Were U2 ever 'cool'?

[cobl04]

I ask this question as I consider myself a minor in the world of U2. I now have 117 songs, including live versions, so I am hoping that I have only skimmed below the surface of the ocean that is U2.

My friend is a massive fan of the Red Hot Chilli Peppers and blink-182. One of the reasons he likes them so much is because of how they act live; the Red Hot Chilli Peppers have performed naked, and do all this 'crazy shit' on stage. He likes blink-182 because they are very entertaining and 'funny' live. He also likes certain 'funny' songs they have both written.

Was there a stage in U2's career where they were considered to be 'cool?' Was there a time where U2 did 'crazy shit' on stage? I have recently read some stuff about ZooTV, like Bono ordering 1000 pizzas, big heads, calls to presidents, charcters such as MacPhisto and The Fly. Was it during this era that U2 were at the peak of their 'coolness'? I have heard Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me, and I reckon that may be the coolest song I have heard so far by U2.

And as much as I like the 2000 era, I don't really consider it to be that cool.

Basically, when my friend starts mouthing off about how cool the bands he likes are, I want to be able make a case for U2.

This is in no means putting down U2, I am just saying that compared to the Red Hot Chilli Peppers, blink-182 and other bands they seem to be a bit more 'restrained', I think. I love U2 for how they appear on stage, I love the Slane DVD. Please don't take this as a negative thread.

 

[LemonMelon]

Good music is cool man. If you need to do "crazy s***" to be cool, then Michael Jackson is the 21st Century Fonz.

 

[Hoodlem]

U2 has never been that "cool"

The coolest they ever got was in the 90's when they basically put on an act for an entire decade.

Of course this all depends on your definition of "cool"

 

[menelaos]

If you want something crazy, watch the Chicago dvd where Bono brings that kid on stage...

Well if this is not rock'n roll what it is...?

Seriously know, if you can go watch the Best Of 90-00 dvd the performance of Until The End Of The World...

 

[BVS]

Cool is not being concerned with cool.

Blink 182 are not cool.

 

[financeguy]

on a scale of coolness from 0 to 100, blink182 rank about -30.

mr mcphisto, on the other hand, is as cool as a particularly cool eskimo who has been in a very large freezer for a very long time. while wearing sunglasses.

 

[U2DMfan]

on a scale of coolness from 0 to 100, blink182 rank about -30.

I think even that is generous.

 

[the rockin edge]

Good music is cool man. If you need to do "crazy s***" to be cool, then Michael Jackson is the 21st Century Fonz.

 

[Clawgrabber]

blink 182 are broken up.
blink 182 no more.

 

[KiteKate]

I think the whole, "shoving crotches into cameras" thing was sort of "weird shit". At least, it was kind of odd.

I think just being able to make GOOD music is cool, though.

 

[innocent_eyes]

You need ZooTV live from sydney, to shut your friend up...and possibly convert him to U2.

LOL!!

(hey, there's no Fly smilie!!)

 

[LMP]

You need ZooTV live from sydney, to shut your friend up...and possibly convert him to U2.

LOL!!

(hey, there's no Fly smilie!!)

does this count as one?

 

[indra]

Any music I listen to is cool, and anyone who thinks otherwise is inconsequential. You should adopt the same attitude.

Besides true cool doesn't have to "do" anything to be cool. It just is.

 

[Lemonfix]

Everything I touch turns to cool.

 

[discotech]

MacPhisto = cool

The Fly = cool

ZooTV & Popmart = cool

Mirrorball Lemon = cool

Boy = cool

the big fighter jet behind Edge for Bullet the Blue Sky = cool

Love and Peace or Else = cool

Bono on drums for Love and Peace or Else = hilarious & ridiculous but cool

Larry keeping the girls away with a hose = cool

Bono's sunglasses (as in my avatar) = beyond cool

 

[Zoocoustic]

In response to the original post; I see where you're coming from.

And you are right on: U2 were "cool" during the 90's. Every single thing they did was cool. And they were big; like, think of how annoyingly "big" artists like Gwen Stefani and Usher and Kanye West are right now...that's how big U2 was. You were basically an outcast if you weren't on the "I love U2" bandwagon. Even people who had no clue about music "loved" them.

The ironic thing was that U2 was putting on a big act during the 90's...most people didn't realize that. They were mocking the "rock star" life and they did it so well that many thought that's what they really were. Personally, I loved it.

They were also very cool in the Joshua Tree era, but that was pre-my interest in the band so I can't really speak to that as well. I do remember they were everywhere at that time, but I wasn't into music at that point in my life.

But as was mentioned earlier, if you can, watch the ZooTV from Sydney video and you will get an idea of just how cool they were back then. You can also read Flanagan's book, which captures and preserves the whole ZooTV era in a very amazing way. These things prove that no matter how hard they try, U2 will never be able to even approach that level of "coolness" again (and most other bands won't be able to either).

Oh, and don't watch Popmart...that wasn't cool...it was just...trying way too hard to be ZooTV, and it couldn't even come close.

 

[KhanadaRhodes]

U2 were definitely cool in the early to mid 90s.

 

[Danny Boy]

Bono used to climb scaffolding and such during the War Tour. I guess that was considered "crazy shit" at the time.

And don't forget the famous spray paint incident in San Francisco during the Joshua Tree tour.

 

[indra]

And you are right on: U2 were "cool" during the 90's. Every single thing they did was cool. And they were big; like, think of how annoyingly "big" artists like Gwen Stefani and Usher and Kanye West are right now...that's how big U2 was. You were basically an outcast if you weren't on the "I love U2" bandwagon. Even people who had no clue about music "loved" them.

Gad, I don't remember any of that...I hardly even knew U2 was still around during that time. Of course, I seem to have missed most of the music in the nineties. Seems odd now to have "lost" most of a decade, but I was just completely uninterested in most music during that time.


....ummm, sorry for going off on a tangent there. It's just that the paragraph I quoted surprised me, as I was around during that time, but I wasn't "there" as it were, you know?

 

[Niceman]

I went to college in 1991, right before Achtung came out.

A lot of people considered U2 the epitomy of uncool, and Achtung didn't change that for them.

But for me, U2 were how I defined cool.
"A secret is something you tell another person - so I'm telling you CHILD!" And anyone who thought otherwise was just wrong, as simple as that. I didn't worry about if they might be right and I might be wrong. No, they were OBVIOUSLY wrong!

Ever since U2 became popular they have been too popular for some people to believe that they are cool, because they see cool as the knee-jerk opposite of what is popular...But no, U2 is even cool when they sing; "Freedom has a scent like the top of a newborn baby's head." WHO ELSE could be cool while saying something like that?????

 

[*sofia*]

AB era, definitely.
These days U2 are so un-cool that it's pretty cool. Who wants "cool" anyway? cool is a bit silly I think. (AB-cool was different, it was irony-over-the-top-crazy-cool and it kicked ass)

and blink 182? since when have they been cool?

Bono on drums for Love and Peace or Else = hilarious & ridiculous but cool

That's exactly what I thought! Maybe this tour they've been less "cool" than before, because Bono talks so much (You know, this preachyness everyone seems to be complaining about..) but you can't say that the stuff he talks about isn't important!

(And if cool is what you want: I think The edge, larry and adam are cool, bono just isn't very.)

I still love him though.

 

[For Honor]

I have heard Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me, and I reckon that may be the coolest song I have heard so far by U2.

What exactly do you call cool?

I'm completely unimpressed with that song, and U2's cover of it even more so.

"Cool" is a pretty flimsy term, methinks. But then again, I don't like using other people's standards to determinewhat I like, or dislike.

 

[bono_man2002]

Who is this U2 you speak of?

 

[For Honor]

quite frankly, when I think of cool as a descriptive word, I think of a juniorhigh/highschool kid(s) talking about what the media feeds to them, or some manifestation of that.

but hey, I'm just me.

 

[*sofia*]

^

 

[Pero]

If you want to say u2 is cool then say this:

-on EMA's 1994(or 1995) Bono's famous speech:"What a night, what a city, what a mistake, what an ass you have for a president."(in Paris, for Jacques Chirac)

-1992 U2 shut down nuclear plant Sellafield(i may be mistaken here)

-1992/1993 - George Bush senior said while being a president u2 had called him in the white house almost every night. I believe he said: "i don't know who they are and what they want"

-1993- U2 had a radio interview and Bill Clinton, a presidential candidate then, called them and thanked for calls in the white house and for helping him in his candidature

 

[*sofia*]

If you want to say u2 is cool then say this:

-on EMA's 1994(or 1995) Bono's famous speech:"What a night, what a city, what a mistake, what an ass you have for a president."(in Paris, for Jacques Chirac)

it's "what a WANKER you have for a president"

and yeah, that was cool!

 

[Canadiens1131]

They were cool for a spell during ZooTV.

Boy - Quirky
October - Rockin'
War - Political
Fire - Pensive
Tree - Hot
Hum - Pretentious
Baby - Cool
Zooropa - Funky
Passengers - er, Transient?
Pop - Rock
Behind - Pop
Bomb - ?

 

[KhanadaRhodes]

I'm completely unimpressed with that song, and U2's cover of it even more so.

you do realise hmtmkmkm is an original U2 song and not a cover, right?

 

[Axver]

Re: Re: Were U2 ever 'cool'?

I'm completely unimpressed with that song, and U2's cover of it even more so.