U2 righted themselves with 2000's All That You Can't Leave Behind, a streamlined back-to-basics album that brought them to a cruising altitude they maintained through the 2000s, as they released albums like How To Dismantle an Atomic Bomb and No Line on the Horizon that kept them at the forefront of mainstream rock. Their first - and most radical - reinvention arrived in 1991, with the dense, electronics-drenched Achtung Baby, a left turn that set the pace for a decade of risk-taking that culminated with 1997's Pop, a rare commercial misfire from the band. Powered by the twin Billboard chart-toppers "With or Without You" and "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For," The Joshua Tree contained the group's most direct music to date yet that immediacy was countered by evocative, noir-ish production, setting a precedent U2 would follow for the rest of their career whenever they got too close to the middle of the road, they darted in another direction. This phase of U2 crested around the time they stole the show at Live Aid in 1985, an event that laid the groundwork for The Joshua Tree. and Adam Clayton conveyed the grit of the group's punk beginnings. This sense of righteousness never left U2, not even after the group sold millions of albums all over the globe, but it burned brightest on their earliest records such as 1983's galvanizing War, when the cavernous guitar of the Edge still seemed flinty and the rhythm section of Larry Mullen, Jr. Much of that sense of intimacy can be attributed to Bono, a lead singer who gravitates toward grand gestures yet remains grounded by his belief in humanity and the revolutionary power of rock & roll. Alone among all the groups to emerge from the post-punk era, U2 channeled their yen for moody, experimental aural textures into clearly defined rock anthems and ballads-songs that sounded majestic yet felt personal. U2 catapulted over its post-punk peers to become the biggest rock & roll band in the world, a title they earned after the release of The Joshua Tree in 1987 and maintained well into the 21st Century.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |