by fat cherry » Thu Jan 19, 2017 1:11 pm
Ah, the old chestnut, and can I resist, nope. And you're both right more or less.
I think buns arrived fully formed and peaked within four albums, but couldn't be arsed with the publicity stuff, or the endless touring - and when that eventually beckoned they caved. And they never had a really killer pop song, as didn't led zepplin but they did the other thing.
Yoots played a blinder technically - tour tour tour, say nice things to the press, Bonos appropriation of just about everything as an influence however isincere it sounds to me, obviously works, singing all that uplifting bollocks, self doubt, war, and sad stuff that people can hang something onto, making half decent videos (almost all buns are crap, or just awful) .
DIdn't like achtung baby that much - first track in I thought, this is brill then they just reverted to what is now standard U2 stuff - having said that, One is a great song.
Tommo & Curly did a good job with those four albums - if you compare then side by side with the yoots, especially as OR was essentially self produced. When they did work with superstar producers thats when it all went tits up, though that album sold more in the states (did it not?) and though Evergreen is a great comeback album the steady decline since shows , well you know.
Oh and Live Aid.
Though for me - saw U2 on the War tour at Hammersmith Palais - Bono moaning every time someone switched on the smoke machine, and preaching blah blah blah. Week or so later, Bnns on the same stage, all in a staright line across, backlit and swamped in the stuff, no contest.