Talk:U2

U2 Live in Toronto 2005© Photo: Ian Muttoo

Blue color adjusted from above.(CC) Photo: Ian Muttoo

U2 at the San Francisco Civic Auditorium 15 December 1984.© Photo: Gina Sanfilippo

Also available is this photo.  —Stephen Ewen (Talk) 22:59, 5 October 2007 (CDT)

Idea: Influence of Eno and Lanois

Lovely article! And the pictures are superb. I have an idea. Shall I write about Brian Eno's role (and Daniel Lanois') in the development of U2? (It was Eno's idea to bring Lanois into the project with him, I recall.) Or would someone else like to do it? Soon I shall start a Brian Eno page (unless someone beats me to it); I have watched his remarkable career closely for over twenty years. I suppose it could be argued (politely, calmly, haha) that Eno and Lanois were the extra added elements that augmented U2 into supergroup status (the one-two punch of The Unforgettable Fire and especially The Joshua Tree). Those two albums were the "turning point" as it were, right? Eno and Lanois did for U2 what Eno did for the Talking Heads not many years previously. Isn't it also (at least kind of) accurate to describe Eno as a kind of "fifth member" of U2, especially during "Unforgettable Fire" (for example, we can hear him in the background during "Pride")? This is often the way Eno approaches (and describes) his production duties. Quotes by Eno and U2 will have to be found to back up these thoughts. Which, at this point, are just humble thoughts. I'll leave it up to the originator(s) of the page. Happy writing!Jeffrey Scott Bernstein 09:38, 7 October 2007 (CDT)

Jeffrey, please be bold and add material Lanois and Eno - their early influence was indeed hugely important around the TUF and TJT. Anton Sweeney 11:42, 7 October 2007 (CDT)

Anton, I have been bold.

I have produced something on Eno and Lanois. I wonder what you will think of it! I shall post it here for your consideration. Feel free, of course, to do with it what you will. Here goes:

New Direction: Enter Eno and Lanois

After the hard loud rock and roll sound of War, U2 felt themselves standing at a career crossroads; for their fourth studio album they desired to explore new musical directions, but were unsure how to proceed. The band’s gut feeling was an unorthodox one: they chose to approach the avant-garde, cerebral Brian Eno. Although Eno was indeed one of the most innovative and acclaimed of modern musicians, his music was in sound and spirit very different from the U2 of War.

At face value, U2 and the English-born Eno were worlds apart. While U2 were raw and fiery with guitars and drums, Eno, a technical genius, built home-made machines to create new sounds, forever experimenting with new technological ways of generating music. He had proven himself to be a wizard of the production studio who brought out the best in whoever artist he produced (such as David Bowie and then the Talking Heads, for example), but by the time U2 came calling, Eno was busy exploring what he called “ambient music”, creating odd soundscapes and entrancing atmospheric sonic textures that were mellow and contemplative, far from either hard rock or catchy tunes. At first Eno had no desire to work with U2, preferring to continue on with his ambient music in collaboration with the immensely talented but still relatively unknown Canadian musician Daniel Lanois, who preferred spare and folksy melodies. U2 somehow persuaded Eno to produce their next album, and Eno brought Lanois with him.

“They were ready to embrace some new colours,” Lanois recalled, years later. “ They wanted a greater emotional perspective in their music,” Eno explained. Eno and Lanois acted as guides for a new musical direction for U2. Eno and Lanois, approaching the project as more than simply producers and engineers, virtually became the fifth and sixth members of the band, contributing backing vocals and playing instruments. The marriage of the formerly gritty and gutsy U2 with the mystical and contemplative Eno and Lanois led to the richly atmospheric and passionate The Unforgettable Fire (1984). Its first single, “Pride (In the Name of Love)” (in which Eno can be heard singing in the background), became U2’s biggest hit yet, breaking into the American top 40 and rising to number 33. The collaboration which Eno had first frowned upon had flourished magnificently. U2 had altered artistically; they now had a deeper, richer, more lyrical and mesmerizing sound. But the great success of The Unforgettable Fire would be mere prelude to the band’s second collaboration with Eno and Lanois: The Joshua Tree.

Eno and Lanois + U2 = Bigger and Better

U2’s fifth studio album, The Joshua Tree (1987) was the groundbreaking moment in U2’s career, their defining, decisive moment. A spectacular success, The Joshua Tree became their first number one album in both the U.K. and the U.S., sold over 25 million copies worldwide, and gave the band their first number one singles in America: “With or Without You” (with its Eno-esque atmosphere) and then the more Lanois-oriented “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For.” It was The Joshua Tree that firmly fixed U2 in the admiring eyes of the world. The Joshua Tree won the Grammy for Album of the Year, the highest honor the music industry can bestow. At the moment U2 were at the top, they had reached the pinnacle of musical success, playing to sold-out stadiums across the globe.

Eno once described U2 as “looking for a way to unlock something that they suspect is in their music, but they can’t quite get out.” Eno and Lanois got it out. (Lanois once mused: “ ‘What is it that you do?’ people say. My answer is, ‘I raise the spirit.’") Eno and Lanois helped raise U2 up into the biggest band in the world. With the continuing collaboration of their two super-genius producers, U2 would retain that superior position for many years to come.Jeffrey Scott Bernstein 16:11, 7 October 2007 (CDT)

Very nice, Jeffrey - I'll incorporate it tomorrow :-) Regards, Anton Sweeney 16:13, 7 October 2007 (CDT)

I simply restored an Eno quote which had been improperly entered into the body text and hence hidden.Jeffrey Scott Bernstein 03:53, 8 October 2007 (CDT)

Eno and Lanois with respect to later albums

Anton, great work! (I'm pleased that you didn't think I mucked things up.) Now don't you think Eno and Lanois will simply have to be mentioned with relation to the subsequent U2 albums that they have worked on? (Simply citing their names again should be sufficient, don't you think? Simply in order to keep the article consistent?)(And aren't they working on the next album with U2 at the moment? Lanois has a good quote online: "The album is making itself." Should this be mentioned?) If all or some of this is relevant in your view, do you want to make the changes?Jeffrey Scott Bernstein 05:02, 8 October 2007 (CDT)

Draft for New Sections

Anton! Hello! What I’ve written is somewhat okay, I guess, maybe, but unfinished in places, as you’ll see (beginning and end especially). The kind of flat prose reveals that I need to take a vacation. If you have the time or inclination, you may want to tinker with this. Otherwise, I’ll peek back in a week or so, and if this is still here, I suppose I can give it another try. Sorry that I haven’t come up with a final, polished version. P.S. You may think some of the references are not necessary, I don’t know. Also, maybe all of the Grammy wins can be taken out of the text and put in a list somewhere?

here goes:

Rattle and Hum, produced by Jimmy Iovine, continued on in the passionate, heartfelt, and soulful vein of The Joshua Tree. However, unfairly or not, it was generally received by critics and the public as a less than stellar follow-up to the marvellous Joshua Tree. Once more U2 found themselves at a critical crossroads in their career.

U2 reborn: Achtung Baby and Zooropa

After the somewhat disappointing reception of Rattle and Hum, U2 wisely rejoined once more with master-producers Eno and Lanois who worked their remarkable magic yet again, reinvigorating U2 by steering them in yet another musical direction, reinventing the band for a new decade. Inevitably, Eno and Lanois acted not only as producers, but joined with the band to play additional instruments at times. The result was Achtung Baby (1991).

The “futuristic” production of Achtung Baby is very prominent, as opposed to the more traditional “live” guitars and drums sound of Rattle and Hum; from the very first moment of the first track, “Zoo Station”, we hear “crunchy sounds” and electronic noises, and Bono’s voice is treated electronically; this is a completely new U2. The album sounds more technologically oriented and synthesized, as well as more dance-oriented than U2’s previous albums. Achtung Baby would be the beginning of the third stage in U2’s career. Eno and Lanois had shown them the way yet again.

With Achtung Baby U2 reasserted themselves worldwide in an elaborate way, with the album reaching number one in America. Achtung Baby contains one of U2’s most celebrated songs of all, “One”, which reached number one in America’s singles charts. (On the song Eno played keyboards and Lanois played additional guitar.) The album would produce five successful singles in all, and sold eight million copies in America alone. Achtung Baby won the Grammy for “Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group With Vocal”. In tribute to their position in the band, Eno and Lanois are each seen twice in a photo montage in the cd booklet.

Next came Zooropa (1993), produced by Flood, Brian Eno, and The Edge, continuing the “futuristic” sound innovated with Achtung Baby. Once more, Eno is not merely a producer, but performs on some of the tracks (synthesizers, piano, arcade sounds, backing vocals, loops, harmonium), including on the single, “Lemon”. The album won a Grammy for Best Alternative Music Album.

Too much Eno?

For good or ill, U2’s next album, Original Soundtracks No.1, or simply Passengers (1995), is the fullest expression of Brian Eno’s influence on U2. Indeed, Passengers sounds more like an Eno album than a U2 album. It is ambient electronica, sounding nothing like the U2 their audience had grown to love, and hence was the band’s least popular album of the 1990s. Eno designed Passengers as a concept album, with each song representing music for an imaginary film. For the first time Eno is explicitly listed as a fifth member of the band; and as well as producing the album, he is listed as contributing “strategies, sequencers, keyboards, backing vocals, guitar, treatments, mixing, chorus voices”, and sings the vocal on the mysterioso fifth track, “A Different Kind of Blue”. Even the CD’s sleeve art was co-designed by Eno.

Pop (1997). Produced by Flood, Howie B, and Steve Osborne.

Back at the top

All That You Can’t Leave Behind (2000), U2’s tenth studio album, was yet another amazing return to form for U2. Eno and Lanois returned yet again to raise the band’s game. The album was an immense critical and popular success. Rolling Stone, echoing many critics, hailed it as U2’s third “masterpiece” (after The Joshua Tree and Achtung Baby). U2’s Elevation tour was one of the most popular and lucrative of the year. The single “Beautiful Day” became one of U2’s most popular singles of recent years, and won an impressive three Grammys: Song of the Year, Record of the Year, and Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal. The album itself won a Grammy for Best Rock Album. Moreover, “Elevation” (with Eno playing synthesizers) won a Grammy for “Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group With Vocal”; while “Stuck in a Moment You Can’t Out Of” won a Grammy for “Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group With Vocal”; and “Walk On” won the Grammy for “Record of the Year”.

How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb(2004) utilized various producers. Eno and Lanois produced only the fourth track, “Love and Peace or Else”. The Vertigo Tour was the highest grossing tour in 2005, according to Billboard magazine. 90 dates, 3 million people, grossed $260 million. “Vertigo” became the number one download for the year 2004and won Grammys for “Best Rock Song” and “Best Rock Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocal”.

More Grammys for How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb: Album of the Year, Best Rock Album, Song of the Year (“Sometimes You Can’t Make It On Your Own”),

New album in production

Eno and Lanois are working with U2 on the next album. In an interview given with Rolling Stone in August 2007, Lanois explained: “We’ve been invited as writers this time,” he says. “I did three writing sessions with Eno and U2—one in Fez, Morocco; two in France. It’s going great. We’re regrouping in November [2007].” He added that “the record’s kind of making itself.”

References

Opinionizing

I detect not a small amount of opinionizing in the above. Now, that's OK, if those are universally or nearly-universally held opinions; otherwise, the opinions need to be removed, balanced with contrary opinions (again, if there are any), or simply qualified. Sometimes, there aren't contrary opinions, because the opinions in question are rather idiosyncratic. :-) Cf. CZ:Neutrality Policy. --Larry Sanger 18:33, 10 October 2007 (CDT)