What IS Rattle & Hum about?

[IWasBored]

i agree that the part with streets was great.

did anyone mention adam's goofy bow as the band were walking back to the stage or to the dressing room (i forget if they were coming or going)?

 

[david]

I think Rattle and Hum was the foot in the door for U2. The foot in the door of a room they wanted to leave soon because they got tired of being in it for so long. They didn't get through that door until Achtung Baby. Or maybe because of the backlash they got for Rattle and Hum because they got flack for wanting to embrace American Rock and Roll from the 50's and 60's. So maybe they got pissed and recorded Achtung Baby as a big FU from Berlin. "We tried to embrace American Rock, but screw you, here's noisy Berlin rock." I don't know. I think my lack of sleep is showing in what I am typing right now.

 

[beegee]

this is a great thread. i have to agree with U2kitten. the band shows plenty of humor pre-nineties. anyone seen the documentary "outside it's america?" (workin' on your copy, kitten...hang in there) bono sings a song for the edge that still cracks me up after all these years...buys a cowboy hat in the southwest...jokes in a dive bar with a skanky cocktail waitress...annoys a photographer on a photo shoot by fooling around...larry sings along with a country song in a dive bar. should i go on?

personally, i think bono has always had a bit of mischief behind those blue eyes...

 

[Moonlit_Angel]

i agree that the part with streets was great.

did anyone mention adam's goofy bow as the band were walking back to the stage or to the dressing room (i forget if they were coming or going)?

I love the "Streets" performance-especially at the end of the song where Bono goes, "Oh, my darling, I wanna go there with you, yeah"-that's a really sweet way to end the song...I love that.

My personal favorite performances from that film, though, will always be the "Bullet The Blue Sky" and "Sunday Bloody Sunday" ones. Those just kick major arse.

I noticed Adam's goofy bow, yes. They were going back to the stage.

U2Kitten, thank you for the picture...

Angela

 

[corianderstem]

The whole "too serious, too blah blah blah" thing was the inevitable backlash from overexposure -- all the acclaim, all the success, all the fawning media attention that came after the release of JT.

I can't recall what I was just reading ("the bible," I think), and Bono said he was getting those "red flags" during the ZooTV/Zooropa tours that told him they were veering toward overexposure. He mentioned those red flags came up around the time of "Rattle and Hum," but ignored them.

And I totally laughed at that interview where the Edge half-jokingly said he would like to apologize for R&H. Hee!

I was gaga for U2 when R&H came out, and I saw it several times in the theaters. I still watch the DVD and enjoy it, but lately I just burst into giggles when I watch their serious, dour expressions. Yeah, there's bits of humor in it, but it just cracks me up.

But then, by the last half hour or so of the movie, it's all music, and the giggles and eye-rolling have gone away, and it's just wonderful. And that, after all, is the point.

 

[Dorian Gray]

But then, by the last half hour or so of the movie, it's all music, and the giggles and eye-rolling have gone away, and it's just wonderful. And that, after all, is the point.

Well put...

 

[U2Kitten]

Angel- you're welcome

Bonosgirl84- thanks

Another thing is, why do they have to be smiling and laughing all the time? As several of us have pointed out, there were humorous moments, but there's nothing wrong with being serious when you're discussing something serious, of if there's nothing particularly funny at the moment. I wouldn't call that 'dull' or 'dour', just regular. They laugh sometimes, sometimes they're serious, that doesn't make them po-faced. People who have to constantly be cutting up and making a joke out of everything annoy the hell out of me. It stops being funny and becomes irritating, or even stupid. U2 had a good mix of sense, sensibility, humor and personality. That's the way it should be with us all. Besides, those 'serious' expressions some of you diss are some of the hottest and sexiest damn pics I've ever seen

 

[Moonlit_Angel]

Angel- you're welcome

Bonosgirl84- thanks

Another thing is, why do they have to be smiling and laughing all the time? As several of us have pointed out, there were humorous moments, but there's nothing wrong with being serious when you're discussing something serious, of if there's nothing particularly funny at the moment. I wouldn't call that 'dull' or 'dour', just regular. They laugh sometimes, sometimes they're serious, that doesn't make them po-faced. People who have to constantly be cutting up and making a joke out of everything annoy the hell out of me. It stops being funny and becomes irritating, or even stupid. U2 had a good mix of sense, sensibility, humor and personality. That's the way it should be with us all.

Exactly.

Just as people can't be serious 24/7, they can't also be funny 24/7.

There needs to be a balance.

And U2 has managed that balance very nicely, like you said.

Originally posted by U2Kitten
Besides, those 'serious' expressions some of you diss are some of the hottest and sexiest damn pics I've ever seen

Yeah, you got that right....

Angela

 

[corianderstem]

I don't want them to be serious all the time, no way no how. I don't know if it was my post you were referring to, but I just meant that I totally understand how the backlash and the scoffing at R&H came about.

On a shallow note, I have to say during "Bad" on R&H, Bono just looks icky. I don't mind Sweaty!Bono, but combined with the sweaty, stringy hair and those goofy high-waisted pants with the overalls over his bare chest ... ew.

So uh, back to the point of the thread, Rattle and Hum is about sweaty, long-haired, serious Bono.

 

[Moonlit_Angel]

On a shallow note, I have to say during "Bad" on R&H, Bono just looks icky. I don't mind Sweaty!Bono, but combined with the sweaty, stringy hair and those goofy high-waisted pants with the overalls over his bare chest ... ew.

Really?

I personally thought he looked good at that part, but....

This thread is turning PLEBA-esque, isn't it...

Originally posted by corianderstem
So uh, back to the point of the thread, Rattle and Hum is about sweaty, long-haired, serious Bono.

LOL.

Angela

 

[corianderstem]

At the time, I thought he looked fiiiiiiiiiiiine, but now that I've seen Achtung Baby Bono, Pop Bono, and Elevation tour Bono, I'll take that over sweaty Bono anytime.

 

[Desire4Bono]

*AHEM* Excuse me. ICKY? NOTHING is hotter than sweaty, long haired, Rattle and Hum Bono, especially in Bad. That is the epitome of sexiness. How dare you call him icky? If anything was icky, it was sweaty Pop Bono, he looked like a plucked turkey boiling in a pot with the head still on and the eyes open. 'Eeww' to that! Now I agree AB and Elevation Bono were very hot, but nothing is hotter than Rattle and Hum Bono. Cori, let's take this back to PLEBA Meet you out back, after school!

To answer the original question, Rattle and Hum was a movie about a band, on tour, in the late 80's and what it was like along the way. It's more concert and documentary than movie, and it is greatness.

 

[corianderstem]

Oh my god, I've been called out! I'm bringing my bodyguard over to PLEBA...

 

[Desire4Bono]

Oh my god, I've been called out! I'm bringing my bodyguard over to PLEBA...

No bodyguars, just one on one! (my bodyguard is on vacation ) No on second thought, behind the school is better than PLEBA. All those other girls will insist he NEVER looked 'icky' and kick both our asses!

 

[corianderstem]

Oh dear ... Perhaps I've set myself up for certain death now!