Coldplay

Ok, so I'd often heard on the radio and such that Coldplay was the new U2, and I just couldn't hear it. None of what I heard sounded remotely like U2's style or passion. I thought, maybe they're Irish and so everyone wants to make the connection. But the other day I watched a concert on TV that changed my mind.

Their concert style, performance, and even a majority of their songs were so reminiscent of U2 that I had a hard time watching at first. I just kept laughing and thinking to myself, "yes, I've heard all this before." Some of it was so much like New Year's Day or Sunday Bloody Sunday, and others were more like the newer stuff. And even U2's Window in the Sky sounds a lot like some of Coldplay's sensational popular songs. They definitely have their own sound, but they've definitely been inspired by U2 in many of their less popular songs. It was crazy.

Here's an example. This is how they opened their concert:



Listen to that guitar! Tell me that isn't War all over again! And the lights?? Well, that's just a U2 concert. It got even more blatant later on when they started with a red screen and then blasted the entire place with white lights. Ummmm . . . have we seen that before????

U2 LEMON

Today I wore my Lemon shirt from the POP Mart Tour way back in 1997. It really brought back great memories of Cami and I screaming at the top of our lungs every time we saw one of the band members. You see, we thought we had amazing seats because we were on the floor of the stadium...BUT we couldn't see anything!!!! We got very excited for even a glimpse of Larry, or a quick take of Bono! When one of my favorite songs "Where the Streets Have No Name" was played we decided we had quite enough of our seats and ran with all our might up closer to the stage and up higher so we could see everything!!!! What a great night!!!!

U23D

That's right. Our boys are returning to the big screen, but being in living color is not good enough for them. Oh no. They have to be in 3D!!

Here is a little info:

Owens, longtime collaborator with U2 on live-show visuals, says 'this was the ultimate challenge in presenting U2’. But the results, she predicts, will startle audiences.

'There is no comparison with a traditional concert film seen in 2D. One minute you are on stage with the band and the next you are at the back of the stadium. 'The best way I can describe it for the viewer,' she adds, 'Is that it's like being on the wings of a bird flying around the concert stadium - it's really something else.'

Holy Cow. Well, I'll be in the theater opening night for sure. There wasn't a better concert to make a movie of, but leave it to U2 to take it to the next level!!

'I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For'

' I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For' started out life as something completly different, a jam called, for some mysterious reason, 'Under The Weather Girls'. It was a bit of a one-note groove but it had a great drum part so we kept the drums and this whole new melody came and all the music changed to fit around that melody.--Adam

That song wasn't as arduous as most, even though it had its moments, and we knew it was going to be our trophy.--Larry

It was kind of an interesting jam, an odd backbeat from Adam and Larry. At first I wasn't so convinced. It sounded to me a little like 'Eye of the Tiger' played by a reggae band. There are only a few moments of full-on electricity-in-the-air creativity that I remember from the making of that album, but the birth of 'I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For' is one.--Edge

I started to realize taht the lyrics on the first four albums are not really lyrics at all, they're sketches. I wasn't a writer really I was a painter, or an emoter or a shouter. I seemed to have almost a fear of writing, it was an advanced form of procrastination. With Joshua Tree, I decided I'd better write some lyrics. I was reading more anyway so I was more awake to the word. I discovered a love for writers and started to feel like one of them.--Bono

U2 By U2

I FOUND IT!!

So, this morning, I rediscovered the value of the album, The Joshua Tree. Specifically, I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For. Usually, I snub my nose at this album when I'm ready to choose my listening material, because this is the album that "non-fans" listen to. I am more sophisticated, a more practiced U2 listener, and therefore know the true value of the entire body of work. I am not tied down to the most popular, or the most conventional sounding songs. While my album of choice is usually Unforgettable Fire (with Atomic Bomb as a close second), I have my own little mix of favorites on my ipod that makes me happy--hardly any of them are from Joshua Tree.

However, as I was driving along in my minivan during the only 5 minutes I have alone, and can therefore listen to NON kid music, I switched stations over and over, trying to escape the usually interesting late 80s drivel that just seemed trivial and obnoxious today. And there it was. The mature, deep beat of Adam's bass; the strained, emotion-soaked, gospel-style vocals of Bono; the understated and unmistakable sound of Edge's guitar; and the un-canned, hypnotic beat of Larry's drums. What a change! What a difference to the synthesized, tuneless junk that came out from other bands during the same era!

It made me realize in an instant what a complete difference in style this was to the music of the time. Music has been so impacted by U2's style since, that it's hard to remember that there was really nothing else like it. And it's the most popular for a reason. It is fantastic music. I need to drop my snobish, I-know-more-than-thou attitude and try to appreciate the music for its value, and not its obscurity. What a breath of fresh air it came to me as this morning. I'm proud of my boys for lifting my spirits today. I certainly found what I was looking for.

U2 BookPlay

The book that was closest to me when I read your entry was:

BONO in conversation with Michak Assayas

"Remember what you told me back in Killinery? "You should ask me to draw a tree at some point." (Bono laughs out loud) Maybe you should have thought twice before saying that, because I want you to draw a map of the route you took to get from home to school."

Okay, this really doesn't make much sense for your game, sorry!

Book Tag

Rules of the Game:

1. Find the nearest book to you.
2. Name the book and author.
3. Turn to page 123.
4. Go to the fifth sentence on the page.
5. Copy out the next 3 sentences and post to your blog.
6. Tag three other people.

Mattie tagged the U2 girls, and I can only assume he meant the nearest U2 book, which is "U2, The Early Days," and it does not have 123 pages, so I'll divide that by 3 (since dividing by 2 makes it only picture pages)and here is the text:

"Meanwhile, 'U2: Three' justified Jackie Hayden's confidence in the band. The thousand twelve inches were quickly snapped up and the conventional seven inch sold equally well, an excellent debut in a country of three million which was still under the shadow of the showbands. But in Dublin, U2 were now encountering a resistance that sometimes flared into open enmity."

I tag Carolyn, Karie, and The Classics Club. Carolyn, please choose your nearest U2 book and put it on this blog.

U2 BY U2

"This is the story of U2, in their own words and pictures."

I just finished this book the other night and it is

definently one of the greatest little history books

written of the band that I have read. The pictures

alone are awesome. The book shows pictures of

childhood, births, weddings, concerts it is very, very cool.

I recommend everyone, even those who just own

The Joshua Tree, add this book to their collection!

U2 The Joshua Tree

The Joshua Tree

Release Date: March 1987

"With Or Without You whispers its way into the world"--Bono

"It's a very odd sounding song, it just isn't odd anymore because you have heard it so many times." --Bono

U2 has a Presence of Performance--Daniel Lanois (Producer)

"Synamatic Music, Brought you somewhere physical rather than emotional"--Edge

‘A lot of the songs were ones that were recorded in Larry’s spare bedroom or Adam’s living room. When the red light’s on we often don’t respond to it. When we’re just left to be, left to make music our own way, well some of the tracks are almost like demos. We had to fight to make them work and there were a lot of songs left over. It could have gone off in a number of different directions. We wanted the idea of a one-piece record, not a side-one, side-two thing.Bono, March 1987

U2 Can Blog.

Well, Carolyn, here is our blog. We can post whatever we want about our FAVE band here on U2 Girls. (We can change the title if we want.)

To get us started, let's go ahead and link to the AWESOME new videos for Window in the Sky.

Alright, so there it is. Let's have some good content!