Tag Archives: U2

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Song of the Day #971: ‘Running to Stand Still’ – U2

It just hit me, as I was reading up on today’s selection, that this is the third album in a row on my list of greats that was a massive hit. U2’s The Joshua Tree, released in 1987, has sold more than 25 million copies worldwide to date.

How nice to see quality work rewarded on the charts. As I look over the other titles on my list, a pattern emerges: the older albums fared far better, sales-wise, than the more recent ones. Sure, the music industry in general has taken a major hit in the last decade, but it also seems like the mega-sellers these days are not the best records.

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Song of the Day #888: ‘Wake Up Dead Man’ – U2

You can’t really have a theme week on religion in pop music and leave out Bono. U2 is certainly the most successful band to ever write so openly about god and faith and some of their best songs are deeply religious.

A favorite of mine is this little-known track from the under-rated 1997 album, Pop. Pop remains the band’s worst-selling album and even the band members themselves have dismissed it as a failed experiment that they released essentially unfinished.

But while it isn’t perfect, the album does go places sonically that the band hadn’t gone before and it contains some deeply heartfelt and provocative material.

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Song of the Day #821: ‘Original of the Species’ – U2

Top Ten Male Vocalists – #4 – Bono

Bono is the guy on this list who would probably actively lobby to be on this list. He sings everything as if he’s auditioning for the title of Most Awesome Rock God of All-Time, Ever. And I can see how that can be a turn-off to people who aren’t particularly into Bono or U2 (including some regular readers of this blog).

But the thing is, this guy can sing like a son of a bitch. He might have a massive ego, but he backs it up with massive talent. And I have to hand it to him for that.

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Song of the Day #752: ‘Lemon’ – U2

Looking back on mixtapes I’ve made over the years, I notice one recurring mistake. Too often, I haven’t considered my audience when choosing songs.

If I found a song that I really liked and it fit well in the mix, I threw it in there. But the perfect fit for me might not be such a perfect fit for the recipient if the song itself isn’t to his or her liking. The last thing you want is somebody having the urge to press fast-forward in the middle of your masterpiece.

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Song of the Day #653: ‘So Cruel’ – U2

One of these days I might get around to a theme week on U2. I feel about U2 the way I feel about Bruce Springsteen… appreciative of their status as legends, and a big fan of much of their work, but not a big enough fan to number them among my favorites.

It seems to me that U2 fans (and Bruce Springsteen fans) are generally crazy about them the way I’m crazy about Elvis Costello. I find it hard to believe there are many casual Elvis Costello fans, but I’m sure they exist. And I’m living proof that casual U2 fans exist.

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