When should U2 have quit?

[last unicorn]

Hmmmm, sexaaaay



That Conan episode was so cool. I'll never forget the look Bono gave Conan when they showed that photo.

 

[The Sad Punk]

Yeah, he was all like WHERE DID YOU FIND THAT

 

[Muldfeld]

Consider:

1986: U2 scrap the Joshua Tree sessions and go out on the hype of the TV Gaga appearance. The band is forever remembered as inthistowntastic and drunk. We never have to endure Love Rescue Me, Larry Mullen singing Tequila Sunrise, or this. However, the world never gets to experience Heartland, Lovetown, One Tree Hill and its partners in Joshua Tree crime ... on second thoughts, this is a horrible idea that has no business being in a poll with the four following good ideas. Even if it would have spared us Bogan Bono invading David Bowie's stage.

1990: U2's eighties canon stands sound and untarnished, and the band go out after their best tour ever, Lovetown. We never have to endure Bono trying to orgasm during a Cole Porter cover, the contrived nature and predictability of ZooTV, Bono shoving a camera in his crotch, or TTTYAATW. However, the world never gets to experience The Fly, Acrobat, Love Is Blindness, or prank calls to the White House.

1993: U2 tarnish their legacy a little with desperate trend-hopping and too much leather, but at least we get the creative brilliance of Zooropa. We never have to endure Adam's best impression of anorexia, or the nausea of Elvis Ate America. However, the world never gets to experience Slug, Your Blue Room, Beach Sequence, or Bono trying and failing to look bohemian.

1995: U2 atone for their early nineties sins with Passengers and go out as creative geniuses, even if half their fanbase is too closed-minded to accept anything that they can't scream "IN THAAA NAAAAYYYYM OOOOVVV LUUUUUVVV" to while drunk. We never have to endure Miami, ten thousand different mixes of Discotheque, or Pride hitting previously unimaginable live lows. However, the world never gets to experience Gone, Please, or the hilarious thought of U2 trapped inside a forty foot lemon in Oslo.

1998: U2 consider re-recording Sweetest Thing but instead realise a much smarter option is to quit. Sure, their eighties legacy has been tarnished a bit and Bono's vocals declined to the point of unlistenability, but we got some diamonds in the rough for our troubles and U2 got their lazy arses to South America, South Africa, Israel, and one hell of a show in Sarajevo.

Under all four options, the world never gets to experience the unmitigated horror of ATYCLB, HTDAAB, and Bono's messianic complex growing even larger than Jesus's. Losing TGBHF and Electrical Storm is a small price to pay for U2 leaving a legacy in which they don't look like total boobs.

Uh...You seem to ignore the fact that Achtung Baby (which you describe as trend-hopping) was the highlight of U2's career or at least the highlight of the 1990s, not Zooropa (which you describe as creative brilliaince), which was lazy and had mostly boring and under-developed melodies.

However, critical I am of the band's last 2 -- heck, the last 4 -- albums, I always have the hope it can return to greatness if it really tries hard. I believe it can.

 

[LemonMelon]

which was lazy

You do realize that they nearly worked themselves to death to finish that album, right?

 

[Salome]

if those were the only options i'd say 1993

no reason to stop though

 

[StaySafeTonight]

This entire topic in a place where fans of U2 are here disgusts me. Their new stuff may not be what some fans believe to be their best but it's still great! And better than most other music that's out now!

I'm absolutely sick of seeing people who claim to be fans seemingly despising the band! What the hell?!?

If someone is fan of a band they like all their music or at least give all of their music a decent chance.

If someone is a fan of a few albums of theirs, then they just like those albums!

I am a fan of this band. I want them to keep making music until they think it's time to throw in the towel.

 

[The Sad Punk]

People don't understand the thread. Axver loves post Lovetown U2, he was just curious to see how everybody else thought on the subject. Everybody's a happy family in this thread!

And shut up, Muldfeld.

 

[Vlad n U 2]

This entire topic in a place where fans of U2 are here disgusts me. Their new stuff may not be what some fans believe to be their best but it's still great! And better than most other music that's out now!

I'm absolutely sick of seeing people who claim to be fans seemingly despising the band! What the hell?!?

If someone is fan of a band they like all their music or at least give all of their music a decent chance.

If someone is a fan of a few albums of theirs, then they just like those albums!

I am a fan of this band. I want them to keep making music until they think it's time to throw in the towel.

There isnt really any U2 albums that I hate, I like most of their work.

 

[Vlad n U 2]

People don't understand the thread. Axver loves post Lovetown U2, he was just curious to see how everybody else thought on the subject. Everybody's a happy family in this thread!

And shut up, Muldfeld.

We shall all be happy.

Nothing horrible has happened.

 

[shaun vox]

u2 should stop before they turn into the Rolling Stones (the band) which they eventually will.
ex, their best work is behind them. i give you "Jt and Achtung".

 

[Galeongirl]

People don't understand the thread. Axver loves post Lovetown U2, he was just curious to see how everybody else thought on the subject. Everybody's a happy family in this thread!

And shut up, Muldfeld.

Yea, and he especially loves Achtung Baby and One!


What disgusts me is how serious some people take this shit. Why do we have to friggin LOVE everything U2 have done? Is it a bad thing to have some criticism?

 

[The Sad Punk]

u2 should stop before they turn into the Rolling Stones (the band) which they eventually will.
ex, their best work is behind them. i give you "Jt and Achtung".

Thanks for clarifying about the Rolling Stones, I wouldn't have known what you meant, otherwise.

 

[Vlad n U 2]

u2 should stop before they turn into the Rolling Stones (the band) which they eventually will.
ex, their best work is behind them. i give you "Jt and Achtung".

I don't like pessimists.

 

[chocky]

Geez Axver. For someone who clearly spends 100% of their day on Interference (75000+ posts at an average of 40 per day) you sure hate a lot of their songs.

 

[Diemen]

U2 should have quite before you wanted them to, just to spite you.

 

[Rachel D.]

They should have quit briefly right as they were about to write "Elvis Presley and America" and then got back together and carried on as usual.

 

[major_panic]

You're missing option 6, which is 6) before 1980. Dave Evans becomes a massive solo artist with collaborations across the board, and then uses his money to buy a new yacht for his mate Bono Vox Christus to sail around in offering Operating Thetan IX courses. Larry Mullen becomes the 'next big thing' in the bodyguard industry, working for Dave, and Adam Clayton smokes pot.

 

[Galeongirl]

Axver should quit U2.

 

[The Sad Punk]

Geez Axver. For someone who clearly spends 100% of their day on Interference (75000+ posts at an average of 40 per day) you sure hate a lot of their songs.

Rut-roh!