All That You Can't Leave Behind

This week we found some old VH1 Videos “Behind the music: U2” and we will be releasing one a day for the next six days.

Watch for those videos coming this week. The staff spent the weekend enjoying some great music and kicking back and getting ready for EURO tour coming soon. Well thats what we hope.

Mean time we had a chance to look back at our thoughts of All That You Can’t Leave Behind…….

All That You Can’t Leave Behind is the tenth studio album by rock band U2. It was released on 30 October 2000 by Island Records in the United Kingdom and Interscope Records in the United States. Following the mixed reception to their 1997 album, Pop, All That You Can’t Leave Behind represented a return to a more conventional sound for the band after they experimented with alternative rock and dance music in the 1990s.

At the time of the album’s release, U2 said on a number of occasions that they were “reapplying for the job … [of] the best band in the world”. U2 brought back producers Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois who had produced a number of the band’s previous albums. The album was originally named “U2000”, which was a working title for their past PopMart Tour.

All That You Can’t Leave Behind has sold over 12 million copies, received wide critical acclaim, and won seven Grammy Awards. The songs “Beautiful Day”, “Walk On”, “Elevation”, and “Stuck in a Moment You Can’t Get Out Of” were all successful singles. In 2003, the album was ranked number 139 on Rolling Stone magazine’s list of “The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time”.

The band were not pleased with the reception of the Pop album and PopMart Tour. After the band’s experimentation with alternative rock and electronic dance music on their previous three records, guitarist The Edge said the band had “taken the deconstruction of the rock ‘n’ roll band format to its absolute ‘nth degree. The band wished to return to song arrangements that consisted almost entirely of guitar, bass, and drums, and to regroup in the studio relatively quickly after the PopMart tour wrapped up. They reunited with producers Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois, who also produced The Unforgettable Fire, The Joshua Tree and Achtung Baby albums.

While the band wanted to develop material before recording, Eno convinced them to work on writing material quickly in the studio. For three weeks in late 1998, U2, Eno, and Lanois recorded demos in Hanover Quay Studios. One of the few quality ideas from these brief sessions, was the song “Kite”. Lead singer Bono’s vocals inspired everyone in the studio and came following vocal problems he had been having for the last few years.U2 believed they would have a new record completed in time for 1999.

After the band’s brief demo sessions, The Edge worked alone on song ideas before the band reunited at Hanover Quays. They recorded with the mentality of a “band in a room playing together”, an approach that led to the album’s more stripped-down sound.

Bono’s involvement in the Jubilee 2000 campaign prevented him from dedicating all of his time to the album’s recording, something Eno thought was a distraction.There was also a two-month break in the sessions when Bono worked with Lanois and Hal Wilner on the Million Dollar Hotel film soundtrack.The band had thought they could complete the album for 1999, but the sessions ran long,with band members’ conflicting schedules playing a large part in the delay. U2 did not want to put a deadline on completing the album after their experience with their previous album which had to be rushed to completion before the pre-booked PopMart Tour.

In the summer 1999, bassist Adam Clayton and drummer Larry Mullen, Jr. bought houses in the South of France, in order to be near Bono and Edge’s homes so they could have a place to both “work and play”.

The band have said that All That You Can’t Leave Behind was an album that acknowledged the band’s past. For example, there was a big debate amongst the band members during the writing and recording of “Beautiful Day”; The Edge was playing with a guitar tone that he hadn’t used much since their 1983 album War and the band wanted something more forward-looking. The Edge won out and the sound would make it into the final studio version for the song. Additionally, although the record was described as “a return to the traditional U2 sound”, many songs were complex and retained elements of the band’s 1990s experimenting; “Beautiful Day” features an electronic drum beat, and the song’s intro features an “electronification of the [chorus] chords with a beat box and a string part”; “New York” came together when the band members were away at a meeting and Lanois and Eno were playing around with a drum loop that drummer Larry Mullen, Jr. had recorded. The album’s recording wrapped up in 2000.

Wide Awake in America

U2 fans have you had a chance to read “Wide Awake in America”? This weekly series has been growing for the past couple of months. If you have not had a chance to read the series, please do. We support our writters and we would like to hear your thoughts on her work. We are now looking for three new writters.

So if your a U2 fan and you have the skills to share your love of U2. Drop us a line.

U2 vs. Echo and The Bunnymen

Nicole Vanasse

Who am I to say who are the Contenders and Pretenders?  What gives me the right?  Fandom?  Good enough reason for me. 

When it comes to Echo and the Bunnymen, I really WANT to tell them they’re contenders, but the way they slag U2 (particularly frontman Ian McCulloch) might influence my decision to look upon them as pretenders. It’s no secret of the riff between the two, if not evident now, it certainly was back in the 80’s. 

Perhaps they were doomed to obscurity simply because they were ahead of their time or couldn’t manage themselves.  Plagued by adversity and bad decisions, Echo and The Bunnymen just couldn’t get off the ground. 

They’ve been through various incarnations throughout time and finally dialed back in with 2005’s Siberia, which reflected a return to roots with the last two remaining original members of the band, McCulloch and Will Sergeant.  Many would tell you it’s their best stuff since 1983’s Ocean Rain.

Many would also tell you that it was U2 who pirated the sound of Echo and The Bunnymen. It’s been a long standing debate as to who influenced whom between The Bunnymen and our beloved U2.  It’s close.  Their timelines are virtually identical: having been formed in 1978, release of their first album in 1980, set upon their first tour of America in 1980-81,

Like The Blades in Ireland, Echo and The Bunnymen laid claim to being the most unique band in England.  McCulloch was often blasting contemporary Irish U2 and Scottish Simple Minds, both who had also been forging a promising career as a rock band at the same time.

Julian Cope and Ian McCulloch started the ball rolling together that paved the way for Echo and the Bunnymen.  They played together in the quartet, A Shallow Madness, which exploded when McCulloch was relieved of his duties by Cope.  Cope went on to form Teardrop Explodes and McCulloch went on to form Echo and the Bunnymen in post-punk England.

Can it be possible that U2 were destined for their success?  Time and time again it’s been proven to me that U2 was the strongest to come out of the post-punk scene.  The fact that they’re from Ireland worked more against them than for them at that time.  Their tenacity is nothing surprising to us but to understand just how tenacious is to realize that it was their drive that separated them from the rest.  While some of the other post-punk bands of the late-seventies were dealing with internal differences and dynamics, U2 decided to put all that aside and forge ahead, although there was that one time religion almost put an end to the idea.

I read an interesting interview with McCulloch given by Canadian celebrity Nardwuar.  Nardwuar told McCulloch that upon meeting Courtney Love at one time, she told him that not only was McCulloch the most important rock star ever, but that she had been hanging around U2 in NYC and claimed that Bono himself told her that “Ian was always better than me.  We just had better management.” McCulloch was humbled by this, and from that moment on had the highest of regards for Bono, calling him a real “gentleman” after all the rotten things he said about him at the time both bands were battling it out for our devotion.  It seems that Ian has matured and softened over the years (which some say is reflected in his later work) so perhaps he’s got that monkey off his back. 

U2 may have had better management, but it still doesn’t speak to the passion and drive they had to make it work and become successful.  If you’ve read some of the accounts of many of these bands from the mid-to-early 70’s, you’ll realize that there has been no love lost between them and the greatest band in the world.  Sometimes it is better management, sometimes it’s in the timing and sometimes it’s jealousy on the part of the pretenders.  I’ve always been a strong believer in the notion that you can do whatever you want to do in life if you want it bad enough.  There are no limitations or ceilings, only that which you perceive to be limitations and ceilings.  Why I love this band is because they never gave up, they pressed on and tested their limits time after time.  Because of this, they became the biggest rock band in the world.  Without the pretenders, they may not have turned out to be who they are today.

Next week: Another close battle with Simple Minds…who have also been slagged by McCulloch!

Outside Is America: U2

Just simply said  “The world wants to believe in America again because the world needs to believe in America again. We need your ideas — your idea — at a time when the rest of the world is running out of them.” Bono

Happy Birthday America from U2TOURFANS.com.”Bullet the Blue Sky” is the fourth track from U2’s 1987 album, The Joshua Tree. The song is one of the band’s most overtly politically toned songs, with live performances often being heavily critical of war and guns.

Although never released as a single, “Bullet the Blue Sky” has been played at nearly every one of the band’s live concerts since its first performance at the opening night of the Joshua Tree Tour on April 2, 1987.

The song was originally written about the United States’ military intervention during the 1980s in the El Salvador Civil War. Bono told The Edge to “put El Salvador through an amplifier”. The song is a combination of The Edge’s guitar slides, Adam Clayton’s laid back bassline, Larry Mullen Jr.’s cold drumming and Bono’s aggressive and growly vocals during the verses, and a spoken word section during the bridge. Clayton played the song in a different key from the rest of the band: Clayton’s bass riffs are in E flat minor while The Edge is playing D flat. Bono was thinking of American President Ronald Reagan as he sang “This guy comes up to me / His face red like a rose on a thorn bush / Like all the colors of a royal flush / And he’s peeling off those dollar bills / Slapping them down.”

Although it was never released as a single, “Bullet the Blue Sky” has been played at nearly every one of the band’s live concerts since its first performance at the opening night of the Joshua Tree Tour on April 2, 1987.

Bullet the Blue Sky

In the howling wind comes a stinging rain
See it driving nails
Into the souls on the tree of pain
From the firefly, a red orange glow
See the face of fear
Running scared in the valley below

Bullet the blue sky
Bullet the blue sky
Bullet the blue
Bullet the blue

In the locust wind comes a rattle and hum
Jacob wrestled the angel
And the angel was overcome
You plant a demon seed
You raise a flower of fire
See them burning crosses
See the flames higher and higher

Bullet the blue sky
Bullet the blue sky
Bullet the blue
Bullet the blue

This guy comes up to me
His face red like a rose on a thorn bush
Like all the colors of a royal flush
And he’s peeling off those dollar bills
Slapping them down
One hundred, two hundred
And I can see those fighter planes
And I can see those fighter planes
Across the mud huts where the children sleep
Through the alleys of a quiet city street
You take the staircase to the first floor
Turn the key and slowly unlock the door
As a man breathes into a saxophone
And through the walls you hear the city groan
Outside is America
Outside is America

Across the field you see the sky ripped open
See the rain through a gaping wound
Pounding on the women and children
Who run
Into the arms
Of America

@U2 - Bullet the Blue Sky lyrics are the property and copyright of their owners.

U2's OutTake

Experimental doesn’t always mean the musician is actually trying equipment or recording techniques that are unproven and revolutionary. It often just means that they are trying a sound they don’t know if people will like, so the experiment is whether fans will follow the musician into unproven waters. U2 has never been known as experimental, but it does frequently push their sound to new, though generally safe directions. “Soon” is not safe, but that is probably why it is an outtake and not on No Line On The Horizon, for which it was recorded.

If this tune sounds familiar, then you probably saw the recent U2 360 Degrees tour, which saw the band use this tune as its intro music. If you want to own it, though, you have to fork over some cash for the deluxe DVD version of U2 360 Degrees at the Rose Bowl, which includes “Soon” as a 7 inch on red vinyl (via Slicing Up Eyeballs). A few more thoughts on the song:

– If you told me this was the new Animal Collective song, I would believe you until the 48th second, where it just sounds like old dudes are making weird music.

– U2 should make all their new songs two minutes. It is enough time to develop a melody, but not enough time to make me feel guilty about something.

– Brian Eno is given both lyrical and music credits on this song. Eno, of course, produced a number of U2 albums including No Line On The Horizon and is quite the genius. Also given this credit is Eno’s co-producer Daniel Lanois.

A Band on a Mission

Dave Long 2010 /U2TOURFANS For his part, Bono makes it clear his praise is directed to a higher power. “They’re all, to me, songs of praise to God and creation, even the angry ones,” he told CNN

U2 is a band on a mission, and a strong sense of integrity and purpose is the foundation for their music, lyrics, and relationships. They’ve sold a gargantuan number of records (estimates range between 100 and 150 million), won many Grammy Awards, and been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

In an industry where longevity is measured in months, the band has stuck together and racked up years’ worth of smash hits and signature songs.

Yet for all the celebrity hype, Bono retains a certain authenticity, a centeredness. “He seems humble,” people have commented during the last tour.

The 1987 release of The Joshua Tree (the band’s seventh album) catapulted U2 into the rock stratosphere. It brought together anthems of spiritual longing (“Where the Streets Have No Name,” “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For”) with haunting songs about U.S. foreign policy and oppression in Central and South America (“Bullet the Blue Sky,” “Mothers of the Disappeared”).

Beneath the Surface

Probing beneath the surface of both the songs and the band’s persona is key to understanding and appreciating their music. But attempts to neatly categorize the band as “Christian” or “secular” are doomed to failure. For example, on the one hand, U2 is led by a cigar-puffing rock-and-roll star with a fondness for drink and an occasionally foul mouth. On the other, its impressive catalogue of albums is drenched in Christian spirituality—with lyrics written by the self-same star.

Of the band’s four members, only bass player Adam Clayton does not profess a Christian faith. In the song “Acrobat,” Bono acknowledges his Christian tightrope act in the hedonistic world of rock and roll: “Yeah, I’d break bread and wine/ If there was a church I could receive in./ Cause I need it now/ To take the cup, to fill it up/ To drink it slow, I can’t let you go/ And I must be an acrobat/ To talk like this and act like that.”

The band also likes to juxtapose erotic love with agape love using lyrics that could refer either to a woman or to God. Consider “The End of the World,” a song about Judas’s betrayal of Jesus: “Last time we met/ Was a low-lit room/ We were as close together as a bride and groom/ We ate the food, we drank the wine/ Everybody having a good time /Except you, you were talking about the end of the world.”

Bono wears one set of wraparound sunglasses but many hats: acrobat, showman, rock star, songwriter. But the role of social activist is one he takes very seriously. Earlier this year, Bono told the Los Angeles Times, “I genuinely believe that second only to personal redemption, the most important thing in the Scriptures … refers to taking care of the world’s poor.”

That conviction crystallized in 1985, when Bono and his wife, Alison, worked in an Ethiopian orphanage in the midst of a famine. On their last day, a man handed Bono his baby son and asked if the rock star would take him so the child would survive. Bono turned him down. “It was a funny kind of sick feeling … a feeling I can’t ever quite forget,” Bono said.

Bono works tirelessly to make sure the rest of us don’t forget the twin scourges of poverty and AIDS in Africa. During the concert, he challenged Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin to live up to a pledge to put more money toward foreign aid. As Martin’s office phone number was broadcast across huge screens, Bono urged concert-goers to pull out their cellphones. “We want to make poverty history! This is the year!” The phones’ display screens lit up the stadium like a galaxy of twinkling stars as their owners called their nation’s leader.

Chords of Hope

U2 strikes chords of hope and optimism—

Perhaps it gives God goosebumps to hear these Irish rockers touch millions with their music while acknowledging and praising his name, even as they wrestle with him on a very public stage. May Bono’s voice and U2’s music ring out for a long, long time to come.

Statements of Faith

“I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For” (from Joshua Tree)
I believe in the Kingdom Come,
Then all the colors will bleed into one
But yes I’m still running.
You broke the bonds and you
Loosed the chains.
Carried the cross and all my shame,
You know I believe it.
But I still haven’t found what I’m looking for.

“Grace” (from All That You Can’t Leave Behind)
Grace, it’s the name for a girl
It’s also a thought that changed the world.
What once was hurt
What once was friction
What left a mark
No longer stains.
Because grace makes beauty
Out of ugly things.

U2 Top Money Maker

If there was any doubt that U2 was the biggest band in the world, one look at Billboard’s Top Money Makers list should do the trick. Based on actual revenue earned by music artists from touring and music sales, U2 hits #1 on the list, earning nearly double of what the next biggest money maker earned at #2.

Thanks to their sold-out U2 360° tour, the band is likely to earn the title for highest-grossing tour in history thanks to the high capacities of their 360-degree setup. The first tour as part of their current deal Live Nation, that includes touring, merchandise, and more, U2 is a clear lead at #1 with an estimated $108 million dollars in revenue.

Bruce Springsteen is at #2 thanks to his constant touring schedule, the release of a new studio album and Walmart-exclusive hits collection, as well as publishing revenue from his discography of self-written songs and over 2 million in digital sales, The Boss earned a cool $58 million last year.

Madonna came in at #3, earning an estimated $47 million thanks to international stadium sell-outs of her “Sticky & Sweet” tour as part of her new Live Nation deal, as well as her branding and licensing deals. International touring brought in the green for “Back In Black” singers AC/DC, who earned $43 million last year.

Sorry Ringling Brothers, but Britney Spears had the highest-grossing circus last year. Her sold-out “Circus” tour, along with album sales and over 7.5 million digital downloads, earned her over $38 million last year.

The rest of the top money makers according to Billboard include Pink ($36 million), the Jonas Brothers ($33 million), Coldplay ($27 million), Kenny Chesney ($26 million), and Metallica ($25 million).

Jay-Z Performs At Bonnaroo 2010

Perhaps the loftiest praise Jay-Z could receive for Saturday’s prodigious gig at Bonnaroo’s What stage was that he didn’t miss Beyonce (who was spotted on site, but didn’t perform) and that he wasn’t overshadowed by Stevie Wonder (who’d wowed the crowd on the same stage a couple of hours prior).

Rather, Jay made a boisterous case that every major worldwide music festival should probably keep him on retainer as headliner for the foreseeable future. With his genial rock-star swagger, barrage of modern pop standards, and dazzling video fantasia, the man who once seemed on the verge of crotchety irrelevance after the ill-fated “Death of Auto-Tune” campaign, has now provided the star-wattage at All Points West, Coachella, and Bonnaroo in the past year.

There was a remarkable amount of tolerance for the repeated solemnization of New York and even the cornier new material—“Young Forever,” “Empire State of Mind”—resulted in mass singalongs with lighters, cell phones, and glow sticks hoisted high.

When the band kicked into U2’s “Sunday Bloody Sunday” for the alternate version of “Heart of the City (Ain’t No Love),” it recalled the moment when the transformation of Jay-Z into go-to festival eminence began: Glastonbury 2008, where he strategically responded to Noel Gallagher’s statement that hip-hop had no place at the fest by miming “Wonderwall,” guitar in hand, and generally crushing the unprepared Oasis leader’s credibility.

For a man who obviously needs fresh challenges, here was a new field of play. It appealed to his increasing love of rock and his neverending desire to locate new markets for his music. Now, two years later, he’s actually begun to master the form. Let’s hope he doesn’t think that he’s completely conquered the game just yet.

No matter how big Bonnaroo gets, or how many up years or down years it endures, or how many porta-potties overflow, I hope that the festival’s devotees never change. The people who go to Bonnaroo remind me of the New Orleans Jazz Fest faithful - not in every way, but in their dedication to the music (granted, much like Jazzfest, not everyone is there for the music). Even the bands are consistently amazed at how many people show up in the middle of a Tennessee farm and know the band member’s names and the words to their music. In a way, this mentality fosters a mindset that is desperately needed in today’s music consumers, and that is attention to detail. Bonnaroo has come a long way from its roots by doing what it needs to survive. What it needs now, on the cusp of the tenth anniversary of the event, is for everyone involved to keep making it the best music experience possible.

U2 Ranks Top on Forbes

The world’s biggest rock band, U2 launched a massive world tour in 2009 that has brought in more than $311 million in gross box office receipts. Each tour stop brings in $10 million in gross ticket sales. Add in lucrative merchandise sales, heavy radio play and a steady-selling back catalog, and you have the highest-earning band on the planet.

Power Rank	7
Pay	$130.0 mil
Category	Musicians
Pay Rank	3
Web Rank	11
Press Rank	18
TV/Radio Rank	54
Social Rank	28

Elevaton Funds Facebook

It’s a beautiful day at Facebook. Elevation partners has just injected $120 million in venture capital, which will certainly help power-up Zuckerberg’s business … but why did Bono’s firm make this move?Back in November 2009 Elevation slid about $90 million over the negotiation table in exchange for 2.5 million shares in the world’s most popular social networking Web site, and has seen that investment multiply by two and a half times in value. So perhaps it’s not surprising that Elevation has just forked over another $120 million for a further five million shares at the moment—especially given the fact that the economy really seems to be recovering, and Facebook’s success has been continuing onwards and upwards with more users joining every day.