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U2, The Best of 1990-2000
By Bernard Zuel
November 16 2002
The decade that confirmed their greatness.
U2, The Best of 1990-2000 (Island/Universal)
A great band is one that can, in its second decade, change direction and still make music at least as vital, challenging and lasting as that made during its first 10 years.
By the end of the 1980s, U2 had said everything they could, having taken the booming, heartfelt rock 'n' roll from the post-punk Boy to its natural peak with The Joshua Tree (and a patchy denouement with the Rattle And Hum extravaganza).
Oh, sure, they could have gone on saying it and millions of fans would have gone with them, at least for two or three more albums. And when that petered out they could have turned themselves into a touring cash cow a la the creatively moribund Rolling Stones.
But U2 were too smart, or too self-conscious, to do that. The glib version of what they did in the '90s was to discover irony and dance music. Both were factors, but what really turned the band was not new: sensuality and freedom.
The band that had looked as white as bleach found its hips and learnt how to use them, making sexy music for the first time. They utilised dance beats but - and this is a crucial point - they never became a dance band. Even when they reached as far as Discotheque, from 1997's Pop, they were always U2.
Furthermore, the recognition that they had nothing else to say, or prove, or explore in the old form, gave them the freedom to try technology, irony, humour; to be self-mocking while still tapping into their roots. It didn't always work but it worked a lot more often than many people gave them credit for.
And it must be understood that 2000's "comeback" album, All That You Can't Leave Behind, was only made possible by the experiments and diversions of the '90s that refreshed the band and reignited its love for what U2 could be.
This collection, then, is a canny package. First of all it rewards fans by not just sticking on one but two new songs and then offers remixes of several others. But it also offers a safer than necessary route through the band's decade by avoiding some of the more exciting, if less marketable, cuts. If you want a broader picture try for the limited-edition pack with a B-sides disc that shows flaws and some great vision.
Either way, marvel at how a band that could easily have become Simple Minds became instead one of the most important of its generation.
U2, The Best of 1990-2000
By Bernard Zuel
November 16 2002
The decade that confirmed their greatness.
U2, The Best of 1990-2000 (Island/Universal)
A great band is one that can, in its second decade, change direction and still make music at least as vital, challenging and lasting as that made during its first 10 years.
By the end of the 1980s, U2 had said everything they could, having taken the booming, heartfelt rock 'n' roll from the post-punk Boy to its natural peak with The Joshua Tree (and a patchy denouement with the Rattle And Hum extravaganza).
Oh, sure, they could have gone on saying it and millions of fans would have gone with them, at least for two or three more albums. And when that petered out they could have turned themselves into a touring cash cow a la the creatively moribund Rolling Stones.
But U2 were too smart, or too self-conscious, to do that. The glib version of what they did in the '90s was to discover irony and dance music. Both were factors, but what really turned the band was not new: sensuality and freedom.
The band that had looked as white as bleach found its hips and learnt how to use them, making sexy music for the first time. They utilised dance beats but - and this is a crucial point - they never became a dance band. Even when they reached as far as Discotheque, from 1997's Pop, they were always U2.
Furthermore, the recognition that they had nothing else to say, or prove, or explore in the old form, gave them the freedom to try technology, irony, humour; to be self-mocking while still tapping into their roots. It didn't always work but it worked a lot more often than many people gave them credit for.
And it must be understood that 2000's "comeback" album, All That You Can't Leave Behind, was only made possible by the experiments and diversions of the '90s that refreshed the band and reignited its love for what U2 could be.
This collection, then, is a canny package. First of all it rewards fans by not just sticking on one but two new songs and then offers remixes of several others. But it also offers a safer than necessary route through the band's decade by avoiding some of the more exciting, if less marketable, cuts. If you want a broader picture try for the limited-edition pack with a B-sides disc that shows flaws and some great vision.
Either way, marvel at how a band that could easily have become Simple Minds became instead one of the most important of its generation.
