Earnie Shavers
Rock n' Roll Doggie VIP PASS
BEP pre Fergie and all that Where is the Love/Lets Get Retarded rubbish were great. Behind the Front & Bridging the Gap were more than decent albums.
Thanks for the "well said," but you are mistaken if you think Obama is "conservative". As for those who oppose American actions in Afghanistan and Pakistan, I'd like to know what they would like to do to eradicate alQaeda and other Islamic extermists? Opposing the Iraq war is one thing - it was arguably not an absolutely necessary as a response to 9/11 and could have been handled better militarily and politically (though I don't think any sensible person could argue that the Iraqi people as a whole are not better off without Saddam, Qusai and Uday running the show!), but opposing US actions in Afghanistan and Pakistan is another thing altogether, intervention in both places was absolutley necessary after 9/11 (again, however, things could have been handled better in some cases - being too friendly toward Pakistan, the main safe-haven and harbor for al-Qaeda and Taliban, for example.) One must distinguish between unintended civillian casualties as a result of legitimate military actions and terrorist actions that have as their sole aim the killing of as many civilians as possible.
As for Hamas being "democratically elected," that does not make them a worthy or legitimate negotating partner. The National Socialists were democratically elected elected in Germany too Should we therefore have "negotiated" with Hitler over control of Europe and the fate of the Jews? Hamas (and Hezbollah in Lebanon) are brutal cleptocratic terrorist organisations (like the PLO, now so-called Palestinian-Authority); they rule by force and intimidation (numerous reports are available of they way they abuse and intimidate Palestinian Arabs who oppose them, especially by knee-capping). Like the PLO (especially under Arafat) they mouth democratic platitudes when speaking to Western leaders and media, but their real principle is "one vote, one time" (after which they will never voluntarily relinquish power. Hugo Chavez has also implemeted this principle in Venezuela) Hamas' charter still calls for the elimination of Israel and contains numerous anti-Semitic passages.
It is simply inconceivable for one to think that negotions can be opened on a truly just basis with Hamas when they insist on the elimination and utter destruction of their purperted negotiating partner (Would you "negotiate" with someone who said his chief aim was to kill you? No, you'd do whatever you needed to to stop him from killing you, with all necessary force.). Then again, they way you use "Zionist" as if it were a self-evidently bad thing to be, indicates that you probably do think we should have negotiated with the Nazis in the same way you wish to negotiate with the fascist anti-Semites of Hamas.
Finally, Bill Moyers is hardly an objective source for news and information. He has a long track record of extreme Leftism and is a former LBJ and Carter operative.
Anyway..sorry to go on, but it needed to be said. I would prefer to stay focused on music and not politics, at least here on this site (One aspect of U2 I've always found intriguing is that I know as many conservatives as liberals who are fans, and who respond to many different aspects of their music, often despite disagreements with some of Bono's flightier political pronouncements).
Americans should stick there heads up there arse and fuck off from the rest of the world. I say put a wall up and fuck off.
Americans should stick there heads up there arse and fuck off from the rest of the world. I say put a wall up and fuck off.
He did keyboards and production on Crazy Tonight
He did production and vocals on NLOTH 2
You bring up some interesting points.
I don't think he matters in terms of the album.
but in terms of U2 saying "hey, you know who'd really help our sound? will.I.am." or "hey, you know who's a karrraazzyy up-and-comer to keep your eye on? will.I.am."
That's a liability. Seriously. U2, sometimes, needs to get out more.
I think he hardly did anything on the album. apparently the version of Crazy tonight he produced wasn't used (althopugh some samples from it survived to the final take, probably the strings).
He plays keyboards on magnificent and on NLOTH2 as well as some backing vocals on the latter.
So as he has not added much, it's difficult to tell if his influence has been positive or negative. We'll probably get to hear his mix of Magnificent, though and I would like to hear his "more over the top" version of Crazy tonight
Well, he is going on tour with the band.... that says it all...
Really?
How does that say it all?
C'mon... Black Eyed Peas are awful. They can do better then that.
I was surprised when they brought him on board for the production of Crazy. The good thing is that I can't hear any influence at all.
Actually early BEP are pretty damn good. And he did more than Crazy...
Yet you still haven't told me how "it says it all"...
What I don't get is how you guys can say something like "he didn't do anything" or "he didnt add much". The simple fact is he had a hand in the final product of 3 songs that we love, and he's given credit for that. Even if some of his stuff didn't get used, he was part of the PROCESS and that is how great music is made. The song would not sound the same without what he added, and what we have is what U2 wanted to present: with/without will.i.am's parts.
The only reason anyone here is trying to minimize his influence is because he's a member of a hip-pop group and you hate him. If it was some other 'rock' artist, people would be falling all over themselves trying to pinpoint the exact parts that person contributed and singing praises and giving U2 thumbs ups for bringing in said rock artist and saying ' like omg he/she really enhanced the song!!!11!!' When Edge gets credits for backing vocals, do we all go 'yeah well his backing vocals didn't really add anything to the song or matter in the album' ??
Bono = Hip Hop
listen to him at the end of Wire, on the album, or live. He spits hot fire.