Sorry Haters, but I Still Love U2

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Never mind that ISIS continues to chop people's heads off, half the NFL is seemingly battering women and children while the powers that be engage in massive cover-ups, the Middle East remains mired in deadly unrest, kids are killed on the streets of Chicago nearly every single day, the oligarchy is screwing over 99.9% of the people in countless ways—from higher food & gas prices to still-decimated job markets, home values and personal wealth—and whether one wants to believe it or not, environmental catastrophe is not an implausibility due to such trifling things as the dissipation of polar ice caps.

Yet what really has people pissed off is being given the gift of free music. 

To quote a line I can't help thinking of whenever news is horrific or just inane:

I can't believe the news today /
I can't close my eyes and make it go away

-- U2, "Sunday Bloody Sunday"

Ever since 9/9/14, when Apple's announcement of the iPhone 6 and the Apple Watch were accompanied by the surprising and sudden sharing of U2's long-awaited--at least by us fans--new album, for free across iTunes, the legendary Irish band has apparently engendered the kind of feral vitriol once reserved for murderous dictators and terrorists, but which now, in the social media age, seemingly gets dumped daily on the likes of Taylor Swift. 

Mind you, as someone who rather rampantly shares my opinions--though rarely hate-fueled ones--here, on Facebook and occasionally Twitter, I can't deny that I actually enjoy a bit of the witty snark that can make reading internet commentary fun in small or curated doses. 

Hence, even as a longtime and still ardent U2 fan, I took no umbrage at slings & arrows thrown the band's--and Apple's--way soon after the Press Event, as with some funny Tweets compiled in this NME article. 

And even as the backlash became more voluminous and vociferous--though I largely experienced it second hand through articles such as the one depicted at top, and this one, rather than seeing friends or anyone I follow directly slam the free unrequested download, the album itself or U2--I understand several of the arguments if reflecting wry annoyance and not grievous hostility. 

Sure, quite honestly, Apple giving away the Songs of Innocence album saved me $11.99, though I'll probably still buy the physical copy once released. While I haven't truly loved any of their albums since 1991's Achtung Baby--with 1993's Zooropa and 2000's All That You Can't Leave Behind being the best of an otherwise middling bunch--U2 is a band I will always pay attention to, and whose albums I will happily acquire if simply out of habit and sentiment. 

Certainly I realize that younger generations who haven't grown up on U2--who didn't see their mesmerizing LiveAid performance in 1985, who didn't first see them in person on the historic Amnesty International: Conspiracy of Hope tour (video below), who didn't experience "Pride (In the Name of Love)" ringing out continuously across campus quads, who don't remember gathering around a motel room in Daytona Beach to see MTV's first airing of the "With or Without You" video, who didn't attend a Joshua Tree tour show the same week TIME declared them "Rock's Hottest Ticket," who didn't attend their groundbreaking Zoo TV performance at Dodger Stadium (after being shut out trying to buy a ticket outside the LA Sports Arena the year before), who haven't begun every road trip with "Where the Streets Have No Name," who don't consider Larry Mullen Jr.'s opening drumbeat on "Sunday Bloody Sunday" one of the most cherished sounds of one's existence, who haven't seen the band in concert 15 times, from Rosemont to LA to New York to Denver, who haven't followed the band through every album and tour--have no point of reference not to be pissed off that they were essentially given an ugly Christmas sweater by their aunt that they'll have to take back to the store for a refund. 

From 1987

And with the caveat that I was taught never to tell my aunt how ugly and unwanted the sweater was, nor that I hated her for having the audacity to give me something with the best of intentions that she clearly liked more than I did, I certainly wouldn't want a Justin Bieber album dumped onto my phone and/or hard drive. 

But...
A) At least in terms of how it worked for me, Songs of Innocence didn't download unless you indicated that you wanted it to; i.e. one could easily opt-out

B) If not instantly, at least soon thereafter, Apple released instructions on how to remove the album from one's iTunes music library

C) All iPhones come pre-loaded with things you don't choose--such as the Stock, Weather and Notes apps--that, like the U2 album, take up valuable storage space. But I don't recall anyone bitching up a storm about getting a free Calculator they didn't ask for. 

Although I can't say it bothered me in the least--I actually admired and embraced it--I do understand why many were seemingly put off by the audacity of the Apple/U2 publicity stunt (just not with seemingly more agitated aversion than to, say, an Ebola outbreak).

Though I unabashedly love U2, there have been a great number of times when the band--and especially lead singer Bono--have made me cringe...and worse. 

I didn't see the iPhone announcement, but it's not inconceivable that would have been one of those times. 

Bono can definitely seem pompous, pretentious, egomaniacal and downright insufferable, though to his credit, he seems to know this and often pokes fun at himself. 

Though I don't doubt that the origins of Bono, the Edge, Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen Jr. forming a band in Dublin in the late 1970s had an awful lot to do with discovering The Ramones, Bono currently seems disingenuous--or at least buffoonish--in repeatedly referencing himself as "punk rock."

Bono did talk to Joey Ramone shortly before the latter's death in 2001, and a U2 song--"In a Little While"--supposedly played in the hospital room just before the punk icon passed, so I accept as real the reverence that fuels U2's new single (and album opener) "The Miracle (of Joey Ramone)."

But while "punk cred" may have always been a mythical concept--Joey was always open about wanting the Ramones to become huge, while both the Sex Pistols and Clash were formed in their wake with an eye on marketable trends--the Ramones never much graduated from small clubs (let alone ever employed giant spacecraft-type stages in football stadiums) and certainly didn't shill for one of the world's largest companies. 

I imagine U2 intentionally avoided having "The Miracle" sound anything like a Ramones song, but I'll take "Blitzkrieg Bop," "Sheena is a Punk Rocker," " I Wanna Be Sedated," "Bonzo Goes to Bitburg (My Brain is Hanging Upside Down)" or myriad others over its overproduced sheen any day--though I still can't say I hate it. 

And such is the case with Songs of Innocence in full. 

At this point, after several listenings but short of it becoming worn-in, I'm waffling between bestowing @@@1/2 or @@@@ (out of 5) on the album.

This funny ad has gone viral, but alas it's fake

Though nothing rivals the bristling brilliance that marked the best tracks on nor the entirety of War, The Unforgettable Fire, The Joshua Tree or Achtung Baby, and the first half of SOI is considerably better than the second, if comparing it to the rest of today's rock landscape rather than the band's glorious past, it isn't nearly the abysmal embarrassment many haters seem to be decrying. 

I don't know that I'll be screaming for "The Miracle (of Joey Ramone)," "Every Breaking Wave," "California (There is No End of Love)" or "Iris (Hold Me Close)" as I will for "Pride," "New Year's Day," "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For," "Bad," "Where the Streets Have No Name" and other classics next time I see U2 live, but all of the above should make for good additions to their concert setlists. 

And I respect that Bono was pointedly biographical, with "The Miracle" about U2's formative days, "Song for Someone" supposedly about his wife Ali and "Iris" about his late mother. 

But while in being the true-life account of a Dublin car bombing, "Raised by Wolves" harkens back to "Sunday Bloody Sunday," somewhat reminiscent of "Love and Peace or Else" from 2005's How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb it shows toilsome strains of over-thought and overproduced effort contrary to the punch-you-in-the-gut stridency of "Sunday Bloody Sunday."

But as I'm listening to the album again as I'm finishing this up, I think @@@@ are in order. 

Sorry, but I like Songs of Innocence much more than I don't. And believe me, I wasn't shy about saying that I was really disappointed by How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb and, to a lesser extent, 2009's No Line on the Horizon. This album is better.

And if having U2 forced upon you really prompted memory shortage issues or embarrassment among friends who might glance at your music library--though I imagine they have the same issues--a few more things to keep in mind, especially if you are among those spewing unnecessary invective. 

From the Independent; read the article here

- According to the latest stats I saw, 38 million people had listened to Songs of Innocence, at least in part, since the über-share. And the stunt has also driven a massive bump in U2's back catalog sales. So however unseemly and maybe even ill-considered Apple's gesture may seem, compare the "hype" U2's latest album is getting compared to, say, recent releases by other rock legends--Bruce Springsteen, Pearl Jam, Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers, etc.--that "young people" would do well to acquaint themselves with.

Plus, given how much it has pissed off hordes of people, well Bono, that is kind of punk.

- Anyone who thinks that U2 are just a bunch of irrelevant old turds dumping this album on everyone for free because they can't sell it, the truth is that the next time they tour, the band will still sell every ticket put on sale in every venue of any size, much on they did from 2009-2011 tour grossed $772 million, by far the most ever.

- While I find Bono hard to take sometimes, the truth also is that he has saved more lives of people in Africa than everyone reading this--exponentially--ever will. He can be a smug twat, but he does make a difference that would put 99.99% of web-based whiners to shame. 

So enjoy Songs of Innocence, let it grow on you, and have it prompt you to look up War, Under a Blood Red Sky, The Unforgettable Fire, The Joshua Tree, Rattle and Hum, Achtung Baby, Zooropa and All That You Can't Leave Behind on Spotify.

Or not. 

But save your outraged indignation--I can already imagine the myriad "Fuck U2!" (pun intended) retorts--and the social media diatribes for things that really matter.

And check this out; it's a clip of U2's entire Amnesty International: Conspiracy of Hope performance at the Rosemont Horizon in 1986, the first time I saw them live.

It should serve to explain much of the above.

A Pro Bono Review of a Value-Packed Performance -- U2 at Soldier Field

Concert Review

U2
with Interpol
Soldier Field, Chicago
July 5, 2011
@@@@@

Probably the worst thing I can say about Tuesday's U2 show is that the legendary Irish quartet didn't have to give me my money's worth quite to the extent they did.

Certainly, many of the 63,000 or so fans at Chicago's Soldier Field paid far more than the $32 + fees I ponied up for an upper deck seat (back in November 2009 for a show that was originally scheduled for last summer but postponed due to Bono's back injury). Given that U2 360 tour now stands as the highest-grossing concert tour ever--supposedly with revenues of $700+ million--I doubt Bono & the Edge will be busking in Temple Bar anytime soon, despite the troubled web of bringing Spider-Man to Broadway.

And even if the mammoth stage setup known as "The Claw" that's been shlepped around the world the last 2 years is completely excessive--and perhaps even unnecessary--it is pretty damn cool in its multifaceted visual and technological capabilities. Although I didn't quite feel this way during the tour's opening shows in Chicago in Sept. 2009--when the Claw and numerous intertwined video & lighting cues proved an uncomfortable albatross for the band--I now find the 360 tour's visual feast less obtrusive and overshadowing of the music than U2's Zoo TV or PopMart outdoor concert spectacles of the 1990s.

Having seen them fifteen times over 25 years, I've preferred their (relatively) stripped-down arena shows to the over-the-top stadium productions. But no one shoots for the moon like U2 and even if all I really need is the music--hence why even the highly acclaimed Zoo TV production seemed like subtraction by addition--the sonic and visual production was fantastic enough, and now more properly coalesced, to not only well merit $32, but @@@@@.

According to one in a string of statistics streaming pre-show on on the Claw's video screens, there are 436 tour personnel in addition to Bono, Edge, Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen, Jr. And I assume that doesn't include the members of the opening band--in this case, Interpol (as with most U2 opening acts, they're relatively popular, though I wasn't overly impressed with their 45 minute set).

So in addition to one of my favorite bands ever playing several of their biggest hits and some other noteworthy songs for nearly 2-1/2 hours, I got a gargantuan production requiring a mid-sized company worth of roadies, plus a substantial opening act, all for considerably less than the cheapest ticket to the Cirque du Soleil show now in the United Center parking lot.

How can I complain?

Photo Credit: Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune

I really can't, especially as the pacing and production glitches prevalent back in Sept. 2009 didn't plague this show, and I even found U2's performance slightly better than when I caught them in Denver 6 weeks ago. On a beautiful Chicago night, Bono seemed loose and the band sounded tight, as best I could tell from 100 yards away and 300 feet up.

Although Tuesday's U2 set list was largely similar to Denver, I appreciated the inclusion of "Out of Control," (their very first single, preceding even "I Will Follow"), "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" and a surprise show-closer of "One Tree Hill" commemorating the 25th anniversary of the death of its subject (Greg Carroll, who had been Bono's personal assistant).

And while "Pride (In The Name of Love)," "Where The Streets Have No Name," "With Or Without You" and "Sunday Bloody Sunday" have been highlights of every U2 show I've seen since 1987, they resonated well in the packed stadium. Although I always wish the band would mine their catalog a bit deeper--and write more great new songs--even the set list didn't provide much room for griping.

All in all it was an extremely worthwhile, rather remarkable evening, even if the poor logistics of Soldier Field meant getting out of the stadium and to the subway took nearly as long as U2's performance.

I won't mind if the next U2 show I see is much more sparse in its presentation--though if they do ever return to an empty stage at the Aragon it'll assuredly cost me far more than $32--but this one really did nothing to disappoint. And 30+ years into a band's career, that's really something for U2 appreciate.

(Here's a YouTube clip of "One Tree Hill" from Tuesday night. It was seemingly not planned, hence the initial confusion.)

U2 Returns to America With a Mile High Performance -- Concert Review

Photo Credit: John Leyba, Denver Post

Concert Review

U2
with The Fray
Invesco Field at Mile High, Denver, CO
May 21, 2011
@@@@1/2

In catching U2 at Denver's Invesco Field on Saturday--as part of an excursion to visit a recently transplanted friend--I have now had the pleasure of seeing them live 14 times over the course of 25 years (with tickets to see them on their return to Chicago on July 5).

The last time I saw them--twice in September 2009 at Soldier Field, the kickoff shows of their still-running, most lucrative ever (by anyone) U2 360 tour--the gigs did not rank in the upper echelon of those I'd seen by Bono, the Edge, Adam and Larry.

Touring with the four-legged behemoth known as "The Claw" as their stage set, back then the legendary band seemed a bit dwarfed by their creation and were beset by pacing & technical glitches tied to lighting & video cues.

With the Denver show being the 89th of their current tour--which saw last summer's U.S. leg postponed after Bono suffered a back injury--the band has had plenty of time to get comfortable with their stage, props, lighting/video cues and setlists.

Thus, U2's first performance on U.S. soil since 2009 felt considerably better than their tour-opening gigs, and the quality of the music and overall production more than fulfilled the $35 paid for nosebleed seats (face value at the box office on the night of the show).

And while I, as a persnickety curmudgeon still found a few flaws, the three U2 newbies who joined me were completely wowed by the band's performance, including considerably strident social activism (such as celebrating the recent release of Burmese dissident Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, whose long-term imprisonment the band decried earlier on tour).

It is about time the band wrote some great new songs, as I put only a handful over the last 20 years in that category (Beautiful Day, Vertigo, Walk On and Elevation, all played). So every U2 show I see pretty much features the same highlights (Sunday Bloody Sunday, Where the Streets Have No Name, With Or Without You, etc., and I was quite glad that Pride (In the Name of Love) was played, as it's often been omitted on the 360 Tour).

I don't suppose Bono and the boys will see this by the time they reach Chicago, but if they do, I ask them to remember some great songs they seem to have long ago forgotten, such as A Sort of Homecoming, Exit, Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses and In God's Country. And I know its kitschiness helps justify the mammoth stage set, but the disco version of I Know I'll Go Crazy If I Don't Go Crazy Tonight continues to be a waste of 5 minutes that could be way better utilized, while Moment of Surrendur (also off 2009's No Line on the Horizon) is a bit too long and languid to serve as a show closer.

That said, All I Want Is You, Stay (Faraway So Close), Miss Sarajevo and I Will Follow were nice inclusions, so the setlist was pretty satisfying, even if the pacing remains a bit disjointed at times.

In sum, there are few artists who do a big show better than U2 and the one I saw at a Mile High altitude was pretty damn great. On the night the world was supposed to end, this wouldn't have been a bad note to go out on. But that doesn't mean I not hoping for some first-rate new material and the rediscovery of some other first-rate old material to elevate U2 to even higher heights.

Setlist:

Even Better Than The Real Thing
I Will Follow
Get On Your Boots
Magnificent
Mysterious Ways
Elevation
Until The End Of The World
All I Want Is You
Stay (Faraway, So Close!)
Beautiful Day
Pride (In The Name Of Love)
Miss Sarajevo
Zooropa
City Of Blinding Lights
Vertigo
I'll Go Crazy If I Don't Go Crazy Tonight
Sunday Bloody Sunday
Scarlet
Walk On

Encore 1:
One
Where The Streets Have No Name

Encore 2:
Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me
With Or Without You
Moment of Surrender

(YouTube clip of Where The Streets Have No Name at Invesco Field, Denver. Not shot or uploaded by me.)

My 100 All-Time Favorite Artists of Popular Music - 2010 Edition

In honor of Lollapalooza weekend in Chicago--although I'm not attending this year's fest, due to being too old & fat to enjoy standing in a field all day, let alone three, and a scarcity of acts that interest me--I thought it would be a good time to update my list of 100 favorite popular music (mostly rock) artists, which I first compiled and published five years ago.

Although without too many wholesale changes, there are a number of acts that either newly made or fell off the top 100, and others that bounced around within it. Beyond asking myself at each berth, "Do I like "x" better than the artist below," there was no scientific methodology, but I did try to consider each artist's recorded output, their merits as a live act (where applicable), how often I tend to listen to them and the depth & duration of my affinity.

As such, the rankings are based on my personal fondness more than my critical regard for one's originality, impact, influence or other barometers of artistic merit. In other words, although I know Bob Dylan (#30) is "greater" than Rush (#19), I don't "like" him better. On stature alone, Elvis Presley, Chuck Berry, Stevie Wonder and Bob Marley clearly belong, and I enjoy all four and others of their ilk, but none have been mainstays in the "soundtrack of my life" to the extent of the 100 who made the cut.

Keep in mind that I've seen more than 200 different artists as concert headliners and have nearly 1,400 artists in my iTunes library, so I like far more than the 100 listed here. And as this is meant as an "all-time" list, although  I've been listening heavily of late to stellar new releases from The Len Price 3, The Arcade Fire and LCD Soundsystem, among others, I couldn't allow myself to be too myopic in my selections.

Finally, one thing that I had some trouble being consistent about was in how to consider solo acts who were previously in bands. I like the individual post-Beatles output of John, Paul & George enough to give them their own slots, as well as that of Paul Weller outside The Jam, but though I've enjoyed Ray Davies' solo recordings & concert appearances, I didn't cite him beyond The Kinks. I included Bob Mould/Husker Du/Sugar as a single entry, and likewise Eric Clapton/Cream/Derek & the Dominoes, but listed Ozzy Osbourne, not Black Sabbath (despite liking his output in both forms). Neither Steve Winwood nor Traffic (or Blind Faith) made the cut, but perhaps should have if considered in sum, yet I combined Velvet Underground & Lou Reed. And my penchant for Neil Young includes his work in CSNY, Buffalo Springfield and more so with Crazy Horse than without, but he's only included individually.

Oh, well, life is full of inconsistencies and so is my list. But here it is, as of August 6, 2010:

1. Bruce Springsteen
2. The Beatles
3. R.E.M.
4. Nirvana
5. Led Zeppelin
6. The Rolling Stones
7. U2
8. The Kinks
9. The Who
10. The Jam
11. Pearl Jam
12. The Clash
13. The Smashing Pumpkins
14. AC/DC
15. The Ramones
16. David Bowie
17. Radiohead
18. Cheap Trick
19. Rush
20. Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers
21. Midnight Oil
22. Stereophonics
23. Foo Fighters
24. Dinosaur Jr.
25. Green Day
26. Jimi Hendrix
27. The Replacements
28. Van Halen
29. Bob Seger
30. Bob Dylan
31. Pink Floyd
32. Elvis Costello
33. Queen
34. Talking Heads
35. The Police
36. Aerosmith
37. Neil Young
38. John Lennon
39. Creedence Clearwater Revival
40. Johnny Cash
41. Guns 'n' Roses
42. Alejandro Escovedo
43. Husker Du/Bob Mould/Sugar
44. The Wildhearts
45. The Killers
46. Paul McCartney
47. Steely Dan
48. Simon & Garfunkel
49. Elton John
50. Eric Clapton/Cream/Derek & the Dominoes
51. The Cure
52. Billy Joel
53. The Zombies
54. Metallica
55. The Flaming Lips
56. Peter Gabriel
57. Warren Zevon
58. Blur
59. Sex Pistols
60. Garbage
61. Soundgarden
62. Paul Weller
63. Van Morrison
64. The Waterboys
65. The Doors
66. Maximo Park
67. The Pretenders
68. Velvet Underground/Lou Reed
69. The Cars
70. BoDeans
71. Wilco
72. Nine Inch Nails
73. Depeche Mode
74. Liz Phair
75. John Mellencamp
76. Stevie Ray Vaughan
77. Prince
78. Dire Straits
79. Fleetwood Mac
80. The Byrds
81. The Beach Boys
82. George Harrison
83. The Move
84. Ash
85. The Pixies
86. Buddy Guy
87. The Smoking Popes
88. Def Leppard
89. Ozzy Osbourne
90. Blondie
91. The White Stripes
92. Buddy Holly
93. Coldplay
94. The Smiths
95. Beck
96. Eagles
97. Jackson Browne
98. Social Distortion
99. Boston
100. Material Issue

Top 3 Almosts: Supertramp, Love & Graham Parker

Dropouts from the 2005 list: Elvis Presley, Jason & the Scorchers, ZZ Top, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Santana, Bad Religion, The Wallflowers, The Darkness, Counting Crows, Jane's Addiction, Love and Graham Parker

A Beautiful Day (Late) For U2 Celebrate As The Icon Formerly Known As Paul Hewson Turns 50

Bono, born Paul David Hewson in Dublin, Ireland, on May 10, 1960, is undeniably one of my favorite rock stars.

Yet there are times when I can't stand the guy.

I think he has been, and largely remains, an outstanding front man, excellent singer, occasionally brilliant songwriter and great humanitarian. But I also think he often comes off as a pompous, pretentious and even smug egomaniac.

I have been a huge U2 fan since about 1983, own every album and live DVD they have released and have seen them live 13 times dating back to 1986 (and will again on July 6 at Soldier Field). Their albums include some of my all-time favorites and others I find to be nearly complete duds. And while most concerts have been thrilling, I have found others to be quite disappointing, largely due to Bono's self-aggrandizing overreach.

I think it's unquestionable that Bono has done more to help--or at least bring attention to--poor and oppressed people around the world than almost anyone,  and for that he deserves a healthy dose of appreciation and admiration. Which of course, would only feed his admitted God-complex--What's the difference between God and the lead singer? God knows he's not the lead singer--and I also think while saving the world Bono's songwriting has suffered and he has become, at times, increasingly insufferable.

But despite a love/hate observatory relationship, at the end of the day--in this case the one following his 50th birthday--it's clear that Bono has provided me with much more enjoyment than he has taken away.

And thus I celebrate Bono at 50 with a collection of videos that correlate to how he and U2 have intertwined with my life for more than half of each of ours.

Happy Birthday Paul (after all, you weren't born Bono). From me to U2.

(Video Compilation begins below)