Day 12

[cpratt]

Day 12. A song from a band you hate

These guys are from England and who gives a shit?

The day U2 was released, I bought a copy at Amoeba Records in Berkeley. The clerk warned me that I was not in fact buying a U2 record; my first instinct was to tell her "well, why the fuck else would I be buying this record

Comments

[fba]

The problem with U2 is that they are pompous beyond belief and Bono is probably the most self-righteous irritating twat in existence. That said - I do like a few of their albums. Everything prior to The Joshua Tree is good post-punk (albeit with an overly religious slant) and Achtung Baby has some amazing songs (notably 'One' which was done so much better by Johnny Cash).

[cpratt]

You forgot the whole part about ripping off already-established cultural traditions to sell more T-shirts. "Hey! American! Yeah! Rock and roll! We love the blues!!!"

[fba]

Heheh - even Bono hates Rattle & Hum era U2 :D

[muckefuck]

Everything prior to The Joshua Tree is good post-punk

"Back when they were a first-rate Irish band instead of a third-rate American one," as my buddy princeofcairo would say.

I actually liked the religiosity. It was a refreshing change from the sometimes snotty cynicism of so many other post-punk bands at the time.

[cpratt]

Nice quote there.

I'm fine with religious content as well - at least it was them, right? Better than ripping off American bluesmen...

[muckefuck]

Someone once made the argument to me that Prattle and Humbug was widely misunderstood, that it was really the product of their excitement at finally being able to play music with some of the American musicians they'd admired for years. Yeah, I'm not sure I buy the old "it's really an homage" line in this case either, but it's good to have some alternative to the dominant "ripoff/sellout" assessment.