From 1985 (when I discovered Pride and was mesmerized by their Live Aid performance) to 1988 (through the Joshua Tree tour, which I still slightly resent my parents for not letting me attend), I was THE U2 fan in my school and town. I simply could not get enough of U2. They meant EVERYTHING to me. I remember the youth pastor who discouraged me from secular music when he caught me listening to The Joshua Tree, and how I literally laughed in his face, because *obviously* Bono was the most Christ-like singer out there, right? The day I first faced doubt about my idols was when I saw the concert movie Rattle & Hum (on the very day it hit the theater); I pretended to be thrilled by it but struggled with the realization that fame and adulation was turning Bono from passionate troubadour to self-important blowhard. (Also, the R&H album just wasnt very good, and the Helter Skelter cover outright sucked.) 1991s classic Achtung Baby won me back with great tunes, sonic experimentation and (crucially) self-deprecating humor, and I even enjoyed the semi-maligned Zooropa and much-maligned Pop. But as Bonos celebrity activism got more deeply obnoxious and U2 gradually became more interested in becoming everybodys band, with the inevitable blandification (thats a word, right?) that went along with it, I gradually became totally apathetic toward my one-time idols. As I prefer to see it, their decline into total corporate shills (which began with the Vertigo iPod commercial a decade ago) is what someone elses U2 did, not MY U2. Now if youll excuse me, Im going to pop the War cassette into my Walkman and go walk up One Tree Hill to listen.
Posted on: Thu, 18 Sep 2014 19:04:42 +0000
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