What makes U2 unique?

[U2Girl1978]

I'm sure this has been talked about before but what makes U2..U2? What makes them different from any other band? Is it because they have been around for 30 years? Is it because they are so accessible to the fans? What is it?

Does anyone know what I'm trying to get at?

This has been on my mind lately. Probably because my U2 high is gone at the moment. It'll come back when I get something new about them.

 

[vaz02]

Keep relivant and intresting.

not many can boost growing popularity like u2 have and pulling of huge shows.

u2 will be remebered for the live shows.

 

[susanp6]

The same line up staying together and being friends - also continuing to play the best live shows in the world!

 

[Windmilllane]

To me, what makes U2 unique is that they always change musical styles. From Boy-October-War to UF-JT-RH to AB-Zooropa-Pop and then to ATYCLB-HTDAAB.

They don't fit the traditional pop-rock Top 40 band. Their music is so unique. Bono's voice is so powerful; Edge's guitar playing is so distinct; Adam's bass is so cool; Larry's drumming is so cool.
Their music is so profound and moody and raw and powerful, not like that bubble-gum shitty crap we hear all the time on top 40 radio.

I always get excited about new U2 stuff.

For the last 20 years, so-called popular bands have come and gone. What ever happened to Hootie and the Blowfish? Creed? Same thing will happen to Maroon 5 and bands like that. They will disappear. Even bands that are still around change band members (i.e. Bon Jovi, REM). But the four members of U2 have been around since they were teenagers. Most marriages don't even last that long.

U2

 

[Rachel D.]

U2 love what they do, they love each other, and spirituality/God is important to them. Also, as others have said, they are willing and able to change musically when the need arises.

 

[ntalwar]

I think their Irish background is underrated. It has influenced a lot of their sound and lyrics. A lot of Edge's guitar style has roots in traditional Irish guitar technique.

 

[cobl04]

For me there are two things among others:

1. Their spirituality and religious beliefs
2. The fact that not one member has come or left in 30 years

 

[JCOSTER]

Bonos unique amazing, soulful, passionate voice.
Larrys Drum pounding continuously sounding fresh.
The Edges unbelievable performances and riffs.
Adam so relaxed and cool.

Their special bond of brotherhood and loyalty to each other.
Bono being so approachable and recognizing the many fans that love them all.
Their down to earthness.
Their faithfulness.

 

[U2Girl1978]

Are there are other bands that are like U2 in terms of how they treat their fans, etc?

 

[JCOSTER]

Chili Peppers? dunno just a guess.

 

[mediaman44]

Chili Peppers? dunno just a guess.

Not if you use the standard of no change in members.

The Chili Peppers have had some of the most lineup changes of any band still around.

I think what make U2 so unique is their sound, the energy and especially their sound and energy live. The fact that they are still around making award winning music. The fact that they have the ability to mean so many things to so many different people.

 

[ntalwar]

Are there are other bands that are like U2 in terms of how they treat their fans, etc?

Pearl Jam treats the fans great. A flat $50 ticket throughout the arena, big setlist changes nightly, a preset Eddie Vedder solo, $2 of each ticket going to a local charity, a long set, and downloadable official bootlegs of each show are examples.

 

[kimby]

Because they are purty!

Joking!

 

[t8thgr8]

because u2 fills their songs with so much you spend years digging it all up.

 

[BluRmGrl]

They're either damn fine actors or they are absolutely humbled by their good fortune and fame.

How many other shows have you been to where your high priced ticket was not only acknowledged, but you were thanked for spending your money on it?

What other bands - or musicians - have put their superstar status to such good use?

How many other groups have regularly shown as much comraderie and general love to each other and their fans after 30 years?

Finally - and maybe I'm being completely naieve here - but I really believe that they still want our approval on their music. Not just so we'll go out and buy their records, but because they really want to know that they've connected with us; that the music means something to us. Because it still means so much to them.



Then again, maybe they're just damn fine actors.

 

[david]

Their longevity, the fact that all original members remain, the fact that they didn't sound a lot like their contemporaries (though they had a bit of echo and the bunnymen and other influences in their earlier sound), what they stood for as a band, their political and religious beliefs, etc.

 

[WalkOn21]

From a website about music genres:

Another incarnation of New Wave is ''Green Wave''. 'Green' is in this case synonymous with fresh, new. It's characterized by melodious rock-like music with great attention to creating a musical atmosphere. A well-known band that can be seen as Green Wave is U2.

The fact that they couldn't give more examples than U2 must mean that there aren't any other bands that are alike. See, they have a whole music genre of their own. If that doesn't make them unique I don't know what does.

 

[Axver]

Are there are other bands that are like U2 in terms of how they treat their fans, etc?

Frankly, I don't think U2 treats their fans very well at all.

As a comparison, the effort Dream Theater (especially drummer Mike Portnoy) goes to for their fans is simply extraordinary. Some examples:

1. Mike Portnoy has established "Ytsejam Records" to print and distribute high quality 'official bootleg' recordings of concerts, complete with bonus tracks. He has also released collections of demos and out-takes. The quality and depth of this stuff is simply amazing. In comparison, the best U2 seems to be able to do is the "unreleased and rare" collection on iTunes, which you couldn't legitimately purchase without buying an entire discography that you likely already own, and you could only get the songs in compressed quality, not high quality uncompressed audio.
2. When Dream Theater records a DVD, they make a point to avoid playing songs that have appeared on previous live releases. For example, the one they shot in April this year will have only four songs that were on the previous DVD. In comparison, Bullet The Blue Sky and Streets have been on every single U2 live video/DVD since Rattle And Hum, WOWY has been on five videos in a row, One has been excluded from only one out of five videos released since its live debut, et cetera.
3. Dream Theater goes to great effort to play varied setlists. It's one thing to play something different to the night before. It's quite something else to retain a record of all the sets you've played in a particular city and make a setlist different to those previously played in that city. Think about it: a typical fan of a band lives in their home city and sees them there rather than travelling. So Dream Theater tries to give them a different show each time they pass through that city. In comparison, U2 typically plays the same core hits even if they've already played them 20 times in that city before. All that significantly changes from tour to tour is the new material.
4. The members of Dream Theater actually interact on their fan forums and have a say in their websites. I have to wonder if U2 are even aware of the wild inaccuracies that have appeared on U2.com.

 

[Axver]

From a website about music genres:

The fact that they couldn't give more examples than U2 must mean that there aren't any other bands that are alike. See, they have a whole music genre of their own. If that doesn't make them unique I don't know what does.

Just because they don't give other examples doesn't mean they don't exist. I could say "a well known progressive death metal band is Opeth" and that doesn't change the fact that there are other prominent progressive death metal bands. I just simply didn't mention them. I think the same applies in this case. It's not as if U2's sound is particularly unique. Broad, yes. It's not so often you see the same band making Mofo and Promenade. Unique, no. You'll find other bands who've made songs that sound similar to Mofo or Promenade; it's just U2's done both styles.

 

[WalkOn21]

Just because they don't give other examples doesn't mean they don't exist.

Dude, it was a joke. Do you really think I would be serious in saying "that must mean they're the only band in their genre"? Notice the "" smilie at the end, too. That's not an emoticon I usually use when being serious.

But I see you're too much on a U2-is-not-unique crusade to notice sarcasm.

 

[CKONE]

because u2 fills their songs with so much you spend years digging it all up.

and they smell great

 

[Axver]

Dude, it was a joke. Do you really think I would be serious in saying "that must mean they're the only band in their genre"? Notice the "" smilie at the end, too. That's not an emoticon I usually use when being serious.

But I see you're too much on a U2-is-not-unique crusade to notice sarcasm.

1. I tend to associate the wink with the comment it immediately follows, not one a couple of sentences back.

2. That sort of comment is exactly what I expect from this forum anyway.

 

[WalkOn21]

1. I tend to associate the wink with the comment it immediately follows, not one a couple of sentences back.

2. That sort of comment is exactly what I expect from this forum anyway.

Still, even if the wink wasn't "on the right spot", my argument was so obviously flawed that you could've known that I wasn't being serious.

You are right though, there are people on this forum who would use that argument.

 

[Pero]

-because of simplest rhytm section
-Edge exploring

 

[U2girl]

-The un-characteristic sound for a "rock" band. (Edge's non-guitar hero style)

-Same line-up and keeping popularity for 3 decades.

- Live shows.

-the normality of their lives given what they do for a living.

 

[WalkOn21]

-the normality of their lives given what they do for a living.

How exactly do you judge how normal their lives are? For all I know they could have their own cinema in their basement.

 

[U2girl]

I meant they avoided the cliche "sex, drugs and rock and roll" lifestyle, as well as arguing/splitting up over money and/or ego.

 

[david]

They're unique because they're not Dream Theatre.

 

[nightninja56]

They're unique because they're not Dream Theatre.

 

[AtomicBono]

Frankly, I don't think U2 treats their fans very well at all.

As a comparison, the effort Dream Theater (especially drummer Mike Portnoy) goes to for their fans is simply extraordinary. Some examples:

1. Mike Portnoy has established "Ytsejam Records" to print and distribute high quality 'official bootleg' recordings of concerts, complete with bonus tracks. He has also released collections of demos and out-takes. The quality and depth of this stuff is simply amazing. In comparison, the best U2 seems to be able to do is the "unreleased and rare" collection on iTunes, which you couldn't legitimately purchase without buying an entire discography that you likely already own, and you could only get the songs in compressed quality, not high quality uncompressed audio.
2. When Dream Theater records a DVD, they make a point to avoid playing songs that have appeared on previous live releases. For example, the one they shot in April this year will have only four songs that were on the previous DVD. In comparison, Bullet The Blue Sky and Streets have been on every single U2 live video/DVD since Rattle And Hum, WOWY has been on five videos in a row, One has been excluded from only one out of five videos released since its live debut, et cetera.
3. Dream Theater goes to great effort to play varied setlists. It's one thing to play something different to the night before. It's quite something else to retain a record of all the sets you've played in a particular city and make a setlist different to those previously played in that city. Think about it: a typical fan of a band lives in their home city and sees them there rather than travelling. So Dream Theater tries to give them a different show each time they pass through that city. In comparison, U2 typically plays the same core hits even if they've already played them 20 times in that city before. All that significantly changes from tour to tour is the new material.
4. The members of Dream Theater actually interact on their fan forums and have a say in their websites. I have to wonder if U2 are even aware of the wild inaccuracies that have appeared on U2.com.

Whoa dude. Calm down on the Dream Theater crusade for a minute here. Just how popular are Dream Theater? They're no indie band certainly, but you have to realize that I'm sure in comparison to U2, their popularity is much, much, much less. U2 is not just a big band. They are quite possibly the biggest band in the world. As the biggest band in the world, they don't necessarily have the time to talk to fans on the internet or whatever, nice as that would be. As for setlists, yes we all wish U2 had more varied setlists, but they are playing to the masses, and masses there are (though how the average U2 fan scores tickets is beyond me, hardcore fans have enough trouble with it!). Of course they're going to play hits.

For me, what really sets U2 apart are the feelings their music evokes. That's not something tangible, it's not something everyone could agree on, but it's what stands out the most to me. Nothing can make me feel the way Streets does. for example.

Also, pretty much what everyone else has mentioned - the fact that they've been around for 30 years with the same four members and manager is practically unheard of. They also keep most of their crew the same when they can. Additionally, they've never really failed commercially. Pop came close, maybe the Rattle and Hum movie came close, but they've never had a complete flop. Maybe if they released albums more frequently they would, but that's part of why their strategy works.

For being the biggest band in the world, they are considerably more generous to their fans than most would expect. I mean, Bono gives fans rides in his car! That's pretty ridiculous and a little dangerous. But that's part of what makes U2 unique.