EvolutionMonkey
Acrobat
It never ceases to amaze me the amount of negativity I see about U2. The crux of the following article someone wrote is that U2 are rip off artists.
"It?s a new year, and yet another one where U2 is still a huge band of international renown: their second ?greatest hits? package and DVD collection are riding high on the charts as the accolades and awards pile up. Let?s think about this, though: aren?t U2 records just big piles of crap? Often they are. Isn?t lead singer Bono?s self-righteousness and nudge-wink irony (re: pop music) just getting a little tiresome? Indeed it is. (I for one can?t stand the fact that when some punk-rock legend dies, the media quotes Bono?s feelings on it like he is the only living expert on the matter.) Don?t you hate what U2 has done to rock?n?roll? I know I do.
Initially, I was going to Compare and Contrast U2 and David Bowie. Both are iconic rock figures that, in my humble opinion, have achieved little musically except for re-packaging the work of relatively obscure and mainly interesting artists, and serving it up hot for average teenagers and suburban housewives alike. Both have a talent for getting the mass media to champion (or, at the very least, publicize) a brand of music heretofore an underground phenomenon, and having said media outlets pass it off as their own innovation (anybody remember Tin Machine?). I decided to leave Bowie alone, though. After all, he brought the music of Iggy Pop and Lou Reed to a much greater audience. U2 gave us Sinead O?Connor and the rather execrable Hothouse Flowers. Yikes.
U2 formed in Belfast, Ireland in 1978, inspired by punk-rock but having a big ol? soft spot for classic rock of the Who/Led Zeppelin variety. The great similarity they have to Led Zep is their ability to make something that doesn?t look great on paper sound amazing and new. Throughout their career, U2 looked around and stole from the best; lately they are stealing verbatim from ?80s Top 40 hits.
Initially, U2 appropriated the work of such post-punk gods as Public Image Ltd., Joy Division and the Gang of Four. Scratch someone who thinks The Edge is anything more than a technically adept pedal-stomper, and you will find someone who has never heard the above. Like many great classic-rock artists from John Lennon onward, U2 steal from the brilliant yet obscure, and pass it off as their own. U2?s 1980 debut (and probably their best record, as it is the least pretentious), Boy, was their most punk-influenced and easily relatable as its theme was growing up in an unhealthy and often dangerous environment. The rhythm section rocked like a less doom-laden Joy Division and the sound engineer on it didn?t turn up those ?passionate? moments where Bono says something ?deep? under his breath ? usually a grunt or the word ?yeah?.
Subsequent records, like October, War and (the Eno/Lanois-produced) The Unforgettable Fire piled on the pretention and atmosphere stolen from the era?s goths. Like Zeppelin before them, they were there era?s epitome of Album-Oriented Rock ? singles being irrelevant and unnecessary (the early ?80s Top 40 was rather sunny and un-self-conscious, and U2 didn?t quite fit in to the mold of Culture Club and Wham!). At this point, Bono started his fascination with Americana, especially the music of classic blues artists and Bruce Springsteen. The Boss? 1982 LP Nebraska was a huge influence on 1987?s The Joshua Tree (the OK Computer of the ?80s), with its emphasis on storytelling and air of intimacy. This album made U2 international rock stars, and since the rock music world of the time had little else to offer (hair metal, ?geezer? rock, the ?alternative? rock that U2 was stealing from already), they picked up the ball and ran with it.
Next came the Rattle and Hum movie and soundtrack, where U2 came off as major self-righteous dicks and told the world for the very first time about such underground artists as Billie Holliday and B.B. King.
After successfully licking their wounds from such a fiasco, U2 unveiled Achtung Baby! in 1991. This was U2?s first ?dance? album (in a way, they have been making those ever since), as it was a clever re-working of ideas nicked from the Madchester dance-and-drug scene of the time, with some My Bloody Valentine-esque guitar action thrown in.
Since then, U2 records have been released in conjunction with some publicity stunt or irony-laced ranting on the part of Bono, who is still trying to save the world through PR. What has struck me as odd is that U2 is stealing from the Top 40 that they thought they were so above. Their 2000 hit ?Beautiful Day? is verrrrrry similar to A-ha?s 1985 single ?The Sun Always Shines On TV.? Their recent number, ?Electrical Storm,? is stolen almost verbatim from Bryan Adams? 1984 smash ?Run to You? ? with a little of ?This Time? thrown in.
Smokey Highly Recommends: Selling your U2 records and giving the money to Negativland."
"It?s a new year, and yet another one where U2 is still a huge band of international renown: their second ?greatest hits? package and DVD collection are riding high on the charts as the accolades and awards pile up. Let?s think about this, though: aren?t U2 records just big piles of crap? Often they are. Isn?t lead singer Bono?s self-righteousness and nudge-wink irony (re: pop music) just getting a little tiresome? Indeed it is. (I for one can?t stand the fact that when some punk-rock legend dies, the media quotes Bono?s feelings on it like he is the only living expert on the matter.) Don?t you hate what U2 has done to rock?n?roll? I know I do.
Initially, I was going to Compare and Contrast U2 and David Bowie. Both are iconic rock figures that, in my humble opinion, have achieved little musically except for re-packaging the work of relatively obscure and mainly interesting artists, and serving it up hot for average teenagers and suburban housewives alike. Both have a talent for getting the mass media to champion (or, at the very least, publicize) a brand of music heretofore an underground phenomenon, and having said media outlets pass it off as their own innovation (anybody remember Tin Machine?). I decided to leave Bowie alone, though. After all, he brought the music of Iggy Pop and Lou Reed to a much greater audience. U2 gave us Sinead O?Connor and the rather execrable Hothouse Flowers. Yikes.
U2 formed in Belfast, Ireland in 1978, inspired by punk-rock but having a big ol? soft spot for classic rock of the Who/Led Zeppelin variety. The great similarity they have to Led Zep is their ability to make something that doesn?t look great on paper sound amazing and new. Throughout their career, U2 looked around and stole from the best; lately they are stealing verbatim from ?80s Top 40 hits.
Initially, U2 appropriated the work of such post-punk gods as Public Image Ltd., Joy Division and the Gang of Four. Scratch someone who thinks The Edge is anything more than a technically adept pedal-stomper, and you will find someone who has never heard the above. Like many great classic-rock artists from John Lennon onward, U2 steal from the brilliant yet obscure, and pass it off as their own. U2?s 1980 debut (and probably their best record, as it is the least pretentious), Boy, was their most punk-influenced and easily relatable as its theme was growing up in an unhealthy and often dangerous environment. The rhythm section rocked like a less doom-laden Joy Division and the sound engineer on it didn?t turn up those ?passionate? moments where Bono says something ?deep? under his breath ? usually a grunt or the word ?yeah?.
Subsequent records, like October, War and (the Eno/Lanois-produced) The Unforgettable Fire piled on the pretention and atmosphere stolen from the era?s goths. Like Zeppelin before them, they were there era?s epitome of Album-Oriented Rock ? singles being irrelevant and unnecessary (the early ?80s Top 40 was rather sunny and un-self-conscious, and U2 didn?t quite fit in to the mold of Culture Club and Wham!). At this point, Bono started his fascination with Americana, especially the music of classic blues artists and Bruce Springsteen. The Boss? 1982 LP Nebraska was a huge influence on 1987?s The Joshua Tree (the OK Computer of the ?80s), with its emphasis on storytelling and air of intimacy. This album made U2 international rock stars, and since the rock music world of the time had little else to offer (hair metal, ?geezer? rock, the ?alternative? rock that U2 was stealing from already), they picked up the ball and ran with it.
Next came the Rattle and Hum movie and soundtrack, where U2 came off as major self-righteous dicks and told the world for the very first time about such underground artists as Billie Holliday and B.B. King.
After successfully licking their wounds from such a fiasco, U2 unveiled Achtung Baby! in 1991. This was U2?s first ?dance? album (in a way, they have been making those ever since), as it was a clever re-working of ideas nicked from the Madchester dance-and-drug scene of the time, with some My Bloody Valentine-esque guitar action thrown in.
Since then, U2 records have been released in conjunction with some publicity stunt or irony-laced ranting on the part of Bono, who is still trying to save the world through PR. What has struck me as odd is that U2 is stealing from the Top 40 that they thought they were so above. Their 2000 hit ?Beautiful Day? is verrrrrry similar to A-ha?s 1985 single ?The Sun Always Shines On TV.? Their recent number, ?Electrical Storm,? is stolen almost verbatim from Bryan Adams? 1984 smash ?Run to You? ? with a little of ?This Time? thrown in.
Smokey Highly Recommends: Selling your U2 records and giving the money to Negativland."
