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[Vapor]

Yea, U2 had some really good times.

But isn't it time for them to just quit?

'Cause really, their last release was only fruitful because of the pop tune Vertigo. Well for me, at least.

Watcha think, people who care about U2.

[Mnementh]

U2 stopped being good after Joshua Tree.  After that it was hit or miss, to downright crappy.

That said, once Bono got his voice back, circa the "All That You Can't Leave Behind Tour" they were still able to put on one hell of a live show again.

[Amsterdarn]

We can only hope so.  They used to be awesome, but those days are past.

[Johnny C]

I liked All That You Can't Leave Behind, but I bought the new one and frankly I haven't listened to it all that much. I just can't bring myself to care.

[Kai]

I hope so, I can't stand U2.

[FruitKat]

*Agrees with Kai*
I never understood what all the hype was about...

[El Opium]

The only song I've heard or want to ever hear off that album is Vertigo. Even that song annoys me as the riff was knicked from a Sonic Youth song.

[Inlander]

"Sunday Bloody Sunday" is a fantastic song.  The rest of their output . . . ehh, I can take it or leave it.  Leave it, most likely.

[IHeartShinyObjects]

Its a shame they got all crappy after the 80's i adore U2 pre 90's.

[yipjumpmusic]

*nods to inlander* also 3-2-1 blast off!  This will not make sense soon enough.

[Cpt.Fantastic]

U2 were brilliant in the 80's, and I think it would be fair to forget most of the 1990's. The last album was the best that U2 could have put out in the circumstances (ie. Bono having his fingers in everyone's pie). If you understand what I am trying to say?!?

[zekterellium]

bono is a phoney hypocrite son of a bitch. fuck his lame ass band.

[loyalpeon]

Its a shame they got all crappy after the 80's i adore U2 pre 90's.

yeah - I think vertigo best sums up their recent quality:

"1,2,3,14"

and, yes, i am in fact refering to the quality produced by kindergarden children attempting to write music.

mind you, some of those little brats have potential. Jeremy was playing some sweet licks last week, laying down a great chorus: "bikit! Wan' bikit". good stuff

[Mnementh]

bono is a phoney hypocrite son of a bitch. fuck his lame ass band.

You know, dissenting opinions are good and all, but until you can express them with a modicum of intelligence, you probably shouldn't open your mouth.

Back on topic.  The band rocked pretty hard in the 80's.  I don't hate what they put out now (well, some of it has downright sucked) but it just doesn't catch me, it doesn't make me care.  Fun fact, my first memory was when I was two years old or shortly there after.  I remember seeing the video for Pride (In The Name of Love) and asking my mother about it.  That was off of 1984's Unforgettable Fire.  The Edge can still play a mean guitar, and Bono and the band have done a lot of good campaigning for third world debt relief, peace in Northern Ireland, and anti-apartheid stuffs.

Meh.

[Inlander]

U2's finest hour was when they were on The Simpsons.

[-sam]

YBut isn't it time for them to just quit?

From what I've heard they are still putting on a hell of a show -- I won't know until October. -- so I believe the answer is no.

-sam

[c1utch]

My friends just went to their show, and liked it, but they're U2 fans, so what can I say.

I sure hope HTDAB was their last, well actually I wouldn't mind if they didn't play it on every last radio station around.   My parents even dislike the band now, and they were huge fans in U2's early days.

Did anyone read maddox's "11 worst songs of 2004"?

[Simulacra]

yeah - I think vertigo best sums up their recent quality:

"1,2,3,14"

and, yes, i am in fact refering to the quality produced by kindergarden children attempting to write music.

to be anal about it, if you listen to the lyrics, he is singing "onze, doze, treize, quatorze"  which is translated to "11,12,13,14"

at any rate, i will agree that they have put out some pretty bad albums recently and "how to dismantle..." was not terribly strong, but I have to say i was also a fan of "Yahweh" and "Sometimes you can't do it on your own".  and All that You Can't Leave Behind was a strong album in and of itself.  At any rate, for all you U2 haters, I don't think they'll give up yet. sorry.  they've got a good 20 years or so before they catch up to the Rolling Stones

[siatefelici]

actually he was singing uno, dos, tres, catorce... Spanish for 1, 2, 3, 14. Bono even said on VH1's Spotlight that there was some alcohol involved in the writing of that...

[TheCourtJester]

Something about parts of the album just seemed like bono trying to further inflate his own ego. "How to dismantle" was a load of suckage, IMO.


EDIT : Just read that article by Maddox...I'm just glad I'm not the only one who thought there was something jsut WRONG about "Love and peace or else." Hilarious.

[Johnny C]

something jsut WRONG about "Love and peace or else."

Irony?

[Marauder]

*Agrees with Kai*
I never understood what all the hype was about...

Agreed, I don't quite comprehend either.

[zekterellium]

i think the love and peace or else thing was ironic.

[AnonymousPosterChild]

*Agrees with Kai*
I never understood what all the hype was about...

Agreed, I don't quite comprehend either.

I don't get what the hype is about either. I mean, don't get me wrong, I do like a lot of their music, I just don't see how people can get all foamy-at-the-mouth about it.

As for Atomic Bomb, I was really hoping this would be a turnaround for their music, since, you know, they said it would be.

You lied to me, U2, how dare you?

[Guy Smiley]

My friend and I were discussing U2 - a band that we both enjoy and criticize - and we were trying to dissect their post Joshua Tree catelogue (since its after that album that U2 really changed into its modern form).  Here's what we came up with.

Achtung Baby is a stunning album, and one that, if I were forced to, I would pick over The Joshua Tree.  It's a perfect balance of three different things: sonic experimentalism, rock posturing, and the band's honest songwriting.  Those things don't sound like they should go together, but somehow it worked.  The album sounds like its about to fall apart at any second, but never does.

But it seems that Bono and co. were unable to decide what to do next, because each of their next three albums took one part of that balance and took it to an uncomfortable extreme.  Zooropa was an admirable but failed attempt to make an experimental album, Pop, their worst album, was nothing but empty techno posturing, and All That You Can't Leave Behind was honest songwriting that outside of a couple of songs was nothing but boring.

How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb is the band's best album since Achtung Baby, but its a troubling one.  It works because it finally brings these three different sides of U2 back together into one album.  It fails because it ends up like a vastly inferior sound-alike to Achtung Baby.  So the band finds themselves at a troubling spot, unable to live up to their two best albums.  

Should they call it quits?  I'd like to think they can still surprise, but with their last two albums coming off as pale impersonations of the past, I don't have my hopes up.

[Faker]

I got to agree with Guy Smiley.

I personally think Achtung Baby was U2's most complete and best album.

Although I never understood the anti-Pop feelings, I think there are some really good tracks on that album, just wasn't finished to a degree that the band themselves were happy with

[steve-king]

I know that I have found a good track/album if I keep getting up to turn it up when I first try to listen to it, and then hit repeat at the end.

By that standard October, New Year's Day, War, Van Diemen's Land (the film version, not the shortened album version), One, All That You Can't.. and many others were all great tracks.

Nothing on HTDAAB matches those, but then I didn't like Zooropa, Pop or Passengers and they have done some good stuff since. I hope they keep up the music AND the campaigning.