Talk:U2

Another cliché-ridden music article. Can't people write articles on music without sounding like a rock magazine? This is meant to be an encyclopædia, not a music magazine. FearÉIREANN 23:07, 14 Oct 2003 (UTC)

Missing / stolen notes from the October Album?

Should add a mention of the October album problems. From http://www.ticketretriever.com/u2-history-3.html:

"Just when things appeared to go smoothly, Bono realized that he had lost his notes for the songs and the briefcase that stored them while on tour in America. Either his case was stolen by two girls who had entered the studio, or Bono had simply misplaced it, no one really knows. Nevertheless, U2 were sent into a tailspin and the making of their new record became a constant struggle against time and commitment for the band and the producer Steve Lillywhite. U2 had a three week deadline to meet for the new record, which did not allow for much time to write the songs. For each recording session, U2 and the producer were under immense pressure to deliver the results. Bono - "I had a choice, panic or meet the situation. Maybe that's how I should work; every time I put pen to paper my head gets in the way anyhow. The pressure was enormous. Lillywhite himself has said it was the hardest record he has ever worked on in his life. I'd come in and he'd quietly say, "Sing?” I'd say, "no, it's not right today." The pressure was so ridiculous that one day our manager asked Lillywhite if he'd dealt with another band that worked like us. Lillywhite put his head on his hands and sighed". The song "Gloria" tended to reflect this situation, where Bono asks God to help him sing - "I try to speak up/ But only in you I'm complete"."

BTW, these notes did show up fairly recently. From http://www.the-nextlevel.com/board/archive/index.php/t-32677.html

PORTLAND (Reuters) - A briefcase containing lyrics for songs meant to be used in U2's 1981 album "October" has been returned to the group's lead singer Bono, 23 years after it was stolen at a Portland concert, the band said on Friday. Cindy Harris of Washington state found the briefcase in the attic of a rental home in Tacoma, Washington, in 1981, but said she did not learn that it had been stolen until years later. She contacted the band recently. Bono, who attended a World Affairs Council meeting in Portland on Thursday to talk about debt relief, poverty and AIDS (news - web sites) in Africa, said he was thankful that the lyrics were returned to him instead of being sold for a large sum. The return was an "act of grace," the singer said. After the theft, Bono rewrote the lyrics for "October," an album that many fans regard as one of the Irish band's weakest. Only one song from "October," the title track, was featured in U2's "Best of 1980-1990" collection, as a hidden track at the end of the album. Bono made appeals whenever he performed in Portland for any information on the whereabouts of the briefcase.

--198.3.8.1 16:27, 7 Mar 2005 (UTC)

This level of detail, if covered at all, should go in the album article rather than the U2 article. Jgm 18:08, 7 Mar 2005 (UTC)

evidence U2 isn't good:

http://u2.com/av/vplayer.php?vid=46&video_player[format]=w&video_player[quality]=h

How many albums have U2 sold?

I am curious to find out how many albums U2 has sold total and per album.

Picture

Ehh... this article needs a picture. I've looked in a good few of the PDISs but with no luck. Anyone else had any luck? It takes from the article not to know what they look like. Ludraman | Talk 23:00, 22 Mar 2004 (UTC)

Is it widely enough agreed that they were one of the most popular bands of the 80s and 90s to let that assertion stand, or will it need to be attrbiuted? Jwrosenzweig 00:49, 11 Sep 2004 (UTC)

The phrasing of "were one of the most popular blah blah" sort of makes it sound like U2 are a thing of the past. Let's not forget the multi-million copies of "All That You Can't Leave Behind" that were sold, and the multiple Grammy trophies the LP grabbed over a two year period. I'd argue they are still fairly popular. Dreampunk

U2 is still one of the popular bands, maybe the most famous band. And I agree-this article needs a picture.--ThomasK 18:09, Dec 13, 2004 (UTC)

What about a image now? --ThomasK 06:12, Dec 18, 2004 (UTC)

I will follow

Why is this single listed twice?--Will2k 14:52, Nov 23, 2004 (UTC)

paragraph

The started to practice a lot in the high school gym. As more practice went by, they all realized that Bono did not know how to play the guitar and couldn't sing that well either. The other three talked about kicking him out of the band and finding somebody else, but there was just something about Bono's energy that made them decide to keep him./

Is this a hoax, is´nt? --ThomasK 07:26, Jan 9, 2005 (UTC)

It's an apparent copyvio, that I've reverted twice now. Intellectual property issues aside, it is still profoundly unsuited for Wikipedia and inferior to what was already there. Tuf-Kat 07:35, Jan 9, 2005 (UTC)

As far as I know, the above (bono nearly kicked out of the band) is true, but the whole section is probable copyvio, and certainly not that well written. Plus the boxed source link was completely inappropriate. Zocky 14:10, 27 Jan 2005 (UTC)

Vertigo Tour

I am trying to add a section stating the changes that the band has mde from its campaigning ideals to it acceptance of commercialism. I was then called a vandal. Is this a fan site or a facts page?

A facts page. Your addition wasn't facts, it was the equivalent of a letter to the editor; and as such, it was (rightly) deemed inappropriate for Wikipedia. Kinitawowi 16:55, Jan 28, 2005 (UTC)

Damm can someone put up a picture of the band!! I did so a while back and it was taken down for some unknown reason.

Nobel Prize 'nominee'

It seems foolish to include it here, because anyone can nominate anyone for a Nobel prize. It also seems somewhat aggrandizing and irrelevant, if you ask me. Orangetuesday 03:12, 8 Mar 2005 (UTC)

You don't find it interesting that Bono is the only person ever to be nominated for an Oscar, a Grammy, a Golden Globe and the Nobel Peace Prize? :-) source (I do think that this is an interesting bit of trivia, but that if it belongs anywhere it should be on Bono's article rather than the band's) Aidje 14:32, 2005 Mar 8 (UTC)

Nobel Prize nominations are sealed for 50 years, so I don't see how we could know that he was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize. -Eel 08:18, 19 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Nobel prize nominations can't come from just anyone, but thousands of people, including member of any national legislature or government and many university professors, have nomination rights, so being proposed for the prize is no distinction in itself and that means that there are usually between 100 and 200 officially accepted nominees, often including some preposterous choices (e.g. Ariel Sharon, George W. Bush, Muammar Qaddafi). Nominators often publicize their own nominees. I think it's worth noting but within this context. --Dhartung | Talk 19:09, 19 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Oh, and it belongs at Bono, not here. --Dhartung | Talk 20:17, 19 Jun 2005 (UTC)

That sound sample sucks.

/media/wikipedia/en/a/ad/U2RedemptionSong.ogg

Ok it's short, the sound is highly distorted. Cant someone put up a better U2 sample?

I put another sample, but it has to be between 15 and 20 seconds to fall under fair use, so I can't solve the length problem. ~~Shiri — Talk~~ 02:22, Apr 3, 2005 (UTC)

Greatest Band in the World

Not bad for a crowd of chancers from the Northside! Fergananim

The Name 'U2'

As an Irish lad growing up during the worst of 'the troubles', 'U2' meant only one thing: It was the size of the battery that British servicemen liked to fire at people when they had used up their issue of baton rounds / 'rubber bullets'. After a disturbance, the street would often be littered with these things, and anybody who had been hit by one always had a severe 'target' shaped bruise. I won't go into details, but to my 'native' ear there are several other nationalist 'in-jokes' hidden in the U2 songbook, especially from the early days. Whether they were put in intentionally or not I don't know.

p.s. (30JUN05) Since writing the above, I have noticed that the red concentric circles logo has re-appeared (see u2.com) after being absent for a long time.

Hmmmmmmmm....... ChrisR.

Like many Irish republican myths surrounding U2, which the band spend so much time endlessly denying (don't Irish republicans ever learn that when people say 'no' it means 'no' *sigh*), the idea is the name U2 has any link to the Troubles is complete bunkum. FearÉIREANNFile:Tricolour.gif\^(caint) 18:32, 13 July 2005 (UTC)[reply]

I replied to your drivel, but you removed it. Why?.....Oh, I see, this is YOUR page, isn't it.... More Wikipedea...the wrong people 'get in first' and write the article, and people are only allowed to comment if they are of the same mindset as the originator. Do you not think that the band themselves from time to time 'look-in' on their own entry?, and maybe comment themselves? How do I know what a U2 is?????

You may want them to conform to your political viewpoint. The fact is, whether you like it or not, that they don't. Don't try to twist their words, their name and everything about them to push your political agenda. They have made it abudently clear that are not the musical wing of the so-called republican movement. In fact they never stop saying it, especially in the US. FearÉIREANNFile:Tricolour.gif\^(caint) 23:40, 15 July 2005 (UTC) [reply]

What kind of rock?

U2 is a rock music band, what is their exact genre and/or subgenre of music?User:Lironos

That´s different,for example sometimes they play classic rock,then they play modern rock.--ThomasK 02:52, Apr 10, 2005 (UTC)

Thanks. I'm doing a work on genres and subgenres, so if you are a devoted fan, can you tell me a little about their albums?--Lironos 03:13, 11 Apr 2005 (UTC)

Well Boy and October are described by the band themselves as "punk rock" (which I believe is differentiated from "punk"). I'm not sure how I'd describe "War" but that might loosely go under the same "punk rock" banner. Unforgettable Fire is classic rock. As is Joshua Tree although it has a lot of country rock leanings. Rattle & Hum is blues rock (although more rock than blues). Achtung Baby would be modern rock, but with dance, grunge and electronia influences. Zooropa is electronica. POP is again modern rock, but with pop and hip-hop influences. All That... and Dismantle.. are just classic rock.

The Names of members:

Wikipedia says that:

U2 is an Irish rock band featuring Bono (Jonathan Mark Weaver) on vocals and guitar, The Edge (Matthew Conrad Good) on guitar and pianos, vocals, and bass, Ian McDermott on bass and guitar, and Jacob Edwards, Jr. on drums.

As far as I know, members are:

Bono, Paul David Hewson
The Edge, Dave Evans
Adam Clayton
Larry Mullern Jr

I recon it has to be changed. Is there a U2 freak out there who can do it right?

I reverted it. I couldn't find anything on Google that would say otherwise. Silly anon, leave the misinformation to the Ministry of Truth. ~~Shiri — Talk~~ 16:47, Apr 17, 2005 (UTC)

Sunday Bloody Sunday

the article states that, "the song had nothing to do with the Bloody Sunday incident of 1972." In the article for Bloody Sunday, the article states, "This incident has been commemorated in the popular protest song by U2, 'Sunday Bloody Sunday.'" Obviously, one of these articles must be in error. -K_R 23:42, 18 Apr 2005 (UTC)

I've corrected the reference here. The song is initially about Bloody Sunday but then becomes an astonishing collection of successively intense religious images finishing with the 'Sunday Bloody Sunday' words no longer referring to Bloody Sunday in Northern Ireland but Jesus Christ's ressurrection on Easter Sunday. I first heard the song sung by U2 in Croke Park in the mid 1980s. I remember my fascination with the lyrics of SBS then, and having the experience of having its lyrics explained to me by someone close to the band some time later (things like what many people think is mothers, children actually being mother's children, ie, children of the mother, with the children being christians and the mother being Mary, the Mother of God.

I still remember the experience of hearing 50,000 people walking out of Croke Park chanting the chorus of Psalm 40. Incredible. The weird think is the impact Bono makes when you meet him. I've met quite a few prominent people over the years but there are only a handful who just have an incredible something that when they walk into a room, (and its not because of who they are, I know an ordinary teacher with the same thing) they just bring a 'presence' with them. Bono has it. Bill Clinton has it. (Hillary doesn't.) They just possess some sort of magic/karma/peace, call it what you like, that makes you feel intense emotions, a feeling of anticipation or something. And it isn't to do with what he is: most people in rock bands don't have it. And damn all politicians do either. It is a matter of who he is as a person. (Apparently it was eerie when Bono and Bob Geldof met Pope John Paul II a few years ago. All three have or had this strange intense personal impact on those around them. Someone in the room said it felt like the room was full of electricity when these three people were in the room together. One guy there when he left the room he was physically shaking. He didn't know why, just that there was an intensity between those three people in the room that he felt drained him emotionally.) Clinton and the pope both had it has young men - Bono had it as a teenager. It is eerie, intense and both calming and draining. It is so hard to describe it. But you see it in Bono on the stage or Bono chatting to people in the room. And that magic or whatever it is, is the key to turning U2 (as it did Sinatra, The Beatles, Ella Fitzgerald, and others) from just first class to being brilliant. FearÉIREANN 00:54, 19 Apr 2005 (UTC)

The Hands That Built America

"The Hands That Built America" was not released as a single. "Electrical Storm" was that compilation's analogue to "Sweetest Thing."

"Hands" was slated to be released as a single, but this never materialized. It was released as a promotional single, but that's it (and if you include every promo release on that list, it's going to get very, very long).

If someone can't prove it was released as a full-fledged single within a week, I'm going to remove it from the discography list.

--typhoon 09:31, 14 May 2005 (UTC)[reply]

non-NPOV on last 2 albums

Many people do not consider their last 2 albums to be among their greatest, certainly not considering ATYCLB as their "third masterpiece". Revolver 02:33, 17 May 2005 (UTC)[reply]

The part about ATYCLB being their "third masterpiece" is attributed to Rolling Stone, so I think it's fair to include, even if I disagree with its sentiment, since it summarizes the critical consensus about the album (a worthwhile thing for an encyclopedia article to cover).

I couldn't find anything similar stated about HTDAAB, but maybe it was removed after you posted here. In fact, the closest other thing I could find was another Rolling Stone quote about Pop saying the band "defied the odds and made some of the greatest music of their lives." So I don't think the article is unfairly biased toward the later stuff, although, again, it might've been modified after your comment. --typhoon 06:17, 17 May 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Ok, we know that whoever wrote this is some sort of illuminati with secret knowledge of the band. But I can't accept these radical readings of the songs as mainstream scholarship. For all the emphasis that SBS is ultimately and esoterically about Christ, Mother Mary, the Eucharist, evangelism, etc., thousands of U2 fans and the mainstream culture take this song as a a clear indication of a call to stop war in Ireland, and to express the struggle that all civilians face as they are caught in the middle of a war. The band has constantly reiterated this message in their concerts. Although I will give that your reading of Jesus's dying on a Sunday is factual and based on the lyrics, the other interpretations of the lyrics you cite are esoteric readings and designed to portray Bono's interests as far too evangelical. I think this is your own projection. [unsigned]

It is based on a booklet of their lyrics, with meanings and explanations attached, supplied by the band during a concert in the 1980s. It is also based on the comments of someone very close to the band, with whom I had a conversation on the meaning of the lyrics in 1991. Ultimately what so-called "mainstream culture" thinks the words mean is irrelevant. What matters is what the lads themselves say their words mean. They wouldn't be the first band to face misconceptions as to the meaning of their words. Any lyricist, writer, poet, academic etc faces the same problem where one is quite clear as to the meaning of the words one has written, only to find someone else tell one they mean something different. And even worse, tell the author that they are wrong and the person misunderstanding the words is correct. It is one of the most irritating things those of us who write for a living face. What the lads meant by those words is clear in their eyes. It is not simply saying 'stop the war in Ireland'; it is a treatise on the extent to which the wrong war is being fought, and how Christians should not be fighting themselves for unimportant temporal things, but should, fight and, as the lyrics state, "claim the victory Jesus won, on a Sunday Bloody Sunday". How exactly could that line in any way be interpreted as simply a comment on war in Ireland? FearÉIREANNFile:Ireland flag large.png\^(talk) 04:00, 30 May 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Discography/Track Listing

May I just say that the way this Discograpy is arranged with the track list on this page (instead of having to click to the album's article) is awesome and extremely helpful. Please use it on other band pages! -CunningLinguist 06:40, 30 May 2005 (UTC)[reply]

While we're on the topic, we may want to consider splitting off the extended discography onto its own page (say, U2 discography, like The Rolling Stones discography) and only featuring the studio albums on the main page since it's getting a bit long. --typhoon 07:32, 7 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Okay, I did just that. I left a list of albums on the main page, but I left out the cover thumbnails and track listings because that's a lot of information to maintain on two separate pages. It's all on the discography page, though. --typhoon 21:58, 7 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Original Soundtracks No. 1

Should this album really be listed as an U2 album? I mean they released it under a different name (Passengers) for a reason. Furthermore Brian Eno, Pavarotti and Holi are listed as members of the Passengers. So I think this album is from another band which happen to include the members of U2. What do you think?

I think it should:

It involves every member of the band (and Eno's practically the "fifth Beatle" anyway; Pavarotti and such are credited in the liner notes as "additional Passengers," for whatever it's worth).
It was originally started as a U2 album. I get the feeling it was only released as "The Passengers" for commercial rather than artistic reasons (although this is debatable).
"Your Blue Room" and "Miss Sarajevo" have both been re-released as U2 songs.
It fills a nice gap in their discography. Even though it's often overlooked, I feel it represents an important stage in the band's musical exploration, sort of the summit of their atmospheric experimentation with Eno.
It keeps us from having to give the Passengers their own page ("The Passengers" redirects to the "U2 (band)" page).
There's some precedent for this sort of discographical simplification (like lumping Freak Out! under Frank Zappa instead of The Mothers of Invention or Are You Experienced under Jimi Hendrix instead of the Jimi Hendrix Experience).
The Original Soundtracks No. 1 page clarifies the whole mess anyway.

I'd be interested to hear more opinions, though.

--typhoon 07:32, 7 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Have U2 disowned October?

When I was looking on Google a few days ago for articles about artists disowning their own recordings (I could not find one single article dealing specifically with various cases of this) I saw someone suggesting that U2 had disowned October. The writed suggesting this (his name is cited that fact that the only track from that album included on their 2000 best-of 1980-1990 was a hidden track (actually the title track).

Whilst that is evidence of the band disowning October, I haven't seen a reference anywhere on Google after a recent search. As to why U2 might disown October, being a voracious reader on music (being very familiar with many people who hate U2 in the process), I certainly could suggest some possible reasons, especially the fact that the themes of the songs are different from those on such albums as Zooropa.

Can anybody confirm rumours U2 have disowned October to be false or not. [The theory actually comes from a writer called Jeffrey Blehar at amazon.com].

I don't think U2 has "disowned" October, and it's still listed on their website. However, it may be their only album from which they don't regularly play a song at their recent concerts (which is unusual because the album is very highly regarded among many of U2's hard core and orginal followers.)

Gloria has been played several times on the Vertigo tour. The only album they have not played a song from is Pop. Some people consider October to be a weaker album, but U2 have certainly not disowned it.