U2: the 100 most inspiring musicians of all time
The members are Bono (byname of Paul Hewson; b. May 10, 1960, Dublin, Ire.), the Edge (byname of David Evans; b. Aug. 8, 1961, Barking, Essex [now in Greater London], Eng.), Adam Clayton (b. March 13, 1960, Oxford, Oxfordshire, Eng.), and Larry Mullen, Jr. (b. Oct. 31, 1961, Dublin, Ire.).
Irish postpunk band U2 had established itself by the end of the 1980s not only as one of the world’s most popular bands, but also as one of the most innovative. Though forged in the crucible of punk rock that swept Europe in the late 1970s, U2 instantly created a distinctive identity with its grandiose sound; a merger of the Edge’s minimal, reverb-drenched guitar; and Bono’s quasi-operatic vocals.
The band members were attending a Dublin secondary school when they began rehearsing, undeterred by their lack of technical expertise. The band’s early records were characterized by an intense spirituality, and they
commented on social and political issues, such as the civil strife in Northern Ireland, with compassion and tenderness.
U2 became renowned for its inspirational live performances and was a word-of-mouth sensation long before it made much of an impact on the pop charts. But, with the multimillion-selling success of The Joshua Tree
album (1987) and the number one hits “With or Without You” and “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For,” U2 became pop stars. On Rattle and Hum (1988), a double album and documentary movie, the band explored American roots music—blues, country, gospel, and folk— with typical earnestness but were pilloried by some critics who found the project pompous.
U2 reinvented itself for the new decade, reemerging in 1991 with the album Achtung Baby and a sound heavily influenced by European experimental, electronic, and disco music. With this came a stage show that trafficked in irony and self-deprecating humour, qualities virtually absent from the band’s music in the previous decade; the 1992 Zoo TV tour was one of the most technically ambitious and artistically accomplished large-scale rock spectacles ever staged. But, despite the flashier exterior, the band’s lyrics remained obsessed with matters of the soul.
The dehumanizing aspects of media and technology were a recurring theme on subsequent records, even as the band immersed itself in techno textures.
In 1997, the band rush-released the Pop album to fulfill obligations for a stadium tour and was greeted with its worst reviews since Rattle and Hum. Another reinvention was in store, but this time, rather than boldly pushing
forward, the band sought to reassure fans by making music that referenced its 1980s roots. The aptly titled All That You Can’t Leave Behind (2000) and How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb (2004) were focused on riffs and songs rather than atmosphere and mystery, and they succeeded in reestablishing the quartet as a commercial force, but at what price?
The band took five years before releasing its 12th studio album, No Line on the Horizon (2009). Longtime collaborators Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois played a bigger role in the production and songwriting, and the layered textures of the album’s most experimental work crept back prominently in the mix.
Since the early 1980s, the members of U2—as a band and individually—have collaborated with other musicians, artists, celebrities, and politicians to address issues concerning poverty, disease, and social injustice.
U2 sheet music download here.
The Very Best Of U2 – U2 Greatest Hits – U2 Collection
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Track List:
00:00 With or without you 05:23 Beautiful Day 09:40 One 14:14 Mary J.Blige 18:05 Pride 22:47 Sweetest Thing 27:07 Vertigo 31:49 Where the Street have no Name 36:18 Every Breaking Wave