U2, classified as Pop/Rock
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The friendliest place on the web for anyone that follows U2.
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
Zoots
Blue Crack Supplier
2Hearts said:Michael Jackson is the King of Pop and U2 are his princes.
*shudders*
LeafsNation
The Fly
Yahweh said:
So Metallica and Green Day are Pop too because they sell a lot of records? Rubbish...U2 is no Pop band. When I think of Pop I think of Kelly Clarkson, Celine Dion, and Jessica Simpson..,U2 is simply a rock and roll band with wider appeal than most other rock bands. How can you describe a U2 concert experience anything but a "Rock" concert?
david
ONE love, blood, life
I think some of you are OVER THINKING this and not truely understanding the idea of pop rock, which is really what U2 is and has always been.
U2DMfan
Rock n' Roll Doggie VIP PASS
Bono calls himself a pop singer in a pop band in every other interview.
Aardvark747
Blue Crack Addict
The next album should be Black Metal...
Aardvark747
Blue Crack Addict
ZeroDude said:They are a band, pure and simple, it's best not to be pigeon holed into a certain genre a fate that I wouldn't force upon anyone, well done to U2 on always making the music that they wanted to
MsMofoGone
Blue Crack Addict
It depends on the song played ... as some of their songs are Pop
music and some songs are more rock music ...
I consider U2 both ... classified as Pop and Rock musicians !!
And as long as we don't go back to the Zooropa era ...
where U2 were classified as Alternative ...
That's one classification for U2's music I just could NOT understand why the music industry put them in that category
music and some songs are more rock music ...
I consider U2 both ... classified as Pop and Rock musicians !!
And as long as we don't go back to the Zooropa era ...
where U2 were classified as Alternative ...
That's one classification for U2's music I just could NOT understand why the music industry put them in that category
bathiu
Refugee
'Pop' is not just 'popular'.
When I think 'Pop' I think about THE SOUND and STYLE of music like Madonna, Britney etc, all boys&girlsbands. This is a very special kind of music, it's not dance (even if it has dance parts), it's not techno (even if it has techno beats), it's not rock (even if it has guitar parts)... it's POP, a genre of music (add to that very special kind of videos, CD covers and image).
U2 are Rock (Boy, October, War, JT, R&H, AB, HTDAAB)
U2 are Alternative/Indie Rock (Zooropa, Passengers, Pop, "M$H o.s.t.")
U2 are also Pop (ATYCLB)
I'd say they are a 100% Rock band.
When I think 'Pop' I think about THE SOUND and STYLE of music like Madonna, Britney etc, all boys&girlsbands. This is a very special kind of music, it's not dance (even if it has dance parts), it's not techno (even if it has techno beats), it's not rock (even if it has guitar parts)... it's POP, a genre of music (add to that very special kind of videos, CD covers and image).
U2 are Rock (Boy, October, War, JT, R&H, AB, HTDAAB)
U2 are Alternative/Indie Rock (Zooropa, Passengers, Pop, "M$H o.s.t.")
U2 are also Pop (ATYCLB)
I'd say they are a 100% Rock band.
learn2kneel
War Child
allmusic.com classifies them as Alternative Pop/Rock which according to them is defined as:
Alternative Pop/Rock is essentially a catch-all term for post-punk bands from the mid-'80s to the mid-'90s. Though there is a variety of musical styles within Alternative Rock, they are all tied together since they existed outside of the mainstream. In some ways, there are two waves of alternative bands, with Nirvana's success in 1991 acting as a dividing point. In the '80s, most alternative bands were on independent labels; if they were on majors, they didn't receive as much support as most of the label's mainstream acts. During the '80s, alternative included everything from jangle pop, post-hardcore punk, funk metal, punk pop, and experimental rock. After Nirvana's popularity in the '90s, alternative included all of these subgenres, but many of the edges were sanded off because the music was now being marketed as part of the mainstream. Hard rock and punk-derived music were more commercially successful than the left-of-center pop that dominated late-'80s alternative pop/rock, so alternative lost some of its quirkier tendencies in the '90s. Most experimental bands were relegated to indie rock.
Alternative Pop/Rock is essentially a catch-all term for post-punk bands from the mid-'80s to the mid-'90s. Though there is a variety of musical styles within Alternative Rock, they are all tied together since they existed outside of the mainstream. In some ways, there are two waves of alternative bands, with Nirvana's success in 1991 acting as a dividing point. In the '80s, most alternative bands were on independent labels; if they were on majors, they didn't receive as much support as most of the label's mainstream acts. During the '80s, alternative included everything from jangle pop, post-hardcore punk, funk metal, punk pop, and experimental rock. After Nirvana's popularity in the '90s, alternative included all of these subgenres, but many of the edges were sanded off because the music was now being marketed as part of the mainstream. Hard rock and punk-derived music were more commercially successful than the left-of-center pop that dominated late-'80s alternative pop/rock, so alternative lost some of its quirkier tendencies in the '90s. Most experimental bands were relegated to indie rock.
sallycinnamon78
New Yorker
According to these silly little labels that keep floating around, Ms Dion is more AOR than anything else.
Bono (much as I love him) can call himself Ermintrude The Cow from The Magic Roundabout if he so chooses. That doesn't make it true.U2DMfan said:
IT IS A CASE OF PERSONAL DEFINITION - what constitues each genre and subgenre? Where do they cease linking?
U2 are 'pop' and nothing else? Yet they duet with BB King, one of the great blues players of all time?
How about the little detail that all modern music descends from the blues?! [ incidentally - that's why all the MOBO Awards bullshit irks me - the beat is from Africa; all music descends from the beat, so ALL music is of 'black' origin.]
Jesus H. Christ on a friggin' BIKE. There's no such thing as objective musical taste - it is personal and therefore SUBJECTIVE. So, you may as well ask "how long is a piece of string?"
All I have to say to you lot is this:
Today on this program you will hear gospel,
And rhythm and blues, and jazz
All those are just labels
We know that music is music
This is a beautiful day
It is a new day
We are together, we are unified
And all for the cause
Because together we got power
Apart we got power
Come together as one.
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Zoots
Blue Crack Supplier
Nice post, Sally.
STOP CLASSIFYING BANDS INTO CATEGORIES.
STOP CLASSIFYING BANDS INTO CATEGORIES.
Michael Griffiths
Rock n' Roll Doggie
When Bono calls U2 a pop band, he means in the sense of, among others, The Beatles, The Stones, Nirvana, Oasis, even Radiohead; in other words, bands that have seeped into the collective and, yes, "popular", consciousness of the mainstream. It's music that defines an era, not necessarily by its sound, but by its gravity.
TheBrazilianFly
Rock n' Roll Doggie FOB
Michael Griffiths said:
Perfect!
phanan
Blue Crack Addict
A dying breed of rock and roll with pop appeal...
U2phan
The Fly
U2 is the last great rock band...sadly Coldplay is too pop, but we're still calling them "the next U2"...but Coldplay still is my 2nd favoirte band
AtomicBono
ONE love, blood, life
U2phan said:
I agree, I think U2 is the last truly great rock band.
But I also agree that U2 need not be categorized - they're simply U2. I'd put them under the large umbrella of "rock" but that's very broad when you think about it.
Meghan
Refugee
AtomicBono said:
I really hope U2 isn' the last great rock 'n' roll band. They're gonna have to stop one day, and if that's it for rock, then I might as well shoot myself on that day.
On my iPod I classify most U2 songs as 'Unclassifiable.'
If I were to choose a style definitively, I think I would choose Soul, because in every U2 song there seems to be an element that isn't in most other songs. I don't know what it is, but I refer to it as soul. (Partly 'cause I just like the word
) And that classification, to me, doesn't seem as limiting as Rock or Pop, because every sort of music can have Soul. Rap can, Hip-hop can, Rock can, Pop can, Blues can, Indie can, Dance can, everything CAN have Soul, just not that many artists seem very good at it sometimes.
Well, anyway, that's what I think. In the end, it is just a matter of opinion. If you can dance to Elvis Presley and America, then go ahead and call it dance music.
aislinn
Acrobat
I am not sure how to classify them between pop or rock. Depends on what you consider pop music and rock and roll, I guess.
But I do know what they're not: "Brit Rock." That's how Real Player classifies U2.
But I do know what they're not: "Brit Rock."
That's how Real Player classifies U2.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pop_music
^-- this is the definition that most people in mainstream think of IMO
"In general, pop music features simple, memorable melodies with catchy, sing-along choruses. Pop songs often have a hook, one or more musical ideas repeated to "hook" a listener's interest. A hook can be any part of the song, musical, rhythmic, vocal, or as is most often the case, a mixture of all of them. Pop music is usually instantly accessible to anyone who is culturally inclined to take part, even the musical novice."
^--- i'd take this even further and say, pop music is music that gets in your head fast, but gets boring fast as well
"Successful pop music, which is often measured in terms of its commercial success, is usually performed by charismatic performers who look attractive, are fashionable, and usually are able to dance well. Songwriting and arranging may be done by professional songwriters rather than the performers and the record producer often chooses the songs and shapes the sound of the music."
^-- this is the definition that most people in mainstream think of IMO
"In general, pop music features simple, memorable melodies with catchy, sing-along choruses. Pop songs often have a hook, one or more musical ideas repeated to "hook" a listener's interest. A hook can be any part of the song, musical, rhythmic, vocal, or as is most often the case, a mixture of all of them. Pop music is usually instantly accessible to anyone who is culturally inclined to take part, even the musical novice."
^--- i'd take this even further and say, pop music is music that gets in your head fast, but gets boring fast as well
"Successful pop music, which is often measured in terms of its commercial success, is usually performed by charismatic performers who look attractive, are fashionable, and usually are able to dance well. Songwriting and arranging may be done by professional songwriters rather than the performers and the record producer often chooses the songs and shapes the sound of the music."
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