In the October 1997 issue of Q magazine, one reader wrote of Zooropa: 'And Bono said unto the world, "Here are the 90's. Don't spend it all at once"'.
One thing I admire about U2 is that they actually move with the times and want to sound different from their previous albums. With Zooropa they proved again just that and they further established that rock 'n' roll did not have to just be about guitars. The music on Zooropa is just unbelievable. Obviously inspired by the madness of touring and the huge role technology plays in our lives ['Babyface' - a song about a man's obsession with a woman in his TV set - "I've got slow motion on my side"], the subjects of love and faith are still very much there ['The First Time', 'The Wanderer' with Johnny Cash].
Bono also questions his rock stardom ["You know everyone in the world, but you feel alone" - 'Daddy's Gonna Pay For Your crashed Car'] and boldly declares in the title track 'Zooropa' that "I have no religion", coming to the conclusion that God and religion are two different things and that he does not need the latter to believe in the former.
Zooropa is an album anyone can enjoy but if you knew U2's history and all, it adds to the fun.
My Fave Tracks: Zooropa, Babyface, Stay(Faraway, So Close!), The First Time, Daddy's Gonna Pay For Your Crashed Car, Some Days Are Better Than Others, Numb
This one isn't a favorite of most people (shown by the lack of reviews thus far) but it's the most musically innovative in my opinion. I think if you had made U2 listen to this record in 1980, they would have sworn they couldn't have made it. But what a record!
My favorite is 'Stay (Faraway,So Close)' but the whole album is easy to get into. The textures and rich sonic landscapes are something else. You`d think The Edge worked for NASA with all the technology he uses, and even more so on Pop. Maybe this isn't as apparent to someone who isn't familiar with musical gear, but Edge has over 50-some odd effect pedals. The average musician has 4 or 5. That's not to say Edge has 40 going at once (that`s impossible), but he uses them like a painter uses colour. I think it'd be a safe estimate to say he has $50,000 worth of equipment, which is to say,a LOT of colours! Just an interesting fact, one of Edge's first effect pedals, the Memory Man echo unit, which has been used on almost every record, was bought by Bono to "take the band to a musical realm". That was back in the very beginnings of the band, around 1978 or so. It's funny how right he was.
Contributed by: BonoMars
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