All my friends are amped up to go see U2 in concert. I wanna pull my hair out. Don't they realize that U2 sucks? Achtung Baby was the last decent thing they did. And now, U2 is a group of aging egomaniacs playing adult contemporary pop garbage. Ahhhh!!!!

quote:

Originally posted by chaos:
All my friends are amped up to go see U2 in concert. I wanna pull my hair out. Don't they realize that U2 sucks? Achtung Baby was the last decent thing they did. And now, U2 is a group of aging egomaniacs playing adult contemporary pop garbage. Ahhhh!!!!

You know Chaos, I think it is clear that you love to put out there reductive statements that seem at best to be varyingly successful attempts to kick start some heated and ideally vigorously creative discussions on their way.

Having first stated the obvious, I am somewhat humbly forced to respond to this particular latest thread of yours with reluctant complete and unqualified agreement!

To be clear, I agree that Achtung Baby was the last time u2 could legitimately lay claim to being the world's premier rock band and not provoke serious nausea in me.

However, singling U2 out for amazement at what people will pay and get excited to go to see in concert is a little misguided - they still remain heads and shoulders above the current never ending nostalgia tours from most past masters understandably trying to keep their pension bank balances ticking along - if you can tolerate the unfortunately powerful universal law of diminishing returns, U2's back catalogue in the decade from the early eighties to the early nineties is still well worth shelling out tour dollars more than most eternally recycling faded glories.

Personally I hate seeing bands/artists past their vital prime no matter how much I love their best work - but intellectually if not emotionally I still get why people would still be excited to have that communal experience of enjoying such thrilling pop-rock moments that U2 had given us in their prime.

Something that made this clear to me was the recent Leonard Cohen live in London recordings - in most cases I have never enjoyed more these versions of his songs and I am not sure if age and frankly near death has brought something to these songs that previously was spoiled by murky and confused existential factors and simple misguided production values - either way it makes sense of people wanting to experience the magic of the music well after the author's salad days - though an argument could be made that Leonard's songs are particularly suited to timeless twilight rendering than the hopelessly hopeful mullet anthems of U2 at their best!

Whoa whoa whoa. Chaos has friends?

I was just thinking about it, it's been like 20 years and their male-Britney Spears singer is still everywhere. I hate Madonna too, yeah I know it's not the right place to write it but I want the world to know it.

Bono should go away, nothing against the rest of the band.

I dunno. On one hand, U2 is certainly treading the Rolling Stones/Aerosmith/Who path of worn-out cultural relevancy. On the other hand, No Line on the Horizon is their best album in a while. Really, since Actung, Baby, in my opinion. Having seen them twice this decade, I can definitely say that U2 puts on one hell of a live show.

But continuing stuff like this make me wish they'd at least take a step out of the spotlight.

U2's still making good music imo. No Line on the Horizon is in my top 10 for the year and All That You Can't Leave Behind was a pretty sexy return to form. Although it seems like a lot of people seemed to stop liking the band after Achtung Baby even though Zooropa and Pop are really good. I also never payed attention enough to understand why everyone has a problem with Bono.

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I also never payed attention enough to understand why everyone has a problem with Bono.

A lot of people find him pretentious because he's a singer for a rock band, and he tries to get involved in all sorts of humanitarian efforts. Unlike most singers of rock bands who don't do anything. Wow, what a monster he is...

At least Bono's actually trying to make a difference. Not only that, it's not like he woke up with a massive head one day and decided he was going to save Africa. His first visit there was over 20 years ago.

Anyways, the new album is OK, but unless they try something really radical for their next album, U2 should just ride off into the sunset with some dignity, unlike some of the other rock bands who keep going (The Who, Rolling Stones, Queen, etc.). I think they have what it takes to make uber-meaningful music again a la Bob Dylan's late 90's renaissance. They just have to expand their "horizons" (pun intended).

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I think they have what it takes to make uber-meaningful music again a la Bob Dylan's late 90's renaissance.

Agreed. Each of their career u-turns turned up some great stuff. I can't really imagine a good direction for them at this point, but I'm sure Achtung Baby pretty much came out of nowhere, too. They're supposedly coming with something new within the year, if their recent Rolling Stone interviews are to be believed.

I really don't see a Dylanesque future for U2. They are competent and have 2 classic albums (The Joshua Tree and Achtung Baby) to their name and a few more classic songs, but in my opinion they have more craft than artistry. Whereas Dylan was, in his prime, an artist of rare talent. I can definitely see U2 plodding on, crafting competent albums, but I don't see a period in their future where they are 'culturally relevant' or where we all gush over them like people seem to do for Dylan's later works.

U2 does need to just stop making music, even if they got a couple of good songs on each new album, it doesn't justify dropping an overall turd of a bore to the public every now and then. They need to stop making commercials too, last time they had their music as Bono sang his clumsy "uno dos tres catorce" for Apple and now Blackberry loves U2? Make up your mind you money-hungry hacks!

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Originally posted by public access:
I can definitely say that U2 puts on one hell of a live show.

Who gives a shit. I hear this all the time. "Yeah, Greenday, Metallica, Madonna, Britney,U2 etc. may be past their prime BUT THEY PUT ON A HELL OF A SHOW!!!"

WHO CARES. It's about the music not the fucking fireworks and Bono spooning with some 14 year old fan on stage like the egohead douche he is.

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All my friends are amped up to go see U2 in concert.

Isn't that what we're talking about here?

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Originally posted by public access:

quote:

All my friends are amped up to go see U2 in concert.

Isn't that what we're talking about here?

And the point was that my friends have atrocious taste in music because they're nothing more than mindless fanboys/girls. They are victims of mainstream corporate brainwashing, just like most of the posters in this thread. They like bands like Greenday, The Blackeyed Peas, they keep Bob Marley on constant rotation(puke) because they only consume what is fed to them by mainstream media. Hey, if you want to go to a concert because of the high dollar fireworks and special effects, that's your prerogative publicaccess, but personally, I go for the music.

quote:

And the point was that my friends have atrocious taste in music because they're nothing more than mindless fanboys/girls. They are victims of mainstream corporate brainwashing, just like most of the posters in this thread. They like bands like Greenday, The Blackeyed Peas, they keep Bob Marley on constant rotation(puke) because they only consume what is fed to them by mainstream media. Hey, if you want to go to a concert because of the high dollar fireworks and special effects, that's your prerogative publicaccess, but personally, I go for the music.

I don't expect you to answer this question chaos, as you hardly ever seem to answer questions that stray against your own opinion, but am I a "mindless fanboy" for liking U2 simply because I ::gasp:: enjoy some of their music? Is any artist bad just because they sell millions of albums or are they bad because their music sucks?

I also like Sonic Youth, Sun Kil Moon, and Woven Hand, artists who will probably never see huge sales in their lifetime. It'd be awesome if they got more recognition, but they're still great artists just the same. Who the hell cares?

This just smells like a "my music is better than yours" argument and those are pointless.

Also, how long do you keep your friends before they get too pissed off at you for telling them their music sucks?

Yeah man, taste is so subjective. But I guess chaos can only see in black and white.

I just got this in an email:

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Special U2 presale for Spartans

On Wednesday, June 30, 2010, U2 will bring their spectacular U2 360° tour to Spartan Stadium for one night only!

As a special member of the Spartan community, we’d like to invite you to participate in a special presale for tickets to this widely anticipated event. The presale, offered through Ticketmaster, will begin 7 p.m., Wednesday, Nov. 18 and end at noon, Friday, Nov. 20.

To order tickets visit the Web site (removed) and use the special presale password (removed) to purchase up to 4 tickets before they go on sale to the general public Nov. 23.

Note that this presale is for select seating areas only. Limited general admission/floor tickets will only be available during the public sale beginning 10 a.m., Monday, Nov. 23. These tickets can be purchased at all Ticketmaster locations, (removed) or charge by phone at 800-745-3000.

MSU’s Breslin Center box office will also sell tickets for the concert, but for one day only Monday, Nov. 23 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. These will be walk-up sales only. No electronic sales will be available through the Breslin box office.

After Nov. 23, there will be no way to purchase tickets through any MSU venue or ticket office.

Please do not respond to this email as it goes to an unmonitored account. For technical support, problems ordering and related questions contact Ticketmaster at 1-800-745-3000 or by visiting: http://www.ticketmaster.com/h/states/mi.html.

U2 360° is presented by Live Nation Global Touring. For complete ticket information, visit: www.U2.com.

For the latest information on U2 360° at Spartan Stadium visit: http://special.news.msu.edu/u2/.

Guess who's coming to my school!