U2: Overrated?

David Fricke gives the new album 4 1/2 stars in the latest Rolling Stone, must have let him hang around the studio for the inevitable cover story.

I am a big fan of their early albums - Boy is still my fave U2 album - but I kind of lost track of their career after Achtung Baby. I saw them live in the early days and they were an incredible live band as documented on Under a Blood Red Sky. Tons of energy in those days, now it's Bono's world and we just live in it.

 

I always liked this story of former NHLer Gilbert Bule picking up Bono hitchhiking.

How U2′s Bono hitched a ride with Oilers’ Gilbert Brule

Overrated by the way.

 

Gilbert Brule is more overrated than U2.

 

Also owner of Guinness record for largest continuous shit.

 

Correction: He holds the record for BEING the biggest piece of shit. That was the twist at the end of the episode.

And all their music sounds the same now. I made it about a minute into that SNL clip before scrolling on. It's just such boring music, in my opinion. And the lyrics are paint by numbers.

 

They always kind of struck me as being pseudo deep.

 

I was in 8th grade when that song topped the charts so it took me years and years to realize Peter Gabriel hit no. 1 with a song about plowing his wife.

 

I blame his bad back for Pop.

 

Not overrated. At all.

The War-Unforgettable Fire-Joshua Tree run puts them on the short list, the very short list, of bands that was able to produce that powerful of a back to back to back three album output. And Joshua Tree is one of the finest overall albums I will ever experience: the hits on 'side one', led by the gorgeously constructed 'Where the Streets Have No Name" with the bookend intro and coda, and then even better tunes on 'side two'--the previously mentioned 'Red Hill Mining Town' and 'One Tree Hill', as well as 'In God's Country' and 'I Trip Through Your Wires'.

Some hits and misses from Zooropa forward, but still plenty of winners from that point on that would fill a greatest hits package to the brim. 'Elevation, 'Vertigo', 'Beautiful Day', 'Mysterious Ways' to name just a few off the top.

So, no, their reputation at the musical forefront of the 80s, 90s through to today is very well deserved and well earned.

Pretty cool that it's been the same 4 members from start to finish, over 35 years. Not many, if any, bands have retained one single line-up the whole career, be it due to musical or personality differences, alcohol abuse or drug overdoses or just being different people in your 50s than you were in your 20s. You look at some bands list of members on Wikipedia that were around two or three decades and you can scroll down half a page or more.

 

Joshua Tree and Achtung Baby are press play albums. Other albums have good to great classics. I was a pre teen when they hit the scene. They were politically charged when a lot of rock was staid bullshit. Pride is overplayed, but it is still a great rock song. No, I’d say they are properly rated. One of 10-15 best rock groups of all time. Now Springsteen...

 

'Achtung Baby' is a really great album, and I just found out there is a tribute cover album - 'AHK-toong BAY-bi Covered.'

 

While I disagree with your assessment w/r/t U2, this is an interesting exercise. Here's a few of 3-plus-album runs that come to mind (a number of which are obviously based on my personal quirks):

• Beatles (pretty much entire catalog, no?)
• Rolling Stones (Beggars Banquet-Let It Bleed-Sticky Fingers-Exile on Main St.)
• Pavement (Slanted and Enchanted-Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain-Wowee Zowee-Brighten the Corners-Terror Twilight)
• Nirvana (Bleach-Nevermind-In Utero-Unplugged, if live counts)
• Velvet Underground (Velvet Underground & Nico-White Light-White Heat-Velvet Underground-Loaded
• Sleater-Kinney (Sleater-Kinney-Call the Doctor-Dig Me Out-The Hot Rock-All Hands on the Bad One-One Beat)
• Built to Spill (There's Nothing Wrong with Love-Perfect From Now On-Keep It Like a Secret)
• Guided by Voices (Vampire on Titus-Bee Thousand-Alien Lanes)
• Some combination of Wilco albums?
• Led Zeppelin (I-II-III-IV-Houses of the Holy-Physical Graffiti)
• The Band (Music from Big Pink-The Band-Stage Fright)
• Springsteen (I'm sure some would extend this longer, but for me: Greeting from Asbury Park-The Wild, the Innocent & the E Street Shuffle-Born to Run)
• Ramones (Ramones-Leave Home-Rocket to Russia)
• The Clash (The Clash-Give 'Em Enough Rope-London Calling, or Give 'Em Enough Rope-The Clash-London Calling, if you're going by the UK versions)

Others I wouldn't necessarily personally endorse, but which I think would probably be accepted by popular opinion:

• Neil Young (Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere-After the Gold Rush-Harvest)
• Dylan (Depending on your tastes, would include some combination three or more consecutive albums from Freewhelin' Bob Dylan-The Times They Are a-Changin'-Another Side of Bob Dylan-Bringing It All Back Home-Highway 61 Revisited-Blonde on Blonde-John Wesley Harding-Nashville Skyline)
• The Who (The Who Sell Out-Tommy-Who's Next-Quadrophenia)