A lot has been said and written over the years about the legitimacy of Bono’s claims that U2 is a punk band. I personally believe that although their do-it-yourself origins qualify as extremely punk-ish, most of their music doesn’t meet the hard and fast qualifications of punk rock. I say “most of their music” because […]
Read More
U2101 – Tomorrow
I’ve written in the past about Bono’s ability to write lyrics that seem to be about more than one thing. I feel that it’s probably his greatest gift as a songwriter, and today’s song is one of the earliest examples of this talent in action. From 1981’s October “Tomorrow” is one of the most overtly […]
Read More
U2101 – Lemon
Like millions of people across the globe, I was shocked and dismayed this past week to learn of the passing of Prince. I wanted to write something this weekend about the few times that U2’s and Prince’s lives intersected, but I was conflicted as to what precisely my topic should be. At first, I was […]
Read More
U2 and Prince – Their Crossover Connections
Which U2 song sounds the most like Prince? That’s hard to say, because Prince had so many “sounds” that it would be almost impossible to pin him down to a single musical style. Who else does that remind you of? Yep! That’s just one of the many crossovers we can find when comparing U2 with […]
Read More
U2101 – Blow Your House Down
Like many U2 fans (and like Bono himself, if the stories are to be believed), I own a copy of the CD set Salome: The (Axtung Beibi) Outtakes, a three CD bootleg set of early recordings from the Achtung Baby sessions. This set is essential for any hardcore U2 fan because it shows the evolution […]
Read MoreU2 Desire a kind of earnestness a pure and optimistic sense of purpose
I think I’ve mentioned before that I have serious problems with being indecisive, especially when U2 has so many ridiculously great songs in their catalogue that just beg to be given attention. It’s a real struggle to choose just one song for a post. But this time, I had a sudden epiphany, an epiphany that […]
Read MoreU2101 – Unknown Caller
It seems like lately all of my articles have been about songs from U2 albums that the band seem like they’d be just as happy to forget. Prior to today, I wrote about two straight songs from Pop and today the song that’s on my mind is from No Line on the Horizon.
Read MoreU2 on iHeart Radio Awards: Innovators Indeed
Let’s do some freeform discussion on the iHeart Radio Awards, shall we? No? Okay, how about just U2’s part? Fair enough. We all know U2 deserved to win the Innovator Award at the iHeart Radio Awards – but did anyone else? (Besides Pharrell Williams, I mean.) If you watched it, you may have asked yourself, […]
Read More
U2101 – Please
Last week, we discussed the lead off single from U2’s Pop album, so I thought that today would be the perfect opportunity to talk about another of my favorite singles from the same album, the fourth single, “Please”.
Read MoreU2101 – Discotheque
“Discotheque” is kind of a weird song in U2’s catalog. On one hand, a lot of fans have negative memories of the song as the first single from Pop, U2’s much-maligned techno-music influenced ninth album. On the other hand it was U2’s last top ten hit in the United States, so I have a feeling […]
Read More