John J. Hlavaty ([email protected])
Mon, 7 Sep 1998 12:13:38 -0400
This 14 year old kid's mother also adored U2. Back
in the early 80's, U2 stood for all of what she believed in.
She had all of U2's older material but once she got married
and had a family, well, it was just too difficult to follow
music let alone any particular band. She remembered hearing
more of "Sesame Street" songs than rock songs.
She was thrilled to hear her daughter play some of U2's
newer music, but with her full-time job, PTA and the general
hassles of raising a family, she just didn't have the time
to really follow them. She often wondered if U2 were still
producing music she loved.
This 14 year old's sister got into U2 during
the "Achtung Baby" era and was "hooked". She loved
"POP" and was anxious for more. But she still hadn't
gone back and looked at all of U2's older material. She
was more into the present than the past. After all,
one only glorifies the past when the future dries up.
She heard that in a song once. But still, somehow
she thought she was missing out. Maybe it was time to
go back and check out U2's older material.
As with most families, the similarities are greater than
the differences, but they are all too blind to see. The 14
year old begs his mom one day to take him to a music
store. A new rap album has come out and all his friends
are raving out it. His older sister is there and says she'd like to
come along. His mother, who hasn't been to a music
store in some time, acquiesces.
As they meander about the store, they each find themselves
drawn to the rock section but at different times. They scan through
and eventually make their way to "U". What's this? A "Best Of"
collection by U2? Hmmm.... Oh yeah, that's right, they had seen some
promotion for this on TV and in some newspaper ads. Hey!
These albums have all those songs that they remember hearing
and the new songs that they ignored. These ablums
would be GREAT additions to their collection.
They meet up with their goodies at the check out lane. And
as they put down their purchases, they laugh at that one band
that each of them had grabbed. Perhaps one copy will be enough
this time.
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I said it before and I'll say it again: U2 fans are a royal pain
in the arse. We will complain no matter what. We complained
endlessly about how long it was between "official" U2 albums,
but when "POP" came out, I heard more complaints about
it from us "die-hards" than the casual fan. We complain about
the lack of extreme experimentation on "POP", but when U2
went way out on OS1, we dismissed it because it was not a
"real" U2 album. We are repulsed at the idea of a "Best Of"
collection but purchase compilation CD from bootleggers. We
want U2 to release tons of singles so we can get b-sides, but
if the b-side is not a completely new original song, we
complain that U2 are lazy. We want remixes but complain
about the remixes that are made.
We want U2 to be financially successful as this allows them creative
freedom, but complain when they sign a lucrative album contract.
We want U2 to put on the "best show on earth", but complain
when the ticket prices increase to pay for it. We complain about
how much we dislike seeing U2 in stadiums, but complain when
we can't get tickets to the arena shows. We complain about the
press "revealing" too much U2, but then we ask about every
personal detail, buy every book and interview magazine
and even travel to their homes and studios. We complain that
U2 are "making us broke" with the many formats of their CD
releases, but then buy 2 of every item out there so we can
"have one to play with and one for our collection". We complain
that U2 fans don't partipate in tape trees, but then whine when
someone says he/she has to charge a few $$ for a CD-R
copy of a show just to cover his/her costs. We complain that U2
looked "too serious" during the JT-era but were offended when U2
presented their "lighter side" during ZOO TV and POPMart. We
complained that Bono was too preachy in the 80's but not
preachy enough in the 90's. And an oldie but a goodie, we
complain about Bono's ever-changing hairstyle, but complain
that Larry's hairstyle has remained the same for the last decade.
Regardless of what U2 does for these "Best Of" CDs, we
will complain. But as I demonstrated above, these albums
aren't really for us die-hards.
Another interesting aspect about U2 fans is how we love to "convert"
other people. I know I have and I'm sure all of you have done so as
well, even if in a minor ways. We conspicuously hang our U2
posters and calenders at work or school. We get all excited like a 6
year old at a carnival whenever U2 comes on the radio.
Whenever music is discussed, we find a way to bring U2
in the conversation. Often we'll make CD-Rs or tapes
of U2 songs and give them to our friends to demonstrate
how good U2 is.
U2, being the kind group they are, have cut our work-load for us.
We can now recommend these "Best Of" albums. If the person likes
them, they may wind up buying the next U2 album. If not,
at least we didn't have to waste our time making this "perfect"
tape or CD-R. As others have pointed out, many artists
have released "Best Of" albums, including U2's U.S. counterpart,
R.E.M. And you know what, I own it - along with
the rest of R.E.M.'s albums. It was great having all of R.E.M.'s
best songs on one CD.
Bottom line: We U2 fans are complainers. To counter this, if
you don't want an album, don't buy it. If you do, buy it.
But please forget about all of this "sell-out" baggage that we
seem to associate with anything U2 does.
Ciao,
John
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.0b2 on Mon Sep 07 1998 - 09:16:16 PDT