My Favorite Mix CD

Pulse editor extraordinaire Bill Colrus is starting up a mix cd exchange, and it got me thinking about my adventures in mixing. The mix cd that I'm most proud of is one that my wife and I put together and mailed out to our friends a couple years ago for Valentine's Day. I thought I'd share the tracklisting here. It's a mix of classics and guilty pleasures, mostly from the 80s, which I call:

The KJT Retro Valentine Mix
01. "I Think We're Alone Now" - Tiffany
02. "Heaven is a Place on Earth" - Belinda Carlisle
03. "Lost in Your Eyes" - Debbie Gibson
04. "Nothing Compares 2 U" - Sinead O'Connor
05. "Wicked Game" - Chris Isaak
06. "With or Without You" - U2
07. "I Wish I Was Your Lover" - Sophie B. Hawkins
08. "I Melt With You" - Modern English
09. "I Touch Myself" - Divinyls
10. "Every Breath You Take" - The Police
11. "Must Have Been Love" - Roxette
12. "Time After Time" - Cyndi Lauper
13. "The One I Love" - REM
14. "Friday I'm in Love" - The Cure
15. "Could Have Been" - Tiffany
16. "Cherish" - Madonna
17. "Total Eclipse of the Heart" - Bonnie Tyler
18. "I've Had the Time of My Life" - Bill Medley and Jennifer Warnes

Dismantling the Chart Results

Exciting U2 news today... How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb is expecting to enter the album charts at #1, making it their sixth #1 album. Furthermore, various sources are reporting sales totals in the neighborhood of 750,000 albums. This will be a record for U2 since the beginning of the SoundScan era, topping ATYCLB's 430,000 albums sold in the first week. In fact, HITS Daily Double is already showing sales of 495,252 albums with only 51.73% of outlets reporting. (That sounded like an election-night line, didn't it?)

Leave it to someone to frame these unprecedented sales figures in a negative light, though. An article on FoxNews has the headline U2 Hits No. 1, but Misses the Million Mark. So what? The only recent albums to sell a million copies in their first week are pop and rap, stuff like N*SYNC and Eminem. For any rock band to even approach that mark is impressive, let alone a rock band that's 25 years into the game.

U2 on SNL

U2's performance last night was extraordinary -- a real reminder of the magic that happens when those four men take the stage together. "Vertigo" and "I Will Follow" were just on fire, but the real standout in my opinion was "Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own." I've loved that song since my first listen, but hearing it live, and watching the passion with which Bono sang it, took it to a whole new level. The live version of "Sometimes" will go down as a true classic, in the esteemed company of "One" and "Where the Streets Have No Name." If there were any doubts, U2 have still got it! If you don't believe me, visit u2mp3s.com and download the songs from last night's show. (They also have video (.wmv) of each song.)

It's been widely reported that U2's next tour will start in March, in Florida, and include two 35-date trips through the US, with a European tour in between. Last night's show only has me more determined to go (and go more than once, and get good seats). Luckily, U2 are starting a new official fanclub whose members will get advance ticketing rights. Sign me up!

Secret U2 Show in NYC

This is what I love about U2 Log. They always come through with the really good stuff. Like this hot tip on a secret U2 show in Washington Square Park on Monday. Alas, NYC is a little too far on such short notice, even for this U2 fanatic. I did, however, pass along the tip to the only person I know in New York. If you go Andrea, I will be so jealous.

Full Review: U2's How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb

"At this stage of our careers, it would be easy for us to make something quirky," says Bono. "The challenge is to be bigger and bolder and better -- to make records the whole world will listen to."

There's also a challenge facing music fans and critics alike when listening to How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb: Is it good enough for U2 to be U2 and create good songs in their signature style or must they continue the Achtung Baby-Zooropa-Pop trajectory of constant reinvention and pushing the limits of their sound? Your answer to these questions will probably have a lot to do with your reaction to the new album. I'll break it down, song by song.

1. "Vertigo"
   Everyone has heard this one. It's a great rock song with a bit of an old-school punk vibe. The Edge is on fire, and the storyline of temptation (featuring a creepy MacPhisto comeback in the bridge) and submission to God makes it a nice "more than meets the eye" U2 single (a la Discotheque).
2. "Miracle Drug"
   A slow starting track that builds into a powerful anthem. It may have the best bridge on the album. The Edge has a slide guitar solo while Bono whispers "God I need your help tonight." Just then, Edge comes in with a guitar solo that sounds like lightning from heaven and he sings this verse:

   Beneath the noise, below the din
   I hear your voice, it's whispering
   In science and in medicine
   "I was a stranger, you took me in"

   It's so good it gives me chills. This is really one of the finest moments on the album. I cannot wait to see this live.
3. "Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own
   Bono's tribute to his late father is a powerful ballad, with a stunning vocal moment as he asks "Can you hear me when I sing? You're the reason I sing." The music is fairly simple but builds as it goes and fits perfectly with the tone of the lyrics. This was the song I was anticipating most, and it definitely met my high expectations -- an early favorite.
4. "Love and Peace or Else"
   NME called it "glam, camp, and silly" but still loved it. It definitely stands out musically, as it is more of a blues-rock song and starts out with an industrial sound that would've fit perfectly on Achtung Baby. Bono's vocals are great on this song, from his opening lines of "Lay it down, lay it down" to the way he sings the word "Zion." It's one of my lesser favorites on the album, but it's still quite good.
5. "City of Blinding Lights"
   My wife's favorite song thus far, and destined to be a concert favorite. The inspiration for the chorus came from U2's first show in NYC after September 11th, as the bright white lights came up at the beginning of "Where the Streets Have No Name," and that association is evident musically. A very very good, very very U2 song.
6. "All Because of You"
   This is a great rock song, again with kind of an old-school vibe to it. It's solid throughout, but the guitar solo, Bono's primal scream, and the vocal delivery of the bridge really push it from good to great.
7. "A Man and A Woman"
   Wow! This song is the biggest surprise of the album. It's a smooth love song with a really different, yet still distinctly U2 sound. Very cool.
8. "Crumbs From Your Table"
   Good, solid song, in the modern U2 rock vibe of "Walk On" or "Electrical Storm." Nice lyrics, especially the chorus. Great vocals on the chorus as well.
9. "One Step Closer"
   Another wow! This has been mentioned in some reviews as a low point, but I think it's stunning. It's a very low-key song, minimal in style, but the atmosphere it creates both in word and music is really something. I love the slide guitar. Bono's vocal delivery is a bit off his beaten path and I love it. Definitely a favorite, and it will probably be the "Running to Stand Still" or "The First Time" from this album -- the hidden gem, the underrated fan favorite, you get the idea.
10. "Original of the Species"
    What a great pop song, in the best possible sense of the word. The theme is innocence, much like in the verses of "City of Blinding Lights" and Bono makes it a stirring, sing-a-long anthem.
11. "Yahweh"
    The closing prayer of the album, and a good one at that. Great lyrics, and the music (think "Falling at Your Feet" meets "One Tree Hill") is inspiring. One of U2's best closing tracks ever, and it would make a great concert closer.

So How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb is full of great music and the heart I've always loved about U2. Is it "bigger and bolder and better?" Yes it is. And that's good enough for me.

First Listen: U2's How To Dismantle an Atomic Bomb

Not some elitist reviewer's first listen, my first listen. It came this morning around 9:00. I was browsing Interference and became probably one of the first few hundred people to download U2's new album after it leaked online early this morning. So, what do I think? It's one of U2's finest, simple as that. Everyone in the band was at the top of their form. My early favorites are "Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own" (truly an epic) and "Yahweh" (which is a beautiful prayer set to music that's a cross between "Falling at Your Feet" and "One Tree Hill.") An easy 9/10 album in my opinion. More later...

You're the Reason I Sing

Is it weird to read the lyrics to an album full of songs you haven't heard yet? I don't know, but I'm sure glad I did. Somehow, a German fansite was leaked the full lyrics from How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb and if you're at all a fan of U2, you absolutely must check them out. "Sometimes You Can't Make it On Your Own," the song Bono wrote and sang for his father's funeral, is just stunning. And I really don't even know what to say about "Yahweh" other than I love it.

HTDAAB Track by Track

Remember when The Edge's copy of the new U2 album was stolen from a photo shoot in the south of France? Blender magazine was there. In fact, they spent several days with U2 and it made for a nice read. Even better is a track by track guide to How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb narrated by U2, also at this link.

There's another track by track by U2 in this month's Q magazine.

I Have a Hunch (about Apple and U2)

The big U2 article in this month's Vanity Fair mentioned that U2 were in talks with an "information technology" company about sponsoring their tour, and there's a new article on MacCentral about the iTunes tv ad featuring "Vertigo" (it'll hit tv tonight) which includes this little teaser: "You will hear more about Apple and U2 working together in the coming weeks."

Could Apple be sponsoring the next U2 world tour? And if so, might U2 be contemplating releasing some, or even all, of the concerts on iTunes? Remember a couple of years ago, Pearl Jam released cds of all their US concerts. It would be even more profitable, and in keeping with their pro-technology stance, for U2 to release concerts exclusively to iTunes. These would naturally be high quality versions, and if they are going to have more varying set lists on this tour (as is also rumoured), fans would be enticed to buy several different concerts from the tour.

Personally, I'd love it. There is nothing musically on this earth that compares to live U2, and having such easy access to high quality concert bootlegs would be a dream come true.

Hello, Hello! (U2's Vertigo)

FINALLY! It started yesterday afternoon around 1:30. A fan heard and recorded "Vertigo" on Croatian radio (no, I'm not kidding) and posted an mp3. The sound quality was low, and there was a DJ talking over part of the intro and the last 15 seconds at the end, but that didn't matter. For a group of hopeless fanatics who'd been listening to the Beach house clip for a month, this was the jackpot. Or so we thought, until a couple of hours later a near cd quality mp3 hit the net with no DJ talking over it.

"Vertigo" flat out rocks. It's U2's early energy and punk influences being fleshed out in 2004 mixed with everything they've learned along the way. The bridge is getting a lot of comparisons to "I Will Follow" and "Stories for Boys," but I'm hearing Achtung Baby, especially given the lyrics and vocal delivery. Lyrically, it's probably best compared to "Discotheque." The casual listener will hear a rocking party song, but Pope Bono is really singing the recurring themes of temptation and salvation. The best scoop on the lyrics comes from Beth at the U2 Sermons blog.

Oh, you wanted to hear it? Download this!

Update: I'm speechless -- Pitchfork likes it.

"Vertigo" Promo Art and Radio Airplay Info

U2NewZooland.com has obtained a copy of the cover art for the "Vertigo" promo cd, seen below. They do note that the commercial single may have different artwork. Regardless, I like it! It has a real punk vibe to it.

The even bigger news is that "Vertigo" will finally hit the airwaves this week. Dave Fanning, friend of U2 and DJ with Irish radio station 2FM, has announced he will have the exclusive premiere on his show Thursday night between 6:00 and 7:30pm Dublin time. That's 1:00 - 2:30pm here in Chattanooga, and luckily for us, 2FM has a live audio stream on its site. If you miss it live, rest assured it will be all over the internet by the time you get home from work.

How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb

Fans in the know have heard this title rumoured in whispers and moans for months now, but today NME.com, BBC1 Radio, and U2.com all confirmed it officially: U2's new album, due November 23rd (in North America), will be titled How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb. One of the rumours that hinted at this as the title was a story Michael W. Smith told a concert audience, about Bono asking him if he knew how to dismantle an atomic bomb. Bono's answer? "Love. With Love." Of course, it would be a bit foolish to expect hippie sentimentality (*cough*Imagine*cough*) from U2, but one rumoured song title is "Love and Peace or Else." (I blogged about the six confirmed song titles not too long ago.)

A quick thinking forum member over at Interference.com suggested a Biblical reference that may line up with the album title and Bono's answer to the question. The phrase "They will beat their swords into plowshares" pops up in several books of the Bible, and a particularly good example is this great passage in Micah 2:

2 Many nations will come and say,
"Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD ,
to the house of the God of Jacob.
He will teach us his ways,
so that we may walk in his paths."
The law will go out from Zion,
the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.

3 He will judge between many peoples
and will settle disputes for strong nations far and wide.
They will beat their swords into plowshares
and their spears into pruning hooks.
Nation will not take up sword against nation,
nor will they train for war anymore.

4 Every man will sit under his own vine
and under his own fig tree,
and no one will make them afraid,
for the LORD Almighty has spoken.

Another line in that passage, "He will teach us his ways, so that we may walk in his paths," reminded me of another song titled that's been talked about since the end of the Elevation tour: "Lead Me in the Way I Should Go." Here's hoping that track made the cut for the new album.

In a more worldly vein, can I just say that U2 are incredibly brilliant when it comes to marketing. From the stolen (or was is lost?) rough mix of the cd, to the "are they or aren't they elaborate plants by the band" leaks of song clips taped from outside Bono's beach house to the way they had label reps taking iPods to radio stations to preview "Vertigo" for the DJs, they have slowly but surely been kindling the flames of hype for the new album. I have a feeling they hype machine will be impossible to avoid after "Vertigo" hits radio (just in time for the Grammy cutoff date, a la "Beautiful Day"). And then there's the tour, which is scheduled to start in March, which by no accident is just after they will be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in their first year of eligibility. This is a warning, if you thought U2 were inescapable in 2001, 2005 will be a big dose of deja vu.

Finally, the album title announcement was accompanied by this new photo of the band. I have to say, I'm loving The Edge's t-shirt, and Larry's "Since 1977" shirt is clever as well.

No Spin from Bono Tonight

Bono will be entering the No-Spin Zone tonight as he is scheduled to be interviewed on The O'Reilly Factor on Fox News. It airs at 8pm and 11pm EST. I'm sure he will mostly be discussing the AIDS crisis and his thoughts on the RNC (which he is attending), but maybe O'Reilly can get a spin-free scoop on the new single or the new album...

High Risk Security Advisory

Freaking awesome... I need the poster for my cube at work!

Ready to Experience Vertigo?

As November approaches, I've been hanging on every word reported by U2 fansites like @U2 and U2 Log about their upcoming album.

Within the last couple of weeks, several different reports have confirmed the release date of the album -- November 23rd! Can you think of anything else I might be excited about on that date? (Think cake and 1 candle!) Genia and I can take Bailey to Best Buy to get her first U2 cd on her first birthday! Woohoo!

Today U2 Log posted this article from the new edition of Q Magazine which lists six song titles confirmed for the new album. Here they are, with a of my few thoughts on each:

"Vertigo"
This is the lead single, and should hit radio by September 24th, though I have a feeling certain stations might be playing it early, if they get it early. A clip hit the internet earlier this month, and like the "All Because of You" clip that surfaced a few weeks prior, the sound quality was poor, and it was hard to really get a sense of what the finished song would sound like. I'm hoping it will take the airwaves by storm just like "Beautiful Day" did back in September 2000.

"Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own"
This is a song Bono reportedly wrote just after his father died, right around the time of the Slane Castle concerts in fall 2001. This is sure to be loaded with emotion -- a powerful ballad. I can't wait to hear this song -- U2 fans in the know have been hearing this title for two years now!

"City of Burning Lights"
What a great song title. Very, very U2. Will it be an energetic rock song reminiscent of their early days ("I Will Follow", "Out of Control") or a big "wide-screen" song in the vein of "Streets"? The title brings Achtung Baby to my mind... It's a mystery!

"Man & A Woman"
No idea where this one could go, musically speaking, just from the title...

"Yahweh"
This is one song I'm dying to hear. I first heard (and blogged about) this song title back in January. The source who gave the title to U2 Log said it was "one of the greatest songs U2 have ever recorded."

"Crumbs From Your Table"
As soon as I read this, I thought of Mark 7:25-30 (I did have to look up the reference, of course). This could go in a number of different directions. It could have nothing at all to do with that NT story. It could be a "relationship with God" type of song, or, and this might be a stretch, it could even have something to do with Bono's work with DATA on the AIDS crisis in Africa.

Clip of New U2 Song - "All Because of You"

This is what the internet is all about, at least in the context of the music world. Someone was hanging out near U2's studio in Dublin, and recorded 53 seconds of a track they were performing as it could be heard through the open windows of the studio. A link to the mp3 was then posted to a popular U2 fan forum, and now I'm sharing the link with you (now hosted on my server):

"All Because of You"

The sound quality is not very good -- obviously, given the recording conditions -- but you can hear some classic Edge guitar work and a great vocal by Bono. There's a directness about it that reminds me of early U2, and something about it brings Achtung Baby to mind as well. It seems to have that elusive "it" Bono likes to talk about, especially as the chorus comes in. The average U2 fan might not be all that excited about this clip, but for a fanatic like me, it's Christmas in July!

UPDATE: Several fans have attempted to transcribe the lyrics on the clip. This interpretation is courtesy of Interference.com:

VERSE

'I was born, a child of grace
Built this town in my own space
Everything was lovely such a beautiful place
You left me no illusion
Stole your hand across the world
Shadow cast across my room
You ailing is my cue
The light in the confusion

CHORUS

All because of you
ALLLLL because of you
All because of you
I am, ALIVE, mmm I know you care'

Don't Buy Two CDs at Once

You cannot love two new cds equally. This week, having a glorious Target gift card in hand (Father's Day was good to me... I also have new shirts from Polo and a Johnston & Murphy gift card), I came home with Good News For People Who Love Bad News by Modest Mouse and A Ghost is Born by Wilco. Two very different cds, both good, but if this were Celebrity Deathmatch, Wilco would come out victorious.

The latest cd from indie favorites Modest Mouse, Good News For People Who Love Bad News is unlike pretty much anything in my collection. The band really has a quirky approach, especially in how the songs are arranged and in the lead vocals. This cd hasn't gotten as much playing time as Ghost, but I do enjoy it and there are several very good tracks. The best is, of course, the irresistable single "Float On," which is flat out amazing. It was blogged about by Josiah last month and that probably influenced my decision to buy the cd over the latest offerings from Death Cab and the debut disc by The Postal Service. I know this cd is one that will continue to grow on me if I can just pry something else out of the stereo in my car...

That being, of course, Wilco's new cd A Ghost is Born. I kind of surprised myself with this one. I hadn't heard even a single song on the cd before buying it, but the gamble has paid off -- it's a very good album, if a bit inconsistent. My favorite tracks are probably "Muzzle of Bees," "Company in My Back," and "Theologians." In fact, tracks 4 - 10 are all very good and make for a great listening experience.

The low points? The quiet-LOUD thing is played up a couple times too many on the album, one of my few qualms. "Spiders" has an amazing transition and manages to hold your attention throughout its entire 10 minutes, but I have to admit that the first time I heard it, I was waiting for Gwen Stefani's voice to come in over that beat. Finally, I could really do without the 11 minutes of low-budget sci-fi flick sound effects tacked on to the otherwise enjoyable "Less Than You Think."

The lyric that stands out most at this point is that of "Theologians." With opening lines like these -- "Theologians / They don't know nothin' / About my soul" -- the song could have gone down the road of the religious rant. A later verse, however, paraphrases some words of Jesus before His crucifixion:

I'm going away
Where you will look for me
Where I'm going you cannot come

No one's ever gonna take my life from me
I lay it down

Following these lines, Tweedy sings what became the title of the album, "A Ghost is Born." I'm really intrigued by the song, as well as the album art, which features an egg (which culturally is often used to represent new life and is associated with Easter) in various stages of "opening," I guess you'd call it, in different places. Anyone with a more put together interpretation, feel free to comment.

Overall, it's a really enjoyable album and I'm glad I finally jumped on the Wilco bandwagon. I'll be checking McKay's for available copies of YHF and Summerteeth...

Chris Martin and I Have Something in Common

@U2 reported this not-so-shocking revelation yesterday:

COLDPLAY frontman Chris Martin has revealed that his unborn baby is already a huge U2 fan.

The lead singer, who married Oscar-winning actress Gwyneth Paltrow, has revealed he loves their music so much he is playing their songs to his first child.

Any of you who know me very well know that U2 is also Bailey's favorite band. She's been listening to them since before birth - mostly The Joshua Tree, Achtung Baby, and Pop. She also heard alot of the Boston DVD, and the Slane Castle DVD was her birthday present from Daddy. The first song we played for Bailey after she was born was "Where the Streets Have No Name." I held her in my arms -- so tiny! -- and we danced around the hospital room while I sang along. She'll never remember it, but I always will.

The Percussive Side of Language

You wouldn't know it from all the media attention it's still generating, but it's been well over a year since Bono's f-word fiasco at the Golden Globe Awards. Honestly, I'm sick to death of hearing about it. I'm also sick of hearing Bono lumped in with Howard Stern and Janet Jackson because he dropped the f-bomb once on live television, as if that's the whole picture of him as an artist or a man. So I was happy to see him speak out on the controversy, in a NYT article that appeared on Sunday:

I guess I don't speak American, but I thought I did. There are some obscenities in our culture, and this is nowhere near the top of the list. I never meant to be offensive. That language was genuine exuberance. It was a great moment for our band. If you're Irish, you love language, and if you do, you're going to fall on the occasional expletive; it's the percussive side of language. For me, it is preposterous to have good, conservative people whom I like and respect taking on an expletive while the right to pack heavy ammo goes by. It says something eloquent, if not pretty, about where we are.

In other Bono news, the University of Pennsylvania has selected him to give their 2004 commencement address on May 17th. They are also awarding him an honorary Doctor of Laws degree. Cole Slaw, your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to crash the commencement and obtain an autograph and info on the new U2 album from Bono.

Finally, Bono was recently interviewed for O, the Oprah magazine. It's one of his best interviews from the past few years. He talks about joy, musical inspiration, surfing his jet lag, and says "Amazing Grace" is his favorite song.

Acts of Volition Radio

The concept of "internet radio" was really big a few years ago during the Napster-era, with independent and corporate players streaming music via the web. For all the hype, they were basically just like regular radio stations, except that the music selection was often broader and more eclectic. Canadian blogger Steven Garrity has a different concept for doing radio on the web. Acts of Volition Radio is more like a radio show, featuring 5-10 songs along with personal commentary on the selections. Steven recently released Session 7 and I couldn't resist downloading it -- it features Jeff Buckley's amazing take on Cohen's "Hallelujah." In looking over the past sessions, I'm impressed with the song selection on each one, and I plan on following this series from now on.

Unprecedented

From Bill Carter: A Wanderer Rushed In

We take the media for granted sometimes. We think it is the only way to interact with the world. When a war goes on, for example, we expect the BBC, CNN and Time Magazine will all send reporters to get the story from the front. We tend to forget that what they give us is mediated: they decide what pictures to show, what questions to ask, what portions of answers to report to us.

All this is necessary if you want to understand why what happened for thirteen nights in 1993 was unprecedented. Each night, one or two or three citizens in besieged Sarajevo spoke to an audience of 50,000, 60,000, or 100,000 people. They spoke for a few minutes about whatever they wanted to talk about. What they said was live and unedited. They did not speak to a reporter who then explained to a news anchor what it all meant -- they spoke to a rock crowd. The audiences were there for U2's Zooropa tour.

The Sarajevo linkups were just as this author described -- unprecedented -- and there hasn't been anything like them since. I heard a bootleg of the concert they later performed in Sarajevo, where they interviewed a man from the city who simply wanted to tell his loved ones that he was still alive. Still alive! Life and death and love and war in the middle of a rock concert. It was truly shocking, and heart-wrenching.

The article talks mostly about Bill Carter, who originally came up with and suggested the concept to the band. It's a great read. He has a documentary entitled Miss Sarajevo, now out on DVD, which includes the first of the Sarajevo linkups as well as an emotional interview with Bono from that same time period. The filming of the documentary also helped inspired the song "Miss Sarajevo" which, although recorded under the Passengers pseudonym, is one of U2's most moving songs. The video is absolutely stunning as well, and it's on the Best of 1990-2000 DVD.

A corresponding article centers around a woman named Alma, who was one of the characters in Carter's documentary. She said this of Bill Carter and U2:

He used to go everywhere with his small camera, shooting me, my friends, everything he thought to be interesting. For us, it was great fun. Then, he left and came back with Miss Sarajevo. He brought me the videotape, but some time passed by before I first saw it, of course, because of electricity. He told me all about the movie, about U2 involvement, MTV thing -- you cannot imagine how excited I was! At the time, I used to like rap music, and group East 17, but when Bill gave me ZOOROPA CD, I was honored to be one of the very rare persons in the city that have that CD, even though I couldn't listen to it. I remember people whom I had never seen come to my door to ask if they could borrow the CD. Everyone liked U2 in the city, not only because of their music, but because they cared...

This chapter in U2's history is another in a long list of things that confirm my belief that U2 is one of the all-time great bands. If these lesser-known stories make their way into the public consciousness and into U2's legacy, history will think of them as fondly as I do.

Sign of the Apocolypse

So I'm sitting here at the computer, cranking out a bit of work and a few emails, with the TV on Nickelodeon in the background. I'm not really paying much attention to the tele until I hear what sounds like a bunch of kids singing Beyonce's super catchy song "Crazy in Love." Sure enough, there is a compilation CD being hawked called "Kid Bop" or something stupid like that, featuring, you guessed it, a bunch of kids singing the latest pop hits. "Crazy in Love," "Hey Ya," and "Here Without You" are just a few of the songs on the CD. I cannot imagine ever letting Bailey listen to such hideosity. If she's going to hear someone sing "Shake it like a polaroid picture" it's going to be me, or Ice Cold Andre 3000. And yes, I do sing "Hey Ya" to Bailey. I might even do it while helping her stand up and shake her poopymaker. It's quite adorable actually.

(Disclaimer: I have not slept since 5:30 yesterday afternoon.)

Bands Reunited

Saturday morning I watched the new VH1 show "Bands Reunited." I'd seen plenty of commercials advertising it, and wasn't that interested. Fortunately for me, there was nothing else on that morning, because the show is good. The episode I watched was the reunion of the band Berlin, famous for the song "Take My Breath Away" from the Top Gun soundtrack.

I was amazed at how easily I was sucked into this story -- considering I had only a passing familiarity with the band. But this story, of people who had long since left the music industry behind, who hadn't seen each other in over a decade, and how they were coerced back together for one last show was mesmerizing. Berlin apparently didn't have the smoothest of breakups, so seeing the reunion and the forgiveness of the old wounds was pretty cool as well. Finally, I have to admit, they sounded pretty good in their concert given only a couple of days to rehearse after not playing together in over 10 years. The band members seemed to be savoring every second of the concert. It was, for everyone involved, a blissful trip back in time. Consider me hooked.

U2 Album News

Ever since the end of the Elevation Tour two years ago, I've been eagerly awaiting a new U2 album. Bono especially, and the Edge to a lesser degree, have been talking up their new material for almost that entire time. There have been rumors and more rumors. And then yesterday the sky cracked with the sound of "some authentic, honest-to-goodness scoops" courtesy of U2 Log. This is some of the best info the public has heard in a long time -- including working song titles and song descriptions (for example, "Jahweh," which was described by their source as one of their greatest songs ever) and confirmation of May 2004 as the time of release. U2 fans, take heart! We will hear Edge's guitar again, and soon!

The Shots of Perspective

Some of you know that I have a friend, Michial, in a band called The Shots of Perspective. Those of you who are really astute know that I designed their website and the liner notes for their first album. Well... I'm happy to say that Michial has asked me to do the liner notes for their next album, the recording of which is nearly complete. Also cool is that I helped him choose the album title, which will be Nothing Personal. It's a phrase from one of the lyrics, but it of course "works on several levels" as Michial put it. So, aside from congratulating myself, I posted this to say go check out their website and listen to a couple of their tracks (specifically "Let It Be an End") on garageband.com.

A Provocateur and a Limping Priest

Music journalist Steve Beard, host of thunderstruck.org, co-authored the new book Spiritual Journeys, writing chapters about Bono and Johnny Cash. He was recently interviewed by Debbie Kreuser of U2 fansite Interference about both men as well as his pop-culture website Thunderstruck.

Given that Interference is a U2 site, most of the interview is spent discussing Bono. Beard offers this brief description of Bono's uniqueness in pop culture:

Bono is rock 'n' roll's most effective and enigmatic spiritual provocateur. He sees every stage as a pulpit and every coliseum as a cathedral. Who else talks to rock journalists about the theological superiority of grace over karma, writes the forward to a specially-packaged book of Psalms, convinces Sen. Jesse Helms to help African AIDS victims, and use his time on national television to pray the Scriptures?

He makes pitches for the Bible, gets nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize, and then makes news for getting pardoned by the FCC for using the F-word on television, he is a walking contradiction.

When asked if he saw similarities between Bono and Johnny Cash, Beard gave an interesting perspective on Cash's appearance as a vocalist on U2's Zooropa:

There is a very good reason that Johnny Cash performed on the Zooropa album. He served symbolically as a limping priest, one who had gone through his own personal hell with fame and fortune and could be empathetic to fellow travelers who were wandering in their own desert. He was viewed as an authority figure that had the weight of a moral anchor in a tumultuous sea.

Posted by JohnH at 10:50 AM | | TrackBack

Preview U2 Go Home

U2 Go Home, the upcoming DVD release of their historic return to Slane Castle as part of the Elevation Tour, hits stores November 18. Naturally, I'm crazy with anticipation. Universal Switzerland gives me more to look forward to by posting an online preview (Flash required) featuring clips of "Beautiful Day," "Out of Control," "Where the Streets Have No Name," "Pride," "One," and "Walk On." Check it out and enjoy!

Update: Here's a good review of the DVD from U2Tour.de

Art is Relative (A Follow Up)

I posted on the question Is Music Amoral? not too long ago, prompted by a BHT discussion on the same topic. Today I came across what has to be the best essay I've ever read on the subject of sacred and secular art. What Does Music Mean? is a featured article on Te Deum, a new music website by the people behind The Discerning Reader. It's rather long, so give yourself some time and read it carefully. It's excellent.

Seeking Song Recommendations

Calling all opinionated music fans -- I need your song recommendations! What I'm planning is a mix cd built around the song "Everybody Hurts" by R.E.M. as well as "Stuck in a Moment" by U2 and "Everything's Not Lost" by Coldplay. That should give you a sense of the musical and lyrical theme I'm going for, so please leave a comment with your picks.

Broadcast Me a Joyful Noise

Yesterday morning I picked up a copy of In Time: The Best of R.E.M. 1988-2003. I like R.E.M. and I've always respected them, but I don't own all or even half their albums, so In Time is perfect for people like me. It's chock full of great songs, including a couple of new tracks. "Bad Day" has been stuck in my head since I first heard it yesterday morning. It's a brilliant R.E.M. single -- instantly catchy, with those "It's the End of the World" style vocals that are distinctly Michael Stipe's. I've also been recaptured by the beauty of "Everybody Hurts." It's such a perfect song of hope for the hopeless:

If you're on your own in this life, the days and nights are long,
when you think you've had too much of this life to hang on.

Well, everybody hurts sometimes,
everybody cries. And everybody hurts sometimes.
And everybody hurts sometimes. So, hold on, hold on.
Hold on, hold on. Hold on, hold on. Hold on, hold on.

In Time is not only full of great songs, but the limited edition packaging is incredible. The booklet has a brief commentary on each song on the best of cd and the rarities cd by Peter Buck. His comments are as revealing as they are entertaining. A couple of highlights to whet your appetite:

On "Stand":
Without a doubt, Stand is the, um, how shall I say this? It's the stupidest song we've ever written.

On "Orange Crush":
The funny thing is, every time I play it, it means something different to me, and I find myself moved emotionally...

A couple of chords, a good melody, and some words can mean more than a seven hundred-page novel...

I guess I've found a good way not to talk about a song that means something dark and mysterious to me.

Selah.

R.E.M. has a rich legacy of beautiful, heartfelt, and utterly singable songs. If you're like me, and you've found yourself singing along with them on the radio as long as you can remember, but you never jumped on the bandwagon, buy a copy of In Time. You won't regret it.

Honorable Hiatus

One of my favorite bands, Over the Rhine, announced today in an email to fans, that it is postponing all remaining tour dates for this year, indefinitely. This was disappointing, as I'd hoped to catch a show in Nashville or Atlanta on their Christmas tour. The disappointment was alleviated and replaced by an increased respect for Karin and Linford when I read why they were postponing the tour:

There are two trees in our lives (we do choose our record covers carefully): one is our music and one is our marriage. Sometimes we water one or the other, hopefully both.

We've poured our hearts and our souls into our music this year, and we've seen that tree bear a lot of fruit and flourish. But we've increasingly realized that there has been very little room left over for anything else including our relationship and marriage. As difficult a decision as it is, we've decided we must go home to do some much needed caretaking and work to preserve this part of our lives.

We really love what we do, but we're not willing to sacrifice our relationship and marriage on the altar of a career.

This choice to prioritize their marriage over their music -- their career -- is honorable, and my prayer for them is that God will bring the healing and refreshment to their relationship that they are seeking. And until they get back on the tour bus, I'll keep enjoying my copies of Ohio and Films for Radio.

Stuck in My Head

Don't you hate it when you get a song stuck in your head? Stuck in my head today is "If I Could Turn Back Time" by Cher. I have no idea how I heard this song. It isn't in my stereo, or on my computer, and I only left the house once today, to pick up something from my brother's house. So how did this song weasel its way into my mental playlist and push the repeat button? And, naturally, I only know a few lines from the whole song, so it's just those little snippets that keeps repeating itself.

If I could turn back time,
If I could find a way...

If I could reach the stars,
I'd give them all to you...

Then maybe, maybe, maybe
...Like you used to do

Yesterday I had a Whitney Houston song stuck in my head, and a couple days before that, it was a song by Avril Lavinge. Why am I being tortured like this? I need some rock and roll to soothe my soul...

The Edge Remembers Johnny Cash

In Hot Press magazine, The Edge wrote about Johnny Cash being punk:

I think it was his combining so many things that people were interested in, the political awareness and a sense of righteous anger of behalf of the downtrodden and the disenfranchised, whether they were the inmates of San Quentin or just the working class people that he knew so well in America and wrote so eloquently about. He always seemed to be up for the underdog and that just sat so well with what punk rock was all about.

He also talked about how it came to pass that Cash sang "The Wanderer" on U2's Zooropa:

"I think like so many of our best ideas, 'The Wanderer' happened almost by magic. We were working on the song, Bono got on the mic to sing and he was going, 'I dunno quite how I'm gonna approach this one.' And out of the blue he said, 'Hey, y'know, I think Johnny Cash is in town, maybe we could get him to come and sing on this, with me or instead of me.'

Audience Participation (Part 1)

What is your favorite cd purchased this year? What makes it stand out?

Thank You, For All Gifts, [and] Blessings

After what must be a good two months of off and on searching, I hit the jackpot this weekend. I found a collection of FTP sites offering downloads of U2 bootlegs. They even had an "A" quality audience bootleg of the 11-30-01 concert in Atlanta, which Genia and I attended. Amazing! I spent all day Saturday downloading the files, and last night I listened to the whole concert. My memories of the concert came flooding back, and I was blown away all over again.

The band walked onto the stage, house lights up, with the opening chords of Elevation playing. Bono walked to the tip of the heart, knelt down on one knee, and made the Catholic sign of the cross before jumping up to begin his performance. The whole band was on fire for every single song, and the emotions Bono conveyed remind me of the stories of the Slane Castle performance. This was clearly an emotional night for him.

He talked about losing his father and dedicated "Kite" to Mike Mills (REM) who had recently lost his father also. He mentioned Micheal Hutchence (INXS) before singing "Stuck in a Moment" and said that there were "less stars in the sky" before singing George Harrison's "My Sweet Lord." He talked briefly about September 11th before an acoustic performance of "Please." Bono recited the line from the Psalms -- "What can I give back to God for the blessings he's poured out on me?" -- as The Edge played the spectacular opening chords of "Where the Streets Have No Name." We were feeling a bit of heaven on earth at that moment, and a heartfelt performance of "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" took us a little bit higher. As I listened to Bono sing "Hear us calling, Lord, knocking at your door" as he closed out "One," I shared the cry of his heart. The show closed with "Walk On" and a chorus of Hallelujahs before Bono said "and unto the Almighty God, thank you, for all gifts, [and] blessings." Amen.

The power of this concert was amazing, and there are few other moments in my life that compare. It was everything U2 means to me rolled into one two-hour shot. Having this bootleg, and being able to listen as I remember, is a really special thing for me.

Good Cover Songs

A discussion at MetaFilter about bad cover songs got me thinking about my favorites (and least favorites). Here are some great and/or fun cover songs:

• Johnny Cash - "Hurt"
• Smashing Pumpkins - "Landslide"
• The Lemonheads - "Mrs. Robinson"
• P.O.D. - "Bullet the Blue Sky"
• Over the Rhine - "Ruby Tuesday" (Live)
• Matchbox Twenty - "Time After Time" (Live)
• Caedmon's Call - "Walk on the Ocean" (Live)
• Jars of Clay - "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun" (Live)
• Coldplay - "What the World Needs Now" (Live)

My sister-in-law April is thinking about recording an independent album next summer, and one thing she wants to do is include one great cover song (more than likely a U2 cover). Here are a few that we've talked about:

• U2 - "Stay (Faraway, So Close!)"
• U2 - "Staring at the Sun"
• U2 - "Running to Stand Still"

CD Prices Falling

Through U2Log I found out that Universal Music Group just announced that they are dropping wholesale cd prices and lowering the suggested retail price of their cds to $12.98 (from $18.98) as of October 1. Signal vs. Noise asked "are the price wars on?" and noted that EMI shares dropped 10% after the Universal price cut was announced.

Personally, this was exciting news. I love music, and buy cds as often as I can, but the budget just isn't always there for a $15 or even $20 cd purchase. Yesterday, while browsing the music section of Target, I noticed that the new Black Rebel Motorcycle Club album, which I blogged about last month, was on sale for only $6.98. While I probably wouldn't have bought it for, say, $14.98, this sale price was too good to pass up. If retailers such as Best Buy, Circuit City, and Amazon.com, who already sell cds below suggested retail prices, lower their prices on Universal cds proportional to the drop in wholesale prices, we could start seeing cds retail for $10 or less by the end of the year. This will certainly be met with an increase in cd purchasing by myself and many other budget-conscious music lovers that don't download albums. Let the prices fall, and let my cd rack fill up!

And So She Woke Up

I noticed that I've been posting a lot of music links lately, so I almost decided not to post this one, but it is simply too good not to share. So here it is, Tori Amos performing "Running to Stand Still" live at Red Rocks. (bootleg courtesy of Instant Sunshine, reported by @U2's Off the Record)

Advance Listening

PasteMusic.com has three mp3s from Over the Rhine's upcoming Ohio. Take a listen. My favorite of the three is "Show Me," an upbeat alt-country and gospel laced track, and I really like "Suitcase," a simple piano ballad of love about to be lost.

Almost a Masterpiece

Jeffrey Overstreet of Looking Closer brings us a review of Over the Rhine's new double album Ohio. From his account, this is not an album to miss and stands as possibly their finest work to date.

Even more of a must read is Overstreet's revealing interview with OTR songwriter Linford Detweiler about the new album and why he was "born to be a songwriter." On the subject of songwriting, he said:

It goes back to that metaphor of having �ears to hear and eyes to see�� there are these little clues, these little snippets of the eternal that are constantly coming into focus for a few moments and then disappearing. I often wonder how much we miss.

At one point, Linford says that "Jesus kept turning up on this record" and went on to describe the feeling of being "haunted by Christ":

I guess our prayer would be that if we are haunted by Christ, which of course we are, that it is the Christ that declared obsolete forever the �kill or be killed� approach to resolving differences, the Christ who turned over the tables of those who were trying to make a buck off!
of salvation. The Christ that turned water into exceptionally noteworthy wine. That�s the Christ that I want to be haunted by, that I would welcome� I would welcome that Christ�s influence on any song.�

Discussing his Christian faith, he said:

That�s a kingdom that I still deeply believe in, in terms of where I am with Christianity, in terms of growing up in the Church. In some ways it�s hard for me to get really interested in this idea of getting right with God so we can be whisked away to heaven, and experience eternal bliss. But when I start thinking in terms of there being a kingdom that could come to earth to resolve all of this madness, that�s what I start getting excited about, that�s what I start remembering. I start remembering that, yeah, people could die for this.�There is something potentially revolutionary going on that can heal deep-seated violence and roots of bitterness that seem to poison our best efforts.

That's the kind !
of kingdom that excites me as well. "Heaven on earth, we need it now..."

Worth Listening To

Preview four tracks from the upcoming album by Black Rebel Motorcycle Club.

Music on the Horizon

There are a few new releases on deck that have me pretty excited. The first of which is a new double-album by Over the Rhine. It's called Ohio, has a simple yet stunning album cover, and it hits shelves August 19th. They will, of course, be hitting the road this fall and I don't want to miss that.

Next up is Starsailor. The follow-up to Love is Here, one of my favorites of 2002, is due out September 16th and is titled Silence is Easy. When I saw them in concert last year, they played one track from the album called "Born Again" which was amazing. This should be a great album and I'll be looking forward to seeing them in concert again.

Finally we have something U2 fans worldwide have been coveting for almost two years. The Slane Castle Elevation concert (day 2) is being released on DVD on November 18th. This was, by all accounts, an incredible performance, and the set list is great. Different enough from the Boston DVD but still featuring the classics. Uber-fans know this as the concert which took place just days after Bono's dad died, making this an especially emotional performance. You can bet I'll be picking it up the day it comes out.

The U2 Rumor Mill

It's been long reported on U2 fansites such as @U2 and U2Log, as well as in more traditional news outlets, that the guys are in the studio working on the follow up to 2000's All That You Can't Leave Behind. The past week has seen several new tidbits and rumors popping up. U2Log reported that an employee of a touring logistics company leaked news of a contract with U2 for May 2004 and onward. The same day, U2Log received an email regarding a promotional poster for the new album, to be titled Solar and due in stores March 8, 2004. This email was taken with a high dose of skepticism, but was backed up days later by photographs of the poster. The fan community on U2Log is fairly convinced that the poster is an elaborate hoax, but the tour date rumor is generally accepted as it fits well with very recent comments made by manager Paul McGuiness as well as earlier comments from Bono, Edge, and Larry. One exciting and reliable bit of information about the sound of the new album came from a conversation between a fan and Steve Averill, one of U2's graphic designers, at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.

Five Good Songs You've Never Heard

This is me, acting like I'm some sort of musical elite, speaking from on high, telling you what you need to listen to that you don't already. Pay me as much or as little attention as you deem appropriate. Click on the artist's name to go to their website. Click on the song title to go to a download page where you can grab the songs for free and without the objection of the RIAA.

Damien Jurado - "Abilene"
Far Star - "Open Apology"
Damien Rice - "Volcano"
Ellipsis - "Miles" (Over the Rhine cover)
Luxury - "To Conquer and Destroy"

Stealing Hearts at a Traveling Show

Via Graphic Evidence on U2log.com I found out about a limited-edition book called Stealing Hearts at a Traveling Show about the graphic design of U2. The book is written by the geniuses of Four5one who have handled the graphic design work for U2's albums, singles, and tours since U2 3, their first EP. Check out the post on U2log.com for some sample pages, and then head over to the book's website to pre-order a copy (for me!).

Now Playing

I've got my mp3 playlist set to "shuffle" and these are the last fifteen songs that came through:

"Somewhere in Between" - Lifehouse
"Crush" - Dave Matthews Band
"To Conquer and Destroy" - Luxury
"The Wonderful Cross" - Chris Tomlin
"Fall Down" - Toad the Wet Sprocket
"Goodnight Elisabeth" - Counting Crows
"American English" - Idlewild
"The Man Comes Around" - Johnny Cash
"Time After Time" - Cyndi Lauper
"Fairlee" - Matt Pond PA
"Open Apology" - Far Star
"Have You Seen Me Lately" - Counting Crows
"Don't Panic" - Coldplay
"Green Eyes" - Coldplay
"You've Got to Hide Your Love Away" - Eddie Vedder

It could be a little more random... there are two bands with two songs each, but I'm not sure if RealOne is smart enough to know that, or if the clip data is entered correctly so it could know that. Also, there's more U2 on my drive than Coldplay or Counting Crows, the two bands that got played twice, but U2 didn't get played at all. Interesting...

Every Artist is a Cannibal

Via Blogs4God I found an interesting article entitled If it Looks Like an Evangelical Skunk over at The Internet Monk which discusses art and the Evangelical Christian subculture. He mentions some specific criticisms of the subculture and the art being produced from within it, but the main point I got from it is contained in the following quotes:

Christians are not obligated to approve of all that comes sprouting forth from the evangelical subculture compost heap... we have an obligation, in the name of the integrity of truth, to call a skunk a skunk, even if he is carrying a Bible and singing "As the Deer."

I think Christians should freely express their criticisms of the mediocrity and distortion that emerges from the evangelical ghetto, and not be the least ashamed to do so. If we critique ourselves, that only speaks more to our confidence in the truth. It also shows (surprise) humility to acknowledge none of us are beyond criticism. It is a general observation of mine that Christians are woefully afraid of engaging in criticism of their own sub-culture as if that meant they were criticizing Jesus. Believe me, Jesus did not come up with all that Y2K nonsense. Or the script for the Omega Code.

I certainly agree with the Monk and have occaisonally voiced my frustrations with Contemporary Christian Music in particular. Scott recently voiced a similar opinion. One of the things that bothers me about CCM is that the artistry seems to take a back seat to getting across a clear, nice, warm-fuzzy message. And the lyrics are nothing much to speak of. Most of it is the "Jesus is my girlfriend/boyfriend" type lyrics or a "don't worry, be happy" mentality. Even many of the songs that are supposedly about struggle are little more than "I made it through, and you can too." Did any of these people actually write songs when they were right in the middle of the trial, when they didn't understand what God was up to or if He was paying attention at all? Or is it just that the CCM culture will not all!
ow unanswered questions? Give me Peace on Earth by U2 any day. I can relate to that. And so could the Psalmist. The only CCM song I can think of in that vein is Silence by Jars of Clay, and I would almost guarantee it'll never be a single on Christian radio. The primary reason Jars of Clay is my favorite CCM group is because they are unafriad to be transparent, admit desperation, and cry out to God in a real way.

Viva La Bono

My friend Tom and I have channelled our U2 fanaticism into a new top ten list. It's the Top Ten Reasons Bono is Our Pontiff. Check it out!

Bono: "Excuse me, what are you doing in my chair?"

Thank You, Iowa

This is wonderful and encouraging news: Iowa Bans Carman Performances. Hopefully the other 49 states will fall in line soon. And then maybe we can even follow the lead of the Vagrant Cafe Forums and ban the use of his name in print. (Yes, the article is satire.)

Bono Madness

U2 and Bono have been all over the place pretty much since All That You Can't Leave Behind came out in October 2000. They aren't losing any steam, and this post is going to be chock full of great links about what they've been up to. To start, we have a trio of articles from Christianity Today.

Bono's American Prayer -- "The world's biggest rock star tours the heartland, talking more openly about his faith as he recruits Christians in the fight against AIDS in Africa." This is an excellent article featuring quotes from Bono himself along with Bill Hybels (pastor of Willow Creek, one of the largest churches in the country) and Michael W. Smith, who both spoke up confirming their belief that Bono is a genuine Christian seeking to make the world a better place. It's a great read, and has a positive, supportive slant.

Pop Music With Brains -- "From the beginning, U2 has engaged spiritual questions." This article is considerably shorter than "American Prayer" and addresses the spiritual issues in U2's lyrics. There's nothing here that I hadn't heard before, but then again, I'm not exactly what you'd call a casual fan, so you might get more out of it. It's a good read either way.

Bono's Thin Ecclesiology -- "Any person can stand outside the church and critique its obedience to the gospel." This is an editorial criticizing Bono for criticizing the church even though he isn't a member of an organized church. I suppose they forgot about that whole "universal church" concept where all who are in Christ make up "the church." It's got a distinctly negative slant towards Bono and comes off a bit defensive.

Respect, Righteousness and a Mirrorball Lemon is a response to Christianity Today's editorial written by an Episcopal pastor and co-author of an upcoming book featuring sermons based on U2's lyrics. I personally find more to agree with in this editorial than in "Bono's Thin Ecclesiology."

Next we have a lengthy interview with Grammy Magazine in which Bono discusses his work campaigning for Africa and the new album that U2 is currently working on. A favorite quote from the interview: "I just came from the studio today, and it's ridiculous what's going on. Edge is just on fire; he's making the most extraordinary things come out of his guitar. It's astonishing. We came up with a tune today called 'Lead Me In The Way I Should Go,' which could be a big song. Another one, provisionally titled 'Full Metal Jacket,' is pure chrome. I'm very excited about what we're doing..."

And finally, Bono is an official nominee for the 2003 Nobel Peace Prize for his work with DATA in the battles against AIDS and poverty in Africa.

Discovery and Rediscovery

Thursday night Genia and I stopped by a local used cd store hoping to find a couple good cds for a cheap price. Generally, whenever I walk into the used cd store, it's as if there is a force field on the door, and as soon as I pass through, my mind goes completely blank as to what cds I might be interested in purchasing. I end up walking up and down the aisles alphabetically, trying to remember what I wanted to buy. Fortunately, Thursday night, they had some cds on display at the counter and that jogged my memory. Even more fortunately, they had the cds in stock that I wanted to buy... and more. I could've easily spent $50 in there. I ended up walking out a happy man, though, spending only $13 on two incredible cds:

Oasis (What's the Story) Morning Glory?
I originally bought this cd in high school, I'm guessing either late 1995 or early 1996 (since Amazon says it was released in October 1995) based on the single "Wonderwall" which I've always thought was a great pop-rock song. I remembered liking the album quite a bit back then, as I was just really starting to get into music during my years at ASMS. I got rid of the cd in late 1998 along with all the rest of my "worldly" music. I'll save the long version of that story for another day, but suffice to say that I have reached a place in my life where I look differently at art than I did in the more reactionary days of my Christian faith. I recently put "Wonderwall" on a mixed cd that I made of mid-tempo type songs, and I started missing this album. I popped it in Foxxy's cd player as we left the cd store and it hit me all over again how great this cd is. I'm sure!
there's a bit of nostalgia coming into play, but these songs can't be denied. Oasis has a great gift for melody and a big sound. I love the emotional choruses of "Don't Look Back in Anger", "Wonderwall", and "Cast No Shadow". I feel like -- yet amazingly enough, do not sound like -- a rock star singing along with "Hello" and "Morning Glory". I love the fun rock-n-roll of "She's Electric" and "Roll With It." Now that this is veering off into sounding like an album review, I guess I'll just embrace the tangent and end this by saying: 4 stars

U2 Achtung Baby
You might be thinking to yourself, "Why did John, huge U2 nut that he is, not already own this cd?", to which I would reply, "It's the economy, stupid." Seriously, though, I've wanted to buy this album for quite some time, but either didn't have the money or there was some new cd that I thought I'd rather have. What was I thinking?!? In short, this cd is amazing. Sometimes I wish I would have been into music, rock music specifically, at an earlier age. I would love to have been a U2 fan around the time of The Joshua Tree and Rattle and Hum. Those were really the first glory days of U2, and it would have been incredible to see R&H; in the movie theatre, or to go to one of the concerts on those tours. It would have also given me a chance to see Achtung Baby in its historical context -- I would be even more blown away by it! To be hooked on the rootsy sounds of Rattle & Hum and then hear the very alternative-rock and cutting edge guitar sounds!
of lead single "The Fly" on the radio a few years later in 1991, after U2 had gone away "to dream it all up again" -- wow. Even without that context, Achtung Baby stands as a great album in U2's history and in the history of rock music. The album is dark and moody, with more of that desperation that pushes Bono to his greatest moments as a lyricist and as a singer. The classic U2 themes of hope, faith, and love -- and the effects of this life on the aforementioned -- are all there. I knew several of the songs before buying the album: "Mysterious Ways" -- the song of the Spirit, "Until the End of the World" -- a song from the perspective of Judas Iscariot, groundbreaking single "The Fly", "Even Better Than the Real Thing", and the classic "One". I was happy to find that the songs I didn't know are just as good. "Ultraviolet (Light My Way)" is probably my favorite of those tracks, with "Acrobat" a close second. This is such an amazing album, and my fanship of U2 is !
bigger than ever! 5 stars

Rush to the Music Store

Yesterday on my lunch break, I stopped in HMV and picked up the new Coldplay album, A Rush of Blood to the Head. I've managed to listen to it 7 or 8 times through since then, and it's excellent. Every single song on the album is good, with my early favorites being "The Scientist" and "Green Eyes" along with the current radio single "In My Place." If you have $15, go trade it in for Rush of Blood, one of the best records of the year.

Love Isn't Here: Live

Last week I got an email from Starsailor saying that they had a DVD coming out entitled Love is Here: Live. Since their show at the Cotton Club here in Atlanta ranks in my top three concerts of all time (along with U2 and Over the Rhine), I was very excited about the possibility of a DVD coming out. Then yesterday, which was supposed to be the release date, I checked on Amazon and learned that it is only available in England. The first thought that crossed my mind was "Well I'll just have to pay a large shipping fee." Unfortunately, I can't even do that. It's encoded as a Region 2 DVD, which means that only DVD players made for Europe can play it. I'm very sad.

Elevation of the Living Room

Last night Genia and I finally bought a DVD player. We're going to christen it tonight with the U2 Elevation Live in Boston DVD!

God Bless the Internet/The Sky Has Cracked

I've been looking forward to this for weeks, and it has finally come to pass... three weeks earlier than officially scheduled. Sunday, a BBJ Radio One DJ named Sarah played the new U2 single "Electrical Storm" (which she received personally from Bono as a wedding present) and some enterprising soul captured a great quality feed and put it online. I heard it today and it's really good. Like a few of the songs from All That You Can't Leave Behind, it's mid-tempo, and it has grown on me with repeated listens.

My favorite lines from the song:
You're in my mind
All of the time
I know it's not enough
If the sky can crack
There must be some way back
To love and only love

The single will hit U.S. radio September 16th, music stores October 21st, and the song will appear on U2's Best of 1990-2000 which hits stores November 12th. "Electrical Storm" is definitely worth a listen... or ten. Visit @U2 for a list of sites with an mp3 download or U2 Log (where I heard about the leak) to stream the song in RealAudio.

Live Music Last Night

Last night Genia and I had the pleasure of seeing Randy Chester, our friend Michial's band The Shots of Perspective, and the rock band Canary in Lawrenceville. It was a great show. Randy opened with a short but sweet acoustic set, including a nice song by his girlfriend (?) Mackenzie, who has an incredible voice.

Michial's set was good and he opened with a special song he chose for me, a cover of U2's "The Playboy Mansion." Now covering a U2 song is a big task, especially considering my great love for their work, but he did a solid job. I enjoyed it quite a bit. He also sang some of my favorites of his tunes including "Iconoclast" and "Let it Be an End." I also got to show him a mock-up of the CD booklet that I just completed for his debut full-lenght. And, because I like both of my readers so much, here's a link to the Front Cover and the Back Cover. He was pleased with it, so that makes me happy. I've worked pretty hard on it!

Finishing out the show was Canary. I had never seen them live before, and had only heard a couple of their songs on their mp3.com page, so I wasn't sure what to expect. I certainly wasn't expecting them to be as amazing as they turned out to be. They brought the rock -- great songs played with incredible passion and energy. I loved it. I picked up their last cd, a split EP with a band called Under the Red. Great stuff. I hope to see this band live again... soon.

The World Can Wait

I'm speechless. In a good way, a very good way. Today I got my copy of the 2-cd set from Over the Rhine's 4-14-02 show in Atlanta. Genia and I were at the show -- it was our virgin Over the Rhine experience. (Aside: I like to see bands live before buying the cd if I can. It's a recently added quirk.) The show was nothing short of amazing. I am entirely taken with the band, and about a month ago I bought their most recent disc, Films for Radio, which is incredible. Back to the concert cds, the quality is fantastic, and if I close my eyes, I am back in Smith's Olde Bar being amazed. The standout track from the show is "The World Can Wait" -- it's just Karin's voice and a piano, and it's almost too good to handle. Do yourself a favor -- check out this band!

Happy Birthday

August 8, 1961: David Evans is born in Barking Maternity Hospital, East London.

In case you're wondering who David Evans is, he's that guy in U2 that's always wearing a skull cap and holding a guitar. That's right, kids, he's The Edge. 41 years old and kicking the butts of guitarists half his age. Happy Birthday, Edge.

In related news, @U2.com and other fan/news sites are reporting that a new U2 track entitled "Electrical Storm" will be released to radio on September 16th and released as a single in October. The track is also scheduled to appear on the Best of 1990-2000 CD which drops in November.