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U2 Biography
U2 BIOGRAPHY
Once tagged by Rolling Stone magazine as "the only band that matters" and seemingly with a hotline to the Big Fella upstairs, U2 rose out of humble beginnings in Dublin to become the biggest politically active rock band of the '80s. They split public opinion with their sloganeering and at times self righteous stance (Bono engaged in more breast beating than Tarzan) but there was no denying the visceral thrill of their music. Led by their alternately pompous, charismatic, sincere and Christian frontman, U2's brand of grandiose post-punk stadium rock has shifted 75 million albums across the world in a 20 year career.
The quartet of Larry Mullen (drums), Adam Clayton (bass), The Edge (David Evans) (guitar) and Paul Hewson (Bono) (vocals) met at school in Dublin in 1977. Their first release was a three track EP, U2-3 which came out the following year. After a failed audition with CBS records the band came to the attention of Island Records through their influential manager Paul McGuinness who had seen them win a local talent contest.
U2's first three albums, 1980's Boy, 1991's October and 1983's War, all produced by Steve Lillywhite, quickly established their brand of sweeping, atmospheric rock. Lyrically the songs centred around Bono's political preoccupations and his struggle to marry Christianity with a rock and roll lifestyle. 1983's War album featured Sunday Bloody Sunday, a song about religion and the struggles in Northern Ireland while New Year's Day was inspired by the Polish Solidarity movement. The album entered the British charts at No. 1, reaching No. 12 in the US and quickly elevated the band to a major stadium act in the US. Bono's sloganeering was emphasized during the band's next US tour when, during their famous Red Rocks amphitheatre gig in Colorado (filmed and released as an album and video - Under A Blood Red Sky), the singer stood on top of a wall waving a white flag. "It was anger," Bono later explained. "It was a kind of anti-nationalism stand. I was tired of the Union Jack."
U2 soon became rock and roll's voice of conscience and the least likely band to open an interview with, "Did you hear the one about the vicar and the actress?" Despite being light on laughs, the band continued to grow. They played a memorable set at Live Aid in 1985 and contributed to the Amnesty World tour in 1986 and their next two albums would see them exploring their personal and political quests even further. 1984's The Unforgettable Fire, produced by Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois, was named after an exhibition of paintings made by survivors of the atomic bombs dropped on Japan and focused on the power of positivism. The album entered the UK charts at No. 1 and the single, Pride, a tribute to Martin Luther King, (described by Bono as "the most successful pop song we've ever written,") was a Top 10 hit. 1987's The Joshua Tree was a bleaker record that focused on the American heartland. The album established the group as world superstars becoming the band's first Us No. 1 album and their third consecutive album to top the UK charts. In 1988 the band released Rattle & Hum, a live film of their US tour and double album soundtrack featuring new and live songs. With guest appearances by legendary bluesman BB King, the record paid homage to the roots of American rock and roll. The film featured the band recording songs at Elvis Presley's Sun Studios. Despite topping the UK and US charts and spawning hits such as I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For, several critics found the album bombastic. So an over-earnest U2 retired to Dublin to count their cash and contemplate an overhaul and perhaps work a few gags into the act.
1990's Achtung Baby represented a total re-evaluation of the band's aesthetics. Flirting with dance, electronic and industrial rock and recorded in Berlin, producer Brian Eno helped replace U2's powerchord sound with a more subtle, atmospheric landscape. The album was again a UK and US No. 1, spawning arguably U2's greatest love song, the ballad One. The resulting Zoo TV world tour in 1992 was a triumphant but complex multi-media event involving nightly satellite links to other parts of the world with Bono, in his mischievous stage persona of anti-Christ Macphisto, telephoning royalty and world leaders from the stage every night. Ronald Reagan was out but inbetween absolution, the Pope picked up to say hello.
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