Do You Still Like U2?

You may have never liked them, but if you are over a certain age, chances are you had a U2 phase at some point in your life. If not, U2 is an Irish four-piece founded in 1976, which rose to one of the biggest stadium rock bands ever. U2 is still active with all four original members but has not released new music since 2017.

Although, they did release Songs of Surrender this year with re-recordings of many of their songs. Of course, the result is a matter of taste, but I think it is problematic when a band covers themselves: the new acoustic versions feel like a self-important show-off. Because it is the originals that impacted culture and many fans' lives.

For me, it all started in the spring of 1985 when I was in Indiana for a school exchange program, and somebody played the live album Under a Blood Red Sky in his car on repeat. Before that, I only knew of "Pride (In The Name of Love)," which did not excite me too much. But "New Year's Day" and "Sunday Bloody Sunday" did the trick. When I returned home to Germany, I bought the live record and their latest studio album, The Unforgettable Fire, whose title track is still my favorite U2 song.

When Elke and I met in 1990, we were both U2 fans, so we could not wait to have U2's 1991 album Achtung, Baby in our hands and then stood patiently in line to get tickets for the Zoo TV concert in Munich on June 4, 1993. "One," the album's third single, and the video that shows nothing but a herd of buffalo, is still burned into my mind when it was played repeatedly on a video jukebox in a nondescript London pub.

U2 also played a role during our move to New York City in April 2001: their tenth album, All You Can Leave Behind, was released in late 2000 and contained not only a song named literally "New York," but also "Beautiful Day," which was perfect at a time when things seemed to go often our way.

U2 released many great songs over the decades; however, I don't believe they require a new interpretation. Particularly the songs from the 80s have a special fire, and Bono’s voice is that of a young man who has something to say and wants to change the world.

So we invite you to skip Songs of Surrender and listen instead to our  -shorter- playlist. You may discover some new gems in there too.

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Pick of the Day

Listen to/watch all seven songs on YouTube. Follow our daily updated playlists on YouTube and Spotify for the 50 latest Song Picks of the Day. Thank you for following us and sharing the excitement.

Keep Dancing Inc – the band name alone already radiates happiness. And indeed, “GPS,” the new song by the trio from Paris, France, feels like a joyride on a breezy summer day.

Annie Scherer is a singer, songwriter, and producer from Nashville. Her soaring pop song “Doll” is “about thinking you have control over something but constantly having to question where things stand.”

“Pick me up” is a beautiful ode to friendship. The song comes with a classic, soulful pop production that feels right and lifts your mood. The Berlin-based singer/songwriter SOUKOU says: “I’ve learned that I receive support whenever I can show how I truly feel.”

Admittedly, the word “Sweater” in a song title reminds me of this and makes me want to fast forward. But Nashville singer/songwriter Liza Anne means no irony with her new song “Rainbow Sweater.” On the contrary! The song “is a manifestation of possibility mapping out the ways I have tried to carve out a whole person for myself in the fragmented process of growing, trying out, stumbling through and working things out in real time in front of other people.”

The title “Graveyard Shift” is undoubtedly misleading for this upbeat, shimmering synth-pop track by New York musician Andrew Barnes aka Fake Fever. He will release his second album, “painful process of loosening the grip on the past so that you can free yourself to move forward,” in September.

The Icelandic singer, songwriter, and producer gugusar was an exciting discovery – coincidentally – on a flight from Europe via Reykjavík. The young musician has an effortless production style and masters both pop and dance music, as you can witness in her new song “Vonin.”

“Shimmer” by the New York trio Summerdrive closes this week’s playlist. The lyrics of this track explore how chasing after the glimmer of memories can ultimately be futile: you can rarely repeat a good time. But the upbeat track shows no melancholy, as it is about “ultimately realizing that sometimes it’s out of our control how these things end up.”

Also Happening

The New York Times column The Ethicist wrote about the ethics of reselling tickets with a hefty markup. I would have said, “don’t do it,” but in today’s crazy ticket market, it is not so easy anymore.

Seth Godin pointed to some interesting stats from the movie industry in his daily newsletter: My Big Fat Greek Wedding is the most profitable movie of all times, with a 7,300% return on its five million dollar budget. Low risk, high reward – one would think that is a dream business, but Hollywood spends hundreds of millions of dollars upfront for CGI rather than making good character-driven films.

Nine Photos from a -Rainy- Road Trip to NJ