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U2 special hits just the right notes
The same can't be said for holiday offerings by Tim McGraw, Faith Hill and Paul McCartney
By R.D. Heldenfels
Holiday time is full of music. And merchandising.
Country star Tim McGraw has a new album in stores today, and a TV special at 8 p.m. Wednesday on NBC.
Paul McCartney, with a live album in stores today, has a special from the tour that generated the album on ABC at 9 p.m. Wednesday. It's a two-hour special -- convenient, since the album is two discs.
Faith Hill, McGraw's wife, has already sold a couple of million copies of her new album. But it's been slipping down the charts, so her TV special, at 9 p.m. Thursday on NBC, could push it back up.
And U2, with greatest-hits collections on the charts, tries to remind people how great those hits are with a special at 10 p.m. Friday on CBS.
After sitting through all of McCartney, McGraw and U2 and clips from Hill's, I kept feeling I had been unfair to McGraw, Hill and McCartney.
That was because I watched U2's Beautiful Day first, and it is a beautiful special.
Taped at Slane Castle in Ireland, where the band first performed 20 years ago, the special finds Bono, The Edge, Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen Jr. ripping through some of their greatest hits in front of an adoring crowd at the end of their Elevation tour.
It was done shortly after the death of Bono's father, adding an emotional level to his performance.
Beyond that, though, U2 performs like a group confident it ranks among the world's greatest rock bands, and with the chops to prove it.
The music in Elevation, Sunday Bloody Sunday, Beautiful Day, Pride (In the Name of Love) and other great songs -- is overwhelming. The visuals fit very well, too, and even the backstage bits were amusing.
So it wasn't fair to McGraw when I followed U2's Beautiful Day with his Sing Me Home special.
McGraw is trying to cross over to a wider pop audience, and the special includes covers of Elton John's Tiny Dancer (also on his new album)and Randy Vanwarmer's Just When I Needed You Most.
He doesn't have a bad voice -- at times sounding a bit like Jackson Browne -- but he too often appears disconnected emotionally from his songs. And while his special is, like U2's, a homecoming, the emotion from the audience feels far more contrived.
And, as he changes, his special has to reach out to the new audience while clinging to the old with earlier hits like Down on the Farm.
Another part of McGraw's problem, especially on television, is his look. The big hat, the circulation-constricting tight pants, the body-builder arms all make McGraw seem a bit cartoonish, and that cuts into whatever effectiveness he brings to the music.
Of course, it's a carefully calculated image. As is Hill's, as the disarming young woman with a big voice and a fiery streak. While I like Hill's singing more than McGraw's, I was no more interested in her special, When the Lights Go Down.
In a few clips made available for preview, the special tries to do some different things with Hill, such as having Carlos Santana play on this version of Breathe. But Santana's recent career moves include sharing the stage and studio with just about anyone. On Breathe, he often seems to be playing next to Hill instead of with her.
Maybe the rest of the special is great. But unless you're a Hill fan, I wouldn't expect much.
Which leaves us McCartney, starring in Back in the U.S.A. as a smooth pop professional with an enormous songbook.
While I don't doubt that McCartney is a talented and amiable guy, I also know that he works hard at conveying that impression, including in the new special. Although the bulk of it is concert footage, it also tries to show McCartney's touring life -- the interviews, the fans, the band. There's even also a sound check where McCartney plays a hot version of the Carl Perkins oldie Matchbox.
Almost playing for himself, McCartney seemed energized on Matchbox in a way he rarely seems in the concert performances.
In concert,he does present emotional moments -- tributes to old bandmates John Lennon and George Harrison, as well as to his late wife Linda and new wife Heather -- and is even overcome with feeling once.
But as he works his way through highlights of his and the Beatles' music, he too often glides over the songs, pleasing the audience without engaging himself.
I own more of McCartney's songs than U2's, McGraw's or Hill's. Still, U2 made me listen to their songs again in a way that the others did not. U2 was offering its spirit, while the others offered only merchandise.
U2 special hits just the right notes
The same can't be said for holiday offerings by Tim McGraw, Faith Hill and Paul McCartney
By R.D. Heldenfels
Holiday time is full of music. And merchandising.
Country star Tim McGraw has a new album in stores today, and a TV special at 8 p.m. Wednesday on NBC.
Paul McCartney, with a live album in stores today, has a special from the tour that generated the album on ABC at 9 p.m. Wednesday. It's a two-hour special -- convenient, since the album is two discs.
Faith Hill, McGraw's wife, has already sold a couple of million copies of her new album. But it's been slipping down the charts, so her TV special, at 9 p.m. Thursday on NBC, could push it back up.
And U2, with greatest-hits collections on the charts, tries to remind people how great those hits are with a special at 10 p.m. Friday on CBS.
After sitting through all of McCartney, McGraw and U2 and clips from Hill's, I kept feeling I had been unfair to McGraw, Hill and McCartney.
That was because I watched U2's Beautiful Day first, and it is a beautiful special.
Taped at Slane Castle in Ireland, where the band first performed 20 years ago, the special finds Bono, The Edge, Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen Jr. ripping through some of their greatest hits in front of an adoring crowd at the end of their Elevation tour.
It was done shortly after the death of Bono's father, adding an emotional level to his performance.
Beyond that, though, U2 performs like a group confident it ranks among the world's greatest rock bands, and with the chops to prove it.
The music in Elevation, Sunday Bloody Sunday, Beautiful Day, Pride (In the Name of Love) and other great songs -- is overwhelming. The visuals fit very well, too, and even the backstage bits were amusing.
So it wasn't fair to McGraw when I followed U2's Beautiful Day with his Sing Me Home special.
McGraw is trying to cross over to a wider pop audience, and the special includes covers of Elton John's Tiny Dancer (also on his new album)and Randy Vanwarmer's Just When I Needed You Most.
He doesn't have a bad voice -- at times sounding a bit like Jackson Browne -- but he too often appears disconnected emotionally from his songs. And while his special is, like U2's, a homecoming, the emotion from the audience feels far more contrived.
And, as he changes, his special has to reach out to the new audience while clinging to the old with earlier hits like Down on the Farm.
Another part of McGraw's problem, especially on television, is his look. The big hat, the circulation-constricting tight pants, the body-builder arms all make McGraw seem a bit cartoonish, and that cuts into whatever effectiveness he brings to the music.
Of course, it's a carefully calculated image. As is Hill's, as the disarming young woman with a big voice and a fiery streak. While I like Hill's singing more than McGraw's, I was no more interested in her special, When the Lights Go Down.
In a few clips made available for preview, the special tries to do some different things with Hill, such as having Carlos Santana play on this version of Breathe. But Santana's recent career moves include sharing the stage and studio with just about anyone. On Breathe, he often seems to be playing next to Hill instead of with her.
Maybe the rest of the special is great. But unless you're a Hill fan, I wouldn't expect much.
Which leaves us McCartney, starring in Back in the U.S.A. as a smooth pop professional with an enormous songbook.
While I don't doubt that McCartney is a talented and amiable guy, I also know that he works hard at conveying that impression, including in the new special. Although the bulk of it is concert footage, it also tries to show McCartney's touring life -- the interviews, the fans, the band. There's even also a sound check where McCartney plays a hot version of the Carl Perkins oldie Matchbox.
Almost playing for himself, McCartney seemed energized on Matchbox in a way he rarely seems in the concert performances.
In concert,he does present emotional moments -- tributes to old bandmates John Lennon and George Harrison, as well as to his late wife Linda and new wife Heather -- and is even overcome with feeling once.
But as he works his way through highlights of his and the Beatles' music, he too often glides over the songs, pleasing the audience without engaging himself.
I own more of McCartney's songs than U2's, McGraw's or Hill's. Still, U2 made me listen to their songs again in a way that the others did not. U2 was offering its spirit, while the others offered only merchandise.
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