Casual album discussion: U2, War

U2 had a new album out, Songs of Experience, so I have decided to go back and revisit their back catalog.

U2: War. Sometimes it’s hard to remember a time when U2 wasn’t huge, though they were getting there with War. They were still the earnest and idealistic young Irishmen and not yet the established corporate dad rockers of today. And in 1983, they were virtually unknown in my little corner of the world: Michigan’s Thumb region.

It’s even more mind-blowing when I ponder the fact that I’ve been listening to this band since I was about 17-years-old, and now I’m almost 50—and they are still together making music.

Our school was dominated in the eighties by the likes of Ratt, Motley Crue, Def Leppard, Van Halen, and Quiet Riot.  If U2 were thought of at all, it was as prissy sensitive boys who definitely didn’t rock as hard as the metal gods adored by most of the people in my school. I kept my U2 fandom to myself for the most part. I didn’t need any more trouble than I already had at my school. One of my parting shots my senior year was to vote U2 as "favorite band." (Van Halen was the winner. I have no idea how many votes U2 received. Probably one).

If you have forgotten why U2 became famous, or the era of their greatness seems distant, then pick up War and give it a listen. U2 are confident and full of swagger. They may not yet be accomplished musicians at this point, but they believe in themselves and that comes through on War.  Songs like "Sunday Bloody Sunday" and my favorite, "New Years Day," retain the power they had in 1982.  Dave "The Edge" Evans' siren-like guitar in "New Years Day" gets me every time I hear it, and I've  heard the song hundreds if not thousands of times.

The album catches U2 as they were fully embracing politics, but before Bono irritated half the world by becoming overly didactic. (I recently listened to Rattle and Hum again for the first time in a few years and I gotta say some of it is practically unlistenable. I will defend U2 until my dying day, but even I wanted to reach through my stereo speaker and punch Bono in the nose a few times--and I agree with about 95 percent of his political stance).

This takes me to my relationship with U2. Achtung Baby was the last U2 album to blow me away, and How To Dismantle an Atomic Bomb was the last of their albums I enjoyed from beginning to end. Still, I continue to buy their albums out of a sense of obligation. They feel like postcards you might receive every few years from an old friend whom you don't see often anymore and maybe don't have as much in common with anymore. Still, you have enough connection and personal history to still be interested in what they're up to. So though U2's last three albums haven't wowed me, I'm still curious to hear what they're up to.

And then when you want to remember why you fell in love with them in the first place, you return to an album like War.