I’m trying to be mindful of current events as I write these articles, and one of the biggest events of this past week came on Friday night when U2 broke out The Joshua Tree’s “In God’s Country” during their concert in Phoenix, Arizona.
Read MoreU2101 – Bullet the Blue Sky
So, two shows into the new tour, what changes are we looking at? One missed a show – the first since that song’s debut. Of course, several new songs made their debuts at full U2 concerts, and a couple of golden oldies also found their way back into the set-list. Most notable of those, in […]
Read MoreU2101 – Lucifer’s Hands
I really enjoyed all of the new songs that U2 premiered on the Summer 2010 leg of the 360 tour. Songs like “Glastonbury”, “North Star” and “Every Breaking Wave” really made those shows something special, as did my personal favorite of the songs that debuted at those shows, intro “Return of the Stingray Guitar”.
Read MoreU2101 – The Crystal Ballroom
I really didn’t know what to think of “The Crystal Ballroom” the first time I heard it. I think that of all the new songs (from Songs of Innocence) it’s probably the one that sounds most like what I expected when I heard that U2 were working with Danger Mouse.
Read MoreU2101 – The Troubles
Much has already been said about “The Troubles”, Songs of Innocence‘s closing track, (including this great article from our own Joe Pittella). So much so that I wanted to take my time writing my own take on the subject. That’s why it’s appearing near the end of my U2101 articles dedicated to the songs of […]
Read MoreU2101 – Invisible
I’m not much of a fan of American football. In fact, I can count on two fingers the number of times I’ve watched the sport in my adult life, and both of those times were due to the involvement of my favorite band. The first was back in 2002 when U2 played the Super Bowl […]
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U2101: California (There is No End to Love)
I remember my first listen-through of Songs of Innocence. After the amazing opening combo of “The Miracle (of Joey Ramone)” and “Every Breaking Wave”, I was already in love with the album. When I heard the opening refrain of “California (There is No End to Love)”, with its obvious Beach Boys reference, though, I didn’t […]
Read MoreU2101: Iris (Hold Me Close)
I think that one of the most tragic stories I’ve ever heard is the one about Bono’s mother, Iris, suffering an aneurysm at her own father’s funeral when Bono was fourteen, then dying a few days later. It’s so incredibly unlikely and filled with pathos that if I didn’t know it to be true, I’d […]
Read MoreU2101 – Raised By Wolves
Like a lot of great U2 songs, “Raised By Wolves” doesn’t explicitly spell out an exact meaning. Rather, it allows itself to be interpreted a variety of different ways, depending on the listener and what’s going on in their life at the time. According to the Songs of Innocence liner notes, the song was written […]
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Record Store Day
Things have gotten pretty slow in terms of U2 news lately. We’re kind of in a limbo-state right now, hovering between the rush of excitement that comes with the release of a new album and the immediate flurry of activity that goes with its promotion, and the daily updates that accompany a tour in progress. […]
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