The official U2 topic

And I didnt even think it sucked too bad in 2009...I wanna go see them now!

And we have a winner. Ching ching ching. The only thing me and the Great Sebastian will ever agree on. Ever.

This band are an absolute utter bag of toss. Cant not stand one single song they have ever released. Overrated? Yes. If the norbs on here think JBJ is one whole arrogant cash making machine then Bono makes Jon look like a charitable and humble guy.

I agree with you. U2 and RHCP Slane Castle gigs are epic. Though I have taken a liking to their PopMart DVD more and more lately.

Bono can still sing. He can't sing as well as he could 20 years ago, but really, what singer can? As of right now, he blows Jon out of the water. They don't have as much variety in the sets as most would like, but they do vary quite a bit. I do hope they go back to arenas next tour, whenever that may be.

I only ever listen to 2 or 3 songs off No Line on the Horizon, but All That You Can't Leave Behind and Atomic Bomb are very good albums (no match to Achtung Baby, though I'd consider ATYCLB their third greatest album, after Achtung and Joshua Tree). Walk On is one of the greatest songs I've ever heard, it has yet to fail to pick me up.
It was pretty good in 2009 (check Ultraviolet from the Rose Bowl DVD... WOW). But 2011 U2 as a whole was better IMO. Partly because they brought back Even Better Than the Real Thing and The Fly. The 360 Tour was really 3 different tours: 2009, 2010, and 2011.

Bono has done more charity that Jon has and that you could ever dream of. He can be slightly arrogant, but so is Jon. This is the stereotype of U2, and only a short while ago I had this same view. But just give them a chance... I recommend starting with Achtung Baby. They go deeper than just Pride, Beautiful Day, and With or Without You.

Aloha !

Jon can still sing as well, he just can't sing his own songs anymore. Neither can Bono, I just watched parts of that Glastonbury show, and yes he does sound better there than he did several years ago. However, the only reason the songs seem to work are because they're downtuned to the max. There just simply isn't any power in Bono's voice left and as a result they play their songs either too slow or too low. The average Joe won't hear this, but a die hard U2 fan or just a music fan in general usually will. Just listen to Pride, it's a perfect example of that.

And as for them being a great band, every song seems to be completely programmed to the minute and the Edge still can't get a simple lick right. He's just bending the same notes over and over again, but once he gets out of that comfort zone he ****s up. And did I see that right that even the drummer has a teleprompter? While I complain about the lack of spontaneous jamming in Bon Jovi, at least they actually can mess around with outro's or guitar solo's. It doesn't look as if U2 can, because while they're good at producing a great sound, they're not actually great musicians and really need the spectacle in order to be as awesome as everyone seems to think they are.

Salaam Aleikum,
Sebastiaan

I don't know why you say that. They only downtune a few of their songs, and when they do, it's only by a half step. Pride is either a full step down or a step and a half down, but that's the ONLY song they do that anymore. I Will Follow and Until the End of the World are actually HIGHER than they are on the album. Bono doesn't have AS MUCH power in his voice anymore, but he certainly has some left.

Edge isn't the greatest guitarist ever, but he does what's necessary, and his sound pretty much IS U2.

U2 are NOT a jam band. They never have been, and they probably never will be. That's not who they are. But they do change up arrangements frequently. For example, Bon Jovi have been playing the same arrangements of Bad Name and Wanted since 1987. While U2 have changed up their own warhorses (like Sunday Bloody Sunday, Pride, With or Without You, and to a lesser extent, Streets.

Yea. The thing with charity etc is, to me it seems like there's always somethin to complain about. I do really agree that when it comes to big stars talkin about peace and pacifism and ending poverty and doing various things for the less fortunate, its always easy seeing it as hypocritical or arrogant.
Like Live 8, when all the humble and nice stuff were being said and still Bono was havin ridiculously expensive champagne backstage, and Richard Ashcroft was wearin a ridiculously expensive Prada jacket to the same gig, etc, the hypocrits!
But at the same time, if they'd not do a single thing for charity or do MakePovertyHistory ads or whatever, people would complain they weren't doin flip all with all the exessive money. I guess when ur bein constantly watched by half the planet, things get complicated.

Anyways, quite obvious stuff I guess.
Achtung Baby is for me one of the most amazing albums ever released. So is Joshua Tree. They might be the only two that dont have any skip worthy tracks for me, but as I said before, overall u2 will always be a brilliant band to me. The Edge is definitely not the most brilliant musician out there, but what he does works, and I admire that.

What an ignorant view.

U2 have made undeniably classic albums, yes their recent stuff has been pretty poor but that's by the by.

I don't give a shit if The Edge can't play a 5 minute solo behind his head or if Larry isn't the best drummer in the world.

Fact is, their songs mean something. It transcends mere music and it also sounds good.

They also know how to rock when they want to -

This entire performance is more proof they can rock.


So is this.

http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/music/ne...d-by-bono.html

U2 launch Songs of Surrender on March. It is a recompilation of his catalogue but reimagined . Something like This Left Feels Right.

Trailer (with Beautiful Day)

Pride





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