financeguy said:
Yeah, very true, Bono walks on a fine line between banality and brilliance. HTDAAB is no different from previous albums in that respect.
I have to disagree there to an extent. There are certainly a LOT of cliches on The Joshua Tree (I'm sure Bono would cop to that immediately), and it was mainly the freshness of the music that was so groundbreaking there. That being said, there are some beautiful pieces of writing on there like RTSS.
Achtung Baby, as great as it is, also has a handful of trite lines, but that's expected as almost every song is about relationships or the breakdown thereof.
However, I think you'd have a hard time finding banality or cliche on Zooropa and POP (as well as the Passengers and M$H projects), as Bono was tackling a lot of different characters, subjects and themes on those records. It's really why I prefer the 90's work, moreso than the daring of the music.
Bono's current "problem" may be in that he's lately been addressing subjects that tend to bring out cliches. When you're writing songs about the state of violence in the world or relationships, you're not going to have a lot to work with (especially after doing it so many times before). Even something as personal as SYCMIOYO is a far cry from Bono's writing about his mother in Lemon. When you're writing about the effect of technology upon our culture, or religion on culture, or these more "idea" driven topics, you're going to have a lot more to work with.
As sad as it sounds, I'm not envisioning the band dipping into that well again (Fast Cars is the only recent song that ventures into this kind of terrain). It seems like they've come full circle, and will perhaps explore the crises and thoughts that come with middle age (I recognize this is something that makes a lot of people cringe, as even John Lennon was only able to do this with a modicum of success). They will more likely than not be keeping it close to home. There's no doubt that we're only likely to see a couple more albums before the band quits while they're ahead. But of course, you never know, especially considering the personalities and eclectic tastes of the band members.
laz