when did U2 start to suck?

[il Padrino Ute]

That is a complete lie. They started to suck sometime between the filming of Rattle and Hum and the release of Achtung Baby.

Achtung has some good songs...but after that, none of the albums is completely good. There is a song here and there save a couple of albums that totally suck.

Actually, I was pleasantly surprised by All That You Can't Leave Behind. A couple of dud songs, but most of them were pretty good. Not War or Joshua Tree or Boy. Or Unforgettable Fire. But a very good album.

What the hell was with Bono giving shout outs to coporate sponsors during the waning moments of With or Without You last night? GOOD HELL!

I'd like to love these guys, because I was once a huge fan. I considered U2 my favorite band. I only caught the last few songs of the concert, but it sounded awful. Bono's voice is shot, he was singing out of tune and he has lost his ability to connect with an audience and create emotion. He now comes off as something between a used car salesman and a late night preacher stealing money from sick and the old.

We'll have to agree to disagree, as IMO, Achtung Baby sucked beyond the realm of sucktitude. Joshua Tree had a couple of good songs, but that album was the beginning of the rapid decent into the category of "you guys should have quit while you were ahead".

[RC Vikings]

We'll have to agree to disagree, as IMO, Achtung Baby sucked beyond the realm of sucktitude. Joshua Tree had a couple of good songs, but that album was the beginning of the rapid decent into the category of "you guys should have quit while you were ahead".

Achtung Baby was great. Who do you listen to?

[creekster]

I find this thread very, very amusing. It's like some fat old man (guilty!) sitting in the basement posting on line about how some model has ugly knees. WHatever.

Music is so subjective. Concerts not about the spectacle? Perhaps. But then maybe we should all go and listen to yo yo ma every time out. He is pretty dang handy with the cello you know. BEsides, if we say a concert is NOT about showmanship, then what is it? Do you wnat a note for ntoe recreation of the CD? Then why not just listen to the CD? and I find the notion that improvisation is nto about showmanhsip to be very amusing. Very amusign indeed. Thta is EXACTLY what to ios about. Improvising doenst exist in a vaccum. They play off each other and try to outdo each other. Jimi Hendrix burning his guitar on stage: showmanship and so he sucked? that is pretty laughable, don't you think? Pete Townsend's windmill? Man I wish he would just sit still and show off his technical mastery of the guitar, don't you?

Does U2 suck? You might think so, btu if they do it is not becasue they like to put on a show and sell some tickets at a concert, and it shouldn't be because you want to demonstrate that your tastes are superior than most of the rabble that buys popular music.

IMO, they are a great band. Their creative output has slipped, but everything through Achtung Baby was pretty darn good, IMO, and some or most of the stuff since then has been good. Bono can be tiresome, I think, wtih his preachy hoo-ha, but the band is still pretty good.

[il Padrino Ute]

Achtung Baby was great. Who do you listen to?

I prefer listening to 80s alternative stuff.

Unforgettable Fire is one of my 5 favorite albums of all time, but I hated Achtung Baby. I bought is, listened to it, then traded it at Gray Whale CD for J. Geils Band Freeze Frame, IIRC.

No matter how much I try, I just can't get into anything after Unforgettable Fire.

[MartyFunkhouser]

Having huge popularity and winning awards is a pretty good indication that it doesn't suck. NOT having anybody buy your records or attend your shows is a better indication that you do suck.

I couldn't disagree more. I would rank selling records and winning awards right up there with the color of socks that a band wears in determining the quality. There are plenty of bands that cannot sell records and don't win awards that are great bands. Very few people know who Skerik is but the guy is flat out one of the best saxophone players and musicians playing right now, same goes for John Zorn. It isn't like Coltrane was that popular or even got critical praise, in fact, he was blasted by a lot of critics. There are also a lot of bands that are popular that are good. It just isn't an indicator of quality or lack of quality at all.

[jay santos]

If you guys can stop patting yourself on the back for being too cool for U2 for a minute, check out a couple moments from the concert. You'll be rewarded.

At the 51:30 mark they start with In a Little While. Bono changes one of the lines to space travel turns me on and then has an astronaut in space read the last verse.

Right after that at the 55:00 mark they start in with Unknown Caller. This is from the new album. It's a confusing song but listen to it with this in mind and you might be able to catch its emotion. It's a song about a junkie who is reborn in Christ as he receives a phone call from God at 3:33 am. The verse is the narrative. The chorus sung in harmony is God speaking. God is telling him to come to him and be reborn in him and restart his life, using Macintosh language (restart and reboot yourself, etc.). It's a bit odd at first but the intimacy Bono's showing in this song is very emotional. Then after God is done speaking, the song goes into an organ section playing the Christian hymn "My Savior's love" (oh how marvelous oh how wonderful is my Savior's love to me) while Bono kind of butchers it going blah blah blah blah blah. That segues into a cool Edge guitar solo set to the same tune. The album version is better. Bono's voice was struggling in this concert.

By the way, both these songs are post 2000. And there are a lot of other good finds in these last three albums.

[Surfah]

I just never ever cared of U2. Bono has turned me off to the band in recent years. I also felt like they were every Mormon's favorite band at some point.

[jay santos]

Bono along with 100,000 singing

You broke the bonds
You loosed the chains
You carried the cross of my shame
You took the blame

with Edge's heavenly guitar riff going in the background

How can you faithless bastards not be touched by that??

[JohnnyLingo]

Bono along with 100,000 singing

You broke the bonds
You loosed the chains
You carried the cross of my shame
You took the blame

with Edge's heavenly guitar riff going in the background

How can you faithless bastards not be touched by that??

Isn't it The Edge? I heard it was The Edge.

[TripletDaddy]

Bono along with 100,000 singing

You broke the bonds
You loosed the chains
You carried the cross of my shame
You took the blame

with Edge's heavenly guitar riff going in the background

How can you faithless bastards not be touched by that??

tickets were $150 so I couldn't afford to go.

ps forgive third world debt!

[jay santos]

Isn't it The Edge? I heard it was The Edge.

Will I get banned if I say f*** you to lingo?

[JohnnyLingo]

Will I get banned if I say f*** you to lingo?

Probably not. I say go for it.

[jay santos]

Probably not. I say go for it.

What if I thinly veil it?

[JohnnyLingo]

What if I thinly veil it?

That's probably your best option, actually.

[Jarid in Cedar]

What if I thinly veil it?

works best as it is an attack on the words not the poster.