A rock group with a social conscience and a spiritual message can still be immensely popular and produce great music—especially if it has a powerful beat. The group U2 proves the theory.
Hailed by Rolling Stone magazine as “one of the most adventurous and groundbreaking acts in pop music,” the Irish ensemble features a big, soaring sound, highlighted by their singer Bono’s intense, often sensuous vocals, and the Edge’s reverb-laden guitar style. The blending of this powerful wall of sound with Bono’s starkly poetic lyrics has created a catalogue of classics (including “Where the Streets Have No Name” and “Desire”) which made U2 the most commercially successful rock band of the 1980s.
U2 was assembled in 1978 while its members were still students at Dublin’s Mount Temple High School. Made up of singer-lyricist Bono (b. Paul Hewson, May 10, I960), guitarist the Edge (b. Dave Evans, August 8, 1961), bassist Adam Clayton (b. March 15, I960), and drummer Larry Mullen, Jr. (b. October 31, 1961) the band started their musical career playing other people’s songs at small, local clubs. They were first called Feedback and later the Hype, before settling on U2.
In 1980, U2 signed with the Island record label, and released its debut album Boy, which is full of fierce energy and teenage angst. The group manifested its spiritual side on the 1981 album October, with the Christian symbolism most evident in the songs “Gloria” and “Rejoice.” With the 1983 album War, the band went from being a successful Irish band to world superstardom. Revealing the group’s political consciousness, the album featured the song “Sunday Bloody Sunday,” a rock anthem that dealt with the troubles in Northern Ireland. The title refers to the day in January 1972 when 13 Catholic protesters were shot dead by British paratroopers. Another song, “The Unforgettable Fire” (1984), further documented the band’s devotion to social justice. “(Pride) In the Name of Love” was dedicated to the civil rights leader Martin Luther King. The band made a memorable appearance at the 1985 Live Aid charity concert, and later that year Bono appeared as one of the Artists Against Apartheid on the “Sun City” single. But the critical and commercial success of their 1987 album The Joshua Tree, with several Top 10 hits including, “With or Without You” and “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For,” elevated the band into the pantheon of rock legends. Ranked by Rolling Stone as the third best album of the 1980s, Joshua Tree won two Grammys, including album of the year.
Rattle & Hum, a 1988 “rockumentary” of the band’s U.S. tour, yielded two hit singles, “Desire” and “Angel of Harlem.” However, the accompanying album was met with, at best, indifference from critics. Achtung Baby (1991), notable for “Mysterious Ways” and “One,” showed U2 undergoing a stylistic change to a more dance-oriented sound and more intimate love songs.
Johnny CASH made a memorable guest appearance, singing “The Wanderer” on the 1993 album Zooropa, which Bono hailed as his favourite U2 track— even though his voice was not on it. However, Bono did appear with Frank SINATRA on his 1993 album Duets, singing a gender-bending “I’ve Got You Under My Skin.” The 1995 single “Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me” heard in the film Batman Forever, signaled a continuing interest in experimenting with many musical genres, as did the album Pop (1997), with its innovative blend of funk, house and rock.
Michael R. Ross
SEE ALSO: ROCK FESTIVALS; ROCK MUSIC.
FURTHER READING
Carter, Alan. U2: The Road to Pop (London: Faber, 1997);
Editors of Rolling Stone magazine. U2 (London: Pan, 1995);
Stokes, Niall. Into the Heart: The Stories Behind Every U2 Song (London: Carlton Books, 1997).
SUGGESTED LISTENING
Achtung Baby; The Joshua Tree; Pop; Under a Blood Red Sky; The Unforgettable Fire; War; Zooropa.