A Sort of Homecoming: Bono, The Edge, and David Letterman on Disney+

[South Austin 52515]

U2 is still one of my favorite bands of all time, even though I think their last couple albums have fallen flat.  Musically they're still great, particularly The Edge.  But Bono's vocals are a shell of what they once were.

So I was a bit lukewarm to the U2 special with David Letterman on Disney+.  I start watching it last night, and at first I thought it would be an overindulgent snooze fest.  But it was really great stuff.  It's Bono and the Edge performing reconstructed versions of some of their greatest hits in a small venue in Dublin, woven in between David's interviews with Bono, The Edge, and a few musicians and other folks (e.g., Jimmy Iovine) who have known the band over time.  Their stories are still compelling, even though I've heard a few of them before.  Bono's vocals are still worn, but they worked in a smaller setting when he's not trying to belt out the lyrics for a stadium. 

For U2 fans, even those whose enthusiasm for the band has waned in recent years, I highly recommend this.

[HiggyBaby 2529]

Nice. Your recent assessment of U2 mirrors mine but I’ll have to check it out.

[RiverwalkMiner 256]

U2 have been my favorite band for the past 35+ years. I firmly believe that live is where U2 music lives.

7 times out of 10, I'll listen to a bootleg concert before I grab a proper album. This doc is great and highly recommended. 

[crash_davis 23113]

Sadly they are going have gone the way of all great bands trying to hang on to relevance. Bono's song writing has become meh, at best. I guess when you've made hundreds of millions, you don't have much to get fired up about or write about. I tried watching the U2 special. Bono's voice sounded like shit and I stopped watching. Maybe I'll give it another go.

U2 and Depeche are my all time favorite bands. It's sad to see/hear what's become of them.

Save for Ultra, Depeche has been meh since Alan Wilder left but that's another thread.

 

Edited March 23, 2023 by crash_davis

[Goredho 17407]

@sidis to the white courtesy phone.

[sidis 9828]

1 hour ago, Goredho said:

@sidis to the white courtesy phone.

i've had it on my list but when i watched the trailer, i just got the sense that it was going to be super heavy on the bono pretentious stuff so it didn't grab me as a must watch immediately thing but it will get watched soon enough.  love the edge and love dave.

as for the u2 discussion, it's been beaten to death.  i absolutely love that band and everything they did from 1980 (boy) through 1991 (achtung).  there are a couple of songs from each of no line on the horizon and vertigo that i like as well.  everything since then makes me want to cry cause it is horrid (to me).  daniel lanois, brian eno, and i would get along really well.

i was surprised (but not) to see a lot of people shitting on the edge in the unpopular opinions thread.  i do not think the edge is an elite player from technical, soulful, etc... perspective but i think he was absolutely nails in sound design and layering the guitar with intention in virtually every track they made.  i suppose since i love sound design and playing with harmonies to create composition more than i worry about being eric johnson...that appeals to me.  i think he's great.  and larry and adam were both top notch musicians on top of that.  bono's voice was great for that decade and a half and certainly contributes to defining that sound...but he's moved into thom yorke territory for me in terms of i have to ignore what a precious and pretentious little twat he is and just focus on the musical past.

but yeah, i will give this a watch eventually.

[Goredho 17407]

20 minutes ago, sidis said:

i've had it on my list but when i watched the trailer, i just got the sense that it was going to be super heavy on the bono pretentious stuff so it didn't grab me as a must watch immediately thing but it will get watched soon enough.  love the edge and love dave.

as for the u2 discussion, it's been beaten to death.  i absolutely love that band and everything they did from 1980 (boy) through 1991 (achtung).  there are a couple of songs from each of no line on the horizon and vertigo that i like as well.  everything since then makes me want to cry cause it is horrid (to me).  daniel lanois, brian eno, and i would get along really well.

i was surprised (but not) to see a lot of people shitting on the edge in the unpopular opinions thread.  i do not think the edge is an elite player from technical, soulful, etc... perspective but i think he was absolutely nails in sound design and layering the guitar with intention in virtually every track they made.  i suppose since i love sound design and playing with harmonies to create composition more than i worry about being eric johnson...that appeals to me.  i think he's great.  and larry and adam were both top notch musicians on top of that.  bono's voice was great for that decade and a half and certainly contributes to defining that sound...but he's moved into thom yorke territory for me in terms of i have to ignore what a precious and pretentious little twat he is and just focus on the musical past.

but yeah, i will give this a watch eventually.

The Edge/U2 are great at what they do, absolutely an all time great band… however…

I think they are the Walking Dead of rock bands.  Really good in their heyday, but now kind of stale and formulaic.  They have their sound, largely defined by the Edge’s guitar, and everyone has heard it a lot at this point.    I want to hear the guy influenced by the Edge now, and where that guy takes the guitar.  I feel like I heard all the Edge had to say with the instrument a long time ago.

Which is probably a lazy critique, since I really haven’t listened to much after Achtung Baby.

[sidis 9828]

2 minutes ago, Goredho said:

The Edge/U2 are great at what they do, absolutely an all time great band… however…

I think they are the Walking Dead of rock bands.  Really good in their heyday, but now kind of stale and formulaic.  They have their sound, largely defined by the Edge’s guitar, and everyone has heard it a lot at this point.    I want to hear the guy influenced by the Edge now, and where that guy takes the guitar.  I feel like I heard all the Edge had to say with the instrument a long time ago.

Which is probably a lazy critique, since I really haven’t listened to much after Achtung Baby.

no, i think it is perfectly put.  it doesn't seem like it SHOULD be the case, but there is some parallel between sports performers aging out of their competitiveness in the league.  it's longer but most musicians just run out of ideas and if they are as economically successful as u2 has been, you're out of good ideas because life changes.  unfortunately, u2 isn't out of ideas...just out of good ideas.  they need to shut it down.

[Goredho 17407]

18 minutes ago, sidis said:

no, i think it is perfectly put.  it doesn't seem like it SHOULD be the case, but there is some parallel between sports performers aging out of their competitiveness in the league.  it's longer but most musicians just run out of ideas and if they are as economically successful as u2 has been, you're out of good ideas because life changes.  unfortunately, u2 isn't out of ideas...just out of good ideas.  they need to shut it down.

Or just go work with others and do something new.  None of them can possibly need another payday, though I wonder if they are beholden to some sort of contractual obligations.

It would be cool to see the Edge go make some music he always wanted to make but couldn’t because it just wasn’t U2 music.  It won’t be nearly as popular, but so what?  He won the iconic rock star game long, long ago.

[GhostOfTomJoad 9325]

I've often wondered if their decision to go all in on elaborate stage productions from the Zoo TV tour and on hastened their creative decline similar to the Stones.The money being generated by touring in both cases far surpassed their album sales, and it just became about the spectacle. Their songs seemed to be built as much around how they would look when played in concert as how they would sound.

I'm glad to be of the age when their songs shot through like a clarion call. They share a similar timeline as their fellow Irishman, Van Morrison. In both cases, their early works changed the game big time. Great songs remain great songs, no matter what comes later.

[jimmyjazz 45961]

U2 is far from my favorite band, but I always admired their ability to create anthems, over and over.  A lot of that was Bono.  He was a great rock vocalist in his day.  I won't criticize him for being a victim of age, we all are at some point.  Very few vocalists could captivate and command a stadium like he could.

[South Austin 52515]

16 hours ago, sidis said:

i've had it on my list but when i watched the trailer, i just got the sense that it was going to be super heavy on the bono pretentious stuff

As I mentioned in the original post, I started watching it and had the same concern.  But it wasn't.  It was good Bono, or at least less pretentious Bono.  Letterman added a fresh new quality beyond prior U2 documentaries that re-hash some of the same stories.  He fostered the conversation with various interviewees without insisting upon himself.  I think you'll like it, and will be interested to read your take.

Much of the documentary was about the story of Ireland and its cultural and political evolution over the past 50 years or so.  I found that interesting in a way that I hadn't seen in a prior U2 show.

Also, I had never heard Edge play Bad on an acoustical.  It was pretty cool.

But yeah, as others have said, my love for U2 is what the band was, not what it is or has been over the last 10 years.  I like some of their post-Achtung stuff more than others, but like many I think 1991 was the final year of their true greatness.

Still, very few experiences in my life compare to seeing U2 play in 2009 on a clear August evening in Croke Park, Dublin.

Edited March 28, 2023 by South Austin

[nolongerU2horn 767]

Nah it was everything wrong with what they've become in the last 15 years. Terrible. And this "new" album is absolutely dreadful

[sidis 9828]

1 hour ago, South Austin said:

As I mentioned in the original post, I started watching it and had the same concern.  But it wasn't.  It was good Bono, or at least less pretentious Bono.  Letterman added a fresh new quality beyond prior U2 documentaries that re-hash some of the same stories.  He fostered the conversation with various interviewees without insisting upon himself.  I think you'll like it, and will be interested to read your take.

Much of the documentary was about the story of Ireland and its cultural and political evolution over the past 50 years or so.  I found that interesting in a way that I hadn't seen in a prior U2 show.

Also, I had never heard Edge play Bad on an acoustical.  It was pretty cool.

But yeah, as others have said, my love for U2 is what the band was, not what it is or has been over the last 10 years.  I like some of their post-Achtung stuff more than others, but like many I think 1991 was the final year of their true greatness.

Still, very few experiences in my life compare to seeing U2 play in 2009 on a clear August evening in Croke Park, Dublin.

i actually watched it last night.  enjoyed it.  dave was great as usual...you could tell he was having a number of truly emotional moments.

agreed on the acoustic rendition of bad...that was good.  didn't really care all that much of the other live stuff they did in that show but bad was pretty cool.

like jimmy said above, you can't fault bono for getting old...and no one can take away the amazing front man presence he had and the way he could drive melodies in gigantic stadium tours.  his voice defines a lot of their sound from their peak.  that said, i did find the discussion in the library to be quite amusing and it served to confirm what we have always known about that band...which is that the edge is the driving musical force in their songs and bono puts lyrics on top.  when dave asked them how to write a song and the edge said "i start with the chords, all great melodies are born from a good chord progression" and bono tried to disagree and said "what about 'one,' you changed the chords to that just now and it was still great" to which edge responded "no i didn't, i just changed the key" with a confused look at him.  i actually lol'd at that.

anyway, made for some nice nostalgia and beautifully shot around dublin.  it motivated me for my next musical effort...an orchestral recomposition/rearrangement of my fav u2 song, mothers of the disappeared.

[South Austin 52515]

32 minutes ago, sidis said:

i actually watched it last night.  enjoyed it.  dave was great as usual...you could tell he was having a number of truly emotional moments.

I noted that as well, and it made me wonder how big of a U2 fan Dave really is.  I liked the part when he asked Edge to play a second time the opening riff of Where the Streets Have No Name.  You could tell he was blown away to be in a studio room where it's just the Edge playing that. 

That's a song that can grow tired, because it's constantly overplayed.  I can often skip it when it comes up on a random Spotify shuffle.  But every time I've heard it at a live show I get a huge charge.  It's really one of the greatest rock anthems I've heard live.

Edited March 28, 2023 by South Austin

[Al_4_ISU 12464]

My old man was a HUGE U2 fan.  I was born in '85, so stuff like Joshua Tree, War, and Unforgettable Fire were major parts of my childhood background.

I think Joshua Tree is a pretty stunning album.  Outside of that, I find songs I really enjoy here and there, but I don't celebrate the whole catalog.  I've never found anything that came after Achtung Baby to be very compelling.  There's something about what the Edge does that wears thin outside of it's best moments, and Bono's always annoyed me some, but their ability to craft anthems at their peak is undeniable.  I always thought of Clayton and Mullen as just being there, but as I got older, it became clear that so much of what makes Joshua Tree work is the layer they create beneath the melody.

I can't imagine spending money to go see them at this point, I have no interest in their new music, but I will definitely crank the stuff I like.

[sidis 9828]

5 minutes ago, Al_4_ISU said:

I always thought of Clayton and Mullen as just being there, but as I got older, it became clear that so much of what makes Joshua Tree work is the layer they create beneath the melody.

good on you for figuring out the truth.  those guys are very good musicians and adam was probably the second biggest contributor to the musicality of their best stuff.

[Al_4_ISU 12464]

14 minutes ago, sidis said:

good on you for figuring out the truth.  those guys are very good musicians and adam was probably the second biggest contributor to the musicality of their best stuff.

Even the most soaring anthem needs to be built on a solid foundation.

[South Austin 52515]

Adam Clayton was the one who corrected my very young and uninformed notion that the bass is an afterthought to a rock band.  Unforgettable Fire and Joshua Tree are what they are because of Clayton.  And yes, all four beautifully worked together in those albums, but Clayton's bass on several of those songs blew me away.

[Al_4_ISU 12464]

I've never found it that interesting or mind blowing on it's own, but it defines the idea of "serving the song".

I view them as like the bizarro version of Keith Moon and John Entwistle.

[UTCzech III 2907]

Still remember hearing New Year's Day on the radio for the first time.  Man, you knew that was something different.  War, the Under a Blood Red Sky EP (with the unedited "Electric Co."), Unforgettable Fire, Joshua Tree, even Rattle and Hum, that was quite a stretch.  Then KLBJ fucking ruined U2 for me forever when Achtung Baby came out, they literally played one track every hour, One I still like, but I cannot turn the dial quick enough if I hear Mysterious Ways or Even Better....  I tried to give them another chance with Zooropa, honestly just bought it to hear Johnny Cash sing The Wanderer, I did like Numb but overall even Eno couldn't save that mess.  Gave up after that.  Still give them their props though.

[jimmyjazz 45961]

Personally, I'm more tired of their earlier hits like "Sunday Bloody Sunday".

I think "One" is their greatest song, and will never tire of hearing it.

[South Austin 52515]

7 hours ago, jimmyjazz said:

Personally, I'm more tired of their earlier hits like "Sunday Bloody Sunday".

Yeah. Like Streets, it can be way overplayed. But hearing them play it live in Dublin surrounded by a bunch of drunk Irish fans was pretty fucking cool.

[RiverwalkMiner 256]

The Zane Lowe interview on Apple Music and YouTube is a nice comparison piece. It digs deeper on the music side and Bono admits the SOS album  is a bit of a "vanity project" to see where our song stand with others in history. 

[hullabelew 3724]

Bono was 23 years old when they played that first show at Red Rocks that everyone has seen.   Touring to support their 3rd album at 23.  He OWNED that venue that night.   But I haven't liked anything since Joshua Tree.  I sat through Rattle and Hum movie and I could see the end of me listening to them.  Like Jimmyjazz, I like the song "One" but probably not as much.  

Cool Story Bro:  Our company hired an Irish guy to teach use how to quit writing in 'business' language.  We were supposed to submit a sample of our writing.  Most people gave him a work product, but I gave him a concert review of a Maria McKee show where I referenced the "hipsters of U2".  The old Irish dude asked me, "Are you referring to Dave or Paul?"   He was Ali's uncle.  He told me several really cool stories about their early years and some future plans the band had.     

 

[Wally Pryor 5261]

It won't get a ton of votes but my favorite (despite the video).

 

[HamsterHookah 112]

On 3/28/2023 at 9:59 AM, nolongerU2horn said:

Nah it was everything wrong with what they've become in the last 15 years. Terrible. And this "new" album is absolutely dreadful

You mean to tell me the guy who is anthropomorphic lion singing an old anthem on Sing 2 isn't motivated to create interesting and compelling new music? No. Wei.

 

Edited March 30, 2023 by HamsterHookah