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Originally Posted by turbofish
Well... This is in terms of lyrics... When they first came out, they had these amazing lyrics, for example Pride, Sunday bloody sunday, Where the streets have no name, Angel of Harlem. They had a message. They don't any more... Heard there latest albums? They're musically good, but not lyrically.
Now *had* they taken drugway-express they would probably still write lyrics that matter, but they dont. And don't get me wrong - kudos to them for sticking it to the crackpipe... I believe much of U2 still being a multi-million selling machine is thanks to Bono and his love for politics. But drugs would have made better music.
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While I agree that some of their earlier lyrics were quite good--"Pride" is a good example, "One Tree Hill" off of "Joshua Tree"--there are songs in their later work not to be dismissed. (And their earlier work also had its fair share of lyrical clunkers.) For instance, their entire album "Pop" is simply amazing--probably the most underrated U2 album out there. "Last Night on Earth" has to be one of my favorite U2 songs. Furthermore, the album "All That You Can't Leave Behind" features the fabulous song "Walk On" (also notably politically themed) and their latest album...while some of the songs aren't the greatest, "Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own" always, ALWAYS makes me cry. Bono wrote it about his father's death--a lot of the album is a result of his father's death. (I should note I'm REALLY critical when it comes to lyrics--and some of the songs on the new album make me want to hit Bono over the head with a frying pan and ask him what the HECK he was thinking.)
On a side note, he says it's what really pushed him to work hard for debt relief--he basically overworked himself to keep his mind off of it (thus the "How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb").