I usually make it a habit to write these articles on one specific song or a group of songs that share a common element, but today, I thought that I’d do something different. For the past several months, since the beginning of the year, really, we’ve been building up to the opening night of Joshua […]
Read MoreWhy U2? #52 – Their Future
I started writing these Why U2? articles a year ago this week, and in that time we’ve covered a lot of reasons that U2 is more than just my favorite band. They represent a way of life for me, and for many of you, I’m sure. Everything we’ve discussed, from their sense of humor to […]
Read MoreWhy U2? #51 – They’re Literate
Don’t you love how literate U2 is? This goes all the way back to their first album, Boy, where they referenced Oscar Wilde in “The Ocean” and William Golding’s Lord of the Flies with the title of the album’s final cut, “Shadows and Tall Trees”. A few years later, on War, “40” quoted the Bible, […]
Read MoreWhy U2? #50 – They’re Great Winners
As I write this, the Grammys will be airing in just a few hours. Despite all of our hopes, it seems pretty clear by this point that U2 will not be performing this year.
Read MoreWhy U2? #49 – They Always Leave Me Wanting More
It was PT Barnum who famously said “Always leave them wanting more”, and I believe that U2 took that piece of advice to heart. There are almost innumerable pieces of music out there that are known to exist but which have yet to see an official release of any sort. A few of these are […]
Read MoreWhy U2? #48 – The Whole is Greater Than the Sum of its Parts
Earlier this week, I was listening to a band who isn’t U2, (I’m not going to say who because this isn’t about tearing anyone down), and I remembered reading about how the particular record I was spinning was recorded with each band member recording their parts separately, in different studios in different parts of the […]
Read MoreWhy U2? #47 – Their Gratitude
I’ve heard and read a lot of reasons over the years that people have for hating U2, especially Bono, but none of them have ever been that the band were rude or anything less than gracious in person. It must get old to not be able to leave the house without being pestered for autographs […]
Read MoreWhy U2? #46 – Their Failures
I have a pretty clear memory of the first time I viewed the Pop*Mart Live From Mexico concert on VHS, particularly the part right before “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For”. Bono was thanking the audience for sticking with the band, talking about their motivations for making an album like Pop (which I […]
Read MoreWhy U2? #45 – They’re Weird
Some of you might have taken a look at that title, accusing U2 of “weirdness” and thought “he’s finally lost the little bit of his mind that he was holding to” but hear me out, and I think I can bring you around to my way of thinking. First of all, let’s talk about what […]
Read MoreWhy U2? # 44 – They Never Disappoint.
Leonard Cohen. Daniel Lanois. The Smashing Pumpkins. Bloodhound Gang. U2. Several artists whose output I normally enjoy a great deal have released new music in 2014, and all of them except for U2 disappointed me. Of course, an argument could be made that since my passion for U2 exceeds that which I feel for those […]
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