AndrewCowley
Refugee
No they go back to watching countless other sports that actually have an existence outside of one country and where the idea of being a world champion is actually true to the definition.
New Album Discussion 1 - Songs of..... - Unreasonable guitar album
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The friendliest place on the web for anyone that follows U2.
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
No they go back to watching countless other sports that actually have an existence outside of one country and where the idea of being a world champion is actually true to the definition.
When the band spent a week on Letterman to promote No Line, I was amazed by the live performances of Breathe and Magnificent in particular. I thought we had new stadium anthems in the making. They just didn't take off like I thought, and by the time 360 rolled into Philly in 2011, we had a mostly greatest hits show heavy on Achtung Baby.
DaveC
Blue Crack Addict
there are players from all over the world in the NFL. an australian just won the super bowl.
AndrewCowley
Refugee
Agree on the Letterman residency. By the time 2009 rolled around, the world didn’t want new music from U2 any longer.
Those songs sounded great live but failed to engage their audience. In the years since, no amount of producer swapping or knob twiddling in the studio has changed this.
Those songs sounded great live but failed to engage their audience. In the years since, no amount of producer swapping or knob twiddling in the studio has changed this.
lazarus
Blue Crack Supplier
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dan_smee
ONE love, blood, life
It is highly illogical to attack this because you don’t like it. There’s enough to pity about the US right now without inventing things like that.
I have no issues with the NFL, Superb Owl or the half time shows. Good luck to you with them. Calling the NBA champions “World Champions” however…
I have no issues with the NFL, Superb Owl or the half time shows. Good luck to you with them. Calling the NBA champions “World Champions” however…
Aside from the music, their self-promotion is a massive problem these days. It's all massive but shallow gestures. Problem with U2 is they just ram big gestures into everyone's face whether you like it or not. Everything has to be BIG!!! They think relevance hinges on BIG moments.
Big TV show specials, big corporate function gigs, big exclusive interviews with major TV networks that are so bland and banal beyond belief, big shows in an expensive and inaccessible place like Vegas, big PR stunts like forcing an album onto everyone's iTunes, big hook ups for Harvey Weinstein's crap Oscar baiting films (less said about that collaboration the better)....The corporate PR gig is seemingly their main way of promotion. I can't say that any of this 'content' has done anything to boost U2's legacy and popularity. Of course, your major acts will do similar things, but it's only part of their promotion.
They feel aloof, distant and inaccessible and I think much of this is partly to blame for Bono's poorly received public persona. There's very rarely a promotional opportunity that humanises them in a more modest setting. Once in a blue moon, you will find it (e.g. Zane Lowe's fantastic interview with them for the Joshua Tree tour). But everything else feels contrived and lacks spontaneity. You see other successful acts being genuinely accessible through festival appearances and, well, relatively cheaper tickets to U2. But their content is also prolific, musical outtakes frequently released, live performances uploaded to YouTube channels that keep them in tune with their audience. Regards to media appearances, interviews and podcast appearances are the norm with less well known media personnel but arguably more passionate music lovers. I don't see much of this with U2 at all, and they just seem to put a premium price on access to them.
DaveC
Blue Crack Addict
Still more entertaining than American football.your country thinks this is a sport.
MrsSpringsteen
Blue Crack Supplier
I think American football is highly entertaining
Irvine511
Blue Crack Supplier
I don’t particularly care for American football — although, as with any sport, a good game is a good game, so I can enjoy anything that’s closely contested and the stakes are high — but I also know that nothing is lost when we simply allow people to enjoy things. I also realize that, simply because I’m not familiar with something and it’s not of my culture, doesn’t mean that it is bad. In fact, I was taught to try and appreciate and celebrate cultural differences and the fact that sport, like so many things, are cultural products. I know fuck-all about, say, curling or handball or cricket, but I’m not going to malign them because I’m aware enough to know that I lack the knowledge and history to appreciate them properly, and some people do.
Still my least favorite mainstream professional sport though. I do love a halftime show. Now that has stakes and drama.
Still my least favorite mainstream professional sport though. I do love a halftime show. Now that has stakes and drama.
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dan_smee
ONE love, blood, life
I hadn’t seen the Prince halftime for whatever reason. I think I’m missing something? Good performance of good songs with some fireworks and a bit of rain? Not trying to be snidey - why is this rated the best of all time? I think both Kendrick and U2 top this be a considerable margin. U2 for the moment and the emotion and the way they just summed it all up perfectly. Kendrick because he managed to say so many incredible things, the way he weaved messages in was a work of art, and again the context and moment was summed up beautifully.
lazarus
Blue Crack Supplier
Soccer still sucks. And for all that's wrong with the USA, we did one correct thing by not letting it dominate our sports culture like almost every other country in the world.
I think soccer 'sucks" in America because they simply can't abide the fact the most universal sport, that crosses endless cultural boundaries, wasn't created by them.
Masaaaaaybe tone it back down
So, ok, soccer has actually taken ahold here with younger generations. MLS has fairly high in person attendance, and Premier League does well on NBC mornings. Champions League ratings go up every year.
Our best athletes tend to go to basketball and football at an early age. You probably want that to continue to happen. Not sure the world wants to see a United States where a LeBron James or Tyreek Hill grow up playing soccer instead of of football.
For further discussion on sports ball events, please take it to Put Em Under Pressure.
MrsSpringsteen
Blue Crack Supplier
Headache is not Uncle Sam, this is Uncle Sam
MrsSpringsteen
Blue Crack Supplier
Yes this thread has nothing to do with sports or politics, but I just wanted to say that your expressed stereotypes about Americans aren't truths.
And certainly you must be aware of what's going on in the US these days. I'm completely embarrassed by this country right now and I hate it here. Unfortunately I don't have the money to leave.
Irvine511
Blue Crack Supplier
As an American, I can honestly tell you that not once has this thought ever passed through my head.
We hate soccer because it’s socialist, obviously.
Low scoring! Lots of ties!
Correction. It's "American football". Not "football".
Pretty poor trade off I'd say.
Anyhow, let's just get back on topic. U2 should stop licking up US corporate muck and get back into the real world. The point Matt makes is very true - their releases over the past couple of decades have been preposterous and so tone deaf. They seemed to have got carried away during ATYCLB / Elevation tour. Back to being top dog commerically, 'capturing the moment' of 9/11 and their well received Super Bowl performance that they thought America and the whole world would just lap them up on whatever stage. Those were all very sincere moments but it was a moment but they started to enforce themselves in promo opportunities as some sort of 'statesmen' of rock. Became a bit tiresome.
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lazarus
Blue Crack Supplier
While I'm glad there's an international sport that people from all economic backgrounds can learn to play in readymade locations, with minimal equipment, that doesn't make the game itself great.
What a banal post. It's history, global reach, accessibility and cultural/geopolitical influence dictates it as such. There's evidently no other game on earth like it. But as an American doesn't like it, it's obviously not a great game.
What a banal post. It's history, global reach, accessibility and cultural/geopolitical influence dictates it as such. There's evidently no other game on earth like it. But as an American doesn't like it, it's obviously not a great game.
ndmaxfield
War Child
Watching soccer is like watching paint dry
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dan_smee
ONE love, blood, life
Breaking: different people from different cultural backgrounds express different preferences. No more at 11:00 because this is boring and an admin has told people to stop.
monkeyskin
Refugee
Lately I've been watching / listening to shows from this era (Irving Plaza, Brit Awards 2001, Live From Boston) and there's a real sense of humility from the pre-tour shows they played. Bono's line "we're reauditioning for the biggest band in the world job" sums it up nicely, they were showing their worth in smaller settings and playing the corporate game by appearing on TV spots that they'd previously avoided. There was real effort in earning back the fans they'd lost along the way, and with Beautiful Day they had a brand-new evergreen classic to offer.
Compare that to the victory lap of the Bomb era. As a fan it was great to see them swagger back with the in-your-face buzz of Vertigo and making every appearance aa capital E Event. But looking back at Bono's demeanor at the time, I can see why it pissed a lot of people off. He found the venn diagram between cocky and cheesy, and swallowed it down like a haloumi baked zinger burger. Live8 performance was a banger though.
Side note on Live8, had some extended family over for a BBQ a few weeks ago and none of the 20 somethings had ever heard of it. It's been 20 years (!), are we due for another?
Salome
you are what you is
Soccer might be about the only sport that is more boring than American Football when you break it down to any sort of entertainment provided per minute it goes on. That being said, it is indefensible that the US managed to turn rugby into a borefest.
super fly guy
New Yorker
What a contest, won me a tenner.your country thinks this is a sport.
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