U2

[Nikola]

Heh :). Can't think of a better musical introduction, though, right?

 

Right. And they both have that sort of driving, "this is so freeing" type of sound to them, too. A lot of U2's music in the '80s had that sound, though :p.

 

It's interesting you say your least favorite song from The Joshua Tree is "Red Hill Mining Town"-so often I run into people who pick "Trip Through Your Wires" for their least favorite. Myself, I like both, so...*Shrugs*. I agree with you on "Exit", too, that song is so dark and haunting and weird. I remember the first time I listened to the album I was confused at first and wondered if something had happened to my CD, 'cause "Exit" starts so freaking quietly.

 

I always thought "City Of Blinding Lights" might've fit in somewhere in the Unforgettable Fire era-sort of alongside a B-side like "The Three Sunrises" or the title track from the album itself.

 

"Zooropa" a reverse of "Streets"? Hm. Interesting thought. I may have to go listen and see if I can hear that.

Right. :nice: Apple's gonna be a U2 fan...

And Exit is so awesome because it sounds like... night. I think it's an important part of the album because it captures best the feeling they were going for the album - a night in the Mojave desert. It does start quietly, especially the vocals. It's stripped down so the bass is prominent, even more so in the middle and the end of the song, if you have good speakers it sounds great. Eno's ambient stuff...

 

I think Red Hill Mining Town is fantastic. For U2 to write a song about the minors strike in the UK in the mid 80s was something inspirational, particularly to those affected and interested by the minors strike of 1984/85. It showcases the brilliance of the album as a contemporary piece of work in the 1980s and as a musical/historical piece of brilliance. My least favourite songs on the album are One Tree Hill and Trip Through Your Wires but even then those two songs are still very good. The Joshua Tree really is faultless. If Achtung Baby isn't the greatest album of the last 30 years, then Joshua Tree is. ;)

Honestly I didn't know about the historical background of the song. So it has more meaning to me now. I do like it though, no songs on the album I dislike like Elvis etc. on TUF. I think the album is brilliant because it sounds so timeless, it does not sound like an 80s album. It probably has a lot to do with not using drum machines. Like, Prince's When Doves Cry is now on VH1 and it's so obviously an 80s song. I love Lary's drums and drumming style, I think it's as unique is Edge's guitar playing style.

P.S. Not that there's anything wrong with songs sounding like the "80s". I love 80s music.

[Written In Graffiti]

U2-A Sort Of Homecoming (1984) - YouTube[/url]

 

O com away, o com away, o com

O com away, I say I

O com away, o com away, o com

O com away, I say I

 

Edit: 6,666th post on this thread. :evil:

 

Probably my favourite U2 song. Definitely one of them, one of their crowning moments. The ironic thing is I honestly feel TUF is a better album than TJT....

[Nikola]

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iJ9MVWSId98]U2- If You Wear That Velvet Dress - YouTube[/ame]

[Wintergreen]

Sexy, sexy song, that one. One of my favorites off Pop.

 

I'm quite big on this version of it as well:

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yihwgEazFj4]If You Wear That Velvet Dress - U2 ft Jools Holland - YouTube[/ame]

 

Got the whole "smokey bar/lounge" into a "big band sort of number" deal going on.

 

I love your description of "Exit", too, by the way. Someone pointed out to me once that I seem to have a thing for music that has a nighttime vibe about it all, or that references night, or moons, or whatnot. And I think they're right, the darker and moodier the music, the more I tend to like it for some reason.

 

Not to say I don't like bright, upbeat, sunny stuff, though, 'cause I do. I'm a generally optimistic person, so I like music that has an uplifting, positive feeling or message to it. One of the big reasons why I love U2, after all :).

[Nikola]

Oh cool, I love it.

 

It reminded me of my favorite George Michael jazzy / bossa nova phase. I hope you like it...

 

 

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qSoMTkn_Qfg]George Michael - Spinning The Wheel - YouTube[/ame]

 

[Wintergreen]

Glad you like that version :). The piano in it...I am always a sucker for a song with some fantastic piano work.

 

Not a bad song, that George Michael one. I do tend to like that sort of sound from time to time-some artists can just pull it off and make it sound really good/sexy, as it should be.

[Guest howyousawtheworld]

The Joshua Tree - 25 Years Old

 

It was a couple of days ago now but The Joshua Tree turned 25 on the 9th of March. Cited as one of the greatest albums of all time, the album transformed the career of U2 forever and ensured their place in music history. Below is an article from Stereogum for those interested.

 

 

 

 

 

Over the past year, Adele’s 21 has sold a few gajillion copies and sent plenty of music writers on soul-searching journeys trying to figure out why that happened and what it means. My own personal theory: For the first time in a while, a studio album sounds like a greatest-hits collection; it’s not hard to imagine any of the album’s tracks getting serious radio rotation 20 years from now. Over the years, we’ve heard an elite few studio albums that have that distinction; I’d say it belongs to records as disparate as Def Leppard’s Hysteria, Michael Jackson’s Bad, and Taylor Swift’s Fearless (the last one before 21). The first Killers album was about half of a greatest hits album, but it loses momentum as it goes. And then there’s U2, who have four or five of those albums to their credit. The greatest of those is The Joshua Tree, and it turns 25 today.

 

It’s weird to think that it took less than five years for U2 to get from the wailing sincerity of The Joshua Tree to the monolithic but wry dance-pop of Achtung Baby, but that’s what happened. And maybe it happened because U2 did everything that a huge and sincere rock band could plausibly be expected to do on The Joshua Tree, and after that, they had to embark on the sort of soul-searching journey that first led them to the embarrassing and self-aggrandizing blues toe-dipping of Rattle & Hum and then, finally, to Achtung Baby when that move didn’t work out. U2 were, of course, already a huge rock band by the time they got to The Joshua Tree, and previous efforts War and The Unforgettable Fire already sounded something like greatest-hits albums. They’d already worked with the production team of Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois. They’d already contributed a bunch of songs that will continue to live on classic-rock playlists until long after we’re all dead. But The Joshua Tree represented an absolute refinement of everything they’d already been doing. They dialed back the save-the-world theatrics, dialed up the sensual throb, and they came out sounding more calm and confident than ever before. They loosely patterned the album around the vague theme of America, and Americans rewarded them by buying 10 million copies of it.

 

It’s easy to make fun of U2 for their messianic tendencies, tendencies that are on full display on the album, but the final product is just bulletproof. The opening salvo (“Where The Streets Have No Name,” “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For,” “With Or Without You,” “Bullet The Blue Sky”) is one for the ages, and the album doesn’t really fall off in quality after it. “Trip Through The Wires” is the sort of honking-harmonica bar-rock anthem that only Springsteen and maybe (maybe) Mellencamp were doing this well at the time, and it’s a good indicator of why the band felt like they could pull off the BB King experiments of Rattle & Hum. “Exit” is an overwrought stomp-wail that somehow comes off way better than it should. “Mothers Of The Disappeared” is one of the prettiest, most graceful moments in a catalog rich with them. Bono tried out goddam spoken-word on “Bullet The Blue Sky” and ended up sounding elemental and prophetic rather than ridiculous. The big stylistic leaps don’t feel big here, since the band sounded like nothing was outside its reach. It’s a band at the precise moment where they can’t fuck anything up, and there’s not a single weak part in the album’s 50 minutes. That’s really something. And to this day, the album is a huge part of the reason that the band gets to earn ungodly sums of money with gigantic stadium shows. Respect is due.

 

So: What’s your favorite song from The Joshua Tree? Or your favorite memory from the album? Does “With Or Without You” just give you Ross and Rachel flashbacks, or is there something more substantive there? Or maybe Ross and Rachel flashbacks are enough? Share with us in the comments section, and check out some videos from the album below.

 

 

http://stereogum.com/973162/the-joshua-tree-turns-25/photo/

[Nikola]

Ha, on my dad's birthday. :lol:

It has aged astonishingly well.

 

Any news regarding the new album?

[Allegra]

I see. Well, here's hoping they will eventually make it available for mere mortals such as myself. Or I could just torrent it one day :shrug:

 

 

As far as U22 is concerned, it's suppose to only go out to resubscribed or new members of U2.com. There's always a possibility you might find it on eBay. But if a U2.com member is caught selling their copy on eBay or elsewhere, they will automatically be banned from U2.com. So good luck...member only copies are hard to come by and that's the reason.

 

U22 hasn't been given to members yet that I know of. I resubbed on February 15 and I still don't have it yet. It might take another month or so. Live Nation is real slow about putting out new member stuff.

 

And my vote for the best B-side/remix album is Artificial Horizon. Again, that's another one of those member only deals and might be hard to find or might be very expensive.

[Guest howyousawtheworld]

As far as U22 is concerned, it's suppose to only go out to resubscribed or new members of U2.com. There's always a possibility you might find it on eBay. But if a U2.com member is caught selling their copy on eBay or elsewhere, they will automatically be banned from U2.com. So good luck...member only copies are hard to come by and that's the reason.

 

U22 hasn't been given to members yet that I know of. I resubbed on February 15 and I still don't have it yet. It might take another month or so. Live Nation is real slow about putting out new member stuff.

 

And my vote for the best B-side/remix album is Artificial Horizon. Again, that's another one of those member only deals and might be hard to find or might be very expensive.

 

I'm not an official member but if I become an official member I can get a copy of U22 right?

[Allegra]

If any song that should have been on U22, it should have been this one...without the votes of the fans...it should have been required...

 

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=axEyeurOMxw]U2 - '' 40 '' Live Moncton Last U2 Concert of 2011 [PROSHOT] [HQ] - YouTube[/ame]

[postcards]

Ha, on my dad's birthday. :lol:

It has aged astonishingly well.

 

Any news regarding the new album?

 

heard no album this year says, Edge. :sad: :disappointed:

[Nikola]

If any song that should have been on U22, it should have been this one...without the votes of the fans...it should have been required...

 

 

I like Bono's voice more now than in the early 80s (first 3 albums).

 

And I've been listening to No Line quite a lot, surprisingly. I do want that "meditative companion album to NLOTH".

Also the "rock" album. But the dance music Will.I.Am/Guetta/RedOne colab album sounds like a disaster. :sick:

 

Haha Chris the worried fanboy. :P And Bono calling Eno, Lillywhite and Lanois a "dysfunctional family". Sorry for digging up ancient news. :D

 

^Edit: Seriously? They have these ideas for so long, 3-4 years, they should probably start releasing the albums one by one as Chris suggested.

But I guess they're probably waiting to finish every album and release them as a 3 disc set, which is going to be amazing. :wideeyed:

[Allegra]

I'm not an official member but if I become an official member I can get a copy of U22 right?

 

You sure can!

 

Click on the link below...

 

http://www.u2.com/service/subscribe

[Allegra]

 

I guess this is the city of Fez in Morocco?

 

 

The answer is yes.

 

And speaking of Magnificent...I think this is the new Streets...that and City of Blinding Lights.

 

And earlier someone mentioned that they didn't like I'll Go Crazy...have you heard the live dance remix? It's so much better. And it was a lot of fun experiencing it live.

 

Here's a clip...

 

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=llHlZ9FT7VU&feature=relmfu]U2 - I'll Go Crazy If I Don't Go Crazy Tonight (U2 360°) - YouTube[/ame]

[Nikola]

The answer is yes.

 

And speaking of Magnificent...I think this is the new Streets...that and City of Blinding Lights.

 

And earlier someone mentioned that they didn't like I'll Go Crazy...have you heard the live dance remix? It's so much better. And it was a lot of fun experiencing it live.

 

Here's a clip...

 

 

What else would it be. :D

 

And yeah, Magnificent is magnificent. It sounds.... wide. Which was probably their intention. I like the video too. Also shot in Morocco like that pic.

The first 3 songs on No Line are perfect, a great start. Nothing beats the opening 3 songs of The Joshua Tree though, but still... pretty damn good.

 

It wasn't me who said that, but I'll say this - at first, I thought that that song is... awkward, but now I love it, both versions.

And I do love City Of Blinding Lights, but I wouldn't proclaim it the new anything. I think there are better songs on that album.

[Allegra]

Ha, on my dad's birthday. :lol:

It has aged astonishingly well.

 

Any news regarding the new album?

 

 

Nope...no news yet. The only thing I do know is that Bono is not in the studio. He and his wife were last seen in Hollywood promoting their clothing line, Edun.

 

And my favorite song off of the now 25 year old JT album is Streets. It has stood the test of time, and is timeless. It's also their most powerful piece...as seen here...of course MLK is a good opener to Streets, but so is Amazing Grace...

 

...goosebumps and tears y'all...goosebumps and tears...

 

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eKC5qKTeJ9k&context=C4aaff7cADvjVQa1PpcFMdl7qY9GcxjGZrLMZ7ochus73pHixAVnw=]U2 360° At Rose Bowl (HD) - Where The Streets Have No Name - YouTube[/ame]

[Nikola]

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tsMsmiwxGAk]U2 - Where the Streets Have No Name (ZOO TV - Live from Sydney 1993) [16:9] - YouTube[/ame]

 

I just watched this and I felt the same way... inexplicable joy and optimism in those chimes.

And that beat, like galloping horses. It actually makes you wanna run.

 

P.S. Damn it Bono, screw the clothing line, finish those albums.

P.P.S. Do they call themselves Bono and Edge or Paul and David? :D

[Allegra]

What else would it be. :D

 

And yeah, Magnificent is magnificent. It sounds.... wide. Which was probably their intention. I like the video too. Also shot in Morocco like that pic.

The first 3 songs on No Line are perfect, a great start. Nothing beats the opening 3 songs of The Joshua Tree though, but still... pretty damn good.

 

It wasn't me who said that, but I'll say this - at first, I thought that that song is... awkward, but now I love it, both versions.

And I do love City Of Blinding Lights, but I wouldn't proclaim it the new anything. I think there are better songs on that album.

 

But...during the Vertigo tour, Blinding Lights did become the new Streets. It was the perfect opening song...and confetti to boot!...mind you that was before Coldplay (those U2 copiers!) :P

 

That's why I love Coldplay...they look up to U2 and take what works and make it better..."Every artist is a cannibal/Every poet is a thief."

[Nikola]

But...during the Vertigo tour, Blinding Lights did become the new Streets. It was the perfect opening song...and confetti to boot!...mind you that was before Coldplay (those U2 copiers!) :P

 

That's why I love Coldplay...they look up to U2 and take what works and make it better..."Every artist is a cannibal/Every poet is a thief."

 

I know. :D We were talking about the ways Coldplay could improve for the next album, and I said that they could definitely use more prominent basslines and sound more badass, like Bullet The Blue Sky, U2 in general.

 

And I get it why people compare Lights and Streets, but I just don't feel it... it doesn't get me nowhere near as emotional as Streets. I prefer Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own, even Miracle Drug.

 

Normally criticizing a band or a song makes me wanna get more into it and eventually love it, lets see if this works. :D

[Allegra]

I know. :D We were talking about the ways Coldplay could improve for the next album, and I said that they could definitely use more prominent basslines and sound more badass, like Bullet The Blue Sky, U2 in general.

 

And I get it why people compare Lights and Streets, but I just don't feel it... it doesn't get me nowhere near as emotional as Streets. I prefer Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own, even Miracle Drug.

 

Normally criticizing a band or a song makes me wanna get more into it and eventually love it, lets see if this works. :D

 

Oh I totally agree with you about Sometimes...it's a real tearjerker, especially live. It was huge. And hearing Bono getting all choked up while he was singing it, made it even harder to hold the tears back. You just wanted to jump up on stage and give the guy a huge hug.

 

And someone earlier said that Yahweh wasn't good...have you seen U23D? Yahweh was a perfect ending. It's very beautiful.

 

Here it is in San Diego at the first show of the Vertigo Tour with 40...and I was there!...and then later that night I was just three feet from Bono in the parking lot at 1:30AM...awesome night!

 

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C6SFCwsuW3s]U2 - Yahweh / 40 (Live from San Diego, Vertigo Tour) - YouTube[/ame]

 

[Nikola]

You're a U2 encyclopedia. :surprised:

:P

 

I definitely wanna see them live...

That 360° stage was genius, they increased the capacity of venues by 25% with it.

[Allegra]

You're a U2 encyclopedia. :surprised:

 

:P

 

:smug:

 

Well, I had been a casual fan for 15 years. Then after I saw them live, finally, for the first time back in 2001, I've been an obsessed fan ever since. I have just about every book on them, and have read them all...except for U2 by U2...I finally found a hand held version of the book instead of trying to read the coffee table version...I gave up on that a long time ago. But I'll be up to speed this summer when I have more time. Other than that, I have Facebook to thank to keep me up to speed as to where the guys are and what they're up to if anything. Plus too I have a huge U2 family of friends to keep me up to speed as well.

 

Speaking of a U2 Encyclopedia...you might want to pick this up...but keep in mind it hasn't been updated since 2003...

 

[ame=http://www.amazon.com/U2-Ultimate-Encyclopedia-Mark-Chatterton/dp/0946719632/ref=sr_1_5?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1331527607&sr=1-5]Amazon.com: U2: The Ultimate Encyclopedia (9780946719631): Mark Chatterton: Books[/ame]

[Allegra]

I definitely wanna see them live...

That 360° stage was genius, they increased the capacity of venues by 25% with it.

 

 

The CLAW, as it was called, was totally amazing and out of this world! It was the tallest structure ever made for a musical artist. When I stood underneath it, it was hard not to keep looking up...it was so huge and cool at the same time. It was so huge that you would want to buy tickets to more than one show to get the full effect of it.

 

I stood under all 3 different Claws four times...and I saw it's beauty from a distance twice. It was really like a spaceship!

 

The Claw became like an old friend too. I saw it first in 2009, and didn't see it again until 2011. Later last summer, they were sold at silent auction the day after the last 360 show. To this day nobody knows who bought them or where they went.

 

:cry:

 

I miss The Claw.

 

At least one of them should have been saved and used at a museum like the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. It's part of music history and an engineering feat to boot! But Bono and the gang had no choice but to sell them...they were too expensive to keep in storage.

[Wintergreen]

Man, I wish I could've seen the ZooTV tour. That performance of "Streets" from it was amazing.

 

 

*Shallow moment* And Bono. Holy f*ck, did he look sexy in that clip. Not to say he's not still good-looking or anything, he definitely is, but damn...the early '90s were good to that man.*/End shallow moment*

 

 

I loved the 360 performance, too-"Amazing Grace" was a very nice touch for that song. Definite chills with both performances. I love the "galloping horses" image, that's exactly what "Streets" sounds like. It's got that "escapist beauty" quality to it, that song, and I LOVE it when music makes me want to stretch my arms out bird-style and just fly or run away to some greater place or something like that.

 

I'm 27 years old, so I think I'm too young yet to have a "bucket list", but regardless, if I were to make one, seeing U2 at least once in my lifetime is DEFINTELY on there in the top portion somewhere. The VERY moment I hear that U2 is touring again, I will pay close attention to the date when tickets go on sale, and will do everything in my power to be present at my computer the very day they go on sale. I'm trying to make sure nothing stops me this time around from seeing them.

 

I do want that "meditative companion album to NLOTH".

Also the "rock" album. But the dance music Will.I.Am/Guetta/RedOne colab album sounds like a disaster. :sick:

 

Haha Chris the worried fanboy. :P And Bono calling Eno, Lillywhite and Lanois a "dysfunctional family". Sorry for digging up ancient news. :D

 

^Edit: Seriously? They have these ideas for so long, 3-4 years, they should probably start releasing the albums one by one as Chris suggested.

But I guess they're probably waiting to finish every album and release them as a 3 disc set, which is going to be amazing. :wideeyed:

 

It would depend on how the Will.I.Am/Guetta one came out. If it was dance music along the lines of that "I'll Go Crazy..." remix (which I actually rather like. And I like the original song!) with a bit of "Discotheque" style thrown in as well, that could actually sound really interesting and cool (especially given that it'd be from 4 men in their 50s...that's the biggest challenge, trying to pull off that sort of sound at their age without people finding it awkward or "trying too hard to fit in").

 

But the other two albums? Yeah, agreed, definitely up for hearing those, too. Interesting to hear Chris giving advice-it's a tough call, if that stuff's been sitting around for years and there's not much else that needs to be done with it, yeah, I'd go ahead and start releasing that music post-haste. But if they want to noodle around with it a bit more, that would explain waiting. Don't want it to be too rushed, don't want to wait too long, either. Hm.

 

Ha, on my dad's birthday. :lol:

It has aged astonishingly well.

 

My dad's birthday's in March, too! On the 27th, but still... So he was just shy of 30 when The Joshua Tree was released. Me, I was...2 years old, would turn 3 later in the year.

 

"With Or Without You" has always been my favorite song from that album. That song is desert island material for me. I don't care how many times I've heard it over the years, I can never, ever tire of it. And I like that that review said something positive about "Trip Through Your Wires", I love that song. But it often seems I'm alone in that feeling.

 

(I like Rattle & Hum, too, but that's for another discussion)

 

I know. :D We were talking about the ways Coldplay could improve for the next album, and I said that they could definitely use more prominent basslines and sound more badass, like Bullet The Blue Sky, U2 in general.

 

This I would LOVE to hear. I like it when Coldplay taps into their darker side a bit, and they've got some great rock moments in their catalog, so yeah, if they were to go that route, I'd be all for it.

 

Heck, they could go beyond "Bullet The Blue Sky"-styling-I fully believe they could well have an Achtung Baby in them somewhere as well.

 

And I get it why people compare Lights and Streets, but I just don't feel it... it doesn't get me nowhere near as emotional as Streets. I prefer Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own, even Miracle Drug.

 

In terms of positive feeling, I can see where "City of Blinding Lights" and "Streets" could compare. But in terms of raw emotion, yeah, I can see where you think "Sometimes" might fit better. Different emotions, but both equally poignant.

 

Like "Kite", "Sometimes" means a lot to me personally as well.

 

*Thinks to self* Do I have that U2 ultimate encyclopedia? I can't remember now. Hm.