Johnny take a walk with your sister the moon

So, I did REM earlier, therefore we should probably visit the other (potentially more divisive) group that I’ve grown up alongside – U2.  Ah, Bono, Bono, Bono – what are we going to do with you?!?  Your heart seems to be in the right place, but you really do piss people off, don’t you?!?  However, some of the music along the way has been pretty special.  But other bits, not so much. 

I think my first exposure must have been The Unforgettable Fire in 1994, which I thought was "OK".  The good bits were pretty good, but the album as a whole didn’t massively gel for me - I was like “I guess it’s fine, but I can live with just hearing the singles from time to time”.  But I thought that might be it - were U2 really gonna go anywhere?  

And then on 13th July, 1985, Bono stepped on stage and announced

We’re an Irish band.  

We come from Dublin City, Ireland.  

Like all cities, it has its good and it has its bad.  

This is a song called Bad

14 minutes later, I was blown away - and I was recording it all on my trusty cassette player sat next to the telly!  As an album track, the song is merely OK (if that), but the live performance was just awesome.  That recording was replayed an awful lot in the following months, I can tell you – taking me back to a magical sunny day where the world seemed like maybe things were going to be OK.

For some reason (probably due to the live thing), my next stop was a step backwards to Under a Blood Red Sky which is a very fine (and very short) live album – but I never ventured further back at the time, which is a shame because Boy, October and particularly War are fine albums (with admittedly little hint of what was to come).  

But I was waiting.  

Patiently.  

The Joshua Tree was coming…

And when it arrived (bought in the record shop in The Arcade in Bath, the name of which I’d totally forgotten but John Winkley kindly reminded me it was Rival Records), I was super happy.  This was what I was waiting for (and if you listen back to the Live Aid version of “Bad” again, you’ll recognise the guitars).  The highlights are pretty well known – “Where the Streets Have No Name” is a great opener, but lesser known tracks like “Running To Stand Still” and “One Tree Hill” work equally well for me.  Again, it takes me back to a time where things were obviously all going to be OK.

So, how do you follow up a stone cold classic like The Joshua Tree?  Well, with hindsight, I’m guessing even U2 themselves probably think that “Rattle and Hum” isn’t the right answer.  The gospel version of “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For” is top drawer, but apart from that I’m struggling to think of too many high points – for no obvious reason, the whole album is just a random mess of tracks - previous and new, live and studio, original and covers.  

So, next please!  And it had better be good...

And whilst I loved The Joshua Tree and it’s the one that brings back the fondest memories, Achtung Baby is really the one that I both admire and enjoy the most.  It also sounds the best played the loudest.  Or so I’m told.  Whilst both the lead single “The Fly” and the first track “Zoo Station” aren’t exactly obvious choices, the breadth of both lyrical and musical skill on display across the album is, in my opinion, without parallel in U2’s canon – which is a shame for all those people scared off by Rattle and Hum.  “One” is probably the best known track (often from the terrible cover versions) and is totally a classic, but pretty much all of the tracks are worth a listen – “Until The End of the World”, “Mysterious Ways” and “So Cruel” get my vote, particularly for lyrics for “So Cruel” which I love

I disappeared in you, you disappeared from me.  

I gave you everything you ever wanted

It wasn’t what you wanted

Ooooh – what’s next…

Ah – Zooropa.  Actually, I quite like some of this (particularly “Zooropa” and “Lemon”) but again, it’s a bit of a mess and very few people’s favourite U2 album.  And then, Pop.  Which has some good bits, but it’s no classic.  And then, All That You Can’t Leave Behind.  Which has some good bits, but it’s no classic.  And then, How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb. Which…

OK, I’m going to stop now (before we get to the Apple Music fiasco).  So, overall, I’d say that following U2 over the years has been a struggle – but my overriding (early, at least!) impressions are positive and I have to thank them for some very fine memories indeed.

As a complete aside, going back to where we started from, The Unforgettable Fire was produced by Brian Eno who I always thought (with no valid reason at all) was a very dry technical character, but if you listen to Adam Buxton’s podcast with him, he comes across as a very entertaining fellow, dealing with Adam’s fanboy posturing equally with humour and impatience.  And his Wikipedia page is a thing of wonder – the man has lived!