"I don't believe in painted roses, or bleeding hearts
while bullets rape the night of the merciful.
I'll see you again, when the stars fall from the sky
and the moon has turned red, over One Tree Hill."
"One Tree Hill", Joshua Tree
I cannot begin to explain the influence this group of four Irish
musicians has had on my life. Seems absurd to admit, really, but
the music means a great deal to me. It has a quality and a richness
that no other band can truely match. I fell in love with the music
of Rattle & Hum when I was 15, just missing the release of their
movie by the same name. After quickly buying up their previous releases,
I acknowledged the Joshua Tree to be their greatest work,
listening to it with a firm consistency over the past 8 years.
Its music never grows old or loses its quality.
Since those initial days, I have been blown away by the shocking
release of Achtung Baby, been slightly surprised and a
little dissapointed with Zooropa, more dissapointed with Passengers,
and, recently, thrilled to death by their latest release, Pop.
U2's music is as diverse as it is original. Their sound has changed
dramatically since their initial release of Boy in 1980. Back
then they had a raw, punk-like sound with a fast pace, strong
rhythm, and simple chords. They
changed slightly through the release of subsequent albums -- October,
War, Under a Blood Red Sky -- then changed markedly
with the addition of Producer Brian Eno on The Unforgettable Fire.
This new sound carried through and became the "Joshua Tree" sound, heralded
in their most popular album to date.
They
embraced American blues in their next release, Rattle & Hum, then
completely reinvented their sound three years later with Achtung Baby.
The new U2 was harsher, thicker, and darker, leaving the sonic ambiance
of their past three albums behind. It was made in the dawn
of the "grunge rock" craze. When everyone else was getting on the
Grunge Rock bandwagon, U2 made a sound that was years ahead of the times.
Zooropa was a quick release between their "ZooTV" Tour of 1992 and
their "ZooEuropa" Tour in 1993. It features their most synthetic music to date,
but few really good songs.
In 1995 they collaborated with Brian Eno to make a "soundtrack"
album under the name of Passengers called Original Soundtracks One that
included only two actual songs, but countless other tracks of background
music, odd sonic ideas, and ambient sounds. It wasn't well received.
1997 gave us their newest incarnation, a twist of their
"Achtung Baby" sound with the classical U2 "Rock & Roll" sound
with elements of techno, gospel, and funk. It's an upbeat,
original, and diverse musical creation. And wouldn't you know it,
there's a heck of a lot of good songs, too!
*Pop*
I've been extremely fortunate to see and hear the band perform live
on three occasions. Once in 1992, twice in '97. My music collection
is chalked-full of their albums, however, I don't consider myself a "U2
fanatic." I've heard from psycho-fans the world over who
truely have a more intense devotion to the band, many of whom
have created some fantastic web sites. I think of myself as more
of a local expert, a grateful listener, and a loyal fan.
I don't find my identity in the band. Instead, I find peace, joy,
and focus. It raises my spirits or heightens my mood. It touches me,
and there's few things in life that can truely do that.
For some truely excellent U2 pages, please visit these sites:
Official Site
U2 Pop Page
Wire Mailing List
John Hlavaty's U2 page
Mark Gryzmala's U2 page