Jdelbove said:
just watched that youtube clip wow - Bono "we might loose some of the pop kids along the way but we dont need them" things realy have changed.
Do u think U2 realizes this and have consioulsly become for Pop friendly or do they have no clue things have changed when it comes down to it
I'd love to meet them and challenge them on it. I was looking at "U2 by U2" the other day, and came across a comment by Bono from 2005 or whenever he spoke for the book. Bono says Bowie liked "The Fly", but wanted them to rerecord it, but it was too late. He goes on to say that "it took us 15 years to get it right live. It did go to number 1 in the UK, though." Notice the emphasis on metrics of popularity. How is that a justification? The old U2 didn't care if "The Fly" was dismissed in North America; it was a great song. How is it better live now? I don't get it.
At some point, you can see a shift from U2's artistic direction from wanting to reinvent to now be "the best band in the world" and be ever-present in pop culture -- even if that means the most superficial aspects.
Look at this old interview from 1980; this poor interviewer and her breed has since been replaced by idiot VJs with no taste or depth:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MPL3dEroZR4
Bono says at the end (around 2:10) about music needing to change.
The ambition to be big was always there, but it was about changing the mainstream on THEIR artistic terms; no longer; they self-consciously pursue hits. Adam and Larry said during the HTDAAB sessions that they hadn't had a number 1 since "Discotheque" and needed one this time.
Nowadays, The Edge says he wishes he'd written Oasis' "Wonderwall", which is a decent, fun song, but rather meaningless and not terribly inventive.
Most illustrative of this change is Bono pumping up "Vertigo" by saying it sounds like an instant classic riff, like a song you've heard before. He said in a Chicago Suntimes or Rollingstone interview that "Vertigo" isn't supposed to sound amazing the first time you hear it but the 300th time you hear it. It's supposed to remind you of the classics. Where's the challenge? U2 is now trying to be The Beatles, and it's not what they're best at.
"Window in the Skies" sounds a bit like stereotypical Beatles and it's been nominated for a Grammy (among a list of shameful nominees, except The Arcade Fire) and it worries me that U2 will take this and their sweep of the Grammys 2 years ago for HTDAAB as a sign they're on the right track, when in fact they're not!
I think they got used to the bigness of the '90s and it points up the band and especially Bono's insecurities of fading away, and that may have led to these compromises.
Bono has hinted a lot about his insecurity. He talked about sometimes he's talking to someone at a party and that person will leave to go to the washroom, and he'll take it like they don't want to speak with him anymore and gets a bit worried or upset. That really speaks to me! I'd love him to actually write about his insecurities. It would be amazing to see a song that talks about this or many songs that allude to this, instead of a bunch of shallow party songs like Elevation and "All Because of You". Aside from a few songs about his father like "Kite" and "Sometimes" and the amazing "Stuck in a Moment", there's just not as much depth, and, when there is lyrically, the music isn't as complex or subtle enough. U2 isn't writing about their pain as much or Bono is trying to hard to communicate obviously, rather than through metaphor.
I thought it was well-done/well-shot, but the performance was lacking, probably because it was the end of about 2 years of touring. One of the ZooTV (1992) Outside gigs would have been a better choice.
