The U2 paradox

[follower]

Thanks to a very nice friend from the other side of the world I finally got the book Race of Angels The Genesis of U2, by John Waters, which I´m currently reading. What a great book! Highly recommended.

So...in the end of chapter thirteen named It Is October over all Our Lives, I found this interesting part I´ll transcribe below for you to read and maybe discuss. It´s about what the author calls the U2 paradox. Very interesting theory IMO.



The Edge goes a little further, to the heart of the U2 paradox. You might say that the seeds of the later music were contained in the make-up of the band from the beginning. The U2 mix of personalities ensured that nothing was given, nothing could be taken for granted or accepted at face value. The band´s range of identities always made them question everything. Adam´s rock´n´roll agnosticism kept the others as safe from fossilising as their faith kept him from complete unbelief. The two forces worked in a creative symbiosis which ended up as the gritty spirit of Achtung Baby. If they had been four straight Irishmen, they might have ended up as a rhythm´n´blues quartet; if four Christians, as Cliff Richard´s backing band. Their differences made them whole.
"That´s a very good theory", enthuses The Edge. "Yeah, I´m sure. I mean it was critical that Adam did not believe the same things that we did. So that the paths that we took were...It´s true. I´ve never thought about that. I would agree."
That Achtung Baby might never have happened if there had been four Christians instead of three?
"Yeah. Probably it would never happened."



That´s it. Thoughts?

[hippy]

Originally posted by follower
Their differences made them whole.

I would tend to agree with this theory. Though I would also say that we can speculate all we want, but we can't change the past. We can't ever say for sure that four Christians would NEVER have made AB, it just might have come out differently.

But I think the mix of beliefs in the group are what make U2 unique and what help them to touch their fans. To use a cliche term, in U2, there's some belief for everyone!

Thanks for posting this, follower!

[mebythesea]

I just want to say: for anyone interested in U2's spirituality, that book is a must read!

[U2Soar]

Hi Follower ! I agree - a fascinting chapter ! A U2 fan typed out the chapter you mention ! I ran across it and posted it in a thread called "U2 Faith - mid-nineties" which i just bumped for others to enjoy. Unfortunately the book is out of print. I hope one day to read the book.

[dizzy]

That's interesting, follower. Thanks for posting. I agree with hippy that AB may still have happened even if there were 4 Christians in the band, but it might have come out differently. I'm not questioning their beliefs, but it also depends on how committed they were at that time.

Hmmm...now I want to check out this book. eBay might have it.

[spanisheyes]

Originally posted by dizzy
That's interesting, follower. Thanks for posting. I agree with hippy that AB may still have happened even if there were 4 Christians in the band, but it might have come out differently. I'm not questioning their beliefs, but it also depends on how committed they were at that time.

Hmmm...now I want to check out this book. eBay might have it.

I picked up the book about 2 months ago on Amazon under the out of print section. It is a great book from what I've read so far.

Chris

[mebythesea]

Originally posted by spanisheyes
I picked up the book about 2 months ago on Amazon under the out of print section. It is a great book from what I've read so far.

Chris

It's an incredible book. There is, it happens, a copy on EBay NOW

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...&category=2245

ending TODAY
Feb-19-03 17:10:59 PST

[bonosloveslave]

So is someone here bidding on it?

[mebythesea]

Originally posted by bonosloveslave
So is someone here bidding on it?

Fortunately, I've already got it! But it went for like $27...

[bonosloveslave]

Ummm, yeah, that would be me that upped the bid that high - but I didn't get it

[verte76]

I was lucky enough to get my hands on that book a couple of years ago. It's great. I highly recommend it.