Originally posted by Saracene:
But haven't they done it to some extent on every single of their albums? U2 certainly didn't come from nowhere, no matter how poetic it may sound. Bono himself said in some interview I've read a while ago how, while listening to "Boy" now, he can pick out their early influences like The Ramones and other artists. There are gazillions of songs with structures like "I Will Follow" that were written before U2, just as there are gazillions of songs with structures like "Stuck". So distinguishing ATYCLB from the rest of the U2 albums on the basis you've described doesn't really make a lot of sense, unless you're making that distinction just because ATYCLB's influences are more "mainstream", even though it stands out from the R&B, teen pop and nu-metal mainstream of -today- just like any other U2 album did in the past.
On an "experimentation" subject: I've met with a lot of instances when, while agreeing with the definition you've described, people seemed to have a lot of bias towards experimenting specifically with electronic/dance/techno music. I've heard people gush endlessly about U2's "pioneering spirit in the 90s", talking about how experimental that music was, while giving no credit whatsoever to their 80s albums which had no less musical changes and growth on them.
Saracene,
True, U2 have been influenced, to some degree, on every album. They've never lived in an absolute vacuum. What I meant was,
relatively speaking (in relation to other bands at the time), they were perhaps the most isolated band
in the mainstream. Their sound was very different, overall, to anyone else -- including the Ramones. Of course they had some influences (they used to play a lot of Ramones convers before they became U2, and they also appreciated The Clash), but their
sound was different.
It actually says something that, only now, can Bono hear the influences of the Ramones on the Boy album. They must be quite subtle for Bono, who adores the music of The Ramones, to have never really heard them in his music until now.
As far as 'I Will Follow' being a typical song structure, I do pretty much agree, but that was the
only song that actually did much on the charts from the entire album. Even U2's first single, 'Out of Control' didn't climb as high as they hoped. As far as the rest of the album was concerned, the sound was very new, and took some getting used to. 'I Will Follow' opened that door, and only then did people "follow".
I used 'Stuck' as only one example on ATYCLB that has a generic pop song structure. Pretty much the entire album is filled with such songs (with the exceptions of 'New York' and 'Grace'). On no other fully studio effort has U2 done this (where 90% of the album is written in a traditional pop song structure). That's my point. (And, remember, it's not a bad thing.)
While ATYCLB stands out from the current mainstream climate, as all of their albums have respectively, it is now doing so by reaching back into a previously mainstream climate. The only difference is, the
style of the songs are contemporary this time. On previous albums, it wasn't merely that the style was new (and/or U2), but it was also the sound and, in many cases, the structure.
Regarding the popular opinion that U2 only experimented in the 90s, I adamently disagree as well. U2 hired Brian Eno back in 1984 for a reason. They wanted to venture out from the rock music they were duplicating (or so it seemed to them) up to and around the
War era. They ventured out into slippery territory, even though they were on the verge of becoming big. They took more of a risk then than they did many years later with Achtung Baby, in this sense. (I suppose they believed the cliche: "The biggest risk is not taking one." Well, it worked.) The 90s were more about electronic experimentation. The 80s were more about what the band could do with a simple guitar, drums, bass, yearning vocals, and the right equipment -- maybe not much has changed afterall
. So, yes, U2 have always experimented (see above).
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The Tempest
[This message has been edited by Michael Griffiths (edited 05-25-2002).]
