U2

redrighthand · October 2013

I love this song/video/performance so much I had to share it. Rawness and energy abound, flowing through every element of the band and seemingly everyone in the room. Would love to have been there.

johnnyurq · October 2013

Ah the heady days before Bonio became a Jeremy Kyle and walking ego.

I do love pre Bono knob end U2 and was lucky enough to catch an early performance when they toured up here with SLF IIRC.

ICBM · October 2013

I'm a big fan, especially of the modern era albums from Achtung Baby to All That You Can't Leave Behind - their best and my favourite albums respectively, I think. The last two were pretty good as well, if perhaps not quite in the same league. I just ignore Bono's personality and listen to the music… not quite sure why he gets *such* a lot of stick, he's hardly unique in being a famous twat. At least he has a genuine talent to go with it.

johnnyurq · October 2013

@ICBM

I love the newer stuff too just the earlier stuff resonates more with me and is more seminal being in my most formative years.

As far as Bono goes it is more about the fun and sport of taking the mick meant largely tongue in cheek.

The singer/creative Bono is to be admired but some of his extra curricular stuff and rantings are classic facepalm moments.

RocknRollDave · October 2013

redrighthand said:

I love this song/video/performance so much I had to share it. Rawness and energy abound, flowing through every element of the band and seemingly everyone in the room. Would love to have been there.

Great song, underrated debut album.

I do like U2 but sometimes Bono makes it a difficult band to love.

I love it when they dig out early songs for the live show.

I do think Bono' s voice is massively past its best - it breaks and strains and lacks power where before he could really belt them out. Just goes to show that the voice is an instrument that needs constant TCL every bit as much as the guitars and backline. More, if anything.

ICBM · October 2013

johnnyurq said:
The singer/creative Bono is to be admired but some of his extra curricular stuff and rantings are classic facepalm moments.

Definitely!

Cirrus · October 2013

RocknRollDave said:
I do think Bono' s voice is massively past its best - it breaks and strains and lacks power where before he could really belt them out. Just goes to show that the voice is an instrument that needs constant TCL every bit as much as the guitars and backline. More, if anything.

Definitely agree. When you listen to anything from the Unforgettable Fire to Achtung Baby, there's a voice at the height of its powers. I think Pop is when he started having trouble on the high notes but that's still an awesome album. Since then he's definitely had his moments (Kite being a great example). The funny thing is when he first lost his top end he sung lower and came up with some awesome stuff, but these days he's decided to sing high again and that's when he gets all croaky and thin sounding.

That video is really cool because it shows a mega popular band back when they weren't very tight and made lots of mistakes. It's fun because of that, and reminds me of lots of the bands I play with on the originals/unsigned scene.

monquixote · October 2013

I like U2

I expect most superstars are bumholes if you were to meet them Bono just seems to go out of his way to shove it in peoples faces. That has absolutely no bearing on the quality of their music.

The last couple of albums have left me a bit cold though.

DulcetJones · October 2013

I saw them on the "War" tour back in the 80's, flat out one of the best concerts I've ever been to. The venue wasn't very big, a nice soft seater, and Bono climbed up the balcony and stood on the railing to sing the last verse of the song they were doing, scaring the hell out of everyone, including the rest of the band.

Deadman · October 2013

DulcetJones;68155" said:
I saw them on the "War" tour back in the 80's, flat out one of the best concerts I've ever been to. The venue wasn't very big, a nice soft seater, and Bono climbed up the balcony and stood on the railing to sing the last verse of the song they were doing, scaring the hell out of everyone, including the rest of the band.

Jealous!

suspiciousminds · October 2013

I really like them regardless of what people think of Bono - saw them twice during the joshua tree tour at wembley and Elland road, the leeds gig was fantastic.
Listening to riffs like Gloria and 11 o'clock tick tock in my teens pretty much started me wanting a guitar.

paulk · October 2013

I saw them in Belfast just before Boy was released and they were great. I love the first 2 albums still and also like Achtung baby. But that's about it for me. The rest I think is shite and Bono is a massive bellend.

stickyfiddle · October 2013

I love U2 and don't care what anyone says. I was 4 when the Joshua Tree released but I saw them in Cardiff and at Live8, both in 2005. The Cardiff gig was phenomenal, easily in my top 10. Live8 was rubbish, just as with Glastonbury I think they struggle with a traditional stage these days, having played with catwalks, runways and claws for 20 years now.

As for Bono, I don't mind him. His heart's in the right place at least. He really hurt his voice in the mid 90's and Pop/Popmart suffered as a result, but the last gigs from that tour were awesome judging from the youtube clips. It picked up again for Elevation and his range was best for the Vertigo tour but it was Elevation that had the best balance of vocal ability and songs. ATYCLB has SO many great songs on it that I felt the following tour would've been better with one or two fewer Atomic Bomb tracks and more off All That.. That said, the inclusion of loads of really early stuff was brilliant; The Electric Co still punches after all these years.

I love Boy but October is plain shit. Any band releasing that now would be dropped, whether fair or not.

Jalapeno · October 2013

I was at the Glastonbury gig - considering it was smashing down with rain I thought it was sublimely awesome. They sounded on fire to me.

Musically they've been great and regularly changing, which is great. Unforgettable Fire was a zentih, Achtung Baby is another, the recent stuff isn't shabby either (eg. the simple pop of Vertigo).

stickyfiddle · October 2013

Jalapeno said:

I was at the Glastonbury gig - considering it was smashing down with rain I thought it was sublimely awesome. They sounded on fire to me.

I imagine it was better in real life than on TV! Musically it was faultless, just not absolutely as great as they can be in terms of "fire" I reckon.

There aren't many bands who can do this

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zqtkik7nTik

Jalapeno · October 2013

Slaine Castle concert video is superb.

On Bono's knobbishness - he took on the IRA and American support in the Rattle & Hum film which took some balls - fair play to him. The Live8 / End World Poverty stuff was well intentioned, if ultimately ineffective - personally I'm not into popstars getting preachy, but as others have said his heart's in the right place.

ICBM · October 2013

Jalapeno said:
On Bono's knobbishness - he took on the IRA and American support in the Rattle & Hum film which took some balls - fair play to him.

They faded out the last verse from Van Diemen's Land on the album though. I always wondered why that was until I found the lyrics.

redrighthand · October 2013

ICBM said:

Jalapeno said:
On Bono's knobbishness - he took on the IRA and American support in the Rattle & Hum film which took some balls - fair play to him.

They faded out the last verse from Van Diemen's Land on the album though. I always wondered why that was until I found the lyrics.

Pray tell?

redrighthand · October 2013

I saw them at Glastonbury. Despite the pouring rain it was utterly fantastic. While "stripped back" is perhaps a step too far, without all the big sets there was nothing but four guys playing non stop awesome songs, from that opening salvo of Achtung Baby classics to the "first single" finale of Out of Control. They even appeared quite humble with it. One of my most memorable gigs.

That was the first time I'd actually heard Out of Control. (Or at least first time I'd properly heard it.) While it ain't a patch on the Belfast gig above for sheer energy, Edge's combination of AC30 and Explorer on that song is the best live guitar sound I've ever heard.

The youtube vid doesn't do it justice - live it was mindblowing.

redrighthand · October 2013

Plus all the anti-Bono shit just gets in the way.

I have the distinct impression that most people who say Bono is a nob are saying that because they've heard lots of other people saying it.

axisus · October 2013

Never really into them at all, but I did think that the Joshua Tree was a brilliant album.

I'm a bit bored of all the Bono hate now, it's a bit like Skoda's in the 80s or Kirk Hammett mentioned on a guitar forum. From what I see he's just trying to push good causes.

Paul_C · October 2013

saw them on the Boy Tour (1981) supported by Altered Images (Clare Grogan *sigh*) - excellent gig and loved the Explorer

I heard them at Glastonbury 2011, but I was in a tent reading a book while they were on

ICBM · October 2013

redrighthand said:

Pray tell?

Still the gunman rules and widows pay
A scarlet coat now a black beret
They thought that blood and sacrifice
Could out of death bring forth a life

redrighthand · October 2013

Ah. Yes, I remember those lyrics - from the album sleeve maybe?

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