U2 - that "Bono" guy's band

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Musikwala

Musikwala

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Does anybody else wish that this band wasn't so Bono-centric all the time? Or am I alone in thinking this?

Practically every damn thing about U2 is really about Bono... Songs about Bono's mom's passing, his dad's passing, Bono's love song to someone Ali, Bono's apology to Ali (Sweetest Thing), Bono's experience in Africa, Bono's "first cry that was a joyful noise", Bono's reason why the opera is in him etc. etc.

Bono is pretty much the only spokesperson for the band. Mostly all themes are about Bono. What about the other guys in the band???

The Edge has sung, what, 2 songs during their entire career? And one of them he didn't even sing. He spoke.

I don't know... don't the other guys have things to say about their lives?? I'm sure Bono is not the only U2 member who has life stories to translate into songs.

I for one would love to hear a lead vocal by Adam on at least one song on an album... one bloody song, man! That bit on Your Blue Room was 20 years back! :grumpy:

#BonoOverdose
 
A lot on SOI is about U2 as a band in their early days and as friends. NLOTH was about different characters Bono stepped into. AB was mainly about Edge and his private issues at that time. Apart from that, yes, Bono's the band's main lyricist, thus many issues that are close to him are in the center of the band's lyrics, and he's the lead singer, mainly because no one else in the band is really a good singer (even Edge .. he's a good backing singer, but nothing more), plus Bono's just a genius in rhetorics and a travelling salesman, that's why he talks so much more than anyone else in the band.

I don't see their music overly Bono-centric, to be honest. What I do see, though, is the media making a Bono-band out of U2 as if the other three members don't exist. It's annoying to read about Bono and "his music", "his songs", "his new album" etc, but I'm pretty sure that isn't what he wants. Just listen to the way Bono talks about the band and the way the band members talk about each other. There's only a WE here, "three bosses in U2".
 
Musikwala said:
I'm guessing you specialize in making sarcastic jabs at any poster with a remotely controversial opinion?
Click to expand...


No, I'm just wondering where this "controversial opinion" is coming from since 98% of rock bands out there only have one lead singer and that there's nothing really unique about this.


Sent from my iPhone using U2 Interference
 
BVS said:
No, I'm just wondering where this "controversial opinion" is coming from since 98% of rock bands out there only have one lead singer and that there's nothing really unique about this.


Sent from my iPhone using U2 Interference
Click to expand...

Did you read my original post? I'm not talking only about lead vocals here. I'm talking about everything to do with the band including lyric themes, songwriting, media presence etc.
 
Musikwala said:
Did you read my original post? I'm not talking only about lead vocals here. I'm talking about everything to do with the band including lyric themes, songwriting, media presence etc.
Click to expand...

Since Bono is the main lyricist one would have to expect many of the lyrics are going to be about him and his personal experiences. At least he's not writing the guitar parts too.
 
The Cure = Robert Smith
REM = Michael Stipe
INXS = Micheal Hutchence
Depeche Mode = Dave Gahan

and many more.... it's the role of the frontman I guess..... Without them, there is no band! It's even more accurate with U2 indeed, because Bono is involved in many other topics, politics, etc.... and he's been an icone since 85.
 
Musikwala said:
Does anybody else wish that this band wasn't so Bono-centric all the time? Or am I alone in thinking this?

Practically every damn thing about U2 is really about Bono... Songs about Bono's mom's passing, his dad's passing, Bono's love song to someone Ali, Bono's apology to Ali (Sweetest Thing), Bono's experience in Africa, Bono's "first cry that was a joyful noise", Bono's reason why the opera is in him etc. etc.

Bono is pretty much the only spokesperson for the band. Mostly all themes are about Bono. What about the other guys in the band???

The Edge has sung, what, 2 songs during their entire career? And one of them he didn't even sing. He spoke.

I don't know... don't the other guys have things to say about their lives?? I'm sure Bono is not the only U2 member who has life stories to translate into songs.

I for one would love to hear a lead vocal by Adam on at least one song on an album... one bloody song, man! That bit on Your Blue Room was 20 years back! :grumpy:

#BonoOverdose
Click to expand...

I see your point, but I wouldn't really dwell on it.
 
I would not like to hear Larry or Adam sing because they can't sing.

Is it always about Bono? Sure, most of the time. Didn't the Edge's divorce have a lot to do with Achtung Baby? And the Edge was the one who wanted to write a song about church abuse -- Sleep like a Baby.

But yeah, as others have said, seeing as how Bono is the main lyricist, he's going to be penning most of the experiences/thoughts.
 
The band seem happy with Bono as the front man. I think you're just tired of the similar song themes. I think SOE will add some variety if it includes the stuff the band feel is some of their best studio sessions.
 
Yahweh_OMG said:
Depeche Mode = Dave Gahan
Click to expand...

He may be the frontman, but most Depeche Mode songs are by Martin Gore. So it is Martin's thoughts, wishes and experiences that Dave's singing.
But in the end it is the same thing. The lyrics reflect the world of the lyricist and not necessarilty that of the other musicians in the band. That's the case with 98% of the bands, so nothing new or controversial.
 
Since Edge comes up with guitar parts, Larry comes up with drum parts, Adam comes up with bass parts I don't think U2 is really Bono-centric. Besides, Songs of Innocence had a lot of lyrics written by both Bono and Edge.
 
Musikwala said:
Does anybody else wish that this band wasn't so Bono-centric all the time? Or am I alone in thinking this?

Practically every damn thing about U2 is really about Bono... Songs about Bono's mom's passing, his dad's passing, Bono's love song to someone Ali, Bono's apology to Ali (Sweetest Thing), Bono's experience in Africa, Bono's "first cry that was a joyful noise", Bono's reason why the opera is in him etc. etc.

Bono is pretty much the only spokesperson for the band. Mostly all themes are about Bono. What about the other guys in the band???

The Edge has sung, what, 2 songs during their entire career? And one of them he didn't even sing. He spoke.

I don't know... don't the other guys have things to say about their lives?? I'm sure Bono is not the only U2 member who has life stories to translate into songs.

I for one would love to hear a lead vocal by Adam on at least one song on an album... one bloody song, man! That bit on Your Blue Room was 20 years back! :grumpy:

#BonoOverdose
Click to expand...

Here we go again with this same story about U2 being Bono´s band all
over again.
Can´t people give this story a break?

After all these years watching and seeing the band TELL EVERYONE in their interviews that U2 is a band with four members and each one of
them as a saying and a vote on the songs they create and what should
their musical direction should take.

This has been said a millions times already.
This is not Bono´s band.
If Bono was chosen to be the spokesperson for the band, it does not mean
he is their leader, he is just part of the band.
He is the only member of the band who likes to
speak more and then sing more. The other band members are a
little more reserved.

Do you need to listen to another interview one more time?
OK, here you go... from an interview just 2 days ago in London 2014...
The Norton Graham Show - Season 16 Episode 4 - Robert Downey Jr., Stephan Fry, Robert Duvall and U2 - YouTube
Bono says the same thing I have just posted.

The only reason Larry and Adam have not stepped more up-front in singing
is simply because they which to not sing.
They dont want to sing.
In the beggining of their U2 career Dave "The Edge" also
did not want to sing, but someone in the band had to sing something as
a background voice, so he did it. The other guys have also been background
vocals in the songs too.

Only after a while did he (Edge) feel more comfortable with his
voice to sing in a complete song by himself. Now The Edge sings more often than in the early days of U2.

Both Adam and Larry do not want the Paparazzi+Press to invade their
private life. They are very careful about that. It is their private life -
we should respect that.
If Bono wants to be in the spotlight, let him do it, because he feels more comfortable doing that job.

But Larry and Adam both have sung in many songs before.
One of my favorite songs in which Adam has a speaking part is "Your Blue
Room". He actually does not sing, but speaks in the end.

If Adam does NOT want to sing, he should not be made to do it.

If Larry does not want to sing, he should also remain quiet, or just sing
parts in the background vocals or chorus.

If I do not want to eat the green broccolli, no one is going to make me
eat that Broccolli!
 
I hear many of the points made so far but see, there are exceptions. Pink Floyd for instance, is as much known for David Gilmour as it is for Roger Waters... or even for Syd Barrett as the co-founder.

As for REM, their lyric themes are usually pretty abstract. And they are not about Michael Stipe's life as far as I can recall.

Take The Beatles too as an example: McCartney contributed a lot to the band! And even Harrison and Starr did quite a bit, a lot more than their counterparts in U2.

Anyway, that said... if U2 had another dominating ego in it to challenge Bono, it would've probably imploded a long time ago!

But I do wish we would see some different subject matter in future lyrics.
 
Musikwala said:
I hear many of the points made so far but see, there are exceptions. Pink Floyd for instance, is as much known for David Gilmour as it is for Roger Waters... or even for Syd Barrett as the co-founder.

As for REM, their lyric themes are usually pretty abstract. And they are not about Michael Stipe's life as far as I can recall.

Take The Beatles too as an example: McCartney contributed a lot to the band! And even Harrison and Starr did quite a bit, a lot more than their counterparts in U2.

Anyway, that said... if U2 had another dominating ego in it to challenge Bono, it would've probably imploded a long time ago!

But I do wish we would see some different subject matter in future lyrics.
Click to expand...

I agree with your point of view.
Perhaps this S.o.I. record might shed some light as to what we might expect on the next record "Songs of Experience"?
It has Larry on the cover.
Perhaps the next album will have more of Larry singing. Sort of like
what Phil Collins did with the band Genesis? :D I do think Phil was the best choice for
them to be the singer after the other guy left.

At this moment I am open to any and all surprises U2 will have to offer
in terms of musical "experiences", because the record will be about songs
of experience.
So far, I have no information as to what it might sound like.
For all we know, or imagine, it could be an experimental record, like what they did with
Brian Eno on that "Passengers" record. I still think it was a cool chill-out record.

As for subject matter in future lyrics, I also agree with you. But I do
hope they will not be about the problems we are facing on this
planet at the moment.
There are so many problems with this world, that
I am not ready to hear Bono sing about Ebola virus, Middle East wars and
so many other problems.
I cannot imagine Bono get up on the microphone and start with ...

"There has been too much talk about this song, maybe too much talk,
This is not a rebel song, this song is about Ebola virus and the Al Qaeda !"
:ohmy:
 
Musikwala said:
I hear many of the points made so far but see, there are exceptions. Pink Floyd for instance, is as much known for David Gilmour as it is for Roger Waters... or even for Syd Barrett as the co-founder.

As for REM, their lyric themes are usually pretty abstract. And they are not about Michael Stipe's life as far as I can recall.

Take The Beatles too as an example: McCartney contributed a lot to the band! And even Harrison and Starr did quite a bit, a lot more than their counterparts in U2.

Anyway, that said... if U2 had another dominating ego in it to challenge Bono, it would've probably imploded a long time ago!

But I do wish we would see some different subject matter in future lyrics.
Click to expand...


I bet if you followed other bands as closely as you do U2, you would know that a lot of Stipe's lyrics were about his life, especially later in their career. You probably see that there were occurring common themes.

And then on the other hand if you were able to take a step back you could see that there is a big chunk of Bono's work that's not taken directly from his personal life, see most of RH, NLOTH, Pop.




Sent from my iPhone using U2 Interference
 
Yeah, I agree, REM is a great band also. Great lyrics. Great singer too.
Three of their songs that I would love to hear U2 play in their own style would
have to be "Night swimming", "Everybody hurts" and "Losing my religion".
Those songs with some of the EDGE´s guitar sounds and Bono´s voice would
be awesome to hear.
Unfortunately for us, the band has many times said, "we are not a cover band. We just
cannot play music from other bands".
 
Musikwala said:
I hear many of the points made so far but see, there are exceptions. Pink Floyd for instance, is as much known for David Gilmour as it is for Roger Waters... or even for Syd Barrett as the co-founder.

As for REM, their lyric themes are usually pretty abstract. And they are not about Michael Stipe's life as far as I can recall.

Take The Beatles too as an example: McCartney contributed a lot to the band! And even Harrison and Starr did quite a bit, a lot more than their counterparts in U2.

Anyway, that said... if U2 had another dominating ego in it to challenge Bono, it would've probably imploded a long time ago!

But I do wish we would see some different subject matter in future lyrics.
Click to expand...

All the band you named that had others contributing had great ding writing talent outside the lead singer.

U2 share everything. If Larry or Adam has any interest, of any ability, to write songs they would be writing songs.
 
Headache in a Suitcase said:
All the band you named that had others contributing had great ding writing talent outside the lead singer.

U2 share everything. If Larry or Adam has any interest, of any ability, to write songs they would be writing songs.
Click to expand...

Well, they kind of do, or did back when the band wrote songs by jamming.

As for U2 being the Bono show, it basically is. He directed the jams and is a primary songwriter when they write traditionally, is largely responsible for their musical direction (or was when U2 was his day job), and comes up with most of the melodies and words for the majority of their career. The success of U2 rests on how involved Bono is with the music. While he's not the Billy Corgan of the band, he is the most important member by far. He is a truly great artist and has let his talent go to waste, but at least it was for a good cause, not the usual drugs and drink.
 
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