namkcuR
ONE love, blood, life
To U2
I am one of your biggest fans. I know you'll in all likelyhood never see or read this, as I'm sure you have an infinite number of better things to do than sit around reading posts on a message board dedicated to yourselves. But I felt like writing this anyway.
I think you, as a band, are at a fork in the road in your career. On your right, is an arrow-sign with 'Rollingstonesville' written on it. On your left, is an arrow-sign with '?' written on it. It is up to you to decide whether you will make records like ATYCLB and/or HTDAAB for the rest of your career, playing it safe, ala the Rolling Stones, or whether you will venture into the unknown -- which is the reality of a 3-decade-old band still putting as much sweat and tears and courage and soul into their records as they did when they were younger. It's not that the past two records are bad. It's really not. They're good. Very good, even. I like 'Beautiful Day' and 'Walk On' and 'Kite' and 'Vertigo' and 'Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own' and 'Love And Peace Or Else' and 'City Of Blinding Lights' and 'Original Of The Species' as much as the next person on this forum does. They're well-written, enjoyable, sometimes even infectious songs. But they're not challenging. These songs don't make one think as much as your previous work does. I am well aware that America, where I live, is the so-called ADD society where more people than not don't want to have to think to enjoy their entertainment. But that is their problem, not yours.
Bono, you made a statement around the release of the 'Pop' album that was quoted in an issue of U2's Propaganda magazine at the time and subsequently made it into the 'Best Of Propaganda' book. I am going to quote it now:
"When people pick out The Joshua Tree, what they mean is why don't you make something as accessible as that. And that's not our job, it's never been the job of a rock and roll band, if people want just melodic music there are other places they can go...occasionally you make a record like that and there are songs on POP that are great in that respect but that's not our reason to be. There is a clear deal that we have with people who buy our records and that is, here's a shitload of money, you won't have to worry about where you're going to buy your shoes or what food is on the table...but in return all we want is you to be fucking brave and a bit brilliant. I think that's the deal. The day we bow down to commercial pressure or sell ourselves out - by that I mean don't do the work that we actually want to do - will be a very sad day."
And this is another statement of yours taken from U2's 'VH1 Legends':
"I don't wanna be in a crap band, and the minute U2 becomes a crap band, we're, you know, we're all out of here. And crap does not mean, it's not measured in sales, or even relevance, it's about the sense of adventure, is it still there, are you still blowing your own mind, are you still growing as a musician, and as a songwriter, and as a person, and I think, I think that in U2 we are, right now."
Now, there's always the possibility the work you and the band did on ATYCLB and HTDAAB IS the work that you actually want to do and that that it IS still blowing your own minds. If that is the case, you can stop reading right now. But I am a little skeptical of it.
Don't get the wrong idea here - contrary to increasingly popular belief, I don't think you have really sold out for real yet. I really don't. The IPod thing was a music video for which you didn't take any money and that's it. And songs like 'Peace On Earth', 'Grace', 'A Man And A Woman' and 'One Step Closer' certainly don't sound like a band selling themselves out to me. However, songs like 'Beautiful Day', 'Stuck In A Moment', 'Elevation', 'Vertigo', 'City Of Blinding Lights', and 'All Because Of You' do have a certain 'Let's get on the radio' factor to them. They seem to be very chorus/hook heavy and lacking the kind of buildup that you guys are so famous for in your music. So, while I don't think you've really sold out yet, I think you're too close to it for comfort - my comfort, at least.
I think one of the things that made U2 so amazing and so unique was the fact that you were a band that could rival the Rolling Stones in how big you were, yet you had certain aspects of the Indie attitude. No, you didn't have the snobbish 'Big bands have no credibilty' BS going on - you always wanted to be the biggest and the best - but you did have the aspect of the Indie attitude that has to do with not wanting to sound like anyone else. Just wanting to sound different, and wanting that difference to be your sound. Having that attitude while being arguably the biggest band in the entire universe is what made you so fucking great and amazing as a band. And I don't think it's gone(no pun intended) yet, but I think it just might be eroding. Correct if I'm wrong. If I'm right, though, I implore you to stop that erosion before it's too late. I believe you still have it within you, all four of you, to make something amazing.
And that does NOT mean that I want you to make another 'Pop' or another 'Achtung Baby'. It does not mean that at all. What it means is that I want you to take that desire to sound unique to everyone else, and use it to make something that none of us can even imagine right now. Hang on to that desire to make something that none of us can even imagine right now. Hang on to it. And use to make something that will blow our minds. Maybe even blow your mind, Bono.
It is with those words that I leave you at the proverbial fork in the road. And the question that I think you need to ask yourselves here is a cliched one but I think it is the neccessary one: Is it better to burn out or to fade away? If you want to fade away, go down the road on your right to Rollingstonesville. If you want to tackle the unknown and maybe blow some minds in the process, go down the road on your left to ? On the one hand you can keep making records that you know will sell, good records with good songs but no challenge and no mindblowing - but it's not like you need the money and it's not like anyone's going to forget who U2 is. On the other you can go down the road yet unknown, the road of a three-decade-old band refraining from becoming a nostalgia act. Your success may not be guaranteed there. You may try something and it might be a big success or you might try something and fall on your face. But either way, you will have at least tried something rather than doing what you know you can do in your sleep. Obviously you guys are going to do whatever you want to do, and I can't speak for every U2 fan out there, but I for one would rather see you attempt to blow our minds again and fall on your face and burn out in the process than see you slowly fade away and become like Mick and Keith, 65 years old, shadows, caricatures of their former selves, and from time-to-time a late-night talk show punchline. Burning out isn't something to be ashamed of, anyway. The Beatles burned out. Pink Floyd burned out. You'd be in good company - and that's only IF you burned out.
So you can stop wearing the glasses and the beanies and all that. The materialistic stuff doesn't excite anymore. But your music still can. I truely believe that. We, the people who buy your records, are giving you a shitload of money. So be fucking brave and a bit brilliant, U2. I know you have it in you. And I know I'm far from being the only fan who believes that.
Yours Truely, One Of Your Biggest Fans
namkcuR
I am one of your biggest fans. I know you'll in all likelyhood never see or read this, as I'm sure you have an infinite number of better things to do than sit around reading posts on a message board dedicated to yourselves. But I felt like writing this anyway.
I think you, as a band, are at a fork in the road in your career. On your right, is an arrow-sign with 'Rollingstonesville' written on it. On your left, is an arrow-sign with '?' written on it. It is up to you to decide whether you will make records like ATYCLB and/or HTDAAB for the rest of your career, playing it safe, ala the Rolling Stones, or whether you will venture into the unknown -- which is the reality of a 3-decade-old band still putting as much sweat and tears and courage and soul into their records as they did when they were younger. It's not that the past two records are bad. It's really not. They're good. Very good, even. I like 'Beautiful Day' and 'Walk On' and 'Kite' and 'Vertigo' and 'Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own' and 'Love And Peace Or Else' and 'City Of Blinding Lights' and 'Original Of The Species' as much as the next person on this forum does. They're well-written, enjoyable, sometimes even infectious songs. But they're not challenging. These songs don't make one think as much as your previous work does. I am well aware that America, where I live, is the so-called ADD society where more people than not don't want to have to think to enjoy their entertainment. But that is their problem, not yours.
Bono, you made a statement around the release of the 'Pop' album that was quoted in an issue of U2's Propaganda magazine at the time and subsequently made it into the 'Best Of Propaganda' book. I am going to quote it now:
"When people pick out The Joshua Tree, what they mean is why don't you make something as accessible as that. And that's not our job, it's never been the job of a rock and roll band, if people want just melodic music there are other places they can go...occasionally you make a record like that and there are songs on POP that are great in that respect but that's not our reason to be. There is a clear deal that we have with people who buy our records and that is, here's a shitload of money, you won't have to worry about where you're going to buy your shoes or what food is on the table...but in return all we want is you to be fucking brave and a bit brilliant. I think that's the deal. The day we bow down to commercial pressure or sell ourselves out - by that I mean don't do the work that we actually want to do - will be a very sad day."
And this is another statement of yours taken from U2's 'VH1 Legends':
"I don't wanna be in a crap band, and the minute U2 becomes a crap band, we're, you know, we're all out of here. And crap does not mean, it's not measured in sales, or even relevance, it's about the sense of adventure, is it still there, are you still blowing your own mind, are you still growing as a musician, and as a songwriter, and as a person, and I think, I think that in U2 we are, right now."
Now, there's always the possibility the work you and the band did on ATYCLB and HTDAAB IS the work that you actually want to do and that that it IS still blowing your own minds. If that is the case, you can stop reading right now. But I am a little skeptical of it.
Don't get the wrong idea here - contrary to increasingly popular belief, I don't think you have really sold out for real yet. I really don't. The IPod thing was a music video for which you didn't take any money and that's it. And songs like 'Peace On Earth', 'Grace', 'A Man And A Woman' and 'One Step Closer' certainly don't sound like a band selling themselves out to me. However, songs like 'Beautiful Day', 'Stuck In A Moment', 'Elevation', 'Vertigo', 'City Of Blinding Lights', and 'All Because Of You' do have a certain 'Let's get on the radio' factor to them. They seem to be very chorus/hook heavy and lacking the kind of buildup that you guys are so famous for in your music. So, while I don't think you've really sold out yet, I think you're too close to it for comfort - my comfort, at least.
I think one of the things that made U2 so amazing and so unique was the fact that you were a band that could rival the Rolling Stones in how big you were, yet you had certain aspects of the Indie attitude. No, you didn't have the snobbish 'Big bands have no credibilty' BS going on - you always wanted to be the biggest and the best - but you did have the aspect of the Indie attitude that has to do with not wanting to sound like anyone else. Just wanting to sound different, and wanting that difference to be your sound. Having that attitude while being arguably the biggest band in the entire universe is what made you so fucking great and amazing as a band. And I don't think it's gone(no pun intended) yet, but I think it just might be eroding. Correct if I'm wrong. If I'm right, though, I implore you to stop that erosion before it's too late. I believe you still have it within you, all four of you, to make something amazing.
And that does NOT mean that I want you to make another 'Pop' or another 'Achtung Baby'. It does not mean that at all. What it means is that I want you to take that desire to sound unique to everyone else, and use it to make something that none of us can even imagine right now. Hang on to that desire to make something that none of us can even imagine right now. Hang on to it. And use to make something that will blow our minds. Maybe even blow your mind, Bono.
It is with those words that I leave you at the proverbial fork in the road. And the question that I think you need to ask yourselves here is a cliched one but I think it is the neccessary one: Is it better to burn out or to fade away? If you want to fade away, go down the road on your right to Rollingstonesville. If you want to tackle the unknown and maybe blow some minds in the process, go down the road on your left to ? On the one hand you can keep making records that you know will sell, good records with good songs but no challenge and no mindblowing - but it's not like you need the money and it's not like anyone's going to forget who U2 is. On the other you can go down the road yet unknown, the road of a three-decade-old band refraining from becoming a nostalgia act. Your success may not be guaranteed there. You may try something and it might be a big success or you might try something and fall on your face. But either way, you will have at least tried something rather than doing what you know you can do in your sleep. Obviously you guys are going to do whatever you want to do, and I can't speak for every U2 fan out there, but I for one would rather see you attempt to blow our minds again and fall on your face and burn out in the process than see you slowly fade away and become like Mick and Keith, 65 years old, shadows, caricatures of their former selves, and from time-to-time a late-night talk show punchline. Burning out isn't something to be ashamed of, anyway. The Beatles burned out. Pink Floyd burned out. You'd be in good company - and that's only IF you burned out.
So you can stop wearing the glasses and the beanies and all that. The materialistic stuff doesn't excite anymore. But your music still can. I truely believe that. We, the people who buy your records, are giving you a shitload of money. So be fucking brave and a bit brilliant, U2. I know you have it in you. And I know I'm far from being the only fan who believes that.
Yours Truely, One Of Your Biggest Fans
namkcuR
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well i cant remember the last time i heard a song like it on the radio here in the UK
seriously I feel kinda bad for the people that think U2 are losing it or whatever...and I am almost completely certain U2 will experiment again, I know Larry of all people has said it before. Trust me, I want U2 to blow my mind as much as you. I want an entirely new sound too. It will come in time. However as far as I'm concerned U2 is making brilliant music now as much as ever. HTDAAB is tied with JT and Zooropa for my third favourite album. U2 aren't selling out now anymore than they were in 1987.
fan, I like all their phases, I miss them all, and I'll surely like their next phase because they never disappointed me so far.
