U2: HOW TO DISMANTLE AN ATOMIC BOMB

[iota]

1. Love and Peace or Else
2. Vertigo/Native Son
3. All Because of You
4. Miracle Drug
5. Sometimes (YCMOYO)
6. Beautiful Day
7. Walk On
8. Mercy
9. City Of Blinding Lights
10. Gone

B-stage acoustic

11. Staring At The Sun
12. Stuck In A Moment
13. Flower Child

14. A Sort Of Homecoming
15. In God's Country
16. Wild Honey
17. A Man and A Woman
18. With Or Without You
19. Kite
20. Original of the Species
21. Yahweh
22. 40


Why just have a greatest hits show?  I would actually go see this one.

[Josh]

You know, as much as I hate Rolling Stone, I must confess that I think their Atomic Bomb review is one of the best that I've read.

[danny316]

i'll play the setlist game, but i think it'll be painfully obvious that i've only heard a few of their albums:

1. Vertigo
2. Miracle Drug
3. Electrical Storm
4. Mysterious Ways
5. All Because of You
6. Elevation
7. I Will Follow
8. A Man and a Woman
9. Beautiful Day
10. Stuck In a Moment
11. One Step Closer
12. Until The End of The World
13. Crumbs From Your Table
14. Bullet The Blue Sky
15. New Years Day
16. Love and Peace or Else
17. Sunday Bloody Sunday
18. One
19. Sometimes You Can't Make it On Your Own
20. With Or Without You
encore
21. I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For
22. Walk On
23. Where the Streets Have No Name
24. All I Want Is You

If they're really feeling generous, add in Pride (In The Name of Love) somewhere.  

[murlough23]

^ You would have them start off with the first two songs from their latest CD in sequence? I hate it when bands do stuff like that!

[murlough23]

Oh, man, did you guys watch SNL? Colin Farrell just did a Bono impression on Ferecito's talk show, and Ferecito criticized him for the incorrect Spanish in "Vertigo"! It was friggin' hilarious!!!

       

[Josh]

Oh, man, did you guys watch SNL? Colin Farrell just did a Bono impression on Ferecito's talk show, and Ferecito criticized him for the incorrect Spanish in "Vertigo"! It was friggin' hilarious!!!

     

Interesting that the Spanish countoff has become the most famous part of the whole CD. I still think it was entirely intentional on Bono's part, and have read a number of explanations that seem valid. (I mean, c'mon... a lot of peple listen to U2 CDs before they're released. What are the odds that NONE of them noticed that?)

[murlough23]

Interesting that the Spanish countoff has become the most famous part of the whole CD. I still think it was entirely intentional on Bono's part, and have read a number of explanations that seem valid. (I mean, c'mon... a lot of peple listen to U2 CDs before they're released. What are the odds that NONE of them noticed that?)

I think Americans just love nonsensical sound bites. Why do you think we re-elected Bush?

In any event, Colin Farrell's impression of Bono was an amusing caricature... camera dance and all.

[Josh]

Congratulations to my Irish heroes for making it into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

[oneafroboy]

No surprise there. And they deserve it. They're one of the last great rock bands the world will ever see.

 

[bloop]

Yeah.  I understand that they kind of said "we don't want it yet.  There are so many more deserving".  C'mon, guys, enough with the false modesty.  Who's more deserving of recognition than U2?

[murlough23]

Yeah.  I understand that they kind of said "we don't want it yet.  There are so many more deserving".  C'mon, guys, enough with the false modesty.  Who's more deserving of recognition than U2?

False modesty is about the last thing of which I would ever accuse Bono.

[Josh]

Yeah.  I understand that they kind of said "we don't want it yet.  There are so many more deserving".  C'mon, guys, enough with the false modesty.  Who's more deserving of recognition than U2?

I think their reasoning was that, when you're inducted into the Hall of Fame, it usually means that your career is more or less over, whereas U2 still have who knows how many great albums in 'em.

[oneafroboy]

I think their reasoning was that, when you're inducted into the Hall of Fame, it usually means that your career is more or less over, whereas U2 still have who knows how many great albums in 'em.

Uh...

I think I'll keep my comments to myself on this one.

[bloop]

Uh...

I think I'll keep my comments to myself on this one.

Yeah - I have my doubts that they have any more albums I could rightly call "great" on the same level with their two bona fide classics, but they are continuing to make good music.  I'm thinking the next great album to come out of them, if there is to be one, may very well be a solo album.

[murlough23]

I think their reasoning was that, when you're inducted into the Hall of Fame, it usually means that your career is more or less over, whereas U2 still have who knows how many great albums in 'em.

Um, they haven't put out a great album since 1997. I wouldn't be so sure about that.

[dgp11776]

I think their reasoning was that, when you're inducted into the Hall of Fame, it usually means that your career is more or less over, whereas U2 still have who knows how many great albums in 'em.

Josh, did you really think you were going to get away with that last line unscathed?

[bloop]

Um, they haven't put out a great album since 1997. I wouldn't be so sure about that.

And, in my opinion, it's been since 1991.  As much as I like POP, it's no masterpiece, IMO.

[Josh]

Perhaps we should better define the term "great." Yes, their last masterpiece was in '91, but every album released since then has been in the A/A- range, if you ask me.

[bloop]

Out of ten

Zooropa - 7.5
Pop - 9.0
All That You Can't... - 8.0
I need to hear the new one in CD quality before attempting a rating.

So, your point is well made in that it depends on how you define "great".  I guess I might call Pop "great" if I wasn't being very pointed in my meaning.

[murlough23]

And, in my opinion, it's been since 1991.  As much as I like POP, it's no masterpiece, IMO.

Well, I won't argue with you about Achtung Baby being a masterpiece, and about ATYCLB not being one. ATYCLB is merely a good collection of songs that are better written than they are executed.

NP: "Get Some", Chevelle

[oneafroboy]

For a band like U2, when I think of great, I think of it in terms of "all-time." Like this album is one of the great albums of all time, or something like that. U2 has had two of those.

And I assure you, there will be no more great albums of all time coming out of U2.  

[Josh]

For a band like U2, when I think of great, I think of it in terms of "all-time." Like this album is one of the great albums of all time, or something like that. U2 has had two of those.
 

Eh, that's very difficult to pin down. You may say two, others may say three or four. I think five of U2's albums made the cut when Rolling Stone listed the 500 greatest albums of all time. At least four of them would make my list of all-time personal favorites. It's fairly subjective, really.

And I assure you, there will be no more great albums of all time coming out of U2.

Yeah, yeah. People said that after Rattle and Hum came out, too. U2 have had critics watching their every move for two decades now. They don't pay any attention to it, and neither do I.

[oneafroboy]

Once again, it depends on how you define great. Joshua Tree and Achtung Baby were masterpieces. I'm not sure you could say that about the others. Even though they had some other "great" ones, like Pop and War.

As you said, U2 has been around for two decades. That's a long time for a band to remain fresh and innovative. We would probably disagree about how fresh and innovative they've remained; however, I'd be very, *very* surprised if they put out another masterpiece.  

[Aaron]

For a band like U2, when I think of great, I think of it in terms of "all-time." Like this album is one of the great albums of all time, or something like that. U2 has had two of those.
 

Eh, that's very difficult to pin down. You may say two, others may say three or four. I think five of U2's albums made the cut when Rolling Stone listed the 500 greatest albums of all time. At least four of them would make my list of all-time personal favorites. It's fairly subjective, really.

 

that's rolling stone magazine which is about as relevant and on-target as the dove awards!

[raining rhythms]

do you ever wonder about inspiration?

i'm sure we could argue about what consititutes "great" in the world of U2, but i'm also fairly confident that we could agree to some sort of "more great" in regards to albums. that is, whether one thinks of all the albums as great or most of them or none of them, we could surely agree to concide that one or two or three are more great than others.

this in place... from where came the inspiration for things like Achtung and the first side of Joshua Tree and to where did it go? sometimes i wonder about not only the creative process, but where creativity came from to begin with. do we all just have a certain amount in our reservoir of creative spunk with which to create?

did U2 use up all of its "more greatness" juice?

---

as far as the post-Rattle & Hum critic backlash... they were at the peak of their game. it'd be difficult for me to watch that film and say that's all they got in them. now it feels more like U2 have been over the peak, as it were...

---

a side note... i wonder if Atomic Bomb had been released in a world where the 90's era of U2 was nonexistent and the gap between recent albums not so large if it would be getting the acclaim it seems to be garnering.

that is, are the many people who felt estranged by Zooropa and Pop just excited about a much more accesible and pop (little p) oriented album. or, maybe, is it that the generation who grew up along with U2's fame in the 80's (or maybe just U2 fans in general?) feel cheated by the 4 years between Zooropa and Pop, the 3 between Pop and ATYCLB, and now, again, 4 years since that one? is it a lack of music in general... or just (at least) a decade-long lack of the aforementioned "more great"?

has the "lesser great" of the 90's paved the way for the success of Atomic Bomb? will it stand out as much as time, that greatest of all filters, moves on?
 

[Josh]

What an excellent post, RR.

do you ever wonder about inspiration?

i'm sure we could argue about what consititutes "great" in the world of U2, but i'm also fairly confident that we could agree to some sort of "more great" in regards to albums. that is, whether one thinks of all the albums as great or most of them or none of them, we could surely agree to concide that one or two or three are more great than others.

this in place... from where came the inspiration for things like Achtung and the first side of Joshua Tree and to where did it go? sometimes i wonder about not only the creative process, but where creativity came from to begin with. do we all just have a certain amount in our reservoir of creative spunk with which to create?

Well, Bono often talks about the times when God walks through the room. Listening to some of their music, like The Joshua Tree and Achtung Baby, as well as the best albums by Bob Dylan, Over the Rhine, Sam Phillips, and Nick Cave, I'd have to agree. I honestly think that the hand of God was very much present on some of U2's work.

has the "lesser great" of the 90's paved the way for the success of Atomic Bomb?

I'm afraid so. Which is a real shame, since 2/3 of their 90s catalogue is better than Atomic Bomb.

 

[murlough23]

Well, I can see how you're only as good as the last thing you've done. I'd probably have been frustrated and unsure of whether they had good albums left in them if I had been a fan at the time of Rattle and Hum, too. Though that album did remind us that they could still write some excellent songs... it just found them trying too hard in other areas and not realizing how what might make sense as a movie/documentary soundtrack made for a really poorly paced album. A new studio album and a bonus mini-live album would have probably been the best format for that one.

The reason why I'm doubtful about a great album being left in them now is not because of their age or anything like that. They're still able to write great songs and rack up radio hits and give stellar performances like no other. The problem is that they've progressed backwards in terms of the overall quality of their songwriting, and I feel that they haven't figured out the best way to marry the new musical tricks they've learned (the more electonic and keyboard-oriented stuff they were fascinated with in the 90's) with their older style. And if they're going to revisit old styles, they're going to have to blend them in interesting ways. I just don't feel as much exuberance in the songs that are supposed to be happy ("Beautiful Day" notwithstanding), or as much irony and tension in the "darker" stuff. That results in some songs that should rock, but sound dinky instead.

They've more or less done 2 retrospective albums in the 2000's so far, trying to take what fans used to love about them and make it work in a new era. It isn't working as consistently as it did when they completely overhauled their sound in the 90's.  think they need to continue moving forward and let people be confused by it, even if it means they don't sell as much. In attempting to take over the world all over again, they're sacrificing some quality in favor of finding common ground where all of their fans can remain sort of interested.

NP: "Imaginary", Evanescence