starsgoblue
Blue Crack Addict
Band’s journey parallels look of frontman Bono
Friday, November 26, 2004
Patrick Kastner
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
Those who don’t care for U2 are advised not to turn on their television or radio or read any entertainment publications for the next 365 days or so. For this will be the year of U2.
If the omnipresent iPod commercials aren’t enough, consider this: The four lads from Dublin have returned this week with a critically acclaimed new album, How To Dismantle an Atomic Bomb, and a world tour will begin early next year. And the band is a shoo-in to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in January.
We didn’t want to be left out of the U2 marketingblitz fun. So, in the spirit of media saturation, we offer a look back at U2 through the fashion statements of the band’s loquacious frontman, Bono.
pkastner@dispatch.com
1. EARLY CLUELESSNESS (1979-82)
Bono’s look: That’s not hair; that’s a dead animal!
Quintessential song: I Will Follow becomes the band’s first hit, featuring a driving beat and guitarist the Edge’s prototypical blistering runs. But the title isn’t inspiring. The future biggest rock band in the world does not follow; it leads.
2. HEARTS ON THEIR SLEEVES (1983-84)
Bono’s look: Yes, Virginia, that is a mullet.
Quintessential song: Sunday Bloody Sunday is the band’s call to arms for peace. U2 finds its voice in songs protesting violence and intolerance — and its fashion sense (in a messed-up, ’80s sort of way).
3. THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST (1985-89)
Bono’s look: Rail-ridin’ hobo or extra from a Charlie Chaplin movie?
Quintessential song: Where the Streets Have No Name — the slowly building, anthemic opener of the band’s biggestselling album, The Joshua Tree (1986) — drips earnestness, as does everything about U2 during this era. The band’s uber-sensitive look consists of puffy shirts, vests and ponytails.
4. LOOK, MA! IRONY! (1990-93)
Bono’s look: Slicked-back hair, big black sunglasses, lots of leather. This is how rock stars dress, baby!
Quintessential song: Mysterious Ways arrives as the hit single you can dance to. In the biggest 180-degree turn ever by a rock band, U2 goes from vomit-inducing sincerity to irony-drenched postmodernism in the course of one album, 1991’s Achtung Baby.
5. POP TARTS (1994-99)
Bono’s look: Umm, Robin Williams . . . at a rave . . . with a buzz cut?
Quintessential song: Numb, a throbbing, spoken-word disco song is monotonously recited by the Edge. U2 loses its edge in a world of techno music, giant lemons and failed engagements to supermodels, leaving many of its fans scratching their heads and wishing for the good old days of lectures from Bono on the evils of American imperialism.
6. ROCK STARS WHO FELL TO EARTH (2000- PRESENT)
Bono’s look: Distinguished elder rock star
Quintessential song: Beautiful Day, a return-to-the-roots rocker that opens 2000’s All That You Can’t Leave Behind, signals a readiness to marry experimentalism with the arena-rocking U2 of old. And the modern-day Bono needs a multifunctional look: He must be comfortable playing rock star, partying with Christina Aguilera and Michael Stipe or power-lunching with the pope and George W. Bush while championing projects such as Third World debt relief.
Friday, November 26, 2004
Patrick Kastner
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
Those who don’t care for U2 are advised not to turn on their television or radio or read any entertainment publications for the next 365 days or so. For this will be the year of U2.
If the omnipresent iPod commercials aren’t enough, consider this: The four lads from Dublin have returned this week with a critically acclaimed new album, How To Dismantle an Atomic Bomb, and a world tour will begin early next year. And the band is a shoo-in to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in January.
We didn’t want to be left out of the U2 marketingblitz fun. So, in the spirit of media saturation, we offer a look back at U2 through the fashion statements of the band’s loquacious frontman, Bono.
pkastner@dispatch.com
1. EARLY CLUELESSNESS (1979-82)
Bono’s look: That’s not hair; that’s a dead animal!
Quintessential song: I Will Follow becomes the band’s first hit, featuring a driving beat and guitarist the Edge’s prototypical blistering runs. But the title isn’t inspiring. The future biggest rock band in the world does not follow; it leads.
2. HEARTS ON THEIR SLEEVES (1983-84)
Bono’s look: Yes, Virginia, that is a mullet.
Quintessential song: Sunday Bloody Sunday is the band’s call to arms for peace. U2 finds its voice in songs protesting violence and intolerance — and its fashion sense (in a messed-up, ’80s sort of way).
3. THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST (1985-89)
Bono’s look: Rail-ridin’ hobo or extra from a Charlie Chaplin movie?
Quintessential song: Where the Streets Have No Name — the slowly building, anthemic opener of the band’s biggestselling album, The Joshua Tree (1986) — drips earnestness, as does everything about U2 during this era. The band’s uber-sensitive look consists of puffy shirts, vests and ponytails.
4. LOOK, MA! IRONY! (1990-93)
Bono’s look: Slicked-back hair, big black sunglasses, lots of leather. This is how rock stars dress, baby!
Quintessential song: Mysterious Ways arrives as the hit single you can dance to. In the biggest 180-degree turn ever by a rock band, U2 goes from vomit-inducing sincerity to irony-drenched postmodernism in the course of one album, 1991’s Achtung Baby.
5. POP TARTS (1994-99)
Bono’s look: Umm, Robin Williams . . . at a rave . . . with a buzz cut?
Quintessential song: Numb, a throbbing, spoken-word disco song is monotonously recited by the Edge. U2 loses its edge in a world of techno music, giant lemons and failed engagements to supermodels, leaving many of its fans scratching their heads and wishing for the good old days of lectures from Bono on the evils of American imperialism.
6. ROCK STARS WHO FELL TO EARTH (2000- PRESENT)
Bono’s look: Distinguished elder rock star
Quintessential song: Beautiful Day, a return-to-the-roots rocker that opens 2000’s All That You Can’t Leave Behind, signals a readiness to marry experimentalism with the arena-rocking U2 of old. And the modern-day Bono needs a multifunctional look: He must be comfortable playing rock star, partying with Christina Aguilera and Michael Stipe or power-lunching with the pope and George W. Bush while championing projects such as Third World debt relief.
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