U2 and Younger People

[phillyfan26]

They don't dislike U2, they DESPISE U2. The most common argument I hear is that "All their music sounds the same."

My English teacher wanted to use an example of Orwellian ideas in music (we were reading 1984), and played "Zooropa," maybe U2's most alternative song. Everyone at that moment agreed that my musical taste had gone to hell. That was the only time I was embarassed about being a U2 fan, more just because I felt U2 hadn't been given a chance. Really, that's all it is in general.

The objective music fans I know (you know, that don't follow the shitty rap trends) mostly believe that U2 has good music. Unfortunately, I'm really the only "fan" around.

 

[LemonMelon]

The most common argument I hear is that "All their music sounds the same."

And this is probably coming from Nickelback/top 40 rap lovers. Hahahahahaha

 

[dietcokeofevil]

Every generation generally hates every other generation's music (with exceptions of course).

Every generation likes to feel that they discovered the concept of rock and packaged rebellion. And the rock rebels of yesterday are the icons of the status quo today.

Our only consolation is when these brats grow up to have the next generation of brats piss on their music. But then again, we'll be sipping applesauce through straws at that point.

 

[kimby]

You know, some of this "dislike" may just be the result of trying to "fit in" with their peers.

A couple of years ago I was reading a celebrity-style type mag and a female actress (who had just turned 21) claimed she had grew up on "Zooropa"<her favorite album> and said the best thing about adulthood was that she could finally admit to liking U2!

 

[MrBrau1]

They don't dislike U2, they DESPISE U2. The most common argument I hear is that "All their music sounds the same."

My English teacher wanted to use an example of Orwellian ideas in music (we were reading 1984), and played "Zooropa," maybe U2's most alternative song. Everyone at that moment agreed that my musical taste had gone to hell. That was the only time I was embarassed about being a U2 fan, more just because I felt U2 hadn't been given a chance. Really, that's all it is in general.

The objective music fans I know (you know, that don't follow the shitty rap trends) mostly believe that U2 has good music. Unfortunately, I'm really the only "fan" around.

But here's the thing. Everyone in your class had limited interest in music. You had a band you love, who captured your imagination.

How many of them are still listening to the artists they were listening to in HS? I'll guess none. As of today, how many of them actually give a rat's ass about music? I'll say none.

I had similar experiences. And this was during U2's apparent heyday, 87-91.

Everyone hated U2. They were, and still are the most uncool band ever. I was the lone U2 fan in a class of 500.

But ya know what the haters were cumming in their pants over?

Digital Underground.
Vanilla Ice.
Poison.
Color Me Bad.
Extreme.

 

[phillyfan26]

But here's the thing. Everyone in your class had limited interest in music. You had a band you love, who captured your imagination.

How many of them are still listening to the artists they were listening to in HS? I'll guess none. As of today, how many of them actually give a rat's ass about music? I'll say none.

I had similar experiences. And this was during U2's apparent heyday, 87-91.

Everyone hated U2. They were, and still are the most uncool band ever. I was the lone U2 fan in a class of 500.

But ya know what the haters were cumming in their pants over?

Digital Underground.
Vanilla Ice.
Poison.
Color Me Bad.
Extreme.

I seem to fool everyone. This story happened two months ago. I'm 16.

In 20 years, I hope this is true. U2 has indeed captured my imagination in a way that music never had before for me. I never really was much of a music fan, I dabbled in Springsteen a bit. Then I bought the Joshua Tree. Music first really hit me there. It had the knock-out punch as soon as I found youtube and U2's live material. U2's live performances are still the best pieces of music I've ever heard.

 

[LemonMelon]

I seem to fool everyone. This story happened two months ago. I'm 16.

Same. I'm 16 too and I can relate.

All of my friends know who U2 is, and one is even a casual fan and loves their music when he hears it. I'm sure the rest only care because I do though.

Across the rest of the internet, I've come across a whole lot of U2 hatred. They are a polarizing and, indeed, "uncool" band. But that's just fine.

Again, who cares what young people think? They're all idiots.

 

[MrBrau1]

I seem to fool everyone. This story happened two months ago. I'm 16.

In 20 years, I hope this is true. U2 has indeed captured my imagination in a way that music never had before for me. I never really was much of a music fan, I dabbled in Springsteen a bit. Then I bought the Joshua Tree. Music first really hit me there. It had the knock-out punch as soon as I found youtube and U2's live material. U2's live performances are still the best pieces of music I've ever heard.

Ha!

I fought Dave Basher in 1987, cause I put a Springsteen tape on during a party. He turned it off after 30 seconds and tuned in a Top 40 station. I got up, and put the tape back in. He didn't like that. So we bloodied each others lips.

Teenagers have terrible, almost worthless taste. Your classmates would have shat all over Marvin Gaye as much as they shat on U2.

 

[Rachel D.]

I started liking U2 in eigth grade and I was the only one, until one of my friends said that her dad liked them. This got her into them for about two years and then started listening to Sum 41 (this was around 2002) and other such things. Then she abruptly lost interest in U2 and, consequently, I ran out of things to talk to her about. I realized that the only thing we had in common was that we liked U2, and she didn't anymore. Oh well.

I basically kept my mouth shut about U2 in high school. I went to a small school where everyone knew almost everyone else and there were zero U2 fans. Everyone listened to metal, country, and rap. My friends treated my U2 fandom as a mental illness that they have to patiently tolerate (like they do now). I knew one kid on the bus that liked U2 pretty well and I let him borrow my U2 albums. But there was no one completely crazy about them besides me.

I think it takes a certain type of person to like U2. Mature enough to grasp lofty subjects and patient enough to stay interested between albums. Most high schoolers these days lack both of these things.

 

[WCF]

I guess you could say MOST young people are stupid, but certainly not all of us. The stereotype is we all listen to Fergie or Panic at the Disco, but the rock listeners here are kind of split into two categories: mainstream and classic rock. So yeah, they're not totally clueless about these "legends".

What baffled me is even the people who love music from the 60's, 70's and 80's (there are more than you'd expect) still despise U2. I just wonder what it is? My theory was that most of kids these days want "rocking" bands, like Van Halen, Pink Floyd, AC/DC, The Clash, etc. My knowledge of music is pretty limited so I'm not sure about this one, but maybe the lyrics of U2 are more mature, meaningful, or complex?

Kind of a coincidence RHCP and U2 are so similar. They're probably my two favorite bands.

 

[dietcokeofevil]

U2 fans are indeed a strange breed

smart, petty, nerdy, altruistic, pragmatic, bitchy, walking self-contradictions.

That alone is enough to make a connection to U2

 

[coolian2]

Teenagers have terrible, almost worthless taste. Your classmates would have shat all over Marvin Gaye as much as they shat on U2.

Its funny, i got into U2 in when i had just started college (aka high school to you all) in 2001.

None of my long term friends complain about U2, and for the most part they don't mind them.

Then again, me and my friends and i isn't stopid, like most teenage music fans.

Actually, now i'm in Uni and still the music taste of everyone around me sucks.

 

[coolian2]

Oooh, one arguement for hating U2 that i love is "they've sounded the same for years"



They've released two albums in the last six years. Normally their 'sameness' of sound lasts for two albums. No concept of time, damn it!

 

[skott100]

I don't think it's that big of a deal. When I was in high school in the mid/late 80's there were plenty of bands who were in their 40's that I just couldn't relate to at all. Teenagers by nature are in between worlds and trying to find where they fit. Naturally they will bond with music that is from their own time and place. That's what pop music often does. It empowers kids to say "Fuck what came before, this is MY moment!" And if you think about it, it was that kind of attitude that made U2 special in the first place. They didn't want to look back, they wanted to be in their own moment. U2 have been the biggest band in the world for 20 years so its probably hard to identify with what they do if you haven't come up in the world with them. I remember being bitter about all the 60s nostalgia being forced down my throat by the baby boomers when I was that age. I still kind of feel that way actually, but it wasn't until later in my 20's that I could appreciate Jimi Hendrix for example.

It's great that you and a select group of other teens are into U2. So wear that as your badge. You don't need the whole school to like them. It only means you're thinking for yourself and not letting some demographic research determine which band you're supposed to like this month.

None of this excuses the popularity of Panic At Disco and Fallout Boy. That shit sucks no matter what decade it is. But then again, I liked some stuff that has not stood the test of time when I was in high school. But lets not talk about the Thompson Twins and Doctor & The Medics. Not today anyway. ;-)

 

[WCF]

It's great that you and a select group of other teens are into U2. So wear that as your badge. You don't need the whole school to like them. It only means you're thinking for yourself and not letting some demographic research determine which band you're supposed to like this month.

The problem isn't that I want more people to like U2, I'm just wondering why people don't really know them, and why the majority that do know them hates them.

You have a point though, that kids will naturally drift to pop music from their own time and place. If I didn't hear Beautiful Day while it was popular, I'm not sure where I'd be now.

Oh and I hate the "they sound the same" argument, when they are probably one of the most diverse bands ever. From Boy to Rattle and Hum to Zooropa, and even to ATLYCLB, it's all different.

 

[LemonMelon]

Oh and I hate the "they sound the same" argument, when they are probably one of the most diverse bands ever. From Boy to Rattle and Hum to Zooropa, and even to ATLYCLB, it's all different.

Yep. U2 are right up there with Blur, Beck, and Radiohead in terms of diversity.

 

[catlhere]

Bono doesn't wear enough black eye-liner and nail polish to fit in today with the kiddies

 

[BonosLil'Pal94]

^are you kidding me?? I'm glad he doesn't!!

I'm in 7th grade, so I know what its like to have nobody else like U2. Everyone's always talking about these new bands, you know, My Chemical Romance, Fergie, I mean, sure I like them and all, but none compare to U2. As others here, I'm known as 'the one who loves U2' or whatever. Although many don't like their music now, I'm sure they'll appreciate the music when they're older. Who couldn't? I mean, I used to not like them (shocking I know ) but look at me now; I've been to 3 shows and gotten on stage and Bono is my idol! I'm glad this thread came up.

And people who make up excuses to not like U2 are just jealous IMO

 

[WCF]

Something I just thought about. If kids are into music in their own time and place, why are people saying that U2 were never well liked, even in the 80's and early 90's?

 

[Screwtape2]

Most middle and high schoolers don't take the time to understand music. Unless you are willing to understand and give in to the lyrics and soundscapes of U2, you're not going to like the band. Notice the difference in the way teens on Interference talk about music as opposed to the average kid in high school. It's always been about exploring music and what it means to you, the decade in which you grew up doesn't change that.

 

[Saracene]

- U2 are over 45 and very much look their age.

- U2 have never been particularly cool and Bono does get on many people's nerves. Besides, U2 are still around making new music, which means that they're perceived in a totally different light to defunct groups like, say, Clash.

- Teenage years are usually the years when kids really care about liking "cool" music and just the stuff that's supposed to be "in" among their peers.

- It's just natural for every younger generation to gravitate to music from their own time. Not that it's anything I could relate to since I went the total opposite - I've spent my teens listening to my parents' music, mostly 60s & 70s stuff, and then slowly branched off into more recent artists. It's hilarious - my Dad is a bit older than U2 but for him U2 is "the band that my 20-something daughter loves",

 

[U2Kitten]

Something I just thought about. If kids are into music in their own time and place, why are people saying that U2 were never well liked, even in the 80's and early 90's?

Then they would be incorrect. I was a teen in the 80's and they were very well known and well liked well before JT. Even though I've seen reports that they became famous with JT, I know from my own experience they were big from War and Red Rocks (which was very overplayed on TV in the mid 80's) and Live Aid and UF before it came out. Then when it did it made them huge. They were all over the place. I never even saw any negativity over Rattle and Hum, or rejection of AB, as many insist happened. It didn't happen with the people I knew and I didn't hear anything about it until, well, until I started posting here! Those young kids who say that they weren't well liked back then don't know because they weren't there and they have either heard or assumed wrong.

Very good points, Saracene

 

[Irishteen]

The majority of my friends don't like U2, but none of them actually seem to hate them. Even one of them who doesn't like their music respects the fact they've been around for years. Sure they'll joke about how simple and effect-driven Edge's guitar playing is but they don't hate them.

 

[butter7]

U2 fans are indeed a strange breed

smart, petty, nerdy, altruistic, pragmatic, bitchy, walking self-contradictions.

That alone is enough to make a connection to U2

Good one.

I always wondering why it's never been a U2 fan around me but the concert always sold out?

 

[Jeffo17]

Tennagers will listen to Teeny Bopper Music.... U2 is not Teenie Bopper...

 

[fly so high!]

I became a U2 fan when I was 13, and there weren't other kids in school who liked them. It's been 12 years since then, and I'm still remembered as "the U2 fan" by old classmates.

That's the same as me!

 

[LemonMelon]

Most middle and high schoolers don't take the time to understand music. Unless you are willing to understand and give in to the lyrics and soundscapes of U2, you're not going to like the band.

Which is why Vertigo is U2's most universally-appealing song.

"Hello hello" Even brain-dead teenagers can understand that.

 

[kimby]

Then they would be incorrect. I was a teen in the 80's and they were very well known and well liked well before JT. Even though I've seen reports that they became famous with JT, I know from my own experience they were big from War and Red Rocks (which was very overplayed on TV in the mid 80's) and Live Aid and UF before it came out. Then when it did it made them huge. They were all over the place. I never even saw any negativity over Rattle and Hum, or rejection of AB, as many insist happened. It didn't happen with the people I knew and I didn't hear anything about it until, well, until I started posting here! Those young kids who say that they weren't well liked back then don't know because they weren't there and they have either heard or assumed wrong.

You must have been hiding under a rock or something, then --I'm the same age as the band members and
I remember all the negativity over Rattle and Hum quite well!

Got my first internet access right around the time of AB and there were a lot of P. O.'d people on the fan sites I investigated (particularly the Wire mailing list...some of those folk eventually changed their minds )

Funny though, all the "hate" didn't keep the albums (and tickets) from selling...

 

[LemonMelon]

Funny though, all the "hate" didn't keep the albums (and tickets) from selling...

This all sounds very familiar.

 

[onebloodonelife]

Meh, I'm in high school, and I've loved U2 for years...not because they were on the radio, but because I bought War and fell in love. I've been in many arguments with my peers about U2, but inevitably, it always ends in "Bono's old and icky" or "Bono's a hypocrite." I honestly couldn't care less. I love them, and that's all that matters to me. Let everyone else have their Fergie, Fall Out Boy, and Panic! At the Disco...I'll keep U2.