Thinking about U2’s Zooropa – exile and restoration

I found myself awake a lot last night so I popped in my earbuds, hit play on my iPod and listened to Zooropa, perhaps the U2 album I have had the least affinity to. That may have changed after my careful listen last night.

I realized that you can view this album as being two halves – the first half about the shallowness of the world and the second half about restoration, a theme that shows up in scripture as exile and restoration in the overarching story of Israel and in smaller stories like the Prodigal Son.

Let's take a quick walk through the album and see what's there. (You can find all the lyrics here.) In “Zooropa” we hear “And I have no compass and I have no map / And I have no reasons, no reasons to get back / And I have no religion and I don't know what's what / And I don't know the limit, the limit of what we got” which indicate that the singer has no direction.

“Babyface” reduces the woman that Bono sings about to little more than tinfoil and lace. Perhaps the most obvious example is “Numb” with its litany of excesses in the current age. “Lemon” is a reflection on how the image is preferable to the actual person. Building the car itself becomes the destination – we’re really going nowhere. “Stay” tells the story of yet another aimless person: “Red light, grey morning / You stumble out of a hole in the ground / A vampire or a victim / It depends on who's around.”

This brings us through the first half of the album – a half that’s frankly, pretty depressing. It is an unflinching look at a world that has little going for it except an onslaught of excess.

In the second half things start to look up. We begin, surprisingly enough, with a song about a crashed car. Who “Daddy” is is never explicit but it must be a song about grace. We crash the car and God pays for it. When I first heard “some days are better than others” I thought about the bad days that are referred to. Now I think that it’s a song about the good ones. “Some days you hear a voice taking you to another place / Some days are better than others.”

“The First Time” is a song with the Trinity built into it, the Holy Spirit in verse one, the Son in the second verse and then the Father in the third. I was puzzled by the throwing away of the keys in the third verse for a while, thinking that Bono was talking about leaving the church. Now I don’t think that’s the case. The key in question is not the key to church – in all three verses we see that God has reached out and the singer has not been able to fully grasp what’s being offered – in the third verse it’s the keys to the coming kingdom but the singer is too caught up in the stuff from the first half of the album to accept them. But he still recognizes that he feels loved.

I wonder if the voice of “Dirty Day” is the voice of Jesus. Here’s why: the father to son talk, the talk about “kissin’ time” and this verse: "Get it right
/ There's no blood thicker than ink
/ Hear what I say
/ Nothing's a simple as you think
/ Wake up
/ Somethings you can't get around
/ I'm in you 
/ More so when they put me in the ground."

If, in “Dirty Day,” redemption is made explicit, then it’s made personal in the “The Wanderer.” This album is a journey – a journey from the crassness and excesses of society to the redemption offered by Christ and accepted by flawed people. It’s a story of grace. I like this album a lot better now!

2009 - albums of the year.

This has been a strange year of listening for me – not many new albums have really grabbed my attention. Plus, for a couple of reasons, I spent time rediscovering old albums. The Beatles remasters of course were released in September and, while I’m getting the stereo remasters for Christmas, the mono remasters have been in my rotation for a couple of months and they’re spectacular. I can’t wait for the stereo ones. U2 came out with a remastered Unforgettable Fire which was a great thing to listen to. Between old U2 and the Beatles there isn't a whole lot of room for new music to creep in.

On top of that I spent part of the summer deliberately going back and listening to old classic albums that I had somehow missed the first time around, albums like Blue by Joni Mitchell and Electric Ladyland by Jimi Hendrix. They are clearly on my best listening of the year list. I also continue to enjoy Electric Arguments by the Fireman (Paul McCartney) which was on my list last year.

But none of those are new albums – there actually are only a handful of new ones that got me excited, two of the are live albums of bands playing old stuff. One that surprised me is Over the Rhine’s Live from Nowhere, Vol. 4. I had low expectations for this album since it was all songs from my least favorite OtR period, their earliest days. But the playing and singing on LfN4 is just wonderful – it’s a reunion concert of the early band and Ric Hordinski’s playing is great. Eric Clapton and Steve Winwood (who made up half of Blind Faith in the 60's) released Live from Madison Square Garden which is a very good live album with both Clapton and Winwood at the top of their game. I got to see their tour last summer and Clapton was clearly playing very very well. I never dreamed that I'd actually ever see the two of them playing Blind Faith songs together live. It was great (although they were playing even better when I saw them than they did on the album!)

Three new bands caught my ear this year. Owl City’s album Ocean Eyes is a lot of fun. The song “Fireflies” grabbed me right away and the rest of the album followed suit. It might sound too much alike over all but I'm not sick of it yet. I discovered another new band, the Rescues – I think they’re great and their album Crazy Ever After got a lot of play last summer too. The Rescues is a collection of four solo artists who together have catchy tunes, lush harmonies and interesting arrangements. Dhani Harrison’s band thenewno2 (the new number 2) released You Are Here, an album that has glimpses of his father George’s melodic style but cast in a fresh way. This is not just a son cashing in on his father’s name – I think Dhani might have a real future ahead of him. Even though I got it early in the year I keep going back to it.

Finally, my number one album of the year has to be U2’s No Line on the Horizon. This album is adventurous and risky but there are moments of sheer brilliance like “Magnificent” and “White as Snow.” I even like the lead single “Get on Your Boots.” Whenever I don’t hear the album for a few weeks and listen again I get excited because it’s just so good. I remember when I first got it I listened with my ipod in a hotel in Troy, MI and was just blown away. That was when I realized what a very special record this was. I got to see U2 in Chicago this fall and I will again in East Lansing next summer. The clear high point to my musical year!

More thoughts on No LIne on the Horizon - Get on Your Beautiful Feet

I woke up at 5:00 AM this morning, 50 minutes before my alarm and 30 minutes before I allow myself to get up so I reached for my ipod (which I keep by my bed for such a time as this) and figured i would listen for half an hour. I put it on random album knowing that I have a lot of single songs on the ipod right now from Paste samplers and free itunes downloads. I thought about listening to U2 but figured I would experience a little variety - after all I had been listening to the new album a lot lately. After one song (by Tina Dico) No Line on the Horizon started (it's only a 1 GB ipod so it's not THAT unreasonable that it would pop up.) Even though I'd listened to it a LOT lately as it started it sounded good to me and I haven't listened with earbuds in a while so I let it run and enjoyed it a lot - again. I heard lots of sounds I had not heard before - the time spent on making this album really shows when you listen intently.

I got to the halfway point - almost time to get up - and "Get On Your Boots" came on. Now I've been listening to this song for a month now but in the context of the album it seems to play differently. Bono got to the "You don't know how beautiful you are" part and I suddenly had a realization. I thought of Isaiah 52:7,

How beautiful on the mountains
are the feet of those who bring good news,
who proclaim peace,
who bring good tidings,
who proclaim salvation,
who say to Zion,
"Your God reigns!"

As soon as I thought of it I knew that I was on to something. Bono is a scripture nut - he knows it and he quotes it a lot. It oozes out of him. He's singing a song about feet and then riffs on "how beautiful." There has to be a connection.

Incomplete thoughts regarding No Line on the Horizon

Yesterday I learned that the forthcoming companion album to U2's No Line on the Horizon will be called Songs of Ascent, a reference, no doubt to the set of Psalms (120-134) that the people of Israel sang as they made their way to Jerusalem to celebrate the passover.

With that thought in the back of my mind I finally this morning read the lyrics to "I'll Go Crazy if I Don't Go Crazy Tonight." The chorus (which I have a hard time understanding without the lyric sheet) begins "It’s not a hill, it’s a mountain / As you start out the climb." Now I'm not sure if there is a connection between this mountain and the hills that the people of Israel climbed on their way to the passover but I'm going to keep my ears open to see if there is.

More on U2's No Line on the Horizon - reflecting on "Unknown Caller"

I’ve been listening to the new U2 album by trying to think about what each song might be about in the overall context that I pointed to in my previous post. Today I thought a bit about the song “Unknown Caller.”

In “Until the End of the World” Bono takes the point of view of Judas. In “Unknown Caller” I think he may be taking on the point of view of Jesus – just after the resurrection on Easter Sunday. Here are the lyrics.

Here’s why I think this interpretation could work. When Bono sings “Sunshine, sunshine” I can imagine Jesus stepping out of the tomb on that Sunday morning.

The first verse puts Jesus before the resurrection:

I was lost between the midnight and the dawning
In a place of no consequence or company
3:33 when the numbers fell off the clock face
Speed-dialing with no signal at all

Lost between midnight and dawning could refer to being in the garden or to his time between being on the cross and Sunday morning. 3:33 might well refer to Jeremiah 33:3, which Bono hid on the cover of All That You Can’t Leave Behind and calls God’s phone number. Here is what it says: “Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.”

When Jesus calls on God he says "My God, My God, why have you forsaken me." This is the speed dialing with no signal. (As a note, I think that Jesus' words are a clear reference to Psalm 22 in which the Psalmist starts out saying that God has forsaken him and realizes that God has not. I think this is the point Jesus is making by quoting the Psalm and it seems that Bono might have taken this at face value instead - thinking that God the Father had indeed forsaken Jesus on the cross. So I think Bono is referring to this word from the cross but I think he interpreted it incorrectly.)

The song continues

Go, shout it out, rise up
Oh, oh
Escape yourself and gravity
Hear me, cease to speak that I may speak
Shush now

This sounds to me like Jesus telling us to celebrate his resurrection. Especially later when he sings

Restart and re-boot yourself
You’re free to go
Oh, oh
Shout for joy if you get the chance

I could go on for the rest of the song like this but I'll let you do a little digging for yourself. It all seems to fit the overall idea. I'm amazed at the number of songs on this album that have a pretty distinct Christian theme. There are others on the net who are saying similar things about the album (much of what I like) but sometime I think they're stretching a bit to make every song fit a larger theological theme. I've tried really hard not to do that here. I really think this is what Bono had in mind. There is a lot of cool stuff on this album and I don't intend (at least not at this point) to go through it song by song but I'm listening to this album a lot and the more I hear it the more I like it.

No Line on the Horizon – U2’s new album

I am a huge U2 fan. I already knew I would like their new album, No Line on the Horizon, before I heard it. Why? Because 12 albums into a career there is not a single U2 album that has not paid off for me on repeated listens. These guys are thoughtful, creative and better at doing what they do than anyone else. I'm a fan and I'll admit it. So if you expect me to be lukewarm on this album you'll have to go someplace else.

Five years ago U2’s How to Dismantle An Atomic Bomb grabbed me on the first listen. The songs on the album were spectacular and accessible – I understood them early on and continued to find new things to like in them as I played (and replayed and replayed) the album. That album stayed in my player for a very long time. I saw the tour and what little remained of my U2 skepticism went right out the window.

So, now that my confession is out of the way and I’ve given up any pretense of impartiality I can address their new album, No Line on the Horizon. My first taste of it was the single “Get on Your Boots” which, sure, is a little dopey in spots but, frankly, I played the single a lot. iTunes keeps track of the number of plays and I was well over a dozen by the end of day two. I thought it was creative and fun and had a killer riff. But when I finally got the chance to hear the whole album I realized that there was really nothing else quite like that on the whole album. In fact my initial response was that the album was quite subdued overall. This will take repeated listening to really get, I thought. And I was right. After a number of plays I have come to see this as a wonderful U2 album, and sounds to me very much like the natural successor to either Zooropa or The Unforgettable Fire.

Steve Harmon, in his review of the album suggests that this is the horizon line referred to in the song and tha albm title is the line separating heaven and earth and that Bono is looking at the horizon for a day when earth will be more like heaven. I am still hard pressed to get that out of just looking at the lyrics to the song but his argument makes a lot of sense to me. But that’s the thing about U2’s writing – the theological stuff is sometimes only there for those who have ears to hear. And in this case the whole album seems to be about trying to find what Bono had been looking for since the Joshua Tree. Even without the context for of the whole album I thought that “Get On Your Boots” was a call to arms – a call to the church to get out of it’s too complacent ways and do some work – these are work boots Bono is calling sexy. In context, it makes even more sense. This is how we can usher in the world where justice reigns – the world in the future (which needs “a big kiss” according to Bono.) This interpretation works for me.

There are times in this album where the point is pretty clear, as in the amazing “Magnificent.” Those of us who look for Christian subtext in U2’s music found it immediately in “Magnificent” – a song with a stirring sound and soaring melody. I can’t wait to hear how this one goes over live. But in this one Bono sings about how he was “born to sing for you.” The occasional reviewer missed the point here but Bono is pretty clearly talking about God – especially when he says that his first cry was a joyful noise. Bono also calls on some pretty familiar Christian imagery in “White as Snow.” You can't ignore this stuff and you can't just assume that Bono is playing with words - he is clearly evoking something in using these scriptural references. It all seems to point to an how Bono is still looking for peace and justice and love - and, in some cases, listing how we've all fallen short. This may be one of their more coherant album-long statements yet.

Musically I find this album has lots of things to enjoy. Eno and Lanois’ influence in pretty clear and this album really doesn’t sound like any other U2 album – but it still sounds like U2. It may not be as packed with hits as Atomic Bomb was but No Line on the Horizon is every bit as good. Bono still hasn't found what he's looking for but it's good to know that he and the rest of the band haven't stopped looking.

more u2 on the way?

A recent interview with U2 revealed this:

The future is another question for another interview. How long can U2 stay meaningful? Where will rock's greatest adventure end? For now, there is enough material left over from the sessions for an album that, Bono says, will be released before the end of the year. It will be "a more meditative album on the theme of pilgrimage".

Wow.

This is very cool - you should watch it

Beth over at U2 Sermons pointed me to this outtake from the Rattle and Hum film by U2. It is the performance of "I Still Haven't Found What I'm looking For" with the New Voices of Freedom. Much fun to watch.

Top 10 Spiritual Songs by U2

This article from the @U2 website is an interesting look at the spiritual nature of U2's music and lyrics. A few of my top choices are left off ("Where the Streets Have No Name," "All Because of You," "Until the End of the World") but it is an interesting list with some nice commentary. I have to find a copy of the song "Mercy" somewhere - anyone have it that they can send me?

More on U2 remasters

I have had a chance to spend more time with all four of the U2 remasters that have come out in the past year (and I’m anxiously waiting for the fifth to arrive this week) and I realize that these are pretty much everything I’d like to have in a remaster series. Here is why.

1. Don’t mess with the album. Good albums have a flow to them that, while it could theoretically be improved on, generally I get used to the album the way it is and I want to experience the original. By all means, improve the sound, but don’t add tracks. That just messes up the end.
2. Add tracks to a second CD. What I really want is a second CD full of cool stuff like EVERY non-album single and b-side that connects to the album and unreleased live tracks from the era. I am a completist and I expect a good remaster to help me complete. I’m not looking for demos (although they can be fun,) I’m looking for something that I actually will want to listen to, not just have for historical purposes.
3. Make the art count. I want to have the original album art but also let me see the covers of all the singles and what else was on them. Basically I want the complete story of this album and this era in the band’s life.
4. Add cool liner notes. Include a critical essay, complete credits and a description, preferably by a key member of the band, of the b-sides. Lyrics are a nice touch too.
   

The U2 remasters delivers on all counts. And here’s what else they did to make it cool. The Joshua Tree has an extra deluxe edition that includes a video of a concert from that era. Since Under a Blood Red Sky is already a live album – and a really really good one – more live tracks aren’t really called for so they leave the album just as it is but added tracks to the live concert video, which has never been released on DVD. Yeah, U2 got it right with The Joshua Tree, Boy, October, War and Under A Blood Red Sky.

U2 and word play

This morning I was listening to the Joshua Tree by U2 in the car on the drive in to work and looked out at the eastern sky as the sun was starting to make it purple and orange. I could see the horizon which, as a any good former math teacher knows, is the root of the word "horizontal."

That lead me to put the word "horizon" together with U2 and think about the rumored title of their forthcoming album "No Line On the Horizon." I thought more about the relationship between the words "horizontal" and "horizon" and wondered if there was a word which relates to "vertical" the same way.

Then the U2 connection came full circle and I realized the word I was looking for was "Vertigo."

Hello, Hello, I thought - I wonder if they were thinking of Vertigo and vertical when they decided to write a song about horizontal. hmmmm.

John Legend covers "Pride"

Worth watching

Instant Karma - The Campaign to Save Darfur

Instant Karma is not just your usual all-star tribute album. All the net proceeds go to the Amnesty International Fund for Darfur. Others have written about the crisis with much more authority than I. Suffice it to say that things are very bad there and have been for a while. So buying this album will help send some money toward that situation but the situation is complex and it will not be easily remedied. Nonetheless, I'm glad that people are raising awareness about it.

Some of those people are the artists on this wonderful new compilation album, Instant Karma. Yoko allowed these artists to record songs from John Lennon's solo career without paying any royalties so the organization (Make Some Noise) could release an album of other artists covering Lennon's music. Over 50 artists participated – so many that there are alternate versions of the album in the US and the UK , bonus tracks available at some stores and at itunes. I downloaded the bonus version of the album from itunes because it had ELEVEN extra tracks. I actually didn't buy this album right away when it came out because, frankly, most of the artists don't get me real excited but I started sampling tracks and heard more and more that I liked and, when I clicked on the Postal Service version of "Grow Old With Me" I just had to get the album. And I'm really glad I did.

Almost without exception I like every one of the 34(!) tracks on this record. Now, it is no secret that I like the Beatles so I was already a fan of these songs (and I, of course, have the original versions). But most of these artists put a new twist on their versions and made me enjoy them in a new way. U2's version of "Instant Karma" is great, of course but, believe it or not, so is Duran Duran's! (OK, maybe it's not "great" but at least it's pretty good.) Christina Aguilera singing "Mother?" This is an idea that I might have paid money NOT to listen to but, you know what? She does OK. I was really surprised by how much I like Big and Rich's version of "Nobody Told Me" and Regina Spektor haunting take on "Real Love" is wonderful. I'm not a Green Day fan but I like what they did with "Working Class Hero." Jakob Dylan (Bob's son) and Dhani Harrison (George's son) do a fine job on "Gimme Some Truth" with Dhani's slide guitar sounding like a cross between his father and Derek Trucks. The list just goes on and on. The Fab Faux (a high-class Beatles cover band) does "I Don't Wanna Face It" like the Beatles might have done it if Lennon had written it when they were together, complete with a typical McCartney bass line (patterned after "Rain") and delightful guitar double leads (like "And Your Bird Can Sing.") That one's definitely a highlight for me. Truth in advertising: I don't care much for Lenny Kravitz version of "Cold Turkey." But of the other 33 tracks, even bands I had never heard of caught my ear.

This says something about the strength of the original material, much of which comes from the period right at the end of Lennon's life; Double Fantasy, the album that just hit the charts when Lennon was shot in 1980 and the posthumously released Milk and Honey (which Lennon was making when he was shot and is really the twin to Double Fantasy.). Actually, these were both Lennon/Ono albums with John and Yoko alternating songs. So there are only 7 Lennon songs on Double Fantasy but 5 of them are on Instant Karma (more, I believe than from any other Lennon album). There were only 6 Lennon songs on Milk and Honey (including the gorgeous "Grow Old With Me" which Lennon never properly recorded – all we have is a demo) and 4 of them appear on Instant Karma. So it's pretty clear that Lennon was in a really good place musically when he was killed. It's a shame that he wasn't able to make more music. Fortunately, we have his recordings (including the revelatory 4-disc Anthology) and we have this wonderful album of new takes on his old songs. Even if you don't like compilations and tribute albums this one is worth getting.

Desert island discs part one – U2’s How to Dismantle and Atomic Bomb

I thought it would be nice to do a series here on Bob's Bloggery and, since I love to make lists, I thought I would start a series on my desert island discs – albums that, were I to be stranded for a while on a desert island with a CD player and the power to use it (a somewhat unlikely scenario,) I would want to have with me. I have no idea how long this series will last so this isn't a top-ten list but each week (or so) I'll list another cool album that would be good to have with me.

Some ground rules:

1. For a while at least I'll avoid two albums by the same group. However, artists who are part of another group are not disqualified – for example, I can have both the Beatles and Paul McCartney albums.
   
2. This isn't a best ever list – it's a personal list. So, while I might agree that Achtung Baby is probably a better album than How to Dismantle and Atomic Bomb I think I'd rather have Atomic with me because I happen to like it more.
   
3. This type of list is always bound by time – my thoughts right now aren't what they would have been a year ago and they're not what they will be. I have the right to revise. For example, right now I'm tempted to put McCartney's Memory Almost Full on the list – I like it that much – but I don't know if I'll still be as excited about it in a year. So I reserve the right to revise at any time without penalty. I can even replace an album already listed with another one or I can change the rules to allow me to add a second one to the list. Hey, it's my blog so I get to play by my rules.
   

   
   

I'd like to challenge my frequent readers who also blog to join me in this endeavor. You know who you are, What would be on your list? You just have to add one every week and the writeup doesn't have to be long. Come on, you can do it. Who's in? I promise to link to you every week if you do.

So this week I'll begin with U2's How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb. This album absolutely floored me when it came out. I had it in heavy rotation on my itunes, in my ipod and on my car stereo for months after it came out. You need to understand that I have a LOT of music and it is rare for an album to keep my interest as long as that one did but I don't think there is a weak track on that record from the heavy rock of "Vertigo" and "All Because of You" to the beautiful "City of Blinding Lights" and "Miracle Drug ." In this post I called it my top album of 2005 (even though it was released in 2004!) and in this post, written at the end of 2006, I mentioned that it had still probably one of my top current albums. Now, well over two years after its release I still think it is great and it's in my car again right now too. Seeing U2 in concert on the "Vertigo tour" and being in Ireland soon after it's release put it over the top for me. I especially appreciated how Bono continued allowing his faith to come through in his lyrics in almost every song on the album. I certainly don't want to dismiss other U2 albums of which I'm very fond (especially All That You Can't Leave Behind, Achtung Baby and The Joshua Tree – and all the other ones too) but this one has a special place in my heart.

Bono at NAACP awards

I've seen good speeches before but Bono's speech at the NAACP awards is truly remarkable. It almost seems like a scene out of West Wing where Bartlett brings people to their feet but this is a real response to a truly great speech. Make sure you watch all the way to the end (it's about 7 minutes.) The last sixty seconds is really something.

A wonderful Katherine Patterson quote

I was looking at the blog of someone I don't know, one of Bethany's web-friends, and discovered this fabulous quote from Katherine Patterson:

I think it was Lewis who said something like: "The book cannot be what the writer is not." What you are will shape your book whether you want it to or not. I am Christian, so that conviction will pervade the book even when I make no conscious effort to teach or preach. Grace and hope will inform everything I write... Self-consciously Christian (or Jewish or Muslim) writing will be sectarian and tend to propaganda and therefore have very little to say to persons outside that particular faith community. The challenge for those of us who care about our faith and about a hurting world is to tell stories which will carry the words of grace and hope in their bones and sinews and not wear them like fancy dress.

I think this quote is absolutely fabulous and helps explain why I like U2, Over the Rhine and others so much. Thanks to blogger Katherine (who also has some good music postings!) for posting it. She writes "I think Katherine Paterson's stories will make me a better preacher and a better writer." I'm pretty sure we have a copy of Patterson's Bridge to Terabithia downstairs because Laura has a fine collection of older children's literature. I think I'll have to read that.

U2 by U2

U2 by U2 is a big book in almost every way. It’s a “coffee table book” in size, measuring more than 12 inches in height and it is thick with lots of words and lots of pictures. Not only that, but the story that it tells is big too. It is the story of four lads from Dublin who are short on technique and musicianship but who work and work and work at being good because they love the buzz they get when they’re on stage and everything is going well.

This book reminds me a lot of the Beatles Anthology in that the sizes are quite similar (if not identical) and the concept is exactly the same, the four voices of the band telling their story in chronological order. In U2’s case, the fifth voice of manager Paul McGinnis is appropriately added since he has been a vital member of the band almost from the start. Another difference is that the U2 book is, to me, a more compelling read. Perhaps I was just SO well-versed in the Beatles story that when their Anthology came out there was little that I didn’t know but I have found the U2 book hard to put down. (The Beatles Anthology was actually more than just a book – it was also a video series and a set of albums. The book was the last of the three to be released which may have also blunted its impact. It should be noted that I’ve watched the video series on television, on VHS and on DVD multiple times and listened to the CDs countless times so this is not meant to be critical the Beatles stuff even a little bit. It’s just an obvious point of comparison.)

I actually started reading U2 by U2 by dipping into it at random places and reading a page or two. I had some other things I needed to read and didn’t let myself really commit to reading it yet. But then I got hooked somewhere around the writing and recording of War and just kept going. When I finished I went back to the beginning to read what I missed. Then, when I got to the point that I had already read I just kept going again. Now I’m nearly finished for a second time. I haven’t done that with any book in recent memory.

Part of it is that I’m still reading it in five or ten minute snatches and that sort of reading fits this book well but I also am compelled by the way they tell their story, by the insights I’ve gotten into albums that are among my all-time favorites and also by the pictures which are sometimes really cool.

If you’re a U2 fan this book is an absolute must. It is one of my three must-read U2 books, the others being Bono in Conversation with Michka Assayas and U2 at the end of the World by Bill Flanagan. (There are, of course, many books analyzing their music, especially from a Christian perspective which I think are valuable as well. My favorites are Walk On: The Spiritual Journey Of U2 by Steve Stockman and Get Up Off Your Knees: Preaching the U2 Catalog by Raewynne J. Whiteley and Beth Maynard.)

If you still have time to add something to your Christmas list U2 by U2 would be a great addition.

“Window in the Skies” – U2

Ordinarily I’d be cynical about a new best-of album by a band who recently put out two other best-of albums and then included 2 new songs to sucker the real fans into buying yet another copy of the same songs. But the new U2 18 Singles got me anyway. Not only did I find the two new songs irresistible but you could buy the “deluxe” edition which came with a 10-song live DVD from U2’s Milan show in the second leg of the Vertigo tour. So the DVD put it over the top and I laid out the bucks to get it.

I’ve only watched the DVD once so far and I’m not ready to commit to any review of it (except to say that it was fun to see a video of the show in a huge outdoor arena) but I have listened to the new song “Window in the Skies” multiple times and, I must say, I’m a huge fan. I wasn’t a fan when I heard the internet version that was recorded off the radio but hearing the actual version on the CD did the trick for me. Plus, it’s the first new music from U2 in two years.

The song exudes joy. The 6/8 tempo sets you up for something a little out of the ordinary and the melody in the verse isn’t really very extraordinary but that chorus – when Bono sings “Oh can’t you see what Love has done” I get excited and find myself singing along (even though it’s really high.)

Even better, though, the lyrics are among Bono’s most joyful referring to Easter:

The rule has been disproved
The stone has been moved
The grave is now a groove
All debts are removed

Oh can't you see what love has done
Oh can't you see what love has done
Oh can't you see what love has done
What it's done to me?

So the combination of a killer chorus with lyrics that make my heart sing puts this song very high on my playlist right now.

By the way, I'm really enjoying the book U2 by U2 also. Very cool indeed.

50 albums that changed music

Click on over to The Observer to see their list of 50 albums that changed music. I have a decidedly biased view of such things so the first thing I look for are the albums I know and love and, sure enough, there are many that I don't know. That might make the list suspect but I don't know enough about The Velvet Underground and Nico to say that they messed up by putting it at #1 and Sgt Pepper at #2. The only mention of U2 on the list is in #15 where Brian Eno's Discreet Music (1975) comes in and they mention the impact on U2 that it had. Do we really have to get down to #36 before we hit a Who album - and not Tommy or Who's Next but My Generation.

I should make a list of 10 albums that changed me. Here is a start (this is, of course, subject to revision and these are in no particular order):

1. Meet the Beatles - the Beatles first Capitol album in the US changed my musical life.

2. More of the Monkees - the first album that I remember getting in Stereo. I listened to it a lot.

3. Sgt Pepper / The Beatles - I think it influenced everybody that summer.

4. Blind Faith - my first Clapton album.

5. Tommy / the Who - I still hear more than a bit of Townshend in my guitar playing.

6. Allman Brothers Band Live at the Fillmore East - the duel guitars and melodic leads were the soundtrack to my freshman and sophomore years in college

7. Emerson, Lake and Palmer - taught me that progressive rock was cool.

8. War / U2 - started me on the U2 bandwagon.

9. Love Broke Thru / Phil Keaggy - introduced me to Christian Music that mattered to me.

10. Crosby, Stills and Nash - I discovered three part harmony.

'One Step Closer' by Christian Scharen

I just finished reading One Step Closer. I have followed the story of this book on Christian Scharen’s blog over the past year and it was good to finally read the book. Curiously, I got it at the Children’s Spirituality Conference and this isn’t a book about children at all but it was there and it was half-price at the Baker table so I got it even though I’ve read plenty of U2 books – not as many as Beatle books but certainly more than I need to.

And that’s my primary issue with One Step Closer – for those of us who have read a lot about U2 there isn’t a whole lot that is new in this book. The theological insights are fine and the U2 connections are pretty much right on target but I didn’t read much that I hadn’t either read before or thought before. But that’s not necessarily a bad thing. For people who are just starting to get interested in U2, especially the connection between them and Christianity, this is a fine introduction. I have already suggested it to my two youngest daughters. The obvious comparison point is Steve Stockman’s Walk On but the books really come at the topic differently – Stockman starts with U2 and Scharen starts with Christian doctrine and then makes the U2 connection. (Raewynne Whiteley and Beth Maynard’s Get Up Off Your Knees, another excellent book, is less systematic but also covers some of the same ground.)

The book is written in an easy-to-read conversational manner, goes quickly and does a nice job, both theologically and musically. I really liked Scharen’s introduction to hope and his take on the difference between hope and optimism. Nicely done.

The important thing here is that Scharen isn’t trying to layer something on top of the music that isn’t already there. He picks out things that were put in carefully by the band and he illuminates them with theology. I enjoyed it. So if you’re a Christian and a U2 fan you will probably want to read this book because this is about the stuff you like to think about. If you’re just getting into U2 One Step Closer is a good place to start because it will help you see what this band is really all about.