namkcuR
ONE love, blood, life
Every day on this forum, and probably other U2 forums too, people argue about how the last two records, ATYCLB and HTDAAB, compare to the rest of the band's back catalog. And every day, words/terms/phrases like 'sellout', 'trying too hard to sound like themselves', and 'too safe' are thrown around like they're going out of style.
However, while pondering this the past few days, I've come to the conclusion that those ever-so-frequent HTDAAB/ATYCLB vs. The Rest arguements are kind of fruitless and unimportant, because when we take part in those arguements, we sort of overlook the big picture.
That big picture lies in the consistancy of U2's music. More specifically, look at the succession of their pure studio records from 1983-1993 - I say 'pure studio' because I'm not including R&H here:
War(1983)
The Unforgettable Fire(1984)
The Joshua Tree(1987)
Achtung Baby(1991)
Zooropa(1993)
Think about the quality of those records, think about the fact that on each of those records, there were soundscapes and atmospheres and such that weren't on the one before it. The point here is that most bands just don't have strings of records THAT long that maintain not only a very high overall musical and lyrical quality, but also a sort of incredible creative output - a meshing of the desire to keep pushing the envelope, the imagination and artistry needed to keep coming back with new musical/lyrical/atmospheric ideas from song to song and record to record, and the tireless energy and passion it must surely take to make all of that come out sounding just the way they want it to - if you will. And the thing is, when you manage to put forth that kind of creative and artistic output over a period of time that long, it isn't planned. What I mean by that is, I think it takes a certain momentum, internal to the band, to keep pushing their own artistic boundries the way they did during that time period.
It really is like a zone, they got into 'the zone' with War and they stayed in 'the zone', and 'the zone' is kind of an uncontrollable thing because you don't decide when you get in it and you don't decide when you leave it, but once you are in it, you want to make the most of it, and I think that's what U2 felt at the time - they got into 'the zone' with War and they just caught fire, and were on fire for at least a decade. And during that time, they had no trouble coming up with ideas, the sheer volume of their output was massive, that's a reason why there were so many b-sides from 83-93. Not only that, but it seemed they could do no wrong in that time period - War, Unforgettable, Joshua, Achtung, and Zooropa were all very successful for them - not just with critics but with fans, and the tours, especially JT/Lovetown and ZooTV were wildly successful as well. The fans loved the idea of this group continually pushing their own boundries and making new sounds. But like I said, you don't decide when the zone starts and ends for you, and I think the zone sort of ran its course in the mid-late 90s. When everything happened with Pop(do NOT make this a pop thread - look in the other thread for my opinion on Pop), I think U2 sort of felt like the zone wasn't there anymore, that it had left them.
That said, the kind of string of records U2 made from 83 to 93 is the kind that, you can count the number of bands who have had that 'zone' on one hand and, imo, have fingers left to spare. Then, when the band releases a record like HTDAAB, which is a perfectly good and enjoyable rock record, some of us, for a time even myself, are quick to complain about how U2 are playing it safe now, but what we overlook, imo, is that the body of work we're comparing it to, especially 83-93, is a string of music that is in the top echelon of rock music ever recorded, period. And maybe, just maybe, that rather than U2 ditching the zone they were in, that the zone simply wore off of THEM instead.
However, while pondering this the past few days, I've come to the conclusion that those ever-so-frequent HTDAAB/ATYCLB vs. The Rest arguements are kind of fruitless and unimportant, because when we take part in those arguements, we sort of overlook the big picture.
That big picture lies in the consistancy of U2's music. More specifically, look at the succession of their pure studio records from 1983-1993 - I say 'pure studio' because I'm not including R&H here:
War(1983)
The Unforgettable Fire(1984)
The Joshua Tree(1987)
Achtung Baby(1991)
Zooropa(1993)
Think about the quality of those records, think about the fact that on each of those records, there were soundscapes and atmospheres and such that weren't on the one before it. The point here is that most bands just don't have strings of records THAT long that maintain not only a very high overall musical and lyrical quality, but also a sort of incredible creative output - a meshing of the desire to keep pushing the envelope, the imagination and artistry needed to keep coming back with new musical/lyrical/atmospheric ideas from song to song and record to record, and the tireless energy and passion it must surely take to make all of that come out sounding just the way they want it to - if you will. And the thing is, when you manage to put forth that kind of creative and artistic output over a period of time that long, it isn't planned. What I mean by that is, I think it takes a certain momentum, internal to the band, to keep pushing their own artistic boundries the way they did during that time period.
It really is like a zone, they got into 'the zone' with War and they stayed in 'the zone', and 'the zone' is kind of an uncontrollable thing because you don't decide when you get in it and you don't decide when you leave it, but once you are in it, you want to make the most of it, and I think that's what U2 felt at the time - they got into 'the zone' with War and they just caught fire, and were on fire for at least a decade. And during that time, they had no trouble coming up with ideas, the sheer volume of their output was massive, that's a reason why there were so many b-sides from 83-93. Not only that, but it seemed they could do no wrong in that time period - War, Unforgettable, Joshua, Achtung, and Zooropa were all very successful for them - not just with critics but with fans, and the tours, especially JT/Lovetown and ZooTV were wildly successful as well. The fans loved the idea of this group continually pushing their own boundries and making new sounds. But like I said, you don't decide when the zone starts and ends for you, and I think the zone sort of ran its course in the mid-late 90s. When everything happened with Pop(do NOT make this a pop thread - look in the other thread for my opinion on Pop), I think U2 sort of felt like the zone wasn't there anymore, that it had left them.
That said, the kind of string of records U2 made from 83 to 93 is the kind that, you can count the number of bands who have had that 'zone' on one hand and, imo, have fingers left to spare. Then, when the band releases a record like HTDAAB, which is a perfectly good and enjoyable rock record, some of us, for a time even myself, are quick to complain about how U2 are playing it safe now, but what we overlook, imo, is that the body of work we're comparing it to, especially 83-93, is a string of music that is in the top echelon of rock music ever recorded, period. And maybe, just maybe, that rather than U2 ditching the zone they were in, that the zone simply wore off of THEM instead.
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I agree. By the way, 1985 - 95 really has got to be my favorite period ever in pop culture. So many amazing bands like U2, REM, Pearl Jam, Metallica, Guns n Roses and so on. Lots of great movies too.
