Again, the Mary J. Blige thing (I know very little about it -- Bono could be her god-parent for all I know) is just one of several random things that turn me off. It's not my main bone of contention.
How long they knew Johnny Cash and whether Bono smoked a joint with him or not is not really an issue either (though it's well-documented that Adam and Bono dinnered with him in 1987/88, and the recording of 'The Wanderer' is documented in U2 At The End of The World; Cash himself stated that he had no idea they were going to put that track on the album). (Incidentally, I also think that issuing the B.B. King song as a single was sort-of in bad taste, though at least it gave B.B. a chart hit.)
What I do have issues with is how U2 market themselves in the 2000s. I find it often to be overkill and in bad taste.
Examples:
- Appearing at the Super Bowl as flag-waving, reactionary American heroes, and the 2009 Grammies (for example, why did they appear at the 2009 Grammies? They didn't have a record out yet, and there was no great demand for them. They appeared in order to flog "Get On Your Boots" to a disinterested mainstream audience.)
- Corporate sponsorship/advertising/whatever with iPod
- Five nights hosting the Letterman Late Night show. I love the Letterman show, but U2 are not funny in American terms, and their appearance on here was just awful. Not to mention they appeared to be hogging the limelight and over-selling themselves.
- The over-issuing / over-marketing of catalogue material. They used to have quality control over official releases. It took 19 years of recording before they issued a single Greatest Hits. Now, they've released another hits collection; countless over-inflated, bloated reissues; countless DVDs, etc. I personally think it's better to go away for a while and then come back and feel fresh to your fans. Nowadays, it's 6 years between albums and I find I'm already sick of them when they come back (and I do think over-exposure hurt the response to NLOTH).
So, these are a few examples of a few things I dislike much more than I dislike the Mary J. Blige record, which was nevertheless a travesty.
You're still not making any sense.
Mary J Blige is an artist with enough credibility. It came out because the U2 audience liked the song ! Only later did they actually record the song. And it wasn't
"a highly marketed single", far less than usual U2 singles, and it was actually a single off Mary's album, not U2's...
There is no debating of credibility of Cash and BB, either. And in the position of being the biggest band, in 1987 with playing with BB, in 1993 with Cash, and in 2006 with Blige, there is no selling out anymore. Was it selling out when Bono met Orbison, Sinatra, Reed, Dylan... ?
- just like playing right after 9/11 with the same US flag outfit, and well before that ? And 2009 Grammys promoted Boots. There's a funny corelation between artists attending big industry award events and promoting their new material.
- Whatever indeed. No money was made. The definition of a sell out, no doubt.
- Same hogging comments were heard when U2 went on the mini promo tours before ATYCLB/HTDAAB release. Again, it's called promotion.
- Most ageing artists are using the new technology abilities to offer fans better sounding material (with new additions). And I think most bands with career spanning over 30 years have probably more than 3 of Best of's.