U2 Part One: Attention U2

Attention:  The opinions on this post are sold expressed by (me) yours truly.  Please don't think that he hates U2 with a passion. He does not like them for other reasons that are in this post.  He thinks that this band is a grade of a "B" in a school grading system.  He thinks this band does bring political issues to the forefront, they kinda overkill that and that is a big turnoff.  This band is also a band that sells gazillions records every year and has a huge cult following which the author does not like cults. One thing I don't like is Edge's ego on every song.  Sure nothing sounds the same, but then he thinks he is special for it. One more thing I stated when this came out that I was not a fan, this turned off a certain female that the author (me) liked and she never spoke to me again and I never had a chance to explain let alone get a date. Lastly, U2 put an album on everyone's iTunes and did not ask the author's (me) permission to do so.  Kinda like invasion of privacy.  He (the author) (me) listened to it and thought it was crap, nothing but crap and sounded nothing like some of the music that was actually pretty good before this invasion happen.  Case in point Achtung Baby is quite a damn fine album.

When I was a regular MTV watcher this band got more airplay then I have ever seen.  It was not more then two hours of viewing that I would see either the same video or something from their previous albums.  At one point it got annoying.  It took me a few times to get the courage to buy Achtung Baby and after more then a few spins, I kinda get it.  I get it because it's nothing like they did in the past, and it is nothing they did in the future.  It also includes a song that is named and used in a great movie called Until The End Of The World the song is named after. This is my favorite song on the album.

U2 caught my eye back in 1987 with The Joshua Tree, I heard them before, but was into other music at that time and I really did not want to get distracted or put myself in a different direction.  I liked The Joshua Tree, but it did not like me.  I hated the overplayed songs and like the gems.  I liked "Bullet The Blue Sky" and "Running To Stand Still." Those songs had what makes a band great and were even barely played which made it better.  The other songs that were in the Top 40 were played every five minutes (it felt like it).  Not my cup of tea if you ask me.

What I liked about Achtung Baby was the song I mentioned and I also liked that they decided to try an experiment and it worked.  They went to Germany to record, they used ideas from Bowie's 70 experimentation and the use of bands from Manchester England's rave scenes.  They made it their own on both. This time they used the knowledge of Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois to help them create something that is awe inspiring.  They might have worked well with this formula in the past, but in the past they made this a hit. This time they used their knowledge of the city they were recording and their smarts.  Brian Eno knows more then all of us and U2 needed to understand that.

The other day I put this album on as a refresher on what I needed to hear or listen to in order to write this post.  I liked hearing these songs after so many years of not listening to it for almost a decade.  I also liked the album because I gave a listen as if I was new at listening U2 and this album was the closest album I could get my hand on. I have to admit this album rewards the repeated listener as they say.  It does sound ahead of its time. It is odd, but the music is different, and the influences that U2 were listening to and hearing worked.

Before I conclude this post I just want to state for the record I saw this tour twice.  The first time their opening act was Pavement.  The end of the tour they came back and the opener were The Pixies, so that being said, I really like those bands better.  This U2 album I was told still gets over played, still gets the listen and also is played on six, yes six satellite radio stations.  I mean great albums should be played but not way overkill played.  In my next U2 post I more then likely will pick a follow up to a great album by them. Once again, another album way overplayed and has made them zillions of dollars by us. Achtung Baby is only great if you play it like I do, every other year and then you shelve it and like me evaluate it.  Give it a listen, tell me what YOU think of U2.  Give me the reason to put U2 in my cycle of music I should listen to more.  I give this more of a listen because it is as I said, different and is a great time in the career of U2.  Enjoy!!!