Two weeks and counting…
For what? Surely not one of my blogs. Last one came more than a month ago, I think… and to think, in that blog, I told you to “come back tomorrow” for my last blog. Tomorrow in God-speak maybe where a minute is as a millennium, or in my case a day is as a month. No, the two weeks I am referring to are the two weeks until U2 come out with their next album, and the one we’ve had to wait the longest amount of time for (4 1/2 loooooooong years). Speaking of a moment feeling like an eternity, any U2 fan will tell you that waiting so long can be torture. And you better believe our expectations are high!
Well, on the 3rd of March I will be buying their next album, No Line on the Horizon. So I’m taking this opportunity to go back and look at their eleven previous studio releases leading up to the big day. If nothing else this will force me to write and maybe get back into writing and staying away form that bottomless pit called Facebook (I now know what an alcoholic must feel like when a drink is put in front of him, because I feel it every time I sit in front of a computer… total helplessness!).
Before I get started I must say that I’m looking forward to hearing the 3rd track of the album, because I’ve noticed that most U2 albums are as strong as song #3. Don’t believe me? Let’s just look at what have been considered their greatest masterpieces until now, Joshua Tree and Achtung, Baby. The third songs on those two CDs respectively are With or Without You and One, by many considered to be 2 of the greatest five songs in their library. How about New Year’s Day on War? On the other side, there is Mofo on Pop, and Numb on Zooropa, both songs I like, but not to be confused with classics in any way. From everything I’ve read the third track on this album, Moment of Surrender, a 7 minute epic (for them anyway), easily the longest song they’ve recorded in the studio, is exactly what I’m hoping for, a classic in the making. And let’s hope that the rest of the CD follows as excellent along with track #3. I am really excited.
Now, on to U2’s first release, Boy. I guess the best way I can describe Boy is with a single word - Raw. It is a simple sound from a very young and inexperienced band who wore their hearts on their sleeves. They just wanted to rock, and went out and did so. For me, this is my favorite U2 guitar album. Edge played some great guitar solos on this album, something audibly missing on the majority of U2’s other releases. With the exception of one or two tracks on a few of their albums, Edge has stayed away from the lengthy solos since Boy. But on this CD, he goes off on songs like Twilight, Another Time, Another Place, and The Electric Co. And the simplicity of I will Follow can not be overstated. It is difficult to think that no one up until that moment had come up with something as obviously simple as its intro, still one of the most recognizable riffs in all of rock and roll still today. The themes are all related… all about being young and the anxiety of growing up… how typical and obvious for an album named Boy, huh? But, it all works. And if you’re wondering about track 3 on Boy, it’s a song called An Cat Dubh, which if I am correct was their longest track before Moment of Surrender. Is it a classic? Maybe not, but then again it’s a song released well before they hit it real big, so many people don’t know it too well. But give it a listen, and you’ll realize it’s a really solid song by a young and ambitious new band at the time. Overall a really solid album, that I recommend to all. By the way, this last statement may be one you may go tired of reading over the next few weeks. All right, that’s it for now. Let’s see if I come back tomorrow…