1. No, it isn’t. Everything else is vomit.

    U2 is U2.

    The original four or nothing.
  2. It saddens me that a quarter of this place would consider less than the original 4 would be classed as U2.
  3. Originally posted by Sydney_MIke:I can tolerate the band playing without Larry temporarily provided they have his full blessing, but if his health becomes a barrier to a permanent return then I'd like them to call it a day.


    If Larry is out temporarily and is "okay with it" then I don't have that much of an issue with Vegas. As I've stated, I'd like to go to one of the shows.

    I understand the disappointment of many but won't allow the situation to stop me from witnessing the performance of one my favourite albums of all time.

    Now if the band was embarking on a tour to support a new album, I might see things a bit differently.
  4. Originally posted by Zwervervriend:[..]
    Why's that? He may be writing the lyrics, but in performance he's the weakest for the last couple of years. Plus i think Edge is more 'the sound of U2' than Bono is.


    Because you can't make anyone sound like Bono, but there are other musicians that can copy the other three well.
  5. To U2 fans all the original members need to be there. To the rest of the world, Bono is U2
  6. Originally posted by BloodyValentine:Bono sang on Colbert without U2 and I thought it was better than any U2 performance.

    So if U2 stopped playing and Bono went solo, I'd be cool with that. It might even be better.

    At this stage I think he sounds better in a less "rock" setting anyway.




  7. Right, no one sounds like Bono. But it's more than that. He's the source of the poetry and philosophy in the lyrics that gives U2's music its weight. He's the emotional force that makes U2's music take flight. Other bands like Coldplay have a similar sound to U2. But Chris Martin is no Bono. So even if the other musicians in Coldplay are as good as U2, their music is never going to raise me up like U2's does because of everything Bono brings to it.

    Viva La Bono.
  8. Bono + Edge
    =
    U2's creativity

    So, as long as those 2 continue to be in U2, I am alright.
  9. Originally posted by Sydney_MIke:I'm in the camp that U2 is ABLE (Adam, Bono, Larry, Edge) but then I wonder to myself why am I so adamant for this particular band that it must remain so when almost all of the bands I am highly fond of have lost original members. Bands like R.E.M, Blondie, Counting Crows, Placebo, The Airborne Toxic Event have all had line up changes but I still listen to them and forgive them because the nucleus, or more precisely the lead singer and guitarist, remained the same. The most comparable change I can think of would be INXS, where for me the death of Michael Hutchence should have been the end of the band, or at least a transition back to being The Farriss Brothers with a new singer, i.e. no longer INXS

    So why do I / we hold this band to a higher standard? My conclusion is because they have been so stable over the years and so consistent in their messaging about Larry starting the band, of them being brothers or family, the equal sharing of rights and royalties, and the (seemingly) unbreakable bonds they've formed. We've bought into the culture of the band, not just the sound, or the image, or the live performances; we've believe in them as an inseparable quartet because of all we've heard over 40 years and more.

    I can tolerate the band playing without Larry temporarily provided they have his full blessing, but if his health becomes a barrier to a permanent return then I'd like them to call it a day.


    I was going to post a reply but this pretty much sums up my thoughts.
  10. There are so, so many songs (albums even) where Larry and Adam's creativity is on full display (and those songs wouldn't be the same at all without them), so I just can't agree with this. I'd honestly go as far as to say that U2 wouldn't have amounted to anything in the late 70s had Adam and Larry been absent.

    Yes, I realize your post is largely how the public sees U2 - but I feel like the second you start delving into the band beyond the surface of things (heh) - you realize otherwise.
  11. I wouldn't be alright with that, and I'd hope the band would collectively hang up the U2 name if Larry and Adam rode off into the sunset.