U2 was a periphery band for me -- I was of course aware of them from their ever-present singles, which I genuinely loved, but I never went the extra step and bought one of their albums. That said, I think I felt something shift in them around the time they recorded that song for the Batman Forever soundtrack, "Hold Me Thrill Me Kiss Me Kill Me." It was the first time in my young life I could remember hearing a band shift in musical voice and think, "Oh. Oh I HATE this." LOL
War was my introduction, quickly followed by Boy and October. Their best three, in my opinion, though for good measure Wide Awake in America should be included, too: the opening chimes of 'Bad' are among the band's best moments. Unforgettable Fire is good, but from Joshua Tree onwards the albums just never seemed to work as a unity. Lots of good songs, but nothing ... whole. Didn't help that with Joshua Tree 'my' band became everyone else's overnight, of course. Can't say I really listen to them anymore.
Achtung Baby is decent - 'Mysterious Ways' is a great song - and Zooropa has a few good tracks on it. They're both far better than Rattle and Hum (though I kind of like 'Van Dieman's Land') before and anything after - and at least they're not pretending to be cowboys.
As for Bono, it's certainly not just you: he went from being a decent enough band leader to some odd Tommy-like messiah in his own mind that he made sure to expose everyone to. I get it: he used his fame to draw attention to things, but in the end he's famous - not because of some grand intellectual accomplishments, but because he ... sings in a rock band. I mean, he didn't discover a quark or anything.
This is terrific, Steve! Thanks for the shout out, and thanks for drawing attention to your terrific 'Stack! Looking forward to seeing more of your work!
Fantastic piece Steve! I loved the lyrical references scattered through the article (I’m sure I didn’t pick up all of them). Very clever!
War was the first U2 album I ever heard, funnily enough not until the summer of 1984 by the time it reached my ears. One of my classmates had an end of year party for the summer after grade 8 (also the first time I ever smoked pot, but that’s a story for another day).
One of my old friends from grade school showed up with a batch of awesome and new to me music including this album. He’d been away at boarding school for years and was just the coolest cat when he returned. I borrowed his copy of the album, a 1+1 format that had the full album on both sides. I had a stereo that could continuously play both sides of a cassette over and over again. And, no joke, I probably had this album on repeat in my bedroom all night for a couple weeks that summer.
This will always be my favorite u2 album. I did enjoy The Joshua Tree, some of Achtung Baby and a couple tracks from Zooropa but haven’t had any interest in them for over 30 years.
Their music changed. My musical taste didn’t change along with them and that’s okay.
Thanks for putting this album back on my radar, I’m listening now and had forgotten just how amazing it is.
Thanks, Mark. I think War, more than any other of their albums, stands the test of time. The musicianship on these songs is so tight and energetic. By the way, I still have a dual cassette player where I can play a tape endlessly on a loop! It's apparently worth some good money now that cassettes are back in style. Hope your big work project is nearing completion.
Another great post, Steve! Once again, it's like we're on the same wavelength and I connected with what you wrote in so many ways. Love the puns!
War was my introduction to U2 as well (courtesy of an enthusiastic Rolling Stone album review) and I proceeded to dive into their back catalog. I've stuck with them through the years (mostly), having seen them live seven times and enjoying a majority of their output (especially Unforgettable Fire and Achtung Baby) while ignoring the duds (Zooropa, Pop). 'Like A Song' and 'Two Hearts' have always been two of my favorites from War, and I've never been much of a fan of 'Pride' either.
I recently finished reading Bono's book (I read it myself doing my best imitation of Bono) and, having the same trepidation as you did about getting perhaps "too much Bono", I thought it was really well written and very informative and enjoyable. It prompted me to revisit their early albums which I hadn't heard in a long while and, while they all sounded very good, War definitely stood out and felt like a huge step forward. Still one of their best. I also did a deep dive into their concerts from the early 80s available on YouTube and found a great video from 1981 at California Hall in San Francisco (https://youtu.be/2XX1TiBycIQ?si=QU_jw4FPb-5YOmK3). I had to look up where California Hall was and have since gone to visit the building. It's in the Tenderloin, near the Great American Music Hall, and is now an Academy of Art location.
Thanks, Rand! And that video concert from '81 was awesome! I love how jammy they were, in a hypnotic way. I never heard of California Hall. I wonder when it disappeared. And I'm especially glad you appreciated the puns! I tried to not overdo them. I can't believe I've never seen them live. I considered going to one of the Vegas shows but couldn't afford it. Also, their last 5 plus albums I did not like at all, and I wasn't sure how much they would play from them.
I love War but struggle a bit more with Boy and October. They're both good but not up with War. Fire was my first album for U2, and I've loved it since I first heard it.
As for U2, I think their zenith was the 90s. Achtung Baby, Zooropa and Pop. I'm less enamoured by the post-2000 output, although it has its merits.
Yeah, War is definitely a big step up from Boy and October but I appreciate their early albums for what they led up to. I think when we first discover or are turned on to a band has a huge impact on our appreciation for the rest of the catalog.
I think I broke up with U2 around Joshua Tree. The relationship was still in first year bliss when Unforgettable Fire came out. But I did love some of the early stuff. Gloria and I Will Follow. I was mesmerized with their performance of Bad at Live Aid, but now I cringe. Bono plucking girls out of the audience to slow dance with him- 14 year old me thought it was dreamy. 52 year old me now thinks it’s gross!!
Great post! I've always liked but not loved U2. (They have never made my annual Top Ten lists.) I wasn't in the right frame of mind to really appreciate what they were doing in the 1980s but I did really like Achtung Baby. It seemed very experimental and original. A couple of the follow-ups weren't bad either but since 2000 I've only liked a handful of their songs.
You'll be relieved to know I never got tired of U2 or Bono. Of course, it's because they never appealed to me in the first place. When I bought an iPhone that had U2 pre-installed, the first thing I did was to delete them to free up space. But clever piece of writing, as always!
Ha - I knew you would have a comment like that! I had a paragraph about that iTunes debacle a decade ago but I took it out in editing. That really got such a pissed off response. I don't know what they were thinking. I deleted it because it was horrible.
I’ve never had a problem with Bono, so I guess I am pro-Bono. I get why you (and many others) do have Bono-fatigue though.
I’ve never been a full-scale U2 gig, but I was at Live Aid. I’m cooking something for the 40th anniversary next year (I know, along with a million other writers).
Thanks for linking to my ‘Unforgettable Fire’ post, Steve.
I think his solo album should be “Bono has lost his edge”
I loved reading this Steve. I saw U2 on the War tour at the Bronco Bowl in Dallas. The Alarm was the opener. I lasted up to Achtung Baby. As a lover of the band it became harder and harder to convince my younger friends that Bono wasn’t as insufferable in the early days.
That should be the entirety of the review of Bonofide. A companion review to "Shit sandwich." I'm impressed that you tried to convince folks that Bono wasn't insufferable back in the day. That's a herculean task.
So funny- this is so much my response or feelings about U2 as well! Once they hit it big I was done. But, then super early 90s, with Achtung Baby, they somewhat won me back for a bit. I loved Achtung Baby, and also their less popular things from that time: Until the End of the World, and then Passengers: Original Soundtracks 1.
Their first three albums will always be among my favorites. I have a group of friends - we were initially brought together by music (alternative) back in the mid-80s. A bunch of us reconnected a couple of years ago, and have since met at a brewery every Sunday for what we call Sunday Bloody Mary Sunday. 😂
Like a lot of long-lived ubiquitous rock bands, I initially liked them as a kid, especially the stuff that was contemporary to me (Achtung), then basically rejected all of it, disliking the later albums and songs like Vertigo and Beautiful Day. THEN I found appreciation again from the U Talkin U2 2 Me? Podcast: https://www.earwolf.com/show/u-talkin-u2-to-me/
Yes! I hadn't listened to U Talkin' U2 2 Me? in a long while and I only heard maybe 3 or 4 episodes. I want to say they also did REM or some other band. Yes, it was Adam Scott and Scott Aukerman. I saw that they just did Springsteen. Glad they're still doing it.
Yep, they did REM and Talking Heads…and now Springsteen. It’s mainly good because of the Scott’s saying dumb stuff and the whole schtick wears out after awhile, but I was very into the U2 episodes. Oh yeah, they tried to do Red Hot Chili Peppers, which I was kind of sad that they gave up on. I also still really like the first few punk/funk wierdo chili pepper records…very different but they hold a similar category for me as U2 re: their prevalence in the 90s and I both loath and love aspects of them.
The greatest compliment one can give an author is that he inspired another one. Look, I wrote a bit based on your incredible title I wish I'd thought of!
The Edge hires an attorney (Sid, we'll call him) suing Bono for something likely sinister The (Mr. Edge to you) thinks Bo (aka Mr. No) did. Sid: "So, Mr. Edge, your finances are crap, and you can't stand your former lead singer.
"Tellya what I'm thinking of doing: I'm going to represent you pro-Bono." "Oh, great, so that means free, right?" "No, that's not what I mean at all. I actually kinda like the guy, so I'll be doing this case pro-Bono." "Right, I don't have to pay you." "No, no, no....look, pay me over time whenever, I don't care. I'll be working this case pro-Bono." "I pay you, I don't pay you....I don't get it." "Look, The, I've had it! Your denseness, I'm afraid, has put me over The Edge! You're on your own! I'm going back to work.....pro-Bono." The: "Why do you keep saying that?!"
it has potential to be the next “Who’s on First?” but needs a bit of work….glad you were inspired by the title! I’m sure it confused more than a few people.
Try this on for size.....by our good friends from The Credibility Gap and "This is Spinal Tap," Harry Shearer (you know him as the longtime voice of virtually all the non-Simpsons on "The Simpsons") and David L. Lander: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ludCVowT-DE
- Took me 3 reads to get the pun in the post's title and it's hilarious (it's more of statement on my brain's ability to function than your ability to turn a phrase, Steve)
- I saw U2 in concert in Madison Square Garden in 2001 in their "All that you can't leave behind" tour. I never considered myself a huge fan but must have been pretty into them because I maybe went to 3 concerts in 20 years. Now I go to at least 2 a year (Alanis Morrisette and Taylor Swift) this year.
- Yes to being tired of seeing Bono show up in films and shows, which is why the newish Conan O'Brien show on Max and the Ireland episode sketch "Bono is Everywhere" (something to this effect) and Conan looking for him in Dublin park is hilarious
- Bono's daughter - Eve Hewson, now she's an acting talent. (Watch "Bad Sisters" or "The Knick")
i’m very surprised I never did see them live. I was very tempted to go to that pop mart tour. Just for the spectacle of it. Who was his daughter in bad sisters? Was she the youngest other sisters and the best puns are the ones that don’t come right away that hit you when you’re not expecting, so, I’m feeling a little “pride (in the name of love)” in my punability.
I swear, using voice to text is pretty much unusable now since Apple updated their operating system. It types it out correctly the first time and then when I’m not looking at changes all the words to something else. It drives me crazy. Maybe I’ll rant in notes later.
U2 was a periphery band for me -- I was of course aware of them from their ever-present singles, which I genuinely loved, but I never went the extra step and bought one of their albums. That said, I think I felt something shift in them around the time they recorded that song for the Batman Forever soundtrack, "Hold Me Thrill Me Kiss Me Kill Me." It was the first time in my young life I could remember hearing a band shift in musical voice and think, "Oh. Oh I HATE this." LOL
War was my introduction, quickly followed by Boy and October. Their best three, in my opinion, though for good measure Wide Awake in America should be included, too: the opening chimes of 'Bad' are among the band's best moments. Unforgettable Fire is good, but from Joshua Tree onwards the albums just never seemed to work as a unity. Lots of good songs, but nothing ... whole. Didn't help that with Joshua Tree 'my' band became everyone else's overnight, of course. Can't say I really listen to them anymore.
Achtung Baby is decent - 'Mysterious Ways' is a great song - and Zooropa has a few good tracks on it. They're both far better than Rattle and Hum (though I kind of like 'Van Dieman's Land') before and anything after - and at least they're not pretending to be cowboys.
As for Bono, it's certainly not just you: he went from being a decent enough band leader to some odd Tommy-like messiah in his own mind that he made sure to expose everyone to. I get it: he used his fame to draw attention to things, but in the end he's famous - not because of some grand intellectual accomplishments, but because he ... sings in a rock band. I mean, he didn't discover a quark or anything.
This is terrific, Steve! Thanks for the shout out, and thanks for drawing attention to your terrific 'Stack! Looking forward to seeing more of your work!
Thanks, Matt! You and Ian either directly or indirectly inspired me to develop a U2 earworm!
Fantastic piece Steve! I loved the lyrical references scattered through the article (I’m sure I didn’t pick up all of them). Very clever!
War was the first U2 album I ever heard, funnily enough not until the summer of 1984 by the time it reached my ears. One of my classmates had an end of year party for the summer after grade 8 (also the first time I ever smoked pot, but that’s a story for another day).
One of my old friends from grade school showed up with a batch of awesome and new to me music including this album. He’d been away at boarding school for years and was just the coolest cat when he returned. I borrowed his copy of the album, a 1+1 format that had the full album on both sides. I had a stereo that could continuously play both sides of a cassette over and over again. And, no joke, I probably had this album on repeat in my bedroom all night for a couple weeks that summer.
This will always be my favorite u2 album. I did enjoy The Joshua Tree, some of Achtung Baby and a couple tracks from Zooropa but haven’t had any interest in them for over 30 years.
Their music changed. My musical taste didn’t change along with them and that’s okay.
Thanks for putting this album back on my radar, I’m listening now and had forgotten just how amazing it is.
Thanks, Mark. I think War, more than any other of their albums, stands the test of time. The musicianship on these songs is so tight and energetic. By the way, I still have a dual cassette player where I can play a tape endlessly on a loop! It's apparently worth some good money now that cassettes are back in style. Hope your big work project is nearing completion.
Another great post, Steve! Once again, it's like we're on the same wavelength and I connected with what you wrote in so many ways. Love the puns!
War was my introduction to U2 as well (courtesy of an enthusiastic Rolling Stone album review) and I proceeded to dive into their back catalog. I've stuck with them through the years (mostly), having seen them live seven times and enjoying a majority of their output (especially Unforgettable Fire and Achtung Baby) while ignoring the duds (Zooropa, Pop). 'Like A Song' and 'Two Hearts' have always been two of my favorites from War, and I've never been much of a fan of 'Pride' either.
I recently finished reading Bono's book (I read it myself doing my best imitation of Bono) and, having the same trepidation as you did about getting perhaps "too much Bono", I thought it was really well written and very informative and enjoyable. It prompted me to revisit their early albums which I hadn't heard in a long while and, while they all sounded very good, War definitely stood out and felt like a huge step forward. Still one of their best. I also did a deep dive into their concerts from the early 80s available on YouTube and found a great video from 1981 at California Hall in San Francisco (https://youtu.be/2XX1TiBycIQ?si=QU_jw4FPb-5YOmK3). I had to look up where California Hall was and have since gone to visit the building. It's in the Tenderloin, near the Great American Music Hall, and is now an Academy of Art location.
Thanks, Rand! And that video concert from '81 was awesome! I love how jammy they were, in a hypnotic way. I never heard of California Hall. I wonder when it disappeared. And I'm especially glad you appreciated the puns! I tried to not overdo them. I can't believe I've never seen them live. I considered going to one of the Vegas shows but couldn't afford it. Also, their last 5 plus albums I did not like at all, and I wasn't sure how much they would play from them.
I love War but struggle a bit more with Boy and October. They're both good but not up with War. Fire was my first album for U2, and I've loved it since I first heard it.
As for U2, I think their zenith was the 90s. Achtung Baby, Zooropa and Pop. I'm less enamoured by the post-2000 output, although it has its merits.
Yeah, War is definitely a big step up from Boy and October but I appreciate their early albums for what they led up to. I think when we first discover or are turned on to a band has a huge impact on our appreciation for the rest of the catalog.
I think I broke up with U2 around Joshua Tree. The relationship was still in first year bliss when Unforgettable Fire came out. But I did love some of the early stuff. Gloria and I Will Follow. I was mesmerized with their performance of Bad at Live Aid, but now I cringe. Bono plucking girls out of the audience to slow dance with him- 14 year old me thought it was dreamy. 52 year old me now thinks it’s gross!!
Great post! I've always liked but not loved U2. (They have never made my annual Top Ten lists.) I wasn't in the right frame of mind to really appreciate what they were doing in the 1980s but I did really like Achtung Baby. It seemed very experimental and original. A couple of the follow-ups weren't bad either but since 2000 I've only liked a handful of their songs.
Thanks, Dan. I also really like Achtung Baby. It is my 2nd favorite U2 album. But after that it's been slim pickings. Thanks for reading.
When someone sneezes I say Achtung Baby. The responses can be quite entertaining
I say "you're so good looking!" like Jerry Seinfeld taught me.
But you’re way off the subject of U2. Party foul!
You'll be relieved to know I never got tired of U2 or Bono. Of course, it's because they never appealed to me in the first place. When I bought an iPhone that had U2 pre-installed, the first thing I did was to delete them to free up space. But clever piece of writing, as always!
Ha - I knew you would have a comment like that! I had a paragraph about that iTunes debacle a decade ago but I took it out in editing. That really got such a pissed off response. I don't know what they were thinking. I deleted it because it was horrible.
I’ve never had a problem with Bono, so I guess I am pro-Bono. I get why you (and many others) do have Bono-fatigue though.
I’ve never been a full-scale U2 gig, but I was at Live Aid. I’m cooking something for the 40th anniversary next year (I know, along with a million other writers).
Thanks for linking to my ‘Unforgettable Fire’ post, Steve.
I think his solo album should be “Bono has lost his edge”
I loved reading this Steve. I saw U2 on the War tour at the Bronco Bowl in Dallas. The Alarm was the opener. I lasted up to Achtung Baby. As a lover of the band it became harder and harder to convince my younger friends that Bono wasn’t as insufferable in the early days.
That should be the entirety of the review of Bonofide. A companion review to "Shit sandwich." I'm impressed that you tried to convince folks that Bono wasn't insufferable back in the day. That's a herculean task.
“Nicolas Cage has nothing on Bono.”
Made me laugh out loud for real…
You failed to make coffee shoot out my nose solely because I was between sips…. well done, my friend!
Next time I'll try and time it better so it comes out your nose. Give me a 2nd chance!
So funny- this is so much my response or feelings about U2 as well! Once they hit it big I was done. But, then super early 90s, with Achtung Baby, they somewhat won me back for a bit. I loved Achtung Baby, and also their less popular things from that time: Until the End of the World, and then Passengers: Original Soundtracks 1.
Their first three albums will always be among my favorites. I have a group of friends - we were initially brought together by music (alternative) back in the mid-80s. A bunch of us reconnected a couple of years ago, and have since met at a brewery every Sunday for what we call Sunday Bloody Mary Sunday. 😂
BTW: love the lyric references throughout 😂
thanks! When I read it to my wife, I asked her if it was too much and she said “you should write the whole thing in U2 song titles and lyrics.”
That sounds perfect! LOL
Like a lot of long-lived ubiquitous rock bands, I initially liked them as a kid, especially the stuff that was contemporary to me (Achtung), then basically rejected all of it, disliking the later albums and songs like Vertigo and Beautiful Day. THEN I found appreciation again from the U Talkin U2 2 Me? Podcast: https://www.earwolf.com/show/u-talkin-u2-to-me/
Yes! I hadn't listened to U Talkin' U2 2 Me? in a long while and I only heard maybe 3 or 4 episodes. I want to say they also did REM or some other band. Yes, it was Adam Scott and Scott Aukerman. I saw that they just did Springsteen. Glad they're still doing it.
Yep, they did REM and Talking Heads…and now Springsteen. It’s mainly good because of the Scott’s saying dumb stuff and the whole schtick wears out after awhile, but I was very into the U2 episodes. Oh yeah, they tried to do Red Hot Chili Peppers, which I was kind of sad that they gave up on. I also still really like the first few punk/funk wierdo chili pepper records…very different but they hold a similar category for me as U2 re: their prevalence in the 90s and I both loath and love aspects of them.
The greatest compliment one can give an author is that he inspired another one. Look, I wrote a bit based on your incredible title I wish I'd thought of!
The Edge hires an attorney (Sid, we'll call him) suing Bono for something likely sinister The (Mr. Edge to you) thinks Bo (aka Mr. No) did. Sid: "So, Mr. Edge, your finances are crap, and you can't stand your former lead singer.
"Tellya what I'm thinking of doing: I'm going to represent you pro-Bono." "Oh, great, so that means free, right?" "No, that's not what I mean at all. I actually kinda like the guy, so I'll be doing this case pro-Bono." "Right, I don't have to pay you." "No, no, no....look, pay me over time whenever, I don't care. I'll be working this case pro-Bono." "I pay you, I don't pay you....I don't get it." "Look, The, I've had it! Your denseness, I'm afraid, has put me over The Edge! You're on your own! I'm going back to work.....pro-Bono." The: "Why do you keep saying that?!"
it has potential to be the next “Who’s on First?” but needs a bit of work….glad you were inspired by the title! I’m sure it confused more than a few people.
Try this on for size.....by our good friends from The Credibility Gap and "This is Spinal Tap," Harry Shearer (you know him as the longtime voice of virtually all the non-Simpsons on "The Simpsons") and David L. Lander: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ludCVowT-DE
A few comments:
- Took me 3 reads to get the pun in the post's title and it's hilarious (it's more of statement on my brain's ability to function than your ability to turn a phrase, Steve)
- I saw U2 in concert in Madison Square Garden in 2001 in their "All that you can't leave behind" tour. I never considered myself a huge fan but must have been pretty into them because I maybe went to 3 concerts in 20 years. Now I go to at least 2 a year (Alanis Morrisette and Taylor Swift) this year.
- Yes to being tired of seeing Bono show up in films and shows, which is why the newish Conan O'Brien show on Max and the Ireland episode sketch "Bono is Everywhere" (something to this effect) and Conan looking for him in Dublin park is hilarious
- Bono's daughter - Eve Hewson, now she's an acting talent. (Watch "Bad Sisters" or "The Knick")
i’m very surprised I never did see them live. I was very tempted to go to that pop mart tour. Just for the spectacle of it. Who was his daughter in bad sisters? Was she the youngest other sisters and the best puns are the ones that don’t come right away that hit you when you’re not expecting, so, I’m feeling a little “pride (in the name of love)” in my punability.
I swear, using voice to text is pretty much unusable now since Apple updated their operating system. It types it out correctly the first time and then when I’m not looking at changes all the words to something else. It drives me crazy. Maybe I’ll rant in notes later.