Looking for opinions on U2... positive, negative all welcome!

[kath]

Or would you let it ride?

now... i am watching you, too.

i would remind you people that when one is twelve (12) years of age... and one sneaks into one's parents' liquor cabinet to steal a bottle of peach brandy... the inevitable will occur.

the inevitable:

1. you will decide it tastes jussssst like candy snoball syrup.

2. you will drink farrrr too much of it, farrrr too quickly.

and

3. shortly thereafter, you will be puking yer lil guts out, coincidentally, while BTO is blaring from yer radio.

the damage, it is irreversible.

 

[Musikwala]

i luvvv achtung baby... then joshua tree... then war, my top three, with the unforgettable fire and how to dismantle (you heard me) close behind. most of my other choices are pickin and choosin tracks here or there. (for example, i adore the song 'stay' offa zooropa, but i could manage not much more than a meh for the rest of that album.)

i would call achtung baby and joshua tree outright masterpieces.

i think they're a polarizing band, probably becuz of some combination of (a) a very distinct sound that tends to win you or lose you; and (b) bono and his yap.

at their best? not only incredible music but inspired, poetic lyrics. achtung, coming when it did, as it did, ditching the successful formula, so to speak, and going for broke in breaking new ground... just phenomenal. and in my opinion, it all worked. i still spin that album regularly.

Okay... done! You are my U2 buddy™ on this forum. You seem to get exactly what I get from their music. I'm even willing to let your love for the terrible Atomic Bomb album slide.

Breaking new ground for them = Playing the same crap music as all the other crap bands were playing.

Who else was playing stuff like the sound of Achtung Baby (The Fly, Zoo Station etc.) in 1991? I'm genuinely curious about your thoughts on this one.

it's all good, really. everybody's gonna make their own calls, have their own things.

for example, i can't stand BTO. there are many reasons for this. i'm just not feeling strong enough to get into em all at present. (she feels faint... swoons.)

Haha I haven't given BTO much of a chance I'll admit but I cannot stand the radio overplay of that song Ain't Seen Nothin' Yet or whatever.

 

[Musikwala]

Up to this point, an overwhelming majority of you say you like U2. That is pleasantly surprising to me. I thought most of you are either neutral to them or hate 'em.

 

[kath]

Okay... done! You are my U2 buddy™ on this forum. You seem to get exactly what I get from their music. I'm even willing to let your love for the terrible Atomic Bomb album slide.

groooovy, U2 buddy™.

mwhaha. i know most U2 fans can't stand atomic bomb. i just can't help myself... especially with two tracks, 'sometimes you can't make it on yer own' and 'original of the species'. i am fanatical for both. yes. fanatical. rabid. blithering.

to be fair, i do deranged pretty well. ahem.

 

[~Banshee~]

I voted neutral. Really liked their first 3 albums. Then up to The Joshua Tree, last time I saw them, I'd lost interest. Achtung Baby I did like but everything else, meh.

 

[oscar gamble]

Somewhere between neutral and hate them. A lot of their stuff borders on tedious but I don't even care enough about them these days to work up much hate for them.

 

[bbif]

Btw, it seems we haven't heard from the 2 people who have voted that they hate U2.

They're probably Irish!

The amount of venom against U2 in their homeland is astonishing.

Worth pointing out that selling out 4 nights in Croke Park, Dublin at 80,000 a night means that someone there likes them, though!

I really don't get the "I don't like U2 cos Bono is a pain in the butt". There are plenty of great musicians who are unlikeable as people, but it doesn't alter my opinion on their music.

Anyway, been a big U2 fan since the early days. There are few live acts as absorbing & exciting as U2 - I've never come away from a U2 gig anything other than thrilled, and I've been to many.

No Line ....was a bit of a disappointment as an album, and there seems to be problems getting the next one over the line. But they have a fantastic back catalogue of memorable songs & the concert experience is second to none.

I will follow

 

[Aero]

The amount of venom against U2 in their homeland is astonishing.

Interesting. Is that because they think they sold out or is there another reason to dislike them now?

 

[bbif]

Interesting. Is that because they think they sold out or is there another reason to dislike them now?

Bono's an ass.....

They moved their business to Holland to avoid paying tax (forgetting they do actually pay income tax in Ireland).........

They're Irish & successful & should therefore be despised......

Yeah, they sold out too - they should be changing one note of I will follow every year & releasing that instead of new material

but mainly because Bono's an ass, i believe

 

[Musikwala]

I really don't get the "I don't like U2 cos Bono is a pain in the butt". There are plenty of great musicians who are unlikeable as people, but it doesn't alter my opinion on their music.

Yeah I don't get that either. Hate on Bono all you want for whatever reason but what does that got to do with U2's music?? You either like somebody's music or you don't. The lead singer's persona should not matter.