Are U2 still relevant?

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Daveone

The Fly
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Feb 18, 2004
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291
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A place called Vertigo
With all the band now a few years into their 40's do you think they will be able to win over new age groups with HTDAAB and its singles? Do you think Vertigo will appeal to and win over 15, 16 and 17 year olds, has the likes of 'I Will Follow' and 'New Years Day did to many of the more established U2 fans? I think its a stormer of a track and personally i think its pretty cool but do any of you guys have opinions on this - will it attract a new crowd to U2 concerts? I would love it to do, because i feel good rock and roll should appeal to 15 and 16 year old kids, and if it doesn't then it seems kind of irrelevant. I think it's important U2 stay relevant and make music that inspires and attracts teenagers. I'm kinda biased in this view because i'm 18 but I think for U2 to be successful with HTDAAB and get decent radio airplay etc and stay 'cool' they need to do this.
 
I don't think the physical age of an artist should have anything to do with winning new fans. Age is just a number. If the music is good, than that's all that matters and the music will speak for itself.

I love David Bowie and even though Bowie's is in his 50's, he got a bunch of new fans with Earthling, Heathen and Reality. When I went to the shows, there were a lot of fans that I talked to who got into bowie recently and are around 15 - 17. I think with all the crap on the radio these days U2 will have a chance with a new breed of fans.

Vertigo sounds very commercial (and that's not a bad thing at all). It is also a very catchy and you can shake a grove to it. Kids between 14-18 like songs like that and as long as MTV does their job in playing the hell of the song, it will attract that age market.

Bottom line is U2 will always be cool regardless of radio play, the internet is such a wonderful thing in the sense that even if you do not get to hear much of your favorite artist, there are internet radio stations out there that play indie and commercial bands. If the music is good, it will have no problem reaching their market thanks to message boards like these, on-line radio stations, on-line chats etc.
 
I've seen plenty of dedicated fans on here that were relative newcomers to U2, as in 'discovered' them during ATYCLB. U2 is most definetly still relevant===name another band that has had thier longevity in still putting out new stuff and rockin' out on tour.
 
It really depends on the quality of the songs and how the album/tour are perceived.

Keep in mind, it was just a few years ago that men in their 40's won over new fans with songs like "Beautiful Day". :)

"Vertigo" might not capture everyone, but there'll be plenty more songs that might capture others. I'd be surprised if HTDAAB was as big of a hit as ATYCLB, but if it's a solid album, it should reach 2x Platinum (especially based on the strength of the tour).
 
i discovered u2 just around when elevation hit the radios, i think thats when most of the new fans took notice of them.. i always had this idea that u2 was some weird brit pop group, only thing that i knew about them before 2001 was they had an album called pop
 
How could anyone even say that? Half the people on this forum are young people who started liking the band because of ATYCLB or even Electrical Storm! There will always be teenagers who diss older bands but that is their loss. There will be enough kids with good taste, added to the people we picked up last time and the people who've come along through the years (like me in '83! :wave: ) to keep this band in business!

Oh and what do you call 'relevant', Linkin Park? :eyebrow:
 
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Sorry, my post might of came over a bit wrong. I'm a dedicated fan and only 'got' into them when ATYCLB came out (I was only 15 when Beautiful Day came out). The thread kind of lost its focus and drifted off, I was aiming to ask opinions on wether people think U2's age will affect radio airplay and teenagers views of the band? Obvioulsy people's age has an affect on their perception in the media, and i cant name another band or act who continue to have has many consecutive hits as U2 so long into their career (The Chilli Peppers are the only real band who manage to this yet not to the extent of U2). I'm now 18 and am semi-obsessed by the band, and have mates my age who are also fans. See i'm losing track of what i'm trying to say but to sum it up into a sentance:

DO YOU THINK U2's AGE WILL AFFECT TEENAGERS VIEWS OF U2?


And no of course I don't think Linkin Park are relevant
 
As I said in my other post, yes, there are teenagers who feel that way and will reject the band just because of age. That is sad, and is their loss, but there are other teenagers, like you, who don't care about age and have good taste who will keep popularity up! Look at Who4Life, she's 16 and loves a band old enough to be U2's fathers! So there are all types out there, as for the pop kids, we don't need 'em;) The age of a band has never mattered to me. Personally I was always in awe of bands like the Beatles, Stones and Who when I was growing up, I respected them, liked them and felt that it was cool to be a fan of such legends!
 
U2Kitten you make some very valid points. I'm a massive fan of Johnny Cash and endlessly get stick for it from people twice my age so age doesn't really bother me at all. I kinda just want more people my age (who I know) to be playing air guitar to the likes of Until the End of the World and going out to U2 concerts abd I hope HTDAAB can help this to happen.
 
I didn't start liking them because of an album... I just started likin them...
OH! I know why now... cause I liked all their big hits like With or without you, Pride, New year's Day... all them good ones :) But I didn't find out the songs were thiers till a year ago :huh: I didn't even know they wer by the same artist :D lol... stupid me!
 
If U2 wants to remain hip with today's kids, they need to make inroads into the garage-rock and nu-wave scenes. Which is ironic since U2 is the most postpunk act in rock history.

But if Vertigo establishes U2 2004, it may not cut it. It's not garage or disco enough to gain enough cred by the music media. There may not be that stone-cold love ballads to bring the casual fans in.

They can. A good album would take care of that.
 
I think U2 can be relevant ot young people just as Led Zeppelin, the Beatles, the Stones, etc. are... U2 are at that status now where they have that legend status, so young people with a sense of music history should be aware of them and may even like them. I remember how huge Zeppelin was when I was in high school. That is like 10-15 years after Zep disbanded. Kids treated them like legends (as they are legends). I think U2 falls under that status. It's weird to think of U2 in that way considering I've grown with U2 since J-Tree. That's my opinion.

The question should actually be directed towards whether or not "Atomic Bomb" will be relevant to the youth of today. There are still legendary groups/ artists still releasing stuff that has no impact on the mainstream.
 
I was 16 when ATYCLB came out and after all that crap on mtv I couldn´t believe that music can be so great! Now my best friend who´ also the same age is a die-hard U2 fan! So the asnwer is YES, U2 are still very much relevant!!
 
I´ve been U2 fan since Johua Tree was released. Despite I was just a kid at that time, I remember clearly that was my first casette, and then in 1991, my first CD :applaud:
Joshua Tree was a 100% different whole universe of MUSIC among hundreds of Glam Rock Bands. Was something really outstanding. Then came Actuhng Baby, another breacking classic record, with this album U2 definitively it put an end all that glam rock of the 80´s, togheter with Nirvana´s Nervermind.
WIthout a doubt, at that time U2 was an influence for many other bands, specially Edge´s guitars, something truly AWESOME and radically different to all those "Rock" guitarrist, I mean, while every single guitarrist from any other Rock band in the 80´s until middle 90´s tried so hard to play more and more fast and with the more number of notes, The Edge created a whole new universe on the Guitar. So now we can notice his contribution in almost every band from UK, like Travis, Coldplay, Keane, Radiohead, etc. :edge:

But now... what about this new decade ? :( U2 still have influence in many bands, but honestly I think all those bands take U2´s music from 80´s and 90´s, not from ATYCLB.
So, responding the question, I say "YES"; U2 still have influence, but 80´s and 90´s U2, not this "new" U2, sorry guys, but it´s the true :sad:
 
Oh yeah, Led Zeppelin! I've always loved them too. When I was in high school they were very popular because of the Live Aid reunion and later the Atlantic Records 40th anniversary concert reunion. There was a whole zep revival, guys trying to look like Page and Plant, garage cover bands, everybody buying up their stuff and listening to them, they were really a hot item and everyone thought they were so cool. Nobody cared how old they were! If they would have reunited and toured back then, the world was theirs.
 
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I think that U2 transcends all ages - I got into U2 in high school when Achtung Baby/Zooropa came out (I graduated in 1995 -sigh) when grunge/alternative was exploding/peaking/dying. U2 has never really went with what was popular at the time - they tend to make their own roads (it happens that I like those roads). If anything I feel that this album will be more relevant than ever - will it appeal to those tweens who listen to shudder Brittney/Jo Jo/simpson's? probably not but then again I doubt that would be U2's aim.
Good, Great music transcends all barriers
plus a multi-million dollar marketing plan/quest for total world domination can't hurt either:wink:
 
My point about Zeppelin also applies to the likes of Metallica, Hendrix, etc.... technically, these guys haven't put out anything "relevant" (given one of them is dead), but their old "classics" are revered, listened to, and copied by the youth of today (although hip hop seems to be skewing that IMO). I hear that in a lot of American music today. People didn't think... "oh Zeppelin... a bunch of old guys." Songs like Stairway and Whole Lotta still get props or respect... the question is whether the new stuff these guys put out are relevant.... No one cares about Page's stuff after Zep (Coverdale & Page) or a Robert Plant album.
 
Wouldn't that hold true than for someone like me in there 30's to not like some of the newer bands because they are younger. I love Linkin Park. Go figure. I think music is a matter of taste some kids love rap, I don't. Some adults love rap, I still don't. I think a good tune that gets you doesn't matter about age it matters about the music. Therefore, U2 is relevant.
 
I started listening to U2 properly when I was 11 and listened to The Joshua Tree and kicked started my collection with the Best of 1980-1990 but still thought 'ATYCLB' was superb at the time, and still is!! But I think it's great how U2's new material still brings in the crowd they would have got when they first recorded 'Boy' and 'October' it's just those fans have grown up and are the 'older crowd' of today...!!
 
Jam Jar said:


eMptyTV fan: eww! they're like, old! :rolleyes:
:lol:
... that was me during ATYCLB... :( feel bad about it man :sad: I dissed them and everything...
This is to me: :madspit: :mad: :rant: :angry: :banghead:, cause I'm a fricken moron for ever saying those things about U2...
 
TheWho4Life said:

... that was me during ATYCLB... :( feel bad about it man :sad: I dissed them and everything...
This is to me: :madspit: :mad: :rant: :angry: :banghead:, cause I'm a fricken moron for ever saying those things about U2...



:shame:


J/K TheWho4Life! :hug: Ya know I forget sometimes that I was raised around U2....most of the times when I encounter the 'unenlightened' it is because their knowledge of U2 doesn't go much beyond "One" or a similar song for example. Not to say there is ANYTHING wrong with "One" because there isn't but they just don't have the full picture or know where U2 has come from and what thier visions are. I've managed to show a few the light and they are amazed at what they've missed out on! :wink:
 
I think U2 can gain new fans at any time b/c they have such a great amount of music from the past as well. I didn't really get into them until my older brother bought the best of 1980-90. I just started listening to it all the time and realized, Wow, all these songs are so amazing. And from there I just bought all their albums and became a diehard fan who was there going nuts when ATYCLB came out and now again for the new album! They will always be relevant to me b/c good music is just good music and that's all there is to it for me!
 
U2's MUSIC IS TIMELESS so they will always attract new listeners of every age for many years to come!:yes:

You simply have to look at the popularity of Bob Marley's music 23 years after he physically past from this earth. Bob's music is more popular now than it was when he was here.

Music which touches our hearts and comforts our souls will always remain popular with people even without much airplay because it is MUSIC WITH A MEANING and it uplifts us and encourages us in a world often devoid of meaning.:angel:

So, U2's MUSIC IS STILL RELEVANT AND WILL CONTINUE TO ATTRACT NEW LISTENERS OF EVERY AGE AND BACKGROUND BECAUSE IT IS TRULY WHAT BONO SAYS IT IS - SOUL MUSIC!

the goal is soul....:hug:
 
Well, I got into U2 when I was only nine years old. God bless mom (heh, that's a Frames song, 'nother Irish band...) for forcing me to listen to Discotheque. She literally had to convince me to give it a listen, and boy am I glad she did! Now I'm sixteen and the biggest U2 freak ever... and I can say that HTDAAB will definatley get some new U2 fans in the younger age demographic. I played Vertigo for a couple of my friends that aren't really U2 fans and they loved it. Obviously U2 is not going to suddenly win over the people who listen to mainly hip hop and R&B, but I think a lot of the teens that listen to modern rock will really take to Vertigo and go from there... I mean, look what's popular now. The Killers just scream early U2 in some songs, and punk is pretty big now... Vertigo's pretty punk-y, it may even win over some of the "angry alt-rockers." (you know, kids who listen to bands like Three Days Grace, Staind, Smile Empty Soul...all this "i hate my parents" pseudo-metal crap.)

The real test of relevence is...
Will Larry be on the cover of Tiger Beat?! :p I want a pinup of Bono!! :D Nah really though, they may not have legions of teenage fangirls, but hey, that's less competition for me! :wink: even if they're not the hot thing among teens U2 will continue to be relevant for many years to come I'm sure.

Oh, and for the record, I love Linkin Park. :D
 
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