U2

U2
Originally uploaded by mincaye.

A critic wrote, "It doesn't matter for shit to U2 what [a critic] thinks of How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb. In fact, it doesn't matter for shit what the entire critical legion thinks."

Billboard wrote, "...the album is full of great songs, performed with the vitality of a band that keeps surprising us by simply being itself."

I've known U2 for less than a year, but already I'm inspired by their journey, by their songs. From what I understand, they started with a youthful optimism that went against all that rock music stood for 25 years ago.

They went on to make great political and personal statements in their songs, but almost entirely revamped their image in the 90s. Many look at this phase as a disaster, though some note that without the '90s experiment,' they wouldn't be where they are now.

Visiting their website the other day, I read their comments on their albums, and how they see each as significant in different ways. Perhaps what impresses me most is how they take pride in everything they do; the world may laugh, but not the band itself.

Maybe that's what keeps them together longer than most rock bands. They risk everything -- even their reputation, for it's not their main concern -- to make some points, to express themselves in new ways.

They sing/play for themselves, and ultimately for the One who brought them together at first, and not for the approval of critics and the public. Like Sherlock Holmes, the work is their joy.

And, maybe because of this, their songs sound so much more real and powerful than almost the entire output of the mainstream rock world; they come from the heart, where struggles are articulated in a raw manner unbeknownst to all wanna-be bands.

I hope I can be like that someday, slowly but surely. I'm as old as U2 were when they began recording in 1978-79, and it may take me 25 years or even more, but I aspire to one day be free of the choking thorns of reputation and artificial facades.

Free, one day, to really be who I was made to be.

The Guardian quoted a comment made on U2 by some quarters of rock in the early 80s; "...they've got two hopes of making it: Bob Hope and no hope."

25 years down the road, the obvious verdict now, as expressed by The Guardian, is "it seems highly unlikely anyone will laugh at U2 again."