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ONE love, blood, life
25 ways U2 changed the world
Politics, fashion, God and music. Yes, it's a beautiful day.
By GEMMA TARLACH
Journal Sentinel pop music critic
U2 might just be the most important band in the galaxy.
Compared with its contemporaries, the Irish quartet doesn't have as many No. 1 singles as Michael Jackson. It hasn't been chronicled in the tabloids quite as exhaustively as Madonna. Bono and friends, who return to the Bradley Center for a sold-out show Sunday, haven't even spawned countless sound-alikes.
And yet, in the 25 years since the release of its atmospheric debut album "Boy," U2 has made a larger and arguably more lasting impact than any of its peers, not just in pop music, but in pop culture, politics and beyond. The band's influence has often been more subtle than shouted - more Edge than Bono, if you will - but its place in history as a catalyst on many fronts is undeniable.
Don't believe us? Consider these 25 ways U2 has changed the world:
U2 has used its powers for good. A story in Sunday's The New York Times Magazine declared Bono "the most politically effective figure in the recent history of popular culture," but it's not just the feisty front man dedicating himself to activism. He just happens to have the highest profile - and biggest mouth - among the four band members. From the politically charged "Sunday Bloody Sunday" to the band's more recent support, onstage and off, for the Burmese democracy movement, U2 has never shied from calling attention to global trouble spots.
U2 made wraparound shades so cool even the pope wanted them. In his memoir "Bono: In Conversation with Michka Assayas " (2005, Riverhead), U2's front man recalled a meeting with the late Pope John Paul II during which the pontiff seemed smitten with the Irishman's famous sunglasses.
"He kept looking at them in my hand, so I offered them to him. . . . Not only did he put them on, he smiled the wickedest grin you could ever imagine," Bono recalled.
U2 reminded us that you don't have to shock people to get noticed. Arriving on the music scene at a time when some peers were carving words into their chests with razors, the band's music spoke louder than cheap stunts - and has survived, while many a shock rocker disappeared into oblivion.
U2 made Christian rock hip. Until U2 came along, overtly Christian acts were dismissed as cheesy or just plain preachy by many mainstream rock fans. From the start, however, U2's three Christian members have been open about their faith without using the stage as a bully pulpit.
U2 made it OK to not hope you die before you get old. Rock spent years mired in the clichés of hedonistic excess, delusions of eternal youth and the occasional bout of nihilism before U2 conquered the world celebrating life even as it acknowledged its hard realities.
U2 brought American roots music to a new generation. For many music fans who grew up listening to mainstream radio and watching MTV in the '80s, music history started with Journey and ended with MC Hammer. U2's exploration of the roots of rock 'n' roll, however, in songs such as "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For," and the band's embrace of elders such as Johnny Cash and B.B. King, helped introduce millions of young ears to the rich music of generations past.
U2 proved you can make it in the music industry without getting made by the music industry. Whether exploring experimental terrain as they did on 1997's "Pop" or stripping emotions bare in a minimalist lament such as "Running to Stand Still," U2 has always ignored the trends and stayed true to its own collective musical vision, wherever it led them.
U2 made irony-free mullets hip, at least for a little while (see Bono, circa 1984's "Unforgettable Fire.").
U2 proved band monogamy is possible. Many musicians liken being in a band to being in a marriage - only with a much higher divorce rate. For nearly 30 years, U2 has been singer Bono, guitarist Edge, drummer Larry Mullen Jr. and bassist Adam Clayton, no more, no less, no substitutions. There have been disagreements, but the quartet always found a way to work out its differences.
U2 showed you're never too big to say you're sorry. A technical snafu deprived fan club members of a promised exclusive online presale for the first leg of the band's current world tour. Many bands would have ignored the glitch, but the usually microphone-shy Mullen elbowed Bono aside at the Grammys in February to apologize publicly for the error.
Read the entire article here.
Politics, fashion, God and music. Yes, it's a beautiful day.
By GEMMA TARLACH
Journal Sentinel pop music critic
U2 might just be the most important band in the galaxy.
Compared with its contemporaries, the Irish quartet doesn't have as many No. 1 singles as Michael Jackson. It hasn't been chronicled in the tabloids quite as exhaustively as Madonna. Bono and friends, who return to the Bradley Center for a sold-out show Sunday, haven't even spawned countless sound-alikes.
And yet, in the 25 years since the release of its atmospheric debut album "Boy," U2 has made a larger and arguably more lasting impact than any of its peers, not just in pop music, but in pop culture, politics and beyond. The band's influence has often been more subtle than shouted - more Edge than Bono, if you will - but its place in history as a catalyst on many fronts is undeniable.
Don't believe us? Consider these 25 ways U2 has changed the world:
U2 has used its powers for good. A story in Sunday's The New York Times Magazine declared Bono "the most politically effective figure in the recent history of popular culture," but it's not just the feisty front man dedicating himself to activism. He just happens to have the highest profile - and biggest mouth - among the four band members. From the politically charged "Sunday Bloody Sunday" to the band's more recent support, onstage and off, for the Burmese democracy movement, U2 has never shied from calling attention to global trouble spots.
U2 made wraparound shades so cool even the pope wanted them. In his memoir "Bono: In Conversation with Michka Assayas " (2005, Riverhead), U2's front man recalled a meeting with the late Pope John Paul II during which the pontiff seemed smitten with the Irishman's famous sunglasses.
"He kept looking at them in my hand, so I offered them to him. . . . Not only did he put them on, he smiled the wickedest grin you could ever imagine," Bono recalled.
U2 reminded us that you don't have to shock people to get noticed. Arriving on the music scene at a time when some peers were carving words into their chests with razors, the band's music spoke louder than cheap stunts - and has survived, while many a shock rocker disappeared into oblivion.
U2 made Christian rock hip. Until U2 came along, overtly Christian acts were dismissed as cheesy or just plain preachy by many mainstream rock fans. From the start, however, U2's three Christian members have been open about their faith without using the stage as a bully pulpit.
U2 made it OK to not hope you die before you get old. Rock spent years mired in the clichés of hedonistic excess, delusions of eternal youth and the occasional bout of nihilism before U2 conquered the world celebrating life even as it acknowledged its hard realities.
U2 brought American roots music to a new generation. For many music fans who grew up listening to mainstream radio and watching MTV in the '80s, music history started with Journey and ended with MC Hammer. U2's exploration of the roots of rock 'n' roll, however, in songs such as "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For," and the band's embrace of elders such as Johnny Cash and B.B. King, helped introduce millions of young ears to the rich music of generations past.
U2 proved you can make it in the music industry without getting made by the music industry. Whether exploring experimental terrain as they did on 1997's "Pop" or stripping emotions bare in a minimalist lament such as "Running to Stand Still," U2 has always ignored the trends and stayed true to its own collective musical vision, wherever it led them.
U2 made irony-free mullets hip, at least for a little while (see Bono, circa 1984's "Unforgettable Fire.").
U2 proved band monogamy is possible. Many musicians liken being in a band to being in a marriage - only with a much higher divorce rate. For nearly 30 years, U2 has been singer Bono, guitarist Edge, drummer Larry Mullen Jr. and bassist Adam Clayton, no more, no less, no substitutions. There have been disagreements, but the quartet always found a way to work out its differences.
U2 showed you're never too big to say you're sorry. A technical snafu deprived fan club members of a promised exclusive online presale for the first leg of the band's current world tour. Many bands would have ignored the glitch, but the usually microphone-shy Mullen elbowed Bono aside at the Grammys in February to apologize publicly for the error.
Read the entire article here.
where would we be without the boys?!
