Agree completely with the U2 thing. There's nothing wrong with them. Some of the recent stuff is good. Maybe an occasional B+ or A- song or two, IMO. But the popularity and fan devotion, I just don’t get.

I sometimes wonder if it’s a symptom of the sad state of the music industry today. I, mean come on, American Idol is producing some of the biggest selling acts today. And now Grammy winners even! Heads should be rolling in that industry.

Now REM on the other hand, well I’m in 180 degree disagreement with you there. I own everything they have ever recorded, and listen to it regularly. But I will admit they haven’t done anything good lately, and probably never will again. And I think they have at least accepted that fact themselves.

Try to keep up with the times, Stephen. Hating U2 really got rolling back in about 1988, when Rattle and Hum came out.

Personally I don't see how anyone can't like Boy or The Unforgettable Fire. Joshua Tree is overplayed, but it's still a great album. Their post-Achtung Baby stuff has done less and less for me, but I've found something to like on all the albums.

Haven't bought an R.E.M. album since Up, which I thought was terrible, but I liked most every one before that. Just like U2, Bowie, the Stones, The Who, and Springsteen, their hits have been overplayed to the point that they've become annoying. But Murmur, Reckoning, Life's Rich Pageant, and (IMO) the often-overlooked New Adventures in Hi-Fi--that's great stuff.

But to each his own.

Every time U2 are played I hear echoes of the Stones and Led Zeppelin, with lyrics by a would-be Bob Dylan out of REM. Echoes of the old bluesmen, of course, and some skiffle mixed with English early 60's white boy blues.

Good enough for the kids, I suppose, but once you've heard the real thing, why bother?

Just another 80's group.

Now I'm going back to my rocking chair and my rum toddies. I swear, you young people and your Rooshian vodka...

You baffle me, Stephen. I don't see how anyone who likes rock could dislike an album like Joshua Tree. If the album's overplayed, it's because it belongs on the short list of all-time great rock albums.

REM did some okay tunes, but not enough to make up for all the crap they recorded and Michael Stipe's general demeanor. I was once involved with a girl who thought "Shiny Happy People" was a really neat song, and in retrospect I should have seen the approaching train wreck right then and there.

I'm with you, too.

Of course, I'm a jaded, cynical guy in my mid-40s, so please take it for what it's worth...

My personal life-time quota of U2 was over last decade.
I can’t tell you how much I agree with you.
REM - ugh!
u2 are fine, but enough already.
Anyway - doesn’t Colorado have the worst FM radio stations?
All they play on KBCO is U2, big head Todd, REM, Dave Matthews, Natalie Merchant.
I can't take it anymore.

I've been forced to listen to lite-rock/mo-town hits from the 70s.

I was born in 1950, lived through everything from Elvis to Rap, and I could not name a single U2 song that I would recognize if I heard it.

You should all listen to The Cure *much* more often. It never gets old.

As much as I hate NPR and the system under which public radio operates they do play some good music.

My local has a great show on saturday nights called American Rythm. This show brings us the history of american popular music.

U2?, REM?, the old stuff kicks the crap out of these guys. Nobody in the last 20 years has been worth a darn.

I never liked U2, and I never understood all the heaving and hollering about them. Not from day-one.

The Joshua Tree was actually their last gasp. Since then they have been running on the Rolling Stones method of living off your legend. Bobo's 'statesmanship' role doesn't hurt record sales either. That's why Bob Geldorf is still hailed as an important person instead of a trivia answer about the Boomtown Rats.

Still, better U2 than rappers. I had no idea the grammys were even on until reading the results on Drudge. They mean less than zero to me, and the oscars are tending the same direction.

I preferred U2's older stuff, War, Blood Red Sky, Boy. I think Joshua Tree was the last U2 release I bought. I really don't care much for their new 'sound' but I'm a purist and start to lose my liking for groups whose time has come and gone which you can identify when they change how they sound.

Personally I am more sick of listening to Bono say we need to pump billions more into Africa rather than telling failing African nations to start trying to reform thier own societies.

I used to LOVE the Cure.
Now I DETEST the Cure.
I use to like Robert Smith's voice.
Seriously, after careful consideration, his voice is
like a sack of cats on crack.

Sorry.

Still love Siouxsie and the Banshees, though.

I really liked U2's more experimental stuff, such as The Unforgettable Fire and Achtung Baby. On both albums, they really let Brian Eno cut loose with his production skills, which are considerable. (Just ask George Martin, who once praised Eno as a worthy successor.)

But The Joshua Tree and Rattle & Hum? There just doesn't seem like a whole lot of excitement on those records.

Stephen:

"Am I the last guy in America or maybe the world who just doesn't care for U2?"

Well, I ditched you back in about '99. For the previous twelve years, my friends were mostly nuts about them, but U2 left me cold, and I got really, really sick of their big hits. Also Bono's vocal mannerisms.

Then one night I was working late in lab, an extended concert version of "Bad" came on the radio, and by the end I thought, "Hate to say it, but this is really good." By degrees I became a convert, after over a decade of hearing them all the damn time. Just my two cents.

And I agree with you on REM--that was one band that I never got.

I would probably be a bigger U2 fan if it wasn't for the fact they were/are overplayed into oblivion by radio and the TV music channels. In my opinion they're a very good band, but certain tunes (i.e "With or Without You") I NEVER want to hear again.

I've always dug REM though. But I *will* admit to wanting to eat a gun every time "Losing My Religion" came out of my radio every twelve minutes.

I'm a lurker here, but a long-time frequent reader (reader, junkie, whatever). For me, I think U2 usually has at least one killer track on each of their albums over the years. I totally agree about REM, though.

I was just talking about this to a friend the other night, and we both completely agreed with you. U2 is a decent pop band. Nothing more, nothing less. They are *not* a rock band. They are a decent pop band and very good businessmen (or at least have some directing them).

Stephen - You're not the only one, bub... and looking in the comments, it would appear I'm in good company.

Ok they're overplayed, but they've really come back from the POP-mart disaster.

It definitely has to be an age thing, though, as my friends and relatives 10 years + older are all in line with your opinion. They just don't have any decent competition in terms of music. Some of the indie bands are ok, but too many are just flashes in the pan, rather than actually decent bands.

Stephen,
Pretty much agree with you on these two. Long comment as it's probably going to end up the last one on this post.
Of course, as you're aware, this pre-boomer, is drifting into Southern rock and blugrass mixed music, "Elko" by Railroad Earth. Another unheralded album would be "Live at the Wetlands" by Robert Randolph and the Family Band. Then there's always Dions' (yes, that Dion) new Robert Johnson like "Bronx in Blue".
Right now I'm listening to "The Best of Hot Tuna", a late 60's/early 70's San Francisco rock band for you youngsters. Surprisingly, much of it really reminds me of the previously refered to "Elko".
Enough electricicles for now, have to let my utility provider rest and recharge for awhile.
Mike
BTW, The Clash, The Band, Little Feat, The Who.

U2 was the best rock band going for the 90's. Achtung Baby (whatever year it was) has a few very good songs, the first 4 anyway. I guess there are always people who don't like something, judging by the comments. I'm sure if the thread were "War and Peace is overrated" 20 people would pop up who agree. Liked REM's first few albums, but after a while their sound just begins to get old, and I felt like I had heard enough examples of it. Same thing happened with 10000 Maniacs. Fine, but I don't need 10 albums of the same thing.

I was a big U2 fan in the 80's but mostly lost interest after Achtung Baby. I did see them at Mile High in 93 or so, the tour where Bono called the White House from stage every night. Must have been odd being the White House switchboard op that summer.

As for REM, same deal. Was a big fan in the 80's, have lost interest since. Still, the early/mid 80's records by both REM and U2 were great and I still listen to War or Life's Rich Pageant on occasion.

I must disagree with the earlier poster about Colorado radio. I'm sure KBCO's deteriorated since I left Denver in 96 (as has radio in general), but I would kill to have something similar here in Houston. You have no idea how lucky you are. That's why I have that XM.

"Desire" and "The Real Thing" are both great songs. Other than that, I don't understand the fixation people have with U2.

I think Bono's political popularity (in some parts anyway) translates somewhat into their commercial success.

U2 was relevant twenty plus years ago. REM was never relevant or good.

Crikey, I haven't thought about Hot Tuna in years. Whatshisname from Jefferson Airplane was in that band. Very cool sound.

U2: meh. However, I bought the latest album in a flurry of optimism last year and I found it makes good background music. My kids characterize many of the songs as "whiny" (my reason for always skipping "Yesterday" when we play Beatles CDs) and I find this accurate.

REM: ah, um, sorry, no. I don't think Stipe can open his mouth without whining. If I want whining, my kids can oblige me.

I don't like much modern "rock", it all seems slickly over-produced. I was horrified by the last round of Page/Plant collaborations -- they've abandoned their Blues roots and gone right 'round the bend, all Eastern/mystical crap. Please: you did "Kashmir" once already, you didn't need to do it again, and again, and again.

I've about given up on new stuff (even by old bands), which is so sad, it's like a part of me has died.

Stephen,
I couldn't agree with you more. Both bands are highly overrated for reasons I can't begin to understand. Being that good is not one of those reasons.

I couldn't listen to them after War, but I was a huge fan of Boy & October.

Do what I do. Never listen to music radio, don't hang out in bars, and nothing will be "over played".

Quick fix...don't listen to the radio. I haven't listened to commercial radio since I was something like 14 years old. If somthing gets old, it's my fault then. I'm not sick of anything. I think U2 is brilliant, even if after "Pop" they started making "One" over and over again. Do some research, go to Virgin, and listen to some of the new artists. There is brilliant music out there. You just have to find it.

Hot F-en Tuna!

Yeah, now there’s a band. They’ve passed through town here for the last three years in a row, and I never miss that show.

Joan,

Jack Cassidy is the dude from Jefferson Airplane who formed Hot Tuna. He is also the role model and mentor of a bass player of some renown named Phil Lesh.

Oh, and I forgot to add that my wife thinks my REM obsession is related to some sort of latent homosexuality issues. Feh. What the hell does that fish know….

U2's hyperpopularity shows just how barren the music scene has become. They were pretty good, but it does seem that they started to take themselves a little too seriously and began believeing the stuff people wrote about them saving rock & roll.

REM puts me to sleep.

Gee, then I guess you have really mixed feelings about ELO...

It's not Joshua Tree that bothers me, it's hearing that damn Vertigo song 5 million times. Even my favorite hockey team is using the damn thing whenever they score at home.

Well, I guess the University of Georgia Art Department just doesn't make'em like they used to, after delivering REM and the B-52's to the world...but they were so refreshing and deep around here compared to what else we had to listen to. Of course, it is near sacriledge not to love them (so burn me at the stake!)

Maybe I haven't listened for a while, but to me, "old stuff" on NPR means Bach, Beethoven...

I'll probably be lynched for saying so, but U2 is the 1980/90's equivalent of the Beatles/Stones.

Personally, I don't understand the fascination with the Beatles; a few halfway decent songs, and then a whole crap-load of dreck. Same with the Stones. Yet somehow the Stones (even in their decrepit and exceedingly wrinkled state) still get tons of media attention and music industry respect. For what? Cause they can play an instrument and strut around on stage? Same goes for John Lennon – he’s a shell of his former self and even then he wasn’t that impressive. And somehow both Lennon and the Stones (and U2) get play at the halftime of the Superbowl. At least U2 couldn’t potentially be the fathers of the coaches of both teams.

Sorry - I just don't get it. There are better musicians and better song-writers out there than the Beatles or the Stones.

It's all about the nostalgia.

It’s kind of like mom’s cooking. There may be better food out there, but somehow nothing ever tastes quite as good as mom’s cooking. It’s what you know best and what you grew up with, and nothing will ever quite replace it (there are, of course, always exceptions).

That’s the Beatles, the Stones and U2 – they’re the mom’s meatloaf of the music industry.

When I hear about U2, I think of the plane that Gary Powers flew over Russia. And REM as Rapid Eye Movement, which has to do with sleep.

I think I will go back and enjoy more of my REM now.

BLASPHEMER!!!!!

Allah is gonna get you for this outrage!!!!

(and did you know Mohammed was seen on a pita??)

I just had a flashback, and remembered that I discovered U2 overexposure very early on. And since I have probably passed legal BOC at this point, I am going to share the anecdote.

Circa 1984, I was a sophomore in college (PSU). A guy in the room next to mine went on some sort of U2 compulsion spree. He discovered the song “Sunday, Bloody Sunday”, and he proceeded to play it. Over, and over, and over again.

I lost count at 60 some times one night. It got so bad we had to have the floor counselor (I think he was called an “RA”, for some reason) give the guy a visit, and see if everything was OK.

After that visit, he toned it down a bit. But still, right after every class, her would close the door to his room, and crank up “Sunday, Bloody Sunday”. Usually 3, or 4, or 10 times. This went on for more than a month.

Maybe he was just ahead of his time.

What makes this even stranger, is he also claimed that he was the nephew of Mark Knopfler, of Dire Straits fame. He did look an awful lot like the guy.

And wouldn’t you know, after Christmas break that year, he came back with a bunch of Polaroid’s of himself and Uncle Mark hanging out together at the family Christmas get together

I haven’t thought about that incedent in probably 15 years. Funny what can jog your memory.

Having been (regretfully) married to someone who participated in and was subsequently questioned by the RUC for the demonstrations following "Bloody Sunday," that song still tugs on a heart-string or two.

Yet, Colin Farrell's turn as Bono on a not-long-ago SNL still kills me.

Is there such a thing as "Irish Fatigue?"

If you want good rock, screw U2 and pull out an old Led Zep or ZZ album. If you want good Irish stuff, go looking for anything by "Planxty," "The Furey Bros.," "The Wolfetones" or even "Makem & Clancy." Leave "The Chieftains" for the old folks willing to stay up on St. Paddy's Day when there's nothing else on.

And, oh by the way: Stephen--get out of my head. I was beginning to think I was the only late-40's guy who is tired of U2 and is repulsed by R.E.M. and a schmutz-covered Michael Stipe.

I can't believe McCartney didn't win. His new CD is, without exaggeration, brilliant.

Jared,

I admit John Lennon is probably “a shell of his former self”, as you put it.

But I would have paid thousands of dollars for a chance to see him perform at a halftime show last year.

If I am still cogent after I take care of some chores that require my immediate attention here, I will elaborate a bit further….

"Stephen--get out of my head. I was beginning to think I was the only late-40's guy who is tired of U2 and is repulsed by R.E.M. and a schmutz-covered Michael Stipe."

Ouch! I told you fatherhood ages a man--all of a sudden, you're a late- 40's guy! Love to you, Melissa, and Preston. --B, H & S

Joan -- "Kashmir"... (groan) If I never hear that bloody thing again in my life, I won't have to reach for my pistol. In my band, we're playing "Out On The Tiles" and "Hots On For Nowhere". No-bullshit Zeppelin that even Zeppelin couldn't bullshit. "New stuff" sucks bat-shit off cave walls. That why my mates and I are just doing it ourselves.

"G-Dub" -- "You just have to find it."

I wonder if you ever knew a time when great, great rock music just fell out of the sky everywhere at all times. If you did, then maybe you can understand how awful it is to have to beat around the bushes for something worth listening to. I deeply resent that, and I can't stand the sight of these horrible brats, now.

Jared -- It's been twenty-five years since John Lennon was "a shell of his former self".

I wonder if you're thinking of Paul.

I've never liked the music I was "supposed" to.
I don't like the Beatles, the Stones, Led Zep, U2, REM, or Tom Petty.
But I do like Styx, Queen, Foreigner, Kansas, Heart, Nazareth, Bryan Adams...

jeez,
I can hardly believe I wasn't the last commenter, well, trying to maintain my record, I'll go again.
Anything post 60's by the Stones or Beatles is suck music.
Springsteen peaked with "Born to
Run" even tho' I would love him to get a do over, with today's higher production values, for "Darkness on the Edge of Town".
Thank G-d nobody has yet praised the pathetic Doors.
Go listen to Marvin Gaye "Live in Montreux 1980" and Stevie Ray Vaughn,"Live at Montreux '82 & '85".
jmaster, if you don't already own it, you have to get the 2 disc "Best of Hot Tuna" and then Railroad Earth's "Elko", give yourself four hours, good headphones and a comfortable chair, hi-end bourbon and a weak doobie or two are good accompaniments. Suggested same to the Vodka guy, but he plead fatherhood as an excuse! Just kidding, I'd never promote illegal substance usage!
Now playing, great new Bobby Purify CD "Better to Have It".
600+ CD's ripped and 16GB of old Napster downloads, got all the music an old fart could want!
Well, no, I keep buying, no iTunes tho'.
Heh!

U2's first couple of times through Atlanta in I guess it was '79 were awsome as was boy. After that, well...REM in 1981-2 in that Athens scene was awsome, course nobody had any idea what they were talking about, it was just loud and distorted man and it was cool. Murmer and Reckoning are masterpieces. Every single thing after that is garbage. But hey, they both got rich and I'm all for that (Economy as an expanded pie theory dammit!). Best damned band out of all of that was Jason and the Scorchers, and they never made a fricking dime.

Of course he still hasn't found what he's looking for...
The streets have no names!

Have to agree on both counts. When I was in high school/college, these were the two "coolest" bands around, and I never could get into it. U2 just annoys me, but REM makes me want to poke out my eardrums.

"REM puts me to sleep."

Honest to goodness, I once got a free ticket to an REM concert back in '86 or '87... and fell asleep at it. I'm not much for U2, either, as I don't care for artists doubling as social workers.

Now, Rudy Vallee? There was a fellow with some nice pipes.

U Who?

I discovered back in the early nineties was that I am not worthy to listen to U2.

I'm in awe that so many Vodkapundit readers have reached that level of self importance to be allowed to listen to U2's lofty art.

Hawkwind

The only song I ever liked by U2 was "Numb", ironically on an album nobody likes.

REM's always been just as pretentious, though I kind of liked "Everybody Hurts".

U2 is best live. Most of what I have by them from iTunes is live recordings of their hits. "Bad" and "A Sort of Homecoming" are in my Top 100 soundtrack of my life.

The last great REM album was Automatic for the People.

I went from buying U2 albums the very day they came out to just finding out the other day that they released a new album last year-- and won a Grammy for it.

I agree, I kind of view U2 and Dave Matthews Band in the same light, they both seem to be great bands, but neither really speaks to me, and their songs all seem to be about some vague sort of yearning, or how great it is to be alive. I feel more emotional listening to any Sublime song for the 100,000th time than I do hearing a U2 or DMB song for the third time.

One good station in Denver is 102.3 KCUV. They play Americana music, which means bluegrass, blues, country, rock, old and new stuff you never heard before. If I imagine the kind of radio playlist I would run if I was a program manager, this station is way better, because they find so much cool music.

You can listen to then at www.kcuvradio.com/listen_online.asp. They have a high bandwidth signal, so the sound quality is good online.

By the way, you are right about U2. I would extend this to include most classic rock that I have heard on the radio for 25 years. Likewise, most new mainstream sucks. It is really nice to hear great music for the first time.

Rick Stilson