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| Topic: When I first knew they were cool... | |
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Original topic created on Tue, August 14th, 2007 @ 12:58PM
I was in my early teens, watching Mtv at my grandmother's house (which oddly enough, was the only house in our family containing an Mtv-ready television set), and I saw it. The video for New Years Day. There was snow, there were horses, there was a white flag. There were these guys dressed in rag-tag, military-like clothing. They were standing in a white field. They were playing their instruments. The drummer had a snare hanging from his neck and he was beating it. They were singing about something bigger than boy-girl relationships and they were from the UK which, to a kid from Alabama, was the coolest place you could possibly be from period. When the video was over I remember feeling like I had just seen something important. I also remember wanting more. I saw it again later that day with a friend (there weren't that many videos on Mtv back then so you'd easily see the same video 5 times in a day...there aren't that many videos on Mtv now either but it's a programming problem whereas back then it was a quantity problem) and when the it was over, we sat and talked about U2 and the video for a while. Then we went outside and played yard football until we got sweaty and needed to come back inside to drink a hot coke. That was my first experience with U2. That's when I knew I loved them. I still do and what's more, I still love the New Year's Day video. |
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Posted on Fri, August 17th, 2007 @ 1:53PM by la escuela films post-production
I knew they were cool because my coolest friend in 9th grade liked them and she played "Refugee" for me - I was hooked when I heard "Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For". |
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Posted on Fri, August 24th, 2007 @ 7:09AM by Stephen Lutz
I had a long discussion online a few years ago with a few friends about who was the best band ever. We never totally agreed, but we narrowed the discussioon down to a few criteria: 1. Strong song repertoire. 2. Strong live show 3. Longevity (it's not as hard to be brilliant for an album or two). This eliminates a lot of "flash-in-the-pan" types 4. Keep raising the bar, staying relevant or more, for many years. 5. We're talking about "bands" here, not individual singer / songwriters, like Bob Dylan, Neil Young, or Tom Waits, for instance. 1. On strong song repertoire, who could beat the Beatles? No one. 2. On live show, there might be a lot of candidates but some standouts in the past here might have been The Who or Rolling Stones. 3. Longevity. There are a few big bands that have been around for 10 or more years but many of them are effectively revival acts 4. On raising the bar, REM had an incredible run, but have faltered in the last decade. How does U2 stack up? My thoughts: 1. Strong repertoire: Pretty darn good, but not the greatest ever 2. Live show: Stellar. I've been to a lot of shows in the last 20 years and they still are the masters 3. Longevity. Of course 4. On raising the bar, at every show I go to, fans are just as excited if not MORE excited to hear their new material as the old classics. This is extremely rare, and a tribute to their vitality. |
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Posted on Sat, November 10th, 2007 @ 5:11AM by amber church
I'm not nearly as analytical as Steve or as old as Doss so all I can say about U2 has to do with my emotions. I am as emotional as Doss is old and Steve is analytical. U2 is one of the only bands around that when I listen to them I get chill bumps over and over again. They move me, make me want to cry or scream or dance or worship. It's a kind of spiritual experience for me and that is why I love them so much. Bono's voice is just so soulful and some of their lyrics so incredibly moving. I really love U2 and this is coming from someone who feels incomplete if I can't hear All Things Considered on the radio every day. I have no idea when I last bought an album for myself in other words I'm not much of a music person. That's my U2 two cents, for what it's worth. |
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