Have U2's 21st century releases done irreparable damage to their legacy?

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lazarus said:
How many times are we going to do this? You're wrong. We've provided ample evidence multiple times that it still gets made fun of by the general public, and frequently.
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It really just depends on the group of people you’re talking about though. There’s a heck of a lot of people who can’t remember or don’t even know who U2 is nowadays.

But those who remember... remember. I’m with mikal on this one.
 
LuckyNumber7 said:
It really just depends on the group of people you’re talking about though. There’s a heck of a lot of people who can’t remember or don’t even know who U2 is nowadays.

But those who remember... remember. I’m with mikal on this one.
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Yep, and really, the people who were pissed about the iPhone thing weren't fans of U2 anyway.

I would even go as far as saying that part of U2's legacy is that they have always pushed the envelope to the point where they have always had an Anti-U2 crowd. Even in the 90's, I remember some people just absolutely hating them. That's always been there and never damaged their legacy.
 
lazarus said:
How many times are we going to do this? You're wrong. We've provided ample evidence multiple times that it still gets made fun of by the general public, and frequently.
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reading previous posts in a thread is hard.

let's just do the whole cycle in one thread here to update anyone and save time.

People who think the Apple thing still has a negative impact on the band's legacy

hey when you do a search for "u2 album" on twitter the overwhelming majority of responses, every damn day, are still about the damn itunes fiasco. like this one.

https://twitter.com/connorobrienNH/status/1423097573586489344

or this one

https://twitter.com/claytoncubitt/status/1423170792733515778

or this one

https://twitter.com/brenndinner/status/1423121622022692864

or this one

https://twitter.com/ryanpowerss/status/1423019790193594369


all sent (along with many more) within the last 24 hours - which is a thing you can do on any day at any time - drop in, search "u2 album" - and still see oodles and oodles of people complaining about it 7 years later. try it in a month. you'll get the exact same results.

how people can't see that this event has damaged U2's legacy, specifically with the youngs, who still bitch about it this many years later? i do not know.


People who don't think the Apple thing still has a negative impact on the band

Yea I don't think that matters. they still sell a shit ton of tickets and the olds love 'em. plus some people will always hate them because bono can come off as a wanker. the only people who actually are are crazy u2 fans.


rinse, recycle, repeat.
 
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There are so many tweets about the itunes thing :lol:

It's like that every day. It's pathetic, but that's what U2 are to a lot of people. Combine that with the negativity they already faced because of Bono, and their status is fucked....until Bono dies, and then everyone will acknowledge that he's a remarkable man. There's never been anyone like him.
 
Hollow Island said:
There are so many tweets about the itunes thing :lol:

It's like that every day. It's pathetic, but that's what U2 are to a lot of people. Combine that with the negativity they already faced because of Bono, and their status is fucked....until Bono dies, and then everyone will acknowledge that he's a remarkable man. There's never been anyone like him.
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i also believe that the itunes thing gave people who may have been on the fence to pile on about the usual bono type things - he's a wanker, he's pushing people for money while being a kagillionaire himself, he's cozied up to some terrible terrible political leaders, the tax thing, the hair, the stupid fucking granny glasses, his inability to not sing over edge's fucking guita... oh, wait, i think i digressed there for a second...
 
mikal said:
No one is right and no one is wrong here, especially an opinion of if something was overblown. And no evidence can prove that opinion to be right or wrong.
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If you claim that "it's only the media that constantly references it" and someone produces hard evidence that random people on the internet are still talking about it on the daily, as well as our own anecdotal evidence from seeing people make comments about it every time there's a U2 news item posted on Facebook (look at anything from Consequence of Sound, Pitchfork, etc), then yes, someone is indeed right and someone is indeed wrong.

This disparity is because you (and other posters) are looking at the band through your own personal lens, as opposed to a wider one that actually includes the general public.
 
Hollow Island said:
There are so many tweets about the itunes thing :lol:

It's like that every day. It's pathetic, but that's what U2 are to a lot of people. Combine that with the negativity they already faced because of Bono, and their status is fucked....until Bono dies, and then everyone will acknowledge that he's a remarkable man. There's never been anyone like him.
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That's my whole point. People have always hated U2. It's not like the Apple thing suddenly made this large portion of U2's audience (even casuals) suddenly hate them. That is why it did not affect their legacy.
 
lazarus said:
If you claim that "it's only the media that constantly references it" and someone produces hard evidence that random people on the internet are still talking about it on the daily, as well as our own anecdotal evidence from seeing people make comments about it every time there's a U2 news item posted on Facebook (look at anything from Consequence of Sound, Pitchfork, etc), then yes, someone is indeed right and someone is indeed wrong.

This disparity is because you (and other posters) are looking at the band through your own personal lens, as opposed to a wider one that actually includes the general public.
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I never said that. And there's zero hard evidence that this hurt their legacy. This is merely an opinion and if you're going to try to say there is hard evidence that their legacy has been damaged, then please provide a unit of measurement that defines legacy and create a graph that shows what their legacy is right now compared to other points in their career.
 
lazarus said:
Someone did:



And this is what I replied to with my post yesterday.
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Ok, but my point is that unless you can provide a unit of measurement that defines legacy and create a graph that shows what their legacy is right now compared to other points in their career, this is an opinion, not something that can be proven fact.

My opinion is that the iTunes thing was awful, it was embarrassing, and it was damaging to their image, but not their legacy. Their legacy was cemented probably even before ATYCLB but absolutely cemented after. The only thing that could damage it is a Michael Jackson/Kevin Spacey type scandal. Has nothing to do with lenses. U2 isn't even my favorite band anymore, I'm just seeing it in what I believe is the most realistic viewpoint.
 
well i tried that with the greatest albums lists and was told "polls don't matter" ;)

of course "legacy" will always be somewhat opinion based. art is opinion based.

but i think everyone should agree that being part of a running joke that is used in everything from music opinions to covid vaccines to debt ceilings debates isn't great for how people view your work.

u2 debt.jpg
 
mikal said:
Ok, but my point is that unless you can provide a unit of measurement that defines legacy and create a graph that shows what their legacy is right now compared to other points in their career, this is an opinion, not something that can be proven fact.
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This is getting tiring. Someone said this iTunes debacle was only referenced by "the media". I pointed out that we have incontrovertible evidence to the contrary, unless we're labeling every private citizen with a Twitter account as part of the media.

As for the larger, more subjective argument, I'm not going round and round with you on this anymore.
 
lazarus said:
This is getting tiring. Someone said this iTunes debacle was only referenced by "the media". I pointed out that we have incontrovertible evidence to the contrary, unless we're labeling every private citizen with a Twitter account as part of the media.

As for the larger, more subjective argument, I'm not going round and round with you on this anymore.
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Huh? I'm not even arguing the fact that someone else said the media part. I'm literally not arguing that whatsoever. I'm not going round and round on something I'm not even arguing about either.
 
I'm not on Twitter, but I've heard the place is the cesspool of life. Lol! People need better hobbies. Get over U2 mindfucking your soul and violating your library.
 
lazarus said:
Someone did:



And this is what I replied to with my post yesterday.
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I used the term “only” a little flippantly, but I stand by the fact that some overplay the iTunes debacle. Yes, I’m sure some losers still talk about it 7 years later, but that probably reflects more on them than on U2 if it still bothers them so much.

As others have said, U2 have been a divisive band since the late 80s. Since Bono upped his political campaigning in the early 2000’s, that divisiveness has increased.

But their musical legacy is set in stone. People may not have liked or appreciated SOI being put on their phones, but it doesn’t diminish the cultural, commercial or musical impact of War, The Unforgettable Fire, The Joshua Tree or Achtung Baby - all seminal rock albums.

U2 have had sell out world tours since 2014, so there are still huge numbers that love their music.

Don’t get me wrong, the iTunes thing was a bad move, but if people are still annoyed about it in 2021 then they probably have issues of their own.
 
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MrPryck2U said:
I'm not on Twitter, but I've heard the place is the cesspool of life. Lol! People need better hobbies. Get over U2 mindfucking your soul and violating your library.
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Most people aren’t on Twitter. Some, like me, are but have never posted a thing ever and are just there for the shit posts and clapbacks.

People who do post on Twitter think highly enough of their options to put them out there for everyone to read. Thus, they are more likely to have multiple opinions on many, many things, and one subject on which many people formed clear opinions on was the U2/Apple thing. Twitter gives a distorted view of the population as a whole, but when it comes to people who have opinions, it’s probably a pretty decent reflection.

So the people who care enough to care about SOI definitely still have opinions on it, and it’s a reliable punching bag because everyone remembers it, especially the opinionated.

It will be forever associated with U2. That and like Live Aid and Joshua Tree and Zoo TV and the Super Bowl.
 
I like Twitter and primarily use it to troll Jim Jordan, but of my group of friends which is a pretty large group which now includes significant others and even their kids that are old enough to have social media, I am literally the only person in the group that even has a Twitter account. They almost all have Facebook, IG, and Snapchat. Also, none of them are U2 fans but also don't give a shit about the iPhone thing.

Not saying that means anything, but I wouldn't say that based on my personal experiences, Twitter is anywhere close to an accurate representation of our population's opinions.
 
Guy, much like cobbler and his ability to pull up anti American facts at will, you can find any channel on Twitter. Just because something exists on one channel of Twitter does not make it “what Twitter is about.” If that were the case, we would all be up in arms about American exceptionalism, or better, everyone on Twitter would be gay.

You can find a channel where memeing U2 lives on. Thank the iPhone thing. Thank South Park. Thank Bono’s glasses. Whatever. Most people do not think about or care about U2. If they are a millennial or Gen X they’re probably more likely to remember the incident and have an opinion.

How hard is this?
 
LuckyNumber7 said:
Guy, much like cobbler and his ability to pull up anti American facts at will, you can find any channel on Twitter. Just because something exists on one channel of Twitter does not make it “what Twitter is about.” If that were the case, we would all be up in arms about American exceptionalism, or better, everyone on Twitter would be gay.

You can find a channel where memeing U2 lives on. Thank the iPhone thing. Thank South Park. Thank Bono’s glasses. Whatever. Most people do not think about or care about U2. If they are a millennial or Gen X they’re probably more likely to remember the incident and have an opinion.

How hard is this?
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It's really not hard at all, and I can guarantee that the millions of people that buy tickets to their next world tour aren't going to be complaining about the iPhone incident either.

It's the fact that as die hard fans, we live in a bubble where we overanalize mistakes that the band have made. While yes, this one was a bad one...really bad, it does not affect their legacy one bit.
 
I think u2 could have easily done without the last 2 bland albums. Full of forgettable songs similar to what Coldplay have been releasing since the Viva la vida album. SOI and SOE and the release format of SOI damaged U2s legacy without doubt.
 
Their only interaction with the mainstream over the last 15 years is something that turned them into a punchline. There's a whole generation that knows them as a joke. It's not like R&H, which a joke that had huge hits and was bookended by hugely successful & respected albums. Even Popmart was a joke bookended by hugely successful & respected work. The SOI release a was a joke in a desert of hitlessness and poorly received work. There's no world in which that doesn't damage their legacy because it colours how their previous work is considered, and it reduces the likelihood thay people in a generation that knows them as a joke will consider it. The fact that people still joke about it, and their decreased standing in the RS list bear this out.
 
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