U2 Profile: Trying To Be The Next Big Thing

New York Times:

U2 has entered the fourth decade of a career that began in 1978, when its members were teenage schoolmates in Dublin; they are now in their late 40s. And U2 may well be the last of the megabands: long-running, internationally recognized rockers whose every album, from "Boy" in 1980 to "How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb" in 2004, has sold millions of copies worldwide. In an era when CD sales have plummeted, Top 40 radio favors hip-hop and teen-pop, albums are fractured by MP3 players' shuffle mode and the old idea of a rock mainstream seems more and more like a mirage, U2 still, unabashedly, wants to release a blockbuster.

"How do you puncture pop consciousness with a tune anymore?" Bono said later over a pint of Guinness in the restaurant of the venerable hotel Claridge's. "That's actually your first job as a songwriter."

Read the whole story: New York Times

Comments

[BikeFreak]

06:47 PM on 03/02/2009

I stopped having respect for U2 when, after hearing Bono preach on and on about helping the starving in Africa, the band moved their music publishing biz out of Ireland to avoid paying taxes.

Maybe someone should tell members of U2 that Ireland suffers from one of the worst poverty rates in Europe, and maybe some starving Irish could benefit from those taxes.

Bono is just a hypocrite.

And "The Edge" seems to have a range of 2 guitar licks.

[Forester]

02:10 PM on 03/03/2009

One can always find fault with public figures who espouse helping the needy, but you have to look at the impact of their actions en toto. Bono and Geldoff have made an enormous difference in the world, and dismissing their efforts because they made some basic business decisions misses the big picture. Life is not black and white, and what matters is how much we help our brothers and sisters over our entire lifetimes. Do you actually feel like you have made a contribution to addressing global problems compared to these men? Not likely. The world is not a fairy tale, and we are all of us human.

[BikeFreak]

03:13 PM on 03/03/2009

Actions speak louder than words.

How do you justify to the poverty stricken Irish that Bono doesn't want to pay taxes in his own country, yet will explain to others that countries in Africa need financial help?

Makes no sense other than not putting your money where your mouth is.

Bono is just a hypocrite. Period.

[learntofly]

12:17 PM on 03/02/2009

After the Red Rocks DVD release late last year, I'm hoping for some of these songs to be included in the live set on the Horizon tour. Would love to hear a full-on Gloria, I Will Follow, 11 o'Clock, etc.

[NYCforObama]

06:29 PM on 03/01/2009

Perhaps they could expand their horizons to pay their taxes.

Until then, they're FRAUDS.

[zola77]

07:08 PM on 03/01/2009

yes, I was disappointed to read in an NI article recently that they stash their money in offshore accounts so as not to pay taxes.
Considering they ask for governments to use tax money to fund (important) causes he is concerned with, it would be nice for them to contribute financially to the said governments (via tax) as well.

[coinier]

05:53 PM on 03/01/2009

they are my most favoritist band ever fer all effing time!

[SColbert]

05:15 PM on 03/01/2009

U2 is the best band ever!!

[coinier]

05:54 PM on 03/01/2009

i agree. i been a fan since '82.

[MicrowavableJohnnyCakes]

04:27 PM on 03/01/2009

Has Larry Mullen Jr aged at all?

[Sirenissima]

04:54 AM on 03/02/2009

Yes, he does look his age up close - saw him last week in Paris - but he's still a good-looking guy. He's very pale, by the way.

[crayola 08]

02:14 PM on 03/01/2009

of the 2 big groups that were around during my formative years and still around today, U2 and Depeche Mode, I prefer DM. i lost interest in U2 back in the early 90s but Depeche Mode still retains that quality that i've always liked about them, their sound is still pretty much the same as it was back in the 80s, they just have at their disposal better technology to produce their experimental sounds. and i'm really looking forward to DM's new album, Sounds of the Universe, due to be released next month.

[Hirnlego]

07:02 PM on 03/03/2009

Prefer DM too, but I do not agree about the sound, which they change with every album..almost nothing similar with Exciter and PTA for instance. Different equipment, different producer, different sonic.

For experimental sound I don't think there is a group that matches Einsturzende Neubauten though...which has been a heavy inspiration for DM..well, at least Martin.

On the new U2 album I kind of like "white as snow".

[PES]

12:39 PM on 03/01/2009

One element shared by both U2 and Bruce Springsteen is their willingness to continue to expand the musical horizons of both themselves and their fans. What other artists of this level of maturity (i.e. 30 plus year careers) are willing to continually make the centerpiece of their tours the most current releases. God love Bob Dylan and The Rolling Stones, but how many of their new songs have even been played live at all, much less become a regular part of the set list. I admire U2, the Boss and any of the other artists out there who resist the pressure to simply become a greatest huts touring show.

[CountryBeforeParty]

01:11 PM on 03/01/2009

To be fair, and there's no bigger fan of U2 than I, the last tours have featured more of the old hits than there were on the ZOO TV tour. It was sad for me when they stopped playing "Sunday Bloody Sunday" and "New Year's Day" for a while.

When they came back with "All You Can..." they went back to playing what people wanted to hear, but the great thing was that the new albums had several major hits as well.

The concerts have never been better.

[SaintZak]

07:54 AM on 03/02/2009

I agree, but I certain have to disagree with the comment about Bob Dylan. If ever there was an artist who has bent and stretched themself its Bob Dylan. And the difference between Dylan and U2/Springsteen is that Dylan has never seemed to care a great deal whether his latest ventures were commercial. Springsteen and U2 are all about the biggness. Coming off of Blood on the Tracks and the success of his work with the Band Dylan could have cashed in, but instead he put together a rag tag band and wandered the notheast like gypsies or a traveling carnival playing small out of the way venues without notice. The Rolling Thunder Revue may not have been a huge money maker, but it certainly has attained legendary status. His new stuff? Like it or not, he's doing what he wants to do.

I'm a huge U2 fan, but I have to admit that I feel they peaked with the one two punch of Achtung Baby and the Zoo TV tour (those indoor shows were incredible). Ever since, they just seem to be trying too hard.

[canuckgirl]

12:36 PM on 03/01/2009

Bono wrote a song "Electric Co.,"1980" The song was written
after Bono, U2’s lead singer, visited a school friend at Dublin’s St. Brendan’s Psychiatric Hospital where he had just undergone electroshock.

1980 — Boy, stupid boy
Don't sit at the table
Until you're able to

Toy, broken toy
Shout shout
You're inside out

If you don't know, Electric co.
If you don't know, Electric co.

Red, running red
Play for real
The toy could feel
A hole in your head
You go in shock
You're spoon-fed....

Just to hear me
I've found me way home.
-------------
Electroshock is still a very controversial treatment and is still around, it never left.

There are groups worldwide who want electroshock banned. Electroshock is also known as ECT, shock, shock therapy and electroconvulsive therapy.

There was a study done by Dr. Harold Sackeim who determined that electroshock always causes brain damage. See breggin.com for more info. See the blog and news section.

The International Campaingn to Ban Electroshock (ICBE) deems ECT to be unethical, barbaric, an atrocity and a crime against humanity. ICBE website: intcamp.wordpress.com

ECT stats:

100,000 Americans get ECT yearly
Worldwide 1 to 2 million people get ECT yearly

ECT websites:

breggin.com - Dr. Breggin has info on ECT and its damaging effects

endfoshock.com - see the "Electroshock Quotationary"

ect.org - lots of info on ECT

mindfreedom.org/ray - help Ray Sandford in Minnesota

capa.oise.utoronto.ca - ECT protest in Toronto Canada May 10, 2009

[coinier]

05:58 PM on 03/01/2009

you are so right. i know that song well, as i know most all of their songs well. 'One Tree Hill' and 'Red Hill Mining Town' are a couple other of my favs with true stories behind them..

[NorthernCross]

12:00 PM on 03/01/2009

U2 is better than BO. It has been written.

[jadeba]

03:33 PM on 03/01/2009

I didn't know BO had a band! Hmmm, you learn something new each and every day.

[Applecheeks]

11:39 AM on 03/01/2009

U2 ROCKS! ALWAYS HAS, ALWAYS WILL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[coinier]

05:59 PM on 03/01/2009

YES!!!!!

[learntofly]

10:14 PM on 03/01/2009

Amen!

[Sirenissima]

11:17 AM on 03/01/2009

I gave them a positive review (it takes a few listens and it does get interesting, though don't expect the poignancy of Achtung Baby, Joshua Tree or Unforgettable Fire), but am gutted that an interview was refused on the basis that they don't want to be associated with my paper (not famous enough for them. I work for one of the biggest media companies in the world and definitely NOT a tabloid). Furthermore, when I complained to the label (I was in Paris so had to deal with their French label), I was told that I was a "nothing" and a "crap journalist".

I became a music journalist in the first place because I wanted to meet U2. I've been a music and film critic for over 10 years and if I'm good enough to interview A-list stars like Dustin Hoffman and co., then I'm good enough for U2.

So disappointed. And angry. But I don't blame the band. It's their incompetent French label that was unacceptably rude to me.

[coinier]

06:00 PM on 03/01/2009

maybe they don't like critics. i dont either.

[Sirenissima]

05:02 AM on 03/02/2009

Promoting an album takes place with journalists, not with fans. And critics don't sit there and criticize music and tear it apart as part of some sadistic ritual (I can just imagine a cartoon drawing of a critic doing this). We pretty much do what fans do, except that we have to write it all down. And the hardest part is being objective.

And in all fairness, I do like the new U2 album. I actually wanted to become a music writer because - and this is so saaaaad, I admit! - I wanted to interview U2!

[MalMNN]

10:28 AM on 03/01/2009

to suggest that they may be the LAST of the megabands shows no faith in the future of music entertainment. who really thought U2 would become a "megaband" when they started. they've always been great, but 40yrs ago, it was hard to imagine them playing stadiums !!!!

http://www.musicnewsnet.com/

[firelord5000]

10:59 AM on 03/01/2009

Well to be honest, have you heard any of the new artists lasting long? All the music is designed for 5 minutes of limelight and cell mp3s. I can't think of any songs in the past 5 years that I listen to after couple months.

[scubalady]

12:17 PM on 03/01/2009

Try any song by Eddie Vedder for Into the wild soundtrack.I'm sure I could find a lot more but since I just listened to this album (again) yesterday, that's what came to mind.
Agree, Vedder doesn't really qualify for "new artist".

[dagdavid]

06:00 PM on 03/01/2009

That's right. I almost forgot the Jonas bros were still out there.

[BDAinVA]

10:27 AM on 03/01/2009

How can you have an entire article on U2 and not mention that Bono and The Edge wrote the music for the new musical Spiderman opening in 2010?

[firelord5000]

11:00 AM on 03/01/2009

There is already a separate article about that, not that anyone really cares about spiderman.

[CountryBeforeParty]

01:07 PM on 03/01/2009

Because the article is about the new album and the band's direction. I'm sure there's an article somewhere about that Spider Man thing