The U2 Appreciation Thread

[legendkillar]

As requested by a fellow U2 fan, Everyone has a favourite band and everyone has a journey with them throughout their life.

When I was 7 years old, I was at boarding school. On one of the rare occasions I was at home I was listening to The Best of 1986 which had such songs as Say You Say Me, Broken Wings, Power of Love, Happy Hour, Spirit in the Sky, Going Get Tough. Some songs mentioned there weren't released in 1986, but that was what was on the tape.

My Dad and came in and threw a tape on my bed and told me "Here you can have this, I don't like it" It was U2 The Johshua Tree. I played it. I was hooked. I played each Sunday when I knew I was going back to boarding school and I followed them ever since.

From Boy to Pop I have enjoyed all their music.

Favourite Album: The Joshua Tree, closely followed by War.

Favourite Songs: With or Without You, Sunday Bloody Sunday, 2 Hearts Beat as One, City of Blinding Lights, Starring at the Sun, One

what are yours?

[MtotheC's Wrasslin Biatch]

U2 is a weird one for me - because I do like them, but own none of their albums.

I have seen them live at Millennium Stadium though - Vertigo tour - and it was easily one of the Top 3 gigs I've ever been to. Such an amazing live band with the ability to raise goose pimples on the back of your neck.

[Cari]

Nice one Legend!

God, where do I start...!? U2 have been a big part of musical life for years, I first heard them way back. My older sisters had loads of compilation LPs, and on one of them was the track Two Hearts Beat As One. I just really liked that song at the time. After that I borrowed Under A Blood Red Sky and loved it. Having bought Pride: In The Name Of Love on 7" and played it to death, I got The Unforgettable Fire on cassette, and I remember thinking it was eerie and moving, and I loved Bono's vocals. He just had an amazing voice then. What really blew me away was when I saw them on telly at Live Aid in '85 and then getting The Joshua Tree album in '87. Sadly I didn't get to see them live until 2009, I was too young when they visited Wales on previous occasions, and then in later years, circumstances dictated that I just didn't get to see them. When I did it was well worth the wait. I've always admired them as a band.

I think in recent years, they've sounded a little bit commercial at times, but they still have the capability to write great songs some of them deeply personal and touching. That is some achievement considering they've been around for so long and there's so many newer bands nipping at their ankles.

It's very difficult for me to pick favourite songs and albums of theirs, I really struggle, but the ones I listen to the most and continue to move me would be:

Songs: way too many to list but I'd go for A Sort of Homecoming, October, Acrobat, Bad, All I Want Is You...

Albums: Achtung Baby, The Joshua Tree, Unforgettable Fire, October

[legendkillar]

Great summary there Cari

Over the years I think they have sounded commercial. I think however How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb was a return to form. I think All That You Can't Leave Behind was too commercial, Pop was half commercial. I didn't like the re-make of One or The Saints Are Coming. I think they matured really well. They stayed out of the mid 90's which was a good thing because I think they would've struggled musically to compete and that they may have given themselves the death nail which all bands try to avoid.

I love what they represent and think they have come closest to the complete band that I have seen.

[Cari]

I think lyrically, All That You Can't Leave Behind is one of their better works. It's such a great comfort album for me - like an aural anti-depressant. I should've put that on the list above...see, there's so many I can't keep track. "Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own" makes me cry it's so lovely.

Did anyone see the doco on the telly the other week From The Sky Down - about the making of Achtung Baby? It was class, and really interesting.

[GG]

I love U2

Favourite song : Beautiful Day, Sometimes You Can't Make it On Your Own, Where The Streets Have No Name, Pride In The Name Of Love.

Albums : The Joshua Tree, All That You Can't Leave Behind.

[legendkillar]

I think lyrically, All That You Can't Leave Behind is one of their better works. It's such a great comfort album for me - like an aural anti-depressant. I should've put that on the list above...see, there's so many I can't keep track. "Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own" makes me cry it's so lovely.

Did anyone see the doco on the telly the other week From The Sky Down - about the making of Achtung Baby? It was class, and really interesting.

I think I have seen that one Cari. Wasn't that when they recorded the album in Germany I think at time when there was such political un-rest??

[Cari]

Yeah that's the one. They started recording the album in Berlin just after the wall came down. That was kind of symbolic really - the country and the band were going through major change.

[legendkillar]

For me HTDAAB is like the ultimate heart string puller. You get Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own which I admit made me cry. Just that lyric "You don't have to fight. Let me take some of the punches for you tonight. then you get City of Blinding Lights with the lyrics "Neon heart, dayglo eyes, city lit by fireflies. They're advertising in the sky for people like us.

Just spine-tingling stuff

[legendkillar]

I remember that Cari. Achtung Baby is seen as their like saviour album given that Rattle and Hum was seen as a flop, but I liked Angel of Harlem. Sounded more American than any of the tracks on Joshua Tree.

That documentary was so rough. It actually showed a time when they weren't reading from the same hymn sheet. Given the chemistry between Edge and Bono and yet they seemed so distant. Even in the video of One you could sense the tension. The immortal lyric Is it getting better? felt almost apologetic. I think Edge was going through a divorce at the time??

[Cari]

I think people slammed Rattle & Hum because of the film for which it was a soundtrack. I can understand why the film was panned - even the band themselves admitted they didn't know what they were doing making the film. However, the studio tracks they did for the soundtrack are awesome - All I Want Is You is just one of the most heartbreaking, beautiful love songs I've ever heard. The album does have a very American feel to it because the band were heavily influenced by Bob Dylan's music (which they were listening to a lot) and the American culture they immersed themselves in on the US tour at the same time.

Yes Edge was having a terrible time divorcing his wife then. They'd been together since they were teenagers like Bono and his wife too. One good thing came from that split was Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses - top tune.

[legendkillar]

I think what makes U2 so unique is the acceptance of them. Albums like Boy, War and October gave them that 'Acceptance' in Ireland, like this is our band. When they did The Joshua Tree America 'adopted' them as their own and it almost became the soundtrack to America. I wish I was there in America in a top down convertable driving down an American Freeway with that one. Achtung Baby gave them 'European' acceptance and latter albums such as All That You Can't Leave Behind and How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb gave them Global Acceptance.

It has been like one amazing journey, or am I the only one who feels like that? Yes they may be commercial now because of the success, but I have always felt that they still have that 'thing' that is personal to each of their fans. It is like a piece of them and their music that you say 'it's mine and thats how I feel when I have it'

[Cari]

That's spot on Legend.

I've always admired the fact that they're the opposite of what you'd expect from a huge rock n roll band as well, and yet it suits them - their religiousness, campaigning and living quiet private lives. It's a breath of fresh air these days.

Here's something I loved on their 360 Tour - when they played in Cardiff, there was a section in the show where a film of Desmond Tutu introducing One was shown on the big screen and along the bottom of it they ran Welsh language subtitles. I thought that was a great thing for them to go to the trouble of doing in their show. They probably did the same for every country they went to that has another language, but to come to Wales and do that was great gesture for our little country I thought.

[legendkillar]

That is an amazing gesture Cari. I think whenever they tour, they find a connection with the culture of their fans. It is something most bands struggle to do themselves. Most only connect by only shouting the name of the town/city they perform in.

[Cari]

It was great. They had a snow globe on the stage which had a Welsh dragon inside it, and sometimes the camera zoomed in on it and projected the image onto a big screen, and Bono said something about Edge's parents being Welsh and how great they were which got a big cheer from the locals

[Luke]

U2 are a bit like Oasis to me. Love there early stuff (80's) d to a degree think alot of it is underated. But not so keen on there recent stuff (mid 90's) though they have done some
fantastic songs in that period, like One.

Songs i love include With or Without you, Where the streets have no name, Electrical Storm, Pride, and others.

Favorite Song - Sunday Bloody Sunday,
Favorite Album - Joshua Tree.

[dyrewolfe]

Without a doubt one of the best spy planes ever built...

Spoiler:

Whoops - wrong thread. I'll get me coat.

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