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U2's Bono performs
on "Farmclub", on the USA cable
network. It was the band's first U.S.
performance for the new album 'All That
You Can't Leave Behind' which was
released October 31, 2000.
--Kevin Mazur | Nov 1 2000 | 5:20
PM ET | Reuters |
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| U2 'LEAVE
BEHIND' POP FORAY |
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nNovember 1
2000 | 12:26 PM ET | Reuters | --
Dean Goodman, LA
U2 'Leave Behind'
Pop Foray
The
last time U2 played in Los Angeles,
650.000 fans watched the Irish rock
quartet go through their paces at the
site of the 1932 and 1984 Olympic Games.
Now fast forward three years to October
2000 and U2 are playing for 250 fans on a
studio soundstage.
The performance was taped for USA cable
TV show "Jimmy & Doug's
Farmclub.com,'' which would not warrant
their attention but for the fact that
"Jimmy'' is Jimmy Iovine, a former
U2 producer who now runs their U.S.
label, Interscope Records.
U2 are promoting a new album, "All
That You Can't Leave Behind", the
10th studio release of their 22-year
career. They play four new songs, one of
them, 'Elevation',' Twice', and wrap with
the 1983 tune 'Surrender' during the
taping last Friday.
Then they answer a few questions about
the album, the state of pop music and
singer Bono's pet topic of Third
World debt. This being Los Angeles, they
can barely be heard above the din of the
jaded crowd. But you will not hear them
complain. At one point Bono proclaims,
"Death to whingeing rock stars.''
As super-rich rock stars go, U2 have
always seemed fairly normal, weathering
occasional backlashes against their
soapbox stands with good grace. Still
boasting the original lineup, they
continue to live in Dublin, where all
attended Mount Temple Comprehensive
School. It was there that drummer Larry
Mullen Jr. decided to form a band and put
up a notice.
Irish Export
With Bono (real name Paul Hewson) on
vocals, The Edge (Dave Evans) on guitar
and Adam Clayton on bass,
U2 would go on to become one of Ireland's
best-known exports.
"Because we were mates, I suppose
from the beginning, there's a lot of real
respect and trust there between
the different members of the group,''
Edge told Reuters in an interview.
"We're pretty tough with one
another.
It's not necessarily like we go into a U2
session and everyone's completely polite.
Everyone is prepared to tell
you exactly what they think when it comes
to it.''
From their early days, U2 gained notice
for their fervent live performances and
provocative songs such as
'Sunday Bloody Sunday' (about the
violence in Ireland), 'Silver and Gold'
(apartheid) and 'The Unforgettable Fire'
(nuclear holocaust). Their 1987 album
'The Joshua Tree' sealed their reputation
as superstars and won the album of the
year Grammy.
Unlike their previous releases, U2 will
not launch a simultaneous tour, opting
instead to wait until next March, when
they will kick off an arena tour --
probably in Miami, U2 manager Paul
McGuinness told Reuters at the taping.
Of course, the album could be off the
charts by then, but Edge is not worried.
"We didn't feel like rushing out
there because we wanna just spend a bit
of time figuring out what we wanna do and
give ourselves a bit of breathing space
to make some videos. We've always hit the
road pretty much immediately and
everything else then becomes a bit of a
scramble.''
U2 were last on the road for the 1997-98
PopMart world tour, which kicked off in
Las Vegas seven weeks after their ''Pop''
album's release. Its electronica foray
confused fans and it sold a modest 6
million worldwide, about a third of what
''Joshua Tree'' did. The stadium
extravaganza began shakily and a
satirical take on consumerism didn't go
over well in America.
"We're used to playing with some
heady concepts and expecting everyone to
weigh in there and follow. I think
we just left people scratching their
heads a little bit,'' Edge said. "I
would have to say it's more that we
didn't communicate what we were up to
very well.''
Should the band have to communicate?
"Should we have to?'' Edge repeated,
choosing his words carefully.
"We never would play down to our
audience or try to spoon-feed them. But
at the same time if you're going to call
your album 'Pop' and (the tour) PopMart,
those words have got so much baggage.''
Everything hinged on one three-letter
word: Pop. U2 meant it in a broad, pop
art sense. Many people viewed it as a
synonym for lightweight and decided they
did not want anything to do with it. U2
have not decided on a name for their next
tour but it is a safe bet they will
consult some dictionaries.
Recycling Baggage
Edge said the new album should be easier
to grasp because they tried to strip
sound and production to the essentials.
They recorded it in Dublin with longtime
collaborators Brian Eno and Daniel
Lanois, who worked on 1984's "The
Unforgettable Fire,'' "The Joshua
Tree'' and 1991's "Achtung Baby.''
The album title comes from a line
salvaged from an unused tune and recycled
on the track "Walk On,'' a ballad
dedicated to Myanmar opposition leader
Aung San Suu Kyi: "The only baggage
you can bring/Is all that you can't leave
behind.''
"It's an attempt to say that what
made it to the record ... is literally
just the songs that we couldn't possibly
leave off,'' Edge said.
The first single, 'Beautiful Day', topped
the European pop charts. Edge said U2 is
engaged in "a bit of a lively
debate'' about the next, which seems to
be a tossup among 'Walk On', 'Elevation'
and 'Stuck in a Moment Without You', a
gospel-tinged track about a friend's
suicide.
Expect the debate to be settled amicably.
Edge said he has not been on the wrong
end of Bono's fist for 20 years and
attributes the band's longevity to the
lack of rivalry.
Mullen, 39, keeps the band on its rock
'n' roll course. ''He's anti anything
pretentious, anti anything too arty,
flowery,'' Edge said. "Larry is
generally going to tell you something's
too long or it's too slow or where is the
melody.''
Clayton, 40, is a "naturally avant
garde'' bass player who, like Edge, was
born in England. "He's got a great
sense of the loyalty factor. He's always
there backing everyone up.''
Bono, 40, has the vision thing.
"He's a great guy to have on your
team because he's got incredible energy.
He's dogged, y'know. He'll just keep on
pushing.''
And Edge described himself as the music
guy. "I tend to start a lot of the
ideas or come up with chord patterns
that we can toss around, or whatever. I'm
the guy who's hanging on to all those
great demos -- we should try this one
again.''
Bono writes most of the lyrics and Edge
most of the music. But the whole band
gets credit for the music, which Edge
sometimes feels is a little generous.
"As well as feeling like I have
maybe a much larger responsibility than
Adam and Larry for music, I know that
they make me look very good,'' he said.
"And I guess that's the way a band
works: People are in bands, hopefully,
and I know in our case, because we're
better than we would be as individuals.''n |
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