Open Letter To U2

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Artists evolve in their own way, on their own time, regardless of our opinions about their work.
The beauty of art for art's sake is that it doesn't exist for our entertainment but is rather an expression of the artist.
So ultimately we can and should always celebrate respect for the process.
The rest is subjective.
 
Zooropa and Passengers were the only real challenging albums U2 put out in the 90's. Achtung Baby and POP were really really commercially accessable. Achtung Baby and POP had catchy songs, real catchy songs, ie The Fly, One, Mysterious Ways, Discotheque, Staring At The Sun, Last Night on Earth. Achtung Baby sold well because of a great tour and U2 changed their image. POP didn't sell well not because the album was challenging for a commercial market, it wasn't challenging at all, it's just that no one really cared about U2 in 1997. In 1997 mainstream music was just rapidly changing from how it was in the early 90's when U2 reigned supreme.
 
david said:
Zooropa and Passengers were the only real challenging albums U2 put out in the 90's. Achtung Baby and POP were really really commercially accessable. Achtung Baby and POP had catchy songs, real catchy songs, ie The Fly, One, Mysterious Ways, Discotheque, Staring At The Sun, Last Night on Earth. Achtung Baby sold well because of a great tour and U2 changed their image. POP didn't sell well not because the album was challenging for a commercial market, it wasn't challenging at all, it's just that no one really cared about U2 in 1997. In 1997 mainstream music was just rapidly changing from how it was in the early 90's when U2 reigned supreme.

So Mofo and Miami and Please aren't challenging? I'm sorry, but if you play these three songs on the radio, people aren't going to be instantly singing along.
 
namkcuR said:


So Mofo and Miami and Please aren't challenging? I'm sorry, but if you play these three songs on the radio, people aren't going to be instantly singing along.

It's more a case of a lack of hooks than being "challenging."
 
starvinmarvin said:


It's more a case of a lack of hooks than being "challenging."

That's just it though. For a large portion of the radio-listening, record-buying public - such as those that find the majority of the music on tonight's VMAs listenable(I only found Green Day and Coldplay listenable so far) - getting into a song and singing along with a song that doesn't contain a hook is a challenge. I am well aware that it's not like Pop is 'The Downward Spiral' or 'Kid A', but I'm speaking in relative terms here. To people that love Kelly Clarkson, Pop would be a very challenging record. To people that listen to Radiohead or Muse or hell, Mozart or Bach, Pop would be a piece of cake. Pop was never really that challenging to me personally, but it was a hell of a lot more challening than Vertigo, which I while I enjoy it, you would have to be braindead not to sing along with it on first listen. It's all relative.
 
id also like to say that vertigo is the most annoying song buy u2, from the Unos, dos, tres, catorce to the yeah yeah yeah :mad:

and that "Turn it up loud, captain!"

guess what u2 its not loud enough blahhhhhh:wink:
 
namkcuR said:


That's just it though. For a large portion of the radio-listening, record-buying public - such as those that find the majority of the music on tonight's VMAs listenable(I only found Green Day and Coldplay listenable so far) - getting into a song and singing along with a song that doesn't contain a hook is a challenge. I am well aware that it's not like Pop is 'The Downward Spiral' or 'Kid A', but I'm speaking in relative terms here. To people that love Kelly Clarkson, Pop would be a very challenging record. To people that listen to Radiohead or Muse or hell, Mozart or Bach, Pop would be a piece of cake. Pop was never really that challenging to me personally, but it was a hell of a lot more challening than Vertigo, which I while I enjoy it, you would have to be braindead not to sing along with it on first listen. It's all relative.

I really truly believe that Pop was meant to have hooks. That is, they tried to write commercial music but couldn't deliver the goods. I wouldn't go so far as to say MOFO or Please don't have hooks, they do, but they just aren't all that memorable.
 
starvinmarvin said:


I really truly believe that Pop was meant to have hooks. That is, they tried to write commercial music but couldn't deliver the goods. I wouldn't go so far as to say MOFO or Please don't have hooks, they do, but they just aren't all that memorable.

We agree to disagree then.
 
starvinmarvin said:
To namkcuR

Thank you for writing your letter. I'm well acquainted with your views from my frequent visits to the Interference forum. We've had some heated debates, but I appreciate that you feel so passionate about our music.

I agree with you that U2 is currently in a fork in the road in our career. But this hasn't been the first time that we've been there. We were there in 1978 when we decided we weren't really a punk band, moved into new wave territory. We were there when we felt our "earnest hard rock" sound in the early 80's was getting stale, and decided to go "atmospheric" with Lanois and Eno on UF. We were there when Rattle and Hum bombed at the box office, and when critics and fans alike grew tired of our American roots rock incarnation. We were there with in the late 90's when our fans made it clear to us that we had gone too far with electronica and experimentation with Pop. It was at that point that we decided to abandon the overblown theatrics and hookless dance elements and just write some great songs again. However, the time has come to change again. Even Larry is getting restless, which is always a good sign. We are moving forward, and we hope you will join us when the next record comes out.

As for the Propaganda quote, I still stand by it. The past two albums are not in any way a sell out. It is work that we wanted to do. We'd never tried writing an album full of great, 4 minute pop songs before. It was a challenge for us, and we really worked hard at it. You have to understand that writing a good pop song is not an easy task. Simplicity can be more difficult than it looks. You have to remember that we had been off on a tangent for the past decade, so it was very hard to simplify things again. We feared we had lost that ability. We had gotten too arty for our own good. We had lost sight of our roots, but we found them again on Beautiful Day, and by the time we finished Bomb we had gone full circle again. When I said that Bomb feels like our first record, that's not bullshit. It really felt that way. If you've seen any of the Vertigo shows, you'll probably sense that we truly believe it.

You stated in your letter that if the work we did on Bomb or ATYCLB is the work we want to do than I should stop reading. But I didn't….I want a chance to explain….

I'm glad you think we haven't sold out. We will do everything in our power to prevent this from ever happening. Yes, we have made some radio friendly singles on the last two albums. We actually tried on Pop, but it didn't work for whatever reason. Time constraints, probably. You see, we've always been a radio friendly band. We love to get our music out there, to as many people as possible. Radio is one way to do that. As far back as I Will Follow, we've tried to write good, hooky songs that we know stand a good chance of getting airplay. Even Zooropa had Stay, which didn't really fit into the theme of the album, but we knew we needed that one great pop song to sell the record. You seem to have become a fan during Pop, which is a bit of an anomaly in our career. I fear that your first impression of the band was of a phase when we had almost lost the plot. Parts were great, other parts were not so good, but overall it didn't feel quite right. If you want us to make another Pop, I'm afraid you may be disappointed.

I also don't agree that we have lost our uniqueness. Name any other band that we sound like today. Coldplay doesn't count - they're copying us. We are still true to ourselves and our fans, and we haven't tried to be anyone other than ourselves over the past 5 years. I'm also sorry that you don't think our music is "challenging" anymore. Even if it were true, it misses the point. Music is not only about being challenging - it is not solely an intellectual exercise. It is also about emotion, and I believe our last two records have more emotion than most of our other albums. It's our own version of soul music.

In summary, we will soon change again. We may fall flat on our faces, and we probably will once again. We want to blow minds, and we will try.

Cheers,
Bono

P.S. I'm not sure what beanies and glasses have to do with materialism though.

that's actually a good post. Nice one :up: except I don't think Pop had "hookless dance elements." I suppose it depends on the song, but Discotheque certainly wasn't hookless...
 
Chizip said:
If people don't agree with the opinion of the author, make a reasonable point as to why you disagree. If you're bored of the topic than just skip the thread and find another one you are more interested in.

The sarcastic comments and bickering in this thread is pretty disappointing.


This is exactly why threads get closed.
The bickering, personal attacks, telling people to fuck off, is just not acceptable.

Sorry gang.
 
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