Names for each U2 trilogy...

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Cyril

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Hi,

As everyone at Interference knows, U2 albums can grouped by trilogy. What are the exact trilogy names the critics and fans have come up with, or agreed on? I have heard and read the following:

Boy-October-War
The War trilogy, the Early Years trilogy

The Unforgetable Fire-Joshua Tree-Rattle & Hum
The American trilogy

Achtung Baby-Zooropa-Pop
The "cyber-punk" trilogy (read that one on amazon)
The experimentation trilogy

All That You Can't Leave Behind-How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb-(Rick Rubin's produced album?)
The "back to basics" trilogy

For each trilogy, which names have you heard, and which one is most commonly used?

Cheers,
-Cyril
 
Boy-October-War-

- The Golden Age

The Unforgetable Fire-Joshua Tree-Rattle & Hum

- American era

Achtung Baby-Zooropa-Passengers-Pop -

- ZOO era

All That You Can't Leave Behind-How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb-(Rick Rubin's produced album?)

- The Silver Age
 
How about "Clarity" or "Home" for the most recent Trilogy?

And "Wandering" for the AB, ZOO and POP era?
 
How about

All That You Can't Leave Behind-How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb

LOST
 
B/O/W: There
UF/JT/RAH: Is
AB/Z/P: No
A/H/?: Trilogy

That sounds about right. :wink:
 
Axver said:
B/O/W: There
UF/JT/RAH: Is
AB/Z/P: No
A/H/?: Trilogy

That sounds about right. :wink:
Click to expand...

But Rattle and Hum and The Unforgettable Fire are so similiar. As are War and October, perfect trilogies :drool:
 
I can only hope that All That You Can't Leave Behind and How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb wont be followed by a third album from the same mold. I like my u2 adventurous and inspired, not overproduced and blandly commercialized.

So, bring on the beginnings of a new trilogy!

Please.. please..
 
The American trilogy?

The Unforgettable Fire is very European. Some of the subject matter in TUF, TJT and R&H might be about America but it is more about the mood of America. America is the subject of TJT but not TUF or R&H. In those two albums, America is only the partial setting. ATYCLB & HTDAAB are set in America in some songs, does that make them the continuation of the 'trilogy' or the start of the second America trilogy?
 
The first eight albums: The Coolest Band in the World Era

Pop/All/Bomb: The Crap Era
 
BonoVoxSupastar said:


This sounds about right to me.

The trilogy theory is a lazy one.
Click to expand...

Not really. The trilogy theory comes from a comment Bono made after a show at Dublin's Phoenix Park during the War Tour. He basically said "this was the end of U2, and now U2 will go away and start all over again." Which was exactly three albums into their career.

So hence a new direction of a more disciplined song writing approach and a new collaboration with Eno and Lanois with UF which spread through JT and R&H.

Then we all know what he said during the 12/30/89 show in Dublin (we have to go away and dream it all up again). And we got AB and Zoo TV, Zooropa and Pop. All fantastic albums which reached out further than the traditional bass, drums, guitar and vocal thing of the 80's.

So now with ATYCLB and HTDAAB is seems like U2 has taken everything they learned in their first three incarnations and is trying to bring it all home. Maybe it is part of some mythical three album cycle and maybe it's not.

The trifecta of albums do not all sound the same within the groupings, however you could say that the spirit of the group and their musical goals did not changed much from the first to the third in each grouping.

Laugh if you want...it is still Halloween in my part you know...:macdevil: but I don't think that you can dismiss it off as complete hogwash.
 
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Well said Reggie. As I said in an earlier post (not the cynical one two comments above), I didn't even think this was open for discussion--just a well-known fact. I'm not sure why some people choose to ignore or dismiss it when clearly the concept has merit both by the band members' own words and the musical threads that run through the threesomes. Not naming them? Fine. Not acknowledging them? Silly.
 
Reggie Thee Dog said:


Not really. The trilogy theory comes from a comment Bono made after a show at Dublin's Phoenix Park during the War Tour. He basically said "this was the end of U2, and now U2 will go away and start all over again." Which was exactly three albums into their career.

So hence a new direction of a more disciplined song writing approach and a new collaboration with Eno and Lanois with UF which spread through JT and R&H.

Then we all know what he said during the 12/30/89 show in Dublin (we have to go away and dream it all up again). And we got AB and Zoo TV, Zooropa and Pop. All fantastic albums which reached out further than the traditional bass, drums, guitar and vocal thing of the 80's.

So now with ATYCLB and HTDAAB is seems like U2 has taken everything they learned in their first three incarnations and is trying to bring it all home. Maybe it is part of some mythical three album cycle and maybe it's not.

The trifecta of albums do not all sound the same within the groupings, however you could say that the spirit of the group and their musical goals did not changed much from the first to the third in each grouping.

Laugh if you want...it is still Halloween in my part you know...:macdevil: but I don't think that you can dismiss it off as complete hogwash.
Click to expand...

Quite right. I don't believe that U2 set out to make trilogies but there albums certainly can be grouped in threes like that, no question.
 
Most often, "American" years for UF-Rattle and Hum, and "Experimental" for AB-Pop.

:yes: It is noticeable how they seem to switch things up after three albums.
 
Simple!

Boy/Oct/War: Post Punk

UF/JT/R&H: American/Classic Rock

Achtung/Zooropa/Pop: Experimental

ATYCLB/HTDAAB/?: Personal/Relationship matters maybe..?
 
from an artwork perspective, there are definite links within some of those trilogies.

Boy and War: Pretty obvious there, although October doesn't fit at all.

UF and JT both feature landscape oriented B&W photos over a solid color (maroon and black respectively) with gold trim. That is no accident. There is definitely a connection.

AB, Zooropa and POP all have covers based on grids/squares.

ATYCLB and HTDAAB.... that's a bit of a stretch although I suppose they both have very high contrast black and white photography throughout the packaging and promo materials. Then again, Anton C. likes that type of style so take it for what its worth.

I highly recommend Stealin Hearts At A Travelin' Show, the book about the graphic design of U2.
 
i'd believe in the trilogy concept but having thought about it- to me it seems like U2 will produce 2 albums that are similar in theme while the 3rd album seems somewhat radically different.. with the exception of Achtung, Zoo, and POP. Out of those 3 Zoo is the most drastically out-there album.

I look at Boy and October and those albums to me seem like a journey about finding yourself and struggling with religion and loss. WAR would fit in if it just wasn't for the fact that it's somewhat of an angry album, RAW and stripped down.

Unforgettable Fire and The Joshua Tree are musical landscape albums. They're really more in touch with the earth. There is a sense of despair in those albums too. Rattle and Hum would fit in, but seriously, it's not like those 2 albums at all.
 
Reggie Thee Dog said:


Not really. The trilogy theory comes from a comment Bono made after a show at Dublin's Phoenix Park during the War Tour. He basically said "this was the end of U2, and now U2 will go away and start all over again." Which was exactly three albums into their career.

So hence a new direction of a more disciplined song writing approach and a new collaboration with Eno and Lanois with UF which spread through JT and R&H.

Then we all know what he said during the 12/30/89 show in Dublin (we have to go away and dream it all up again). And we got AB and Zoo TV, Zooropa and Pop. All fantastic albums which reached out further than the traditional bass, drums, guitar and vocal thing of the 80's.

So now with ATYCLB and HTDAAB is seems like U2 has taken everything they learned in their first three incarnations and is trying to bring it all home. Maybe it is part of some mythical three album cycle and maybe it's not.

The trifecta of albums do not all sound the same within the groupings, however you could say that the spirit of the group and their musical goals did not changed much from the first to the third in each grouping.

Laugh if you want...it is still Halloween in my part you know...:macdevil: but I don't think that you can dismiss it off as complete hogwash.
Click to expand...

Yes sir. I am a believer in this trilogy thing.
 
david said:
i'd believe in the trilogy concept but having thought about it- to me it seems like U2 will produce 2 albums that are similar in theme while the 3rd album seems somewhat radically different.. with the exception of Achtung, Zoo, and POP. Out of those 3 Zoo is the most drastically out-there album.

I look at Boy and October and those albums to me seem like a journey about finding yourself and struggling with religion and loss. WAR would fit in if it just wasn't for the fact that it's somewhat of an angry album, RAW and stripped down.

Unforgettable Fire and The Joshua Tree are musical landscape albums. They're really more in touch with the earth. There is a sense of despair in those albums too. Rattle and Hum would fit in, but seriously, it's not like those 2 albums at all.
Click to expand...

But's not so much about a sound that encompasses the albums, it's about what U2 are trying to do within the context of their band during these albums. The sound may be similar in all albums, or not. Certainly AB, Zooropa and Pop sound nothing alike (in my opinion) but they certainly have a similar spirit.

I just don't think you can pass over the trilogy argument because the last one sounds radically different from the first two, which I don't believe you're saying here. U2 are taking ideas from the first two and then tying it all in on the third album. The next album then sounds neither similar in sound or spirit.

Think about it:

War - UF....radically different albums.

R&H - AB....need I say more?

Pop - ATYCLB...sound nothing alike.

What does this prove? That I have way too much time on my hands and my devotion is a little crazy at times. :crazy:
 
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What strikes me about the triolgy thing is that the strongest effort of each threesome is placed differently on all three. For instance, they seem to have finally "gotten" it with War when they wrapped up that era. On the other hand, the Joshua Tree, the strongest of the second three, came second in that grouping. And they nailed it right out of the gate with Achtung Baby for those three.

Here's to hoping they haven't made the best of the most recent three. If they already have, I can't imagine what the next album will sound like.
 
I think it's blatantly obvious that the whole trilogy idea just doesn't work. It especially falls to pieces if you - like I do - believe that Original Soundtracks 1 counts as a U2 album, merely released under a pseudonym. But let's put that debate aside for a second.

The so-called trilogy of Boy/October/War. The two arguments in favour of this one are the Argument From Album Cover and the Argument From Sounding Alike. I can't believe anyone actually takes the Argument From Album Cover seriously. Just because two albums have similar covers doesn't make them related! October, JT, ATYCLB, and HTDAAB aren't grouped together even though they all have covers of the four members of the band hanging around. In fact, I would argue the symbolism of the Boy and War covers disproves a cohesive trilogy. On the Boy cover, the symbolism is of innocence and youthful. On the War cover, the symbolism is of the direct opposite - there's no innocence in that picture. And as far as the Argument From Sounding Alike goes, this is more subjective, but I don't think it holds either. From Boy to War, the band has progressed from being a post-punk outfit to a group of aggressive political rockers.

Now, I think that the War --> UF transition is the greatest change of U2's career, but changes do not a trilogy make. The Unforgettable Fire, The Joshua Tree, and Rattle And Hum don't fit together either. Let's compare the sound of The Unforgettable Fire to Rattle And Hum: UF has a distinctly atmospheric, ethereal sound that tends to create soundscapes of Ireland or Europe; RAH is direct and draws very heavily on American musical traditions that just aren't found in UF. The closest RAH has to the atmosphere of UF is Heartland. JT may provide some linking threads between UF and RAH, but that doesn't create a trilogy - Pride provides a linking thread back to War but no-one's claiming a War/UF/JT trilogy, and RAH provides some linking threads between JT and AB (I often hear that God Part II predicted AB, especially Acrobat), but no-one's claiming a JT/RAH/AB trilogy. I think it's quite obvious that the idea of a UF/JT/RAH trilogy is absurd and untenable. UF and RAH might as well be from different planets - or at least continents. :wink:

I can't really be bothered going on into the rest of the albums because I think my point has now been quite adequately made.
 
Boy-October-War
the shakin-the-tree trilogy

The Unforgetable Fire-Joshua Tree-Rattle & Hum
the cinemascope trilogy

Achtung Baby-Zooropa-Pop
the ballsy trilogy

ATYCLB-HTDAAB-(next boring album)
the lame-years trilogy, the dad-rock trilogy, the old-farts trilogy

Axver: (I often hear that God Part II predicted AB, especially Acrobat)
Click to expand...
that is exactely my theory :up:
 
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