Yeah, what he said
GW: So it's really about that dichotomy.
Edge: Maybe that's why we're drawn to it. There is something bogus about
playing to people's expectations. Throughout our career we've had opportunities
to do the safe thing, and some would say that our reasons for not doing so boil
down to simple perversity. I think -- I know -- it's because we're suspicious of
doing what's expected of us. You must do what you're led to do, and for us that's
always been about taking risks and looking to debunk myths, to debunk notions
that have grown up about the band and the work that we've done, and to really
look for what's now and what's current, what speaks about this year, not last
year, not two years ago.
I suppose what people are struggling with is their conception of what the band is
versus what the show seems to be about. The public's notion of what the band
stands for is quite one-dimensional. It denies our humour. It denies a lot of
humanity that's there. I suppose we're hanging on to humour because it's
important for us. When it really gets down to it, we don't write humorous songs
very often. So our shows are an opportunity to fill out some of the gaps that
might exist in the albums. It's a chance to have some fun and have a laugh.
That's what the show is: as much as anything else, apart from giving us the
opportunity to meet our audience and play new songs, it's fun.
GW: You raise an interesting point in that Pop, despite all the hullabaloo about the
techno elements in some of the songs, has a lot in common with U2's Eighties
albums.
Edge: Absolutely! I think anyone who's spent time with the new album will
notice that some of those songs could have been on our second record, October,
or Unforgettable Fire or The Joshua Tree, in terms of the intention and the idea
behind them -- the themes and the emotions behind the lyrics. Without it
having been an intention at the outset, I see this album almost as being a
compendium of musical slices culled from all the different phases of the band's
career.
The broad range of the songs on this record is consistent with the position we've
always taken on certain issues and the kind of songs that we've always written. I
think when the album really starts to sink in, fans will understand that, in the
end, the show is about the music.
I don't think we would've called the tour PopMart or called the album Pop if it
had been kind of a throwaway record of radio-friendly hits. I think it works as a
tour concept and as a title for the album because, in fact, the album is anything
but that. It's some of the most soul-searching music we've released in the last 10
years. In some ways it's a very personal and intense record.
? 1997 Guitar World magazine. All rights reserved.
War!
Me too. POP really came alive live, I think, and I found that I really missed a lot of those songs during Elevation.
to all the Pop lovers 
, much, much better than the CD! 
