall chart

2020s

[theblueboy]