Names for each U2 trilogy...

[Rafiennes]

Boy - October - War - Boy To Man Trilogy
UF - Joshua Tree - R&H - Journey Into America Trilogy
AB - Zooropa - POP - The Nighttown Trilogy (see Bill Flannagan's book)
ATYCLB - HTDAAB - ?? - The Long Title Trilogy


Passengers is NOT a U2 album. U2 have even stated it themselves.

It's a side project. While some of the songs may fit in with what was going on musically for U2 at the time, it is called Passengers:Original Soundtracks, not U2:Original Soundtracks.

 

[Snowlock]

I think it's blatantly obvious that the whole trilogy idea just doesn't work.

Agree with some of what you're saying, but disagree with your perspective.

I think the trilogy theory is valid because it's delineated by sharp breaks, in sound. It like a story, the intro, the exposition, the climax. Then onto the next story.

Yes, TUF and R&H are rather dissimilar. But not as dissimilar as War to TUF. TJT sounds like a natural progression from TUF. And while R&H is different that TUF, it's not that different from TJT. And it's night and day from AB; God Part II notwithstanding (and I think that's a major reach anyway but willing to give you that one).

Same for the 90's. AB is so different than R&H, and Pop so different than ATYCLB; but not so different from each other, it makes for bookends of an obvious trilogy.

Vocally, Bono sounds different in all of these as well.

1. Boy - War he's got that young voice, because well, he's young
2. TUF-R&H - the Kermit Voice comes out as well, you hear it in the first verse of A Sort Of Homecoming and the last verse of All I Want Is You.
3. AB-Pop - Kermit's gone, replaced by prevelant Falsetto and his voice is noticabley weaker
4. ATYCLB-? There's a definate rasp in his voice now. The Falsetto is weaker, and he's somehow got that fuller sound back, without the Kermit crutch.

Wanna talk Edge too?

1. Boy-War; Edge has a definate punk style. Lot of staccato notes, power cords, big solo's.
2. TUF-R&H; The punk riffs are all but gone, replaced by echo/delay induced atmospherics. He develops a chiming/bell like sound.
3. AB-Pop; The atmospherics are still there, but the Echo/delay is used much more sparingly; power cords return with the big solos and Edge branches off to a wide variety of pedal induced sounds. The chiming/bell like sound is completely abandoned.
4. ATYCLB-?; This is almost a pure mixture of the three previous periods. You can find songs with punk riffs, metal power cords, chiming notes, and wide use of pedals to create unique sounds. What seems to be predominately missing are the atmospherics.

Oh, and if Passengers: OS 1 was a U2 album, they would've called it a U2 album. It's not; your personal preference notwithstanding.

 

[Reggie Thee Dog]

I can't really be bothered going on into the rest of the albums because I think my point has now been quite adequately made.

I think you make some strong arguments, but again the trilogy theory is not about album covers or even a sound that resonates throughout the three albums. It's more or less about a phase the band went through at the time. And in the first 3 sets of albums you can see that after the third album the next album was a stark contrast from the previous three.

 

[gareth brown]

LOL.... go FK Urself.

OMG, I am SOOO reporting you!
sorry i really should have put a jokey face next to my original comment I didn't mean to be rude.

 

[The Disciple]

No sweat, brother..... It's all good in the Zoo!

 

[RobH]

I think it's blatantly obvious that the whole trilogy idea just doesn't work. It especially falls to pieces if you - like I do - believe that Original Soundtracks 1 counts as a U2 album, merely released under a pseudonym. But let's put that debate aside for a second.

The so-called trilogy of Boy/October/War. The two arguments in favour of this one are the Argument From Album Cover and the Argument From Sounding Alike. I can't believe anyone actually takes the Argument From Album Cover seriously. Just because two albums have similar covers doesn't make them related! October, JT, ATYCLB, and HTDAAB aren't grouped together even though they all have covers of the four members of the band hanging around. In fact, I would argue the symbolism of the Boy and War covers disproves a cohesive trilogy. On the Boy cover, the symbolism is of innocence and youthful. On the War cover, the symbolism is of the direct opposite - there's no innocence in that picture. And as far as the Argument From Sounding Alike goes, this is more subjective, but I don't think it holds either. From Boy to War, the band has progressed from being a post-punk outfit to a group of aggressive political rockers.

Now, I think that the War --> UF transition is the greatest change of U2's career, but changes do not a trilogy make. The Unforgettable Fire, The Joshua Tree, and Rattle And Hum don't fit together either. Let's compare the sound of The Unforgettable Fire to Rattle And Hum: UF has a distinctly atmospheric, ethereal sound that tends to create soundscapes of Ireland or Europe; RAH is direct and draws very heavily on American musical traditions that just aren't found in UF. The closest RAH has to the atmosphere of UF is Heartland. JT may provide some linking threads between UF and RAH, but that doesn't create a trilogy - Pride provides a linking thread back to War but no-one's claiming a War/UF/JT trilogy, and RAH provides some linking threads between JT and AB (I often hear that God Part II predicted AB, especially Acrobat), but no-one's claiming a JT/RAH/AB trilogy. I think it's quite obvious that the idea of a UF/JT/RAH trilogy is absurd and untenable. UF and RAH might as well be from different planets - or at least continents.

I can't really be bothered going on into the rest of the albums because I think my point has now been quite adequately made.

Forget the whole album cover theory if you want, it's not really relevant musically, but you'd have to be lying if you said there was no similarity between the UF/JT/R&H covers or the AB/Zoo/Pop covers. My middle school students could Venn Diagram them for crying out loud. First three not so much, but I'm not sure they were thinking in terms of three's until War was done. But who gives a s about covers. Let's talk music, style, and tours.

Musically:
First three: Hard rock calls to (metaphorical) arms
Next three: Landscapes, America, blues, 'that sound' (Bad, I Still, All I Want, etc.)
Next three: Change of sound, lyrics have word 'baby' every fifth line

Stylistically:
First three: New Wave, hunting vests
Next three: Mullets, ponytails, leather vests
Next three: Sunglasses, haz-mat suits, anything orange, life vests

Tours:
First Three: Clubs, small amphitheaters, white flags
Next three: Bigger theaters, arenas, bigger white flags, and any festival organized by Little Steven
Next Three: Arenas, Enormous stadiums, Citrus fruits, and small damgaed European cars.

Case closed