YouTwo.net: November 12, 2000
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New Stories:
Sunday Independent: St Bono Brings Us the Gospel (11-12-2000)
Sunday Independent: Newspaper Apologizes to The Edge (11-12-2000)
Sunday Independent: Boogie on Down for Chernobyl (11-12-2000)
Showbiz Ireland: McG's Sister Rescues Movie (11-11-2000)
Rolling Stone: U2 mentions in Oakenfold article (11-11-2000)
Lineone.net: Wim Wenders Interview (11-11-2000)
Guardian: Anything recent by U2 worth being turned off (11-11-2000)
Washington Post article deals with Ticket sales (11-11-2000)
LA Times: U2 Top Pop-Album Charts (11-11-2000)
SMH: Trans Am not afraid of being cheesy like U2 (11-11-2000)
Chart Attack: U2 debut at #3 in US (11-11-2000)
U2 and BD on US charts (11-11-2000)
U2 perform on Folkways: A Vision Shared (11-11-2000)
Bass Player: Part 2 - Adam Clayton Interview (11-11-2000)
Bass Player: Part 1 - Adam Clayton Interview (11-11-2000)
Triple J 2000: U2 Interview in RealAudio (11-11-2000)
U2Propaganda.com Seeks Fan Stories (11-10-2000)
Exclusive! Mp3s of CD:UK Performance (11-10-2000)
U2 Tops Slovenian Music Chart (11-10-2000)
U2audio.com: RealAudio of CD:UK Performance (11-10-2000)
Malay Mail: U2 Still Rocks - Part 2 (11-10-2000)
Malay Mail: U2 Still Rocks - Part 1 (11-10-2000)
Music365: U2 Fail to Hit US No. 1 Despite Record Sales (11-10-2000)
Radio Station Contest for U2 NYC Gig (11-10-2000)
Guitar Player: Part 2 - Edge Interview (11-10-2000)
Guitar Player: Part 1 - Edge Interview (11-10-2000)
Vancouver Sun: U2 causes CFL downsizing trend (11-10-2000)
Manila Times: Bono First to Receive Free Your Mind Award (11-10-2000)
Times of India: Bono Singing Up a Storm (11-10-2000)
Ananova: U2 Left Behind in Race for US Number One Slot (11-10-2000)
Hobomusic.com: Best US Sales For U2 But Miss Top Spot (11-10-2000)
Email from Propaganda Regarding Tour Dates (11-9-2000)
Wall of Sound: U2 #3 in US (11-9-2000)
USA Today: 1, 2, 3: Rap, rap and rock (11-9-2000)
New Promotional Pics of U2 (11-9-2000)
Allstar: U2 at #3 in US charts (11-9-2000)
SonicNet: U2 #3 in USA (11-9-2000)
Newswire: What gifts will Canadians be buying this year? (11-9-2000)
Daily Telegraph: Getting their act together (11-9-2000)
Live Daily: U2 returns to charts with #3 hit (11-9-2000)
Variety: U2 #3 helps Universal Record Sales (11-9-2000)
Citypaper.net: ATYCLB Review (11-9-2000)
NME: Bono Thanked by Bill (11-9-2000)
U2audio.com: RealAudio of Oakenfold Remixes (11-9-2000)
Dallas Observer: ATYCLB Review (11-9-2000)
U2.com: U2 Tops in 22 Countries (11-9-2000)
ATYCLB #1 on Swedish Charts (11-9-2000)
WENN: U2 Never Finished Their Pop Album (11-9-2000)
Spin: Jay-Z, OutKast, U2: 1, 2, 3 (11-9-2000)
Virgin.net: ATYCLB Review (11-9-2000)
Aftonbladet: Akerlund on Tour Design Team (11-9-2000)
Exclusive! Mp3s of Oakenfold Remixes (11-8-2000)
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)
dotmusic: Clinton Commends Bono's Charity Work (11-8-2000)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sunday Independent: St Bono Brings Us the Gospel (11-12-2000)
From The Sunday Independent:
St Bono Brings Us the Gospel
Listening to the soulful new offering from U2, Brendan O'Connor thanks God for
Messianic rock 'n' roll
IT'S not often you get a "moment" on Top of the Pops these days.
Super-worked-out professional teens with naked
ambition shining out of their vacant eyes ruthlessly going through aerobic dance
routines do not make moments.
Tellingly, when there was a slight moment on TOTP a few weeks back, it came from
an old trooper.
U2 were grinding through Elevation, one of the less endearing tracks from their
new album. As the song reached some
kind of climax, Bono picked a young girl out of the audience, held her hand, and
then, as the song ground to a shudder,
bit the girl on the veins of her wrist.
It was presumably a nod to the days when Bono would pick a girl out of the
audience and dance with her. It was also
perhaps a reference to the old vampire sucking the youth from this girl. And a
cheeky nod to the fact that this old
vampire was the most exciting thing we'd seen for years on this arena of youth.
Best of all was the fact that Bono was back, coming over all earnest, Messianic
and theatrical again, and thank God for
that. After all, it's what we love him for.
Consider in comparison current Irish world-beaters Westlife. For the last week,
Westlife have been desperately trying
to publicise their new album to number one. The main hook for the publicity has
been how hard Westlife work. It
started on last week's Late Late Show where the boys came across like a bunch of
trainee accountants boasting about
their lack of days off.
Buy our album because we're very busy. Are these suitable role models for our
children? Is it any wonder that the
likes of Blur, U2 themselves, and even Chris de Burgh have been queuing up to
slam the condition of the charts these
days?
Many of us were delighted when we heard that U2's latest album was to be a
return to rock 'n' roll. Bono and co
had apparently exorcised the demons of humour, irony and dance music from their
souls and decided to get back
to basics: four guys in a room together playing music, one of them who happens
to think he's Jesus, or a black
Baptist preacher-man at the very least. Much of the album didn't disappoint;
simple soulful songs performed with
earnest gusto.
Imagine our further delight when we realised that Bono was going to start doing
the Jesus stuff again too. Little
by little, he is working up a big head of earnest spiritual steam. The lyrics
of the album are suitably preachy;
interviews have been a fair reconstruction of the philosophical meanderings that
Eighties Bono went on with,
and now he's even pulling girls out of the crowd. By the time the tour comes
around, we can expect white flags
and climbing of scaffolding. Not only is it all hugely entertaining, it is also
touching, exciting and inspirational.
Bono himself has spent much of the last decade attempting to distant himself
from his Eighties incarnation,
falling in with the consensus that U2 were too big, too powerful, that Bono lost
the run of himself and that it all
lacked a sense of humour.
But then some of us don't listen to rock music for the laughs. Some of us want
something we can believe in,
something cool, inspirational and angst-ridden. And that is why the bit of us
that remains a teenager could always
connect with the bit of Bono that remained a teenager, the bit of him that
wanted to change the world by posing
next to a cactus.
Some of us will never forget the excitement of seeing what had been a vaguely
dull new-wave band walk on to
TV Ga Ga dressed like hippie cowboys to burst into the raucous country gospel of
I Trip Through Your Wires.
We will never forget Rock 'n' Roll Stop the Traffic in San Francisco, Larry
getting weepy talking about visiting
Elvis's grave in U2 Rattle and Hum, the marvellous bombast and megaphone
sentiment of the whole ride.
For us, the ironic Bono was like some kind of sick joke, a performer throwing
away what should have been the
best years of his career by trying too hard to be ordinary, to be like everyone
else. We respected the fact that he
needed to do it, but damn we're glad to have the other Bono back, the one whose
neck veins almost pop with
earnest effort as he gives it heart and soul.
This is most evident on the stand-out track from the new album. Stuck in a
Moment You Can't Get out of is a
gospel/soul extravaganza, U2's Buddhist take on People Get Ready. It might be
simplistic, corny, preachy and
derivative but it's the most powerful motivator and healer around our house at
the moment and I suspect around
many others.
It clearly points the way ahead for U2. While the current album contains traces
of irony, dance music and plastic
pants, Stuck in a Moment ... makes it clear where U2's heart is and what it is
that puts them up there with the
immortals. U2's next album will hopefully be a full-on gospel/soul thumper. And
hopefully Bono's not afraid to
start being a Messiah again, because you know, as a priest friend of mine said
to me recently, the people need
Messiahs. Welcome back, Bono. See you in church.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sunday Independent: Newspaper Apologizes to The Edge (11-12-2000)
From The Sunday Independent:
Apology
David Evans ('The Edge')
In some earlier editions of this newspaper published on
Sunday, October 29, an article by Joe Jackson contained an
allegation that Mr David Evans ('The Edge') had been
arrested for possession of cannabis in 1989.
This allegation is completely untrue.
The Sunday Independent and Mr Jackson unreservedly
apologise to Mr Evans for this completely untrue allegation
and regret the embarrassment and distress occasioned him by
it.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sunday Independent: Boogie on Down for Chernobyl (11-12-2000)
From The Sunday Independent:
Boogie on Down for Chernobyl
THE Chernobyl Children's Project will benefit from a boogie
night at the Temple Bar Music Centre tomorrow from 8pm.
The event, which will be attended by Ali Hewson and Adi
Roche, features the launch of Glamtastic 2000's new single,
the Mud classic, Tiger Feet.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Showbiz Ireland: McG's Sister Rescues Movie (11-11-2000)
From Showbiz Ireland:
The Limo Man back on track
The Irish movie in
which the actress Melanie Griffith was
set to play fellow
actress Julia Roberts is back on track.
The movie called
The Limo Man was in pre-production,
when the finance
fell through and the film was pulled. Now
reports are that
Melanie was so upset that she cried and
her husband actor
Antonio Banderas has raised the cash
to bring the film
back on track.
Filming was due to
start in September but after last
minute finance
fell through and the movie was scrapped.
The producer of
the film Katie McGuinness, sister of U2's
manager Paul, is
reported to have come to the rescue
after much
convincing by Banderas.
Sets were already
built for the movie in Dublin when the
movie was pulled.
The director of the film Barry Devlin
has confirmed to
the Irish press that the filming will begin
next March. "I can
confirm that filming will begin next
March. The film is
just parked at the moment" Devlin
said.
The script is
based on the true story between the Irish
chauffeur Mick
Devine and Julia Roberts when he and his
family took care
of the actress when she fled to Ireland
after the spit
with Kiefer Sutherland nine years ago.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rolling Stone: U2 mentions in Oakenfold article (11-11-2000)
Condensed from Rolling Stone:
Perhaps, but after finishing his tour of Asia, remixing
U2's latest single, "Beautiful Day" and pounding out
a remix for the new film Get Carter, America is the
one place Oakey plans on concentrating, especially
now that he's no longer tied down to a residency at
a British superclub.
"No one's
trying to overtake America," he says. "But
any artist in
any kind of music wants to do well
there, and
that's what I wanna do. I wanna come and
DJ there
'cause in my opinion, at the moment
America's the
place . . . With this album I wanted to
take it a
step further and give people who are not
just into
dance music, but like to hear good tunes,
an idea of
really what I'm about. I've worked with the
Stones, with
U2, with INXS. I've done remixes for
Snoop Doggy
Dogg, Arrested Development. If you
listen to the
record, it really is a journey. It drops in
pieces of
music from Vangelis' Blade Runner to a
Dead Can
Dance record."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lineone.net: Wim Wenders Interview (11-11-2000)
From Lineone.net:
One German's vision of the American Dream
BY RYAN GILBEY
I call the legendary German film-maker Wim Wenders on an
ordinary autumn morning, as though it is the most natural thing
in the world to pick up the telephone and find one of the
enduring visionaries of cinema on the other end. Mr Scorsese is on
line two?
Tell him he'll have to wait his turn.
Wenders is polite and forthcoming, and remarkably he still sounds
enthusiastic about the film we are discussing, despite the fact
that it took six years to bring to fruition and is now, for its
director at least, very much old news.
The oddball comic mystery The Million Dollar Hotel, which has
just been released on video, opened in Britain earlier this year to
generally disparaging reviews. It looks like Wenders is one of
those directors (Roman Polanski is another) who will forever be
punished for not making his early films over and over again.
The studied coolness of The Goalkeeper's Fear Of The Penalty
Kick (1971) and The American Friend (1977), or the wistful
majesty of Paris, Texas (1984), may be behind him now, but a
film like The Million Dollar Hotel still has much to offer.
Wenders regards eccentricity and adversity with calm and
compassion, as demonstrated in his recent book My Time With
Antonioni, a wonderful account of the period he spent assisting
the elderly Italian maestro on his film Beyond The Clouds.
In The Million Dollar Hotel, Wenders uses that compassion to
tease brave performances out of Jeremy Davies, as the twitchy,
naive Tom-Tom, and Mel Gibson as the FBI agent who arrives at
the rundown Los Angeles hotel to investigate a suspicious death.
"Hollywood actors are used to doing a 10-second shot then
taking a four-hour break," says Wenders, "but we had Mel
working continuously. What suffered most was his smoking habit.
He loves his Havanas. And once you light a beautiful Havana,
you can't let it go out, so his assistant had to keep those cigars
going for him.
"I think he proved something to himself on the film. Some of his
other movies he can do while sleepwalking, but here he showed
that he is still an actor with a capital 'A'."
Gibson isn't the only celebrity name behind the picture. The story
idea originated from U2's lead singer Bono, who brought the
script which he had written with Nicholas Klein to Wenders for
advice.
Back then, it was a Blade Runner-style science fiction
extravaganza called The Billion Dollar Hotel, but budgetary
concerns demanded tighter purse strings, and the cost-cutting
began with the title. Wenders, however, insists that the kernel
of the story remains intact.
"We always took the hotel to be a metaphor for America - this
derelict building that was once the grandest hotel in the city,
but has descended into a hellhole. When Tom-Tom looks at the
losers and lunatics who inhabit it, he sees what they could have
been; his eyes represent the naivety of the American dream."
This friction between what we yearn for America to be, and what
it actually is, has long been prevalent in Wenders' work, usually
embodied by a figure of innocence, from bumbling Harry Dean
Stanton in Paris, Texas, to the wide-eyed Cuban musicians who
go gaga for New York in the Oscar-nominated documentary
Buena Vista Social Club. Wenders thinks that he too may still be
under the country's spell.
"I wonder if it is possible to ever know America too well," he
asks.
"I get a mild culture shock every time I arrive there, but I guess
that's the privilege of travelling a lot - you never get used to
anything."
Wenders was in the States recently, in Montana, working on a
new screenplay with Sam Shepard. "There is no more beautiful
landscape on the planet," he sighs. "Sometimes I think the
American West will always be my dream territory: when I'm
there, I'm like a kid, looking around with my mouth wide open."
For the moment at least, Wenders is holed up in Munich,
embarking on what he calls "a three-month journey into the
past".
He is supervising the transfer of his entire oeuvre to DVD, frame
by frame, adding director's commentaries as he goes and digging
up unseen footage from the original negatives. This painstaking
task is inspired by his horror at encountering various ropey old
video copies of his work. The finished product will see the light of
day some time next year.
"Some of the films I haven't seen in 20 years, and I think: how
the heck did I do that shot? Others I want to take the scissors
and cut a little here and there. But I'm refraining. You can't
rewrite history."
The Million Dollar Hotel is out now to buy or rent on video and
DVD. To order My Life With Antonioni (Faber, 14.99/12.99) call
Express Bookshop on 0870 901 9101 or send a cheque/PO for the
reduced price shown plus 99p UK p&p to Express Bookshop 32-34
Park Royal Road, London NW10 7LN
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Guardian: Anything recent by U2 worth being turned off (11-11-2000)
Condensed from The Guardian:
Whip to Be Square
The appropriation of leather, rubber and revealing clothing was one of
those fin-de-siecle symptoms that turned out to be not so fin at all
Julie Burchill
Saturday November 11, 2000
I don't know about you - and knowing what culturally upright people you
stern-but-fair
Guardian readers actually are, I think it's quite unlikely that you listen to
pop radio
at all - but there's always at least one, current hit record which is so rotten
that I
will stop anything, and I mean anything, in order to cross the room and turn it
off.
Recent culprits have been anything by the vile U2, Music by Madonna - and now,
I'm
afraid, Holler, the Spice Girls' comeback record.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Washington Post article deals with Ticket sales (11-11-2000)
There's a great article on ticket sales with a
brief U2 mention (at the end of the article) at
the Washington Post Online website:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A63672-2000Nov10.html
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
LA Times: U2 Top Pop-Album Charts (11-11-2000)
Condensed from The Boston Globe:
Jay-Z, OutKast, U2 top pop-album charts
By Robert Hilburn Los Angeles Times, 11/10/2000
Brooklyn rapper Jay-Z, Atlanta rappers OutKast, and Irish
rockers U2 captured the first three places on the nation's
pop-album chart this week with high-profile debuts as the record
industry moves into its hectic holiday season.
Jay-Z's ''The Dynasty Roc La Familia (2000-
)'' sold about 558,000
copies to nab the top spot, narrowly edging
OutKast's ''Stankonia,''
which sold 526,000 copies. U2's ''All That
You Can't Leave
Behind'' sold 428,000 copies.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SMH: Trans Am not afraid of being cheesy like U2 (11-11-2000)
Condensed from the Sydney Morning Herald:
On Trans Am's last album, Future World, they really let loose the dinky synth
sounds and distorted vocals. On the latest,
Red Line, the aroma of cheese permeates the air of cool.
"We're not afraid of that at all," says Manley. "Sometimes we catch ourselves
and think something's too cheesy. Then
we'll decide there's nothing wrong with that. Something that pulls at your
heartstrings - that's cheesy. Like U2. I love U2,
but some people just gag on them. I can't help it."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Chart Attack: U2 debut at #3 in US (11-11-2000)
Condensed from Chart Attack:
U2 played a short set on the sixth floor
balcony of the MTV building for anyone
passing through Times
Square for Total Request Live.
Their new album, All That You Can't Leave
Behind debuted at
number three on the Billboard charts this
week, behind Jay-Z and
Outkast, respectively. Incidentally, TRL
host Carson Daly just got
engaged to girlfriend Tara Reid, who
starred in American Pie.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
U2 and BD on US charts (11-11-2000)
Thanks to Jim for the following:
Even though ATYCLB ONLY debuted at #3 on
the U.S. Album chart, Beautiful Day has been climbing, making by far its
largest gain on the Billboard Hot 100 this past week.
Here are Beautiful Day's chart positions since its release to radio:
Billboard Hot 100:
x-x-75-73-71-68-69-61-47
Modern Rock Tracks:
16-11-6-6-7-6-7-7-5
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
U2 perform on Folkways: A Vision Shared (11-11-2000)
Thanks to Ken for the following:
The video of Folkways: A Vison Shared, based on the 1988 tribute album to
Woody Guthrie has been already issued on DVD and was released on (I believe)
October 31st. It features the video of U2's performance of Jesus Christ.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bass Player: Part 2 - Adam Clayton Interview (11-11-2000)
From Bass Player:
Reluctant Rock Star - Part 2
BP: How important is your three-piece lineup to this free-form approach?
AC: Three pieces can be limiting, but there's something to be said for learning
your chops as a three-piece. If you can hang together that way, it becomes easy
to know if the instruments and people you're adding on top are right or not.
I'm
grateful this was never a band with a keyboard player and another guitar player,
because then what chops would I have ever needed?
Still, we've almost always augmented our records with keyboards and other
things.
We got a lot of attention with the Pop record, since we'd all become very
interested
in club music and computer-generated loops. But those were things we'd been
using
pretty much from Unforgettable Fire onward. Lots of bands in the late 90's were
saying, "We use the studio as an instrument" -- but we were doing that with
Brian
Eno as early as 1984. It's not that we don't like what U2 does naturally; it's
just that
we sometimes want to stretch what U2 can be, and where it can go.
BP: Unlike much of U2's '90s work, the new record is quite stripped-down.
AC: We came to All That You Can't Leave Behind feeling that the unique thing
about
U2 is the very thing we do when we get together. That sounds vague, but the
idea with
this record was to look at the band itself, and to realize that is our strength
-- that's
what nobody else has. So as a consequence the songs on this record are very
stripped
down. Everyone simply contributed the essence of what they've always done. For
my part, it was about finding what was necessary to get the song right, and not
consciously looking for any "Wow!" moments. In fact, in several cases we simply
kept
performances that began as demos from when we began writing for this record,
almost
two years ago.
BP: Does past U2 music ever get in the way of new U2 music?
AC: For us there's U2 music, and then there's everything else. And between
records,
we listen to the stuff that interests us; we really don't listen to much U2.
We're always
re-establishing the fact that we share musical tastes in the same way we did 20
years ago.
The music we like now may be different from what it was then, but our shared
tastes
give us a way of judging things we can still trust. So if everyone in the band
is saying
they don't like something, you know why, since you know their frame of
reference.
And every time we make a new U2 record, we bring along that frame of reference.
BP: What has it been like to play with Larry for over 20 years?
AC: After we'd been together a couple of years and we were doing our first
record, people
were talking about Bill Wyman and Charlie Watts having played together for 20
years.
Everyone was saying they must really have it down -- but I remember thinking,
what are
you talking about? At that time I didn't appreciate what they did at all. Now
I appreciate
it much more. When you've been playing with the same group -- and particularly
the
same drummer -- for that amount of time, you don't really need to talk too much
about it;
you just do it. So in some ways it's gotten simpler over time, and in some ways
I'm less
reverent about my parts. You don't worry as much; you just know you don't have
to
overplay.
BP: You still have a way with a simple part. The eighth-note line in
"Beautiful Day"
changes feel throughout.
AC: I'm sure it does! That's probably Larry making me sound good. When we put
that
track down I was actually intentionally not thinking too much about it. I
wanted to just
go with it, because it is really a basic eighth-note part. Sometimes when I'm
playing, I get
to a place where the bass seems to find its own rhythm, and then it becomes just
a matter
of which notes to push and which ones to hold back on. It's a discipline,
really.
I once read an interview with Tony Levin where he said, "I'm a bass player -- I
like doing
the same thing over and over again." And that's exactly it, you know? For me,
that
discipline comes from years and years of playing with Larry, and knowing he has
a certain
rhythm, and certain ways of producing his sound. Our two approaches just get
mixed up
into one.
BP: Are you still playing your '72 Precision?
AC: I am. It's got a bit less varnish than it once had, but it's still
around. I see photographs
of it from different tours, and I can see the varnish gradually wearing off.
It's a really light
instrument, which is fantastic, because it's got this nice brightness without
losing any bottom
end. I'm always changing something on it, but it's still pretty much the same
instrument I've
always played. I did put a Jazz neck on it very early on; I find the Jazz neck
suits my left
hand better. The Precision is a painful, physical thing to do battle with. The
Jazz is a bit
more ladylike.
BP: You've also played some odd custom basses over the years. What do you
listen for in
a bass?
AC: I like a clean top end that can cut through, but I also like a big,
air-moving bottom. The
Precision has always given me that, so the custom basses I've used have always
been selected
because they complement my Precision. That big yellow thing -- the banana bass
-- that I
played on the Pop tour is a great-sounding example. It was made by Auerswald,
the German
guy who makes Prince's guitars.
Recently I've actually been playing Jazz Basses, though, because I've been using
my fingers a
lot more, and I've been after a bit more definition. I recorded the new album
with two Jazz
Basses -- a '61 and a '72. I also used my old Gibson Les Paul Recording bass.
It's a short-scale
thing with this great, round bottom that just moves air. It's great in the
studio.
BP: You've always blended a direct line with a miked SVT rig, but this record
sounds different.
AC: This time around I was after something that sounded good at really low
volume. I'd like
to say it's about tone, but it might just be age [laughs]. So I recorded with
an Ashdown 800
head and the matching cab with two 12s and one 15. Also, we moved around a lot
in the studio
this time, trying different rooms and all, so I used an Ashdown 400 4x10 combo,
too. Occasionally
we'd add extra bottom end with a dbx 120XP Subharmonic Synthesizer - but these
days I don't
much. I've come to prefer the pure, clean sound of the bass. I like the
physical effect of a good
bass sound; that's really what it's all about. And that's why the best place to
stand when you
see a band is always in front of the bass rig!
BP: Which lines on the new record have this effect?
AC: "In a Little While" and "Elevation" both have that physical bass punch. I
always think the
bass should be much, much louder on songs like that. They're both fairly simple
in terms of
structure and chords, but the bottom end is moving, and that's what's
beautiful. "Kite" is another
line that, although it's basic, seems to really talk.
BP: After all these years, what are the best and worst things about being U2's
bassist?
AC: Sometimes we get photographed a bit too much, and for the wrong kinds of
papers [laughs].
You feel like saying, "I just play bass! You don't need me in your paper!" But
it's a celebrity
culture, and we don't suffer for it too much. We're good at hiding behind
music, but sometimes
people do get excited for the wrong reasons.
As for the good parts, we've got great fans. They follow us through all sorts
of changes, and in
many ways they encourage us to continue pursuing music that excites us. But the
best thing
really is that I get to hang out with three friends and musicians. And if I get
stuck, in whatever
way, I've got three guys who are willing and able to help. That's a great
thing.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bass Player: Part 1 - Adam Clayton Interview (11-11-2000)
Thanks to Jamie for the following.
From Bass Player:
Reluctant Rock Star - Part 1
How U2's Adam Clayton Learned to Play -- And Conquer the World Onstage
by Gregory Isola
Somewhere between Bono (the world's biggest rock star), The Edge
(the world's coolest rock guitarist), and Larry Mullen Jr. (the world's
baddest rock drummer) stands U2 bassist Adam Clayton. "I just keep
the bottom end moving," shrugs the affable 40-year-old. "I'm right on
a good day, but there are so many great cats out there. Really I'm just
glad to be in the club."
The release of All That You Can't Leave Behind marks two decades
that U2 has been in the bona fide rock star club. But while other
top-drawer rockers learned to play in bedrooms and dank bars -- before
friends and forgivable fans -- Clayton's evolution as a player took place
on the world's biggest stages. Of course, superstardom was never the
point. The three Dublin schoolboys who answered Mullen's ad for
bandmates really just wanted to see what it was like to stand onstage
and bash out three-minute songs -- and they were terrible. That is, until
they started writing their own songs. "Even up through our first few records
we got by on very little, at least musically," Clayton grimaces. "But we
were always able to make something of it, just in the way we played
together."
U2 created an unprecedented blend of stark, post-punk instrumental
textures, spiritual lyrics, and over-the-top bombast that resulted in some of
the most majestic rock music of the 1980s and '90s. Along the way, Clayton
went from struggling to hold together simple eighth-note grooves to
incorporating bass influences from Motown to reggae into his ever-evolving
style. As elemental riffs like "With or Without You" and "New Year's Day"
gave way to the Jamerson-style bounce of "Angel of Harlem" and "Sweetest
Thing," Clayton quietly became one of rock's reigning bass heroes --
whether he knows it or not.
BP: Many see 1983's War as a breakthrough for U2. You in particular
became a distinct musical voice.
AC: On the early records, it was really just a case of Edge and Larry
struggling
to keep the whole thing together. We were all surviving on minimal technique,
and the formula in those early days was 4/4 bass over a relatively complex beat
from Larry, with Edge doing his arpeggios over the top. But by the time we got
to War, the songs were more structured, and the bass sound was featured more.
Also, I suppose by then I could actually play things in time -- and in tune --
so I
was able to be a bit more melodic.
BP: New Year's Day remains your most famous riff.
AC: That actually grew out of me trying to work out the chords to the Visage
tune
"Fade to Grey." It was a kind of Euro-disco dance hit, and somehow it turned
into
"New Year's Day."
BP: What else were you listening to during those formative years?
AC: I was drawn to things I thought were either sexy or aggressive -- or both.
I
really liked the violence of what Jean Jacques Burnel was doing on the first
couple
of Stranglers records. He had this mighty sound of his own, but it was also
mixed
with their keyboard player's Hammond organ bass for a very interesting effect.
And there was Bruce Foxton of the Jam and Joy Division's Peter Hook, and of
course
Paul Simonon of The Clash. His playing was more sexy than violent, plus it was
a
bit more dubby, which I wasn't fully tuned into at the time.
Later on I got in to the classic Bob Marley records with Aston Barrett. I
always liked
the position the bass took on those records, as opposed to the position the bass
is
usually given. Same with John Entwistle -- he plays remarkable stuff that can
be
hard to follow, but I love that he refuses to be put in the background.
BP: Is it true you were U2's musical leader in the beginning, back in the late
70s?
AC: Perhaps -- but that's only because punk rock had just happened, so it
wasn't
really important that you knew how to play so long as you had some equipment
[laughs].
I'd simply decided I was going to be a musician, so I got this Ibanez copy of a
Gibson
EB-3 and a Marshall head, and I guess those crucial ingredients made the others
figure I knew a bit more about music. I did know a thing or two about my
equipment,
but I certainly didn't know anything about playing.
BP: What were the band's goals in those days?
AC: The ambition was just to end the song together! We had these interminable
rehearsals where we would never actually get to the end of the song. But we
also
wanted to be part of what we felt was going on. In terms of musical values, it
was
a time of throwing off the idea that people who played guitars in bands were
these
rock gods who were to be obeyed and saluted. We got off on the idea that you
could play a three-minute song with a few basic chords as fast as you possible
could, and that was a good enough reason to be onstage. It meant that you had
a life right now -- that you didn't have to spend three years in your bedroom
trying
to figure out how to play "Stairway to Heaven."
BP: Your playing got a lot groovier later on, starting with 1988's Rattle and
Hum.
AC: That may have been me getting lucky in a way. It's always depended on
the tune with us, so as our songwriting became more developed and there were
better chord progressions, I found I would fall into more interesting things. I
wouldn't
literally know where I was headed when I started out, but Larry's drums have
always
told me what to play, and then the chords tell me where to go. Because of this,
my
parts are very much created as the song is evolving.
BP: Does the whole band compose this way?
AC: We do write in an unconventional way, I suppose. If we try to arrange a
song
that's already been worked out on acoustic guitar, it's hard for us. But if we
start
with a few bits and then work around each other to develop the song, we seem to
go to more interesting places. "Bullet the Blue Sky" is a great example; it's
really
just one musical moment, extended in time. Larry started playing that beat, and
I started to play across it -- as opposed to with it -- while Edge was playing
something else entirely. Bono said, "Whatever you guys are doing, don't stop!"
So we kept playing, and he improvised that melody. "Please" [Pop] was another
happy accident. One of our producers, Howie B., was playing a record in the
studio,
and I started to play a bass part over the recording. It created these strange
grooves
and keys, and my line really began to work only after Howie stopped the record.
(Continued)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Triple J 2000: U2 Interview in RealAudio (11-11-2000)
Thanks to Matt at @U2 for the following:
RealAudio of U2's interview with Australian radio network Triple J is available
in two parts at:
http://www.abc.net.au/triplej/2000/audio/u21.ram
http://www.abc.net.au/triplej/2000/audio/u22.ram
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
U2Propaganda.com Seeks Fan Stories (11-10-2000)
In the tradition of the printed version of Propaganda, U2Propaganda.com will be
starting a
new "Mailbag" section. They intend to publish letters from fans who "have
fallen out with
U2 or fallen in love with them all over again."
Fans may write about anything -- but the story should have a U2 connection.
U2Propaganda.com is interested in where you think U2 are at now and what you may
have
been inspired to do as a result of your interest in them.
Send your stories to mai...@u2propaganda.com. Pictures are welcomed.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Exclusive! Mp3s of CD:UK Performance (11-10-2000)
Thanks to Gary Paterson for providing YouTwo.net with Mp3s of U2's
November 4th performance on ITV's CD:UK.
http://www.youtwo.net/sounds_archive/BD_CDUK.mp3
http://www.youtwo.net/sounds_archive/Elevation_CDUK.mp3
Also available at affiliate sites U2world.org and U2abel.com
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
U2 Tops Slovenian Music Chart (11-10-2000)
Thanks to Peter for the following information about U2 on the Slovenian music
chart.
- The Slovenian chart is only 53 weeks old.
- U2 is the 5th act to debut at #1.
- Despite two national holidays last week, which left only four working days for
people
to buy the album, U2 set a new sales record for the first week in Slovenia,
selling 56
percent more copies than Madonna's "Music" when it was released.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
U2audio.com: RealAudio of CD:UK Performance (11-10-2000)
U2audio.com has converted the Mp3s of the CD:UK performance to RealAudio format.
You can find them at:
http://www.u2audio.com/ramhurl/CDUK/BD_CDUK.ram
http://www.u2audio.com/ramhurl/CDUK/Elevation_CDUK.ram
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Malay Mail: U2 Still Rocks - Part 2 (11-10-2000)
From Malay Mail:
U2 Still Rocks - Part 2
Not To Be Written Off
With an average age of 40 among them - although still looking in
well-maintained, tip-top condition - Mullen is spot-on in his proclamation
to readers of Q recently: "We're out there fighting for our lives because
we don't want to be written off. We don't want people going, 'Oh, those old
guys...' "
Referring to All That You Can't Leave Behind - their longest album name yet
after a slew of economical one-word titles - Edge explains: "Only the very
important things, things that were indispensable, we ended up holding on
to. You cut back, ready for the next challenge.
"Where it's going to go, we're not really sure and we want to pack a small
suitcase for that kind of journey."
What, exactly, is packed into that small suitcase?
Clayton glances at Edge, who has been doing most of the speaking, and
intones drolly: "Toothbrush?"
Edge collapses into manly giggles and agrees: "Definitely, toothbrush."
Even in a brief face-to-face encounter with the four blokes, the rock-solid
(no pun intended) friendship between them, built up over 24 years of
working and touring, is at once discernible.
"We really started off as kids in this band. I suppose it's a strange way
to grow up," Edge laughs and casts his eyes on Clayton, the odd man out
among his clean-living, Bible-toting (well, almost) band mates.
Apart from being busted for a drug offense in 1989 and well-documented
bouts with substance-abuse, he has also locked lips with the bee-stung ones
of supermodel Naomi Campbell. He has since cleaned up and stayed sober for
the past four years.
"We're all still here. We're pretty much intact," Edge smiles in his
beatific way through his cliiped moustache-goatee. "No one's lost their
mind, no one's been a casualty, and I think we're just very fortunate.
"Rock 'n' roll is full of people who crack under the strain. Maybe because
of so many examples of that out there, we were lucky enough to avoid all
those obvious pitfalls and we've come through."
Using un-rock-star-like terms, like "being there for each other" and "group
support", he adds: "Also, because we're very close friends means that we
understand what the other members are going through."
Clayton observes: "In many ways, the band hasn't changed a whole lot. It's
the four of us doing the things that we do. In the end, we always go back
to what we came from, what we like, which is the sound of us."
Edge continues: "I don't think any of us though we would come this far.
Bands are like street gangs. You expect them to last a few years and if
you're in a really good one, as we think we are, you want to try and make
them last as long as possible.
"Something about the four of us working with one another does create a
magic. You can call it chemistry, whatever, but it's very special."
On a final note, Clayton says: "This record is probably the most revealing
of any that we've produced. It's more 'us' than anything we've ever produced."
Back in the by-now hazy waiting area, the gaggle of journos are held
captive by the flamboyant charm of the frontman of the group.
Bono, with his goggle-like shades stuck on his slightly pudgy face, is
regaling his audience with a long-drawn tale of his favourite
watering-hole, a working man's bar known as Dockers.
To cut a long story short, he was accosted by the considerate burglar who
used to break into his home and raid his fridge regularly. It is one of
those stories you have to hear for yourself, sort of like a live U2 show.
A Happenin' Place
"It's a happenin' place, but not that kind of happenin', if you know what I
mean," he crows.
He is clad, rocker-chic style, in black, as are the other three. Ever the
salesman, he starts a spiel about the stately hotel that U2 owns in Dublin,
The Clarence, and insists that everyone must visit their club, The Kitchen,
only the most happenin' night spot in Dublin.
Or, as he sells it, "this dreary, dingy little place in the basement of our
hotel".
The morning after, the cabbie races to the airport on the outskirts of Dublin.
"Had a late night, eh?" he asks, in an attempt at small talk over the
throbbing techno beat. "Oh, you went down to the Kitchen? It's a great
club, isn't it?"
The Kitchen is an underground cavern packed with Beautiful People and
pulsating house misic. There is a snaking queue even at midnight on weekdays.
"You do know who owns it, don't you?"
Yes, it seems that everyone in Dublin knows something about U2. - ST
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Malay Mail: U2 Still Rocks - Part 1 (11-10-2000)
Thanks to Devi for the following.
From Malay Mail:
U2 Still Rocks - Part 1
After flirting with pop, techno and dance music, Irish powerhouse U2 is
back to rocking 'n' rolling again
by Suzanne Sng in Dublin
The customs officer behind the counter at Dublin airport is surly.
"What are you here for?" he barks, reading the immigration form which
states "Occupation: Journalist".
"Who are you here to interview?" he interrogates.
But the reply - "I'm here to interview U2" - pleases him and erases the
glower on his face.
Thumping a stamp of approval onto the passport, he says with familiar
pride: "So, you're going to speak to Bono and the lads, eh?"
And the none-too-young "lads" - guitarist Edge, drummer Larry Mullen Jr and
bassist Adam Clayton - are the other members of what has to be one of the
oldest and biggest rock 'n' roll bands in the world.
Despite the phenomenal 120-million-albums-and-still-counting success of U2
- named after a spy plane downed over the former Soviet Union in 1960 -
over the past 20 years, the four down-to-earth rock stars still live and
work in the quaint and quiet city of Dublin.
The studio where their latest album, All That You Can't Leave Behind, was
recorded, is tucked inconspicuously among the warehouses on Hannover Quay.
Known affectionately as HQ, it is where the band chooses to hold its first
interview, in its 24-year history, with the South-east Asian press.
There are few indications that the world's best-selling outfit pieces its
magic here, except for four fuss-free pigeonholes for mail for Bono, Edge,
Larry and Adam. A messy whiteboard, mounted on an easel has the band's
deceptively simple schedule pencilled in for the next two months - "Fly to
Paris", "Play at Man Ray", "Fly to Dublin".
Notebook-and camera-clutching scribes lounge around on the plush couches in
the small, cluttered office. They make stilted idle chit-chat, puff on
their Marlboro Lights, leaf through the latest Q mag - aptly, Bono and gang
are posturing on the cover as the stoic saviours of rock 'n' roll - and
puff more smoke into the already smoke-filled room. All are just marking
time, each waiting for their half-hour audience with the band.
Meanwhile, in the dimly-lit room next door, Edge muses about how things
have come full circle.
"This is the studio where we made our record and it is fitting that we do
the interviews right here," he says, leaning so far back into his wooden
folding chair that it is in danger of tipping over.
Even with his wooly black cap seemingly glued onto his (almost bald) scalp,
he looks incredibly suave. Dragging on a Silk Cut Extra Mild beside him,
Clayton looks equally at home.
Their latest effort is a true-blue rock-'n'-roll offering - no more
dalliances with pop, techno and dance as in Zooropa and Pop - and Edge is
feeling pleased.
"It is the sound of four men trying to make sense of what it means to be a
rock 'n' roll band in the year 2000," he drawls.
Tapping his cigarette carefully with his large bass-player's hand, Clayton
adds: "We started out by focusing on the sound of the band playing in the
room, because it was something we had not done in a while. And we realised
what we really liked about the band was the sound."
As Bono tells music magazine Q: "It is a fight. It's us versus the Obvious
Route For U2 Right Now, which would be mediocrity, cult sales and living
off your past. We're going into this like it's our first album."
Reuniting the band with long-time collaborators Brian Eno and Daniel
Lanois, the 11-track album showcases Bono's gravelly sensual growl, Edge's
evocative guitar riffs, Clayton's heart-thumping bass line, and Mullen's
feet-tapping precision drum beats.
Of course, no U2 album is complete without those weighty socio-political
messages that earned them the "rock band with a conscience" label.
Remember Sunday Bloody Sunday (anti-war anthem), Pride (musical tribute to
Martin Luther King), Bad (sugar-coated punch against heroin) and One (cry
for unity in the whole wide world)? Their latest, Peace On Earth, is
inspired by an incident in the Northern Ireland town on Omagh, in which 29
people were killed and 220 injured when a massive car bomb exploded.
The hymn-like title almost says it all, but Edge adds: "At the time the
bombing occured, it was not just an atrocity against the town of Omagh and
the people who were there that day, but it was also a kind of an attempt to
assassinate the whole peace process in this country, so its an extremely
destructive and abominable act."
Inspiration From Myanmar
Content to let the more articulate Edge do the talking, the bespectacled
Clayton nods and grinds his nth cigarette into the butt-filled ashtray.
'"Walk On is another song with a political content," Edge offers. The
uplifting call-to-arms - destined to be U2 classic - is "inspired by a
fantastic lady in Burma".
He fumbles before pronouncing the name of Aung San Suu Kyi, the gutsy
freedom fighter from Myanmar who was honoured at the same ceremony in
February that U2 received the Freedom Of Dublin City award.
"It's partly also a kind of universal song, of going against the odds.
We're very inspired by her stance. And we in the West are guilty probably
of taking democracy a bit for granted."
Turning philosophical, he sermonises: "It's really when you hear about
situations like the one she's facing in Burma that you realise that
democracy is an incredible freedom and an incredible privilege."
Not that U2's 10th studio album is full of the rantings of angry
not-so-young men. On the contrary.
"In our early days, there was a certain kind of determination and
desperation to reach out to our audience and to make a connection," Edge
reminisces with a light wince of his razor-sharp features. "But over the
years, finally, it has dawned on us.
"We don't have to fight quite so hard anymore. We can still address the
same issues, but we don't have to be quite so earnest about it."
He chortles before saying earnestly: "Being earnest is important, but you
can be too earnest. When you're overly earnest, you lack humour. It's
important, no matter what you're doing, to maintain a sense of humour.
"We're a rock 'n' roll band. We're a bit of an endangered species these
days, you know," he says, not without his own touch of humour.
(Continued)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Music365: U2 Fail to Hit US No. 1 Despite Record Sales (11-10-2000)
From Music365:
U2 Fail to Hit US No. 1 Despite Record Sales
U2 have recorded their highest ever first week sales in the US,
but yet have only managed to enter the US Billboard chart at
Number Three.
The Irish band sold 428,000 copies of their 'All That You Can't
Leave Behind' album last week in America -- more than twice
the number of albums that Radiohead sold when they hit the
US top spot with 'Kid A' -- but still trailed US rappers Jay-Z and
Outkast in the new chart.
JAY-Z's 'The Dynasty Roc La Familia (2000 - )' debuted at
Number One on the chart selling 558,000 copies, with Outkast
following close behind with 526,000 sales of their 'Stankonia'
album.
Limp Bizkit have dropped to Number Four in the new chart with
their 'Chocolate Starfish And The Hot Dog Flavored Water' album
while Boston nu-grungers Godsmack, fronted by white witch Sully
Erna moved to five with 'Awake'.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Radio Station Contest for U2 NYC Gig (11-10-2000)
Thanks to Nico for the following:
KTCL, a radio station in Denver, Colorado, is also giving away a trip to
see U2 play in New York City. I talked to the people at the station, and
they have said that it is for a date that has not been announced but will
take place in December in New York City.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Guitar Player: Part 2 - Edge Interview (11-10-2000)
From Guitar Player:
"Basic Instincts: The Edge Brings the U2 Sound Full Circle" - Part 2
by Darrin Fox
Guitar Player, Jan 2001
GP: "Elevation" has some amazing distortion tones.
Edge: I used a Gibson SG through an old fuzz pedal of Daniel's into
the Bassman. He said, "What do you think of this?" Within ten
minutes, I had the riff that became the stepping off point for
"Elevation". Inspiration can come from anywhere, and a fresh sound
can be just as inspiring as a great hook. To me, sounds *are* hooks.
That tone presented a whole world of ideas to me, and we got a song
out of it.
GP: What is that huge distortion sound that barges in during the main riff?
Edge: That's the Hiwatt.
GP: What were your main fuzzboxes?
Edge: The Ampeg, a Tube Screamer for a good general distortion
without being too in-your-face, and an old Manny's Fuzz--which is
really extreme. I also used this really obscure Japanese pedal called
the Sobart for the heavy sections of "New York." That pedal is so
extreme. You step on it and all hell breaks loose. On "When I Look
at the World", I'm using an Electro-Harmonix Micro Synthesizer for
that mad distorted tone.
GP: What's the massive wah-wah at the end of "Elevation"?
Edge: That's us filtering the tone after the fact with an Electrix
Filter Factory. A wah pedal is great for certain sounds, but many
times dedicated filters--DJ-type boxes--have a little more to them.
GP: How did you get the lovely clean tones in "Stuck in A Moment" and
"In a Little While"?
Edge: I have a great '50s Strat, and I plugged it straight into a
bassman. On this record, I often found myself simply enjoying the
pure tone of the instrument. Again, that's kind of new for me.
GP: Why do you think you enjoy the natural sound of guitar more now
than 20 years ago?
Edge: I suppose since we came out of this period in the late '70s and
early '80s
when punk was happening, some of the punk ideals really struck a
chord with us. Things like moving away from the rock aristocracy of
the time were a big part of how I played then. I wanted to step away
from the prototypical rock guitar thing, and making the guitar tones
more abstract was a way to do that. But now, it feels so fresh to
really explore the natural tone of the guitar.
GP: "Walk On" has some very classic Edge sounding parts.
Edge: I mostly used a white Les Paul that I've had for a long time
through the AC30. The solo on that tune is my Gibson Explorer
through the AC30.
GP: Your old Explorer?
Edge: Yes. I used it quite a bit on this record. It's the same one I
used for all of the first record and most of the first three tours.
It's odd, around the time of The Unforgettable Fire, I began to
extend my collection to include more Teles and Strats, and the
Explorer became less in favor. But now--maybe because we've gone full
circle musically--I'm drawn back to the Explorer. In fact, if you
listen to the echo guitars towards the end of "Beautiful Day" the
tone sounds like it could have come from the first record. It's so
*that* tone.
GP: What's so special about the Explorer?
Edge: It just has this unique tone. In fact, I was surprised by how
much the guys in the band enjoyed the sound of it. Adam, in
particular, was so delighted to see it out again. He said, "This
thing sounds like nothing else on earth!" It's a pretty special
guitar.
GP: You were the first guy a lot of people heard use the Whammy
pedal. What attracted you to that effect.
Edge: It was just such a dramatic, extreme effect. That being said,
there are very subtle, beautiful things you can do with it. I used it
on "Peace on Earth" for this bizarre, atmospheric, almost
Chinese-sounding part. It's a 5th below and a 4th above.
GP: You use the Whammy pedal in a more extreme way on "When I Look at
the World".
Edge: Yes. In the middle solo, I'm using it with an echo in the choruses.
GP: Are you still using the Korg SDD-3000 delays?
Edge: Yeah. Even though they are digital, they have a warm and
musical tone. I find most digital gear very hard to deal with because
the natural musical quality of the guitar is compromised. It takes
all the beautiful texture away and replaces it with this glassy,
artificial sound. That makes it gough to get inspired.
GP: And do you stil run out of the +4db output of your Korg to push
the front of your amps?
Edge: I do sometimes.The unit has output attenuation controls, and I
mess with those. It's a great way of giving yourself a cool gain
boost. I did that with all the amps.
GP: So even though you guys went for a more organic approach, it
didn't go as far as recording to analog tape.
Edge: No. We recorded to an Otari Radar hard-disk system. The benefit
of a hard-disc system is that we could take a 25-minute band
improvisation, move parts around without destroying the original
take, and not lose any sound quality. That was always the problem
with analog tape. We would have loved to work like this in the past,
but it was never possible because the minute you made a transfer to
another tape machine, you'd lose a generation of audio quality.
GP: How was cutting tracks for the new record different than, say,
the War album?
Edge: We learned a new way of recording when we began working with
Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois on The Unforgettable Fire--we don't go
into the studio with completely finished tunes. We'll play around
with a chord progression, a beat box beat, a guitar
lick--anything--and build up from that.
GP: How does that approach make the material stronger?
Edge: Everyone is listening in a different way because they are
genuinely ucertain of what is going to happen next. You're able to
work off the sense of discovery. There's a feeling you can only get
from playing something for the first time. It's very exciting, and
occasionally we'll hit on that feeling during the making of an album.
GP: What's a good example of that on the new album?
Edge: "Kite" was one. I had a string arrangement worked up on the
sequencer, and I played it for the guys. They really liked it, and
they started playing around with it. It really took off on the first
attempt, and that became the basis of the backing track. that is that
band at its best--when there is a sense of excitement and discovery
in the room.
GP: It sounds like the guitar stil excites you.
Edge: I find it to be an ongoing challenge to keep the guitar from
becoming too traditional--which can happen to even the best ideas and
the best styles. They eventually lose their fire and their ability to
reach you because they get overused. I'm constantly trying to find
uncharted territories by looking for sounds and tones that inspire
new feelings and stop me from becoming too staid. Ironically, on this
record that meant plugging a beautiful vintage guitar straight into a
lovely vintage amp. That was pretty inspiring for me.
GP: Do you see the guitar getting phased out of pop music?
Edge: Pop music is a strange thing. I cant' say guitar will always be
a part of pop, but I think that guitar music will always survive and
have a particular place in contemporary culture. I can't see that
going away. It's the instrument that has always been at the forefront
of rock and roll, and it *defines* it.
GP: What is it about the guitar that still resonates with people?
Edge: I think it may have something to do with it standing for
freedom in some weird way--somewhat like the automobile has meant
freedom for people over the last century. Since the invention of
blues and rock and roll, the guitar has inspired that kind of feeling
in people. And it probably always will.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Guitar Player: Part 1 - Edge Interview (11-10-2000)
Thanks to Jeff Shirkey for the following.
From Guitar Player:
"Basic Instincts: The Edge Brings the U2 Sound Full Circle" - Part 1
by Darrin Fox
Guitar Player, Jan 2001
The list of players who have reinvented rock guitar is a short one.
Narrow the list down to the past 20 years and it gets even shorter.
Whittle it further to players who have pushed the boundaries while
attaining--and maintaining--commercial success, and you've got a
virtual ghost town. All of this makes The Edge's contribution to the
guitar vocabulary all the more astounding. His signature chimey
tone, coupled with clever use of delay and sparse chord voicings, has
spawned countless imitators. And the tone that resonated with
millions--old-school rockers and defiant punks alike--sprung fully
realized from U2's first album, Boy, in 1980. Incredible as that
achievement is, The Edge has continued to refine and redirect his
sound to serve the band and its creative evolutions--most notably for
the edgy, lo-fi sonics of Achtung Baby (1991) and Zooropa (1993).
On U2's latest album, ATYCLB, The Edge displays a more organic
tone--even to the point of reactivating the Gibson Explorer that
propelled the band's early tracks. That being said, ATYCLB is not an
attempt to relive the sound of 1983. It's the sound of four men--(The
Edge, singer Bono, bassist Adam Clayton, and drummer Larry Mullen
Jr.)--who have created one of the most identifiable band sounds in
modern pop music, clearly enjoying their musical interplay.
At the time of our conversation, The Edge was in Dublin rehearsing
for U2's upcoming tour. It was evident that he is excited about
music, the new U2 record, and the instrument he helped redefine.
GP: Did you intend to go for a more stripped down sound on ATYCLB?
Edge: We're the kind of band that has a chemistry and a vibe when we
play together, so we wanted to start the whole writing process with
the band in a room. We quickly found our band sound to be very
fresh--especially after the more electronic leanings of the last two
albums.
GP: This album seems to meld the other, more organic U2 sound with
some of the electronic elements of Zooropa and Pop.
Edge: ATYCLB is not a roots record. We realized at a point during the
Pop album that we were getting into musical areas that are not what
we do best. As we delved more into the beat-driven sound, we had
taken the sound of the band further and further away. The organic
sound is what made us unique in the first place.
GP: What were some of the things you learned from the dance
influences that carried over to the new record?
Edge: We were given a huge education in rhythm--pure and simple. Rock
and roll started out as dance music, but somewhere along the way it
lost its hips and became rhytmically simplistic. The emergence of
hip-hop and dance culture has upped the ante in the rhythm
department--and there's no going back. Listeners aren't going to
accept lazy rhythms anymore.
GP: Is there a song you can point to on the record that reflects that
aesthetic?
Edge: "In A Little While" is one. That track started out as just a
band number, but when we finished, we felt the tune was a little too
traditional--it hadn't found its own uniqueness. We put a drum loop
on top of Larry's drums and then the song really came together. From
our point of view, melding those elements is an incredible challenge.
Now instead of building from electronic tools, we build up the
material organically, and then add more modern elements on top of it.
GP: Were Achtung Baby, Zooropa, and Pop such departures because you
were looking to keep your music fresh?
Edge: Yeah. We were very inspired by what was happening in dance
music and hip-hop. Technology has always been a very important
dynamic in pushing music forward. You can point to almost every
important developments in music and see a technology that went with
it. The fuzzbox launched rock and roll into the '60s.
So for us, it seemed perfectly natural to be up to speed with the
state-of-the-art technology happening in the dance culture. In that
blend, we hoped we could hold on to the essence of what U2 is about.
That's been, at times, a fine line you draw. We felt we crossed it
ruding the making of the Pop record, and we had to bring things back
a bit.
GP: Did the more traditional band approach for ATYCLB make you look
at the guitar differently?
Edge: Yes. It put a lot of emphasis back on the guitar--the parts and
the sound. On the last few records, I used the guitar principally to
create textures that add light and shade. But o this album everything
rested on the original band arrangement, so the guitar parts had to
be in place first. I think the end result is our most "guitar" album
since Achtung Baby.
GP: Did you take a different tonal approach?
Edge: In most cases, the tones and treatments on this record have
been kept as simple as possible. In the past, I would often use
effects as a tool to inspire a different way of playing and not be a
traditionalist. But in many cases on the new record, my tone is just
guitar and amp. That's kind of new for me, and it was a real
challenge. I discovered a whole new side of what I can do, which was
really fun.
GP: There are quite a few solos on the record.
Edge: Sometimes a solo will present itself as an option--or even a
necessity--and I'll happily take one. However, for the most part, I'm
a minimalist at heart. If a song doesn't need a solo, I'm not going
to force one into it. It's always the music that dictates what I
play. I never want to feel that I'm playing anything gratuitous. I
get off on finding the perfect tone for the perfect part.
GP: So the songs that have solos were just begging for them?
Edge: I think they were. For instance, "Kite" originally didn't have
a solo. We had the tune almost finished, but we weren't quite happy
with it--it needed a twist. So we edited in a section, I plugged my
'64 Gretsch Coutnry Gentleman into a cool fuzzbox--and Ampeg
Scrambler--and a Vox AC30, and I came up with a solo for it. It
really made that part of the song come alive. that's a case-in-point
where the decision to do a solo came from the sense that something
was missing in the tune.
GP: Do you have a guitar setup for slide?
Edge: No. I play slide on various guitars in standard tuning.
GP: You really mixed up the tones on this album.
Edge: Well, I'm a fairly well established AC30 man, but lately, for a
bit of variety, I've been moving away from the Vox. I used a 70s
Hiwatt commbo for a lot of the distortion tones, and for many of the
clean tones, I used an old Fender Bassman.
GP: You can hear the Vox all over the record, though.
Edge: I still used them quite a bit. I love the bell-like quality of
the AC30. It has become a part of the way I play guitar.
(Continued)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Vancouver Sun: U2 causes CFL downsizing trend (11-10-2000)
Condensed from the Vancouver Sun:
Lions want fans to feel cozy
CFL team hopes for more atmosphere by closing upper deck
Mike Beamish Vancouver Sun
Inspired by the buzz in the building for Luv Ya Lui night at B.C. Place
Stadium, the B.C. Lions are thinking small.
President Glen Ringdal announced plans Thursday to reconfigure the
stadium seating for the 2001Canadian Football League season by
selling tickets only in the lower bowl of the two-tiered stadium.
"It's all about recapturing the atmosphere [of Empire Stadium]," Ringdal
says. "As Lui said, 'The roar must live on.' He said it was the roar that
brought him to Empire Stadium as a youngster. And it
was the roar that
kept him playing football for 25 seasons. The No. 1
reason why people
don't regularly attend our games, they tell us, is
because nobody's there, or
there are too many empty seats. Basically, what
they're saying is we're
lacking the atmosphere of a crowd."
Downsizing has been in vogue in the CFL since the Montreal Alouettes
moved from the 66,000-seat Olympic Stadium to
19,641-seat Molson
Stadium, on the campus of McGill University, after
they were displaced by
a U2 concert. Since then, the Alouettes have recorded
a long string of
sellouts as the scarcity of tickets has put them at a
premium. Plans are
under way to raise $10 million and expand Molson
Stadium's seating by
5,000.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Manila Times: Bono First to Receive Free Your Mind Award (11-10-2000)
Condensed from the Manila Times:
The 2000 MTV Europe Awards is also the home of MTV's Free Your Mind
award, a special award based upon the ideals of MTV's global Free Your
Mind campaign, a campaign against all forms of intolerance and prejudice.
Every year, MTV aims to raise awareness of key social issues with this
award, which is given to any individual or organization that exemplifies the
ideals.
In 1999, U2's Bono was the first individual to receive the
award and
donated the cash prize of 10,000 pounds to Concern, a
charity committed
to the advancement of the world's poorest populations.
Previous winners
include B92, an independent Serbian FM radio station; the
Landmine
Survivors' Network; Amnesty International; Greenpeace; and
the Buddies
and Carers of Europe.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Times of India: Bono Singing Up a Storm (11-10-2000)
From Times of India:
Beat Street: Bono Singing Up a Storm
Bono has put away the briefcase and Irish supergroup
U2 are back on song. Putting his political causes on
the
backburner for the moment, the group's flamboyant lead
singer is singing up a storm and is enormously relieved
to
find his voice has not deserted him. From the Vatican
to
Capitol Hill, Bono has been campaigning for rich
nations
to cancel Third World debt. "I feel like I've been
wearing
a bowler hat and carrying a briefcase, now I have found
my voice again and it's an amazing feeling." Bono,
fearing
that his raw-edged voice would crack, revealed that he
had consulted specialists who told him that his
problems
stemmed from allergies. He has also cut down on his
smoking and drinking. He is delighted with the results
on
the new album, All That You Can't Leave Behind, with
songs on a wide range of subjects from terrorism to
mid-life crisis. "There are notes I haven't sung for
years
and years," he said. But he has not given up his
political
causes, "I am not in any way at peace. I still think
the
world is a really unfair and often wicked place and
beauty is a consolation prize. There has always been a
kind of rage in me and it does still bubble up." But
the
40-year-old superstar thought it was ridiculous that
his
fame was needed to further causes. On the music front,
he is also "on-song" with fellow superstar George
Michael. Both have complained that British pop music
nowadays was dominated by too many bubblegum
bands and "pretty young things." Gone are the days
when the Beatles and the Rolling Stones ruled the hit
parades of the world. "People are sick to the teeth of
processed and hyped pop bands. It's crap. They want
something real again," Bono was heard saying
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ananova: U2 Left Behind in Race for US Number One Slot (11-10-2000)
From Ananova:
U2 Left Behind in Race for US Number One Slot
U2 have failed to match Radiohead's number one in the American
album charts despite notching up their highest first week sales in the
US.
All That You Can't Leave Behind went into the US Billboard chart at
number three, behind rappers Jay-Z and Outkast. It sold 428,000
copies, more than twice the number Radiohead sold last month
when Kid A became the first British album since The Prodigy's The
Fat Of The Land in 1997 to hit the US top spot.
Jay-Z's album The Dynasty Roc La Familia (2000 - ) sold 558,000
Stankonia.
Former number one Limp Bizkit dropped to number four with their
Chocolate Starfish And The Hot Dog Flavored Water.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hobomusic.com: Best US Sales For U2 But Miss Top Spot (11-10-2000)
From Hobomusic.com:
Best US Sales For U2 But Miss Top Spot
Irish group's album kept from Number One by rappers.
U2 have failed to take the Number One spot in the US album charts with their
new album "All That You Can't Leave Behind", despite recording their highest
ever first week sales figures in America, and selling twice as many copies as
Radiohead's "Kid A" did when that went to Number One recently. The four-piece
were kept from the chart summit by rapper Jay-Z whose new album "The
Dynasty Roc La Familia (2000 -)" sold over half a million copies in its first
week.
Jay-Z himself only just held off a challenge from Atlanta rap duo Outkast, whose
own new LP "Stankonia" also broke the half million mark, but could only give
them the Number Two spot. All of this meant that Limp Bizkit fell from the top
spot with their album "Chocolate Starfish And The Hot-Dog Flavoured Water"
now down to Number Four.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Email from Propaganda Regarding Tour Dates (11-9-2000)
A few online fans have recieved emails from Cecilia Coffey regarding rumoured
tour dates, and the possibility that U2 might not play Australia. Her reply is
very straight-forward:
"No dates have been confirmed yet. There is so much hype with the album
that everybody is speculating."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Wall of Sound: U2 #3 in US (11-9-2000)
From Wall of Sound:
Chart Watch: Jay-Z, Outkast, U2
Top 10: For the first time in a long while, all
three of the top-selling albums in the country are
new releases. With little fanfare, Jay-Z's Dynasty
sold an impressive 557,000 copies in its first
week on the shelves, narrowly beating out
Outkast's Stankonia, which sells 525,000 copies
to debut at No. 2. Coming in at No. 3 is U2's All
That You Can't Leave Behind, which is picked up
by almost 428,000 fans.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
USA Today: 1, 2, 3: Rap, rap and rock (11-9-2000)
From USA Today:
1, 2, 3: Rap, rap and rock
By Edna Gundersen
Rap rules, but rock still rocks in the season's most closely watched chart
race. Rap titan Jay-Z's The Dynasty: Roc la Familia 2000 enters Billboard at
No. 1 after selling 558,000 copies its first week, according to SoundScan.
Atlanta rap duo Outkast's Stankonia makes its debut at No. 2 with 526,000,
followed by the arrival of U2's All That You Can't Leave Behind with
429,000.
The trifecta came as no surprise to chart observers, who predicted a tight
race to the top between Jay-Z and Outkast. Though U2 trailed in third place,
its showing represents a rebound of purebred rock in a market top-heavy with
hip-hop, teen pop and the rap-rock hybrid.
U2's tally exceeds the 1993 entry of Zooropa, which landed at No. 1 with
first-week sales of 377,000. It also bests industry predictions of a distant
third place. Handicappers in trade weekly Hits forecast opening sales
ranging from 160,000 to 250,000, with most betting a higher total for
Godsmack's Awake. That album logged in at No. 5 with 256,000, behind Limp
Bizkit's third-week take of 298,000.
The race isn't over. Big rap openers tend to plummet rapidly, though Eminem
and Nelly are recent exceptions. New competition looms from albums released
this week by R&B stylist R. Kelly and '90s teen idols the Spice Girls.
Dynasty, Jay-Z's fifth album in five years, could be eclipsed by Outkast
over time if history repeats. Last year, Jay-Z's fourth album exploded at
No. 1 with 463,000 and went on to sell 1.2 million copies, short of
Outkast's 1.9 million for its 1998 predecessor, which opened with 230,000.
If it continues to generate hit singles, U2's widely hailed return could
outlast Outkast and similar fast-starters.
Rounding out the top 10 are returnees Nelly, Lenny Kravitz, Baha Men, Creed
and Ja Rule. Insane Clown Posse's twin releases, Bizaar and Bizzar, enter at
Nos. 20 and 21, respectively. Other notable debuts include Snoop Dogg's Dead
Man Walkin' collection at No. 24 (45,000), contemporary Christian
compilation WOW 2001 at No. 36 (36,000) and PJ Harvey's Stories From the
City, Stories From the Sea at No. 42 (32,000).
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
New Promotional Pics of U2 (11-9-2000)
Thanks to Brunner for the following new promotional pictures of U2:
http://www.youtwo.net/pictures_archive/091100.jpg
http://www.youtwo.net/pictures_archive/091100a.jpg
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Allstar: U2 at #3 in US charts (11-9-2000)
Condensed from Allstar:
Jay-Z Wins Battle On Charts To Debut At No. 1
It wasn't quite as close as Tuesday's (Nov. 7) presidential
race between Al Gore and George W. Bush, but the battle
on The Billboard 200 between new albums from Jay-Z,
Outkast, and U2 was damn close.
Only 129,000 units separated the three albums, but it was
Jay-Z's Dynasty -- Roc La Familia 2000 which gained enough
electoral votes to debut at No. 1 on the Billboard album
chart after moving 558,000 copies out of the gate -- the
second No. 1 debut for the rapper this year (allstar, Jan.
5).
Outkast's Stankonia was just 32,000 behind to debut at
No. 2 while U2's All That You Can't Leave Behind enters
the chart at No. 3, selling just under 428,000 copies in
its first week. Godsmack, perhaps the Ralph Nader of the
group, wasn't far behind as its Awake grabbed the 5th
position. Limp Bizkit's Chocolate Starfish and the Hot Dog
Flavored Water, which owned the top spot for two
weeks, fell to No. 4.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SonicNet: U2 #3 in USA (11-9-2000)
Condensed from SonicNet:
Jay-Z, Outkast Battle For Top Spots
The Dynasty -- Roc la Familia edges out
Stankonia for #1 position on Billboard 200.
Robert Mancini reports:
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".
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.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Newswire: What gifts will Canadians be buying this year? (11-9-2000)
Condensed from Newswire:
What gifts will Canadians be buying this year?
Retro is cool. Among the top music picks is "1" - the soon-to-be-released
greatest hits CD from the Beatles. "Anthology," the Fab Four's autobiography,
is also picked to click. More contemporary books that will do well this season
include the ever-popular "Harry Potter" series and, fresh from its Booker
Prize triumph, Margaret Atwood's "The Blind Assassin." New albums from U2 and
Radiohead will be among the holiday hit parade.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Daily Telegraph: Getting their act together (11-9-2000)
From The Daily Telegraph:
Getting their act together
You'd expect U2
to have a big, bloated mega site
to match their
much-hyped music - and they don't
disappoint. The
Irish rockers' first official site takes
almost as long to
load on a modem as their new
single Beautiful
Day with another ball-breaking
delay introduced
every time you resize the browser
window.
If you can handle
the wait, it is an impressive
multimedia affair
with band news, interviews, video
clips, samples of
songs and more merchandise
than any Bono
groupie could want.
As well as
providing current information, there's
plenty of archive
footage for people who got stuck
in the 1980s.
www.u2.com
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Live Daily: U2 returns to charts with #3 hit (11-9-2000)
Condensed from Live Daily:
U2 returns to the charts this week at No. 3 with the release of "All That You
Can't
Leave Behind" (Interscope), the group's first batch of new material since
1997's "Pop"
(Island), and its first release since the 1998 compilation album "Best of
1980-1990"
(Island). "Beautiful Day," the new album's first single, is No. 1 on Radio &
Records'
latest adult alternative chart.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Variety: U2 #3 helps Universal Record Sales (11-9-2000)
Condensed from Variety:
JAY-Z SHOWS MUSIC IS UNIVERSAL
'La Familia' tops album sales
By JUSTIN OPPELAAR
Four new albums shook up the top five in
this week's album sales charts,
giving the Universal Music Group a
phenomenal stranglehold on the top
10.
Jay-Z's "Dynasty: Roc La Familia 2000,"
on the Universal-owned Def
Jam, ran away with the gold, selling
558,000 copies during the week
ended Sunday, according to SoundScan
data.
Jay-Z's album outpaced the Atlanta-based
"dirty South" hip-hop duo
Outkast by less than 22,000 units.
Outkast's fourth album, "Stankonia"
(LaFace/Arista). is on track to become
their fourth straight platinum disc.
Universal Music Group's dominance was
cemented by U2's "All That You
Can't Leave Behind" (Interscope), which
sold 428,000 units in its first
week to take third, Limp Bizkit's second
week sales (298,000) of
"Chocolate Starfish and the Hotdog
Flavored Water" (Interscope) and
Godsmack's opening week salvo of more
than a quarter-million units sold
of its Universal disc "Awake." In the
top 10 alone, Universal-distributed
acts sold more than 1.75 million albums.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Citypaper.net: ATYCLB Review (11-9-2000)
From Citypaper.net:
U2
All That You Can’t Leave Behind
(Interscope)
The return-to-roots record usually signals something is wrong sales-wise, and
you can bet when they compared the sales of 1997’s dance floor indulgent
Pop (Island) to that of U2: The Best Of 1980-1990 (1998), U2 had a big
wake-up call. It’s no surprise then that the Irish quartet’s eleventh is being
billed as something of an "old U2" record. The disc does feel familiar, two
spins and you’re singing along, skipping songs and singling out favorite
lyrics.
What U2 did is craft the type of soaring and elegantly spare pop that could
pull its own weight being beat out on a pawnshop acoustic in some
coffeehouse. The leadoff single "Beautiful Day" is everything its title
suggests, flooding, bright and invigorating. If All That You Can’t Leave
Behind vibes any of U2’s past work, it’s Rattle And Hum. Shadows of
traditional American music abound. On "In A Little While" U2 tap the sour
sophistication of bluesy jazz; think Keith Richards flipping through the
T-Bone Walker fake book. The strummy "Wild Honey" is open fields folky.
Gospel sweetly haunts "Stuck In A Moment You Can’t Get Out Of." But
though the band seamlessly manages to stitch the U2 we love to the apple pie
we understand, references to specific artists come off as too obvious. Even
the title to "Peace On Earth" is too Lennon, same with "New York" and Lou
Reed. If the copycat syndrome signals one thing, it’s naïveté, and let’s
hope
U2’s collective heart is young enough to discover more of the great music
hidden inside it.
--Lorne Behrman
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
NME: Bono Thanked by Bill (11-9-2000)
From NME:
BONO THANKED BY BILL
U2 frontman BONO was thanked by U.S. President BILL CLINTON during a WHITE
HOUSE ceremony on Monday (November 6) to mark the handing over of 304 million
pounds in debt relief to some of the world's most impoverished countries.
The outgoing leader singled out Bono because of his "passionate devotion" to
wiping out third world debt, often hugely increased by the crippling cost of
interest
repayments on international loans. The singer had lobbied US congress on behalf
of Jubilee 2000's Drop the Debt campaign.
"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.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
U2audio.com: RealAudio of Oakenfold Remixes (11-9-2000)
U2audio.com has converted the mp3s of the Oakenfold remixes to RealAudio
format.
You can find them at:
http://www.u2audio.com/ramhurl/Oakenfold/BD_perfecto_dub.ram
http://www.u2audio.com/ramhurl/Oakenfold/BD_perfecto_vocal_mix.ram
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dallas Observer: ATYCLB Review (11-9-2000)
Condensed from The Dallas Observer:
U2 / All That You Can't Leave Behind (Interscope)
By Robert Wilonsky
Both of these acts [U2 and Oasis] belong in a rock-and-roll museum--Bono's
fly specs and Liam's eyebrow, preserved in amber behind Plexiglas... They
belong to another era, a time when it was possible to be a superstar for more
than a second or five; there's no room for them on Puffy and Jennifer's guest
list
these days (besides, Bono's too busy plugging his band's latest, under the
guise of debt-relief, on Capitol Hill to make the scene). U2's been around
forever:
Twenty years after birthing Boy, on which Bono Vox and the boys sounded like
Zep-obsessed Jesus freaks playing new-wave dress-up, the band has dipped
its electrofried, synthified arena rock in so much irony and pretension, you
half
expect them to carry it at the Dairy Queen, next to the Dilly Bars; long ago
they
became rock and roll's empty calories. And it only seems as though Oasis has
been around longer than God's favorite Irish rockers, since its music has. Once,
a long time ago, their fusion of sitar and sneer, of platitude and attitude
seemed
novel, refreshing, exciting; now it's its paint-by-numbers, with gray being the
only
color on the palette. Imagine a band with two George Harrisons. And if you think
the two bands have little in common, listen only to U2's Pop; "Staring at the
Sun,"
among a handful of other tracks on that bar code, it's a blinding appropriation
of
Oasis' appropriations. For a moment, they were the exact same bland...pardon,
band.
But at this moment, they're superstar acts heading in different directions: All
That You Can't Leave Behind is U2's best since, well, ever (less Pop, more
pop)...
U2's has its own brilliant single on the radio and MTV right now (no,
seriously--right now), and "Beautiful Day" will no more shape the landscape
than "Wonderwall" did five years ago (or, for that matter, U2's own dazzling
"Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me," released on the Batman Forever
soundtrack in 1995). Funny how critics have latched onto "Beautiful Day"
because it allegedly sounds so much like old U2; references abound to The
Joshua Tree or The Unforgettable Fire, as though the new record is some lazy
step backward--a sort of homecoming, henh henh...ungh. Fact is, the new record
all but dwarfs its predecessors, simply because it doesn't pretend to stand for
anything or say much of anything; it's nothing more or less than an album
"trying
to find a decent melody, a song that I can sing in my own company" as Bono
utters in the gorgeous, insistent "Stuck in a Moment You Can't Get Out Of," but
one of a handful of would-be singles on the disc ("Elevation," "In a Little
While,"
and "Wild Honey" will soon enough make their way to the airwaves). Having
boiled down its discography to a single, unrelenting whole, the band should have
titled the new disc The Best of 2000, as it's far more listenable (and playful)
than
1998's double-disc best-of-and-rest-of.
All That You Can't Leave Behind is U2's finest moment for the same reason
Music is Madonna's brightest ray of light: because, for the first time, both of
them sound as though they don't give a shit--they're liberated by lack of
expectation, theirs and ours. They've checked the bloat at the studio door and
decided, finally, to surrender to the groove; forget Achtung, Baby and Zooropa,
because All That You Can't Leave Behind is the first U2 album you can dance to
(slow dance, even, without looking grab-ass silly). U2 and Madonna sound as
though they recorded their respective discs in about a week; there's nothing
fussy
about the production or, for that matter, the lyrics, which are about as
simple-minded as middle-aged superstars get ("And love is not an easy thing/The
only baggage you can bring/Is all that you can't leave behind"--yup, and what I
am
is what I am you what you are or what). "Beautiful Day"--produced by Brian Eno
and Daniel Lanois, with whom they made such albums as The Unforgettable Fire
and The Joshua Tree, with additional touches added by the band's first producer,
Steve Lillywhite--is anthemic without being preachy, celebratory without waving
its fist in the air (OK, it's a better version of Boy's "Seconds"). It's a song
for and
about driving with nowhere to go; you never want it or the road to end. "Touch
me," Bono sings (yeah, dude, as if), "take me to that other place," and the song
does that: It transports you to that place where music makes you feel
luminescent, graceful, and indestructible.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
U2.com: U2 Tops in 22 Countries (11-9-2000)
From U2.com:
U2's "All That You Can't Leave Behind is now number 1 in 22 countries
worldwide. In the US, "All That You Can't Leave behind has produced record
opening week sales for U2 with 428,000 copies - but it was still pipped to
the top by Jay-Z's The Dynasty Roc La Familia (2000 - ) (Roc-A-Fella) and
Outkast's Stankonia. U2's last studio album, POP, sold 347,000 copies in its
opening week in the US. The album is now at No 1 in Australia, Austria,
Belgium, Brazil, Colombia, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland,
Ireland, Israel, Italy, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal,
Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and the UK. In the UK it is U2's eighth No 1 album
- the only group in chart history with more are The Beatles (13), the
Rolling Stones (10), Abba and Queen (nine each), while Led Zeppelin also
have eight. All That You Can't Leave Behind sold 164,000 copies in its
first week on sale in the UK, - POP did 152,000 and the Best Of 1980-1990
sold 140,000 copies. Rattle and Hum was U2's most popular opening week
release in the UK - selling 360,000 in 1988. The album is also in second
spot in Switzerland and third spot in Japan.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ATYCLB #1 on Swedish Charts (11-9-2000)
Thanks to Per for the following:
The Swedish album charts were anounced today and ATYCLB is #1!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
WENN: U2 Never Finished Their Pop Album (11-9-2000)
Thanks to Kevin at U2audio.com for the following.
From WENN:
U2 Never Finished Their Pop Album
WENN - Rock superstars U2 still feel that their POP album was not
finished properly - as they were racing against the clock to prepare for
their POPMART world tour.
The 1997 album was "premature, almost a work in progress," according to lead
singer BONO.
He adds, "It wasn't finished properly and we didn't have enough time to
prepare for the tour. It was bad timing. PAUL (MCGUINNESS, their manager)
felt particularly bad about it. It meant we had no time to do anything
right."
And while the album was successful in Europe, it wasn't the hit they wanted
in America.
Bono adds, "It lost us a lot of ground in America - they didn't know who
ANDY WARHOL was. And the males of 14 to 20, unsure of their muscle tone,
found it hard to ask for their favourite rock band's new album called Pop.
Club culture hadn't happened in America, and dance music was fag."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Spin: Jay-Z, OutKast, U2: 1, 2, 3 (11-9-2000)
From Spin:
Charts: Jay-Z, OutKast, U2: 1, 2, 3
You knew it had to be: Jay-Z. The occasionally mad
rapper's The Dynasty Roc La Familia debuted at
No. 1 this week, selling 557,789 copies. In at No. 2
is OutKast's Stankonia, selling a whopping
525,844 discs, followed by U2's All That You
Can't Leave Behind, moving upwards of 427,826
units. Whoo-hoo! Can't leave behind is right. Also
debuting impressively this week is Godsmack's
Awake, coming in at No. 5, as well as Insane
Clown Posse's double-release, Bizaar and
Bizzar coming in at No. 20 and 21, respectively.
Hmmm. Kind of unnerving, but that's OK. Death
Row records' shameless attempt to profit off of an
artist no longer on their label (Snoop Dogg) saw
Dead Man Walkin' debut at No. 24. Overall, the
big debuts this week sure did shake up the Top 10:
Limp Bizkit's Chocolate Starfish and the Hotdog
Flavored Water was bumped back from the No. 1
position to No. 4 this week, and Nelly's Country
Grammar nudged back three spots to No. 6.
Similarly, Lenny Kravitz's Greatest Hits collection
dropped five to No. 7, followed by Baha Men's
Who Let The Dogs Out at No. 8, Creed's Human
Clay at No. 9 and Ja Rule's Rule 3:36 falling six
to No. 10. Why are the charts lovely this week,
though? Well I will tell you: PJ Harvey's Stories
From the City, Stories From the Sea debuted at
No. 42, selling 32,321 copies. That's noble,
considering the state of popular music, right? And,
in the same week that the band's brand new studio
LP debuts at No. 3, another U2 album, Best of U2
1980-90, re-entered the charts all the way down
at No. 192.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Virgin.net: ATYCLB Review (11-9-2000)
From Virgin.net:
All That You Can't Leave Behind - U2 (Island)
Review by Esther Sadler
After the alternative invention of Achtung Baby, the shock-pop tactics of
Zooropa
and the half-backed hip swinging of Pop, U2 now stride majestically into perhaps
their finest and fullest moment. For All... successfully unites the old
fashioned
anthems of the U2 of New Year's Day and With Or Without You with the crunchy,
bleepy pop monster of the latter albums, but subtly like. Songs like The Ground
Beneath Her Feet and Can't Get Out Of take the best elements of both and magic
up a new U2. The band seem to have stepped backwards to go forwards: these
songs are more fully realised than both their experimental bits and pieces and
also their earlier angsty anthems. And there are of course moments of new genius
too like the carelessly perfect Walk On, the classic soul work of In A Little
While
and Stuck In A Moment You Can't Get Out Of where Bono comes across
somewhere between Otis Redding and Disty Springfield and the simply
magnificent Wild Honey. This is still serious stuff of course, (songs about The
World called Peace On Earth - not looking good - and When I Look At The World -
also not good looking - and other ones where people die and suffer a lot) and
Bono and the boys would not want us to forget it. However, no more than ever
U2 are able to ensure that we won't.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Aftonbladet: Akerlund on Tour Design Team (11-9-2000)
Thanks to Per for the following.
From Aftonbladet (Sweden):
Jonas Akerlund is set to be part of the team that designs U2's new tour.
"It's me, Bono and the other band members -- plus another two or three persons
who have worked with U2 for a long time. I'm the new face. We've had about
five meetings. I mean, I don't sit there and decide things, but I have
influence,"
says Akerlund. He continues, "I focus on how the stage will look. I've been
talking a lot about that -- to find a complete concept that works. I find that
all live
entertainment today is pretty boring. Even if you have a band that can play
hits for two hours, it's only great when the band enters the stage and for the
first fifteen minutes. After that, everybody starts to wait for the extra
songs."
So you want to eliminate the boring mid-parts of the concert?
"Yes, I want to build it up in a smart way, so that there are visual surprises
that makes it interesting the whole time."
Can you describe the ideas you are discussing with the band?
"No, that would spoil the surprise...destroy all the fun."
Did this collaboration result from your experience directing the video for the
single Beautiful Day?
"No, we had discussed this a long time before I did the first video."
First video? Will there be a second one?
"Yes, hopefully. We are discussing that right now. The second single has not
yet been decided."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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/
You may also download the mp3s at an affiliate site, U2World.org.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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).
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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
Movie, Proof of Life, starring Meg Ryan and that Gladiator dude,
December 8, 2000. Soundtrack features U2's "Until The End of
The
World".
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:
Monday, November 13, Amigo Awards Ceremony, Spain.
Thursday, November 16, MTV Europe Music Awards,
Globe Arena, Stockholm.
Tuesday, November 21, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, promotional
stop to promote new album
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
Revolver magazine, November, features U2 on cover and 8-page
article and 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.
--
Personal Email: pra...@prarit.com
U2News: http://www.youtwo.net, pra...@youtwo.net
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