(11-15-2004) Mysterio US Ways - TIME*

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Mysterio US Ways


By JOSH TYRANGIEL/DUBLIN


U2's Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen Jr. realize that much of the world thinks they are criminally lucky. The Edge works out most of U2's melodies on his guitar and Bono writes the bulk of the lyrics, leaving bassist Clayton and drummer Mullen Jr. just a few empty bars to fill and plenty of leisure time. But U2's less famous members are hardly dead weight. In fact, their job is to be live weight — or at least ballast. They are steady, difficult to impress and maddeningly unromantic. "If we're in the studio trying to build the rocket," says Bono, "Edge is under the hood with his slide rule, I'm trying to become fuel, Larry is pointing out the reasons it'll never fly, and Adam's asking, 'Do we really want to go there?' They're always reasonable and usually correct — and I hate them for it."

The indispensable wisdom of the rhythm section was proved most recently during the making of U2's new album, How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb. For all its success, U2 has never enjoyed making records, largely because the force and diversity of the band members' personalities, combined with their politeness and respect for one another, turns the process into something slow, sloppy and complicated — like democracy. There was hope, though, in October 2003, when the group gathered in Dublin to give a close listen to songs that Bono, 44, and the Edge, 43, believed were ready for release. "All we needed was the assent of the politburo and the record would have been out for Christmas," says Bono. Clayton, 44, and Mullen Jr., 43, focused on each track and then voted decisively that the songs were simply not good enough. "When it comes to signing off on a project," says Clayton, "you ask questions like, 'Have we got a first single to open the campaign?' Frankly, we were missing more than just a first single." Says Mullen Jr.: "It was awkward, but it had to be said."

With 2000's All That You Can't Leave Behind — an album that sold 4 million copies, spawned a $110 million — grossing North American tour and earned the band a Super Bowl half-time-show slot — U2 appeared to regain the coveted title of biggest and best band in rock 'n' roll. But neither Clayton nor Mullen Jr. could shake the feeling that the record had been overpraised by a public relieved to see aging rockers not thoroughly embarrassing themselves. "On the last album there was lots of good feeling," says Clayton, "but only Beautiful Day was a hit. I felt that, if our goal is still to be the biggest band in the world, the new record had to have three or four songs that would bring in new people. Three or four hits."

When it became clear that Clayton and Mullen Jr. were not going to budge, producer Steve Lillywhite was brought in to break the deadlock. "They played me the record," says Lillywhite, "and it was, well, it had the weight of the world on its shoulders. It certainly wasn't any fun." After several lengthy meetings, Bono and the Edge caved. "The songs were good," says Bono, "but good won't bring you to tears or make you want to leave your house and tour for a year. The bastards were right."

Acceptance of that, however, ushered in a typical U2 mini-depression. The not-good-enough songs had taken a year to make, largely because the members of U2 long ago convinced themselves that they're unskilled musicians who, as the Edge says, must "wait for God to walk through the room" before they can write a good song. The humility is charming, but it also provides a convenient excuse for working slowly. "They operate in total chaos," says Lillywhite. "They work slowly, get frustrated and then hold these epic meetings to bemoan how slowly they're working and how frustrated they are. I love them, but sometimes they just need to put one foot in front of the other."

To read the entire article, please visit the TIME website: http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1101041122-782116,00.html
 
:ohmy:

I wanna listen to that record that almost put out. :drool:

GREAT ARTICLE!!! I love these articles with all the bands giving their opinions and behind the scenes. Hopefully those songs will someday appear somewhere. Maybe they will some of those 25 never heard before songs on iTunes. :evil:
 
Good to see that they put monetary success over the art!
You ask me, I think it's like a sort of mid-life crisis thing.
 
This is the best article on U2 I've ever read. The writer got past the periphery of so many U2-related artices and gave us some insight on the band's true relationship.

Larry calling Bono "little fella" when he gets annoyed? Classic.
And the breakdown of Bono's re-write of the Vertigo lyrics is treee-mendous.

So good.
 
Yeah this article actually gave you glimpse of the band's inner-workings...I thought the bit about Clayton and Mullen being the reason they went back to the drawing boatd was really illuminating.
 
Great article!! Although, I can't believe that Adam would think 'Beautiful Day' was the only hit on ATYCLB!! I think he is meaning on the U.S. Pop charts which everyone knows their method of charting is outdated anyway. The cool thing about ATYCLB is that people knew the songs on the album anyway without them being overplayed a la Usher, Britney, Timberlake, etc. U2 transcends the pop charts and there is an altogether separate category for them.

'BD', 'Stuck', 'Elevation', 'Walk On', and even 'Kite' were very well-received and didn't need to be chart toppers in order to be considered "hits".

I mean, U2 didn't even have a chart hit until their fourth album which means 'I Will Follow', 'Gloria', 'Sunday Bloody Sunday', 'New Year's Day' would not be considered "hits" based on what Adam said and what was written in this article.
 
Also, I would like to add that 'Discotheque' and 'Staring at the Sun', great songs that they were, would most likely not be considered bigger "hits" than the ATYCLB songs even though they charted higher. What do you guys think?
 
Sleep Over Jack said:
Yeah this article actually gave you glimpse of the band's inner-workings...I thought the bit about Clayton and Mullen being the reason they went back to the drawing boatd was really illuminating.

Yes, but puzzling as well. So they gathered to listen to songs that Bono and Edge believed were ready for release. That makes it almost sound as if Clayton and Mullen had had little involvement up to that point. They "voted decisively that the songs were just not good enough". So where was their input previous to this? It makes no sense.
Also, the Lilywhite remark about Bono not being around much sounds as if it was quoted out of context. It certainly doesn't jive with other reports we've read about the recording, from people like Dallas Schoo and Neil McCormick, who indicated that they ALL worked very hard on the album, and that Bono had a lot of input, not just lyrically/vocally, but also on the guitar.
 
SkeeK said:
Good to see that they put monetary success over the art!
You ask me, I think it's like a sort of mid-life crisis thing.

I see your point. This article implies that they went back to the drawing board in order to make a record that would appeal to a broader range of people rather than simply to make better art.

Clearly it is the author's interpretation, but it is an interesting one:

"Listening to Bomb straight through a few times is like staring into a closet full of sequins. But depth is not what this album is after. It's a statement of competitiveness and relevance, and the best example of intelligent pop hitmaking this year."
 
I don't buy at all the theory that U2's re-working of the album was a matter of selling out their art for the sake of popularity.

Many artists create inaccessible music in the name of art as a way to hide from the responsibility of striving for the kind of worldwide success that U2 have managed to achieve and maintain.

The most difficult challenge as an artist is to be able to create music which is both great art and appealing to the masses at the same time, and that is what U2 set out to accomplish and by most accounts have seemingly achieved with HTDAAB.
 
Bono's quote on "walking the muse home" vs "taking advantage of her while she's passing out" ("courtship" in his youth, "rape" in his middle age--thos may say a lot about his mental capacities right now)) has quickly become one of my personal picks for top Bono quote of all time. Certainly in the Top 20.

Leave it to him to put inspiration in sexual terms..and brilliantly contrasting ones at that:wink:
 
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I think the tone of this article is rather unflattering (assuming that it's even true).

Edge and Bono finish the album a year ago, but Adam and Larry veto it because it's not commercial enough. They bring in Lillywhite to help create some "hit" songs...like "Native Son" that becomes "Vertigo"...sanitized for your protection. A year later they've created a "closet full of sequins"...lacking in depth. :huh:

:hmm: Hmmm...I guess I must really like shiny, shallow music! Mmmm...shiny!:drool: :drool:
 
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