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New Stories:
MTV: U2 debuts #3 in US (11-8-2000)
Rolling Stone: Universal's Stream Machine (11-8-2000)
Chicago Tribune: Clinton OKs bill to help pay debt of poor nations (11-8-2000)
Jam: U2 mention in Costello article (11-8-2000)
Dotmusic: ATYCLB battles for #2 in UK (11-8-2000)
Rolling Stone: Coldplay compared to U2 (11-8-2000)
Irish Times: Clarence Hotel refurbisher designs Hospital ICU (11-8-2000)
All Ireland Music: The Edge wants Gore victory (11-8-2000)
All Ireland Music: ATYCLB review (11-8-2000)
AllIrelandMusic: U2 #1 in UK (11-8-2000)
Devcomm: Collection of Debt Reduction articles (11-8-2000)
Sports Illustrated: ATYCLB review (11-8-2000)
YouTwo.net/U2Tours.com: Ticket Sale Information (11-8-2000)
Launch: U2 Album Debuts At Number Three; Bono Says Promotion Is Imperative
(11-8-2000)
ATYCLB #1 in New Zealand (11-8-2000)
Jam!: U2 Debuts at #1 in Canada (11-8-2000)
Billboard: ATYCLB Debuts at No. 3 on US Charts (11-8-2000)
Irish Times: Opinion Column Criticizes Bono (11-8-2000)
Launch: U2 Album Debuts At Number One In U.K. (11-8-2000)
MTV UK & Ireland: Clinton Praises Bono (11-8-2000)
AP: Dalton Brothers Anniversary (11-8-2000)
Music3w: Bono's Presidential Seal of Approval (11-8-2000)
music365: Bono Receives White House Tribute (11-8-2000)
Exclusive! Mp3s of Oakenfold Remixes (11-8-2000)
dotmusic: Clinton Commends Bono's Charity Work (11-8-2000)
Ananova: Competition Tries to Knock U2 Off the Top (11-7-2000)
Virgin.net: Clinton's Bono Day (11-7-2000)
Presswire: Clinton Says 'Let's Give Bono a Big Hand' (11-7-2000)
BBC: Clinton Praises Bono (11-7-2000)
EIL: Next U2 Single Announced - Stuck in a Moment (11-7-2000)
Vibe: U2 to Play VH1 Awards (11-7-2000)
Vancouver Sun: Part 2 - Leaving Pop Behind (11-7-2000)
Vancouver Sun: Part 1 - Leaving Pop Behind (11-7-2000)
dotmusic: Radiohead Get the Bends (11-7-2000)
Chicago Tribune: U2 mention in At The Drive In article (11-7-2000)
StarIQ: Horoscope for Bono on ATYCLB release date (11-7-2000)
Top Magazine: U2 Make It An Irish Double (11-6-2000)
Billboard: U2 Leaves The Competition 'Behind' (11-6-2000)
AP: Clinton Signs Foreign Aid Bill (11-6-2000)
NY Times: Dueling Views of What Rock Stardom Means (11-6-2000)
MSNBC: Adam Clayton Powell (11-6-2000)
Virtual New York: Europe's U2 Band Making Big Comeback (11-6-2000)
Absolute Zero: Taking a Shot at Bono (11-6-2000)
Virgin.net: Radiohead Reject Oakenfold Spirit (11-6-2000)
Reuters: Clinton Thanks Bono Over Global Debt Relief Measure (11-6-2000)
French Music Site Provides Multimedia Retrospective (11-6-2000)
U2 Featured in Several European Magazines (11-6-2000)
Hobomusic: U2 Leave The Rest Behind In Album Charts (11-6-2000)
LA Times: Letters to the Editor (11-5-2000)
Providence Journal: A Retro Revival for Trend-Bending U2 (11-5-2000)
Spokesman-Review: Review of ATYCLB (11-5-2000)
Music3w: U2 Become One (11-5-2000)
Music365: U2 are #1 with ATYCLB (11-5-2000)
Daily Star News: Clinton to sign debt relief bill (11-5-2000)
BBC: U2 #1 in UK (11-5-2000)
Music365: U2 #1 in UK (11-5-2000)
99X: 'Beautiful Day' Is Featured Video (11-5-2000)
U2 Featured on 'Tutto' Cover (11-5-2000)
Winnipeg Radio to Interview Bono (11-5-2000)
Malaysian Star: Part 2 - Forward to the Past (11-5-2000)
Malaysian Star: Part 1 - Forward to the Past (11-5-2000)
Chart information in IRE, UK, and AUS (11-5-2000)
REMHQ: Stipe impressed with new album (11-5-2000)
Entertainment Weekly: ATYCLB Review (11-5-2000)
Muse: Michael Stipe Excited about New U2 Album (11-5-2000)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
MTV: U2 debuts #3 in US (11-8-2000)
Jay-Z, Outkast, U2 Storm Albums Chart
Limp Bizkit's run atop the Billboard 200 will be short-lived, as new releases
from Jay-Z, Outkast and U2 storm the top of the albums chart next week.
According to sales figures released by Soundscan on Wednesday (November 8),
Jay-Z leads the pack with his The Dynasty — Roc la Familia 2000, which sold
more than 557,000 copies to debut at #1 on next week's chart.
Nipping at Jay-Z's heels is the Southern-fried hip-hop outfit Outkast, whose
Stankonia sold just under 523,000 copies to debut at #2. The ambitious album's
first-week sales were boosted by its first single, "B.O.B.," and its recent
follow-up, "Ms. Jackson" [RealAudio].
U2 also claim some prime real estate on next week's chart, as the veteran
group's All That You Can't Leave Behind will debut at #3. The band moved more
than 427,000 copies of the album, fueled by the single "Beautiful Day," to land
in the top three.
The infusion of new blood means that Limp Bizkit's Chocolate Starfish and the
Hot Dog Flavored Water, which had held the #1 spot on the chart for two weeks,
will drop to #4 on next week's Billboard 200.
Boston hard-rockers Godsmack also boast a strong debut on the chart, as the
group's first album in three years, Awake, sold more than 256,000 copies to
enter the chart at #5.
Detroit's Insane Clown Posse manage a chart feat, landing two new albums in the
Billboard top 25. The duo's Bizaar and Bizzar will debut at #20 and #21,
respectively; Bizaar sold more than 57,000 copies, while Bizzar sold about
54,000.
Death Row Records also score with its collection of early Snoop Dogg material,
as Dead Man Walkin' sold more than 44,000 copies to debut at #24.
The week's other top 100 debuts include P.J. Harvey's Stories From the City,
Stories From the Sea at #42, Insane Clown Posse pals Twiztid's Freek Show at
#51, Bob Dylan's Essential Bob Dylan collection at #67, Dwight Yoakam's
Tomorrow's Sounds Today at #68 and gloom rockers Type O Negative's Least Worst
Of collection at #99.
The bottom half of the top 200 welcomes new releases from gospel star Don Moen
at #104, Poe at #115, Triple 6 Mafia at #130, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers at
#132, Monifah at #151, Los Angeles' Lifehouse at #154, country
songwriter-turned-performer Jamie O'Neal at #165 and Samantha Mumba at #182.
-- Robert Mancini
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rolling Stone: Universal's Stream Machine (11-8-2000)
From Rolling Stone:
Universal's Stream Machine Gets Pumping
Universal takes first big step with free downloading
After continually bashing, squashing and suing digital download services like
Napster and MP3.com, the major record labels are finally getting with the
program. Or, at least, their version of the online music program. With a trial
service launched at the end of October, the five biggest record companies have
begun testing out a subscription service which gives surfers free access to over
20,000 songs from artists including U2, Bruce Springsteen and Eminem. What's the
catch? The songs are in streaming-only format, which means surfers can listen
via the Net, but can't save the songs on disk.
The plan, hatched by the Universal Music Group, lets 5,000 registered members of
Farmclub (www.farmclub.com) listen to individual tracks or even full-length CDs
in Real Audio or Windows Media format. Though Universal hasn't released many
other details about the plan, the offerings are for a wide range of tastes, with
available music ranging from jazz artists like Cannonball Adderly to modern rock
acts like Rage Against the Machine.
What's significant about Universal's move is that it's the first time that the
major labels have decided to give away a large chunk of music online for free.
Earlier this summer, EMI broke ground by making digital versions of 200 singles
and 100 full-length albums from Steve Miller Band to Frank Sinatra available for
purchase on the Web. Sony Music also took a stab in that direction by making
about fifty singles by artists including Mariah Carey and Destiny's Child
through online retailers for about $2.50 per song.
Why is Universal going the free music route? They think that by letting surfers
listen to music on demand online this will sway bootleggers from downloading and
saving Napsterized songs. That's probably wishful thinking, but it's a step in
the right direction. Bands such as Smashing Pumpkins and Ween have been proving
this point for weeks by streaming their own archives online in free radio
formats. By allowing fans to get something for free online, they're building
loyalty, which translates into merchandise and concert ticket sales down the
line.
In a way, what we're witnessing here is the birth of on-demand radio: where you
can go on the Net and tune into the songs you want, whenever you want. Part of
Universal's plan lets users assemble their own playlists, too. Who loses from
this deal? Maybe just the one-hit wonders who used to rely on a hot single to
sell a whole record. Offline radio stations might also have reasons to tremble.
If more record labels start dumping their music for free radio online, then
what's the point of tuning in to someone else's playlist?
Ultimately, the best thing going for a streaming music plan is probably the ease
of use. Despite the ubiquity of MP3 players, there are still a lot of people who
find the whole idea of downloading music way too controversial and geeky.
Streaming audio is essentially a point-and-click affair; if your software is
working, the process is about as instantaneous as clicking a radio station on
your car. And, even better, no commercials between songs . . . um, yet.
DAVID KUSHNER
(November 8, 2000)
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Chicago Tribune: Clinton OKs bill to help pay debt of poor nations (11-8-2000)
From the Chicago Tribune:
CLINTON OKS BILL TO HELP PAY DEBT OF POOR NATIONS
By William Neikirk
Washington Bureau
November 7, 2000
WASHINGTON -- Even amid bitter election-year partisanship and a furious battle
for control of the presidency and Congress, the nation's highest officials
sometimes can come together under severe political circumstances.
And so they did on election eve Monday as President Clinton signed an
appropriations bill providing $435 million in debt relief to some of the world's
poorest countries.
"It will be good for our souls," Clinton said. And over the long run it will be
good for American pocketbooks, too, he added.
The White House and Congress for nearly two years have fought over how much
should be allocated for an international debt relief initiative aimed at helping
as many as 33 impoverished countries cast off a crushing debt burden.
Some conservatives had resisted the initiative on grounds that it was
insufficient and should be accompanied by stronger reforms at global financial
institutions such as the International Monetary Fund.
Just before Congress adjourned for the election, members of both parties found
the middle ground and approved the $435 million allocation, which comes on top
of a $110 million appropriation last year.
"Just as America must also project strength in the world, America must also
project compassion," said Rep. John Kasich (R-Ohio), chairman of the House
Budget Committee.
In a ceremony at the White House, Clinton celebrated the passage of the measure,
which had been pushed by international relief organizations and religious
groups. Pope John Paul II and singer Bono of the rock group U2 had been among
the leading supporters.
"It shows that when we get the pope and the pop stars all singing on the same
sheet of music, our voices do carry to the heavens," the president said.
Treasury Secretary Larry Summers said debt relief in poor countries had become a
"gathering storm" since it was first broached a few years ago. Eleven countries,
including Tanzania, Mozambique and Uganda, have qualified for "expanded" debt
relief this year, with another nine expected to be approved by the end of 2000.
Summers said the U.S. was "at the end of the beginning of the profound task of
mobilizing American concern toward the poorest people in the world." With debt
relief, he said, poor countries could use money they once used for interest
payments to improve their educational and health-care systems and to attack
disease.
In helping the nations, he said, the U.S. and international institutions must be
sure that the money "is being used well" and funds are channeled swiftly to
African countries where AIDS is raging.
In order to qualify, countries must show they have a plan for putting their new
resources into productive investments for people, rather than in military
spending. And they must not be engaged in military conflict.
The bill authorizes the IMF to sell gold to finance its participation in the
initiative. The goal of the plan is to wipe out $90 billion of debt owed by the
poorest countries and reduce the total of debt to about $37 billion.
Not everyone agreed that the program, engineered by the International Monetary
Fund and World Bank, would succeed in writing off the debt of the 33 countries
it aims to help.
Allan Meltzer, economics professor at Carnegie-Mellon University in Pittsburgh,
said the plan is minimal. He said it falls $5 billion short of marshalling some
$14 billion in total resources for the targeted countries.
As a result, he said, the debt burden in these nations will grow, making another
round of debt relief necessary within a few years.
Meltzer, who headed a congressional advisory panel that explored the subject,
said Congress abandoned some of the recommendations of his group after the White
House applied pressure. In an election year, he said, the GOP did not want to be
branded as opponents of debt relief.
His panel said the IMF should use its own reserves to forgive all of the debt of
the poorest countries while insisting the countries undertake economic reforms.
It has ample reserves to do so, he said, but apparently not the will.
He also noted that the debt initiative called for $3.6 billion in contributions
from IMF member countries to supplement money from the fund and other
international financial institutions that lend frequently to poor countries.
"I'm for total debt relief," Meltzer said. He said it was cynical of the U.S. to
push through a plan that he claimed would shortchange poor countries and keep
many of them in debt--and still paying interest--to the IMF and other
international agencies.
Not a skeptical word was heard at the White House, where a friendly audience
favoring debt relief cheered the president and a bipartisan group of lawmakers
who helped get the bill through.
Clinton said it would be good for the U.S. "because it represents an investment
in future markets; good for our security because in the long run, it is
dangerously destabilizing to have half of the world on the cutting edge of
technology while the other half struggles on the bare edge of survival."
"Most of all," he added, "it would be good for our souls because global poverty
is a moral affront, and confronting the challenge is simply the right thing to
do."
The debt-relief money was included in a $14.9 billion foreign assistance measure
that also included increased military aid for Israel, $100 million for the new
government in Yugoslavia and $300 million in the fight against AIDS around the
world. The measure also lifted a ban on U.S. assistance to overseas
family-planning groups that advocate or participate in abortions.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Jam: U2 mention in Costello article (11-8-2000)
From Jam:
Costello writing TV series
Musicians Elvis Costello and T-Bone Burnett are creating an hour-long
comedy-drama about a group of female models who form a rock band, according to
Reuters.
The series was created by Costello and John Mankiewicz -- the man behind the UPN
series "Level Nine" -- with the pair trading ideas by e-mail. Burnett will carry
the title of executive producer, focusing on creating the soundtrack for the
series.
The best news for Costello fans is that he and Burnett (whose resume includes
work with Bob Dylan, U2 and Los Lobos) will write original songs for every
episode.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dotmusic: ATYCLB battles for #2 in UK (11-8-2000)
From Dotmusic:
WESTLIFE ALBUMS SELLING FAST
'Coast To Coast'
Westlife's new album 'Coast To Coast' is almost outselling the Spice Girls
long-player 'Forever' by more than two-to-one according to this weeks early
sales reports.
The boy band's second offering had sold nearly 60,000 copies by mid-afternoon
today (Tuesday November 7th), while the girl band had managed to shift an
estimated 20,800 copies.
Those Irish heartthrobs could well take the number one spot in the album charts
this weekend if they continue to sell their long-player with such great gusto.
It's likely that the Spice Girls will go in at number two but U2's 'All That You
Can't Leave Behind' is still a popular choice with record shoppers, selling
around 17,500 copies this week already.
Texas' 'The Greatest Hits' is predicted to fall to number four and Blur's 'The
Best Of' collection to number five.
Meanwhile, in the singles charts initial reports suggest that A1 are set to
smash their way to the top with 'Same Old Brand New You', pushing Westlife's 'My
Love' down to number two.
Other new entries in the Top 10 are likely to include the Backstreet Boys with
'Shape Of My Heart', Offspring's 'Original Prankster' and the Dark Lord himself,
Marilyn Manson, with 'Disposable Teens'.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rolling Stone: Coldplay compared to U2 (11-8-2000)
From Rolling Stone:
Coldplay Parachutes (Nettwerk)
Who will be the next Radiohead? Or the next Verve, or Travis? In England, the
answer on everyone's lips is Coldplay. On its debut album, Parachutes, this
youthful quartet resembles each of the above bands. Coldplay make
straight-ahead, melodic Brit pop that strives for significance with a capital s,
even as it has a hard time shaking its influences -- you can also hear the
ethereal guitar chime of U2, a bit of Dave Matthews' breathy folk implosion,
even a misting of Roger Waters-era Pink Floyd. More than anyone, however, the
ghost of Jeff Buckley lingers here, as the go-anywhere falsetto on songs like
"Shiver" demonstrates. Parachutes ultimately rises above its influences to
become a work of real transcendence: On songs like the unrepentantly romantic
"Yellow," the band creates a hypnotic slo-mo otherworld where spirit rules
supreme. When frontman Chris Martin moans about "skin and bones/Turning to
something beautiful," he could very well be talking about his own band. (DIEHL
-- RS 852)
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Irish Times: Clarence Hotel refurbisher designs Hospital ICU (11-8-2000)
Condensed from the Irish Times:
Hospital's new unit honours founder Swift
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A new acute and intensive care unit at St Patrick's Psychiatric Hospital, Dublin
was opened by the President, Mrs McAleese, yesterday.
The Dean Swift Ward is a single-storey building beside the original hospital.
Timber and stone recovered during clearance of the site have been incorporated
in the building. It has a modern and contemporary design which nonetheless
complements the existing hospital, which is over 250 years old. The building was
designed and delivered by a collaboration of three architectural firms: Crang &
Boake Inc and Kearns & Mancini, both of Toronto, and CMB Costello Murray
Beaumont, Dublin.
CMB Costello Murray Beaumont has been responsible for the design of buildings
including the Stillorgan Shopping Centre, the Hibernian Way Development in
Dublin's city centre and Portglenone Abbey in Co Antrim. The company was also
responsible for the restoration of the Royal Hospital in Kilmainham, the
internal refurbishment of the Irish Life head office and the Four Courts and the
refurbishment and extension of the Clarence Hotel, which is owned by U2.
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All Ireland Music: The Edge wants Gore victory (11-8-2000)
Thanks to Germana for the following from All Ireland Music:
The Edge wants Gore victory
U2's The Edge's hope that Al Gore
would be elected President of the
U.S. may still be a reality as a
recount in Florida throws doubt on the
belief that George W. Bush has won
the electoral race.
Although The Edge says that U2
would never publicly endorse a
candidate as they are not U.S.
citizens, it's his personal opinion that
Gore would make the better
President. However, he says it's up to the
American people to decide who
succeeds. He cites Northern Ireland as
the reason he would like to see
Gore win, as he believes Democrats
including Bill Clinton have a
better record than Republicans when
dealing with the political
situation here. He extends his belief that the
Democrats have handled other
troubled regions including the Middle
East well with regard to foreign
policy. The Edge says he believes that
from the perspective of an Irish
person or European, it would be good
news if Gore were elected.
Many political commentators say it
may be days before the presidential
winner can be confirmed.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
All Ireland Music: ATYCLB review (11-8-2000)
Thanks to Germana for the following from All Ireland Music:
U2: All That You Can't Leave Behind (Island)
We Irish have always had uneasy relationships with our
hero-figures. We were glad that
Phil Lynott didn't lose his accent, but clucked with an
I-told-you-so when he died. We
were glad when Paul McGrath finished his glittering career
crippled, skint, a recovering
alcoholic. These things make us happy, the failure of Irish
genius, Behans drinking,
Kavanaghs life long depression, the fact no one has ever read
anything by Joyce. We
hold them close to our collective breast in the face of
foreignness, yet berate them for
leaving us, the island, for becoming successful.
Ever since U2 became American in the late eighties, thanks to
Canadian Daniel Lanois'
hat, Dublin has thumbed its nose at them on their imperious
returns with the huge tours
and the supermodel girlfriend. But now they've created an album
that sounds more like
the U2 Dublin used to own. No more the twee Americana, no more
the Eno inspired knob
twiddling of Acthung Baby, no more self conscious dress
wearing, or bassist genitalia. No
more Trabants or bandannas, no giant citrus fruits or stupid
sunglasses. The album cover
is stark, simplistic, an airport, an important Irish symbol,
signifying the immigrant
transience of Irish culture. They're back, they're home,
returning to us like so many
generations past, to sup again at the Tigers overflowing glass
down in the Dockers, back
to analyse the roots, ideals, ideas of their infancy.
This album though, isn't fashioned from the same suburban
sprawl and incipient
depression of the old days, the old days for both U2 and
Dublin, Ireland, yet it doffs its
cap to them, without seeming too disingenuous at the same time.
Bono croons "Where I
grew up, They weren't many trees.." on Peace on Earth and "Love
is not the easy thing/
The only baggage you can bring" on Walk On. The lyrical
content, the oeuvre of the
album, seems to be a respect for things past, but the
championing of the now, the
heralding of the future. It's an album as upbeat as it is
intricate. It says, this is now,
and it's okay, parallel perhaps to the state of Ireland's new
found sense of belief.
Musically it makes more sense as a U2 album. Certainly they had
lost their way, forcing
both the album 'Pop' and the incumbent world-and-elsewhere tour
from an ether they
had already sapped dry with the studio generated noise of their
recent past, the high
ideas and the wantonly abstract film soundtracks from Jeff
Koons to James Bond, the
dreadful persona changes. This time they seem relaxed, letting
instead the music find
them. There's a buoyant economy on Beautiful Day, a powerful
popism to Elevation, a
seminal grooving to Wild Honey, perhaps the album's loosest,
free-est and best-est
track. This is the sound of the band at ease with themselves,
the sound of U2 coming
home, having proved their points time and time again, to sit
imperiously and do what it is
they have always done best. Create good, thoughtful music. And
maybe for once,
begrudgery aside, we can finally bask in their reflected glory.
Dara Higgins
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
AllIrelandMusic: U2 #1 in UK (11-8-2000)
From All Ireland Music:
U2 album leaves the rest behind
U2 stormed into the Number 1 spot in
the UK and Irish album charts last
weekend with their latest release
'All That You Can't Leave Behind'. The
Dublin foursome easily replaced
Scottish group, Texas at the top spot
with their eagerly awaited, back to
basics album being snapped up in
music stores. In Ireland,
unsurprisingly, the group had phenomenal
success and gained the second
largest weekly sales of the last decade.
The first was their own 'Best Of'
album in 1998.
U2 will spend the next few weeks
busily promoting their album which on
the whole has received positive
reviews from critics. It's believed the
album will be as big as previous
successes 'Achtung Baby' and 'The
Joshua Tree' which sold 12 and 16
million copies respectively. U2 have
already topped the single charts
with the first release from their album
'Beautiful Day' reaching Number 1 in
a number of European countries.
The band are planning to kick off
their next tour in Miami in March with
their final gig possibly in Slane
Castle in Ireland next August.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Devcomm: Collection of Debt Reduction articles (11-8-2000)
Thanks to Alan Geoghegan for the following:
On my personal web site for promoting mainly non-profit video activities
that I am involved with, I have placed 3 pages on the drop-the debt
campaign, including a lot of original photos and some U2 and bono material,
including my own original photos in developing coutries from both stills and
video clips.
If people wish to explore this very important issue, which is effecting
peoples lives all over the world, they can access the 3 pages here:
http://www.devcomm.com/march_debt.htm
http://www.devcomm.com/more_debt.htm
http://www.devcomm.com/third_world_debt.htm
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Sports Illustrated: ATYCLB review (11-8-2000)
Thanks to Phil for the following from Sports Illustrated:
"All That You Can't Leave Behind" is a great CD. Remember when a U2
album was filled with unpretentious great song after great song? Then a
bunch of "Lemons" started creeping in, though I've liked every album the
group has ever produced. This will go down as one of the great works of
a great band. I keep hitting the repeat button on the ninth track, "When I
Look At The World."
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YouTwo.net/U2Tours.com: Ticket Sale Information (11-8-2000)
Youtwo.net/U2Tours.com have been told by two separate
sources that tickets may go on sale for the new tour
either December 9, 2000 or December 16, 2000.
It is expected that the majority of shows will
go on sale December 16, 2000, with a few venues
on sale December 9, 2000.
MTV may or may not feature a 1-800 number as it
did for the POPMart tour to allow fans to phone
in the night before to purchase advance tickets.
Ticket sales have specifically been planned
early so that extra dates maybe added, and
(obviously) to get increased Christmas sales.
No information on whether or not Propaganda,
U2's official fan magazine will offer tickets to its
subscribers on this tour.
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Launch: U2 Album Debuts At Number Three; Bono Says Promotion Is Imperative
(11-8-2000)
From Launch:
U2 Album Debuts At Number Three; Bono Says Promotion Is Imperative
(11/8/00, 5 p.m. ET) - The new U2 album, All That You Can't Leave Behind, will
debut at
Number Three in the next issue of Billboard, behind new releases from hip-hop
acts Jay-Z and
Outkast. Almost 428,000 copies of the album were sold in its first week,
according to industry
sources, while Outkast moved nearly 526,000 pieces and Jay-Z sold just under
558,000 units.
Lead singer Bono isn't surprised that U2 came in behind the rappers, and he told
LAUNCH he
thinks most rock bands need to do a better job of promoting themselves to the
general public.
"One of the things that I don't believe in is rock shying away from that side of
things," he said.
"You look across at the hip-hop community and they're just all over the place.
They're on every
TV show and every corner, putting the word out on their tunes."
Of course, Bono is no stranger to self-promotion, and he's made several TV
appearances both
here in the U.S. and abroad to make sure word got out about All That You Can't
Leave Behind.
He told LAUNCH he has no problem doing promotion, since he sees it as a
necessary part of
the music business. "I come from a long line of traveling salespeople on my
mother's side," he
said. "I mean, I will sell my wares, and I believe in them. Rock bands get all
shy and don't like
to discuss the filthy lucre and pretend that their songs exist entire to
themselves, which we all
know is not true. You've got to get them on the radio. You've got to get people
to take them
seriously. I mean, the job is not over when you finish the song, sadly."
-- Gary Graff, Detroit, and Bruce Simon, New York
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ATYCLB #1 in New Zealand (11-8-2000)
Thanks to Jonathan for the following:
ATYCLB has gone straight to #1 in New Zealand. Also it's gone platinum in its
first week (10000 copies).
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Jam!: U2 Debuts at #1 in Canada (11-8-2000)
From Jam!:
U2 Debuts at #1 in Canada
By PAUL CANTIN
Irish rockers U2 found what they were looking for in
Canada, but U.S. record buyers decided they could
leave the band behind two hot hip-hop acts.
U2's "All That You Can't Leave Behind" debuted atop
the Canadian retail record chart, according to data
compiled by SoundScan Canada. While U2's
first-week sales of 71,470 were enough to enter at
number one here, the results south of the border were
less convincing.
"All That You ..." sold 427,826 stateside, but that
achievement was eclipsed by Jay-Z's "Dynasty: Rock
La Familia," which sold 557,789 copies, and Outkast's
"Stankonia," which moved 525,844 -- enough to enter
the charts at first and second place respectively, ahead
of U2, which finished in third place in the U.S.
In Canada, Outkast (with first-week sales of 10,210)
and Jay-Z (9,708) finished the week at fourth and fifth
spot respectively. The fourth new entry in the top 10
was Godsmack's "Awake," which sold 8,417 and
finished at ninth spot.
U2's Canadian sales were enough to push Limp
Bizkit's "Chocolate Starfish And The Hotdog Flavoured
Water," which had topped the charts for two weeks, into
second place, on sales of 29,799.
Lenny Kravitz's "Greatest Hits" fell from second to third
place (on sales of 22,860), while the soundtrack to
"Charlie's Angels" jumped from 19th to sixth spot, with
sales of 9,449.
Celine Dion's "Collector's Series: Volume One" sold
8,954 copies, which actually represented a sales
improvement over the previous week's 8,407. But
because of the chart debuts by U2, Jay-Z and Outkast,
Dion dropped from fourth to seventh place.
Creed's "Human Clay" fell from third to eighth place on
sales of 8,880, while Eminem's "The Marshall Mathers
LP" finished the week at #10 on sales of 7,294.
The most significant chart drop belongs to Radiohead's
"Kid A," which parachuted from fifth to 13th place, while
Blur's "Best Of" album made an impressive debut at
14th place.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Billboard: ATYCLB Debuts at No. 3 on US Charts (11-8-2000)
Condensed from Billboard:
Jay-Z Extends Chart 'Dynasty'
Hip-hop triumphed over guitar rock on The Billboard 200 this week,
as Jay-Z's "The Dynasty Roc La Familia (2000 - )" (Roc-A-Fella)
debuted at No. 1 on the strength of nearly 558,000 copies sold,
while Outkast's "Stankonia" (LaFace/Arista) opened at No. 2 with
nearly 526,000 units moved, according to SoundScan.
For Jay-Z, it's his second chart-topping set of the calendar year,
following "Vol. 3... Life And Times Of S. Carter," which debuted at
No. 1 in January. "Stankonia" earned Atlanta-based duo Outkast its
highest-ever chart position, improving on the No. 4 debut of the
group's critically acclaimed 1998 album "Aquemini."
And despite scoring its highest-ever first-week SoundScan sales
total of nearly 428,000 units, U2 had to settle for a No. 3 debut with
"All That You Can't Leave Behind" (Interscope), which debuted at
No. 1 on the U.K. album chart earlier this week.
-- Jonathan Cohen, N.Y.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Irish Times: Opinion Column Criticizes Bono (11-8-2000)
From The Irish Times:
Largesse and egalitarian hypocrites
OPINION/Vincent Browne
Bono has campaigned internationally for the forgiveness of Third
World debt. He believes there is a fundamental inequity in the
distribution of the world's resources and he has lent his celebrity as a
rock star to campaign on behalf of the dispossessed.
Bono is spectacularly rich. He is rich because of the number of
records U2 has sold worldwide. No doubt Bono gives some of his
wealth to help the dispossessed of the world, but no doubt he retains
a huge amount of it. How could he both believe that there is a huge
inequity in the distribution of the world's resources, not himself
dispose of the greater proportion of his wealth to assist the
dispossessed, and apparently be quite untroubled by this
contradiction?
Bono is not the only rich egalitarian who is not even a little bit troubled
by the contradiction between their professed beliefs and their
personal behaviour. For starters, there is myself. I am certainly not in
the same wealth bracket as Bono but I earn a multiple of the average
industrial wage, I profess egalitarian beliefs and I give only a small
fraction of it to redistributive causes because I have to pay income tax.
There are lots of other rich egalitarians around. Dick Spring is an
egalitarian (well, sort of) and the realisation that he was a rich
egalitarian at the Eircom a.g.m. recently caused a mixture of mirth and
anger. A few columnists who inhabit this page are rich egalitarians.
There are egalitarians even in the Sunday Independent, well, there's
one anyway.
There are several rich egalitarians in the Labour Party apart from Dick
Spring (he is still in the Labour Party, isn't he?), including Ruairí
Quinn, who has done very nicely indeed as have many of the other
horny-handed sons of toil on the Labour benches (Tom O'Higgins is
the author of that phrase.)Proinsias De Rossa is well on the pig's back
and a predecessor of his in Europe, Des Geraghty, eased from a Euro
pig's back to a SIPTU pig's back, without a hitch. The universities are
full of rich egalitarians. There are a few in RTE, though none that I can
think of at the moment apart from myself.
Now the question is how is it that us rich egalitarians are so rich, how
is it that we do not distribute our goods to the poor, as our egalitarian
principles would dictate we should? This is the topic of one of the
essays in a book by the very clever Canadian political philosopher,
Gerry Cohen, If You're an Egalitarian, How Come You are so Rich?
He was at UCD with several other rich egalitarians last week,
including myself, and we engaged in prolonged hand-wringing on
Friday evening, until the champagne ran out (no, that's not fair, it
wasn't champagne.)
We rich egalitarians are nothing if not ingenious. The reasons we
advance for the conflict between what we do and what we say are
various. We start with the one to do with changing the structure of
society - fighting the system. It is not individual acts of charity that
matter but changing the system that will make us all equal or at least
more equal.
Then we have the "drop in the ocean" argument: that any one of us
giving even a large share of our wealth to the poor would be no more
than a drop in the ocean and therefore not worth the bother. There is
the argument: why should I be the only one to give over my wealth if
others are not required to do so too? There is also the claim that by
retaining wealth we egalitarians are enabled to do things for
egalitarianism that otherwise we would be unable to do. Not a bad
catalogue of excuses, don't you think?
The fighting the system argument doesn't really amount to much. Why,
while waiting for the system to change, should we not make a
contribution to alleviating injustice, even if it is only a drop in the
ocean? One of the features of rich egalitarians I know is they do give
something to charities (not much and certainly nothing like the half of
our income which, at a minimum, our concept of justice would
demand). They (we) find it hard to justify giving nothing at all.
What is the reason for this? Why would they (we) give a fraction of a
drop in the ocean and yet claim there was no point in giving a drop in
the ocean? If a fraction of a drop in the ocean makes a difference, why
not give it; if it does not make a difference, why give anything at all?
As for the argument that I am unwilling to give over a significant
proportion of my wealth unless other rich people do so, what's that
about? How would it sound if 150 years ago in the southern states of
America I said although I recognised the injustice of slavery I was
unwilling to liberate my slaves unless other slave owners did
likewise? What has what other people do got to do with what I should
do?
The most pernicious of the arguments is the one about keeping the
wealth to do good for egalitarianism. It is self-regarding, precious, and
worse. Some of us see no reason not to scoff at the self-deception of
others who claim that their lofty and subverted lifestyle enabled them
to ponder serenely on the state of the nation to the benefit of
everyone.
There really is just one explanation for the tight-fistedness of us rich
egalitarians and it is moral weakness: we are unable to live up to the
moral standards we set for society. Sure, we are willing - or some of
us are - to support taxation policies which would take a substantial
proportion of our income from us but we will not or cannot do that
voluntarily.
We are hypocrites, that's what. When we hear or talk of other
hypocrites or people we regard as hypocrites - for instance, priests
who have sexual relations with women, or politicians who ask the
country to tighten its belt while letting it all hang out for themselves -
we might pause to remember that we too are hypocrites.
Cohen quotes the English philosopher, J. L. Austin who memorably
said: "We often succumb to temptation with calm, even with finesse."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Launch: U2 Album Debuts At Number One In U.K. (11-8-2000)
From Launch:
U2 Album Debuts At Number One In U.K.
(11/7/00, 3 p.m. ET) - Apparently, Number One on the British charts is one of
those All
That You Can't Leave Behind things for Irish rockers U2. The quartet--whose
single,
"Beautiful Day," also hit Number One--scored its eighth chart-topper on the U.K.
album
chart with its latest outing, which debuted over popular British acts Blur and
Texas.
U2's first U.K. Number One was War in 1983, and the band members hope their
latest
U.K. showing bodes well for a debut atop this week's Billboard 200 in the U.S.
U2 frontman Bono tells LAUNCH that these strong chart showings redeem the effort
the
group put into its new album. "We knew that this was a record that was against
the odds,"
he says, "and that a lot of people would be thinking, You know, U2, they've gone
all arty,
and, you know, they can live off their past now, or else they'll come up with
some esoteric
idea of the future. And we thought we gotta really make something that feels
really
present--that's not about what's fashionable this week, but what's about the
moment
you're in right now."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
MTV UK & Ireland: Clinton Praises Bono (11-8-2000)
From MTV UK & Ireland:
Clinton Praises Bono
The outgoing US President Bill Clinton,has praised Bono for
keeping the third world debt issue alive. Clinton thanked
U2's vocalist as he signed legislation providing $435m
(304m pounds) in debt relief to the world's 33 poorest
countries. Clinton said Bono's "passionate devotion" had
brought together politicians of different persuasions.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
AP: Dalton Brothers Anniversary (11-8-2000)
From The Associated Press:
Entertainment Highlights in History
for the week of Nov. 12-18:
In 1987, the band U2 opened for itself as a country-rock group
called the Dalton Brothers during a Los Angeles concert.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Music3w: Bono's Presidential Seal of Approval (11-8-2000)
From Music3w:
Bono's Presidential Seal of Approval
U2 singer praised by Bill Clinton.
Outgoing US President Bill Clinton has praised U2 singer
Bono for his work to keep the issue of third world debt in
the headlines.
"When we get the Pope and the pop stars all singing on
the same sheet of music, our voices do carry to the
heavens," Mr Clinton told a White House ceremony,
during which he signed over $435 million for debt relief in
poor countries. "Global poverty is a moral affront, and
confronting the challenge is simply the right thing to do."
He singled out the U2 star for his "passionate devotion"
to the cause that had brought together politicians of
many different persuasions.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
music365: Bono Receives White House Tribute (11-8-2000)
From music365:
Bono Receives White House Tribute
U2 singer BONO has been praised by out-going US
president Bill Clinton for his contribution to the
campaign to abolish third world debt.
Speaking during a White House ceremony, during
which he signed over 435 million pounds of US funds
for debt relief, Clinton singled out Bono for his
"passionate devotion" to the campaign and said:
"When we get the Pope and the pop stars all singing
on the same sheet of music, our voices do carry to
the heavens. Global poverty is now a moral affront,
and confronting the challenge is simply the best thing
to do."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Exclusive! Mp3s of Oakenfold Remixes (11-8-2000)
Thanks to Gary Paterson for providing YouTwo.net with mp3s of
Paul Oakenfold's remixes of "Beautiful Day":
http://www.youtwo.net/sounds_archive/BD_perfecto_vocal_mix.mp3/
http://www.youtwo.net/sounds_archive/BD_perfecto_dub.mp3/
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
dotmusic: Clinton Commends Bono's Charity Work (11-8-2000)
From dotmusic:
Clinton Commends Bono's Charity Work
US President Bill Clinton has personally commended U2's Bono for his
work supporting the campaign to clear third world debt.
The president thanked the singer as he was signing legislation to provide
304 million pounds in debt relief to 33 of the globe's poorest counties and
just as he was giving up his office at The White House.
Clinton thanked all those who have brought the campaign to the attention
of the world and that included Pope John Paul II's request for debt
forgiveness.
He said: When we get the Pope and the pop stars all singing on the same
sheet of music, our voices do carry to the heavens.
The president continued to tell the audience at a White House ceremony:
Global poverty is a moral affront, and confronting the challenge is simply
the right thing to do.
Bono has used his famous name to support many causes since he joined
the bill for the massive charity concert Live Aid in 1985. This includes the
debt relief pressure group Jubilee 2000. They aim to wipe out the $90 billion
of debt owed to the world's richest nations.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ananova: Competition Tries to Knock U2 Off the Top (11-7-2000)
From Ananova:
Westlife on course to beat Spice Girls
The boys look like beating the girls in the battle for the album chart Number 1.
A spokesman for HMV told Ananova that Westlife are currently outselling the
Spice Girls by 2 to 1 in the race to top the chart on Sunday.
He said: "We tend to find the core fans are the ones who buy the new releases
on the first day and at the moment it looks like Westlife will win.
"But, to be honest, in the long run I'd expect the Spice Girls to sell more
copies
than Westlife. When you add up International sales the Spice Girls have a much
bigger fan base".
Both acts released new albums on Monday and are attempting to knock U2 off
the top of the chart.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Virgin.net: Clinton's Bono Day (11-7-2000)
From Virgin.net:
Clinton's Bono Day
Bill Clinton has praised Bono for keeping the issue of third world debt in the
headlines. The outgoing US president thanked the performer as he signed
legislation providing $435m in debt relief for 33 of the world's poorest
countries.
Clinton thanked campaigners for bringing the issue to the attention of the
world.
He referred to Pope John Paul II's call for debt forgiveness and the publicity
efforts of the U2 frontman.
He said: "When we get the Pope and the pop stars all singing on the same sheet
of music, our voices do carry to the heavens." Clinton added that Bono's
"passionate devotion" had brought together politicians of different persuasions.
He said: "Global poverty is a moral affront, and confronting the challenge is
simply the right thing to do." Bono has been involved with causes to help
impoverished nations since the days of Band Aid and Live Aid.
In the past two years he has met the Pope and the head of the World Bank, James
Wolfenshohn, as part of his work for debt relief pressure group Jubilee 2000.
The
legislation signed by Clinton is part of an international plan endorsed by the
G7
group of nations last year. It aims to wipe out $90 billion of debt owed by the
world's
poorest nations, reducing the total to about $37 billion.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Presswire: Clinton Says 'Let's Give Bono a Big Hand' (11-7-2000)
Condensed from Presswire:
THE WHITE HOUSE: Office of the Press Secretary
Remarks by the President on funding for Debt Relief
THE PRESIDENT: I thank all of you again for your inspired work. I also want to
thank one more person who couldn't be here today, Bono. (Laughter and
applause.) Bono has done -- I can't help noting, there have been a lot of
ancillary benefits to Bono's passionate devotion to this.
(Laughter.) I'll never forget one day Secretary Summers coming in to me saying,
you know, some guy just came in to see me in jeans and a tee-shirt and he just
had one name, but he sure was smart. Do you know anything about him?
(Laughter.)
So Bono has advanced the cultural awareness -- (laughter) -- of the American
political establishment, embracing everyone from Larry Summers to Jesse Helms.
It's been a great gift to America's appreciation of modern music. (Laughter.)
One of U2's biggest hits is, "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For." Well,
with
this bill and these funds and this diverse coalition, Bono and the rest of us,
we've
found what we're looking for, and we need to build on it. And let's give Bono a
big
hand today.
He'll be watching, I'm sure. (Applause.) Thank you.
The song goes on to say that, we have found the spirit to climb the highest
mountains,
to break the bonds and loose the chains. It shows that when we get the Pope and
the pop stars all singing on the same sheet of music, our voices do carry to the
heavens. The question now for us is, where do we go from here? We have to
implement this program well; and if we do implement it well and it works, then
there
will be broad support around the world to extend it to other nations.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
BBC: Clinton Praises Bono (11-7-2000)
From BBC:
Clinton Praises Bono
Outgoing US President Bill Clinton has praised U2
singer Bono for keeping the issue of third world debt
in the headlines.
The president thanked the performer as he signed
legislation providing $435m (304m pounds) in debt
relief to 33 of the world's poorest countries.
Mr Clinton thanked campaigners for bringing the
campaign to the attention of the world, including Pope
John Paul II's call for debt forgiveness, and Bono's
publicity efforts.
"When we get the Pope and the pop stars all singing on
the same sheet of music, our voices do carry to the
heavens," he said.
Mr Clinton said that Bono's "passionate devotion" had
brought together politicians of different persuations.
"Global poverty is a moral affront, and confronting the
challenge is simply the right thing to do," he told the
audience at a White House ceremony.
Bono has been involved with causes to help impoverished
nations since the days of Band Aid and Live Aid.
In the past two years he has met the Pope and the
head of the World Bank, James Wolfenshohn, as part
of his work for debt relief pressure group Jubilee 2000.
The legislation signed by Mr Clinton is part of an
international plan endorsed by the G7 group of nations
last year.
It aims to wipe out $90bn of debt owed by the world's
poorest nations, reducing the total to about $37bn.
The relief is given on the condition that the savings are
used on projects such as education and healthcare, and
the recipients do not engage in military conflict.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
EIL: Next U2 Single Announced - Stuck in a Moment (11-7-2000)
From the EIL Mailing List:
Artist/Title: U2 Stuck In A Moment You Can't Get Out Of (Japanese CD single
due late December, more track details to follow shortly, picture sleeve)
Format: 5" CD SINGLE
Record Label: Island
Catalogue No: UICI-5003
Country of Origin: Japan
Release Year: 2000
Release Date: 12/20/00
Price: 13.99 pounds
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Vibe: U2 to Play VH1 Awards (11-7-2000)
Condensed from Vibe:
Christina Aguilera to Play "My VH-1 Music Awards"
The inaugural "My VH-1 Music Awards" will be held on November 30th in Los
Angeles
at the Shrine Auditorium. Christina Aguilera, U2, Bon Jovi, and the Red Hot
Chilli Peppers
are among the artists scheduled to perform, although a host has yet to be
announced. The
show will air live on VH-1 at 9 p.m. EST and will also be webcast live. Voting
for the awards
will be held up until the show actually starts. VH-1 billed the webcast as the
"first ever fully
interactive music awards show." It will allow online visitors to vote for
winners, choose
camera views and photos from a real-time gallery, and participate in artist
interviews by
submitting questions. VH-1 stated that over one million votes have already been
cast. For
more information on the ceremony, log on to www.vh1.com.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Vancouver Sun: Part 2 - Leaving Pop Behind (11-7-2000)
From the Vancouver Sun:
Leaving Pop Behind - Part 2
"It sounded fresh again," says Edge. "We had been exploring the fringe of what
we could be
and what rock 'n' roll was all about, and that was essential. I think the group
would have died
creatively if we hadn't moved into uncharted territory. But eventually we needed
to return to
the centre. I don't know if we've made a great record or not, but it is our
record. It's us standing
there naked, if you will."
It's been a beautiful day in Dublin, the sun warm and radiant. The mood inside
the HMV record
shop on Grafton Street, the heart of one of the city's premier shopping areas,
is upbeat as
Beautiful Day plays over the speakers.
Around the corner at the office of Hot Press, Ireland's most widely read pop
magazine, editor
Niall Stokes speaks about the high hopes for the album.
From his unique vantage point here, Stokes has followed U2's career closely, and
he's proud
of the fact that the group has stayed in Dublin rather than move to London or
the United States.
One of the scars on the Irish psyche over the years is the departure of so many
of the country's
great writers and musicians after they become famous.
"It would be harder to find four nicer people," Stokes says in his cluttered
office. "They are
intelligent guys with a strong curiosity and a hunger to make a positive impact
on the world.
"I think they were very definitely worried about becoming a rock cliche after
The Joshua Tree
and Rattle and Hum, but I think they were also intrigued by the energy they saw
in dance clubs
here and in Europe, and they wanted to incorporate some of that into their
music. Ultimately,
they may have ended up putting a bit more emphasis on the sounds of the record
than the
songs. But this time, they seemed much more interested in an album of great
songs again."
Despite the wrong turn, Bono still beats the rest of the band to Cooke's Cafe, a
favorite spot of
the group for years. When Bono sees that Edge, Larry Mullen Jr. and Adam Clayton
haven't
arrived, he heads across the street to a pub. He's moving so fast on the busy
sidewalk that
most people don't recognize him, but a few heads do turn.
"Beautiful Day," a young woman shouts, giving a thumbs-up sign. So much for the
leveling
spirit of Dublin.
But Bono is already at the pub door and apparently doesn't hear her. He must be
a regular
because the bartender hands him a glass of Guinness before he even orders.
The singer spots movie director Neil Jordan and novelist Patrick McCabe at the
far end of the
bar, and when he joins them, their conversation picks up so easily that you
figure they must
see each other a lot. Jordan, perhaps best known in America for the
gender-bending film The
Crying Game, directed the film version of McCabe's acclaimed novel The Butcher
Boy.
At Cook's Cafe later, the members of the band greet each other warmly, even
though they've
been with each other much of the day. It's not easy holding a rock band together
for more
than 20 years, but the members of U2 have handled the journey well. They haven't
gone
through the public feuds that have characterized many rock 'n' roll
relationships, and they
seem comfortable with each other offstage as well as on.
The topic at dinner isn't the glory years, but the bump in the road during the
Pop project. The
problems started with a deadline crisis. They had to deliver the album in time
to start the
PopMart tour in the spring of 1998, and they ran out of time. They weren't
satisfied with the
arrangements.
Even worse, the recording process left them with insufficient time to master the
intricacies of
the tape loops and other electronica devices employed in the live show.
"I think everything ended up in such a rush," Mullen says during dinner. "We
ended up in Las
Vegas under-rehearsed. It was one of the most frightening experiences of my
life. We had
built a reputation as a great live band, and all of a sudden we were placed in a
situation where
we didn't know if we were able to deliver."
Because the dates were so tightly scheduled, the band couldn't rework the
arrangements until
the end of the first leg of the tour. But it grossed almost $80 million, second
only to the Rolling
Stones tour that year. Still, the show lacked the creative knockout punch of the
band's earlier
Zoo TV tour, and attendance was below expectations.
Whatever the perception might have been from the outside, there was no sense of
desperation
surrounding the new album.
"You've got to remember that change is nothing new for us," says Edge. "I
remember how
surprised our record company was when we started working with Brian and Daniel
on
Unforgettable Fire.
"People thought we had just about cracked (the U.S. market) with the War album.
We had a
focus, a sound and we were starting to write some good songs. Then Brian and
Daniel come
in, and people start saying we're suddenly getting arty and using keyboards all
over everything.
I remember the savage reviews we got. Now, it's considered one of our best
records. We had
to go through The Unforgettable Fire to get to Joshua Tree, and we had to go
through Pop to
get here."
The early reviews of All That You Can't Leave Behind have been glowing. Rolling
Stone gave
it four stars (out of five), calling it the group's third masterpiece (along
with The Joshua Tree
and Achtung Baby). The album represents "the most uninterrupted collection of
strong melodies
that U2 have ever mounted," the magazine declares.
England's Q magazine suggests that the new album is "a synthesis of every
previous U2, a
mirror held up to who they have become rather than who they're pretending to be
next."
The group hasn't abandoned all traces of electronica. Beautiful Day opens with
some almost
cheesy synth-pop touches before surrendering to Edge's guitar-driven
celebration. Except for
the sluggish musical design and heavy-handed lyrics of New York, this is music
that reaches
out with open arms and an open heart.
Eno and Lanois, who also worked on The Joshua Tree and Achtung Baby, return, and
their
swirling, ambient touches keep the music fresh and alert.
Jimmy Iovine, who produced or engineered records for U2, John Lennon, Tom Petty
and Patti
Smith before he co-founded Interscope Records, was anxious when he went to
Dublin to hear
the album. This would be the first U2 album on Interscope, and he wasn't a fan
of Pop.
"I was nervous ... but I knew 30 seconds into the first song that they had
nailed it," Iovine says.
"When you hear a great record, it sounds three-dimensional. You don't know where
the middle
is. You can't quite see where the magic is coming from, but it's there. It was
back to the U2 that
I loved."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Vancouver Sun: Part 1 - Leaving Pop Behind (11-7-2000)
From the Vancouver Sun:
Leaving Pop Behind - Part 1
Shedding their '90s electronic experiments, U2 found what they were looking for
in their
own earlier, classic rock sound.
Robert Hilburn Los Angeles Times
DUBLIN, Ireland - Bono is behind the wheel of his black Mercedes sedan, taking a
visitor
on a mini-tour of the city as he heads downtown to meet the other members of U2
for dinner.
The rock quartet has spent much of the day in its rehearsal studio on the River
Liffey
preparing for some television appearances, and it's time to relax.
U2 isn't fond of performing on TV -- they haven't done it in 15 years. But they
are excited about
their new album and are eager to take advantage of every promotional
opportunity, especially
after the disappointing sales of their last album, 1997's Pop.
Driving through the narrow, cobblestoned streets, Bono enters the central city
-- home to historic
Trinity College, whose grounds Oscar Wilde and Samuel Beckett once roamed, and
the restored
buildings of Temple Bar, the city's new neighborhood for artists, filmmakers and
designers. These
are heady times in Dublin, thanks to a financial boom over the last decade.
But Bono's talking about Dublin's pugnacious character, and how it helped shape
the restless
and competitive spirit that drove U2 to become the most celebrated rock band in
the world.
"There's something about this city that's been good for us -- a sort of
city-as-critic attitude that
becomes part of you if you live here," he says, looking at his passenger and
seemingly paying
no attention to where the car is headed.
"In Los Angeles, people are very nice. You park your car and someone will say,
`Hi, I love your
new album.' In Dublin City, it's more like, 'Oh, hi. Your new album is
(expletive).' And they haven't
even heard it yet. It's just part of the humour and the wit of the city.
"I don't think that Dublin attitude is any kind of masochism, but I do think it
keeps you in the
mood for an argument," he continues. "That's good training for what we do
because being in a
band is like being in a street gang. A band has to leave room for the rows and
the arguments
if it's going to be able to compete."
Now Bono's inattention to the road has led him into a dead-end street. He has to
back the car
down the narrow lane to get back on the proper route to the restaurant.
During the last three years, many in the music world have been asking whether U2
hasn't taken
a wrong turn.
The group was at the absolute centre of the pop world in 1987 with The Joshua
Tree -- an
inspiring series of songs about spiritual quest, including I Still Haven't Found
What I'm Looking
For and Where the Streets Have No Name. It sold more than 18 million copies
worldwide and
won a Grammy for album of the year. It was the kind of eloquent and towering
work that linked
U2 with the Beatles, the Who and the other great bands in rock.
Detractors, however, complained that U2's tales of moral courage and ethical
behaviour were
holier-than-thou. Bono was branded "St. Bono" and the band became the target of
parodies.
Like many rock acts before it, U2 was stung by the backlash, and the band
reinvented itself with
1991's Achtung Baby, another brilliant album that set aside much of the group's
glistening,
guitar-driven sound for darker textures, and themes that set aside the unbridled
idealism for an
exploration of the tensions and contradictions in love and faith. On stage in
the landmark Zoo TV
tour, Bono turned to role-playing, presenting this rock idealist nightly as a
leather-clad,
egomaniacal rock star.
But the band may have overdone the irony and reinvention when, after 1993's
Zooropa, U2
returned with the album Pop and its related PopMart tour.
The songs were still solid, but many fans were confused by the group's
increasing reliance on
electronic loops and samples that came out of a collaboration with such dance
world figures as
London's Howie B.
All That You Can't Leave Behind, U2's new album released last week, should
clarify things. As
evidenced by Beautiful Day, a track from the album that has been embraced by
radio stations
more than any U2 song in years, the music again is graced by the glorious
textures of Edge's
guitar, and Bono has dropped the masks.
The songs have a classic feel -- from the pure exhilaration of Walk On to the
thoughtful, bittersweet
commentary of Peace on Earth.
"We spent most of the '90s experimenting and I think we finally realized on the
PopMart tour that
it was time for us to start stripping back again," says Bono, who recalls a
telling moment during
the PopMart U.S. tour.
"We got into Washington, D.C., before all our equipment arrived and rehearsed
with just guitar,
bass and drums -- none of the loops or samples that we had been attaching to the
songs. Howie
B. came in during the middle of the rehearsal and he said, 'Wow, what a sound.
What is this?'
We told him it was us, it was what U2 sounds like. I think that's when we
realized that it was time
for us to get back to the essence of what we do."
Rather than take a lengthy break after the PopMart tour, the band pretty much
went straight into
the studio in Dublin and began working on the new album.
One of the key steps in the reconnection with the classic U2 sound came the day
Edge played
the guitar riff that propels Beautiful Day.
Bono's first instinct was that it was "too U2," but Edge thought it felt right.
(Continued)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
dotmusic: Radiohead Get the Bends (11-7-2000)
Condensed from dotmusic:
Radiohead Get the Bends
Radiohead have reportedly blocked a Paul Oakenfold trance mix of the track
'Street
Spirit', because they "don't like dance music", according to the revered DJ.
Oakenfold, who, under the Perfecto guise, has remixed the likes of U2, Massive
Attack
and the Stone Roses, played the track at Homelands, Ireland, earlier this year.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Chicago Tribune: U2 mention in At The Drive In article (11-7-2000)
Condensed from The Chicago Tribune:
THESE TEXANS ARE REVVED UP AND READY TO ROCK
By Greg Kot
Tribune rock critic
November 6, 2000
Call it word of mouth, the power of Internet chat rooms or just plain street
buzz, but At the
Drive-In is one of those bands that can't be denied, no matter how many limp
biscuits the
gatekeepers of popularity try to feed us. Proof arrived Saturday in the form of
a five-man
hurricane from El Paso, Texas, that whipped through a Metro packed
shoulder-to-shoulder
with fans and suddenly curious music-industry types.
Blitzkrieg tempos twist sideways and then drop off to a piano interlude,
Rodriguez manipulates
guitar strings and foot pedals until he picks up the vapor trail of U2 at its
most atmospheric,
and a drum loop suggests new order in electro-rock "Blue Monday" mode. An epic
tribute to
two friends who died young, "Napolean Solo," closed the show, full of stock
power-ballad
dynamics that suggested At the Drive-In's answer to "Stairway to Heaven."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
StarIQ: Horoscope for Bono on ATYCLB release date (11-7-2000)
From StarIQ:
Dual Nature: A Way of Life
U2's frontman Bono is a rocker with staying power, but like many musicians who
hit big in the
intense but often embarrassing '80s (yes, he wore a spikey 'do in U2's early
days), Bono has
had his share of growing pains. U2's much anticipated new CD, which came out
this
Halloween, is reported to be the one that brings the Irish quartet back to their
passionate rock
roots.
Looking at Bono's chart, it is probably especially hard for this charismatic
singer to find his true
roots -- his true self -- because his deepest nature is full of contradictions.
Bono was born with
Sun in Taurus, and has two other personal planets in this strong, solid sign.
Mercury, planet of
communication, is conjunct (at close degree) his Venus (planet of art and love),
also in Taurus.
This aspect suggests that Bono's Taurean side is compelled to articulate the
gentle nuances of
long-term love. One of the band's well-known hits, "With or Without You," from
1987's The Joshua
Tree, explores the difficulty of loving someone you can't let go of (something
that's particularly
hard for tenacious Taureans), but who you also can't live with.
Some of the angst in Bono's songs comes from the planets in his chart in the
opposite sign:
Scorpio. Unlike Taurus, Scorpio is big on burning bridges and learning by
destroying what it has
and then resourcefully building a new life. (Metaphorically, that is. Though in
some Scorpios'
cases, literally!)
Bono's Neptune (planet of fantasy and illusion) is opposite his romantic Venus
and Mercury in
Taurus. The Taurus part of his nature would like to feel internally settled in
love, while his Neptune
in Scorpio is pulling him toward torturous images of what might never be and of
what was and
can never be again. Poetic, but painful, baby!
Bono also has Moon in Scorpio, which makes him particularly able to keep his
true self a secret.
(How many scandals surround him personally? None.) He can also keep secrets for
others. After
all, this mega-star was able to help Salman Rushdie stay hidden during his years
in exile.
From Boy to Man
Bono has also "grown" into his chart in recent years. He has Jupiter and Saturn
in persistent
Capricorn, the sign that rules government and working within the system. In
fact, his Saturn is
"exalted" in Capricorn (the planet rules this sign) and makes a nice trine
(harmonious aspect) to
Bono's Sun. Some might say he's a born politician. But like most folks with
strong Capricorn in
their chart, he's had to earn his stripes. He's always been politically active,
from responding to the
ongoing violence in Ireland (particularly on 1983's War album) to Live-Aid, but
in recent times
he's hunkered down to do some very unglamorous but necessary political work.
With his wife Ali, he's become a crusader for third-world debt relief. When he
was interviewed
about it in the New York Times Magazine on October 8, 2000, he was asked how he
boned up
on the issues before meeting with government officials. This was part of his
response: "Sadly, I
do my homework. I've a soft spot for the boring minutiae. I read the charter of
the United
Nations'…I'm aware that it's a lot more glamorous to be on the barricade with a
handkerchief
around your nose than it is to be at the meeting with a briefcase and a bowler
hat, but I think that
we're getting more done this way."
Why So Long Since Their Last CD?
U2's last CD was 1997's Pop, which preceded the overly ironic (and perhaps
less-than-successful
in the eyes of older fans) "Popmart" tour. Since the tour before that, the "Zoo
tour" (in support of
1993's Zooropa) was equally glitzy, Bono had started to run the risk of becoming
a parody of
himself, as he tried to satirize the circus-like atmosphere of corporate-owned
rock and roll.
After Pop, the planets seemed to conspire to make Bono re-think his approach to
music, his band's
overblown rock super-group image and the whole "pop" world. In December 1997,
during the war
in Bosnia, he collaborated with opera singer Luciano Pavarotti to open the first
Bosnian music
school for children. This altruistic event took place just as Jupiter (planet of
generosity and
expansion) was squaring Bono's Sun (public image) and Mercury (communication).
At the same
time, Uranus (major progressive change) in altruistic Aquarius was squaring
Bono's Venus and
Neptune. A lesser man might have misused this period, since squares can be tough
challenges,
and whined about being "misunderstood" in the pop world, or prattled on in some
other
self-indulgent rock star way. But thankfully, Bono rose to the astrological
occasion to make an
effort to help others, not just himself.
From May 1999 to May 2000, tough Saturn was hovering over all of Bono's Taurus
planets. This
past spring, generous Jupiter passed over those same planets and balanced out
Saturn's
sometimes morose influence, finally showing Bono the way out of this heavy
cycle. Perhaps that's
when he penned the first single from U2's new album, "Beautiful Day."
What's in the Stars For U2's Latest CD?
On the day of the new CD's release, Halloween, 2000, aggressive and combative
Mars was in
critical Virgo opposite Bono's Mars in soulful Pisces. It's possible Bono may
feel another pang
of being misunderstood as critics and DJs applaud his craft and workmanship
(Virgo assets) but
gloss over his depth and compassion (Pisces traits). Hopefully, after the
internally turbulent and
growth-inducing years Bono has just lived through, he has learned to enjoy his
accomplishments
in true Taurus style, rather than suffer over them in Scorpio style. With his
own chart pulled in
these polar directions, though, it's likely that some part of Bono will always
be quietly singing "I
Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Top Magazine: U2 Make It An Irish Double (11-6-2000)
U2 Make It An Irish Double
Irishmen are dominating the UK charts this week. U2 soared to the top spot of
the album charts
with their latest release 'All That You Can't Leave Behind'. Bono and the boys
knocked Texas'
Greatest Hits album into second place and held off stiff competition from Blur's
Greatest Hits,
which debuted in third place. Steps new album Buzz entered the charts at number
four.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Billboard: U2 Leaves The Competition 'Behind' (11-6-2000)
From Billboard:
U2 Leaves The Competition 'Behind'
U2 raced to No. 1 on the U.K. album chart yesterday (Nov. 5) with "All That You
Can't Leave Behind" (Universal/Island),
pocketing an eighth No. 1 on that survey and denying Blur its fifth in the
process. Completing a double victory for Ireland
that also included Westlife's leap to the top of the singles chart, U2's latest
success follows the No. 1 status achieved by the
album's lead single, "Beautiful Day," last month. It's taken U2 17 years to
amass those eight No. 1 albums, dating back to
March 1983, when "War" spent a week at the summit of the chart.
Blur's "blur: the best of" (Food/Parlophone/EMI), like the U2 album, shipped
platinum in the U.K. (300,000 units), but
could only enter at No. 3, with last week's bestseller, Texas' "The Greatest
Hits" (Mercury), in between at No. 2. Also new
to the album tally were pop chart regulars Steps, who followed their recent No.
1 single "Stomp" with "Buzz" (Ebul/Jive),
which debuted at No. 4.
Below Westlife on the U.K. singles chart, there was a new entry at No. 6 for
"Number 1" by Tweenies (BBC Music), the
latest children's television phenomenon, following in the tiny footsteps of 1997
chart sensations Teletubbies. Multi-
platinum U.S. rapper Nelly saw his "(Hot Shit) Country Grammar" (Universal)
arrive in the U.K. at No. 7, while Christina
Aguilera debuted at No. 8 with the recent Hot 100 No. 1 "Come On Over Baby (All
I Want Is You)" (RCA), and former
Xscape member Kandi came in at No. 9 with "Don't Think I'm Not" (Columbia).
French production team Modjo claimed top spot on Music & Media's Eurochart Hot
100 Singles survey with "Lady
(Hear Me Tonight)" a pan-European club crossover based on a sample from Chic's
"Soup For One." The Spice Girls'
"Holler"/"Let Love Lead The Way" (Virgin) came in at No. 2, while the Backstreet
Boys' "Shape Of My Heart" (Jive)
premiered at No. 3.
On the European Top 100 Albums chart, Limp Bizkit's reign with "Chocolate
Starfish And The Hot Dog Water"
(Interscope/Polydor) ended after only one week after Dire Straits frontman Mark
Knopfler's "Sailing To Philadelphia"
(Mercury) completed its climb to the top. Lenny Kravitz's "Greatest Hits"
(Virgin) repeated its performance on The
Billboard 200 by debuting on the pan-European chart at No. 2.
-- Paul Sexton, London
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
AP: Clinton Signs Foreign Aid Bill (11-6-2000)
Clinton Signs Foreign Aid Bill
The Associated Press, Mon 6 Nov 20000
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Calling it "good for our souls,'' President Clinton on Monday
signed a foreign aid bill
that supplies $435 million to forgive debts of the world's poorest countries.
"By lifting the weakest, poorest
among us, we lift the rest of us as well,'' Clinton said.
Clinton said the bill would free poor nations from crushing financial
obligations to let them feed and educate their
people better.
"It will be good for our economy because it represents an investment in future
markets; good for our security
because in the long run, it is dangerously destabilizing to have half of the
world on the cutting edge of technology
while the other half struggles on the bare edge of survival; but most of all, it
will be good for our souls because
global poverty is an affront and confronting the challenge is simply the right
thing to do,'' Clinton said.
The money was contained in an already-signed $14.9 billion foreign aid bill that
also increased military aid for
Israel, provided $100 million to the new government in Serbia and $300 million
to fight HIV infections and AIDS
around the world and lifted a ban on U.S. aid for overseas family- planning
groups that advocate or participate in
abortions.
With the U.S. funding, the International Monetary Fund expects to meet its goal
of providing 20 of the world's
poorest countries with debt relief by Dec. 31, officials said.
"I believe that this will put our country squarely on the side of humanity for a
very, very long time to come,''
Clinton said.
Those who had pressed for debt relief included a diverse group -- including Pope
John Paul II, singer Bono of the
rock group U2 and international relief agencies such as Oxfam.
"It shows that when we get the pope and the pop stars all singing on the same
sheet of music, our voices do carry
to the heavens,'' Clinton said.
The president praised the bipartisan coalition that helped push the bill through
Congress. ``Just as America must
project strength in the world, America must also project compassion,'' said Rep.
John Kasich, R-Ohio, who chairs
the House Budget Committee.
Religious leaders also appeared with Clinton at the ceremony in the White House
East Room.
"If we can win a sustained shift in our government's priorities, I think we
could cut world hunger and poverty in half
by 2015,'' said the Rev. David Beckmann, president of Bread for the World, an
anti-hunger organization. "Wouldn't
that be a great day of jubilee?''
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
NY Times: Dueling Views of What Rock Stardom Means (11-6-2000)
Thanks to Gina for the following.
From The New York Times:
Dueling Views of What Rock Stardom Means
By NEIL STRAUSS
ROCK STAR 1: "I'm an idiot, a loser, a microphone abuser. I analyze every second
I exist, beating up
my mind every second with my fist."
Rock Star 2: "You are such a fool to worry like you do. I know it's tough, and
you can never get enough
of what you don't really need."
Rock Star 1: "Dead from all the loneliness, and this is how I feel.
Understanding everything has never
been my deal."
Rock Star 2: "You've got to stand up straight, carry your own weight. These
tears are going nowhere,
baby."
Rock Star 1 is Fred Durst, the words courtesy of his band Limp Bizkit's new
album, "Chocolate Starfish
and the Hot Dog Flavored Water" (Interscope 069490759-2). Rock Star 2 is Bono,
the words courtesy of
his band U2's latest album, "All That You Can't Leave Behind" (Interscope
3145246532). And perhaps
they need to talk.
Mr. Durst is a new rock star beating himself up in search of answers: Why do
critics hate me? Why do
my colleagues, like Trent Reznor, pick on me? Why don't I have any more control
over my life?
Bono, on the other hand, is a more experienced rock star who thinks he has found
the answers: Enjoy the
moment. If you can't enjoy the moment, get out of it now. Let go, walk on, be
strong, don't worry, be happy.
Both Bono and Mr. Durst are, in their own ways, among rock's most transparent
and self-conscious stars.
Mr. Durst wants to be liked and respected; Bono wants to change the world. A
cynic might say those dreams
are impossible, an optimist that they have already been fulfilled. Either way,
you have two of rock's biggest
male egos trying to find a purpose in their success and a meaning in their
lives.
Of course, there are no discernible meanings and no purposes in life other than
the ones we impose. Limp
Bizkit's "Chocolate Starfish," then, is the sound of one man bashing his head
against the wall hoping to find
impossible answers. And the rationalizations Mr. Durst throws up to justify
himself (that he's cool because
celebrities like Ben Stiller like him, that everyone hates him "because hate is
what makes the world go round")
ring of self-deception. Partly as a result, the album is but a shadow of its
predecessor, "Significant Other"
(which was more zeitgeist piece than masterpiece to begin with).
U2's "All That" is the pillow that people like Mr. Durst need to cushion their
head from the wall. Its answers
may be just as flimsy as Limp Bizkit's, but they do work. "All That" is chicken
soup for the soul, but with
a few noodles and dumplings floating in the broth. Moreover, in preaching
simplicity as an answer to life's
problems, U2 takes its own advice and, setting aside its recent penchant for
irony, electronica and camp
spectacle, delivers its best album in nearly a decade.
The pain that no one understands -- that of being famous and still unhappy --
has been a recurring theme in
popular music lately. "So you wanna be a rock superstar and live large?"
Cypress Hill sneers in its recent
single. Then "don't trust nobody; gotta look over your shoulder constantly." In
the meantime, for all of the
criticisms hurled at Eminem, he did teach us one lesson on his last album: that
we don't want to be him.
But for all its problems, complications and loneliness, stardom does have one
perk. It fosters the illusion of
self-importance, something that for many people is as necessary to survival as
food, shelter and clothing.
But self-importance is a fragile thing: it can be washed away in an instant by
anything from war or pain to
a dirty look or cross word. Thus, knowledge of one's own presumed importance
leads to a certain self-
consciousness. And, as the breakup of the Smashing Pumpkins has proved, that can
be a dangerous thing.
On "Chocolate Starfish," Mr. Durst's self-consciousness is even more palpable
than that of the Pumpkins
frontman, Billy Corgan. From the Yanni- like spirituality of his liner notes
("these songs are the gateway to
our souls") to the unconvincing attempt at creating an alter ego named Chocolate
Starfish, he reeks of
insecurity and confusion. All over the album, he's licking his wounds, parodying
Nine Inch Nails lyrics in
indignation over disparaging remarks made by Mr. Reznor. In "My Generation," he
responds to his critics
following Woodstock '99 with the worst attempt at a generational theme song
since the Police's "Born
in the 50's." As part of his bid to appeal to every demographic (old, young,
male, female, gangsta, nerd), he
poses as a misogynist rocker in the song "My Way" and a sensitive Boyz II Men
crooner minutes later in
"The One." The album also shows that he's avidly monitoring his contemporaries,
offering lukewarm
imitations of Eminem, Kid Rock, DMX and Rage Against the Machine. Mr. Durst's
rapping and singing,
poor to begin with, become even more lackluster when he overuses the technique
of cracking his voice to
feign intensity, making it as meaningless an identifier as his red baseball cap.
Sure, the album has some great
hooks, Wes Borland keeps getting more adventurous as a guitarist and the band's
collaboration with DMX,
Redman and Method Man on "Rollin' (Urban Assault Vehicle)" is as near-perfect as
a 2000 rock- rap
crossover can get, but rock music deserves better angst.
That's not to say that U2, in transcending angst to reach some sort of plateau
where everything is cool and
beautiful, man, is perfect. "All That" shares a trait endemic to both U2's very
worst and very best albums:
a tendency to scream, "Look at me, I get it. I get it better than you do,"
whether it's the secret of life (on
the new album), the skin-deep imperialism of pop culture (on its 90's albums),
the value of humanity over
violent patriotism (on its early 80's albums) or the hubris of four Irishmen
coming up with one of pop's
greatest tributes to the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. (on "The Unforgettable
Fire" in 1984).
In an interview with Bob Dylan in 1984, Bono lamented that U2's music didn't
plug into any deep roots or
heritage, as Dylan's did. "It's as if we're caught in space," he said, later
adding, "I'm hungry for a past." In
recent years, Bono has embraced his rootlessness and pronounced himself a
citizen of the world. When not
recording, he has been cozying up to everyone from President Clinton to Pope
John Paul II to Kofi Annan
in a crusade to alleviate third world debt. This universality declares itself
from the new album's first single,
"Beautiful Day," a rosy-spectacled joyride from Shanghai to the Arabian Desert,
to its overwrought call for
"Peace on Earth."
In a way, "All That" is also an album of defeat. (Bono sings of "the last of the
rock stars/When hip- hop
drove the big cars.") After all, the best way to coax a success out of U2 is to
let it fail first (its previous album
"Pop"). In that interview with Dylan, Bono taunted him and Van Morrison for not
trying to catch up with
the younger musicians. But in letting go of those ambitions and returning to
being a sincere band that believes
in the power of rock and roll again, U2 finds vindication for its past, complete
with the Edge's ringing guitar
again and Larry Mullen beats that aren't programmed like a drum machine. Sure,
you might want to snicker
when a starry-eyed Bono sings lines like "life should be fragrant," but for some
reason it's hard to laugh.
Especially when you have people like Fred Durst rapping, "Life is a lesson --
you learn it when you're
through." Better to swallow the fragrant pill that offers some relief than the
bitter pill that offers none. Â
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
MSNBC: Adam Clayton Powell (11-6-2000)
Thanks to James for the following from MSNBC.com:
But his efforts to move ahead after a tumultuous past two days had mixed
success. At a
Michigan rally, a union leader misidentified retired Gen. Colin Powell as "Adam
Clayton Powell,"
while wind tore a huge U.S. flag from its moorings and forced a wildly gyrating
hot-air balloon to
the ground.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Virtual New York: Europe's U2 Band Making Big Comeback (11-6-2000)
From Virtual New York:
EUROPE'S U2 BAND MAKING BIG COMEBACK
Some observers of the rock scene say that megaband U2 became, in the
words of Rolling Stone magazine, "too big for its britches" after enormous
successes in the early 90s. Now, says the publication, U2 is back and
succeeding again by returning to its roots -- real rock and roll. The band's
latest CD, "All That You Can't Leave Behind," hit American shelves this
week. Reviewers say that the band's return to basics and a re-emphasis on
heavy guitar work gives it a jump start.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Absolute Zero: Taking a Shot at Bono (11-6-2000)
Absolute Zero, the irreverent animated music news and
interview series starring the sassy, sexy Nordic host Hvita
and her grumpy puffin sidekick Ozzy. Putting an edgy spin
on today's top industry newsmakers, the Mondo Media co-
production features new episodes this month with "special
guests'' Bono of U2 as well as Radiohead. Past shows
satirizing Snoop Dogg, Eminem, Marilyn Manson and Puff
Daddy are also viewable on the site
(http://www.getmusic.com/shows/absolutezero).
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Virgin.net: Radiohead Reject Oakenfold Spirit (11-6-2000)
From Virgin.net:
Radiohead Reject Oakenfold Spirit
Radiohead have blocked a Paul Oakenfold trance mix of their track Street Spirit,
says the top DJ. He claims the band "don't like dance music." There seems no
chance now of the track being released, after Oakenfold told an Irish website
that
Radiohead had objected to the remix of one of the stand out tracks off their
celebrated album The Bends.
He explained: "We were going to release that on Planet Perfecto, but
unfortunately Radiohead, as far as I'm concerned, don't like dance music so they
wouldn't allow
us to do it. They would have got the publishing money obviously because it's
their
song. It will now never be released."
Under his Perfecto moniker, Oakenfold has remixed U2, Massive Attack and the
Stone Roses.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Reuters: Clinton Thanks Bono Over Global Debt Relief Measure (11-6-2000)
From Reuters:
Clinton Thanks Bono Over Global Debt Relief Measure
By Randall Mikkelsen
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Bill Clinton thanked U2 singer Bono
as he signed legislation providing $435 million (304 million pounds) in relief
to
some of the world's most indebted poor countries.
"Global poverty is a moral affront, and confronting the challenge is simply the
right thing to do," Clinton said at a White House ceremony attended by religious
leaders, legislators and others who worked to pass the bill.
The president credited a global popular effort for leading to the measure. He
cited
the Pope John Paul II's call for a "Jubilee" debt forgiveness to mark the turn
of the
millennium, and the publicity efforts of Bono, lead singer for the Irish rock
band U2.
"When we get the pope and the pop stars all singing on the same sheet of music,
our voices do carry to the heavens," Clinton said. Although Bono had lobbied the
White House and the U.S. Congress for the measure, he was not at the ceremony.
Clinton noted that Bono's "passionate devotion" had brought together politicians
ranging across the political spectrum.
The measure meets a U.S. commitment toward an international effort to forgive
the debts of 33 poor countries that Clinton said were labouring under a
"crippling
burden of massive debt," often piled up by departed dictators.
It also authorizes the International Monetary Fund to sell gold "off market" to
finance
its participation in the initiative.
The international plan, endorsed last year by the Group of Seven major
industrial
nations, aims to wipe out $90 billion of debt owed by the world's poor debtor
nations,
reducing the total to about $37 billion.
The relief is given on the condition that the savings are used for projects such
as
education and health care, and that the recipients refrain from military
conflict. Eleven countries had so far met the standards and nine others may
qualify by the end
of this year, the White House said.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
French Music Site Provides Multimedia Retrospective (11-6-2000)
All That You Can't Leave Behind, the title of the new U2 album, has inspired
French music site MCM.net to create a small multi-media U2 retrospective.
Wim Wenders, Brian Eno, trabants, the Wembley stage, the Pope, and the Berlin
Wall are featured as people and events to be discovered with U2's history.
RealAudio and RealVideo clips galore
http://www.mcm.net/evenement/u2
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
U2 Featured in Several European Magazines (11-6-2000)
Thanks to Chantal for the following:
In the October 25 issue of the Dutch magazine "Nieuwe Revu" (issue 44), there is
an interview with Bono titled "Bono Talks About God, Politics, Money and the New
Album." If you subscribe to the magazine now, you will receive "All That You
Can't
Leave Behind" for free.
The November issue of the German edition of "Rolling Stone" has three articles
on U2:
1. An interview with Bono and The Edge
2. An article titled "Bukowski Meets U2" (a diary excerpt from 11/08/1992)
3. A review of "All That You Can't Leave Behind"
Also, Dutch magazine "OOR" is giving out a free copy of "All That You Can't
Leave
Behind" to all new subscribers.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hobomusic: U2 Leave The Rest Behind In Album Charts (11-6-2000)
From Hobomusic:
U2 Leave The Rest Behind In Album Charts
Irish supergroup top charts with new album.
U2 went straight in at the top of the UK album charts with their new offering
"All That
You Can't Leave Behind", replacing Scottish band Texas whose "The Greatest Hits"
drops to Number Two.
Next highest new entry came from Blur with their own greatest hits collection,
"Blur:
The Best Of" at Number Three, while popsters Steps have come straight in at
Number
Four with their new LP "Buzz". The only other new entry in the Top Twenty comes
from
crooner Michael Ball with his new LP "This Time It's Personal", in at Number
Twenty,
while highest climber in the upper reaches of the listings was from the Walrus
Of Love
himself Barry White with his anthology "The Barry White Collection" up eleven
places
to Number Ten.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
LA Times: Letters to the Editor (11-5-2000)
From The Los Angeles Times:
Catching Up With U2
It's great that U2 has a new album coming out and it's back
to their rock 'n' roll roots ("Far Down the Road, a Sudden
U-Turn," by Robert Hilburn, Oct. 29). However, I think they
should be applauded for making the "Pop" album. It's ironic that
while there's no end to media articles that tell all of us to be
different and think outside the box, when four of the most
creative people on the planet do this, they are soundly thrashed.
Maybe U2 is just ahead of the curve musically and the fans will
catch up in a few years. Maybe not, but this definitely was a fun
album and is worth listening to.
DENISE FIFER
Cypress
* * *
I heard U2's "Beautiful Day" on the radio and thought to
myself, "Finally, they are back." I disliked the "Pop" album so
much that the Popmart tour was the first tour I missed. I will
embrace this album and look forward to this tour. The concerts
I have been to in the past few years (Pearl Jam last night) have
been lackluster and uninspiring. I long for the feeling of 100,000
people singing in unison and, at times, feeling like you could hear
a pin drop while you waited in anticipation for the next note of
"A Sort of Homecoming," "With or Without You" and "MLK."
ERINN HANNON
Huntington Beach
* * *
I was glad that you noted the "heavy-handed" lyrics of "New
York." I had seen the lyrics and thought similarly. I think that U2
should be held to a high standard since its lyrics are usually
superior to those of many rock acts. After all, that is one of the
reasons why they have had such a loyal following over the
years.
REBECCA WELLS
Waltham, Mass.
* * *
As I write this, I am listening to the new CD, and it reminds
me of L.A. following a rainstorm--bright, clear and the ability to
see for miles around you.
U2 can't be expected to turn out another "Joshua Tree" or
"War"; it's not possible, they aren't those people anymore. Hell,
Bono has been in conference with many of the leaders of the
Western world, and commands not only their attention, but
respect. His music should and does reflect that.
It's nice to know that sometimes there are sincere people left
in entertainment who strive to be the best they can be and care
that the product they give us is an effort that leaves us feeling
good about them and ourselves.
LEE M. PHILLIPS
Whittier
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Providence Journal: A Retro Revival for Trend-Bending U2 (11-5-2000)
From The Providence Journal:
A Retro Revival for Trend-Bending U2
U2
All That You Can't Leave Behind (Interscope)
By VAUGHN WATSON
Journal Pop Music Writer
There's an explanation for U2's endurance: The most persistent rock band of the
'80s plays music that
sits above the trends. There's plenty of room in rock 'n' roll for playing to
that sort of counterculture, so
there is always room for U2.
The band -- lead singer and guitarist Bono, guitarist the Edge, bassist Adam
Clayton and drummer Larry
Mullen Jr. -- emerged from Dublin playing rock 'n' roll in 1980, when the rock
scene was flexing its
neo-punk, New Wave and disco-inspired muscles.
By the time the band released The Unforgettable Fire in '84, it was selling
millions of records and playing
Live Aid, and two years later won Album of the Year and Best Rock Performance
Grammys for The
Joshua Tree . The Joshua Tree was a break from U2's earliest work -- the superb
albums that flexed
political relevance as a populist wake-up call, not as a '90s "Rock the Vote"
cliche.
Here the band makes no attempt to recapture the revolutionist vibe of its
earliest, most relevant albums,
1980's Boy , October ('81) and War ('83). A reluctance to articulate its early
progressivism is All That
You Can't Leave Behind 's big flaw.
Rather, U2 circles back to its The Joshua Tree -era sound, when it floated above
the hair metal trend
and ruled the charts with With Or Without You , I Still Haven't Found What I'm
Looking For and Where
The Streets Have No Name . Those songs soared with ringing guitar melodies and
lyrics dwelling on one
man's exploration of love and friendship lost and found, not a whole nation's
problems.
U2 left the sound dangling in the wind in '93 and '97 with the
electronica-influenced Zooropa and Pop
albums that put off U2's rock 'n' roll fans.
All That You Can't Leave Behind again finds U2 bending trends, circling back to
modern rock at a time
when everyone's taking about rage-rock and rap-rock.
The band harmonizes on Stuck In A Moment You , a downright giddy song.
Co-producer Brian Eno, the
former Talking Heads producer, brings an avant-garde sound on synthesizers to
several songs (the
atmospheric orchestration of Beautiful Day and the spacey opening lines of
Elevation ) .
But the arrangement of Elevation mirrors U2's new retro vibe. The band fools
around with musical styles,
but in the end it leans on what it knows: rock 'n' roll. After a noodling,
synthesized, instrumental opening,
a cluster of rock guitars breaks the song open.
In A Little While and Wild Honey are strong rock ballads. Bono in both songs
sings in his finest voice,
carrying forward the slightly out-there country-pop sound of Mysterious Ways .
When Bono sings "In the
days/ When we were swinging from the trees," it's one of the most engagingly
melancholy deliveries since
Nick Drake sang Pink Moon .
Walk On , with a line that gives the disc its title, revels further in U2's
new-found desire to rock. "And love
is not the easy thing/ The only baggage that you can bring," Bono sings.
"And love is not the easy thing/ The only baggage you can bring/ Is all that you
can't leave behind."
Peace On Earth and New York are cautious indictments of today's have-it-all
times. But Bono -- who
writes the songs' lyrics -- merely sketches themes of hard times that social
awareness could right. He
doesn't draw scenes in in-your-face pictures as he did on War 's Sunday Bloody
Sunday.
New York 's techno-style art-rock opening is an instrumental ode to fast-paced
life in the city. Bono
touches down in poetry slam-style with a derision of New York's excesses: "In
New York freedom looks
like too many choices," he sings. "In New York I found a friend to drown out the
other voices/ voices on
the cell phone/"
In Peace On Earth , Bono points out this era's problems, singing "Sick of
sorrow, sick of pain, sick of
hearing again and again that there's gonna be peace on Earth."
Then in Grace he suggests a heavenly approach to straighten out the world:
"Grace makes beauty out
of ugly things," he sings. But of course setting things right isn't that easy.
Stripped of its synthesizers, much of All That You Can't Leave Behind sounds
like a liberal reworking of
The Joshua Tree. In today's rock scene, that's not breaking new ground. But if
the template you're
mimicking is as potent as U2's, it's rock 'n' roll that still sounds fresh.
Bono knows as much, and is altogether nostalgic in the wistful Kite, perhaps
wondering aloud about
U2's legacy and pleased with the band's return to rock.
"Did I waste it?/ Not so much I couldn't taste it./ Life should be fragrant/
Roof top to the basement./ The
last of the rock stars./ When hip-hop drove the big cars/ In the time when new
media/ Was the big idea/
That was the big idea."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Spokesman-Review: Review of ATYCLB (11-5-2000)
U2's 'Leave Behind' full of bland, forgettable tunes
Album reviews
U2
"All That You Can't Leave Behind" (Interscope)
The thesaurus has been worn thin by awestruck reviewers during U2's 20-year
career. But there's one
not-so-flowery adjective that's been of little use until now: Boring.
U2's 10th studio album is a distillation of all the myriad sounds and styles the
Irish quartet has
explored over the years. Here you'll find the pealing guitars of "Boy," the
electronic flair of "Pop,"
the spiritual yearning of "The Joshua Tree" embroidered together.
Gone is the self-consciousness that dotted the band's latter-day work; listening
to the new album,
you get the feeling U2 has finally quit trying to make the next groundbreaking
soul album, the next
groundbreaking electronic album, the next groundbreaking ironic statement, or
whatever latest
artistic mission has caught frontman Bono's fancy.
But in its quest to deliver something more straightforward -- to soberly
remember that U2 is "just a
rock-'n'-roll band," as Bono recently said -- the quartet bogs down in a set of
tracks that is
overwhelmingly pedestrian.
There are flashes of triumph, most notably the first single, "Beautiful Day," a
gloriously busy,
layered song that recalls Bono's lyrically astute "Achtung Baby" days.
Still, despite colorful production from Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois, most of
these tracks gasp for
air. They're forgettable, hollow, trifling. Pick your word. You don't need a
Roget's to tell you when
something's bland.
-- Brian McCollum
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Music3w: U2 Become One (11-5-2000)
Condensed from Music3w:
U2 BECOME ONE
U2 top Album Chart
U2's triumphant big-pop return All That You Can't Leave
Behind has entered the album chart at Number One. It's
the blockbusting foursome's eighth chart-toppin' album
following 1983's War, 1984's The Unforgettable Fire,
1987's The Joshua Tree, 1988's Rattle & Hum, 1993's
Zooropa, 1997's Pop and 1998's Best Of collection.
Blur's super best of package enters at Three, which fails
to give the band their fifth consecutive chart topper and
Steps' third long playing opus Buzz comes in at Four. The
rest of the Top Ten sees Texas down to Two with their
Greatest Hits comp, Coldplay at Five with Parachutes, All
Saints at Six with Saints & Sinners, David Gray's White
Ladder at Seven, Eminem at Eight, Craig David at Nine
and Barry White's The Collection climbs up to Ten.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Music365: U2 are #1 with ATYCLB (11-5-2000)
From Music365:
U2 Storm To Top Of UK Albums Chart
U2 have soared straight to Number One in the UK albums chart with 'All That You
Can't Leave Behind'.
The Irish quartet displaced their fellow Celts Texas from the top of the chart,
Texas' 'The Greatest Hits'
album dropping to Number Two.
Blur notched up the second-highest new entry of the week as their 'blur:the best
of' album debuted at
Number Three. And Steps' new album 'Buzz' entered the chart at Number Four.
The only other new entry in the Top 20 came courtesy of Michael Ball's 'This
Time It's Personal' which
debuted at Number 20.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Daily Star News: Clinton to sign debt relief bill (11-5-2000)
From Daily Star News:
Clinton to sign $435m bill reducing third world debt
SAN FRANCISCO, Nov 4: President Bill Clinton will sign into law on Monday a
foreign aid bill that includes
$435 million to forgive or alleviate the crippling debt burdens of some of the
world's poorest nations, the White
House said, reports Reuters.
Clinton has called the legislation "historic," saying it would boost US
leadership in the world and was "manifestly
in our interests."
Spokesman Jake Siewert told reporters travelling with Clinton in San Francisco
on Friday that the signing ceremony
would take place at the White House. Key US lawmakers and other leaders in the
fight to reduce Third World debt
were expected to attend.
On Oct 25, the Senate gave final approval to the $14.9 billion foreign
assistance bill in a comfortable bipartisan vote
of 65 to 27 after it easily passed in the House of Representatives by a 307-101
vote.
The debt-relief measure, championed by the White House, charity groups and
religious and cultural figures from Pope
John Paul II to singer Bono of the rock band U2, allows the United States to pay
its share under the global Heavily
Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) initiative to forgive the debts of some of Third
World countries.
"It will go a long way toward ensuring our leadership for progress and
prosperity in the 21st century world," Clinton
said after lawmakers agreed to free up the funding.
Leading an international drive to unburden hopelessly indebted Third World
countries from onerous interest payments
that lock them into a vicious cycle of poverty, Clinton pledged the loan relief
two years ago. Until now the Republican
led Congress had balked at fully funding his request.
A provision in the foreign operations bill authorises the International Monetary
Fund to revalue some of its gold reserves
to free up about $800 million for additional debt forgiveness.
The foreign operations bill also lifts restrictions on $425 million in US aid
for family planning groups that lobby for
abortions overseas. However, it blocks disbursement of the funds until Feb. 15,
2001 after Clinton leaves office.
The overseas assistance package earmarks $300 million to help fight AIDS in
Africa and $100 million for Serbia, provided
the government meets certain conditions, including cooperating with the
international war crimes tribunal in The Hague.
It also includes $8 million for Yemen, half of which is to help in the hunt for
the suicide bombers who attacked an American
warship, the USS Cole.
Israel and Egypt are the biggest recipients of US aid in the package, which
provides funds for multinational organisations
like the World Bank and a raft of overseas policy initiatives from nuclear
nonproliferation to family planning.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
BBC: U2 #1 in UK (11-5-2000)
From BBC:
The Official UK Top 40 Album Chart
05/11/00
TW (LW) Title Artist Label
1 ( ) ALL THAT YOU CAN'T LEAVE BEHIND U2 ISLAND
2 (1) THE GREATEST HITS TEXAS MERCURY
3 ( ) THE BEST OF BLUR FOOD
4 ( ) BUZZ STEPS JIVE
5 (3) PARACHUTES COLDPLAY PARLOPHONE
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Music365: U2 #1 in UK (11-5-2000)
From Music365:
U2 have made it a double triumph for Irish music by debuting at Number One in
the UK albums chart with 'All That You Can't Leave Behind'.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
99X: 'Beautiful Day' Is Featured Video (11-5-2000)
Thanks to Kevin of U2 Audio for the following:
U2's "Beautiful Day" is the featured video on 99x FM's website.
In RealVideo
http://99x.com/ramfiles/U2_beautiful.ram
Video page
http://99x.com/99x/videos/
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
U2 Featured on 'Tutto' Cover (11-5-2000)
Thanks to Pierluigi of U2 Backstage for the following:
U2 is on the cover of the November issue of Tutto (Italian music mag):
http://ospiti.athena2000.it/tutto/
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Winnipeg Radio to Interview Bono (11-5-2000)
Thanks to Todd for the following:
Q94 FM in Winnipeg, Manitoba Canada will be having an exclusive
interview on November 7th at 11:00 pm CST. Per the radio promo and my
phone call to the station, it will be held live with Bono for 1 hour.
Topics will focus on the new album as well as caller questions. I was
told to call back Monday for more info. and also to get any questions
in.
If you are interested in listening, the station broadcasts live (3 second delay)
24/7. You can tune in at http://www.q94fm.com.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Malaysian Star: Part 2 - Forward to the Past (11-5-2000)
Forward to the Past - Part 2
The Edge added: "I think that we weren't alone in recognizing that music and
technology had moved on and
rock n' roll had to also develop.
"What happened with us and with this record was we realized the band that we
naturally have the thing
that is most unique about what we do, without ever wanting to ignore what we
were doing in the past."
To a certain extent, the past is what U2 is looking into when the focus of the
new album is veering back
to that more organic chemistry between musicians playing together, The Edge
explained.
"We started to see that for us to really create music that's unique, stands out
and speaks what we're about
as four individuals, it's more than likely going to be music rather than put
together using samples."
Recording the album for the most part in Dublin itself does make the album more
personal as well, according
to The Edge.
"With this record I think our vision got more focused, more personal, more about
things we wouldn'’t normally
write about," he said.
Clayton went on explaining then that it was pretty much Bono who wrote the
lyrics along with the help of
The Edge on certain songs, in "mostly in a kind of editorial capacity,
discussing he lyrics."
The Edge continues: "Bono often works in a very fast way. I can almost tell what
lyrics will come through
without any input from me and then I can also tell the ones that are less clear,
and might need some actual
lyrical input for me.
"Songs like New York, that came together really fast, whereas Kite took awhile
and I ended up working with
him on that."
Stuck in a Moment and When I Look at the World were two more that The Edge
worked with Bono on.
As for he subject matter, while life experiences do show up in some of the
songwriting, by and large it's
all "coincidental."
"I don't think there's any conscious attempt to be autobiographical in the
lyrics," The Edge said. "In
fact, it's the last thing that you're thinking about."
"You're thinking about words and music and foremost.
"You're really concentrating on how this whole thing comes together and then
it's almost inevitable that
you're ending up the lyrics in one way or another."
And having worked with Bono all these years, The Edge is perhaps entitled to
comment on Bono's songwriting
and lyrical content.
"Bono's a writer who loves to keep things very open. He likes to create certain
kind of tension within a
lyric where things are not resolved, not necessarily spelt out," The Edge said.
"My instinct is to be more clear, but for Bono, that's where he really starts to
have fun, when the words
don't necessarily give you the whole story. Sometimes with a lyric I've worked a
lot with him on,
I'm not even sure quite what it's about. He knows a lot more than me, but he’s
probably not 100% sure of
every nuance.
"But trying to explain lyrics is pointless... really, lyrics only make sense
when they are combined with
music."
Political sentiment does crop up in more than one song, as U2 is knows for its
stand on war and peace.
While Bono has been more public about the issue, The Edge is no less intense.
"There's a political aspect to a couple of the songs, but not so much because of
any particular movement or
organization we're involved in. we don't see why politics should be excluded
from our works because,
living in Ireland, politics is so (much a) part of the fabric in everyone's
daily life.
"On a very personal level, Peace on Earth (on the new album), for instance, was
a lyric that Bono was
compelled to write after the Omagh bombing in Northern Ireland.
"At the time, it was an incredibly awful, despicable act, not only because it
was an act of violence
against the townspeople of Omagh but it was an attempt to destroy the peace
process," The Edge explained.
"Anybody on this island who had an ounce of intelligence or any interest in
ongoing peace (talks)
was absolutely gutted by that, not to mention outraged by the human cost of that
awful thing.
"It was an incredibly depressing and devastating atrocity. It wasn't in any way
an attempt to write
from the perspective of relating to it as a member of a peace movement but just
as a human being living at
Ireland at the time.
"Those lyrics were just his (Bono's) response, and it was later when we mad
music that was crying out for
words that he realized was probably the right melody and music for the set of
lyrics he had written, so the
two came together.
It hasn't always been writing or singing about the dark side of war and peace
for U2, though. Some of
Clayton and The Edge's best memories have been of performing in aid of peace and
Third World debt.
Both agree that 1985's Live Aid for famine in Ethiopia was one of the highlights
of their career. Appearing
in Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina, during the Popmart tour, so soon after the war
in that country a few
years ago was another.
"Even if we just performed on acoustic guitars and no PA, I think it would have
probably been the best show
of the tour because everybody in that venue was just so determined that it was
going to be the best night
of their lives," The Edge reminisced.
"We were just fortunate enough to be the band that was on stage. It was wild, it
was such a privilege to be
part of their celebration."
Another high point of the band's career was, according to The Edge, a show they
performed with Northern Irish
band Ash that few people worldwide saw in Belfast prior to the peace referendum.
In short, two Irish leaders, one from the North and one from the South formally
meet for the first time
and made public statement that they were going to work together for peace.
"A few weeks after that, the referendum happened and whereas in the South it was
unanimously supported, in
the North margin was about 8 % in favour, so the concert and ceremony was
extremely important in
tipping the balance in the north of Ireland towards support in this peace
process," The Edge said.
"The high point for me was that I just thought at that moment that rock'n'roll
bands, as much as it is true
to say that you cannot change the world, can actually still make a difference.
"It was an incredibly humbling feeling to realize that without that concert,
without that moment captured by
the media, the vote could have easily gone the other way."
Politics aside, it's now time to start thinking of touring again, the approach
also looks like back to
basics.
"We've started booking events from the beginnings of April," said Clayton.
"We're kind of committed to six months so far. It will probably grow a bit after
six months. We're pretty
sure it will be a world tour".
The Edge added: " We've got some great songs that we're really looking forward
to playing live. I think
that they're going to lend themselves to a slightly more intimate king of show
so I don't think we're
going to play so many stadiums.
"Maybe later on we might go outdoors. Initially we're going to play smaller
indoor facilities.
"I don't think the emphasis is going to be those big concepts, but more on
keeping the set and production
to a minimum, concentrating on playing the songs and really a simpler
presentation.
"I think we're just going to really have some fun."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Malaysian Star: Part 1 - Forward to the Past (11-5-2000)
Thanks to Clarence for the following from The Malaysian Star:
Forward To The Past - Part 1
The Star (Malaysia), FRIDAY November 3, 2000
By Jason Cheah
Irish band U2 has shown that rock n'roll might not change the world but it can
make a difference for
peace. With a new album All That You Can't Leave Behind out now, band member
talk about U2 coming full
circle in an exclusive interview with Section 2
They're still the same four members, no more, no less. And few bands can boast
of a line-up that has remained
that constant for 22 years.
With Irish rock gods U2, you get the feeling somehow that all it means is that
the band can probably do
want they want, have been doing so since the start of their career and getting
away with it with no more
than a rap on the hand by the overzealous British entertainment media.
Still, with the first new album since 1997's glamorous dance-tinged Pop in the
offing, the setting of an
interview recently with the band at its studio in Dublin's wharf area alongside
the city's Grand Canal
proved to be apt for more reasons that one.
Charismatic frontman Bono was nursing a sore throat but perky enough to suggest
some handy nightspots in
Dublin if the U2-owned Kitchen wasn't to reporters' liking while he takes some
time to sign a few
autographs.
The heady icons of Irish rock of the last quarter of the century look slightly
more understated these days.
And judging by the video of the new single, British and Irish chart-topper
Beautiful Day, gone is the
glamour extravagance of the previous two albums Pop (1997) and Zooropa (1993)
and the massive tours that
accompanied them.
Not that the Popmart tour hadn't met with disapproval from the entertainment
media for steering too far off
the beaten path of their rock roots.
And even bass guitarist Adam Clayton will admit that the beginning of that tour
in Las Vegas could arguably
be one of the very few low points of the band's 22-year career.
"It was like we had to kind of get this show together, and all this new
equipment had arrived in Las Vegas
where we were starting and it was like, wow, we'd better get this thing
together," Clayton explained.
So when you listen to the new studio album, All That You Can't Leave Behind,
their ninth, it sounds like
they have decided that experimentation is enough for the moment and it's back to
the basics and roots,
especially with the collaboration of long-time producer friends Steve
Lillywhite, Brian Eno and
Daniel Lanois.
The video if their newest single release Beautiful Day was recorded and shot at
Paris' Charles de Gaulle
Airport in early August.
The single has already charted at No.1 in both Britain and Ireland, deposing, in
both countries, young Irish
upstart Westlife's collaboration with Mariah Carey. The hauntingly beautiful
lyrics written by Bono (music
by the band) and Bono's vocal do give you the impression of something that
reminds you more of U2
pre-Achtung Baby.
Frontman Paul "Bono" Hewson, guitarist The Edge (a.k.a David Evans), bassist
Clayton and drummer Larry Mullen
Jr are just breaching the 40-year mark in terms of age and it isn't about to
slow them down one bit.
The legacy of Pop and its accompanying Popmart tour does rear its experimental
head when we discuss the
new album titled All That You Can't Leave Behind. As Clayton explained: "When we
were making the Pop
record we were aware we wanted to go a bit further in that direction at that
time, but probably after that
the band would kind of change and go off somewhere else.
"Starting this record, we weren't quite sure what way we wanted to do it (in),
but we knew that the sound of
the band was what interested us.
"We were getting excited about the fact that it wasthe four of us coming
together to make music.
"We felt we wanted to make the songwriting as finished as we possibly could and
really focus on that."
The Edge had his own explanation: "I think things go in cycles. There's a time
it seems when music needs to
be shaken up and new ideas brought to the forefront. "For the best part of the
1990s, there was a big
shaking up of music. I suppose the influence of hip hop and dance culture would
be seen to challenge a lot
of the assumptions being made about what music was supposed to have sounded
like.
"Coming into this new millennium, we got to the point where we were starting to
feel that it was just
(fresher) and more original top sound like a band than to be as experimental as
we had been for the last two
records."
The Edge feels that for the band, its about finding the area of music that would
be inspiring for the to
work on. And already he is thinking of the next record, which he thinks is
"probably going to be
something else again."
"It's just we need to feel that we're kind of the cutting edge of something
different. It's about
finding something new, something fresh," he explained.
"We've always been secure enough about our identity that we could take our music
and really abstract it,
take in some very unusual directions and know that in the end because it's four
strong individuals, it would
always end up sounding like us, no matter what we do," said The Edge.
The success of Pop can't be denied and both Clayton and The Edge agree that it
could perhaps be the most
successful of all the band's records.
Said Clayton: "There are some good songs on those records. They were exciting
records to make at the
time and I still enjoy Pop."
The Edge continued: "It's a record that was also extremely challenging for our
fans because even though
I think the songs were very strong, the arrangements and the treatments were
really drawing from other
musical influences, particularly dance music.
"People expecting a rock n'roll band sound really had to be stretched to
understand where we were going. In
that sense, it's a real achievement for a record like that to have done so
well."
Clayton feels that music has finally caught up with Pop. "I think when we
released it, (we were) taking a
big risk. It doesn't seem like such a risk now. And if you listen to primal
Scream's last record you can hear
that they're doing a similar thing."
(Continued)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Chart information in IRE, UK, and AUS (11-5-2000)
U2's 'All That You Can't Leave Behind' has
charted at #1 in Ireland, the UK, and Australia.
In Australia, the album has already reached
the double-platinum status, with sales over
200,000.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
REMHQ: Stipe impressed with new album (11-5-2000)
Condensed from REMHQ's Michael Stipe Diary:
i read edna gunderson's interview with
U2 on the plane and thought
it was one of the most exciting and
thoughtful and downright
inspiring articles i'd read in a while.
i heard their record a couple
months ago in france and i was whooping
and jumping, its really
challenging, esp. for me since i'm still
squeaking out lyrics for the
final songs. anyway, it is a g- r- e- a-
t- record, esp. for me
'elevation' and i love 'beautiful day'
as a first single. guts and brains
and brawn and smarts and super hooky.
when bono plays you
their songs he sings in your ear. the
whole time. loud. he's looking
really good these days, by the way.
it was larry's birthday today so me and
mike called up and sang
happy birthday, i did that harmony thing
on the 'birthday to you'
part that my dad taught me from years of
singing in church.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Entertainment Weekly: ATYCLB Review (11-5-2000)
From Entertainment Weekly:
ALL THAT YOU CAN'T LEAVE BEHIND
U2
U2's current single, ''Beautiful Day,'' opens not with a bang but a
murmur. Gray sky strings give way to a faint rhythmic pulse; slipping
into the track like an errant husband coming home late, a hushed Bono
paints a dreary picture of traffic jams, luckless circumstances, and
sundry frustrations both everyday and cosmic. Then, suddenly,
drummer Larry Mullen crashes in, and the song erupts into a euphoric
bellow so uplifting ''Day'' was played during the recent Olympics telecast.
We know it's a corny move, and U2 know we know; as the Edge
unabashedly told Entertainment Weekly last month, the song has a
''classic U2 arrangement.'' But damn if it isn't effective. For a few
minutes, one is transported back to 1988 -- a time when so much rock,
be it mainstream, indie, or hair metalish, actually sought to be sonically
and emotionally uplifting.
For anyone still puzzling over 1997's half baked ''Pop,'' this type of U2
song is a welcome reversal of
fortune. Even more startling in light of the
band's seeming obsolescence, the
mood of ''Beautiful Day'' rarely lets
up for the remainder of the
accompanying album, All That You Can't
Leave Behind. It's as if the band
-- and Bono, in particular -- left the
PopMart tour's space age goggles
and inane costumes on the bus. And
as hopelessly antiquated as it
may sound in the year 2000, it's as if
they decided it was time to write
and record an album of very good,
extremely substantial traditional
rock songs with an underlying
inspirational bent.
''Pop'' had its substantial
moments too, but the band came across far
from confident blending
electronic swooshes into their songs, and the
music seemed to slip through
their fingers (and ours). Starting with
''Beautiful Day,'' which opens
''All That You Can't Leave Behind,'' the new
album is as unwaveringly assured
as ''Pop'' was tentative. ''Wild Honey,''
all sexual charge and emotional
ambivalence, finds a melodic groove
and stays there; the equally
lusty ''Elevation'' and ''Walk On'' (one of
many songs with lyrics straight
out of a self help manual) have the
charging horse feel of U2's
youth, with a bumpy noise upgrade courtesy
of producers Brian Eno and Daniel
Lanois.
Not to denigrate their early '90s
one two punch, ''Achtung Baby'' and
''Zooropa,'' on which the band
let its freak flag fly to often lustrous
effect, but the new work focuses
on songs, not sonic gimmicks, and the
difference is palpable. Even when
they frill up a track with rootsy
touches, like the R&B accents of
the ''lift yourself up'' bromide ''Stuck in
a Moment,'' they shake off their
stodginess. New generation dullards
like the Wallflowers would do
well to scribble notes.
Of course, a U2 album would not
be a U2 album without assorted Bono
upheavals and quests. Here, the
40 year old addresses a midlife crisis
(complete with apparent affair)
in ''New York'' and longs for ''heaven on
earth/ we need it now'' in
''Peace on Earth.'' The songs are
heavyhearted, but the
arrangements -- the grimy urban beats of the
former and the delicate balladry
of the latter -- aren't. (On ''New York,''
you even forgive Bono for
describing Manhattan as hot and multiethnic,
which is about as original as
calling Dublin ''drizzly.'')
Even the Edge dusts off his
needles and pins leads. U2 no longer seem
wary of their tendency toward the
anthemic and grandiose, and they
shouldn’t be; it still sets them
apart from nearly everyone, with the
exception of Radiohead at their
loftiest.
Unless it's on behalf of hard to
recite album titles, ''All That You Can't
Leave Behind'' doesn't stake any
claims for advancing the art of pop
music. At this point, U2 wouldn't
be the ones to take us there anyway.
But at a time when rock feels so
earthbound, and dance steeped albums
like Moby's ''Play'' provide the
musical exaltation guitar bands once did,
U2 simply want to reclaim some of
that old stomping ground. In their
hands, falling back on old habits
isn't cowardice, but a virtue.
Grade: A -- David Browne
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Muse: Michael Stipe Excited about New U2 Album (11-5-2000)
From Muse:
REM FINSIHING OFF NEW ALBUM IN FLORIDA
REM have left Ireland and decamped to Florida, where they will
apply the finishing touches to their 12th studio album. In a
posting on the band's official www.remhq.com website, singer
Michael Stipe revealed that he and bassist Mike Mills traveled to
Miami this week to finish the record. "I'm thinking about the
relative calm of Dublin, and Tel Aviv, and how on earth we wound
up here in Miami for the final chapter of 'the making of' and it all
seems somehow perfect", read Stipe's message.
The band spent most of the summer in Dublin, commuting from a
residence in Killiney to Windmill Lane Studios. The band recently
spent a brief period in the hometown of Athens, Georgia with
producer Pat McCarthy to work on Stipe's vocals.
Stipe also revealed his excitement for the new U2 album "All That
You Can't" Leave Behind". "I heard their record a couple months
ago in France and I was whooping and jumping, it's really
challenging, esp. for me since I'm still squeaking out lyrics for the
final songs. Anyway, it is a g- r- e- a- t- record, esp. for me
"Elevation" and I love "Beautiful Day" as a first single. Guts and
brains and brawn and smarts and super hooky. When Bono plays
you their songs he sings in your ear. The whole time. Loud. He's
looking really good these days, by the way."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Releases:
Sightings of Bono, short movie featuring Bono,
October/November 2000. For more information
see http://www.allirelandnow.com.
November 2000, Wim Wenders' new book,
"The Heart Is a Sleeping Beauty : Million Dollar Hotel".
The book can be pre-ordered through the following link,
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/3823854682/youtwonetu2news
Best of DC Talk, may include live cover of "40",
November 21, 2000
U2 Single, Stuck in a Moment (You Can't Get Out Of),
December 20,
2000, Japan. No additional release information available.
Release date unknown: Irish band Chit Chat are releasing
a cover of All I Want Is You.
Concerts/Live Events/Appearances:
Tuesday, November 6, U2 interview on Toronto Canada's FM
radio The Edge 102.
Thursday, November 7 at 11 pm CST, Bono interview on
Q94 FM radio (http://www.q94fm.com).
Monday, November 13, Amigo Awards Ceremony, Spain.
Thursday, November 16, MTV Europe Music Awards,
Globe Arena, Stockholm.
Thursday, November 30 at 9 pm EST, My VH1 Music
Awards (in Los Angeles).
Saturday, December 9, U2 on Saturday Night Live.
Sunday, March 25, 2001, "All That You Can't Leave Behind"
Tour
Opener, National Car Centre, Miami, Florida.
Confirmed: U2 at Prarit's house, March 26, 2001.
--------------
Net Events:
--------------
In Print:
Aloha (Dutch music magazine), 14-page feature article
titled "The Beginning," dealing with U2's early years,
November issue
Oor Magazine (Netherlands), Issue 22, November 2000,
In-depth interview with U2
Request Magazine, November/December 2000, 2-1/2 page
interview with U2
Vanity Fair, November 2000, Bono on cover and in
feature article
Q Magazine, November 2000, Interview with the band
(U2 is featured on the magazine cover)
--------------
Fan Club/WIRE/U2 nutzoid meetings:
--------------
--------------
U2News: http://www.YouTwo.net
The only DAILY updated U2 News page is brought
to you by the letter U and the number 2.
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Personal Email: pra...@prarit.com
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