U2 Way

Manhattan street has a name: `U2 Way' celebrates Irish rockers

By KAREN MATTHEWS , Associated Press

NEW YORK - This street does have a name — U2 Way.

To celebrate U2's weeklong gig on CBS' "Late Show With David Letterman," a block-long stretch of West 53rd Street was temporarily renamed after the veteran Irish rockers on Tuesday.

"Somewhere south of Duke Ellington Way and north of Joey Ramone Place we find ourselves," said lead singer Bono. "And we're the band where the streets have no name."

The four band members joined Mayor Michael Bloomberg and City Council Speaker Christine Quinn in unveiling the "U2 Way" street sign on Broadway across West 53rd Street from the Ed Sullivan Theater, where Letterman's show is taped.

Scores of fans cheered from behind police barricades as Bloomberg presented each U2 member with his own copy of the sign.

"Edge just said this is the first time he's been seen with a street sign and not been arrested," quipped Bono, referring to guitarist The Edge.

U2 is on "Letterman" all week to promote their new album, "No Line on the Horizon."

"The boys are in town for a weeklong stint with the king of late night, David Letterman," Bloomberg said. "And it's a historic event for late-night television right here in the capital of late-night television."

U2 has sold tens of millions of records, and Bono has become a leading crusader against poverty and disease in the developing world. Tuesday's event at least temporarily adds the band to a musical map that includes Duke Ellington Boulevard in Morningside Heights and Joey Ramone Place in the East Village.

Bloomberg thanked all the band members for their humanitarian work and added, "No wonder everyone in the city including me considers these four Dubliners honorary New Yorkers."

Bono, wearing his trademark wraparound glasses, was equal parts raffish rock star and policy wonk. He praised Bloomberg's substantial philanthropic efforts to improve public health.

"The Anopheles mosquito kills about 3,000 children every day, of malaria, and his work in Johns Hopkins down there is really important work in ridding the world of the Anopheles mosquito," the singer said.

Bloomberg has given tens of millions of dollars for medical research at The Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, his alma mater.

Band members posed for photos in the frigid sunshine and said they considered New York their second home.

"I was hoping for Larry Mullen Circle," said drummer Larry Mullen Jr. "But I'll do with U2 Way."

"Edge just said this is the first time he's been seen with a street sign and not been arrested," quipped Bono, referring to guitarist The Edge

Here's the Video

Pretty cool video....kinda futuristic.... kinda interesting content!!

No Line On The Horizon
Hear their 1st single release for the album..."Get On Your Boots"!!

Go to:
http://goyb.u2.com/?utm_source=Publicaster&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=EMLU2COS_20090119_single_annoumcement_GetOnYourBoots

Here's the full tracklisting:

1. No Line On The Horizon
2. Magnificent
3. Moment of Surrender
4. Unknown Caller
5. I'll Go Crazy If I Don't Go Crazy Tonight
6. Get On Your Boots
7. Stand Up Comedy
8. Fez - Being Born
9. White As Snow
10. Breathe
11. Cedars Of Lebanon

'No Line on the Horizon'

24.11.2008
'Not Like Anything We've Done Before'

'It doesn’t sound like anything we’ve done before and it doesn’t really sound like anything that’s happening at the moment...' Edge has been speaking from the studio to Mojo Magazine about how the album is coming together.

18.12.2008
'No Line on the Horizon'

No Line On The Horizon, the new studio album from U2, will be released on Monday 2nd March 2009.

Written and recorded in various locations, No Line On The Horizon is the group’s 12th studio album and is their first release since the 9 million selling album How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb, released in late 2004.

A Morning Playlist

This morning over waffles, my ipod shuffled to a Coldplay song, and Jeffy asked if it was the same sad song we listened to the other day (a song on the radio). Apparently, any song that says, "hurt you" or has a slightly melancholy feel to it is a sad song, and Jeffy will have none of it.

So he asked for a "happy and exciting" song. Okey dokey.

First, I tried Mysterious Ways. At first it was a hit, but then, nope. That one says, "It's alright," perhaps implying that something seems wrong. So it's a sad song. Too bad. Such potential.

Next, I went to the old fall-back, Jeffy's favorite potty training song, Vertigo. He said that was great, except it wasn't exciting or happy, just a normal song. What the? I don't know what this kid wants of me! Plus, then we had to have all sorts of discussion about if he said "Jesus" or not in the song. I told him she was wearing "CHEESES" round her neck. In case she gets hungry, you know? I didn't feel like having the discussion about religion in rock songs . . . or on jewelry.

I browsed some more and found Trip Through Your Wires, which is one of my faves. Jeffy said it sounded like a cowboy song, which apparently is ok, but not quite exciting. Bono does do all sorts of whooping in it . . . oh, how I love whooping.

Then I tried I Will Follow, thinking he might think it was cool about running away and following and whatnot, but at that time, the kids got bored, finished with their waffles, and they left without a single word about my hard-chosen song for them.

So, I started thinking, what are some good kid-appealing U2 songs? I ought to make Jeffy a playlist. I doubt Love is Blindness will make the cut. Or pretty much anything from Pop. Any ideas?

Taylor at U23D

U2 on Cold Case

Does anyone watch Cold Case? I watch it now and then while exercising and whatnot. They have old murder cases that have yet to be solved from a different year each episode. To get you in the mood, they always play songs from that year, or at least that time period during the flashbacks. It's always fun to see how the music fits in with the story and the time. Pretty cool.

So, imagine my delight when hearing Beautiful Day during the opening scene of a murder case from 2002. Imagine my excitement when I realized that they were ONLY playing U2 songs throughout the entire episode! Then imagine my confusion when suddenly they were playing Window in the Skies . . . in 2002? Hmmm . . . I decided they cared more about following the story than the actual time period of the music this time. Or maybe they just think we're all dumb. Here are the songs I heard them play:

Beautiful Day
Window in the Skies
Bad
Running to Stand Still
MLK
Stuck in a Moment
With or Without You
Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own

Of course, the murder centered around drug addiction, and so we have here several songs that fit perfectly with that theme. So even though they used a span of over 20 years for their "period" music, at least it fit the storyline, which I hear is all the rage now for Cold Case. It sure made it fun for me!

U23D Thoughts by Cami

Last night, we got together with several friends to go to th U23D show on the IMAX screen at the Science Center in Baltimore. And, friends, if you can't go to a U2 concert, this is the closest thing.

First of all, let's make sure you understand what I mean by "3D." This is no Captian EO, people. This is the latest in 3D technology. Yes, you felt like the band was about to grab you, yes, the microphone stands and fans raised arms were there right in front of you, but there was more. I like to call it 3D layers. Sometimes there was a layer seemingly floating 10 feet in front of the screen on which there where words, images, whatever, sort of transparently. Then there was the regular screen with 3D effects as well. It was like looking through one 3D screen onto another. So you'd be looking at Larry playing the drums, then look through him at Adam's bass--which was about to hit you in the head each time he turns. Very cool.

As far as the actual concert, there were a few surprises. I was not surprised to see them do all their political stunts and songs. When we saw the Vertigo tour in D.C., one whole section in the middle was dedicated to ending poverty, hunger, and servitude among mankind. This movie was no different except that those songs took up about 3/4 of the show. They didn't do their newest songs, they DID do most of their most popular songs, and they didn't do some of their best songs. But it seems they were trying to please. Here were the songs included:

— “Vertigo”
— “Beautiful Day”
— “New Year’s Day”
— “Sometimes You Can’t Make It On Your Own”
— “Love and Peace (or else)”
— “Sunday, Bloody Sunday”
— “Bullet the Blue Sky”
— “Miss Sarajevo”
— “Pride (In the Name of Love)”
— “Where the Streets Have No Name”
— “One”
— “The Fly”
— “With or Without You”
— “Yahweh”

That makes only 4 songs from the newest album, and Yahweh was actually during the credits. And we're looking at New Year's Day, Love and Peace, Sunday Bloody Sunday, Bullet the Blue Sky, Miss Sarajevo, Pride, Where the Streets Have No Name, and One which were politically charged. (Although I must admit that One was rather tame, but I've seen concerts so I know how they slant it these days). But as friends pointed out a the show, you may not totally agree with Bono's politics, but at least he's doing something good with his power. And yes, the man has power. If you are surprised at how political U2 has become, you weren't really listening from the beginning. This is a band who cannot NOT talk about politics.

It was fun and rather surprising to hear The Fly, although I had expected Mysterious Ways if anything from Achtung Baby. But I was having Zoo TV tour flashbacks, and it was fun to see them not forget their love/hate relationship with propoganda in all of their ultra media-enhanced politics. I think it was confusing for many of my lay-fan friends who may not have picked up on the irony.

What I most missed was City of Blinding Lights which would have been seriously cool in 3D, and Original of the Species, which I consider to be probably their best song ever.

My favorite parts: Larry's drums and his total unbreakable concentration, the buffaloes during One, Bono's operatic attempt at Miss Sarajevo, and the basic concert atmosphere.

Overall, I consider this to be a very successful U2 creation, very typical and fun.

It's All About the Music

It's all about the music Bono says the movie tries to put the focus only on the music, not the personalities.

"This is what people don't understand. There are such strong attachments to the songs that we have nothing to do with," he says. "I went to see Bruce Springsteen, and he played Promised Land. I was screaming! I was grateful to Bruce, but what was going on was what was in my life when I heard that song first. That's the humbling bit that performers don't want to admit to; they're only a small part of what's really going on."

Sheer rock canyon walls drip with ice as the car maneuvers the icy road. Bono turns and says they try to write songs less about their internal feelings and more about the world outside themselves. "To express yourself, the kind of modus operandi for the iGeneration, can lead to some unpleasant results."

U2 3D, with its three-dimensional camera-roving, aspires to not just put the moviegoer in the best seat in the house, but the 50 best seats.

When he talks about the film, Bono grins and raises his eyebrows behind circular purple-tinted glasses. "It's got some rock 'n' roll. It's got some swagger, and that'll either annoy you, or it won't. But in the end, it's the emotional force of it."

He says his favorite sequence is the song Miss Sarajevo, which includes an opera part originally recorded by the late Luciano Pavarotti. "It takes on a lot of extra resonance, and it's very hard to listen to that." The Edge nods quietly, and Bono goes on: "It's my favorite U2 song, I have to say. Normally, when I hear a U2 song on the radio I cringe. Either, a) I sound like a girl, or the lyric isn't finished. … But there are some songs that I really, really do enjoy. Miss Sarajevo is one of them."

The Edge says, "For me, it was great to see the film for the first time because I've actually never seen U2 live." Bono laughs, and The Edge jokes: "I've been to a lot of U2 concerts, but I've never seen the band! So this is the closest I've ever seen to what the fans experience."

By Anthony Breznican, USA TODAY

U2 3D

Of course Cami and I have our tickets ready to go for the event next Wednesday night! We are so EXCITED!!! I just wish we could be together for it! We will give a complete review of the show for all of you "die hard" fans like us!

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!