New music requires new classifications. Or is no classification?
U2 is the sort of band that prompts the above riddle. The Irish group’s sweeping and majestic music is “rock” in one sense, but simultaneously transcends all genres.
U2’s uniqueness is probably due to the emotional depth charges they detonate live and on record. Their debut album, Boy, is a glorious roar of hope, drenched in emotion. The band has a wonderful ability to find the musical correlatives to the ideas stirring in their young hearts and minds.
U2 singer and main songwriter Bono Vox, 20, projects warmth and openness from the moment you meet him; when introduced, he grasps your arm with both hands, making you feel immediately at ease. He’s quick to pick up a comment that Boy‘s images and aural wash are startlingly vivid.
“What we were looking for in Boy was a sort of cinema sound, a Panavision-really textured and big, like a huge screen in a cinema. The lyrics are very picturesque; they don’t tell a story as such, they’re just various images in the album that link together to form one big picture. There are enough little groups around playing little sounds, very unimportant. We wanted a big sound. We’re using a three-piece format-bass, guitar and drums — like the three primary colors. We’re mixing them, trying to get the most out of them.”
It works well. The Edge, U2’s guitarist lays down thick chords here, dreamy tonal support there, and even a straightforward solo now and again just to bring it all back home. Bono’s expressive tenor is always in control; Adam Clayton’s bass, with Larry Mullen’s drums, make a solid foundation, no matter the dynamic shade. For all that, the music fits into a pop format, as full of hooks and memorable melodies as deeper moments that make you mull over — or just appreciate — what you’re hearing.
U2 stands for hope — another singular trait. A lot of groups represent some form of nihilism, escapism or despair; how many can honestly state the opposite case?
“It is a celebration,” Bono says. ” ‘Shadows and Tall Trees,’ on the album, begins a pensive mood, as the character — who is me — looks around him. He sees this pattern developing, the repetition of everyday life. It really gets to him, really irritates him, as he realizes ‘Mrs. Brown’s washing is always the same.’ I was listening to housewives talking; in Dublin there’s this expression — ‘I know, I know‘ they say to each other, ‘I know‘ — but I realized that’s very beautiful in many ways. It’s often the everyday things that are beautiful.
“We chose the name U2 to be ambiguous, to stay away from categorization. People who work in print tend to tidy things up a bit — put a stack of bands in that way, a stack of bands in here. People don’t fit into boxes. We all smell different, we all eat different, we all are different. There’s a huge audience out there of individuals.”
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