HelloAngel
ONE love, blood, life
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By Devlin Smith, Contributing Editor
2004.09
Thursday, like many U2 fans around the world, I had my first listen of “Vertigo.” Two months ahead of the release of “How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb,” I heard the album’s first single three times on three different LA radio stations. Two of those times it was labeled “exclusive.”
Each time was a little different. The first time was so much like a first time, like a first kiss with my body a jumble and my head full of too many adjectives and inane, cluttered analyses. I tried to be logical and critical but nothing really stuck, it was all too fresh to be properly categorized. Regardless, I knew it was great.
The second time there was a little more clarity. I distanced myself, no longer the dizzy fan girl silently chanting “Oh my God” while the song played on, I was a thoughtful critic, able to draw comparisons between past and present U2 and the many influences that brought this song together.
The third time I was a fan. I was able to take the two prior experiences and meld them into something more visceral, more enjoyable. I turned the radio up, cut across traffic lanes and sped up on the dusky highway. My body swayed to the music, I easily picked out lyrics and found myself involuntarily singing along with the oh, oh, ohs. Now I had no doubt this was better than great, “Vertigo” is fantastic.
The song has energy and vitality. It’s so typically U2, filled with endless contradictions. It’s classically U2 yet completely now. It’s hopeful but questioning. Simple and complex. “Vertigo” fits in so well with the work U2 was doing more than 20 years ago on albums like “Boy” and “War” yet there’s no way the band could have made that song at any time but now.
U2 has often said that on each album there’s one song that ties back to its previous work, “Vertigo” is one of those songs, providing a bridge to “Beautiful Day” through Larry’s rolling drum work, “Where the Streets Have No Name” with the melodic guitar overdubs, the entire “Boy” album with the emotion of Bono’s vocals far outshining their artistry. But the song keeps the band moving forward. By piecing together bits of its own history and intertwining that with rock’s history (The Kinks, The Clash, The Ramones), U2 has created something new.
And how will this all play out live? During the ‘90s, U2 proudly declared that bigger was better, creating albums and tours that pitted music and against spectacle. To me, “Vertigo” won’t work in that kind of atmosphere, would be lost in a world of satellites, gargantuan television screens and pop art slideshows. This song is sweaty and immediate, something that would properly trample a cramped club. There’s a new wave sway to the song that needs to be acted out by hundreds of like-minded individuals in a very tight space. If only U2 could do theaters and clubs.
We’ve waited a mighty long time for a new U2 song. It’s been two summers since “Electrical Storm” had all of us salivating for new material. Was this one-off for the best of compilation a clue to the future of U2? We dissected interviews, read story after story of tales from the studio, waiting, begging, never quite sure if we could wait it out. Release dates were bandied about and taken back. It’s a lot for a fan to take.
But listening to “Vertigo” those three times on the radio that day makes it all worth it. I have nothing but faith that the new album will rock, that U2 will once again prove that the world should believe the hype. The tour, whatever size, color and shape it takes, will be phenomenal.
This song is important for me as a U2 fan; the intensity generated post-Elevation tour slowly wavering. And why not, hundreds of new albums and tours have come and gone in the process. In the three years since the end of that tour I’ve become a disciple of Elvis Costello, reaffirmed my Madonna fanaticism, grown particularly attached to John Mayer and proudly sung the praises of Ashlee Simpson. But now all of that can take the back seat thanks to “Vertigo.”
By Devlin Smith, Contributing Editor
2004.09
Thursday, like many U2 fans around the world, I had my first listen of “Vertigo.” Two months ahead of the release of “How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb,” I heard the album’s first single three times on three different LA radio stations. Two of those times it was labeled “exclusive.”
Each time was a little different. The first time was so much like a first time, like a first kiss with my body a jumble and my head full of too many adjectives and inane, cluttered analyses. I tried to be logical and critical but nothing really stuck, it was all too fresh to be properly categorized. Regardless, I knew it was great.
The second time there was a little more clarity. I distanced myself, no longer the dizzy fan girl silently chanting “Oh my God” while the song played on, I was a thoughtful critic, able to draw comparisons between past and present U2 and the many influences that brought this song together.
The third time I was a fan. I was able to take the two prior experiences and meld them into something more visceral, more enjoyable. I turned the radio up, cut across traffic lanes and sped up on the dusky highway. My body swayed to the music, I easily picked out lyrics and found myself involuntarily singing along with the oh, oh, ohs. Now I had no doubt this was better than great, “Vertigo” is fantastic.
The song has energy and vitality. It’s so typically U2, filled with endless contradictions. It’s classically U2 yet completely now. It’s hopeful but questioning. Simple and complex. “Vertigo” fits in so well with the work U2 was doing more than 20 years ago on albums like “Boy” and “War” yet there’s no way the band could have made that song at any time but now.
U2 has often said that on each album there’s one song that ties back to its previous work, “Vertigo” is one of those songs, providing a bridge to “Beautiful Day” through Larry’s rolling drum work, “Where the Streets Have No Name” with the melodic guitar overdubs, the entire “Boy” album with the emotion of Bono’s vocals far outshining their artistry. But the song keeps the band moving forward. By piecing together bits of its own history and intertwining that with rock’s history (The Kinks, The Clash, The Ramones), U2 has created something new.
And how will this all play out live? During the ‘90s, U2 proudly declared that bigger was better, creating albums and tours that pitted music and against spectacle. To me, “Vertigo” won’t work in that kind of atmosphere, would be lost in a world of satellites, gargantuan television screens and pop art slideshows. This song is sweaty and immediate, something that would properly trample a cramped club. There’s a new wave sway to the song that needs to be acted out by hundreds of like-minded individuals in a very tight space. If only U2 could do theaters and clubs.
We’ve waited a mighty long time for a new U2 song. It’s been two summers since “Electrical Storm” had all of us salivating for new material. Was this one-off for the best of compilation a clue to the future of U2? We dissected interviews, read story after story of tales from the studio, waiting, begging, never quite sure if we could wait it out. Release dates were bandied about and taken back. It’s a lot for a fan to take.
But listening to “Vertigo” those three times on the radio that day makes it all worth it. I have nothing but faith that the new album will rock, that U2 will once again prove that the world should believe the hype. The tour, whatever size, color and shape it takes, will be phenomenal.
This song is important for me as a U2 fan; the intensity generated post-Elevation tour slowly wavering. And why not, hundreds of new albums and tours have come and gone in the process. In the three years since the end of that tour I’ve become a disciple of Elvis Costello, reaffirmed my Madonna fanaticism, grown particularly attached to John Mayer and proudly sung the praises of Ashlee Simpson. But now all of that can take the back seat thanks to “Vertigo.”
I agree with you.....except for the whole John Mayer thing! 
