Herman Hess’s Wild Influence on Bono

Herman Hess’s Wild Influence on Bono

By Eric Shivvers 

I always knew that if you wanted to become great at your craft, you had to know the masters, or were lucky enough to be a prodigy. I will say it straight out that I’m no prodigy, therefore, I had to learn my craft of being an art director from the ground up. That’s right, watching Saturday morning cereal commercials, in the mid-70s no less, impeded by cartoons such as Looney Tunes or Hong Kong Phooey. Luckily, my parents, my mom and stepfather, were academics, which lead me to travel and live in Europe as a young kid. Those experiences have stayed with me and helped me build a knowledge base of design. Added to the fact, my father’s an architect and has a voracious, creative appetite. It’s no wonder I turned out the way I did.

I had a pretty good idea, when I filled out my application to the University of Iowa, that I was going to complete my declared major of graphic design. When I got to college, I immersed myself into expanding my knowledge of who the greats were in design, painting and photography. I would emulate them. Well, actually copy them until I found my own style, which I kept pushing as my studies moved along. I found my path being no different than that of my father’s architectural desires or my mother’s love for being a wordsmith. In fact, writing is no different than designing. In order to self-express one’s self, one must read to find out how others before you created their sense of love lost, joyful disposition or contemplation of one’s woes. Bono’s a masterful lyricist who doesn’t carry a degree from an academic institution, but instead has used life’s experiences and the understanding others works in order to master his craft. I find it heartwarming that he comes from country brimming with literary talent– W.B. Yeats, Sean O’Casey, Oscar Wilde and James Joyce.

 

The influence of prose on the lead singer can be seen in U2’s early recordings. The Ocean, on the Boy LP, has a direct reference to Oscar Wilde’s book, The Picture of Dorian Gray. The fear Bono emulates in the song is he doesn’t want to succumb to the narcissism that comes with being a rock star. The album Boy is about the trials and tribulations of teenage angst. Such a heavy, literary reference such as this seems out of proportion to a rock song, but then again, he’s bringing Oscar Wilde’s 19th century idea into pop culture. I’m not sure how many U2 fans would take this lyric and dig further into it. Do you think most casual U2 fans would go to the library and check out the book as I did? I’m not sure. As for myself, I felt I had to read the work in order to get the whole picture, excuse the pun and I did it later in life. I’m sure my stepfather would be thrilled that I read the work, but upset that it took an Irish band, and not an Irish lit scholar such as himself, to get me to read the great work.

 

Why am I blabbering about this creative inspiration? Well, I will cut to the chase. Since we’re about to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Achtung Baby, I wanted to touch on some of the songs over the next couple weeks. The first is that very underrated song, Who’s Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses. Admittedly, it’s not my favorite tune on the record. I still get it confused with the Rolling Stones song, Wild Horses. I think I’m musically dyslexic that way. However, like The Ocean on the Boy LP, Who’s Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses has a literary reference. Unlike the blatant Dorian Gray reference in The Ocean, Who’s Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses tucks a Hermann Hesse book reference under the covers of the song. The line, under the trees the river laughing at you and me, is in reference to Hesse’s book Siddartha where the river in the novel symbolizes a teacher. It’s that teacher that Bono is searching for in this citation. In my mind, the teacher could be a religious reference or that of his mother speaking to him from beyond. No matter how you read it, the brilliance here is Bono’s innate ability to reference the old and turn it anew again. Pushing that age-old story about a river into a new dress, which could be “vacant as a parking lot” or “left just out of reach” either way, it makes him a grand lyricist and one who truly is a pundit of life.

 

You can read all about Eric’s joy for U2 in his book: I’m a Fan: How I married U2 into my life without going to the altar

"Q" Exclusive U2 Cover

The Killers, Jack White, Nine Inch Nails, Snow Patrol, Patti Smith, Depeche Mode & more re-invent U2’s landmark album Q ’ the UK’s biggest selling monthly music magazine ’ is proud to announce a very special issue featuring an exclusive CD: AHK-TOONG BAY-BI COVERED ’ an interpretation of U2’s landmark album featuring a host of stellar artists.

Celebrating its 25th anniversary, Q presents the album as a commemoration of U2’s Achtung Baby, 20 this year. All of the tracks on the CD are brand new recordings made exclusively for Q.

Q Editor in Chief Paul Rees commented: “It is always Q’s intention to present a unique take on music. At a time when free CDs have become ten-a-penny, I strongly believe the Achtung Baby Covered album sets a new, and much higher, benchmark for the format. Not only in the sense that each of the tracks are brand new recordings by some of the biggest and most iconic names in music such as Jack White, Nine Inch Nails and Patti Smith, but also in that several of them mark the first new material we have heard from these acts in a long time ’ such as those by The Killers, Damien Rice and Garbage. This is an entirely appropriate way to mark Q’s anniversary and that of Achtung Baby, one of the pivotal albums in our lifetime.”

The magazine/cd package is a strictly limited edition and will only be available from www.qthemusic.com and in stores from the 25th October.

Q is one of the world’s most influential music brands ’ communicating to and engaging with more than a million music fans every day. The iconic Q magazine sits at the heart of the brand and service that encompasses online, social media, radio, TV and live events, with each dedicated to discovering great new music and bringing unparalleled access and insight in the people making it.

The full track listing:

Nine Inch Nails ’ Zoo Station
U2 (Jacques Lu Cont Mix) ’ Even Better Than The Real Thing
Damien Rice ’ One
Patti Smith ’ Until The End Of The World
Garbage ’ Who’s Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses
Depeche Mode ’ So Cruel
Snow Patrol ’ Mysterious Ways
The Fray ’ Trying To Throw Your Arms Around The World
Gavin Friday ’ The Fly
The Killers ’ Ultraviolet (Light My Way)
Glasvegas ’ Acrobat
Jack White ’ Love Is Blindness

BANNED !

Bono’s star-studded famine commercial has been banned from airing on U.K. TV – because broadcasting officials fear the clip breaches rules regarding political advertising.

The U2 rocker shot the minute-long advert with a slew of his celebrity pals, including George Clooney, Jessica Alba and Colin Farrell, to raise awareness about the famine crisis sweeping across Eastern Africa.

The F Word: Famine is the Real Obscenity, which was produced by Bono’s One charity, is aimed at urging government officials to do more to tackle the hunger issue, but the TV commercial has now been taken off the airwaves by bosses at governing body Clearcast amid worries its message could potentially conflict with the terms stated in the 2003 Communications Act.

A Clearcast spokesperson tells BBC News, “These rules ensure that adverts aren’t being broadcast by bodies whose objects are wholly or mainly political.”

“One (charity) appears to be caught by this rule as they state that part of their raison d’etre (reason for existence) is to pressure political leaders. It also appears that a number of the claims made in the version of the ad that we have seen are directed towards a political end, which is again against the rules.”

1991 Last Year of Great Music ?

By Eric Shivers:
Music is my lifeblood. It’s a plain and simple fact. From Bowie to The Cure to Nirvana to U2 and well beyond, I listen to a very eclectic group of genres. However, I’m no longer a consumer of music like I was in my post-college years. I still “listen” to newer bands, but have not been very impressed with recent releases. The last time we had a major shift change in music was in 1991.
Call me old, but is was a vintage year. I believe it was the last great year of musical releases. R.E.M., The Red Hot Chili Peppers, Nirvana and U2 all put out records that changed music and all of those works have stood the test of time.
There haven’t been too many runs since then that have made such an impact. Yes, I may be naïve to the fact that other great albums have come out, indie or otherwise, and changed the world, but these were commercial releases.
Releases that took risks, bore their soul and stood out of the crowd. Of the three, Out of Time by R.E.M. is the weakest. I would call it a filler album in R.E.M.’s catalog as they began to wander through their Warner Brothers contract. Not so with The Red Hot Chili Peppers whose work on Blood, Sex, Sugar, Magic stands tall amongst others in their catalog. It’s their brilliant masterpiece, which was aided by producer Rick Rubin. Another producer, Butch Vig, worked with a little known Seattle band, Nirvana, who would make as much of an impact on the musical world as the Sex Pistols did 14 years earlier, with their album Nevermind. Added to the mix was the debut release of Pearl Jam’s Ten, which aided in exploding the flannel wearing Seattle grunge scene into the musical landscape of America at the time. And then came Achtung Baby, U2’s long awaited release.
 
For this U2 fan, Achtung Baby was one of the most anticipated albums. We had no Internet back in 1991. One had to stay in touch with “someone in the know” in order to get release information. My insider worked for Rose Records here in Chicago.
I can still remember the day I bashfully set foot into her store looking for answers to my questions about U2. I had not heard news of them for a while and feared that they may have split up. I would have been heart broken if that had happened. I walked into Rose Records on Sherman Avenue, in Evanston, on a late spring day in 1991.
I asked the store clerk about U2. She asked me if I was a fan. I said yes and she proceeded to review her cluttered surroundings for a release list. Her search ended with success. She gave me the date and then introduced herself as Phyllis. She became my “someone in the know” as she settled the unease in my stomach.
I was now filled with anticipation. What I wasn’t prepared for was how much of a metamorphosis would take place in Hansa Studio where the Irish quartet initially recorded the album.
 
On the day of the U2 release and with a mouth full of Novocain, I bought the newly minted U2 disc and headed home with wariness and excitement. I put the CD into my player with trepidation. I turned off all the lights in my apartment and let the gray, overcast sky outside my window blanket my room. What seeped out of my stereo moments later was something so different and transformative that I asked myself if this was still U2.
I would come to learn that Bono and Edge were knee deep into the Manchester dance sound.
Those influences can be heard on Even Better Than the Real Thing and Mysterious Ways. By the end of the first run through of the disc, including a couple song repeats, I wanted to hear it again. U2, like Nirvana and all of the other releases that year, were transforming music. The likes of which have not been seen since.
You can read all about Eric’s joy for U2 in his book    I’m a Fan: How I married U2 into my life without going to the altar

Thank you Steve for the U2 iPod

Bono / Steve Jobs

U2 fans have a special love for Steve Jobs. It was October 26, 2004 when Apple introduced the IPOD U2 Special Edition as part of a partnership between Apple, U2 and Universal Music Group (UMG) to create innovative new products together for the new digital music era.

The new U2 iPod holds up to 5,000 songs and featured a gorgeous black enclosure with a red Click Wheel and custom engraving of U2 band member signatures.

“U2 and Apple has a special relationship where they redefined the music business,” said Jimmy Iovine, Chairman of UMG’s Interscope Geffen A&M Records. “The iPod along with iTunes is the most complete thought that we’ve seen in music in a very long time.”

“We want our audience to have a more intimate online relationship with the band, and Apple can help us do that,” said Bono. iPod and iTunes look like the future to me and it’s good for everybody involved in music,” said The Edge. 

“U2 is one of the greatest bands in the world and we are floored to be working with them,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “We just wanted to make some innovative products together, and we hope U2 fans will love having their very own special edition iPod.”

U2 Ipod Limited Edition

The new U2 iPod was introduced as the band prepared to release their new album “How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb” in late November. In addition to the new U2 iPod, the results of the U2, Apple and UMG partnership included:

• U2’s single “Vertigo” from their upcoming album “How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb” is available exclusively in the US through the iTunes® Music Store;

• Apple and U2 have created a breakthrough television ad featuring U2 band members performing their new single “Vertigo.” The ad is a cross between Apple’s award-winning “Silhouette” ads and a music video; and

• Apple has created the online music industry’s first-of-its-kind “Digital Box Set.” The first digital box set, “The Complete U2,” will contain over 400 tracks including all of the band’s albums and over 25 rare and unreleased tracks. U2 fans where able to purchase and download The Complete U2 with just one click on the iTunes Music Store in the US and Europe.

 

Baby Edition Track Listings

How many of you own a copy of Achtung Baby ? You could own the Vinyl, CD, or Digital copy at least once over the last couple of years. So when you heard about the release or we call it a reissue you really had only one major question right ? Well the bonus stuff is pretty interesting and of course we will provide you the full details of everything that is avialable on all verisions.  Check out our special Achtung Baby section which will break down everything for you.

For example: Extremely limited numbered Uber Deluxe Edition is a magnetic puzzle tiled box contains six CDs including the original Achtung Baby album, the follow-up album, Zooropa, b-sides and re-workings of previously unheard material recorded during the Achtung Baby sessions. Four DVDs including “From The Sky Down”, Zoo TV, all the videos from Achtung Baby plus bonus material. Also includes five clear seven inch vinyl singles in their original sleeves, 16 art prints taken from the original album sleeve, an 84-page hardback book, a copy of Propaganda magazine, four badges, a sticker sheet, and a pair of Bono’s trademark “The Fly” sunglasses. Band members sold separately.

Song Highlight:

“One“  It is the third track from their 1991 album Achtung Baby, and it was released as the record’s third single in March 1992. During the album’s recording, conflict arose between the band members over the direction of U2’s sound and the quality of their material. Tensions almost prompted the band to break up, until guitarist The Edge composed a chord progression that inspired the group to improvise the song, which was written as a ballad. The band worked on the mix for “One” throughout the remainder of the album’s sessions. The lyrics, written by lead singer Bono, describe fracturing interpersonal relationships, but they have been interpreted in other ways.

“One” was released as a benefit single, with proceeds going towards AIDS research. The song reached number seven on the UK Singles Chart and number ten on the Billboard Hot 100, and it topped the US Billboard Album Rock Tracks and Modern Rock Tracks charts. In promotion of the song, the band had several music videos filmed, although they were not pleased until the third video was created.

The song has since been acclaimed as one of the greatest songs of all time, and it is consistently featured in listener and critic polls. The song has been played by U2 at every one of their tour concerts since the song’s live debut in 1992, and it has appeared in many of the band’s concert films. In a live setting, “One” is often used by the band to promote human rights or social justice causes, and the song lends its namesake to Bono’s charitable organization, the ONE Campaign. In 2006, U2 re-recorded the song as part of a duet with contemporary R&B singer Mary J. Blige.

"Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close”

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close” trailer was just released. On a U2 song, we are introduced to the life of a family who lost a member in the 9/11 tragedy. Tom Hanks, Thomas Horn and Sandra Bullock walk us around the Central park and the World Trade Center Towers, offering a glimpse of the action.

“Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close” is a drama movie which tells the story of a boy who is only nine years old, but who is already an inventor, a jewelry designer and a tambourine player and is confronted with a tragedy. His father died in the 9/11 attacks. Now, he found a key he does not know anything about but the fact that it matches a mysterious lock somewhere. He goes in search of the lock in the hope that he will find out what it hides and that maybe it has something to do with his father. A significant detail is that, in fact, it was his father who gave him the key, prior to the day of his death.

The movie is adapted from the book with the same title, written by Eric Roth and Jonathan Safran Foer. In the book, the boy, Oskar Schell discovers the key in a vase in his home. The action starts two years after his father’s death in September11, 2001.

October

 

 

October

And the trees are stripped bare

Of all they wear

What do I care

October

And kingdoms rise

And kingdoms fall

But you go on…

 

At the beginning of every October, I play this track. I don’t know why, but I just do. The song is a haunting song, consisting of 26 words and two themes. 

The first theme has to do with death. Obviously, it’s Bono’s reflection of a tree losing its leaves, which I think is a metaphor about losing his mother. The mother I feel he is speaking of is Mother Nature, stripping us bear of our emotional being as we take on winter. As I listen to the track, I envision a heavy, grey sky above me, almost suffocating. A lone tree, away from the forest on the horizon, stands naked before me.

The image is not in color but in high contrast black and white. The starkness reminds me of those days trekking across the University of Iowa campus as fall slipped into winter. Harsh wind, howling through the through the streets flanked by buildings made of brick and limestone, wisps dry leaves from unsecured spot to another.  

The second theme spoken here is one of kingdoms and very little has been said about this other that it may be a reference to the Russian revolution. It’s interesting how these two themes meet in this song, especially when the band was still in their religious phase as the album October was being worked on. Kingdoms could also loosely refer to the Kingdom of God or Jerusalem or Babylon or Rome for that matter. Yet, it is has been said that Bono was reflecting on the Bolshevik October uprising and how that intertwines with the emotions of losing a mother is the biggest mystery here.

I will say this, October, for this U2 fan, has been the biggest month of my life. I saw th Irish quartet in concert for the first time on October 20th, 1987. I was just a sophomore in college at the University of Iowa when Bono et al came to Iowa City to play on the Joshua Tree tour. Our campus wasn’t on the initial tour schedule. We got the show by default thanks to the University of Northern Iowa not allowing the band to set-up their outdoor stage.

It was a stroke of luck that they came and played Carver Hawkeye Arena on that foggy night where trees were stripped bare of all they wore much like in the song. A year later, I relived my Joshua Tree tour experience when the band released Rattle & Hum on compact disc.  It would be another three Octobers before their next release, Achtung Baby, and I waited them out – patiently and impatiently.

 

Eric Shivvers is the author of I’m a Fan: How I married U2 into my life without going to the altar. You may find him on Facebook: I’m a U2 fan or on Twitter: @iamau2fan. His book is available at Amazon.com.

U2's Larry Mullen Jr. on the big screen

Larry Mullen Jr and Donald Sutherland / Man on the Train The English-language remake of Patrice Leconte’s award-winning French film of the same name, Man on the Train stars Donald Sutherland and musician Larry Mullen, Jr. in his acting debut.

A mysterious criminal (Mullen Jr.) rolls into a small town planning to knock off the local bank, assuming it will go off without a hitch. But when he encounters a retired poetry professor (Sutherland), his plans take an unlikely turn. With no place to stay, the professor generously welcomes him into his home. As the two men talk, a bond forms between these two polar opposites, and surprising moments of humor and compassion emerge. As they begin to understand each other more, they each examine the choices they’ve made in their lives, secretly longing to live the type of lifestyle the other man has lived, based on the desire to escape their own.

A superb re-make of Patrick Leconte’s 2002 film, Man on the Train is a scrumptiously literate character drama. Starring Donald Sutherland and Larry Mullen, Jr., this well-crafted entertainment’s appeal will be to a mature, intelligent demographic.

In this re-incarnation, Sutherland stars as a retired literature professor, who, in his own parlance, seems cut out of the mold of J. Alfred Prufrock. Throughout his cautious life, he’s been a man who did not “dare to eat a peach.”  Refined and restrained, he lives alone in the posh home his mother left him. Amid his books and protected by his reserve, he is, as Eliot’s poem goes, “full of high sentence, but a bit obtuse.”

The stale professor, however, is stirred by a chance meeting with his psychological and professional opposite, a laconic criminal (Mullen) who rides into town on a train. This mystery man is in cahoots to rob the local bank, the very day that the Professor is to have heart surgery. Opposites do attract in this witty character study as the Professor takes in the itinerant to stay a few days in his comfy manse.

Their polar differences spark a friendship: Each learns from the other’s point-of-view and way-of-life. Under Mary McGuckian’s perceptive hand, we’re treated to an unlikely personal bonding of two divergent personalities.

Man on the Trainis a ripe illumination, buoyed by the sterling lead performances of Sutherland and Mullen. Sutherland lays out the rich inner life of a man who holds disappointment for the cautious existence he has maintained. Wondrously, the uneducated blunt stranger’s probes and blunt observations jolt the professor from his self-constraining views. From this uneducated bloke, he becomes aware that, in his own way, he has led a rich life, albeit manifested by his inner being.

In exchange, the detached professor enriches the straightforward criminal to an alternate appreciation of life, as well.

Cinematographer Stefan von Bjorn’s silken hues and production designer Jennifer Carroll’s vibrant furnishings are precisely right for this full-bodied film.  

Venue: Cannes Film Festival
Based on the 2002 Patrick Leconte film
Cast: Donald Sutherland, Larry Mullen, Jr., Paula Boudreau, Graham Greene, Kate O’Toole, Greg Byrk, Samuel Jephcott

Director: 

Mary McGuckian

U2tober is for U2 Authors

October has been a music industry month. Releases from all your favorite bands have been scheduled for October. You have heard the term Rocktober. What’s so special about October.

U2 fans know that October has some special meaning. We thought we would celebrate October with a new selection. 

October will be U2 authors month. Yes if you have written a story about U2, U2 fans or about your experience and have a published book we want to share your work with U2 fans around the world.

Contact us this week September 26 - 28th to be selected. You will be offered a weekly or daily byline where you can share your work and gain some new found support for your work.

Currently we are interested in the written word, however we will consider photo collections, audio collections for the next phase of the project. We request all work to be submitted by the orginal writer. You will retain all rights to your book, story.

Don’t worry if you don’t have images, or web skills our crafty team will create everything for you. All you need to do is write. We look forward to reading your submissions and wish you all a very happy U2tober.  

Please send all submissions to our editor in chief directly.  We will do our best to contact every submission. However we will be contacting approved submissions first. Please submit all work during the week of September 26th -

Guidines: Submissions should be no more than 5000 englsh words or translated into english with the orginal lanaguage included.  All work needs to be provided by the orginal writter. 

Writters with a agent or part of a publishing house will need to have approval from their team prior to submissions. 

Indpendent writters can submit without publishing house or agent engagements. If you have questions please submit them.

This is not a contest, no prizes will  be awarded and all web content will be copy right retained by the author.

Looking into 2 Ultraviolet (Light My Way)

“Ultraviolet (Light My Way)” began as two different demos, one variously called “Ultraviolet” and “69” (which eventually evolved into the B-side “Lady with the Spinning Head”) and an alternately arranged demo called “Light My Way”. Trying to write the bridge to a song (which conflicting reports state was “Ultraviolet”, “Mysterious Ways”, and “The Fly”), guitarist The Edge improvised a riff that the rest of the band rallied around. It was out of this that “One”, which changed the outlook of recording sessions for the album, was born.

Over the course of the recording sessions, U2 added various overdubs to the song, but producer Brian Eno believed these additions negatively impacted the track. Eno aided the group in editing down the song, and he explained his assistance as such: “I’d go in and say, ‘The song has gone, whatever it is you liked about this song is not there anymore. Sometimes, for example, the song would have disappeared under layers of overdubs.”

The lyrics of “Ultraviolet (Light My Way)” are addressed to a lover, and imply that their relationship is Indeed, lead vocalist Bono has called the song “a little disturbed”. The song opens with 45 seconds of soft synthesizers producing an ethereal sighing, crying, almost breathing sound, somewhat akin in atmospherics to the group’s early 1980s songs “Tomorrow” and “Drowning Man”; during this, Bono laments that “sometimes I feel like checking out.”

This is followed by the entrance of drums and guitar in a familiar U2 rhythm, as Bono describes the burdens of love and how he is “in the black; can’t see or be seen.”

Each verse culminates with the refrain “Baby, baby, baby, light my way.” Flood, who engineered and mixed the recording, noted that there was considerable laughter and debate during the sessions about whether Bono could get away with singing the repeated “baby”s, one of the most heavily-used clichés in pop songs and one that he had avoided up to that point in his songwriting; Flood later commented that “he got away with it alright.”threatened by some sort of personal or spiritual crisis, coupled with a sense of unease over obligations.

Although the song is ostensibly about love and dependency, like many U2 songs, it also lends itself to religious interpretations. Listeners have heard an allusion to the Book of Job 29:2–3 and its tale of God serving as a lamp upon Job’s head walking through the darkness. Robyn Brothers suggests that ultraviolet light is “a metaphor for a divine force both unseen to the naked eye and ultimately unknowable to the human intellect.”

Conversely, Steve Stockman, author of Walk On: The Spiritual Journey Of U2 , sees “Ultraviolet” as being about Bono’s wife Ali, and “how when he feels like trash, she makes him clean,” but says there is good reason to interpret the song as being just as much about God.

The song’s title supports this view: indigo and violet rarely appear in song lyrics as frequently as other colours, while ultraviolet represents an unseen wavelength beyond the visible spectrum. As such, the title evokes the image of black light or an invisible force permeating the darkness, whose connotations are spiritual and personal, as well as technological, reflecting themes of modern alienation explored elsewhere on Achtung Baby and its follow-up album,ZooropaPop Music CDs) .

Dianne Ebertt Beeaff, author of A Grand Madness, Ten Years on the Road with U2 , sees the song’s narrator as longing for assistance from any source, religious or secular: “This is a real plea, a bleary worn-down drained wish to disappear. A drowning man desperate to hold hands in the darkness, to have someone else point the way, to be safe and obscure.” Atara Stein sees “Ultraviolet” as one of several selections on the album in which the protagonist in crisis has elevated his lover into an object of worship, desperate for her to “return to her initial role as his guide and salvation.”

“Ultraviolet” is also one of several songs Bono has written on the theme of woman as spirit, and it echoes the band’s 1980 song “Shadows and Tall Trees” by juxtaposing love with the image of ceilings. A line in Raymond Carver’s late 1980s poem “Suspenders”, about the quiet that comes into a house where no one can sleep, was subconsciously recycled by Bono into the lyric. In Achtung Baby’s running order, “Ultraviolet” serves, with the other two songs at the album’s end, “Acrobat” and “Love Is Blindness”, to explore how couples face the task of reconciling the suffering they have imposed on each other.

The song features a Motown sound-style “telegraph key” rhythm, which gave it the feeling of a pop song. This and the “baby, baby” refrain gave the song a throwaway quality that fit in with Achtung Baby’s mission of deconstructing U2’s image.Paradoxically, the arrangement also featured U2’s 1980s “repeato-riff” guitar style and the rest of the lyric was a serious love song that dealt with themes of anxiety and despair.

Bono has described “Ultraviolet” as “an epic U2 song [but] the key of it left my voice in a conversational place and allowed a different kind of lyric writing.” Producer Eno wrote that a combination of opposites within each song was a signature characteristic of Achtung Baby and that as part of that, “Ultraviolet” had a “helicopterish melancholy”. In Achtung Baby’s album package, “Ultraviolet” is presented next to a photograph of a crumbling Berlin building that has a Trabant parked in front of it.

Who the "F" is Tom Meighan ?

Tom Meigham/Kasabian Kasabian star Tom Meighan hated touring with Irish rockers U2, and he has branded the gigs “horrible” and the “worst ever”.

The British band joined forces with the superstar group to open for them on a number of their 360 shows, but Meighan wishes they had never agreed to join the tour.

He tells News.com.au, “I didn’t take in anything supporting them, them gigs (sic) were horrible. Worst ever. U2 fans are cardboard cut-outs. Can you imagine supporting U2? Their fans are probably into one band and one album - Joshua Tree. I didn’t learn anything ‘cos that’s just a f**king different level. It was amazing to watch and meet them, but I didn’t learn anything apart from just get the f**k out.”

Meighan is now adamant he will never agree to be an opening act ever again, adding, “I hate supporting bands, we’re not a support band. So that’s never gonna happen again.”

 

BBC Picks UP U2 Documentary

BBC Worldwide Canada, part of the BBC’s commercial arm, has picked up distribution rights to Davis Guggenheim’s U2 film From the Sky Down (pictured), which earlier this month became the first documentary to ever open the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF).

The documentary celebrates the 20th anniversary of U2’s 1991 album Achtung Baby!, the creation of which marked a major turning point for the band musically.

Earlier this year, U2 returned to Hansa Studios in Berlin, the site where they first recorded the album, with Oscar-winning director Guggenheim (An Inconvenient Truth, Waiting for “Superman”) in tow, to make the doc.

Following the film’s September 8 premiere at TIFF, Guggenheim and U2 band members Bono and The Edge held a press conference to discuss the making of the film and highlight their favorite rock documentaries, paying praise to filmmakers including Jonathan Demme, DA Pennebaker and Martin Scorsese.

U2 Ready For A Break

Bad news came to U2 fans this week as Bono let it slip to friends that it would be a long time before we see the lads from Dublin onstage again.

Who could blame them? They must be knackered after the successful U2360 tour and the drama around resuscitating the Spider-Man Broadway musical!

Now comes word from Rolling Stone that Jack White, Depeche Mode, Patti Smith and Damian Rice are among the artists on a forthcoming tribute album honoring the 20th anniversary of U2’s Achtung Baby.

The album was commissioned by the British music magazine Q. “Jack White does ‘Love Is Blindness,’ Depeche Mode do ‘So Cruel,’ Patti Smith did ‘Until the End of the World,’ Damian Rice does ‘One.’ It just goes on,” said Bono at the Toronto International Film Festival last week.

“And it’s strange, because when I hear the album, when U2 do it, all I hear is what’s wrong with it. But when I heard all these artists doing it, I thought, ‘It’s really good.’” In addition, Bono said that artist Damien Hirst recently completed a video for “Even Better Than the Real Thing.”

“He made a very special art work, which has only been shown once and probably won’t be shown again, because [it was for the] Glastonbury festival and it’s an extraordinary work of art.”

One person asked via Twitter if U2 were to release a single from Achtung Baby today, which would fit best?

Without hesitation, Bono answered, “‘Even Better Than The Real Thing.’ Now there’s a mix of it, which is stunning, called the ‘Fish Out of Water’ remix, which I would like to release as a single,” he said.

“I’m trying to talk some people into it, even today. It has the Damien Hirst thing. Damien did his work to that mix. That’s the one we open with and end the film with.”

Bono and the lads opened their Meadowlands gig earlier this summer with four songs from Achtung Baby, proving that the classic album still has great staying power!

U2 Experience Story Contest

 Everyone has a story. A story about U2. We are looking for the best U2 story from you the fan. The contest is easy. Write your best U2 story include images, videos what ever you want as long as you are original.

Your story should be interesting to everyone. You will need to write in englsh and submit via email. We will check your story to be sure that you have not copied someone else work and submitted. All submissions become the property of U2TOURFANS.com and will not be returned.  We will post the best stories for 10 days in a row. We will be using Facebook to judge how many people liked your story. Its easy, fun and most of all provides you the fan a chance to share your story with the world.  All submissions are due September 20th 2011 and will be published starting September 21st.  The winner will recieve a copy of Achtung Baby Remastered. Submissions to be sent to marketing@u2tourfans.com - 

SAMPLE WORK. THIS IS A SAMPLE -

The story of U2 began at Mount Temple School in north-east Dublin in the autumn of 1976. Larry Mullen advertised on the school notice board asking if anyone wanted to join a band. Those who responded, with varying degrees of enthusiasm, included Paul Hewson, Dave Evans and his brother Dick, and Adam Clayton. These five agreed to start up a band, calling themselves Feedback. Larry himself was a competent drummer and Adam had a bass guitar, but the other roles were not yet settled.
The band was allowed to rehearse in a classroom at Mount Temple, although their initial efforts were fairly haphazard, and with no recognized vocalist. Paul Hewson did not see himself as a singer, but he was a natural actor and his vocals were better than his guitar playing, so he became the “front man” for the band. Paul Hewson belonged to a “clan” of local teenagers who called themselves Lypton Village. They all invented nicknames for each other. Paul adopted the name Bono Vox, usually shortened to Bono. Dave Evans, although not a member of the “Village”, was called The Edge, a reference to the shape of his chin and his guitar playing style.

Feedback had their first public performance at a talent contest organized at Mount Temple School. Although they didn’t win the contest, they were the most popular act with their school friends, and the experience gave them the confidence to continue. Shortly afterwards the band changed their name to Hype for their second gig at St. Fintan’s Hall.

Adam Clayton had taken on the role of manager, and succeeded in arranging a number of gigs in local pubs and clubs. The band had added some more songs to their repertoire, including some Rolling Stones numbers, but they were all cover versions, and they had little to set them apart from any other pub band. But at least the line-up was beginning to take shape.
That shape did not include Dick Evans, who dropped out in early 1978 (according to some reports there was a farewell concert). Shortly afterwards Dick joined Gavin Friday and other members of the Lypton Village crowd in another musical venture, The Virgin Prunes.

It became clear to the band that they would have to find some new material. Bono in particular wanted to write his own songs. Their first original song, Street Mission, was not impressive but at least it was a start. Adam was now spending most of his time trying to organize gigs for Hype, and as a result he was asked to leave Mount Temple School. He continued his efforts to get the band noticed, but not always with much success, although Hype had appeared at McGonagles, a major Dublin rock venue.
Adam pestered anyone in the music business that he though might be able to help. His targets included DJs, the music press, and other bands such as the Boomtown Rats. One of the people Adam talked to was Steve Averill (aka Steve Rapid of the Radiators) who also worked for an advertising agency. Out of this conversation came the conclusion that the band could and should find a better name. A few days later, Steve came up with an idea which he suggested to Adam - U2.
Adam liked the name, but the rest of the band was initially doubtful. According to legend, the band played the first half of their next set as Hype, and the second half as U2, then asked the audience which name they preferred. Adam had entered the band as Hype in a major talent contest organized by the Evening Press and Harp Lager, and he lost no time in changing their name on the entry form to U2.

The contest was held in Limerick in March 1978. As well as a ?500 prize, the winners would get an opportunity to spend a day in a recording studio to cut a demo disc for CBS Ireland. U2 duly won the contest, and a few weeks later had the promised session at the Keystone Studios in Dublin. The demo was adequate but not particularly impressive. Although CBS Ireland offered them a recording deal which was typical for new bands, the band felt uncertain and in need of advice.
They spoke to Bill Graham of Hot Press, then Ireland’s only major music paper. It was clear that they needed a manager who could handle the business side. Bill Graham knew Paul McGuinness, who had managed an Irish folk band, and suggested that they should meet. Paul was not enthusiastic at first, thinking from Bill’s description that U2 were a punk band, but when he attended a gig at the Project Arts Centre in Dublin he not only liked what he heard, but he also saw the band’s potential for the future. So he quickly reached an agreement with the band that ensured that U2 now had a proper manager.
Paul McGuinness arranged another demo session, again at Keystone Studios. Paul got Barry Devlin of Horslips to produce the demo, comprising three songs: Street Mission, The Fool, and Shadows and Tall Trees. The recording session went well, and both Paul and the band were happy with the results, but Paul found it hard to persuade the London record companies that U2’s demo was any different from the dozens that they received every week. U2 continued to play gigs in Ireland, including the now legendary Dandelion Market afternoon concerts in a disused car park in Dublin.

Although the band got good reviews, especially in Hot Press, a record deal was slow in coming. Jackie Hayden of CBS Ireland still wanted to do something with the band, but could not interest CBS UK. So an agreement was reached whereby U2 would record for CBS in Ireland, but would be free to seek a deal elsewhere for sales in the rest of the world. So another session with CBS produced their first record, a three-track single called U2-3. A thousand copies of the single were pressed and they quickly sold out. U2 also recorded a concert for Irish TV. The band had achieved their first success, albeit only in Ireland.
Despite the continuing efforts of Paul McGuinness, the UK record industry still showed no interest in the emerging band. So Paul arranged a series of gigs in London. The band had struggled to finance the tour and The Edge was struggling with an injured hand, but the gigs were well received by the fans and the critics. More important, they had at last attracted some record company interest, notably from Gem and Island. But no firm offers were yet forthcoming.

Band's Early Struggles With 'Achtung Baby'

By Karen Bliss ( Rolling Stone Article)

“Making Achtung Baby is the reason we’re here now,” Bono says early on in Davis Guggenheim’s new U2 documentary, From The Sky Down, which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival on Thursday night. 

The film – which focuses on the tumultuous time in the band’s career 20 years ago – shows how Bono, guitarist the Edge, drummer Larry Mullen Jr. and bassist Adam Clayton got back on track: After considerable infighting and “creative differences” while the four hunkered down at Hansa Studios in Berlin in 1990 to try to make an album, the song “One” finally and miraculously sprouted from the unfinished “Mysterious Ways.”

“The movie has this pretty long [section] where you hear them write that song – and it’s goose bumps,” Guggenheim told Rolling Stone in Toronto. “The writing of that song really saved the band. They had come out of the height of Joshua Tree as the biggest band in the world. Rattle and Hum was a disaster from their point of view, a lot of bad reviews – they weren’t happy with what they had become. They take that bridge section out of ‘Mysterious Ways’ and they go back into the room at Hansa. They write a song on the fly in a matter of minutes. ‘One’ is written and the band is saved and we have all that on tape.”

There are other telling inclusions in the film, from footage of Bono getting angry in a dressing room after a Joshua Tree concert in 1987 (culled from Rattle and Hum director Phil Joanou’s amazing leftovers) to candid, present-day sound-only interviews that Guggenheim was able to draw from each band member. “The soul of the movie is these interviews I do with them,” he said.

“I didn’t know how they’d react to the things that I put in the movie,” said Guggenheim. “There are some very sensitive things. And to their credit, they said, ‘This is truthful; this is real; it’s not sensational.’”

The day after the TIFF gala screening, Bono, the Edge and Guggenheim spoke at a press conference about the film. “I found it a little humiliating to realize that we were so inept and these days we’re a better band,” Bono said. “We’ve learned our craft – and therein lies the huge danger, which is there’s a giant chasm between the very good and the great, and U2 right now has a danger of surrendering to the very good.”

Guggenheim had earned the Edge’s trust from the documentary they did together in 2008, It Might Get Loud, alongside two other guitar greats, Jack White and Jimmy Page. Still, it’s a relationship in progress, Guggenheim noted: “There’s a something adversarial about making a movie about something that neither side wants, but it’s naturally there.”

“For me, when Davis agreed to do this, I felt like I could relax because I knew the thing that he was most interested in was actually the truth as opposed to what was a great shot or what might be sensational,” said the Edge. “The stuff that’s in the film are those moments where we’re really being honest.”

“A little bit of sensationalism would have been good, a few great shots,” joked Bono. “I felt like I was mugged.”

In addition to the tension, intensity and struggle that plays out in the film, there is a lot of levity too, including a satirical montage of bands that have imploded or lost members, references and demonstrations of Bono’s unique gibberish singing, dubbed “Bongalese” and yes, the band in drag.

“What’s interesting is Larry really didn’t like the idea and thought he looked like he was in some skin flick,” said Bono. “Edge took to it with a perfectionist’s eye.”

 “I just freaked myself out because I looked so much like my sister, I was shocked,” the Edge said.

Added Bono: “Adam looked like the Queen of England and I looked like Barbara Bush.”

U2's 'Baby' is all grown-up

By Ken Sweeney
Monday, 12 September 2011

U2 singer Bono has revealed that some of the biggest names in music have contributed to a tribute to mark the 20th anniversary of band’s ‘Achtung Baby’ album.

White Stripes singer Jack White, performing legend Patti Smith, UK group Depeche Mode, and Irish songwriter Damien Rice are among the artists who have recorded U2 covers for the record, due out this autumn.

“Jack White did ‘Love Is Blindness’, Depeche Mode did ‘So Cruel’, Patti Smith did ‘Until the End of the World’, Damien Rice did ‘One’; the list goes on and it’s a list of the most incredible artists,” said Bono.

The singer was speaking at a press conference at the Toronto International Film Festival at the weekend to promote ‘Achtung Baby’ documentary ‘From The Sky Down’, which charts the making of the album.

The U2 frontman said, on first listen, he had been hugely impressed by the contributions to the tribute record.

“It’s strange, because when I hear the album (‘Achtung Baby’), all I hear is what’s wrong with it. But when I heard all these artists doing it, I thought, ‘That’s really good’,” he said.

He went on to speak of his delight about American singer, poet and visual artist Patti Smith’s involvement, having been influenced by her when he was growing up in Dublin.

“That opening line, ‘Jesus Christ died for somebody’s sins but not mine’ (from Smith’s 1975 album ‘Horses’) when I was 16, I was like, ‘I do not know what this woman is on about but I’d better find out’,” the frontman said.

The covers album will be tied in with a reissue, ‘20 Years of Achtung Baby’, due out October 31.

The six-CD set, includes the original ‘Achtung Baby’ album, follow on ‘Zooropa’, B-sides and reworkings of previously unheard material, recorded during the Achtung Baby sessions.

An ‘Uber Deluxe Edition’ even comes with a pair of Bono’s signature sunglasses.

In the US this edition, containing six CDs, four DVDs and a 92-page hardback book will be on sale for $170.

Gentlemen's Quarterly of U2

U2 GQ Stage By Eric Shivvers
It’s interesting, as one’s career moves on, where the accolades come from. For instance, if you are a thespian, the Tony award, in the United States, is the highest achievement an actor can get. Same goes true for film actors with such awards as the Golden Globe or the Oscar. In music, there are a bevy of these awards and U2 has scooped up more than a handful multiple times in multiple years. Now, they are rewarded again, but this time, it is outside music as <em>GQ</em> magazine has honored them “band of the year.” 
I’m not sure how this ranks amongst the pantheon of other awards. It may be one step above the American Music Awards or VH-1 Honors. I’m not sure. We’d have to ask the band this question. What we do know is that it keeps them in the spotlight for one more news cycle in our ever-overwhelming media onslaught, which is good since they are a “do good” band for the world whether it is filling our ears with great tunes or focusing on the plight of starvation on the horn of Africa. However, like an overexposed piece of film, U2 has to be careful how they handle themselves and not lose the mystique that makes them special. Yes, I know they had no choice in being chosen by GQ because honors such as these come with the territory. What they were awarded is an achievement and I’m not taking it away from them. 
In recent weeks, I have been coming down from a great summer of U2, reading blogs and taking in their U.S. trek, which has been exciting, but now my life has to move on and get back to a little reality - back to the passion of life and being creative for clients. Is suspect U2 are doing the same thing as they take in the end of summer and doing things they haven’t done for a while. We all need to rest and get motivated again after we have created something great or just made the client happy. Yes, the Gentleman’s Quarterly accolade is nice, but will there be a U2 song written about it. I don’t think so.  However, it’s nice to see our guys dressed in their finest and accepting an award. You will notice that the founding member is nowhere to be seen, probably coming up with new drum tracks or better yet, taking time off from band responsibilities.

Eric Shivvers is the author of I’m a Fan: How I married U2 into my life without going to the altar. You may read more about his book at www.iamau2fan.com

 

U2 documentary premiere in Toronto

Rockmentary fans are in luck with the release of two new documentaries from U2 and Pearl Jam debuting at the Toronto International Film Festival later this week.

The world premiere of a U2 documentary called From the Sky Down, directed by Davis Guggenheim, who earned an Oscar for his documentary An Inconvenient Truth, will headline the festival on September 8 - marking the first time the festival has opened with a documentary.

Pearl Jam are also premiering their Cameron Crowe-helmed documentary Pearl Jam Twenty, celebrating the 20th anniversary of the band’s debut album, Ten, on September 10. Pearl Jam and band friend Crowe, who wrote and directed Singles and Almost Famous, have collected over 1,200 hours of vintage footage of the band, along with new interviews and a soundtrack.

Following the release of the film in select theaters in the US on September 20, Pearl Jam Twenty will also air on October 21 on PBS. No information is yet available on its wider release, but stayed tuned to the band’s official website for more details.

U2’s documentary will be featured as part of the 20th anniversary reissue of their album Achtung Baby, set to release October 31/November 1.

Bono defends Steve Jobs

Irish rock band U2”s lead singer, Bono, has defended Apple’s co-founder, Steve Jobs, after a columnist wrote that the billionaire businessman does not give enough to charity.

The singer wrote in a letter in response to the New York Times article that Jobs said there was ‘nothing better than the chance to save lives’, when he approached him about a campaign to fight AIDS in Africa, the Sydney Morning Herald reports.

Apple was the biggest contributor for the (Product) Red fund-raising brand to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, giving tens of millions of dollars, Bono wrote.

“”I”m proud to know him,” Bono wrote about Jobs.

“”He”s a poetic fellow, an artist and a businessman. Just because he”s been extremely busy, that doesn”t mean that he and his wife, Laurene, haven”t been thinking about these things,” he added.

Andrew Ross Sorkin wrote in a column that Jobs was not a ‘prominent philanthropist’ despite having accumulated 7.8 million dollras through holdings in Apple and the Walt Disney Company.

There was no public record of Jobs giving money to charity, Sorkin wrote.