HelloAngel
ONE love, blood, life
Music's the grace note of U2 gab
BONO AND THE EDGE: OFF THE RECORD. Friday, 11 p.m., HBO
At this point, getting U2's Bono to talk - about anything - is no harder than getting a dog to wag its tail at a fistful of fresh bones.
But he seems to keep finding new audiences, or at least old ones that don't mind hearing a few greatest hits.
People who have followed U2 over the years won't hear radically new material when Bono and U2 guitarist The Edge sit down for this hour-long "Off the Record" session with interviewer Dave Stewart.
Neither will they be bored.
When The Edge talks about playing guitar on mathematical principles, that's turf he's covered before. And yes, the predictable sound- wave patterns of feedback may be a discussion in which the average music fan has only passing interest.
But he gets away with it because U2 some time ago transcended "average" in the rock world and therefore has so much recognizable music as reference points. Familiar songs and a large, devoted core of listeners win them considerable latitude in an interview like this.
On the other hand, they're smart enough to realize they should focus on matters to which the listener relates.
Stewart holds up a Patti Smith album, for instance, and Bono immediately says she is the reason he bares his soul in his lyrics.
Edge, real name David Evans, talks about how Bryan Ferry's experimentation gave U2 the kind of creative inspiration that the Beatles or the Who gave to an earlier generation of rockers.
Edge also notes, not for the first time, how U2 came out of the punk movement, where the lasting mantra was simplicity.
Of less interest, perhaps, are passages where Bono goes political. While there are no speeches here on Third World debt, he does declare that at one time he may have been naive about the oppression of communism.
That sort of rumination doubtless reflects Bono's absorption of lessons and thoughts from the non-rock 'n' roll people with whom he has hung out. Since he shows no signs of shedding that part of his life, most fans have either embraced or tolerated it.
For purposes of this program, though, the more interesting Bono remains the one who recounts - again, not for the first time - that U2's first gig as a band was surprisingly good, "and the next 25 were awful."
That's interesting because out of it, somehow, these two guys plus Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen Jr. formed a remarkably solid band that has produced years of solid music.
Hearing The Edge talk about how Clayton's bass is in some ways a lead instrument in U2 while his own guitar often falls back into the rhythm section with Mullen, is the reason to tune in to this good-natured hour of patter.
http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/ent_radio/story/474150p-398851c.html
BONO AND THE EDGE: OFF THE RECORD. Friday, 11 p.m., HBO
At this point, getting U2's Bono to talk - about anything - is no harder than getting a dog to wag its tail at a fistful of fresh bones.
But he seems to keep finding new audiences, or at least old ones that don't mind hearing a few greatest hits.
People who have followed U2 over the years won't hear radically new material when Bono and U2 guitarist The Edge sit down for this hour-long "Off the Record" session with interviewer Dave Stewart.
Neither will they be bored.
When The Edge talks about playing guitar on mathematical principles, that's turf he's covered before. And yes, the predictable sound- wave patterns of feedback may be a discussion in which the average music fan has only passing interest.
But he gets away with it because U2 some time ago transcended "average" in the rock world and therefore has so much recognizable music as reference points. Familiar songs and a large, devoted core of listeners win them considerable latitude in an interview like this.
On the other hand, they're smart enough to realize they should focus on matters to which the listener relates.
Stewart holds up a Patti Smith album, for instance, and Bono immediately says she is the reason he bares his soul in his lyrics.
Edge, real name David Evans, talks about how Bryan Ferry's experimentation gave U2 the kind of creative inspiration that the Beatles or the Who gave to an earlier generation of rockers.
Edge also notes, not for the first time, how U2 came out of the punk movement, where the lasting mantra was simplicity.
Of less interest, perhaps, are passages where Bono goes political. While there are no speeches here on Third World debt, he does declare that at one time he may have been naive about the oppression of communism.
That sort of rumination doubtless reflects Bono's absorption of lessons and thoughts from the non-rock 'n' roll people with whom he has hung out. Since he shows no signs of shedding that part of his life, most fans have either embraced or tolerated it.
For purposes of this program, though, the more interesting Bono remains the one who recounts - again, not for the first time - that U2's first gig as a band was surprisingly good, "and the next 25 were awful."
That's interesting because out of it, somehow, these two guys plus Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen Jr. formed a remarkably solid band that has produced years of solid music.
Hearing The Edge talk about how Clayton's bass is in some ways a lead instrument in U2 while his own guitar often falls back into the rhythm section with Mullen, is the reason to tune in to this good-natured hour of patter.
http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/ent_radio/story/474150p-398851c.html
