U2's next album and approach
rob okorn ([email protected])
Sun, 26 Jul 1998 15:53:16 PDT
Someone brought up the sincerity and compelling lyrical issue in light
of all the personas Bono the chameleon has transformed himself into,
this decade. If you look throughout this decade you'll notice that bono
has used his ultra cool shades/leather Fly vid look, the Macphisto
character, Village people clone, shadow boxer, hooded rapper look. Sure
you can dismiss all those as extraneous elements to accentuate the stage
show and add some showmanship, but even a non-cynic would conclude that
this a very conscious effort to appeal the image the viewer perceives.
While people have fun with chameleon Bono's different characters, the
point is that it detracts from the sincerity in the more compelling
lyrics. More than anything, the 360 degree turnaround and the various
Bono schticks points th the fact that their previous stances were not
intrinsically noble gestures
but a conscious effort to use that compelling theme at least to an
extent. The over the top Amnesty broadcast with the worldwide audience
is one of many examples. While they believed in the issues they
addresed, the preachy overbearingness as well as the Live Aid 'Bono
among the faithful' flack and Amnesty exuberence.
So it all seems disconcerting that in both decades they're resorting to
extraneous elements that totallty contradict each other. Where's the
sincerity, that persona and image and public perception seems like half
the battle and they've consciously addressed it.
Does U2 really need the extraneous 90's images, from ultra cool
shades/leather Fly look, Macphisto devillish character, Village people
clone, shadow boxer, hooded rapper, long heels.
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on Sun Jul 26 1998 - 15:55:16 PDT