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the namespace stuff fixed
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The band formed in 1976 when the members were teenagers with limited musical proficiency. By the mid-1980s, however, the band had become a top international act, noted for their anthemic sound, Bono's impassioned vocals, and The Edge's textural guitar playing. U2 started as one of the early pioneers of {{Post Punk}} and their albums ''Boy'' and ''War'' were largely college radio hits. Their success as a live act was greater than their success at selling records until their 1987 album ''The Joshua Tree'' increased the band's stature "from heroes to superstars," according to Rolling Stone. U2 responded to the dance and alternative rock revolutions, and their own sense of musical stagnation by reinventing themselves with their 1991 album ''Achtung Baby'' and the accompanying Zoo TV Tour. They carried on with their experimental, heavily electronic AlternativeRock sound for the rest of the 1990s. Starting in the 2000s, U2 pursued a more traditional sound that retained the influence of their previous musical explorations before combining ''that'' with the experimental spirit of the '90s on their most recent album, ''No Line On The Horizon.''
U2 have sold more than 140 million albums worldwide and have won 22 Grammy Awards, more than any other band. In 2005, the band were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in their first year of eligibility. Rolling Stone magazine listed U2 at #22 in its list of the 100 greatest artists of all time. Throughout their career, as a band and as individuals, they have campaigned for human rights and social justice causes, including Amnesty International, the ONE Campaign, Music Rising and Bono's DATA (Debt, AIDS, Trade in Africa) campaign.
U2 have sold more than 140 million albums worldwide and have won 22 Grammy Awards, more than any other band. In 2005, the band were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in their first year of eligibility. Rolling Stone magazine listed U2 at #22 in its list of the 100 greatest artists of all time. Throughout their career, as a band and as individuals, they have campaigned for human rights and social justice causes, including Amnesty International, the ONE Campaign, Music Rising and Bono's DATA (Debt, AIDS, Trade in Africa) campaign.
to:
The band formed in 1976 when the members were teenagers with limited musical proficiency. By the mid-1980s, however, the band had become a top international act, noted for their anthemic sound, Bono's impassioned vocals, and The Edge's textural guitar playing. U2 started as one of the early pioneers of {{Post Punk}} PostPunk and their albums ''Boy'' and ''War'' were largely college radio hits. Their success as a live act was greater than their success at selling records until their 1987 album ''The Joshua Tree'' increased the band's stature "from heroes to superstars," according to Rolling Stone. U2 responded to the dance and alternative rock revolutions, and their own sense of musical stagnation by reinventing themselves with their 1991 album ''Achtung Baby'' and the accompanying Zoo TV Tour. They carried on with their experimental, heavily electronic AlternativeRock sound for the rest of the 1990s. Starting in the 2000s, U2 pursued a more traditional sound that retained the influence of their previous musical explorations before combining ''that'' with the experimental spirit of the '90s on their most recent album, ''No Line On The Horizon.''
U2 have sold more than 140 million albums worldwide and have won 22 Grammy Awards, more than any other band. In 2005, the band were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in their first year of eligibility. Rolling Stone magazine listed U2 at #22 in its list of the 100 greatest artists of all time. Throughout their career, as a band and as individuals, they have campaigned for human rights and social justice causes, including Amnesty International, the ONE Campaign, Music Rising and Bono's DATA (Debt, AIDS, Trade in Africa)campaign.
campaign.
U2 have sold more than 140 million albums worldwide and have won 22 Grammy Awards, more than any other band. In 2005, the band were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in their first year of eligibility. Rolling Stone magazine listed U2 at #22 in its list of the 100 greatest artists of all time. Throughout their career, as a band and as individuals, they have campaigned for human rights and social justice causes, including Amnesty International, the ONE Campaign, Music Rising and Bono's DATA (Debt, AIDS, Trade in Africa)
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* ''October'' (1981)
* ''War'' (1983)
* ''The Unforgettable Fire'' (1984)
* ''The Joshua Tree'' (1987)
* ''Rattle and Hum'' (1988)
* ''Achtung Baby'' (1991)
* ''Zooropa'' (1993)
* ''Pop'' (1997)
* ''All That You Can't Leave Behind'' (2000)
* ''How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb'' (2004)
* ''War'' (1983)
* ''The Unforgettable Fire'' (1984)
* ''The Joshua Tree'' (1987)
* ''Rattle and Hum'' (1988)
* ''Achtung Baby'' (1991)
* ''Zooropa'' (1993)
* ''Pop'' (1997)
* ''All That You Can't Leave Behind'' (2000)
* ''How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb'' (2004)
to:
* ''October'' (1981)
(1981)
* ''War''(1983)
(1983)
* ''The Unforgettable Fire''(1984)
(1984)
* ''The Joshua Tree''(1987)
(1987)
* ''Rattle and Hum''(1988)
(1988)
* ''Achtung Baby''(1991)
(1991)
* ''Zooropa''(1993)
(1993)
* ''Pop''(1997)
(1997)
* ''All That You Can't Leave Behind''(2000)
(2000)
* ''How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb''(2004) (2004)
* ''War''
* ''The Unforgettable Fire''
* ''The Joshua Tree''
* ''Rattle and Hum''
* ''Achtung Baby''
* ''Zooropa''
* ''Pop''
* ''All That You Can't Leave Behind''
* ''How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb''
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* DeadpanSnarker: Larry and Adam. But especially Larry.
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* DeadpanSnarker: Larry and Adam. But especially Larry.
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* StageNames: Bono and The Edge's real names are Paul Hewson and David Evans, respectively.
to:
* StageNames: Bono and The Edge's real names are Paul Hewson and David Evans, respectively.
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** ''All That You Can't Leave Behind'': A lyric from "Walk On".
** ''How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb'': From bonus track "Fast Cars".
** ''How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb'': From bonus track "Fast Cars".
to:
** ''All That You Can't Leave Behind'': A lyric from "Walk On".
On".
** ''How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb'': From bonus track "Fast Cars".
** ''How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb'': From bonus track "Fast Cars".
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* {{Camp}}: The entire Pop Mart tour is this, pretty much, culminating in the video for [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1wMYRU7Lalk Discothèque]].
** Similarly, but on a different level of campness - Sontag-y camp to Discothèque's, well, ''kitsch'' - Bono's Mr. Macphisto persona is pretty much [[WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons the tragically ludicrous; the ludicrously tragic]] in a nutshell. [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qTsVfZeHL4s Seriously, that suit, that accent, the entire premise!]]
** Similarly, but on a different level of campness - Sontag-y camp to Discothèque's, well, ''kitsch'' - Bono's Mr. Macphisto persona is pretty much [[WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons the tragically ludicrous; the ludicrously tragic]] in a nutshell. [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qTsVfZeHL4s Seriously, that suit, that accent, the entire premise!]]
to:
* {{Camp}}: The entire Pop Mart tour is this, pretty much, culminating in the video for [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1wMYRU7Lalk Discothèque]].
Discothèque]].
** Similarly, but on a different level of campness - Sontag-y camp to Discothèque's, well, ''kitsch'' - Bono's Mr. Macphisto persona is pretty much [[WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons the tragically ludicrous; the ludicrously tragic]] in a nutshell. [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qTsVfZeHL4s Seriously, that suit, that accent, the entire premise!]]
** Similarly, but on a different level of campness - Sontag-y camp to Discothèque's, well, ''kitsch'' - Bono's Mr. Macphisto persona is pretty much [[WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons the tragically ludicrous; the ludicrously tragic]] in a nutshell. [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qTsVfZeHL4s Seriously, that suit, that accent, the entire premise!]]
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* DownerEnding: ''Very'' common on U2 albums, with ''Achtung'' 's "Love Is Blindness" being probably the best-known example. ''No Line On The Horizon's'' "Cedars Of Lebanon" continues the trend.
** "Grace" and "Yahweh" on ''ATYCLB'' and ''HTDAAB'' were more like {{BittersweetEnding}}s, though.
** "Grace" and "Yahweh" on ''ATYCLB'' and ''HTDAAB'' were more like {{BittersweetEnding}}s, though.
to:
* DownerEnding: ''Very'' common on U2 albums, with ''Achtung'' 's "Love Is Blindness" being probably the best-known example. ''No Line On The Horizon's'' "Cedars Of Lebanon" continues the trend.
trend.
** "Grace" and "Yahweh" on ''ATYCLB'' and ''HTDAAB'' were more like {{BittersweetEnding}}s, though.
** "Grace" and "Yahweh" on ''ATYCLB'' and ''HTDAAB'' were more like {{BittersweetEnding}}s, though.
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* EpicRocking: While not particularly common amongst U2's output, the [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sHnXOSxka1Q twelve-minute-long version of "Bad" played at Live Aid]] needs to be mentioned here.
to:
* EpicRocking: While not particularly common amongst U2's output, the [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sHnXOSxka1Q twelve-minute-long version of "Bad" played at Live Aid]] needs to be mentioned here.
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* GodIsLoveSongs: ''October'' is a whole album full of these. "Until The End Of The World", "Salome" and "MOFO" also count.
to:
* GodIsLoveSongs: ''October'' is a whole album full of these. "Until The End Of The World", "Salome" and "MOFO" also count.
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* LyricalDissonance: "Mofo", for example, staples together an awesome techno track which sounds like it belongs in ''TheMatrix'' with dark lyrics about Bono's dead mother.
to:
* LyricalDissonance: "Mofo", for example, staples together an awesome techno track which sounds like it belongs in ''TheMatrix'' ''Film/TheMatrix'' with dark lyrics about Bono's dead mother.
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* SerialEscalation: After the Zoo TV tour, you wouldn't think that they could go any more over the top, right? Wrong! They came up with Popmart, which was... well... just [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xo2t23MiCW8 take a look.]] And they went past ''that'' with their most recent tour, U2 360°, which went over the top of Popmart - literally. As in, the Popmart stage could ''fit under'' the stage for 360°.
* ShoutOut:
* ShoutOut:
to:
* SerialEscalation: After the Zoo TV tour, you wouldn't think that they could go any more over the top, right? Wrong! They came up with Popmart, which was... well... just [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xo2t23MiCW8 take a look.]] And they went past ''that'' with their most recent tour, U2 360°, which went over the top of Popmart - literally. As in, the Popmart stage could ''fit under'' the stage for 360°.
360°.
*ShoutOut: ShoutOut:
*
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* {{Fanservice}}: The [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K0adFYuNuns video]] for "Electrical Storm". [[ShirtlessScene Shirtless]] Larry Mullen? Check. Samantha Morton as a hot mermaid? Check.
to:
* {{Fanservice}}: The [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K0adFYuNuns video]] for "Electrical Storm". [[ShirtlessScene Shirtless]] Larry Mullen? Check. Samantha Morton as a hot mermaid? Check.
Changed line(s) 151 (click to see context) from:
* RooftopConcert:
to:
* RooftopConcert: RooftopConcert:
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*** Live performances of Hold Me Thrill Me (a song off of the Batman Forever soundtrack) on the 360 tour have Bono menacingly asking during the song's intro, "[[TheDarkKnightSaga Why So Serious]]?"
to:
*** Live performances of Hold Me Thrill Me (a song off of the Batman Forever soundtrack) on the 360 tour have Bono menacingly asking during the song's intro, "[[TheDarkKnightSaga "[[Film/TheDarkKnight Why So Serious]]?"
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** Not to mention the numerous allusions to WilliamButlerYeats that the lads chuck into their songs and performances rather frequently. Article on the subject [[http://www.atu2.com/news/connections/yeats/ here]].
to:
** Not to mention the numerous allusions to WilliamButlerYeats Creator/WilliamButlerYeats that the lads chuck into their songs and performances rather frequently. Article on the subject [[http://www.atu2.com/news/connections/yeats/ here]].
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* ReverseCerebusSyndrome: In the wake of ''Rattle and Hum'''s disastrous critical reception, the band dropped the earnest, serious image they'd developed like a hot potato and spent TheNineties reminding people that they had a sense of humour and a working knowledge of satire and irony. Bono did once note that their more RuleOfCool image was meant to distract people from their still-present heavy subject matter:
-->'''Bono''', in 1992: "It's a con, in a way. We call it ''Achtung Baby'', grinning up our sleeves in all the photography. But it's probably the heaviest record we've ever made..."
-->'''Bono''', in 1992: "It's a con, in a way. We call it ''Achtung Baby'', grinning up our sleeves in all the photography. But it's probably the heaviest record we've ever made..."
Changed line(s) 130 (click to see context) from:
** ''Achtung Baby'' was a reference to a line in ''TheProducers''.
to:
** ''Achtung Baby'' was is a reference to a line in ''TheProducers''.''TheProducers'', which engineer Joe O'Herlihy had frequently said while recording. Bono admitted later that the title was chosen on purpose to play up the band's new, satire- and irony-laden image, stating that "the press would have killed us if we'd called it anything else" and that other working titles like ''Man'', ''69'', ''Zoo Station'', ''Adam'', ''Fear of Women'' and ''Cruise Down Main Street'', were rejected because they would've been seen as "another pretentious, Big Statement from U2".
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* AGoodNameForARockBand: Averted. When the band decided to change their name from "The Hype" (which itself was a name change from their first name "Feedback"), Mullen's friend Steve Averill of The Radiators gave them six suggestions of names, and they settled on "U2" because it was the name they least disliked.
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** ''Achtung Baby'' follows the conceptual journey of a man from a fight with his wife to a wild night on the town, through to the morning, as detailed in the book "U2: At the End of the World".
to:
** ''Achtung Baby'' follows can be interpreted as the conceptual journey of a man from a fight with his wife to a wild night on the town, through to the morning, as detailed in the book "U2: At the End of the World".World".
** ''The Joshua Tree'' is a concept album about the good and bad sides of the USA.
** ''The Joshua Tree'' is a concept album about the good and bad sides of the USA.
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Added DiffLines:
** The extended intro of "Zoo Station" on ''Zooropa'' counts in a different way: Adam stated that the entire purpose of the song was to cause listeners' first reaction to be that either their stereo was broken, or that they had accidentally purchased something that wasn't the new U2 album.
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Changed line(s) 100 (click to see context) from:
* LargeHam: Bono, often. Taken UpToEleven in some of the larger concerts...and [[BeyondTheImpossible Up To]] ''[[BeyondTheImpossible Twelve]]'' on Popmart, which was basically a [[WorldOfHam Stadium Of Ham]].
to:
* LargeHam: Bono, often. Taken UpToEleven in some of the larger concerts...and [[BeyondTheImpossible Up To]] ''[[BeyondTheImpossible Twelve]]'' [[SerialEscalation up to twelve]]'' on Popmart, which was basically a [[WorldOfHam Stadium Of Ham]].
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Changed line(s) 29 (click to see context) from:
Looking beyond the current discography, U2 has at least two more albums in the works: a rock album ([[AndTheFandomRejoiced which is being produced by Danger Mouse]]), and a club music-influenced album. Oh, and Bono and Edge worked on the soundtrack to ''Theater/SpiderManTurnOffTheDark''. Suffice it to say, for a band that's been going for over thirty years, they don't show any signs of slowing down soon.
to:
Looking beyond the current discography, U2 has at least two more albums in the works: a rock album ([[AndTheFandomRejoiced which is being produced by Danger Mouse]]), and a club music-influenced album. Oh, and Bono and Edge worked on the soundtrack to ''Theater/SpiderManTurnOffTheDark''.''Theatre/SpiderManTurnOffTheDark''. Suffice it to say, for a band that's been going for over thirty years, they don't show any signs of slowing down soon.
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Changed line(s) 29 (click to see context) from:
Looking beyond the current discography, U2 has at least two more albums in the works: a rock album ([[AndTheFandomRejoiced which is being produced by Danger Mouse]]), and a club music-influenced album. Oh, and Bono and Edge worked on the soundtrack to ''[[SpiderManTurnOffTheDark Spider-Man: Turn Off The Dark]]''. Suffice it to say, for a band that's been going for over thirty years, they don't show any signs of slowing down soon.
to:
Looking beyond the current discography, U2 has at least two more albums in the works: a rock album ([[AndTheFandomRejoiced which is being produced by Danger Mouse]]), and a club music-influenced album. Oh, and Bono and Edge worked on the soundtrack to ''[[SpiderManTurnOffTheDark Spider-Man: Turn Off The Dark]]''.''Theater/SpiderManTurnOffTheDark''. Suffice it to say, for a band that's been going for over thirty years, they don't show any signs of slowing down soon.
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* TheQuietOne: Adam is generally way more introverted than the other members, and he likes it that way. So quiet that he didn't announce that he had a son until a year after the kid was born.
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* TheQuietOne: Adam is generally way more introverted than the other members, and he likes it that way. So quiet that he didn't announce that he had a son until a year after the kid was born.
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* [[ThreeDMovie 3DMovie]]: ''U2 3D'', released in 2008.
to:
* [[ThreeDMovie 3DMovie]]: ThreeDMovie: ''U2 3D'', released in 2008.
Changed line(s) 63 (click to see context) from:
** Similarly, but on a different level of campness - Sontag-y camp to Discothèque's, well, ''kitsch'' - Bono's Mr. Macphisto persona is pretty much [[TheSimpsons the tragically ludicrous; the ludicrously tragic]] in a nutshell. [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qTsVfZeHL4s Seriously, that suit, that accent, the entire premise!]]
to:
** Similarly, but on a different level of campness - Sontag-y camp to Discothèque's, well, ''kitsch'' - Bono's Mr. Macphisto persona is pretty much [[TheSimpsons [[WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons the tragically ludicrous; the ludicrously tragic]] in a nutshell. [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qTsVfZeHL4s Seriously, that suit, that accent, the entire premise!]]
Added DiffLines:
* CantLiveWithThemCantLiveWithoutThem: "With or Without You".
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Changed line(s) 61 (click to see context) from:
* BreakawayPopHit: Arguably, the aforementioned "Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me". Depends on how well you ([[FanonDiscontinuity want to]]) remember ''BatmanForever.''
to:
* BreakawayPopHit: Arguably, the aforementioned "Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me". Depends on how well you ([[FanonDiscontinuity want to]]) remember ''BatmanForever.''Film/BatmanForever.''
Changed line(s) 148 (click to see context) from:
* VideoFullOfFilmClips: "Elevation", remixed for the ''TombRaider'' film, "The Hands That Built America", written for ''GangsOfNewYork'', and "Hold Me, Thrill Me", which is on the soundtrack of ''BatmanForever''.
to:
* VideoFullOfFilmClips: "Elevation", remixed for the ''TombRaider'' film, "The Hands That Built America", written for ''GangsOfNewYork'', and "Hold Me, Thrill Me", which is on the soundtrack of ''BatmanForever''.''Film/BatmanForever''.
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The BTI definition was transplanted into Serial Escalation.
Deleted line(s) 61,62 (click to see context) :
* BeyondTheImpossible: After the Zoo TV tour, you wouldn't think that they could go any more over the top, right? Wrong! They came up with Popmart, which was... well... just [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xo2t23MiCW8 take a look.]]
** And they've recently gone past ''that'' with the current tour, U2 360°, which goes over the top of Popmart - literally. As in, the Popmart stage could ''fit under'' the stage for 360°.
** And they've recently gone past ''that'' with the current tour, U2 360°, which goes over the top of Popmart - literally. As in, the Popmart stage could ''fit under'' the stage for 360°.
Added DiffLines:
* SerialEscalation: After the Zoo TV tour, you wouldn't think that they could go any more over the top, right? Wrong! They came up with Popmart, which was... well... just [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xo2t23MiCW8 take a look.]] And they went past ''that'' with their most recent tour, U2 360°, which went over the top of Popmart - literally. As in, the Popmart stage could ''fit under'' the stage for 360°.
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Separated the sections into \"Band Members\", \"Music & Performances\", and \"Music Videos\".
Changed line(s) 32 (click to see context) from:
* [[ThreeDMovie 3DMovie]]: ''U2 3D'', released in 2008.
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Deleted line(s) 34,53 (click to see context) :
* AdaptationDistillation: The version of "[[CutSong Mercy]]" played in the Zurich 360 performance had parts of the intro and the chorus changed, causing the song to be somewhat more fast-paced and considerably better.
* ADayInTheLimelight: The video for "Electrical Storm" is partially an example for Larry. We were [[{{Squee}} delighted]] with this decision.
* AlbumTitleDrop
** ''Rattle and Hum'' is an odd example, as it's an AlbumTitleDrop from a lyric in "Bullet The Blue Sky", a song from ''The Joshua Tree''... but is on ''Rattle and Hum'' too, as a live track.
** ''All That You Can't Leave Behind'': A lyric from "Walk On".
** ''How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb'': From bonus track "Fast Cars".
* AnimatedMusicVideo: "Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me" and "I'll Go Crazy If I Don't Go Crazy Tonight"
* BeyondTheImpossible: After the Zoo TV tour, you wouldn't think that they could go any more over the top, right? Wrong! They came up with Popmart, which was... well... just [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xo2t23MiCW8 take a look.]]
** And they've recently gone past ''that'' with the current tour, U2 360°, which goes over the top of Popmart - literally. As in, the Popmart stage could ''fit under'' the stage for 360°.
* BreakawayPopHit: Arguably, the aforementioned "Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me". Depends on how well you ([[FanonDiscontinuity want to]]) remember ''BatmanForever.''
* {{Camp}}: The entire Pop Mart tour is this, pretty much, culminating in the video for [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1wMYRU7Lalk Discothèque]].
** Similarly, but on a different level of campness - Sontag-y camp to Discothèque's, well, ''kitsch'' - Bono's Mr. Macphisto persona is pretty much [[TheSimpsons the tragically ludicrous; the ludicrously tragic]] in a nutshell. [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qTsVfZeHL4s Seriously, that suit, that accent, the entire premise!]]
** May I remind you that [[http://www.atu2.com/daltons/biography.html the Dalton Brothers]] play both kinds of music: Country ''and'' Western!
* ConceptAlbum:
** ''How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb''
** ''No Line On The Horizon'' could also count as a partial examples, as a few of the songs were written from the viewpoints of fictional characters. Notably, "Moment of Surrender" and "Unknown Caller" are from the viewpoint of a heroin addict.
*** [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linear_%28film%29 Linear - essentially music from the NLOTH album on shuffle (or rather vice versa, as the movie is telling a story.)]]
** ''Achtung Baby'' follows the conceptual journey of a man from a fight with his wife to a wild night on the town, through to the morning, as detailed in the book "U2: At the End of the World".
* ConceptVideo: Quite a few.
* ContinuityNod: The kid from ''Boy'' also appears in the covers of ''War'' and ''The Best of 1980-1990''.
* ADayInTheLimelight: The video for "Electrical Storm" is partially an example for Larry. We were [[{{Squee}} delighted]] with this decision.
* AlbumTitleDrop
** ''Rattle and Hum'' is an odd example, as it's an AlbumTitleDrop from a lyric in "Bullet The Blue Sky", a song from ''The Joshua Tree''... but is on ''Rattle and Hum'' too, as a live track.
** ''All That You Can't Leave Behind'': A lyric from "Walk On".
** ''How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb'': From bonus track "Fast Cars".
* AnimatedMusicVideo: "Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me" and "I'll Go Crazy If I Don't Go Crazy Tonight"
* BeyondTheImpossible: After the Zoo TV tour, you wouldn't think that they could go any more over the top, right? Wrong! They came up with Popmart, which was... well... just [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xo2t23MiCW8 take a look.]]
** And they've recently gone past ''that'' with the current tour, U2 360°, which goes over the top of Popmart - literally. As in, the Popmart stage could ''fit under'' the stage for 360°.
* BreakawayPopHit: Arguably, the aforementioned "Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me". Depends on how well you ([[FanonDiscontinuity want to]]) remember ''BatmanForever.''
* {{Camp}}: The entire Pop Mart tour is this, pretty much, culminating in the video for [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1wMYRU7Lalk Discothèque]].
** Similarly, but on a different level of campness - Sontag-y camp to Discothèque's, well, ''kitsch'' - Bono's Mr. Macphisto persona is pretty much [[TheSimpsons the tragically ludicrous; the ludicrously tragic]] in a nutshell. [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qTsVfZeHL4s Seriously, that suit, that accent, the entire premise!]]
** May I remind you that [[http://www.atu2.com/daltons/biography.html the Dalton Brothers]] play both kinds of music: Country ''and'' Western!
* ConceptAlbum:
** ''How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb''
** ''No Line On The Horizon'' could also count as a partial examples, as a few of the songs were written from the viewpoints of fictional characters. Notably, "Moment of Surrender" and "Unknown Caller" are from the viewpoint of a heroin addict.
*** [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linear_%28film%29 Linear - essentially music from the NLOTH album on shuffle (or rather vice versa, as the movie is telling a story.)]]
** ''Achtung Baby'' follows the conceptual journey of a man from a fight with his wife to a wild night on the town, through to the morning, as detailed in the book "U2: At the End of the World".
* ConceptVideo: Quite a few.
* ContinuityNod: The kid from ''Boy'' also appears in the covers of ''War'' and ''The Best of 1980-1990''.
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* CutSong: Tons, most notably a song called "Mercy" cut from the ''How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb'' sessions. Hasn't stopped it from becoming (in)famous throughout the fandom when a low-quality version leaked, however.
** [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QS6tiSVILXQ And now they're playing it live!]]
* DarkerAndEdgier: ''Achtung Baby'', ''Zooropa'', and ''Pop''. The band themselves described ''Achtung'' as "the sound of four men chopping down ''The Joshua Tree''".
** [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QS6tiSVILXQ And now they're playing it live!]]
* DarkerAndEdgier: ''Achtung Baby'', ''Zooropa'', and ''Pop''. The band themselves described ''Achtung'' as "the sound of four men chopping down ''The Joshua Tree''".
Deleted line(s) 60,62 (click to see context) :
* DownerEnding: ''Very'' common on U2 albums, with ''Achtung'' 's "Love Is Blindness" being probably the best-known example. ''No Line On The Horizon's'' "Cedars Of Lebanon" continues the trend.
** "Grace" and "Yahweh" on ''ATYCLB'' and ''HTDAAB'' were more like {{BittersweetEnding}}s, though.
** "Mothers of The Disappeared" from ''The Joshua Tree'', and "Wake Up Dead Man" from ''Pop''.
** "Grace" and "Yahweh" on ''ATYCLB'' and ''HTDAAB'' were more like {{BittersweetEnding}}s, though.
** "Mothers of The Disappeared" from ''The Joshua Tree'', and "Wake Up Dead Man" from ''Pop''.
Deleted line(s) 65,70 (click to see context) :
* EpicInstrumentalOpener: A new song called "[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DfnYpc-gVFI&feature=related Return of the Stingray Guitar,]]" currently being used to open the U2 360° tour [[CrowningMusicOfAwesome in suitably epic fashion.]]
** From ''The Joshua Tree'', we have the album opener, "Where the Streets Have No Name", while ''No Line on the Horizon'' boasts "Magnificent", which while might not have the same distinction, is just as epic.
* EpicRocking: While not particularly common amongst U2's output, the [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sHnXOSxka1Q twelve-minute-long version of "Bad" played at Live Aid]] needs to be mentioned here.
* FakeBand: U2 has performed and released music under a number of pseudonyms, most notably as Passengers and [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Dalton_Brothers_(band) The Dalton Brothers.]]
** And [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C--MI0VkNuA here's a video]] of them opening for U2. If you've ever wondered what Bono would sound like with a Southern accent...well, wonder no more.
* {{Fanservice}}: The [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K0adFYuNuns video]] for "Electrical Storm". [[ShirtlessScene Shirtless]] Larry Mullen? Check. Samantha Morton as a hot mermaid? Check.
** From ''The Joshua Tree'', we have the album opener, "Where the Streets Have No Name", while ''No Line on the Horizon'' boasts "Magnificent", which while might not have the same distinction, is just as epic.
* EpicRocking: While not particularly common amongst U2's output, the [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sHnXOSxka1Q twelve-minute-long version of "Bad" played at Live Aid]] needs to be mentioned here.
* FakeBand: U2 has performed and released music under a number of pseudonyms, most notably as Passengers and [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Dalton_Brothers_(band) The Dalton Brothers.]]
** And [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C--MI0VkNuA here's a video]] of them opening for U2. If you've ever wondered what Bono would sound like with a Southern accent...well, wonder no more.
* {{Fanservice}}: The [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K0adFYuNuns video]] for "Electrical Storm". [[ShirtlessScene Shirtless]] Larry Mullen? Check. Samantha Morton as a hot mermaid? Check.
Deleted line(s) 75,88 (click to see context) :
* GodIsLoveSongs: ''October'' is a whole album full of these. "Until The End Of The World", "Salome" and "MOFO" also count.
* GratuitousSpanish: C'mon, you ''know'' the one.
--> Unos, dos, tres, catorce!
* GriefSong: "Tomorrow", from the ''October'' album, was written about Bono's mother's funeral. It's become something of a [[NeedsMoreLove forgotten classic]] these days.
-->There's a black car parked
-->At the side of the road
-->Don't go to the door
-->I'm going outside, mother
-->I'm going out there
-->Won't you be back tomorrow?
-->Won't you be back tomorrow?
-->Will you be back tomorrow?
* GratuitousSpanish: C'mon, you ''know'' the one.
--> Unos, dos, tres, catorce!
* GriefSong: "Tomorrow", from the ''October'' album, was written about Bono's mother's funeral. It's become something of a [[NeedsMoreLove forgotten classic]] these days.
-->There's a black car parked
-->At the side of the road
-->Don't go to the door
-->I'm going outside, mother
-->I'm going out there
-->Won't you be back tomorrow?
-->Won't you be back tomorrow?
-->Will you be back tomorrow?
Deleted line(s) 90 (click to see context) :
* HiddenDepths: There are actually quite a lot of literary references in their songs.
Deleted line(s) 92,98 (click to see context) :
* IntercourseWithYou: "But my heart is where it's always been, my head is somewhere in between"...
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Yes, Bono has a huge ego. No, that doesn't prevent him from being likable. Just look up the philanthropic activities he's involved in. Also, you can't hate someone who actually ''[[LampshadeHanging lampshades]]'' his own ego.
** Some consider it part of his charm; when he was inducting them into the Rock-and-Roll Hall of fame, Bruce Springsteen said that Bono had "one of the most endearingly naked messianic complexes in rock and roll."
* LighterAndSofter: ''All That You Can't Leave Behind'' sees the band changing from [[DarkerAndEdgier dark, edgy]] Sarcastic-Pop to being geniunely poppy with melancholic, yet positive, tunes like "Beautiful Day".
* ListSong: "Numb" from ''Zooropa''.
* LargeHam: Bono, often.
** Taken UpToEleven in some of the larger concerts...and [[BeyondTheImpossible Up To]] ''[[BeyondTheImpossible Twelve]]'' on Popmart, which was basically a [[WorldOfHam Stadium Of Ham]].
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Yes, Bono has a huge ego. No, that doesn't prevent him from being likable. Just look up the philanthropic activities he's involved in. Also, you can't hate someone who actually ''[[LampshadeHanging lampshades]]'' his own ego.
** Some consider it part of his charm; when he was inducting them into the Rock-and-Roll Hall of fame, Bruce Springsteen said that Bono had "one of the most endearingly naked messianic complexes in rock and roll."
* LighterAndSofter: ''All That You Can't Leave Behind'' sees the band changing from [[DarkerAndEdgier dark, edgy]] Sarcastic-Pop to being geniunely poppy with melancholic, yet positive, tunes like "Beautiful Day".
* ListSong: "Numb" from ''Zooropa''.
* LargeHam: Bono, often.
** Taken UpToEleven in some of the larger concerts...and [[BeyondTheImpossible Up To]] ''[[BeyondTheImpossible Twelve]]'' on Popmart, which was basically a [[WorldOfHam Stadium Of Ham]].
Changed line(s) 100,129 (click to see context) from:
* LoudnessWar: ''How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb'' was guilty of this.
* LyricalDissonance: "Mofo", for example, staples together an awesome techno track which sounds like it belongs in ''TheMatrix'' with dark lyrics about Bono's dead mother.
* ManOfWealthAndTaste: [=MacPhisto=], a "persona" used by Bono on the Zoo TV tour. He's basically Satan as an aging Vegas crooner.
* NeoclassicalPunkZydecoRockabilly: U2 in TheNineties were futuristic funky-techno-dance-Madchester-industrial-alternative-electronic-pop-rock. And it was ''awesome.''
* NewSoundAlbum: Practically their entire career revolves around this.
** It's been intentionally invoked at least twice; ''Achtung Baby!'' was recorded with the intention of sounding completely different than ''The Joshua Tree'' and ''All That You Can't Leave Behind'' (and the stripped-down tour that followed it) was meant to be the polar opposite of ''Pop'', bringing The Edge's guitar back to the centre of the songs.
* NiceHat: The Edge!
** [[http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_pyfWoS2EpR8/TD6CsDQMgDI/AAAAAAAAD6I/3lH5o_DhZkg/s1600/Bono-hat-glasses.jpg Bono]] [[http://thefigurehead.files.wordpress.com/2007/04/bono.jpg as]] [[http://images.icanhascheezburger.com/completestore/2009/3/5/128807435564298917.jpg well]] [[http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a212/obiwandoodle/u2%20bono%20bw/BonoHatWayfarers.jpg sometimes.]]
* NonAppearingTitle - "Drowning Man", "Premonade", "MLK", "Exit", "God Part II", "Bad", "Mothers of the Disappeared, "Red Light", "Mofo", "Three Sunrises", "Indian Summer Sky", "The Unforgettable Fire" "A Sort of Homecoming"
* NotChristianRock: Bono does incorporate some themes into his songs, but more of the peace, happiness, and brotherhood kind.
** Christian themes were more explicit in their early albums (Bono, the Edge and Larry all became friends while members of an evangelical students' group in Dublin). Bono continues to be a Christian to this day and in the early 2000's, he visited many churches to address the congregations as part of his campaign for African debt relief. He has consistently spoken of "Christian musicians" in 1st person plural, so they somewhat blur the line.
* OdeToSobriety: "Bad" and "Running To Stand Still" are type 2 lashouts at heroin.
* OminousLatinChanting: This one's [[InvertedTrope inverted]] on "Gloria", where the climactic point in the song features joyous Latin chanting. And it is '''awesome.'''
* TheOner: "The Sweetest Thing".
* PerformanceVideo: Most of them, many of the nineties ones mixed with SurrealMusicVideo.
* PissTakeRap: "Numb".
* PostPunk: Their early albums such as ''Boy'', ''October'', and ''War'' are this. Later followed by a genre shift to roots rock on ''The Joshua Tree'', before switching again to Alternative Dance on ''Achtung Baby''.
* PrecisionFStrike: "Wake Up Dead Man" from the ''Pop'' album, and the only mention of the F word in all of their studio recordings.
-->Jesus
-->Jesus help me
-->I'm alone in this world
-->And a '''fucked''' up world it is too
** "Mofo" had one too, but it's barely audible - the song's vocals are rendered [[TheUnintelligible unintelligible]] by the loud techno-rock.
** There's also Bonos infamous "fuck the revolution" speech, delivered during a live performance of Sunday Bloody Sunday at a gig following the IRA bombing of a Remembrance Day parade in Enniskillen.
* ProtestSong: While they're not exactly ''protest'' songs, per se, U2 traditionally puts one pro-peace song in each of their albums. Examples include "Pride (In The Name Of Love)" on ''The Unforgettable Fire'', "Van Diemen's Land" (more like a "traditional" protest song than a few of the others) and "God, Part 2" on ''Rattle and Hum'', "Peace on Earth" (natch) on ''All That You Can't Leave Behind'', "Love And Peace Or Else" (again, natch) on ''How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb'', and, most recently, "Stand Up Comedy" on ''No Line On The Horizon.''
** "Sunday, Bloody Sunday" on ''War'', "Please" on ''Pop''.
** Pretty much all the songs on ''War'' count, really. It was probably titled that way for a reason...
* RockMeAsmodeus: [=MacPhisto=]. Not as heavy metal-influenced as most appearances of the trope, but definitely an example.
* RooftopConcert: The band's MusicVideo for "Where The Streets Have No Name" sees the band draw a large crowd on the streets of Los Angeles while performing live on a rooftop. Meanwhile, the LAPD aims to shut them down.
** "All Because of You" is a variant, filmed atop a moving flat bed truck.
* LyricalDissonance: "Mofo", for example, staples together an awesome techno track which sounds like it belongs in ''TheMatrix'' with dark lyrics about Bono's dead mother.
* ManOfWealthAndTaste: [=MacPhisto=], a "persona" used by Bono on the Zoo TV tour. He's basically Satan as an aging Vegas crooner.
* NeoclassicalPunkZydecoRockabilly: U2 in TheNineties were futuristic funky-techno-dance-Madchester-industrial-alternative-electronic-pop-rock. And it was ''awesome.''
* NewSoundAlbum: Practically their entire career revolves around this.
** It's been intentionally invoked at least twice; ''Achtung Baby!'' was recorded with the intention of sounding completely different than ''The Joshua Tree'' and ''All That You Can't Leave Behind'' (and the stripped-down tour that followed it) was meant to be the polar opposite of ''Pop'', bringing The Edge's guitar back to the centre of the songs.
* NiceHat: The Edge!
** [[http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_pyfWoS2EpR8/TD6CsDQMgDI/AAAAAAAAD6I/3lH5o_DhZkg/s1600/Bono-hat-glasses.jpg Bono]] [[http://thefigurehead.files.wordpress.com/2007/04/bono.jpg as]] [[http://images.icanhascheezburger.com/completestore/2009/3/5/128807435564298917.jpg well]] [[http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a212/obiwandoodle/u2%20bono%20bw/BonoHatWayfarers.jpg sometimes.]]
* NonAppearingTitle - "Drowning Man", "Premonade", "MLK", "Exit", "God Part II", "Bad", "Mothers of the Disappeared, "Red Light", "Mofo", "Three Sunrises", "Indian Summer Sky", "The Unforgettable Fire" "A Sort of Homecoming"
* NotChristianRock: Bono does incorporate some themes into his songs, but more of the peace, happiness, and brotherhood kind.
** Christian themes were more explicit in their early albums (Bono, the Edge and Larry all became friends while members of an evangelical students' group in Dublin). Bono continues to be a Christian to this day and in the early 2000's, he visited many churches to address the congregations as part of his campaign for African debt relief. He has consistently spoken of "Christian musicians" in 1st person plural, so they somewhat blur the line.
* OdeToSobriety: "Bad" and "Running To Stand Still" are type 2 lashouts at heroin.
* OminousLatinChanting: This one's [[InvertedTrope inverted]] on "Gloria", where the climactic point in the song features joyous Latin chanting. And it is '''awesome.'''
* TheOner: "The Sweetest Thing".
* PerformanceVideo: Most of them, many of the nineties ones mixed with SurrealMusicVideo.
* PissTakeRap: "Numb".
* PostPunk: Their early albums such as ''Boy'', ''October'', and ''War'' are this. Later followed by a genre shift to roots rock on ''The Joshua Tree'', before switching again to Alternative Dance on ''Achtung Baby''.
* PrecisionFStrike: "Wake Up Dead Man" from the ''Pop'' album, and the only mention of the F word in all of their studio recordings.
-->Jesus
-->Jesus help me
-->I'm alone in this world
-->And a '''fucked''' up world it is too
** "Mofo" had one too, but it's barely audible - the song's vocals are rendered [[TheUnintelligible unintelligible]] by the loud techno-rock.
** There's also Bonos infamous "fuck the revolution" speech, delivered during a live performance of Sunday Bloody Sunday at a gig following the IRA bombing of a Remembrance Day parade in Enniskillen.
* ProtestSong: While they're not exactly ''protest'' songs, per se, U2 traditionally puts one pro-peace song in each of their albums. Examples include "Pride (In The Name Of Love)" on ''The Unforgettable Fire'', "Van Diemen's Land" (more like a "traditional" protest song than a few of the others) and "God, Part 2" on ''Rattle and Hum'', "Peace on Earth" (natch) on ''All That You Can't Leave Behind'', "Love And Peace Or Else" (again, natch) on ''How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb'', and, most recently, "Stand Up Comedy" on ''No Line On The Horizon.''
** "Sunday, Bloody Sunday" on ''War'', "Please" on ''Pop''.
** Pretty much all the songs on ''War'' count, really. It was probably titled that way for a reason...
* RockMeAsmodeus: [=MacPhisto=]. Not as heavy metal-influenced as most appearances of the trope, but definitely an example.
* RooftopConcert: The band's MusicVideo for "Where The Streets Have No Name" sees the band draw a large crowd on the streets of Los Angeles while performing live on a rooftop. Meanwhile, the LAPD aims to shut them down.
** "All Because of You" is a variant, filmed atop a moving flat bed truck.
to:
* LyricalDissonance: "Mofo", for example, staples together an awesome techno track which sounds like it belongs in ''TheMatrix'' with dark lyrics about Bono's dead mother.
* ManOfWealthAndTaste: [=MacPhisto=], a "persona" used by Bono on the Zoo TV tour. He's basically Satan as an aging Vegas crooner.
* NeoclassicalPunkZydecoRockabilly: U2 in TheNineties were futuristic funky-techno-dance-Madchester-industrial-alternative-electronic-pop-rock. And it was ''awesome.''
* NewSoundAlbum: Practically their entire career revolves around this.
** It's been intentionally invoked at least twice; ''Achtung Baby!'' was recorded with the intention of sounding completely different than ''The Joshua Tree'' and ''All That You Can't Leave Behind'' (and the stripped-down tour that followed it) was meant to be the polar opposite of ''Pop'', bringing The Edge's guitar back to the centre of the songs.
**
* NonAppearingTitle - "Drowning Man", "Premonade", "MLK", "Exit", "God Part II", "Bad", "Mothers of the Disappeared, "Red Light", "Mofo", "Three Sunrises", "Indian Summer Sky", "The Unforgettable Fire" "A Sort of Homecoming"
* NotChristianRock: Bono does incorporate some themes into his songs, but more of the peace, happiness, and brotherhood kind.
** Christian themes were more explicit in their early albums (Bono, the Edge and Larry all became friends while members of an evangelical students' group in Dublin). Bono continues to be a Christian to this day and in the early 2000's, he visited many churches to address the congregations as part of his campaign for African debt relief. He has consistently spoken of "Christian musicians" in 1st person plural, so they somewhat blur the line.
* OdeToSobriety: "Bad" and "Running To Stand Still" are type 2 lashouts at heroin.
* OminousLatinChanting: This one's [[InvertedTrope inverted]] on "Gloria", where the climactic point in the song features joyous Latin chanting. And it is '''awesome.'''
* TheOner: "The Sweetest Thing".
* PerformanceVideo: Most of them, many of the nineties ones mixed with SurrealMusicVideo.
* PissTakeRap: "Numb".
* PostPunk: Their early albums such as ''Boy'', ''October'', and ''War'' are this. Later followed by a genre shift to roots rock on ''The Joshua Tree'', before switching again to Alternative Dance on ''Achtung Baby''.
* PrecisionFStrike: "Wake Up Dead Man" from the ''Pop'' album, and the only mention of the F word in all of their studio recordings.
-->Jesus
-->Jesus help me
-->I'm alone in this world
-->And a '''fucked''' up world it is too
** "Mofo" had one too, but it's barely audible - the song's vocals are rendered [[TheUnintelligible unintelligible]] by the loud techno-rock.
** There's also Bonos infamous "fuck the revolution" speech, delivered during a live performance of Sunday Bloody Sunday at a gig following the IRA bombing of a Remembrance Day parade in Enniskillen.
* ProtestSong: While they're not exactly ''protest'' songs, per se, U2 traditionally puts one pro-peace song in each of their albums. Examples include "Pride (In The Name Of Love)" on ''The Unforgettable Fire'', "Van Diemen's Land" (more like a "traditional" protest song than a few of the others) and "God, Part 2" on ''Rattle and Hum'', "Peace on Earth" (natch) on ''All That You Can't Leave Behind'', "Love And Peace Or Else" (again, natch) on ''How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb'', and, most recently, "Stand Up Comedy" on ''No Line On The Horizon.''
** "Sunday, Bloody Sunday" on ''War'', "Please" on ''Pop''.
** Pretty much all the songs on ''War'' count, really. It was probably titled that way for a reason...
* RockMeAsmodeus: [=MacPhisto=]. Not as heavy metal-influenced as most appearances of the trope, but definitely an example.
* RooftopConcert: The band's MusicVideo for "Where The Streets Have No Name" sees the band draw a large crowd on the streets of Los Angeles while performing live on a rooftop. Meanwhile, the LAPD aims to shut them down.
** "All Because of You" is a variant, filmed atop a moving flat bed truck.
Deleted line(s) 131,136 (click to see context) :
* ShoutOut: ''Achtung Baby'' was a reference to a line in ''TheProducers''.
** At almost every live show, the band embeds "snippets" into some of their songs - short lyrical or melodic {{Shout Out}}s to other songs. These can be anything from references to Beatles songs to callbacks to more obscure songs in U2's own discography.
** When Bono's run over at the end of the video for "Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me", he's reading ''TheScrewtapeLetters''.
*** Live performances of Hold Me Thrill Me (a song off of the Batman Forever soundtrack) on the 360 tour have Bono menacingly asking during the song's intro, "[[TheDarkKnightSaga Why So Serious]]?"
** Not to mention the numerous allusions to WilliamButlerYeats that the lads chuck into their songs and performances rather frequently. Article on the subject [[http://www.atu2.com/news/connections/yeats/ here]].
** The "sad astronaut" face on the cover of ''Zooropa'' was [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zooropa apparently]] meant to represent a Soviet cosmonaut who had been left floating in orbit for weeks after [[TheGreatPoliticsMessUp the USSR collapsed]] (a hoax story), and the back cover includes images of Lenin, Mussolini and Nicolae Ceaușescu.
** At almost every live show, the band embeds "snippets" into some of their songs - short lyrical or melodic {{Shout Out}}s to other songs. These can be anything from references to Beatles songs to callbacks to more obscure songs in U2's own discography.
** When Bono's run over at the end of the video for "Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me", he's reading ''TheScrewtapeLetters''.
*** Live performances of Hold Me Thrill Me (a song off of the Batman Forever soundtrack) on the 360 tour have Bono menacingly asking during the song's intro, "[[TheDarkKnightSaga Why So Serious]]?"
** Not to mention the numerous allusions to WilliamButlerYeats that the lads chuck into their songs and performances rather frequently. Article on the subject [[http://www.atu2.com/news/connections/yeats/ here]].
** The "sad astronaut" face on the cover of ''Zooropa'' was [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zooropa apparently]] meant to represent a Soviet cosmonaut who had been left floating in orbit for weeks after [[TheGreatPoliticsMessUp the USSR collapsed]] (a hoax story), and the back cover includes images of Lenin, Mussolini and Nicolae Ceaușescu.
Deleted line(s) 138 (click to see context) :
* SomethingSomethingLeonardBernstein: U2 fans have never managed to agree on what Bono's mumbling at the start of "Last Night on Earth".
Changed line(s) 140,146 (click to see context) from:
* SurrealMusicVideo: Most of their nineties videos have this and PerformanceVideo: "Even Better Than the Real Thing", "The Fly", "Mysterious Ways", "Numb", "Lemon", "Staring at the Sun", "Last Night on Earth", "Please", and so on.
* TakeThat: A classic one at the beginning of ''Rattle and Hum''. Bono introduces U2's cover of "Helter Skelter" by shouting at the audience, "This is a song CharlesManson stole from TheBeatles. We're stealing it back!"
* TheQuietOne: Adam is generally way more introverted than the other members, and he likes it that way.
** So quiet that he didn't announce that he had a son until a year after the kid was born.
* TrueCompanions:
** "We'd been campaigning for Dr. King - for his birthday to be a national holiday. And in Arizona, they're saying no. We've been campaigning very, very hard for Dr. King. Some people don't like it. Some people get very annoyed. Some people want to kill the singer. Some people are taken very seriously by the FBI, and they tell the singer he shouldn't play the gig, because tonight, his life is at risk, and he must not go onstage. The singer laughs. You know, of course we're playing the gig, of course we go onstage. And I'm standing there, singing "Pride in the Name of Love," and I've got to the third verse, and I close my eyes, and I know I'm excited about meeting my maker, but maybe not tonight. I don't really want to meet my maker tonight. I close my eyes, and when I look up, I see Adam Clayton standing in front of me, holding his bass like only Adam Clayton can hold his bass. And you know, there's people in this room who tell you they'd take a bullet for you, but Adam Clayton would've taken a bullet for me - and I guess that's what it's like to be in a truly great rock and roll band."--Bono, [[http://rockhall.com/inductees/u2/ in his acceptance speech upon being inducted to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2005]].
* VideoFullOfFilmClips: "Elevation", remixed for the ''TombRaider'' film, "The Hands That Built America", written for ''GangsOfNewYork'', and "Hold Me, Thrill Me", which is on the soundtrack of ''BatmanForever''.
* TakeThat: A classic one at the beginning of ''Rattle and Hum''. Bono introduces U2's cover of "Helter Skelter" by shouting at the audience, "This is a song CharlesManson stole from TheBeatles. We're stealing it back!"
* TheQuietOne: Adam is generally way more introverted than the other members, and he likes it that way.
** So quiet that he didn't announce that he had a son until a year after the kid was born.
* TrueCompanions:
** "We'd been campaigning for Dr. King - for his birthday to be a national holiday. And in Arizona, they're saying no. We've been campaigning very, very hard for Dr. King. Some people don't like it. Some people get very annoyed. Some people want to kill the singer. Some people are taken very seriously by the FBI, and they tell the singer he shouldn't play the gig, because tonight, his life is at risk, and he must not go onstage. The singer laughs. You know, of course we're playing the gig, of course we go onstage. And I'm standing there, singing "Pride in the Name of Love," and I've got to the third verse, and I close my eyes, and I know I'm excited about meeting my maker, but maybe not tonight. I don't really want to meet my maker tonight. I close my eyes, and when I look up, I see Adam Clayton standing in front of me, holding his bass like only Adam Clayton can hold his bass. And you know, there's people in this room who tell you they'd take a bullet for you, but Adam Clayton would've taken a bullet for me - and I guess that's what it's like to be in a truly great rock and roll band."--Bono, [[http://rockhall.com/inductees/u2/ in his acceptance speech upon being inducted to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2005]].
* VideoFullOfFilmClips: "Elevation", remixed for the ''TombRaider'' film, "The Hands That Built America", written for ''GangsOfNewYork'', and "Hold Me, Thrill Me", which is on the soundtrack of ''BatmanForever''.
to:
* TakeThat: A classic one at the beginning of ''Rattle and Hum''. Bono introduces U2's cover of "Helter Skelter" by shouting at the audience, "This is a song CharlesManson stole from TheBeatles. We're stealing it back!"
**
*
**
* VideoFullOfFilmClips: "Elevation", remixed for the ''TombRaider'' film, "The Hands That Built America", written for ''GangsOfNewYork'', and "Hold Me, Thrill Me", which is on the soundtrack of ''BatmanForever''.
Added DiffLines:
[[AC:Music & Performances:]]
* [[ThreeDMovie 3DMovie]]: ''U2 3D'', released in 2008.
* AdaptationDistillation: The version of "[[CutSong Mercy]]" played in the Zurich 360 performance had parts of the intro and the chorus changed, causing the song to be somewhat more fast-paced and considerably better.
* AlbumTitleDrop
** ''Rattle and Hum'' is an odd example, as it's an AlbumTitleDrop from a lyric in "Bullet The Blue Sky", a song from ''The Joshua Tree''... but is on ''Rattle and Hum'' too, as a live track.
** ''All That You Can't Leave Behind'': A lyric from "Walk On".
** ''How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb'': From bonus track "Fast Cars".
* BeyondTheImpossible: After the Zoo TV tour, you wouldn't think that they could go any more over the top, right? Wrong! They came up with Popmart, which was... well... just [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xo2t23MiCW8 take a look.]]
** And they've recently gone past ''that'' with the current tour, U2 360°, which goes over the top of Popmart - literally. As in, the Popmart stage could ''fit under'' the stage for 360°.
* BreakawayPopHit: Arguably, the aforementioned "Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me". Depends on how well you ([[FanonDiscontinuity want to]]) remember ''BatmanForever.''
* {{Camp}}: The entire Pop Mart tour is this, pretty much, culminating in the video for [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1wMYRU7Lalk Discothèque]].
** Similarly, but on a different level of campness - Sontag-y camp to Discothèque's, well, ''kitsch'' - Bono's Mr. Macphisto persona is pretty much [[TheSimpsons the tragically ludicrous; the ludicrously tragic]] in a nutshell. [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qTsVfZeHL4s Seriously, that suit, that accent, the entire premise!]]
** May I remind you that [[http://www.atu2.com/daltons/biography.html the Dalton Brothers]] play both kinds of music: Country ''and'' Western!
* ConceptAlbum:
** ''How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb''
** ''No Line On The Horizon'' could also count as a partial examples, as a few of the songs were written from the viewpoints of fictional characters. Notably, "Moment of Surrender" and "Unknown Caller" are from the viewpoint of a heroin addict.
*** [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linear_%28film%29 Linear - essentially music from the NLOTH album on shuffle (or rather vice versa, as the movie is telling a story.)]]
** ''Achtung Baby'' follows the conceptual journey of a man from a fight with his wife to a wild night on the town, through to the morning, as detailed in the book "U2: At the End of the World".
* ContinuityNod: The kid from ''Boy'' also appears in the covers of ''War'' and ''The Best of 1980-1990''.
* CutSong: Tons, most notably a song called "Mercy" cut from the ''How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb'' sessions. Hasn't stopped it from becoming (in)famous throughout the fandom when a low-quality version leaked, however. [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QS6tiSVILXQ And now they're playing it live!]]
* DarkerAndEdgier: ''Achtung Baby'', ''Zooropa'', and ''Pop''. The band themselves described ''Achtung'' as "the sound of four men chopping down ''The Joshua Tree''".
* DownerEnding: ''Very'' common on U2 albums, with ''Achtung'' 's "Love Is Blindness" being probably the best-known example. ''No Line On The Horizon's'' "Cedars Of Lebanon" continues the trend.
** "Grace" and "Yahweh" on ''ATYCLB'' and ''HTDAAB'' were more like {{BittersweetEnding}}s, though.
** "Mothers of The Disappeared" from ''The Joshua Tree'', and "Wake Up Dead Man" from ''Pop''.
* EpicInstrumentalOpener: A new song called "[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DfnYpc-gVFI&feature=related Return of the Stingray Guitar,]]" currently being used to open the U2 360° tour [[CrowningMusicOfAwesome in suitably epic fashion.]]
** From ''The Joshua Tree'', we have the album opener, "Where the Streets Have No Name", while ''No Line on the Horizon'' boasts "Magnificent", which while might not have the same distinction, is just as epic.
* EpicRocking: While not particularly common amongst U2's output, the [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sHnXOSxka1Q twelve-minute-long version of "Bad" played at Live Aid]] needs to be mentioned here.
* FakeBand: U2 has performed and released music under a number of pseudonyms, most notably as Passengers and [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Dalton_Brothers_(band) The Dalton Brothers.]]
** And [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C--MI0VkNuA here's a video]] of them opening for U2. If you've ever wondered what Bono would sound like with a Southern accent...well, wonder no more.
* GodIsLoveSongs: ''October'' is a whole album full of these. "Until The End Of The World", "Salome" and "MOFO" also count.
* GratuitousSpanish: C'mon, you ''know'' the one.
--> Unos, dos, tres, catorce!
* GriefSong: "Tomorrow", from the ''October'' album, was written about Bono's mother's funeral. It's become something of a [[NeedsMoreLove forgotten classic]] these days.
-->There's a black car parked
-->At the side of the road
-->Don't go to the door
-->I'm going outside, mother
-->I'm going out there
-->Won't you be back tomorrow?
-->Won't you be back tomorrow?
-->Will you be back tomorrow?
* HiddenDepths: There are actually quite a lot of literary references in their songs.
* IntercourseWithYou: "But my heart is where it's always been, my head is somewhere in between"...
* LighterAndSofter: ''All That You Can't Leave Behind'' sees the band changing from [[DarkerAndEdgier dark, edgy]] Sarcastic-Pop to being geniunely poppy with melancholic, yet positive, tunes like "Beautiful Day".
* ListSong: "Numb" from ''Zooropa''.
* LargeHam: Bono, often. Taken UpToEleven in some of the larger concerts...and [[BeyondTheImpossible Up To]] ''[[BeyondTheImpossible Twelve]]'' on Popmart, which was basically a [[WorldOfHam Stadium Of Ham]].
* LoudnessWar: ''How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb'' was guilty of this.
* LyricalDissonance: "Mofo", for example, staples together an awesome techno track which sounds like it belongs in ''TheMatrix'' with dark lyrics about Bono's dead mother.
* ManOfWealthAndTaste: [=MacPhisto=], a "persona" used by Bono on the Zoo TV tour. He's basically Satan as an aging Vegas crooner.
* NeoclassicalPunkZydecoRockabilly: U2 in TheNineties were futuristic funky-techno-dance-Madchester-industrial-alternative-electronic-pop-rock. And it was ''awesome.''
* NewSoundAlbum: Practically their entire career revolves around this.
** It's been intentionally invoked at least twice; ''Achtung Baby!'' was recorded with the intention of sounding completely different than ''The Joshua Tree'' and ''All That You Can't Leave Behind'' (and the stripped-down tour that followed it) was meant to be the polar opposite of ''Pop'', bringing The Edge's guitar back to the centre of the songs.
* NonAppearingTitle - "Drowning Man", "Premonade", "MLK", "Exit", "God Part II", "Bad", "Mothers of the Disappeared, "Red Light", "Mofo", "Three Sunrises", "Indian Summer Sky", "The Unforgettable Fire" "A Sort of Homecoming"
* NotChristianRock: Bono does incorporate some themes into his songs, but more of the peace, happiness, and brotherhood kind.
** Christian themes were more explicit in their early albums (Bono, the Edge and Larry all became friends while members of an evangelical students' group in Dublin). Bono continues to be a Christian to this day and in the early 2000's, he visited many churches to address the congregations as part of his campaign for African debt relief. He has consistently spoken of "Christian musicians" in 1st person plural, so they somewhat blur the line.
* OdeToSobriety: "Bad" and "Running To Stand Still" are type 2 lashouts at heroin.
* OminousLatinChanting: This one's [[InvertedTrope inverted]] on "Gloria", where the climactic point in the song features joyous Latin chanting. And it is '''awesome.'''
* PissTakeRap: "Numb".
* PostPunk: Their early albums such as ''Boy'', ''October'', and ''War'' are this. Later followed by a genre shift to roots rock on ''The Joshua Tree'', before switching again to Alternative Dance on ''Achtung Baby''.
* PrecisionFStrike: "Wake Up Dead Man" from the ''Pop'' album, and the only mention of the F word in all of their studio recordings.
-->Jesus
-->Jesus help me
-->I'm alone in this world
-->And a '''fucked''' up world it is too
** "Mofo" had one too, but it's barely audible - the song's vocals are rendered [[TheUnintelligible unintelligible]] by the loud techno-rock.
** There's also Bonos infamous "fuck the revolution" speech, delivered during a live performance of Sunday Bloody Sunday at a gig following the IRA bombing of a Remembrance Day parade in Enniskillen.
* ProtestSong: While they're not exactly ''protest'' songs, per se, U2 traditionally puts one pro-peace song in each of their albums. Examples include "Pride (In The Name Of Love)" on ''The Unforgettable Fire'', "Van Diemen's Land" (more like a "traditional" protest song than a few of the others) and "God, Part 2" on ''Rattle and Hum'', "Peace on Earth" (natch) on ''All That You Can't Leave Behind'', "Love And Peace Or Else" (again, natch) on ''How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb'', and, most recently, "Stand Up Comedy" on ''No Line On The Horizon.''
** "Sunday, Bloody Sunday" on ''War'', "Please" on ''Pop''.
** Pretty much all the songs on ''War'' count, really. It was probably titled that way for a reason...
* RockMeAsmodeus: [=MacPhisto=]. Not as heavy metal-influenced as most appearances of the trope, but definitely an example.
* ShoutOut:
** ''Achtung Baby'' was a reference to a line in ''TheProducers''.
** At almost every live show, the band embeds "snippets" into some of their songs - short lyrical or melodic {{Shout Out}}s to other songs. These can be anything from references to Beatles songs to callbacks to more obscure songs in U2's own discography.
** When Bono's run over at the end of the video for "Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me", he's reading ''TheScrewtapeLetters''.
*** Live performances of Hold Me Thrill Me (a song off of the Batman Forever soundtrack) on the 360 tour have Bono menacingly asking during the song's intro, "[[TheDarkKnightSaga Why So Serious]]?"
** Not to mention the numerous allusions to WilliamButlerYeats that the lads chuck into their songs and performances rather frequently. Article on the subject [[http://www.atu2.com/news/connections/yeats/ here]].
** The "sad astronaut" face on the cover of ''Zooropa'' was [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zooropa apparently]] meant to represent a Soviet cosmonaut who had been left floating in orbit for weeks after [[TheGreatPoliticsMessUp the USSR collapsed]] (a hoax story), and the back cover includes images of Lenin, Mussolini and Nicolae Ceaușescu.
* SomethingSomethingLeonardBernstein: U2 fans have never managed to agree on what Bono's mumbling at the start of "Last Night on Earth".
* TakeThat: A classic one at the beginning of ''Rattle and Hum''. Bono introduces U2's cover of "Helter Skelter" by shouting at the audience, "This is a song CharlesManson stole from TheBeatles. We're stealing it back!"
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* ADayInTheLimelight: The video for "Electrical Storm" is partially an example for Larry. We were [[{{Squee}} delighted]] with this decision.
* AnimatedMusicVideo: "Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me" and "I'll Go Crazy If I Don't Go Crazy Tonight".
* ConceptVideo: Quite a few.
* {{Fanservice}}: The [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K0adFYuNuns video]] for "Electrical Storm". [[ShirtlessScene Shirtless]] Larry Mullen? Check. Samantha Morton as a hot mermaid? Check.
* TheOner: "The Sweetest Thing".
* PerformanceVideo: Most of them, many of the nineties ones mixed with SurrealMusicVideo.
* RooftopConcert:
** The band's MusicVideo for "Where The Streets Have No Name" sees the band draw a large crowd on the streets of Los Angeles while performing live on a rooftop. Meanwhile, the LAPD aims to shut them down.
** "All Because of You" is a variant, filmed atop a moving flat bed truck.
* SurrealMusicVideo: Most of their nineties videos have this and PerformanceVideo: "Even Better Than the Real Thing", "The Fly", "Mysterious Ways", "Numb", "Lemon", "Staring at the Sun", "Last Night on Earth", "Please", and so on.
* VideoFullOfFilmClips: "Elevation", remixed for the ''TombRaider'' film, "The Hands That Built America", written for ''GangsOfNewYork'', and "Hold Me, Thrill Me", which is on the soundtrack of ''BatmanForever''.
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** YMMV on that one. The fast pace and changed lyrics kind of lose the heartwarming feel of the original version.
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* FreudWasRight: Ahem, [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7rIZdXDO84Y "MOFO"]]. To make matters worse, the song was originally going to be called [[OedipusRex Oedi]][[IncrediblyLamePun pussy]].
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* OldShame: During an interview with Jonathan Ross, he plays a video of the band on one of their amateur concerts. Bono's [[{{Facepalm}} reaction]] is priceless.
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* GriefSong: "Tomorrow", from the ''October'' album, was written about Bono's mother's funeral. It's become something of a [[NeedsMoreLove forgotten classic]] these days.
-->There's a black car parked
-->At the side of the road
-->Don't go to the door
-->I'm going outside, mother
-->I'm going out there
-->Won't you be back tomorrow?
-->Won't you be back tomorrow?
-->Will you be back tomorrow?
-->There's a black car parked
-->At the side of the road
-->Don't go to the door
-->I'm going outside, mother
-->I'm going out there
-->Won't you be back tomorrow?
-->Won't you be back tomorrow?
-->Will you be back tomorrow?
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None
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** There's also Bonos infamous "fuck the revolution" speech, delivered during a live performance of Sunday Bloody Sunday at a gig following the IRA bombing of a Remembrance Day parade in Enniskillen.
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** In one interview on Irish TV he addressed detractors who took the mickey out of some of their more ... over the top elements, particularly their political statements. He claimed the only thing they had ever done he felt was ill advised, and that he looked back on with regret, in their entire career was The Mullet (yes, you could hear the capitals) and gave full permission for people to endlessly take the piss out of him for it.
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* GratuitousSpanish: C'mon, you ''know'' the one.
--> Unos, dos, tres, catorce!
--> Unos, dos, tres, catorce!
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** It's not that hard to tell them apart, though: Adam has [[WhiteHairedPrettyBoy whitening hair]], while Larry doesn't.
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* LoudnessWar: ''How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb'' was guilty of this.
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* RecordOfLoudnessWar: ''How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb'' was guilty of this.
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* LyricalDissonance: "Mofo", for example, staples together an awesome techno track which sounds like it belongs in ''TheMatrix'' with whiny, annoying lyrics about Bono's dead mother.
to:
* LyricalDissonance: "Mofo", for example, staples together an awesome techno track which sounds like it belongs in ''TheMatrix'' with whiny, annoying dark lyrics about Bono's dead mother.
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* ''Songs of Ascent'' (tentative title, originally scheduled for 2011 but possibly delayed)
to:
* ''Songs of Ascent'' (tentative title, originally scheduled for 2011 but possibly delayed)
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Looking beyond the current discography, U2 has at least two more albums in the works: a rock album ([[AndTheFandomRejoiced which is being produced by Danger Mouse]]), and a club music-influenced album. Oh, and Bono and Edge worked on the soundtrack to ''SpiderMan:'' ''[[TheMusical Turn Off The Dark]]''. Suffice it to say, for a band that's been going for over thirty years, they don't show any signs of slowing down soon.
to:
Looking beyond the current discography, U2 has at least two more albums in the works: a rock album ([[AndTheFandomRejoiced which is being produced by Danger Mouse]]), and a club music-influenced album. Oh, and Bono and Edge worked on the soundtrack to ''SpiderMan:'' ''[[TheMusical ''[[SpiderManTurnOffTheDark Spider-Man: Turn Off The Dark]]''. Suffice it to say, for a band that's been going for over thirty years, they don't show any signs of slowing down soon.
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** So quiet that he didn't announce that he had a son until a year after the kid was born.
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* HeterosexualLifePartners: Bono and The Edge, so very much.
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Looking beyond the current discography, U2 has at least two more albums in the works: a rock album ([[AndTheFandomRejoiced which is being produced by Danger Mouse]]), and a club music-influenced album. Oh, and Bono and Edge are working on the soundtrack to ''SpiderMan:'' ''[[TheMusical Turn Off The Dark]]''. ''And'' they're currently in the middle of the massive 360 Tour...suffice it to say, for a band that's been going for over thirty years, they don't show any signs of slowing down soon.
to:
Looking beyond the current discography, U2 has at least two more albums in the works: a rock album ([[AndTheFandomRejoiced which is being produced by Danger Mouse]]), and a club music-influenced album. Oh, and Bono and Edge are working worked on the soundtrack to ''SpiderMan:'' ''[[TheMusical Turn Off The Dark]]''. ''And'' they're currently in the middle of the massive 360 Tour...suffice Suffice it to say, for a band that's been going for over thirty years, they don't show any signs of slowing down soon.
