U2 and Their New Album (Part 1)

Before I listen to U2's new album here's what I think of them. I was in highschool when All That You Can't Leave Behind came out and I remember being surprised at how good it was. A lot of people called it a come back, but a come back to what? None of their other records sounded like that one, and none of their other records were as good as that one. It was like the praise and reputation they had recieved were the prophecies of the band they would become in 2001. How did their fans know? "In a Little While" is an amazing and touching song off of that album that they'd never given a hint they were capable of. The mystery of U2. They are, and have always been, written about and praised for characteristics that are wildly unrelated to what their music actually is. Between the thought of U2 and their expression lies the shadow.


What threw me off when I first heard them, and what still throws me off, is the complete lack of sex in their music. People can point to whatever lyric or song they want to, there has never been a more asexual band in the history of rock and roll. Since before Elvis Presley, the main aim has always been pushing up against the wall any fan who acts of age. Rock music has been infused so deeply with sex that to so drastically separate the two feels, and sounds, disconcerting to me. Bono poses no danger to your daughters, let them close the bedroom door, they'll just be up talking all night. Plus he's been married for 26 years.

None of this is inherently bad though, and like Freud said "sometimes a cigar is just a cigar" But the trade off is it better be a fucking good cigar. And so when they do rise to the ocassion and find their voice, which they often times aren't able to do, what it is they're getting after is something thats not found between two bodies. Like an affirming and strange mystery, Bono, my ghostly confessor, at his best has told well a strange faith. Driven not by hunger, not by waiting bodies, all thats touched will vanish, the secrets all we've held. This is the central value of their sound, though hard to come by, and not often found, a pearl of great price. The mystery of U2. When they're good this is why, and when they're not you can measure it by the same amount.


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