The Zoo World Order(Achtung. Zooropa. Passengers. Pop.)

[namkcuR]

I've been listening to U2's 90s output a lot the past few days(coming back to the catalog after a long break, in anticipation of the new album). Getting really into it. They really had no fear, no restraint in terms of artistic ambition back then. And the musical climate they were in at the time - the glory days of alternative rock - was conducive to making the kind of music they were making. I think the line from Zooropa's title track - "AND I DON'T KNOW THE LIMIT, THE LIMIT OF WHAT WE GOT" - sums U2's collective state of mind back then up very well. The sky was the limit. There was nothing they couldn't do, no place they couldn't go. That confidence is evident in the music. They've never sounded more confident and fresh and lively than they do on Zooropa, Lemon, Stay, Dirty Day, Hold Me Thrill Me Kiss Me Kill Me, anything on Passengers, Discotheque, Do You Feel Loved, Gone, etc etc. The only time they showed any fear or thought of limitation is when they opted to use the Passengers moniker for their third album of the decade.

Achtung Baby. Enough said. READY FOR THE LAUGHING GAS. LOVE IS A TEMPLE. WAVES OF REGRET AND WAVES OF JOY I REACHED OUT FOR THE ONE I TRIED TO DESTROY. TAKE A DRIVE IN THE DIRTY RAIN TO A PLACE WHERE THE WIND CALLS YOUR NAME. THE UNIVERSE EXPLODED 'CAUSE OF ONE MAN'S LIE. YOU COULD MOVE ON THIS MOMENT, FOLLOW THIS FEELING. DON'T LET THE BASTARDS GRIND YOU DOWN.

Zooropa is a trip. Their Dark Side. The title track is mind-blowing. It's riffs are some of the sweetest I have ever heard. AND I HAVE NO COMPASS AND I HAVE NO MAP AND I HAVE NO REASON NO REASON TO GO BACK. I HEAR VOICES RIDICULOUS VOICES OUT IN THE SLIPSTREAM. LET'S GO TO THE OVERGROUND GET YOUR HEAD OUT OF THE MUD BAY-BAY. OVERGROUND. SHE'S GONNA DREAM UP THE WORLD SHE WANTS TO LIVE IN, SHE'S GONNA DREAM OUT LOUD, DREAM OUT LOUD. Babyface. HOW CAN BEAUTY BE SO KIND TO AN ORDINARY GUY. Numb. TOO MUCH IS NOT ENOUGH(the ambient middle 8 on this is just gorgeous). Lemon. AND THROUGH THE LIGHT PROJECTED HE CAN SEE HIMSELF UP CLOSE. Stay. DRESSED UP LIKE A CAR CRASH. Daddy's Gonna Pay. The fanfare intro into the trippy techno beat. YOU'VE GOT A HEAD FULL OF TRAFFIC. Dirty Day. THOSE DAYS DAYS DAYS RUN AWAY LIKE HORSES OVER THE HILLS. Etc. Currently my favorite U2 record.

Passengers is just a breathtaking piece of art. Mixing post-rock atmospherics with beautiful, haunting melodies, pieces like Slug, Your Blue Room, Always Forever Now, A Different Kind Of Blue, Beach Sequence, Miss Sarajevo, One Minute Warning, Corpse(These Chains Are Way Too Long), among others are sadly overlooked or never known. The work of serious artists. A DIFFERENT KIND OF CONVERSATION IN YOUR BLUE ROOM. TIME SHOOTS ON BY. SURREAL IN HER CROWN.

Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me, was single that I always simultaneously felt was perfect for the Batman Forever soundtrack, but also way way way way way too good to not be put on an album. It would've fit fine on either Zooropa or Pop. It is one of THE best singles the band has ever put out. YOU'RE A BIG SMASH, YOU WEAR IT LIKE A RASH, STAR.

Pop was the band en route back to the mainstream after Zooropa and Passengers. Despite all commentary to the contrary, Zooropa and Passengers are much more out there than Pop. Pop is a relatively accessible techno rock album. And it kicks ass. Discotheque. YOU GET CONFUSED BUT YOU KNOW IT YEAH YOU HURT FOR IT WORK FOR IT LOVE YOU DON'T ALWAYS SHOW IT. Do You Feel Loved. TAKE MY SHIRT, COME ON TAKE IT OFF ME, YOU CAN TEAR IT UP IF YOU CAN TIE ME DOWN. Mofo. LOOKING FOR A SOUND THAT'S GONNA DROWN OUT THE WORLD LOOKING FOR THE FATHER OF MY TWO LITTLE GIRLS. Staring At The Sun. INTRANSIGENCE IS ALL AROUND. Last Night On Earth. SHE HASN'T BEEN TO BED IN WEEKS SHE'LL BE DEAD SOON THEN SHE'LL SLEEP. Gone. YOU HURT YOURSELF YOU HURT YOUR LOVER THEN YOU DISCOVER WHAT YOU THOUGHT WAS FREEDOM WAS JUST GREED. Please. SO YOU NEVER KNEW WHAT WAS ON THE GROUND UNTIL THEY MADE YOU CRAWL. Etc.

THIS IS THE ZOO WORLD ORDER. Always loved that phrase and that Rolling Stone cover.

I think U2's 90s output - including the universally hailed instantly legendary ZooTV tour and it's follow-up Popmart tour - could be their entire catalog and it would still be enough to make them legends of the music industry.

Fuck, I think their 90s output is unique enough to the rest of their catalog that if one who was completely unfamiliar with them read a brief history that said:

"After burning out following the superstardom that came with The Joshua Tree and Rattle And Hum, U2 disbanded in 1989. They reformed at the outset of the 90s under a different moniker, THE ZOO WORLD ORDER. As THE ZOO WORLD ORDER, they experimented with dance rock, industrial rock, techno rock, glam rock, post rock, art pop, and more. They put out four LPs - 1991's Achtung Baby, 1993's Zooropa, 1995's Passengers, and 1997's Pop, as well as the 1995 stand-alone single Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me. They went on two tours - the 1992-93 Zoo TV/Zooropa tour in support of Achtung Baby and Zooropa, and the 1997-98 Popmart tour in support of Pop. Both were groundbreaking and redefined what could be done on a rock tour. At the conclusion of the Popmart tour in 1998, THE ZOO WORLD ORDER disbanded, and later that year, they officially re-adopted the U2 moniker, and put out a compilation of their biggest hits from the 80s. Two years later, in 2000, they put out the first U2 record since Rattle And Hum 12 years earlier, All That You Can't Leave Behind, and it was hailed as a comeback masterpiece."

they would have no trouble at all believing it.

ACHTUNG, Y'ALL!


CLICK IT TO READ THE ARTICLE INSIDE

 

[kingofsorrow]

"After burning out following the superstardom that came with The Joshua Tree and Rattle And Hum, U2 disbanded in 1989. They reformed at the outset of the 90s under a different moniker, THE ZOO WORLD ORDER. As THE ZOO WORLD ORDER, they experimented with dance rock, industrial rock, techno rock, glam rock, post rock, art pop, and more. They put out four LPs - 1991's Achtung Baby, 1993's Zooropa, 1995's Passengers, and 1997's Pop, as well as the 1995 stand-alone single Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me. They went on two tours - the 1992-93 Zoo TV/Zooropa tour in support of Achtung Baby and Zooropa, and the 1997-98 Popmart tour in support of Pop. Both were groundbreaking and redefined what could be done on a rock tour. At the conclusion of the Popmart tour in 1998, THE ZOO WORLD ORDER disbanded, and later that year, they officially re-adopted the U2 moniker, and put out a compilation of their biggest hits from the 80s. Two years later, in 2000, they put out the first U2 record since Rattle And Hum 12 years earlier, All That You Can't Leave Behind

FINALLY!!!!!!! someone see's it my way.

 

[An Cat Gav]

Fantastic piece of writing, I agree with everything you say, you put it perfectly.
Well done.

 

[Rob33]

Remember though....the Zoo World Order would never have existed if it weren't for everything they did before it....

 

[Screwtape2]

"After burning out following the superstardom that came with The Joshua Tree and Rattle And Hum, U2 disbanded in 1989. They reformed at the outset of the 90s under a different moniker, THE ZOO WORLD ORDER. As THE ZOO WORLD ORDER, they experimented with dance rock, industrial rock, techno rock, glam rock, post rock, art pop, and more. They put out four LPs - 1991's Achtung Baby, 1993's Zooropa, 1995's Passengers, and 1997's Pop, as well as the 1995 stand-alone single Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me. They went on two tours - the 1992-93 Zoo TV/Zooropa tour in support of Achtung Baby and Zooropa, and the 1997-98 Popmart tour in support of Pop. Both were groundbreaking and redefined what could be done on a rock tour. At the conclusion of the Popmart tour in 1998, THE ZOO WORLD ORDER disbanded, and later that year, they officially re-adopted the U2 moniker, and put out a compilation of their biggest hits from the 80s. Two years later, in 2000, they put out the first U2 record since Rattle And Hum 12 years earlier, All That You Can't Leave Behind, and it was hailed as a comeback masterpiece."

Achtung Baby was in many ways a natural progression from the JT/R&H era. The dark themes and demons in the AB were being forshadowed by songs like Deep In The Heart, Walk To The Water, Race Against Time and Exit. The Salome versions of Acrobat, TTTYAATW, WGRYWH and So Cruel could easily have made sense in the late 80's catalog. For those reasons, the whole Zoo World Order is a silly idea to me. Achtung Baby only had a few really experimental songs by their standards. It isn't that much of a departure when you look at it.

All That You Can't Leave Behind is probably the least U2 sounding album of theirs. If anything they'd have a new name and identity for this decade.

 

[U2girl]

 

[KhanadaRhodes]

wow, i actually agree with this! that's a great essay.

good job, namkcur!

 

[gareth brown]

Remember though....the Zoo World Order would never have existed if it weren't for everything they did before it....

that's it. the zoo world order's lost all credibility now! Wait til people found out they used to make albums like THE JOSHUA TREE and RATTLE AND HUM!!

seriously though, love the first post which is saying something. i usually feel awkward for people who give over the top flowerly analysis but this hits the mark. they were like a totally different band!

 

[phillyfan26]

Now it kind of makes sense that I enjoy everything U2 did in the 80s more than everything they did in the 90s.

 

[Peterrrrr]

80's better then AB and Zooropa? NO!

 

[david]

I dunno, I think they were just as mainstream and popular in the 90's as they were in the 80's.. all they really did was just change their sound. If you look at the group and compare them by decades the 80's so U2 as a band on the rise wanting to be the biggest band in the world all the while wearing their heart on their sleeves. The 90's saw them try to downplay their 80's earnestness by shifting up their sound all the while still being a popular mainstream act.. The U2 in the 00's saw the band trying to hold onto relevance while trying to craft the perfect pop tune.

 

[digitize]

Achtung Baby was in many ways a natural progression from the JT/R&H era. The dark themes and demons in the AB were being forshadowed by songs like Deep In The Heart, Walk To The Water, Race Against Time and Exit. The Salome versions of Acrobat, TTTYAATW, WGRYWH and So Cruel could easily have made sense in the late 80's catalog. For those reasons, the whole Zoo World Order is a silly idea to me. Achtung Baby only had a few really experimental songs by their standards. It isn't that much of a departure when you look at it.

All That You Can't Leave Behind is probably the least U2 sounding album of theirs. If anything they'd have a new name and identity for this decade.

I'd agree with that entirely. The 90s U2 output was just as much U2 as the 80s U2 output, and arguable more U2 than the 2000s output (although, in the end, U2 decides what is U2 and what isn't U2).

I the 90s.

 

[gareth brown]

i think where mainstream is concerned once U2 had entered it, they were very unlikely to leave so anything, however experimental is going to be considered mainstream because they're U2, they're big, very famous and so on. It's not like they made Kid A seven or eight years in advance or anything it was still very U2 in places. But jesus christ what a bunch of albums.

 

[Zoots]

I've been saying this for years! They were a COMPLETELY different band in mind, body and soul. I wouldn't be surprised if it turns out that those 4 people got kidnapped and we're seeing 4 other people in their place now. That said, JT/R&H and ATYCLB/Bomb are not off the same thread. JT... esp. the first 3 tracks are beyond brilliant!

Anyway, nice post about the Zoo/Pop era!

 

[dal975]

great post.

one of my eternal frustrations is the fact that the post-AB 90s albums were not appreciated by non-U2ers. Another is how because of discoteque, DYFL & Mofo, Pop was labeled a techno (or at least a rock-techno fusion) album. That just drives me crazy.

The track Zooropa is absolutely brilliant and criminally underappreciated.

 

[dal975]

just wanted to clarify something i just posted. I realize there are electronic elements throughout Pop and the first three tracks are techno-driven. What drives me crazy is when casual fans are led to believe that that is all there is to the album.

 

[Zoots]

U2girl, isn't this like your favorite topic? Please tell us how much the 90s were far superior compared to everything else!

 

[phillyfan26]

80's better then AB and Zooropa? NO!

Achtung Baby is terribly overrated and terribly produced, Zooropa had an EP's worth of good songs, and Pop was rushed to the point of ruining most of the tracks.

For me:

1. Joshua Tree
2. Unforgettable Fire
3. Boy
4. War
5. October
6. Achtung Baby
7. HTDAAB
8. Zooropa
9. Rattle and Hum
10. Pop
11. All That You Can't Leave Behind

 

[Jimmy Jazz]

Joshua Tree is terribly overrated and terribly produced, Unforgettable Fire had an EP's worth of good songs, and October was rushed to the point of ruining most of the tracks.

For me:

1. Achtung Baby
2. Zooropa
3. Joshua Tree
4. All That You Can't Leave Behind
5. Pop
6. Boy
7. War
8. Rattle & Hum
9. Unforgettable Fire
10. October
11. How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb

 

[phillyfan26]

The Clash

 

[Jimmy Jazz]

 

[elevated_u2_fan]

I've been listening to U2's 90s output a lot the past few days(coming back to the catalog after a long break, in anticipation of the new album). Getting really into it. They really had no fear, no restraint in terms of artistic ambition back then. And the musical climate they were in at the time - the glory days of alternative rock - was conducive to making the kind of music they were making. I think the line from Zooropa's title track - "AND I DON'T KNOW THE LIMIT, THE LIMIT OF WHAT WE GOT" - sums U2's collective state of mind back then up very well. The sky was the limit. There was nothing they couldn't do, no place they couldn't go. That confidence is evident in the music. They've never sounded more confident and fresh and lively than they do on Zooropa, Lemon, Stay, Dirty Day, Hold Me Thrill Me Kiss Me Kill Me, anything on Passengers, Discotheque, Do You Feel Loved, Gone, etc etc. The only time they showed any fear or thought of limitation is when they opted to use the Passengers moniker for their third album of the decade.

Achtung Baby. Enough said. READY FOR THE LAUGHING GAS. LOVE IS A TEMPLE. WAVES OF REGRET AND WAVES OF JOY I REACHED OUT FOR THE ONE I TRIED TO DESTROY. TAKE A DRIVE IN THE DIRTY RAIN TO A PLACE WHERE THE WIND CALLS YOUR NAME. THE UNIVERSE EXPLODED 'CAUSE OF ONE MAN'S LIE. YOU COULD MOVE ON THIS MOMENT, FOLLOW THIS FEELING. DON'T LET THE BASTARDS GRIND YOU DOWN.

Zooropa is a trip. Their Dark Side. The title track is mind-blowing. It's riffs are some of the sweetest I have ever heard. AND I HAVE NO COMPASS AND I HAVE NO MAP AND I HAVE NO REASON NO REASON TO GO BACK. I HEAR VOICES RIDICULOUS VOICES OUT IN THE SLIPSTREAM. LET'S GO TO THE OVERGROUND GET YOUR HEAD OUT OF THE MUD BAY-BAY. OVERGROUND. SHE'S GONNA DREAM UP THE WORLD SHE WANTS TO LIVE IN, SHE'S GONNA DREAM OUT LOUD, DREAM OUT LOUD. Babyface. HOW CAN BEAUTY BE SO KIND TO AN ORDINARY GUY. Numb. TOO MUCH IS NOT ENOUGH(the ambient middle 8 on this is just gorgeous). Lemon. AND THROUGH THE LIGHT PROJECTED HE CAN SEE HIMSELF UP CLOSE. Stay. DRESSED UP LIKE A CAR CRASH. Daddy's Gonna Pay. The fanfare intro into the trippy techno beat. YOU'VE GOT A HEAD FULL OF TRAFFIC. Dirty Day. THOSE DAYS DAYS DAYS RUN AWAY LIKE HORSES OVER THE HILLS. Etc. Currently my favorite U2 record.

Passengers is just a breathtaking piece of art. Mixing post-rock atmospherics with beautiful, haunting melodies, pieces like Slug, Your Blue Room, Always Forever Now, A Different Kind Of Blue, Beach Sequence, Miss Sarajevo, One Minute Warning, Corpse(These Chains Are Way Too Long), among others are sadly overlooked or never known. The work of serious artists. A DIFFERENT KIND OF CONVERSATION IN YOUR BLUE ROOM. TIME SHOOTS ON BY. SURREAL IN HER CROWN.

Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me, was single that I always simultaneously felt was perfect for the Batman Forever soundtrack, but also way way way way way too good to not be put on an album. It would've fit fine on either Zooropa or Pop. It is one of THE best singles the band has ever put out. YOU'RE A BIG SMASH, YOU WEAR IT LIKE A RASH, STAR.

Pop was the band en route back to the mainstream after Zooropa and Passengers. Despite all commentary to the contrary, Zooropa and Passengers are much more out there than Pop. Pop is a relatively accessible techno rock album. And it kicks ass. Discotheque. YOU GET CONFUSED BUT YOU KNOW IT YEAH YOU HURT FOR IT WORK FOR IT LOVE YOU DON'T ALWAYS SHOW IT. Do You Feel Loved. TAKE MY SHIRT, COME ON TAKE IT OFF ME, YOU CAN TEAR IT UP IF YOU CAN TIE ME DOWN. Mofo. LOOKING FOR A SOUND THAT'S GONNA DROWN OUT THE WORLD LOOKING FOR THE FATHER OF MY TWO LITTLE GIRLS. Staring At The Sun. INTRANSIGENCE IS ALL AROUND. Last Night On Earth. SHE HASN'T BEEN TO BED IN WEEKS SHE'LL BE DEAD SOON THEN SHE'LL SLEEP. Gone. YOU HURT YOURSELF YOU HURT YOUR LOVER THEN YOU DISCOVER WHAT YOU THOUGHT WAS FREEDOM WAS JUST GREED. Please. SO YOU NEVER KNEW WHAT WAS ON THE GROUND UNTIL THEY MADE YOU CRAWL. Etc.

THIS IS THE ZOO WORLD ORDER. Always loved that phrase and that Rolling Stone cover.

I think U2's 90s output - including the universally hailed instantly legendary ZooTV tour and it's follow-up Popmart tour - could be their entire catalog and it would still be enough to make them legends of the music industry.

Fuck, I think their 90s output is unique enough to the rest of their catalog that if one who was completely unfamiliar with them read a brief history that said:

"After burning out following the superstardom that came with The Joshua Tree and Rattle And Hum, U2 disbanded in 1989. They reformed at the outset of the 90s under a different moniker, THE ZOO WORLD ORDER. As THE ZOO WORLD ORDER, they experimented with dance rock, industrial rock, techno rock, glam rock, post rock, art pop, and more. They put out four LPs - 1991's Achtung Baby, 1993's Zooropa, 1995's Passengers, and 1997's Pop, as well as the 1995 stand-alone single Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me. They went on two tours - the 1992-93 Zoo TV/Zooropa tour in support of Achtung Baby and Zooropa, and the 1997-98 Popmart tour in support of Pop. Both were groundbreaking and redefined what could be done on a rock tour. At the conclusion of the Popmart tour in 1998, THE ZOO WORLD ORDER disbanded, and later that year, they officially re-adopted the U2 moniker, and put out a compilation of their biggest hits from the 80s. Two years later, in 2000, they put out the first U2 record since Rattle And Hum 12 years earlier, All That You Can't Leave Behind, and it was hailed as a comeback masterpiece."

they would have no trouble at all believing it.

ACHTUNG, Y'ALL!


CLICK IT TO READ THE ARTICLE INSIDE

...all this time to write this article (which I agree with btw) and you can't finish the Radiohead survivor

 

[Zoots]

 

[BVS]

I love 90's U2, but they are extremely overrated in this forum. They are placed on this pedestal. Outside of interference 90's U2 ranks about the same as 80's and 00's...

One observation I have made is that most of the 90's worshipers, the ones that think U2 were somehow actually different in their approach, were fans who found them in the middle of the 90's or after. For those with a little more perspective realize it was just another step, but it was always the same approach and the same four guys they are today.

 

[U2girl]

David and Bonovoxsupastar, well said.

For me:

JT
AB
UF
War
Bomb (With Zooropa occasionally fighting it for the spot)
All that
Pop
Rattle and hum
Boy
October

Bomb All That Pop. How's that for an album title ?

 

[namkcuR]

I love 90's U2, but they are extremely overrated in this forum. They are placed on this pedestal. Outside of interference 90's U2 ranks about the same as 80's and 00's...

One observation I have made is that most of the 90's worshipers, the ones that think U2 were somehow actually different in their approach, were fans who found them in the middle of the 90's or after. For those with a little more perspective realize it was just another step, but it was always the same approach and the same four guys they are today.

I got into them big time about two months after the Popmart tour ended.

It would be easier to swallo what you're saying if they weren't so intent on whitewashing their post-AB 90s work. Stay was performed on the Elevation tour, First Time on the Vertigo tour. The two most U2-sounding songs on Zooropa. Aside from the one-off Wanderer performance(which never would have happened in a million years without the Johnny Cash tribute), nothing else from Zooropa has sniffed the light of day since ZooTV. Discotheque and Staring At The Sun got some play here and there on the Elevation Tour, but Gone was the only full-time regular from Pop on that tour. Aside from a one-off performance of Discotheque, nothing from Pop was played on the Vertigo tour. Larry publicly referred to Passengers as 'terrible, self-indulgent music'. Whenever you've seen news magazines covering U2 for any reason in recent years, and they go through U2's discography, it's 'War-Unforgettable Fire-Joshua Tree-Rattle And Hum-Achtung Baby-ATYCLB-Bomb'. Zooropa and Pop are skipped on a regular basis, almost as if the networks are told by U2 to do so.

And I don't agree about ATYCLB sound less like U2 than the 90s records. I agree that there individual songs on it that are very un-U2 sounding - In A Little While, Wild Honey, Peace On Earth, Grace - but to me, Elevation could fit in as a watered-down 90s u2 songs, and Beautiful Day and Stuck In A Moment and Walk On and Kite - and I like these songs, mind you - while sounding more modern, are in the same vein as JT-era U2(just to clarify, I love JT too). U2 were trying to make a real pop album while also going back to their roots, so that's why there's some uniqueness to it.

 

[BVS]

I got into them big time about two months after the Popmart tour ended.

It would be easier to swallo what you're saying if they weren't so intent on whitewashing their post-AB 90s work. Stay was performed on the Elevation tour, First Time on the Vertigo tour. The two most U2-sounding songs on Zooropa. Aside from the one-off Wanderer performance(which never would have happened in a million years without the Johnny Cash tribute), nothing else from Zooropa has sniffed the light of day since ZooTV. Discotheque and Staring At The Sun got some play here and there on the Elevation Tour, but Gone was the only full-time regular from Pop on that tour. Aside from a one-off performance of Discotheque, nothing from Pop was played on the Vertigo tour. Larry publicly referred to Passengers as 'terrible, self-indulgent music'. Whenever you've seen news magazines covering U2 for any reason in recent years, and they go through U2's discography, it's 'War-Unforgettable Fire-Joshua Tree-Rattle And Hum-Achtung Baby-ATYCLB-Bomb'. Zooropa and Pop are skipped on a regular basis, almost as if the networks are told by U2 to do so.

I've never seen anyone report on U2, go through a full discography and leave out those two albums, that would just be shitty journalism.

I don't understand these "whitewashing" their post AB theories that people have. Zooropa came out in the middle of a tour, even the tour itself only played a handfull of songs from the album some only a few times, and the lead off single was a joke live. So if they were whitewashing they started it right away. Same with Pop, they may have played more songs off the album, but some only a few times, and some they never figured out. How many of them would have fit in the last two albums? Maybe they're whitewashing October as well. It's a ridicuous argument.

And yes, Passengers was self-indulgent, guess what, they even played one of those song live... Whitewashing? I don't think so.

 

[Ellay]

For me, nineties onwards U2 IS U2.

Everything before was build up.

 

[namkcuR]

I've never seen anyone report on U2, go through a full discography and leave out those two albums, that would just be shitty journalism.

I don't understand these "whitewashing" their post AB theories that people have. Zooropa came out in the middle of a tour, even the tour itself only played a handfull of songs from the album some only a few times, and the lead off single was a joke live. So if they were whitewashing they started it right away. Same with Pop, they may have played more songs off the album, but some only a few times, and some they never figured out. How many of them would have fit in the last two albums? Maybe they're whitewashing October as well. It's a ridicuous argument.

And yes, Passengers was self-indulgent, guess what, they even played one of those song live... Whitewashing? I don't think so.

60 minutes did a segment on U2 in November of 2005 - middle of the Vertigo tour - what follows is a link to a certain page in the thread discussing that segment, and in it are a series of posts in which people, including myself, are discussing the fact that while showing the U2 album covers from JT onwards chronologically, R&H, Zooropa, and Pop were skipped. http://forum.interference.com/f189/...nutes-with-the-band-146822-8.html#post3168867

The only song on Pop that they never figured out was If God. DYFL was a solid, solid performance the first show or two of Popmart. The others were obviously very good. Mofo, LNOE, Gone, Miami, Please, HMTMKMKM.

Hey, look, we can agree to disagree. And U2 might still surprise me. Before the Vertigo tour, plenty of us thought we'd never hear Zoo Station or The First Time or Miss Sarajevo or An Cat Dubh/Into The Heart live again, and we were wrong.

Anyway, I didn't start this to be a debate thread. I was just really getting into those records the past few nights and wanted to share/appreciate.

 

[Zoots]

60 minutes did a segment on U2 in November of 2005 - middle of the Vertigo tour - what follows is a link to a certain page in the thread discussing that segment, and in it are a series of posts in which people, including myself, are discussing the fact that while showing the U2 album covers from JT onwards chronologically, R&H, Zooropa, and Pop were skipped.

Yup! I remember watching that and wondering why they skipped those albums.