****News Flash********
AJ hates Bono.
Not a big surprise for people who hear me taking potshots at Bono 53 times an hour,but hey,I finally decided to answer it...
WHY do I hate Bono?..Seriously..why?
I hate Bono. There, I said it. Not the most popular view, I accept, but nonetheless valid in every way. I simply cannot stand the man, with his smug self-importance and completely ridiculous sunglasses. The press, politicians and general public alike revere the stunted Irish poseur with a dedication completely undeserving of his merits.
First and foremost, he is talentless.Period. U2 are one of the blandest, most uninspiring, overrated bands on the planet, and yet millions of people worship them as demi-gods. There is a simple answer: anyone who likes U2 instantly demonstrates a complete lack of any discernable musical taste. Is it surprising that those people who fill stadiums to hear Bono's catatonic wailing also laud praise on other, equally dire artists, like Bruce "born in the USA" Springsteen and contemporary indie vomit-inducers The Killers or Pretend bands like Gorillaz?
Their songs are dull in the extreme. They feign sincerity and completely lack any redeeming qualities. U2 are everything non-music fans love: unchallenging, with the semblance of "cool" and without the baggage of imagination or creativity. It is, of course, no wonder that Bono is the perfect crutch for middle-aged Labour politicians to try and "connect" with the youth. The ignorance is palpable. But so is Bono's gall: the tragedy is that Bono and U2 believe the hype attributed to them - they take themselves devastatingly seriously. I have little enough respect for the man as a musician, his supposed profession, and yet am I somehow expected to listen to his words as political orator?
I think not. I mean, what sort of a name is "Bono" anyway? It sounds like a dog biscuit. And then you have "The Edge". The Edge of what, exactly? It's almost painful to watch their pompous posturing in interviews and in videos as they labour over their latest indigestible offering, no doubt chuckling to themselves about how clever they are in fooling the great British public, and wondering how long they can ride this seemingly un-ending wave of mediocrity. U2 smack of mid-life crises, inflated egos and a disproportionate sense of their own self-importance. In one of the most ridiculous turn of events, Bono's name was even linked with the job as Head of the World Bank. Another complete misjudgement was witnessed in channel 4's recent British Music Hall of Fame program, where U2 were automatically initiated as founding members, to the horror and dismay, I am sure, of thousands of people around the country.
To think that U2 have had more of an impact on British music than Oasis,Pink Floyd.Led Zep,The Smiths,The Clash or Sabbath to name a few, is faintly ridiculous. The latter has single-handedly moved the boundaries of what one can expect from a rock band in a way that U2 cannot even contemplate.
Further examples of U2's nauseating capabilities was seen at a recent concert in San Diego where Bono, blindfolded and kneeling, arms above his head, simulated photos from the Abu Ghraib prison. Later on in the set he reportedly reprised parts of Martin Luther King's "I have a dream" speech, saying he too had a dream for all the world to be equal. Undoubtedly, because of his fame, Bono has an opportunity to do good, but he is in a far easier position than most to do so. It is his self-engineered portrayal as selfless enfranchiser of the dispossessed and his arrogant self-approximation of greatness which makes him so unbearably odious.
Content with Match of the Day theme tunes and Top of the Pops appearances, U2 represent all that is wrong with British music. That such banality under the guise of quality can become so successful, while other truly fantastic bands and artists scrabble at their feet picking up the crumbs, fills me with despair.
Perhaps I'll finally give them Pop Queens a chance.
FYI,though,Liam is GOD.
Until next time,I'm back to save the music industry.
AJ
2 comments:
To be honest you can disllike whoever you please but to say you hate Bono because he is "talentless" and that he and the rest of the band "lack any redeeming qualities" and are "without the baggage of imagination or creativity" is a complete contradiction to what they actually are and what they stand for. Maybe U2 is not your style, maybe they don't embody the stereotype of what you think a rock and roll band should be, nonetheless from your opinion in this blog, you demonstrate that like most people, you know nothing about the band at all.
The music that the band creates is more than just music. Now how can music be more than just music? Does that seem a little over-obsessive to you? I wouldn't be surprised if it did. Their music though, it isn't written with the intention to make a hit like so many bands do. Their love songs aren't just silly little love songs. Their concerts aren't just concerts, they are so much more than what meets the eye. Their songs are all formulated around scripture, around psalms, around the books of prophecy, around passages from Isaiah and Luke and the entire Bible. Their supposed lack of talent and creativity, according to you, seems a little far fetched considering every song they make has a deeper meaning, something that leads beyond materialistic desires to be number one on all the charts and is actually composed with the intention to open the eyes of people who are blind to what is around them. U2's music is a way of looking into the soul of the Bible, not by using "...solid, even rigorous religious argument..." (Bono) but instead by using music and words, because for the band, that solid argument never embodied what the Bible was trying to make obvious.
I don't know how religious you are or aren't, so wether you care or not about the Bible and what it has to offer, to criticize Bono about the way he preforms, what he says, what he sings, and why people "worship them as demi-gods" is beyond you because you haven't looked at what they stand for and what their music is actually saying. Some people like them simply because they do think that their music is catchy and melodic, but people who really understand what they stand for know how nearly impossible it is to do what they do. To be honest, standing against them is like standing against peace efforts. Bono in a tour convinced world debt against impoverished countries to be reduced by nearly 100 billion dollars, why you would ever want to hate a man who is changing the world for the better, i have no idea.
It cut me off but i was far from being done..
To you it may seem like i am exactly the kind of person you were talking about. A person who "likes U2 instantly [demonstrating] a complete lack of any discernable musical taste" but truth be told I am a person who looks at them as believers. I look at them and see people who have such unshakable faith that they are willing to risk popularity to convey what the Bible says. When have you ever put that much at risk to change the world and stand up for something you believe?
Also, when you say "...and yet am i somehow expected to listen to his words as a political orator?" please grow up. To qupte Bono himself, "It's not your first reason for being on stage, to effect change in the political climate of a country. I don't know what the first reason is, but that's not the first reason". Honestly I can respect not enjoying music, fine it's not your taste, just as I don't like screamo music, you don't like U2. That is all personal preference but to criticize the man and the rest of the band on what they stand for and what they regard in their music is ridiculous. I don't call screamo bands talentless because there are millions of people who enjoy them and find a level of comfort in the messages they convey.
You think they have "inflated egos" but honestly they raised 200 million dollars in a tour for famished areas and if you think singing about scripture is something possible coming from someone with an inflated ego, all i can say about that is you don't give people enough credit and you are quite the pessimist. The name Bono comes from the latin, bono vox which is the feminine latin phrase meaning good voice. Well you having your opinions would probably take that as another egotistic move but why would a man take on a feminine phrase? Bono commonly refers to the spirit of God as being feminine and sees himself as a possibility to share his faith with those willing to be awoken. What i mean by awoken can be explained in a quote that he says himself, "There's two kinds of people, there's those who are asleep and those that are awake. I've used my music to wake me up and if it wakes other people up on the way that's okay because we get used to the sound of a bomb going off in Belfast and to the roll call of bad news on television, we get used to the fact that a third of the population on earth are starving, We get used to all these things and we eventually fall asleep in the comfort of our freedom". Does that sound like someone with an inflated ego? I really don't think so. Anyways though, the "good voice" translation of the name Bono is his way of telling people his voice is one attempting to represent the spirit of God. So i'm sorry you think that they "take themselves devastatingly seriously" but when regarding the Bible I'm pretty sure you can't be anything less than that if you are serious about your faith. The name The Edge represents someone who is on the edge of discovering something bigger than himself, someone who is on the edge of convincing people of the reality in the world. The edge isn't an attempt to be "cool" nor is the name Bono, they are messages to tell people who want to understand what the band is about, what they are about.
I realize you think that all they do and the fact that people follow them is nauseating but people follow them for more than just their "cool" factor, they follow them because they offer more than just music, they offer an insight into the Bible and various world conditions that people don't have to read or see for themselves, they can just listen and know. If that's not for you then fine, who am i to criticize you, but there is no need to insult a band that is only trying to do good.
E
Post a Comment