The results of this fateful change of direction were Eno productions of U2 standards “The Unforgettable Fire” (including “Bad,” “Pride In the Name of Love”); Grammy’s 1987 Album of the Year, the personal yet universal “The Joshua Tree,” which made the band superstars (with “Where the Streets Have No Name,” “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For,” “With Or Without You” and “One Tree Hill”); 1991's “Achtung Baby,” a brilliant and emotionally dark move toward electronica (“Even Better Than the Real Thing,” “One,” “Until the End of the World,” “Who’s Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses” and “Mysterious Ways”); and “Zooropa,” deeper still into Euro-dance music and electronics (‘93, with the title track, “Numb,” “Lemon,” “Stay”). Wow, what a journey.
U2 was the leading rock band of the '80s because its members, like perhaps only Bruce Springsteen in the U.S., still believed that rock ‘n’ roll could save the world, and they had the talent to make that notion not seem hopelessly naive.
This earnestness and willingness to shoulder the heaviest of responsibilities led to soaring heights of achievement and escalating psychic and artistic demands that eventually led the band to adopt irony as its basic means of expression for a time in the '90s.
All bands want to be cool, and in the '80s U2 almost single-handedly made earnestness cool, but it was hard, relentless work. After the gritty, chunky guitars-and-idealism of the '80s, the '90s saw the diaphanous chill of electronics-and-irony, which was literally and metaphorically cool, but ultimately not what the band is about.
“All That You Can’t Leave Behind” (‘00) returned to what the band is about, and is the sonic and spiritual follow up to the “The Joshua Tree,” the band’s most idealistic, spiritual and melodically consistent album.
Remnants of the band’s forays into electronics seasoned the album (especially the impressionistic “New York”), but the Edge’s guitar returned to center stage where his unique, chiming style belongs, though it never upstages the songs, every one of which is blessed with a memorable tune.
Following the ecstatic release of the opening track “Beautiful Day,” the second song “Stuck In a Moment You Can’t Get Out Of,” states a seemingly modest but deeply profound, earnest and idealistic notion:
“I’m just trying to find a decent melody
A song I can sing in my own company”
They have found it and then some. U2 is now a mature, confident, still amazing band that knows it doesn’t have all the answers, but isn’t afraid to keep asking the right questions.
Article comments
— go to most recent comments1 - Bill Lamb
You're exactly right, Eric - it's a truly outstanding set of inductees.
Since my main focus on music is Dance music I am quite pleased that U2, the O'Jays and Pretenders have all crossed boundaries to have Dance hits in the past.
I just reported about a week and a half ago that Vertigo is U2's 5th Top 20 Dance hit in the U.S. The O'Jays 'Love Train' and 'I Love Music' are Disco classics, and some of the Pretenders' first success in the U.S. was when 'Brass In Pocket' spent a lengthy time on the Dance chart in the days when New Wave was quite welcome in clubs.
Thanks for the story, and it will be an amazing show!
2 - Eric Olsen
thanks Bill, much appreciated; cool news on the dance music angle, which always interests me as well. The early New Wave days were when I first started DJing - I remember the openness and eclecticism of the time very fondly
3 - Al Barger
Just want to take a second to recognize "Wake Up Dead Man," which is THE unrecognized U2 classic. They took a break from the irony schtick to deliver it straight up again, and a lot of bottled up realness poured forth in one hard dose.
4 - Lono
U2 being selected is a no brainer. However, I was also very pleased to see Buddy Guy and the Pretenders make the cut as well. This was a good year for inductees.
5 - Eric Olsen
yes, the first three Pretenders albums (2 and an EP, actually) are absolutely seminal - Chrissie's tough edge has dirffted away over the years and that makes it easy to forget what a kick in the gut she was
No holes in this year's class
6 - andy marsh
Sorry, but I don't think the pretenders should have made it into the hall before Lynyrd Skynyrd or J. Geils!
7 - Eric Olsen
remember there is a delicate balance and symmetry to the process - I think they'll be ready for a sort of standard "classic rock" band by next year
8 - SFC Ski
"yes, the first three Pretenders albums (2 and an EP, actually) are absolutely seminal"
NO arguments there, when 2 of the original members died the Pretenders were thereafter never really anything more than Hynde's backing band, sad to say. THey did rock back then, though.
9 - Mark Saleski
oh gawd, the segue from "Space Invader" to "Wait" on the the first Pretenders record is one of them "turn it up to 11" things.
i'm gettin' all tingly just thinking about it.
10 - SFC Ski
I know what you mean, in ediscovering my old cassettes, I had the frst 2.5 of the Pretenders in my deck for a week. Backed with, BTW, David Gilmour's first Solo Album.
11 - Eric Olsen
the first album in particular almost justifies their inclusion, similarly to "Never Mind the Bollocks" for the Sex Pistols.
My favorite song of theirs has always been "Mystery Achievement" which is one of the most perfect songs ever recorded
12 - ClubhouseCancer
True about the first two albums being seminal, but I also love the later stuff that's more Chrissie plus band, especially Viva La Amor. And Learning to Crawl is both a great and a huge-selling album.
Chrissie just kicks ass.
Their 2002 release, Loose Screw, just disappeared, but it's great if you like Chrissie. "Fools Must Die" rocks kinda like 1981, "Saving Grace" is lovely. There's good stuff on all the albums, period. And Chrissie sings great live, too.
13 - ClubhouseCancer
Eric, you picked my second favorite. To me, "Talk of the Town" should be brought up when talking about the greatest pop/rock recordings. "MA" has all that, plus an appealing obliqueness lyrically.
I like "Kid" and "precious" almost as much.
And a perfectly stupid and beautiful rock lyric is this:
"When love walks in the room, everybody stand up!
14 - Eric Olsen
and CC, I agree with you that there is good stuff scattered throughout the later albums, and that Learning to Crawl is great: "Middle of the Road," "Back On the Chain Gang," "My City Was Gone" and "2000 Miles" on one studio album? Bowel-shaking goodness.
15 - Phillip Winn
I don't know what Buddy Guy has to do with the "Rock" Hall of Fame, but he deserves pretty much any accolades people want to throw his way.
Is there a Blues Hall of Fame? That's where Buddy belongs.
16 - Eric Olsen
the Rock Hall has a whole bunch of "influences," which include blues, country and a few jazzers, but in Buddy's case, what he plays IS pretty much what used to be called rock 'n' roll, or at least blues rock
17 - ClubhouseCancer
Eric, do you listen to a lot of rock music while sitting on the can? It seems like you really feel great music in your digestive system, which must make really good concerts almost unbearable!
18 - Eric Olsen
you're right about feeling it in the old internal organs, although it isn't specific to my digestion: it includes lungs and heart especially.
In all seriousness, in the presence of really great live music, sometimes I have a hard time breathing
19 - Mark Saleski
in the presence of really great live music, sometimes I have a hard time breathing
exactly!
20 - Eric Olsen
I knew we were simpatico, Mark
21 - ClubhouseCancer
I don't get that. But whenever I hear really great music, even hapy, sunny pop music, I embarrassingly start to get teary. It's only started for me over the last few years (I'm 37) but it's really strange. Not just sadly beautiful music. Just particularly beautiful music.
The last year, this has happened at:
Patti Smith
Bill Frisell
Vincent Herring
Yo La Tengo
Cassandra Wilson
Stereolab
Neko Case
Arcade Fire
These acts do not perfrom sad songs, as a rule.
It is indeed embarrassing to do this at an alternative rock show. Strange.
22 - Eric Olsen
CC, I think that is a very similar reaction, just manifest through different organs.
And don't feel bad, I sometimes tear up at freaking high school halftime shows
23 - Sean Hackbarth
It's just crap a great band like Rush gets ignored year after year after year. It just ruins the HOF's crediblity.
24 - Aaman
Hear! Hear! mod parent up
25 - Phillip Winn
Aaman, the beauty is, the act of commenting "mods up" the entire post. :-)