No one can dismantle U2

One of only a few bands that have consistently archieved commercial and critical succes for more than two decades, U2 has earned succes through their own work on both the artistic and business side of the music industry. From the band’s earliest days in dublin, Ireland, to the present, U 2 has freed themselves from the traditional limitations of what rock bands and rock music should and shouldn’t do.By combining an original sound with honest lyrics and a challenging social message, U2 has earned the respect of peers, critics, and numerous devoted fans around the world. Not one the original members of U2 has quit the band, overdosed, committed suicide, been murdered, or just died. They have never had a band member arrested for carrying a gun, punching a photographer, or been thrown out of nightclub. Even though Bono writes the melodies and the words for their songs and Edge (as he is known) comer up with much of the rest of the music, the four of them truly work on the songs together and get an equal share of their earnings. They’ve had the same manager, Paul McGuinnes, since 1978, which is very unusual in the music business. In fact, McGuiness has been like the fifth member of the band. The band has also had the same tour manager, Dennis Sheehan, for more than 20 years. Vocalist bono (Paul Hewson), guitarist Edge (David Evans), bassis Adam Clayton, and drummer Larry Mullen Jr. got together in Larry’s kitchen after he posted a wanted ad on their high-school bulletin board in the fall of 1978.

They originally called the band FEEDBACK, then THE HYPE, and finally, U2. Their songs, “Sunday Bloody Sunday,” “New Year’s Day,” “Pride (In the Name of Love),” “Where the streets Have No Name,” “With or Without You,” “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For,” “Beautiful Day,” “Elevation,” and countless others were always described as anthems, with soaring melodies and ringing guitars. The songs talked about big dreams, big ideas, and had a big, atmospheric sound. The member have spent 25 years reading, learning, traveling, recording, raising families, and performing. It appears that U2 still have plenty of gas in their tank. What keeps them together? “Each other and self-criticsm,” says Paul McGuiness. They can spend hours just talking about a problem. It’s simply because they think everybody has an equal voice. Adam says, “Sometimes I think being in U2 is being in one long meeting. Your own life is just a tea break between meetings,”

U2 have relesead 11 albums since their 1980 debut, sold 125 million records, and performed in 26 countries (including war-torn Sarajevo in 1997), and their 2001 Elevation Tour grossed $115 million. The entitled album “How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb, relesead on November 22, 2004, it’s took 18 months and three different countries – Ireland, the USA, and France – to record this album. How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb has nothing to do with politics at all. It’s a wholly personal album and many of the songs were insipired by the death of Bono’s father, Bob Hewson, who died of cancer in August 2001. when the band entered the studio to make the album, the songwriting process went pretty much as it normally does. “when we make a record, it’s not an arranged process, “ explaint the Edge, “It’s not like we sit down and say,’We’re going to write about this.’I don’t think of us thought, “Let’s make it a political record.’But we certainly thought that it was going to be political. I am a little bit surprised that it’s so personal in the end. I was expecting it to be a little more political, but it hasn’t gone that way.” The edge played the guitar, the band collaborated on the sonic skeletons, and turned them into songs, then Bono added the lyrics. Though Bono fully intended these songs to be political, it just didn’t happen.

The album has gone straightto the first rank on music charts in 21 countries and sold over 6 million copies in only one week! The first single, “Vertigo,” created a new download sales record in the US music history in its first week. Guitar riffs dominate the music on the album. Rock beat can be found in the several tracks like “Vertigo,” “City of Blinding Lights,” “All because of you,” and “Love and Peace or Else.” It was just like in their early days, direct rock ‘n roll. Listening to the album, we are forced to think about death (“Sometimes You Can’t Make It on Your Own”), birth (“Original of the Species”), God (“Yahweh”), Love (“A Man and a Woman), war (“Love and Peace or Else”), and peace (“City of Blinding Lights”). On November 22, 2004, the band took over the streets of New York to shoot a video for “All of Because You,” the album’s second single. They performed the song over and over again as they made their way through the city’s street’s, cameramen running here and there, crowds of bewildered New Yorkers mailing about the truck and helicopters buzzing overhead. When one of the biggest bands in the world wants to make a video, they don’t do it by halves. The final destination of this makeshift parade was an abandoned field beneath the Brooklyn Bridge, where a stage had been assembled for the free and surprising concert. The four original band members remain close friends and first-class musicians, and their collective ambitions appears to be as strong as ever. U2 remain one of the only few bands qualified to wear the label of “World’s Biggest Band,” they continue to write music and explore new ideas the way they want it. And their future releases and tours will be no less anticipated than those of the past.

“U2 is a four-legged table. If one of the legs gets dented, the whole thing doesn’t fall down; the other three support it.” (Larry Mullen Jr.)

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