Well I got sucked in all the way, in 85-86 they put out an EP called "wide awake in america" that had a live recording of "Bad" that knocked me flat out. Followed up the Joshua Tree and Rattle and Hum, they unleashed a sound never heard before, and one that bewitched me for many years.NapLajoieonSteroids wrote:It is totally an Irish thing, though I suppose it's an Irish thing of a certain kind....Torchwood wrote:Haven't made an album you'd listen to, period, I never understood the cult of U2.Mr. Perfect wrote: Maybe U2? They aren't highly rated I think, just the last big seller. Haven't made an album you'd listen to front to back since the 90's.
Their sonic innovations are up there with the all time greats, they did those records from Unforgettable Fire on with Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois and made sounds it took me nearly 10 years to replicate.
Edge uses this thing called a Herdim pick that scratches the string instead of picking it, which changes a normal plinking sound called chicken picken and turns a clean electric into something never heard before. Everyone talks about the echo but he'd never be able to do it without that pick. He went Herdim-single coil-delay and made that sound, and the blend of that sound with his singing and Bono blends as well as anything since Gilmour/Wright singing on "Time"
Additionally, they invented ('85?) what's called the shimmer during UF, which is a pitch shifter run through a delay that takes any guitar part and duplicates into an organic synthesizer sound, adding another layer into the sound that's just chilling. Edge runs it with a volume pedal live and it can blow the stadium out.
Rattle and Hum (movie) is sonically the best live recording of the period, and hasn't been rivaled until recently, for a lot of reasons. Despite being a flop it has half a dozen songs on there that are as good as anyone ever did.
Then came Achtung, which was alright, the confused Pop album which is slightly better with time but not worth defending and other than a couple of singles and one offs every album after sucked hog.
They aren't good musicians, they are amazing with the knobs, have that sound that they always want to get away from and are now boring to the point of tears and their fans are embarrassing.
Got it off my chest.