Where The Streets Have No Name / The U2 Thread

[bada]

I'd have a hard time picking which band was better. I really can't say. Pretty equal.

[stip]

a country mile was too extreme. It is close. It's sometimes easy to forget just how good U2 is at their best moments.

[EJ]

Rem is the better band by a country mile, but U2 DOES have a new album coming out...

Better at what?

Not trolling. Just wondering what you're referring to, specifically.

Probably everything but self-promotion. Better songwriting, better songs, better live shows (later in their career, anyway. U2 was better in the 80s). That's not a shot at U2. taking their career as a whole they're still great, and still a band where, even if I don't have high hopes for an excellent album (I don't) I still expect a few memorable songs and believe they COULD produce a great album.

Other than the self-promotion, I really don't agree with any of this. Doesn't matter though. Both great bands.

[McParadigm]

I'd pick U2 without pause. And that's not a knock on REM...I just think that U2's peaks reach higher. I also don't like any of Stipe's lyrics as much as I've enjoyed Bono's best moments, and I gravitate more towards U2's sonic palate.

[Bob Loblaw]

They're very different bands, obviously. Opposites, even. U2 was always extroverted and aimed for grandiosity (not that they always succeeded), while REM were always introverted and aimed for intimacy.

Music-wise U2 is the more interesting band as far as I'm concerned. I was never a hardcore REM fan. U2's body of work pre-2000 is intimidatingly diverse, and they reached some mighty peaks along the way.

[VinylGuy]

REM in my case.

They seem more interesting.

[McParadigm]

They're very different bands, obviously. Opposites, even. U2 was always extroverted and aimed for grandiosity (not that they always succeeded), while REM were always introverted and aimed for intimacy.

Music-wise U2 is the more interesting band as far as I'm concerned. I was never a hardcore REM fan. U2's body of work pre-2000 is intimidatingly diverse, and they reached some mighty peaks along the way.

I agree with all of that, with the minor caveat that I'm not sure REM always achieves intimacy, either. Sometimes they get insular to the point where you can feel a little shut out. But both are reasonable and challenging goals, and are laudable when they are accomplished to any degree.

[Strat]

Well, i really enjoyed the acoustic performance on Tonight Show of Ordinary Love. That was lovely.

[Rangi Guy]

So....I watched this last night

[BurtReynolds]

12 pages of U2.

huh.

[McParadigm]

12 pages of U2.

huh.

[Tuolumne]

REM for sure. U2's highs are as good as anything out there, but they can be maddeningly inconsistent and their albums can be top-loaded. REM is better album by album, song by song. What's getting in the way for me with U2 is the talk and self-promotion. I get why it's important and they've been good at engaging the mass media, but I'm tired of their shtick. Let your music talk.

[dimejinky99]

Hate that it's an either/or.

It shouldn't be. They're peers doing very different things.

Michael Jackson and Prince suffer the same categorisation. Both were musically genius. But totally different yet brilliant in their own way.

[stip]

the only way to settle this is to compare your top ten REM songs to your top ten U2 songs. The CBO has signed off on this as methodologically sound.

[Lament]

You make a post like that and don't even kick it off with your personal lists?

[Rangi Guy]

I just wish the two bands would just have a cage match to the death to settle this once and for all

[stip]

Top ten U2


One Tree Hill
Running to Stand Still
The Fly
One
Kite
Discoteque
A Sort of Homecoming
Zooropa
Hold Me Thrill Me Kiss Me Kill Me
In God's Country


vs.

Top ten REM

Find the River
Country Feedback
Nightswimming
E-bow the Letter
End of the World as we Know It
World Leader Pretend
You are the Everything
Living Well is the Best Revenge
The Lifting
Untitled 11th song

Those last 3 could probably be replaced by 20 other songs, though.


To me that REM list takes that pretty handily, not that that u2 list isn't also something to be very proud of. But I think REM has higher highs and more consistently excellent songs. And I'm not sure either band is any more diverse or experimental than the other. They're both pretty strong on that score.

[stip]

You make a post like that and don't even kick it off with your personal lists?

you gotta give me a second.


That was hard. The bottom of both lists did not feel definitive. After 7 or so for both of them there were lots of other options.

[stip]

I just wish the two bands would just have a cage match to the death to settle this once and for all

I am extremely confident that U2 could take REM

[Lament]

Discoteque
A Sort of Homecoming
Zooropa
Hold Me Thrill Me Kiss Me Kill Me