My first memories of U2 are as an early teen when my dad was blasting AB from every stereo system in the house. I remember him playing air guitar to Zoo Station and pumping his fist with delight. I also remember him reading newspaper articles aloud about the forthcoming Zooropa companion piece. He couldn't be more excited. I also recall at this time our family stopped going to church, as my dad said there was no better spiritual lesson than listening to a U2 album. Despite registering the musical perfection of songs like EBTTRT and One, and later getting attached to So Cruel for personal reasons, I played it cool because liking what your dad liked wasn't...well...cool. I remember my dad being disappointed with Pop. My personal recollections as a late teen are of the Discotheque music video on MTV, Mofo, muscle suit, and wondering if/how this was the same band that offered earlier treasures like Bad and Bullet. Despite my prior efforts to downplay anything my dad liked, I went about discovering the back catalogue around this time. I came to appreciate Pop on my own years later. Into my 20s, the gravitas of U2 became real and I remember the anticipation and "return to form" with the release of BD. After a couple of awkward early listens due to the production (heartbeat drums and other poppy elements), the chorus eventually carried the day and the song was striking. More than that, I saw them live for the first time and purchased the Elevation Tour DVD. My college roommates and I watched the DVD repeatedly - U2 was everywhere. ATYCLB was hit or miss for me, good songs and forgettable songs (toward the end of the record), but the messaging of the album circulating around 9/11 was profound. The Super Bowl performance only highlighted their impeccable timing and relevance. Then Vertigo. Having not appreciated Zoo TV at the time, Vertigo was the peak of U2 commercialism for me. It was a staple anthem at every stadium and I quite enjoyed it. That said, I was disappointed overall with HTDAAB and considered it their worst album to date. The songs just didn't resonate, maybe and admittedly, because they were being compared to the impact of ATYCLB. I also remember the loudness...oh the loudness...ABOY gave me a wretched headache. I bought the Bomb DVD, again with heightened standards of that earlier time, but it too paled in comparison to Elevation Tour. The sheen was wearing off a bit. Still, the anticipation and excitement of a new U2 album release process was real to me and it revved up with the beach clips (my first introduction to this website). New U2 music was an event. I remember being intrigued my the minimalism of the record cover and I too hoped for "experimental" U2 after the fleeting rock approach of HTDAAB. I remember comparing Boots to Alice In Chains (those harmonies) and the tone of the song has always remained creative and intriguing to me, if not a particularly good tune. I enjoyed the rest of the album, especially the "experimental" tracks like NLOTH and Being Born and the overall production, but it didn't age well. Maybe because it didn't have a strong single, like BD and Vertigo before it, to buoy it. Some of the melodies linger, but I haven't listened to it in its entirety in years. I remember feeling a bit of renewed energy with Invisible. Hearing it on the radio for the first time was exciting as was another marriage to the Super Bowl. The electronic intro once again sparked that old, perhaps inevitable, wishful thinking and self-convincing that maybe there would be another AB in them. Of course, no. The track was a blip of interest ultimately buried by album delays and general malaise. The "event" of a U2 release was gone by the time SOI dropped, but I do remember scrambling to hear the new songs after the surprise release. By this point, my expectations were tempered. I generally accepted that at this stage of their careers, the band was aiming for the low-hanging fruit - pop relevance - as opposed to any inspired statement or innovation. As a fan, the goal then becomes to find a couple hidden gems within the albums, which I did, with EBW and Troubles. Troubles offers authentic U2 atmospherics which, unfortunately, now gets tacked on to the end of a record instead of being the driving undercurrent of an album approach a la TUF. I found a couple other enticing tracks, but again, the overall album was ultimately forgettable and what I consider U2 paint by numbers. I have no desire to go back to it. Truth be told - it's the only U2 album I don't own on CD. So now here we are as fans, perhaps reacting with unrealistic if not unfair expectations for a band that has set its course for the last leg of a career. Not only that, but we as fans age and discover other priorities and more meaningful sources of satisfaction. No matter the quality, new U2 songs won't carry the emotional weight of those songs first heard during formative years. All this being said, I still hope for moments of enjoyment and anticipation in the U2 new album release process that was once such a grand event. I like reading descriptions. I like hearing songs for the first time. And at this point, I can only be pleasantly surprised when I discover those gems. Hopefully, we get a few on SOE. The overreaction and criticism just isn't worth it.
