Current music:	u2
Entry tags:	me: nostalgia, music: u2, picspam: musicians

the people's band
the right to be ridiculous is something i hold dear
-ITA, thanks for that gem, B.

OKAY SO I JUST LISTENED TO IT. MANY TIMES THROUGH. Actually, once or twice all the way through, and then just my favorite tracks from it. I still haven't decided what I think of it as a unit. There are certainly flashes of brilliance, but it's not a War/Joshua Tree/Achtung Baby/ATYCLB and I may even say that I liked How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb more, but DUDE, THEY TOTES RECORDED THIS IN MORROCCO AND I CAN TELL. They've got this funky Arab undercurrent to some of the tracks, and content-wise, parts of it feel really relevant to that part of the world. It's interesting, it's kind of a mish-mash of an album. I hear a lot of different eras of their career in it, but also a hint of something else...IDK, I SHOULD STOP TALKING I DON'T REALLY HAVE ANYTHING RELEVANT TO SAY. All I know is that I'm not going to listen to anything anyone says about it because people are buzzkills and jerks when it comes to U2 and you know what? Even if I end up deciding that I didn't like the album very much, it doesn't really matter because the fact that these four men exist makes me deliriously happy. Anywayyy, my favorites from the new one are "Breathe" and "I'll Go Crazy If I Don't Go Crazy Tonight" (LOL BONO WHY ARE YOUR TITLES SO LAME SOMETIMES?), because um! I’ve found grace inside a sound aaaaand the sweetest melody is the one we haven't heard.

OKAY BLAH BLAH BLAH PICSPAM OF THE BAND I LOVE MOAST (tied with Interpol and The National and Lupayyyyyyy):

***



THIS IS REALLY HOT.

The vintage shots are my absolute favorites:



LOL ADAM'S BLEACH BLONDE FRO.


YES THAT'S BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN.




God, that shot on the left is so phenomenal.


HAHAHA WHAT IS THIS AUSTIN POWERS?!



LOLOLOL, YOUNG ADAM IS THE BEST.


OKAY NO MORE MONKEY BUSINESS, WE ARE ~SERIOUS ARTISTS~:



BONO HAS AWESOME FRIENDS, YOU GUYS:

Heeee, secrets with Michael Stipe! Cuteness with Gwen! Coretta Scott King! Louuuuuuu Reed!


Ummmm, do I even need to say anything here? (BTW WHY IS HIS WEDDING RING SO SEXAY?)


Angelina's apparently unfazed by Bono's presence. Brad, on the other hand, is all, "SCREW SAVING CHILDREN, SUNDAY BLOODY SUNDAYYYYYYY!!!!!111"



Haha, I love how in like 90% of the pictures I looked through, basically everyone who has taken a photo with him looks deliriously happy in it. I CANNOT BLAME THEM. Oprah, gurl, I love you.


ANDY C. And wait, that second photo with Sean Penn is one of the most awesome things I have ever seen.

This is basically the "Oh my god, why is Bono such a delightful/amazing human being?" section:





(Getting knighted, speaking on the Hill, speaking at the European Commission -- I was going to include some from the World Economic Forum with ladies all up in his face, fangirling and what not, but...We'll save that for another time. Getting an honorary degree at Harvard and giving the Commencement remarks, IDK what the last one's from?)


PLANTING TREES WITH CUTE CHILDREN!?!?! Okay for real though, those people that hate on Bono/U2 and say that he's a douche because he is so active in social causes make me really angry. HE FUCKING PUTTING HIS MONEY WHERE HIS MOUTH IS, PEOPLE. And not only is he doing that, he's actually using his fame to make a difference. He's not just going out without knowing anything and trying to make people listen to him, HE ACTUALLY KNOWS HIS SHIT. AND HE'S ACTUALLY MAKING A DIFFERENCE. If more celebrities used their fame the way he has...God I can't even imagine what the world would be like.

I USED TO THINK THESE PHOTOS WERE THE PARAGON OF BEAUTY:


Luuuuuuulz, through the 80s:

My sister has a high school year book photo from the 80s in which she legit looked like that second photo there. Thus we call the 80s her Bono years and she laughs/cries. But mostly cries.


GOSH, THEY ARE REALLY LOVELY.


Man, Bono is pretty fierce for a little Irishman isn't he? And Adam's fashion choices will never fail to bring tha lulz.


They have great live shots, man. Remind me to picspam the Boston Elevation Tour DVD one of these days, okay? SPEAKING OF WHICH:


THERE IS NOTHING IN MUSIC BETTER THAN THIS. PURE MAGIC.

I also really love this performance from that DVD:



Oh this band.


EPIC. TRULY. And okay best video from that era:


CAN YOU BELIEVE THIS EXISTS/ACTUALLY HAPPENED?


LOL HIS NAME IS LARRY, I STILL FIND THAT SO LAME/HILARIOUS. Good thing he's pretty.


Fierce old dudes.


Edge makes me LOL.


The mullet years make me LOL more. BUT HEY, HOW AWESOME IS THE UNFORGETTABLE FIRE? Sometimes I forget that album exists then I pop it in and am like WHOA, THIS IS JUST AS AWESOME AS I REMEMBER IT.







OKAY I'M TIRED OF RUNNING COMMENTARY AND MAKING THINGS LOOK PRETTY, SO:











I. LOVE. THIS. VIDEO.:






My favorite live performance of it from Top of the Pops in 2001:


From the "What's Going On" collaboration Bono put together that I used to think was the most amazing thing to ever exist (haven't heard it since high school so I can't really comment now):


Before I finish this up, I remember sitting in my living room watching this on that telethon they had to raise money just after 9/11 and it still gives me the chills:



BUT NOT AS MUCH AS THE FIRST TIME SPRINGSTEEN PERFORMED "MY CITY OF RUINS" WHICH MADE ME CRY RIVERS OF TEARS, DOWNLOAD IT IMMEDIATELY, AND THEN CRY EVERY SUBSEQUENT TIME I LISTENED TO IT (WHICH WAS OFTEN). This is truly one of the greatest musical performances I have ever seen, and I'mnot exaggerating:



WELL, NOW I KIND OF WANT TO GIVE A DISSERTATION ON WHY THEY ARE THE BEST AND WHY I LOVE THEM SO MUCH. Except...It's 1 AM and I really shouldn't be spending my precious few free moments of this weekend doing anything but productive things. In a nutshell, I have four older siblings, so I was basically born and bred on these fools. And then they came out with All That You Can't Leave Behind and I had something of theirs I could call my own and everything changed in an amazing, amazing way. And then I saw them liiiive in high school and WAS WITHIN FEET OF BONO AND IT KIND OF CHANGED MY LIFE. We got a ticket for my older brother, too, but he was in college and listened to the Pixies and Pavement and therefore was ~*~too cool~*~ for U2, so in the middle of the concert, which we had gen admission tickets on the floor (right by the heart!) to, he A) left in the middle to get a Diet Coke, and B) obnoxiously asked me in the middle of the show "IS THAT ONE EDGE?!?!" because he thought it was funny. Needless to say, IT TOTALLY WAS.

Ugh, I said I wasn't going to ramble but I did anyway! What a surprise.

OKAY NOW I'M GONNA GO READ WW FIC AND SLEEP, IN CASE YOU WERE WONDERING. Stop being jealous of how awesome my Friday night was.