video special U2 August 2011

August 31st
Bad

Live aid 1985. U2 has just had their break through with 'The Unforgetable Fire' and they head up on stage in front of tens of thousands of people. At home there's millions of people watching in front of the tv. The band just go up and takes over the stage and the world with a song that already in original form can make you shiver. Their performance with this song can blow anyone miles away. Just like the title track and Pride (In the Name of Love), which we've seen already in this special, this song comes from 'The Unforgetable Fire' and they are all among the best by U2. However, this particular video where we can see Bono jump from the stage to comfort and hug a lady from the audience are among the most memorable live footage from the 80's by any band and went in to the heart of millions of people. Afterwards Bono has continued doing this under somewhat more controlled forms where he invites someone from the audience (a young girl of course) to join him whilst performing some particular songs. This is actually the only fair way to round of this video special: Probably the best band in the world, probably the biggest band in the world, probably the best live band in the world… I hope you've enjoyed this video special as much as I've done when picking the videos. If you want more then you should check out their Zoo-tv material from their Zoo-tv tour because seen to overall performance that is probably the most insane and grand spectacle you'll ever see. But when it comes to one song, this is the cherry of it all, the most amazing, striking and fantastic performance ever. It's one of the best U2 songs ever and definitely one of their best live songs - if not the best. I think it's one of the best live songs by any band… if not the best. U2 playing Bad is very good!

Magnificent

The classic grand U2 rock song seen to rhythm, meldy, guitar sound, structure and lyrics. This is a song that wont be anything but a real U2 classic as time will treat it, right up there along with songs like With Or Without You, Pride (In The Name of Love), Where The Streets Have No Name, Sunday Bloody Sunday, Beautiful Day, vertigo and so on… At least the song is good enough and sound pretty equal to them, but sales haven't spoiled the single like in the case with the other (but no one can say this video isn't better than they were in all of those). This is the secong of three singles from 'No Line On The Horizon' and this proves that U2 hasn't left the big arena rock songs and that they can do them still, even after 30 years. U2 is a real phenomenon within the music industry. in my opinion, there has only been one band that has been so influential and iconic as U2. A band that can do music of such different character and still always do it well. A band that even at their worse makes music better than 99% of all other bands releasing albums in the same decade. And that other band is The Beatles. Personally, I find U2 even better than The Beatles, but then you have to consider the fact that The Beatles stayed together not even 15 years and U2 has more than doubled that. Perhaps not so strange that they've done it better and made more classic songs, albums and tours. Icons. A band to remember as we head on and leave them behind. Next up in this video special is… Status Quo.

August 30th
Get on Your Boots

Penultimate day of our video special with U2 and both of our songs today comes from the latest U2 album, 'No Line On The Horizon'. The top song of these are the first single of the album, known as Get On Your Boots. Reception wise not the best of first singles by U2, in fact it's one of their least successful first singles but it still made top ten in many countries all over the world. Sound-wise this song reminds a lot of U2 on 'Rattle and Hum' but with a more modern sound and the video reminds a lot of the videos released in the 90's by the band - colorful with strange, alternative camera angles and editing. A typical U2 video you might say, it feels expensive but is pretty pointless. If you want the best of the song, listen to the build ups for the choruses and keep an eye at what's going on behind the band in the video.

I'll Go Crazy If I Don't Go Crazy Tonight

I'll Go Crazy If I Don't Go Crazy Tonight
We'll continue to do two songs throughout this last week and this is the second video of the day - I'll Go Crazy If I Don't Go Crazy Tonight, This is the latest single by the band and just like the other video today it comes from 'No Line On The Horizon', the latest and twelfth studio album by the band. The single… well, count for your self. Except for the 56 official single releases by the band we've seen some alternatives to singles in this special. This is a band that has sold more than 170 million units, won endless numbers of music awards and still remains with the same four guys that started the band in 1976 and has played together for 35 years now and released their first album 31 years ago. And they keeps impressing, like with songs such as this. This is a really good soft rock song and the video is a visual animated video which feels really good on all levels. I'll Go Crazy If I Don't Go Crazy Tonight shows us that U2 hasn't loosed their quality and still makes some of the best music there is, just as good as ever. This is well worth a few minutes of your life!

August 29th
Original of the Spieces

A song never released on single but on this animated video. It's something of a shame the song never got the chance as single since it's such a good song, especially in the sound on the guitars and the nice melodies. Bono sings this song quite different from how he normally sings but the song is something of a typical U2 song and the video among the best I've seen with the band. It's more of a ballad than anything else, a typical U2-ballad? Beautiful yet still unpredictable in a good way. The song is featured on 'How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb'.

The Ground Beneath Her Feet

Not the first U2 song that sounds like this, all though I don't think we've ever heard anything like this released on singel or as video before from this band. The ground beneath Her Feet are one of the most beautiful videos you'll find from U2 and this movie related video really goes straight in to your heart. And the song itself does the same. You don't really think about U2 when you hear it, weren't it for Bonos characteristic voice. It's unmistakable the voice of U2. The song is part of the soundtrack for Million Dollar Hotel (from 2000) and weren't released as a singel by U2, nor on any U2 album. There aren't anything wrong anywhere with the song, so it's a shame it never made it as a singel or to any of the bands own albums. The lyrics comes directly from the book with the same name as the song and in structure this song reminds me more of traditional pop music you'll hear on the radio than U2. Still, it's a very good song that works really well together with the video. So much better is hard to find in this special.

August 28th
City of Blinding Lights

The last single of 'How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb' sounds almost like Where The Streets have No Name in the beginning, before it turns in to a more grand and relaxed song than that. Iäm sure this song will work really well building up tension for Where the Streets Have No Name as it's so similar in the beginning the audience must think it's that first and then comes this song, followed by the real Where The Streets Have No Name, if one could say it like that. The audience will go bananas either way I guess - it's U2. This feels like a really good song! It could have come in the 80's, but it didn't. Instead it feels like a song that pulls you back to those days and it works amazing together with their 360° stage design.

Window In the Skies

The new single from the compilation album 'U2 18 singles'. A celebration to entertainers that have left us. A pretty calm song led by the guitars and in the same vein as The Sweetest Thing it has a simple melody with a repeating phrase over and over throughout the song. The song has a calm melody tanned is very beautiful, low paced and the video show us all the old heroes of entertainment - like musicians, actors and tv-personalities - that has died and left us. People, that just like U2. has given us so much. If anyone know how to make a worthy celebration to anyone and anything it is U2 - they know exactly how to make something grand, respectful and touching. And this is all those things, it fells really moving to hear and see this video.

August 27th
Sometimes You Can't make it on Your Own

The ballad Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own have the guitars of The Edge and the emotional voice of Bono, the two things that characterize this band so much. And they come together really well in this song. The song has somewhat of a U2-90's feel over it. It has a calmer pace and feels radio friendly melody-wise and with rhythms alike those they had in the 80's. one of the things I like best is how they keep calm and don't fly away with the solo and all the other things in the middle. And of course I love Bono's voice. The song is about the importance of having someone to fall back at and lean against in though times. Someone to cry with and that helps you rise again. The video is quite simple with Bono mostly walking down a street and the band playing in silhouette in front of a white screen. Scaled down, simple and beautiful. At the end the screen is raised and behind shows something much more grand and even more beautiful… It has that balance between simple and grand, just like U2 always do. Unfortunately the embedding function has been deactivated for this clip so it can only be shown through Youtube, but this live clip we have instead is a good clip so I'm sure you can enjoy this clip anyway.

All Because of You

The second single from 'How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb' is the enthusiastic rock song All because of You. it wasn't such a big hit as Vertigo, the first single of the album, but it's also a completely different kind of song. A bit scaled down compared to the grand vertigo and I think of Beatles when I hear the song and just the same when I see the video. It looks almost like they had recorded it in the time of The Beatles with all the fans running after the band on their lorry trailer. Perhaps that was what they were aiming for? It's recorded on the streets of New York with hundreds of fans standing by the street and following U2 on the trailer, some even run along with them. A good but not fantastic song.

August 26th
Vertigo

An instant classic, and one of the heaviest and rockiest U2 songs ever because of the more aggressive guitars, heavier bass and harder drums, as well as the up-tempo. The guitar lines parked themselves straight inside your head and the single climbed charts all over the world to top ten positions everywhere. This was the first single from 'How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb' and also the most successful from that album. We get to learn all different kind of things from the song - like some spanish words (one to four and hello) and the video shows us just what can happen in deserts if you're not on your guard. Actually, there's not much more to say - it's a phenomenal song and one of the best singles and songs from this band that had been releasing albums for well over 20 years when they did this. Impressing is the least we can say.

August 25th
Elevation

Another U2 song connected to the movies, and just like in the case of Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me it's a real piece of shit film: Lara Croft - Tomb Raider. A song that is more 90's than most of the other on the album ('All That You Can't Leave Behind') and a song that once again proves U2 is a rock band, because even though the sound is more 90's it's still a real rock song. Ironically U2 had a sequence with lair Croft shooting her gun against the screen during their entire PopMart tour, something you can see in the Mofo video from the 20th if you look closely. This was before U2 did this song for the film or even was connected to it. Later this movie gave the name to their tour for the 'All That You Can't Leave Behind' album, naming it Elevation tour. It's a nice song and the video is somewhat surrealistic, it also does what most official movie song videos do, which is putting sequences of the movie in to the video. I wouldn't call it the best song or video from this special. Nor the worse. In fact, by my standards I'd say both the song and video is exactly in the middle.

August 24th
Stuck In A Moment You Can't Get Out Of

Som de flesta andra av låtarna på 'All That You Can't Leave Behind' (inclusive Beautiful Day) handlar Stuck In A Moment You Can't Get Out Of om sorgbehandling - att ta sig igenom tuffa tider, problem och bekymmer. Låten är en närmast soul- eller gospelinspirerad ballad som liksom hela albumet har ljudbilden från 80-talsskivorna blandat med erfarenheterna de samlat på sig under sin experimentella tid på 90-talet. En fantastiskt fin ballad på alla sätt och vis. Nyligen spelade Bono och The Edge den akustiskt då de gästade David Letterman och de har spelat den många gånger akustiskt live också. Personligen en av mina absoluta favoritlåtar med bandet och den kanske bästa balladen bandet gjort. Har du missat den? Se den! Inga The Edge gitarrer, men likväl en U2 låt av högsta kvalité.

23:e augusti
Walk On

The third 'All That You Can't Leave Behind' single is the beautiful slow rocker Walk On, a song that I think sound almost like a combination between Beautiful Day and One. It has great guitars and amazing melodies. Truly another example of U2 being at their best! In the video we see U2 travel around in the world socializing and exploring it but story-wise it's a quite dull video. Looks expensive and quite pointless but visually good looking. There is however a message in the video, to free a freedom rights fighter in Burma. I probably would have liked the video better if they'd done some sort of Forrest Gump thing and it had started with one person just walking and the people joining until they are one big army of people walking. However, the song is good, the video looks nice and it is U2 the way we love them.

22:a augusti
Beautiful Day

After a decade doing music of experimental character compared to the sound they had established in their first ten years, U2 returned to the rock music they had realized that their fans wanted them to play. Beautiful Day is a characteristic U2 song in the rock fashion, the way they sounded in the mid 80's while still coming with a freasher and more modern sound. The single reached new highs and is one of the most successful singles in U2s career. The fans celebrated their return to rock and putting The Edges unique guitar sound in focus instead of buried somewhere in the middle of it all. The album 'All That You Can't Leave Behind' became a huge success due to the success of Beautiful Day and U2 was reborn.
The song comes with a simple yet great message: cease the day! Stop seeing the negative, stop looking at only the problems - take what you get and appreciate it, use the moments and enjoy while you can! People should really take the message in and stop complaining and looking at what's bad all the time, we live in a world full of possibilities and it's up to us to use them! I think this is one of U2s best songs ever - a song with a given place in the history of U2 and a song that works just as good live as it does on the album. Perhaps the video isn't the greatest, but it's alright - we've seen a lot worse so far here.

21:a augusti
The Sweetest Thing

The album 'The Best Of 1980-1990' released a year after 'Pop' was somewhat of a breaking point for the U2 that had presented themselves to us in the 90's and the beginning of a return towards the sound of the 80's, which is and was the sound most people related to U2. On the album they had added a newly recorded bonus song, which was the piano rock song The Sweetest Thing. A song with strings and a sound familiar to I Still Have't Found What I'm Looking For. They repeat the phrase "Oooh the sweetest thing" over and over and "Xylophoneish" guitars. Definitely a step in the right direction after a decade testing and experimenting what they could do and from when it was released the song is frequently appearing in television and referred to in media still today. When it was released the song was quite successful both on the charts and seen in sales figures and if you consider how the video looks you'll notice it just yells out that a new U2 has arrived. Gone are the videos with shaky cameras, flittering images and experimental colors. All though it is somewhat reminding of Numb with a steady cam fixed on Bono as he travels down a city street and different things happen around him.

Electrical Storm

Just like in the case of their 'best of 1980-1990' U2 recorded a new single to their 'Best of 1990-2000' and the song featured was this, Electrical Storm, which had this very beautiful video in black and white. The sound seems more U2 than the other songs on the best of album, more like the U2 that followed in the 00-century than what had been the decade before it. This is a really good song with a video that might be even better than the song. The single made top ten charts around the world but might still appear as something of a semi success considering what it compets against from this band. Normally it's still played at their live shows and it sounds just as good overtime they do it.

August 20th
Mofo

Have you seen the Simpsons episode where U2 feature? Then you'll recognize U2 in their stage costumes from this song. Mofo, all though not U2 as we think of U2, perhaps, is U2 to the bone - crazy, creative, groundbreaking and some of the best performers in the world. That is what U2 is - they can do whatever they want and do it good. Clothes and stage decor is identical with what the band wears in the Simpsons here and U2 opened with this song at every show on their world tour following 'Pop' but the song is actually about the late mother of Bono who passed away while he was still a teenager. U2 still plays this song live on a regular basis, all though not always but in my opinion it is the best of those really remixed and disco/techno (ish) songs they did on 'Pop' and 'Zooropa'.

Last Night On Earth

Another single from 'Pop' and another U2 single that has somewhat been forgotten as time has passed. This doomsday theme doesn't really suit U2 but this song with the video it has the whole thing actually works quite well. I compartment it's a pretty anonymous U2 song and forgettable looking at the song structure and sound, but to the U2 fans they gained during the 90's it has become something of a forgotten classic. The video is quite awesome if the song doesn't suite you and during the late 90's it was regular feature on their live shows, all though it's disappearing more and more from them. This will be the last Hallowed featured song from "the alternative U2", by tomorrow we'll return to the U2 we love the big rock - the arena rock. So enjoy it while it last, because this will be its last night on earth...

August 19th
Please

The 'Pop' album singles are all unique and different in their own way compared to other U2 singles as well as other singles released at the same time from others. Please is no exception, it's a ballad that comes with quite different melodies as they sound pretty mysterious in their atmospheric composition. U2 has always gone their own way and have always had an unique sound and as we're presented to Please we can hear yet another side of this band that we still haven't heard before but then all the sniffles from 'Pop' gives us that feeling. The video to Please is just like the lyrics a pledge to people all around the world to leave their nonchalant living with unexceptance and hate behind. A beautiful song in both lyrics and music.

August 18th
Discothèque

If I say first eight times about this song, what am I talking about? Of course it's England, ireland, Belgium, Canada, FInland. Norway, New Zealand and single number of the album 'Pop'. Discothèque id another heavily mixed song and somewhat "alternative" since it's less rock and more disco or pop (hence the name, perhaps?). If you're like me and appreciate U2 mostly for their harder, more melodic and "rockier" sound I would guess you're no super fan of this song either. However, the song grows on you and despite the song lacking that real U2 sound you can still recognize the band in the sound of the guitars and song structure. No personal favorite but still a U2 classic and you'll like it if you're a fan of U2 in the 90's.

August 17th
Hold me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me

In general you can say that the movie Batman Forever was disastrous but the movie had a few good things and U2 doing the song Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me was probably the biggest plus. Another example of U2 in the 90's doing something experimental - less rock and more… I don't know - disco, techno, pop… call it whatever you want but it sounds great! A bit heavier and harder than many other U2 songs, especially compared to the other singles released in the 90's and the video is cool with the comic book look. The Edge plays his guitars with real waw-waw effect, which makes it sound like they pendulate back and forth and back and forth. The song is also somewhat faster than what we're used to hear from U2 and on the charts it was one of the biggest hits U2 has had peaking top ten more or less around the world and here in Sweden it was the first time U2 reached second, something they've only done twice afterwards. This is a U2 classic of the more classic kind and tomorrow we'll hear the second single that reached second in Sweden. But today you should enjoy one of the best music videos recorded by U2.

August 16th
Stay (Faraway, So Close)

The third 'Zooropa' single, and perhaps one of the most "normal" U2 singles released in contrast to what was released both before and after a couple of years on each side. A calm and relaxed song that scales down and picks out the U2 melodies and presenting them at their best. The lyrics are also nice, if you listen to them, and the song is still played live - all though not on every live show but every now and then.
At the time it was no major hit single, but in some countries it was a big hit while other countries seemed to miss it almost completely. In the video we follow the band around in Berlin, which recently had been united after the Berlin wall was opened. We see the band in black and white traveling to places and meeting people that just recently was difficult for people to visit as the city was in exile. SOmething of a fan-favourite still and it captures that special thing U2 seems to get out of their song everytime - something crawling under your skin and makes us shiver pleasantly.

August 15th
Lemon

Talking classics of yesterday that were forgotten, you have your prime candidate here. One of the most unique videos I guess ever to one of the most singles ever done. Bono sings almost the entire song in falsetto and to achieve that without sounding ridiculous is in itself an accomplishment worthy all admiration you can get. A song that wasn't statistically fantastic or that was the biggest fan-favorite at the time but a song that in time has grown to a real classic among the real U2-fans. I believe that if it had been released today it would have got the success it deserve, but I guess the entire 'Zooropa' was a few years ahead of everything and ground breaking for not only U2 but the entire music industry. The first half of the U2 90's was ahead of its time and it was first with hindsight we realized how amazing the Zoo-project was with the Zoo-tv tour and the characters presented years ahead of it in the singles and albums. Lemon is in my opinion the peak of it all - the best in both video and specific song that came in that era. If you don't have anything better to do you can always go out on the Youtube site and check out the video where they do Lemon and With or Without you together. Absolutely magnificent! And indescribable. The music industry will never be what it was before U2, 'Zooropa' and the Zoo-tv tour. Lemon is yet another proof of this. U2 - a band that can do whatever they want… and then some.

14:e augusti
Numb

As U2 released Numb, I don't think the world was quite ready to embrace it fully back then. Had it been released on single today I think it would have been received much more enthusiastic and probably would have taken over the world. Another song that hasn't the typical U2 sound but it still has gone down as one of the big classics and a song that is really, really good and proves yet another time that when it comes to U2, they can do whatever they want and make it sound good. Numb didn't top any charts or broke any records but then it wasn't released as a real single either but a video single on VHS instead of CD or cassette or vinyl. It might seem and seemed back then already as an unological choice of single considering how different it was both compared to the other songs on 'Zooropa' and U2s repertoire and compared to most music released at the time and I guess only the U2 fans understood the greatness of it back in the days. Today I think everyone can see it - see what an innovative and characterizing song it is and what a progressive tone it holds and the concept of the whole song and video and video single. Germinal as few, parodied in great numbers. Many songs have The Edge on backing vocals but here he does the lead role, but it still sounds great! But perhaps that's no surprise… that U2 sounds great.

Staring at the Sun

Let's jump ahead a few years to the second single of U2s 'Pop' album. Somewhat more U2 as we know them but still with the experimental sound they had in some way during the entire 90's. Foundational it's a quite normal pop song but still made in U2-manners - meaning a big dose of The Edges recognizable guitars even though everything is a bit toned down to be a U2 song with the scaled down instrumental side and low key vocals and not the big rock they normally do.
The video has lots of flittering lights and colours and images but no real story, as in some of the later videos we've seen here. Sales and chart-wise Staring At The Sun was no real success nor a complete failure but measured in U2 standards had quite average results. It was number one in canada and number ten here and there but mostly top 20 and top 30 around the world. Today I wouldn't say it's the song we think of first when we think of U2, regardless of your opinion of 'Pop' but according to me this is one of the better songs on that album… so, enjoy!

August 13th
One

One Love… One Life… nothing strange with Bono preaching to us about equal rights, justice and a world free from war and violence but this song is mainly a love song. 'Achtung baby' gave us no less than five singles but looking back on it today what song is most remembered and loved - it's One. Perhaps because it's the most "typical U2 song" on the album? perhaps because it's simply the best? My vote goes for the second. It's a really, really good song in every way and perhaps it's because of this that it's been covered so many times. And re-recored by U2 with other artists and U2 alone. Some artists and bands that's covered it are Johnny Cash, Joe Cocker, R.E.M., Gregorian, Pearl Jam, and the cast of TV-show Glee. No matter how good these are, the original beat 'em all, as always when people tries to cover U2. This video is one of several made on this song and perhaps the most famous video is the one by Mark Pellington where Bisons run around in blurriness and the word One appears in many different languages, but U2 themselves provided this version through their Vevo channel so therefore it has been the video of the day (along with Even better Than The Real Thing). One has been voted as one of the best songs ever in so many polls it's hard to keep track and it is one of the strongest heritages they've left. Because all you need is One Love… with each other… sisters and brothers. One Love!

Even Better Than The real Thing

The first real disco tune of U2 that might have surprised the U2 fans somewhat. Surely U2 had been experimenting lately but Even Better Than The Real Thing was a big surpass to most, perhaps a bit too big of a surprise to some and the song never made it better than third in any official chart. In the US the song was a hit on the Bilboard roc chart but it peaked at 36th in the official singel charts. The video was a bigger success then, receiving an award at the MTV video music awards for best special effects because of the rotating camera that spun 360 degrees around the band like some sort of insect. I do think the video is quite cool, somewhat dizzy, like the Mysterious Ways video we saw yesterday, but one of the better U2 videos. In my opinion this song works better played live when the band "rock it up" because otherwise it's something of a low for the band because it's not much that feels as it reach that "U2-standard" they always have. The guitars are pretty simple, the vocals are nothing special and the melodies quite non existing. But somehow it still feel U2 and have that U2-spirit that makes you love it anyway. In case of nothing else, it's worth seeing for the video and the unique camera angles in it because that's even better than the real thing...

August 12th
Mysterious Ways

The second single of 'Achtung Baby' was less popular in Europe than its predecessor but much more popular than The Fly in the USA. It's a more "traditional" U2 song than The Fly, but still quite far from songs like Where The Streets have No name and Pride (In The Name Of Love). Mysterious Ways is mostly different to their 80's style in the verses but not so much otherwise. It is still frequently played at their live shows and looking at the video it feels very typical for the U2-videos from that time with shaky cameras, flittering motives and quite pointless at the same time as you feel it's expensive and made that way on purpose. This is one of my favorite songs from the era and its mostly due to the chorus and the sound of the guitars. But I wouldn't complain if they would have skipped the beat that sounds like a drum machine and I think Bono's voice could have been used better because it's most as he only sings, not like he lives the songs as in the last five or ten videos we've seen. Tomorrow you'll hear the best song from this album… but that's then, today you'll have to do with the song that works in mysterious ways.

August 11th
The Fly

The 90's and a new U2 has taken its shape. 'Achtung Baby' is released and perhaps to get away from being compared and connected to 'The Joshua Tree', or perhaps to move on because they felt they were ready for it, or perhaps just by coincident… whatever, a new U2 was here and a U2 that "doesn't sound like U2" again. Believe it or not but U2 has never had a number one single in Sweden, despite most of their singles being hit singles and top ten. The Fly was their first top 3, though, and as previously mentioned it is a somewhat uncharacteristic U2 single with heavy mixing and a sound that's almost disco-sounding. But you still recognize U2, despite them hiding their roots well on the first single of 'Achtung Baby'. Both the single and the albumare among the most successful U2 releases ever, though the popularity for this song has somewhat died away during the years since its release. The concept and video was more expensive in the 90's and being one of the biggest bands in rock already then this paid off. U2 only became bigger and bigger during the 90's and it started with 'Achtung Baby' and the Zoo tv tour where Bono stared as different characters that he had established with this and the next album. One of them being The Fly. You should not miss this if you're a U2 fan.

August 10th
All I Want is You

Unfortunately there was no video with better quality than this to this song, but the somewhat compromised quality is still better than no video at all for this fantastic song - so I hope you can live with it because not to have this song in a special celebrating perhaps the best rock band in the world would be just as bad as gassing millions of jews… or maybe not THAT bad, but you get my point. I just had to have it in this special, especially since this video is one of the best music videos they've done. The song is extremely emotional and if I still haven't commented on Bono being one of the greatest vocalists in the world, this is where it must be done. If you don't agree with me after hearing this song, I can't see why you've bothered to check out this U2-special at all. Or why you even read Hallowed in the first place. The video for All I Want is You is also extremely emotional - a love story that should be seen rather than being described since no words can really do this song justice.

August 9th
Desire

Suddenly U2 had to match the standard they'd set with 'The Joshua Tree', which is a task that I guess no band actually would want to be put in front of. Super stars and popular beyond measurable levels they went in to the studio and came out with 'Rattle and Hum' and the first single of that album was this - Desire. Number one in the UK, Ireland, Australia, New Zeeland and top ten in more or less every other country. The entire album is more gospel and soul, and perhaps a bit bluesy too, than their predecessors and once again you could say U2 made a somewhat experimental album, which didn't stop them from doing an album that's very successful. And very good. U2 - the band that can do whatever they want and still make it good and not only have one sound and one type of songs as some people say. And then you have to have in mind that no one knew when the album was released that it would be the album with most similar sound compared to the albums before it for ten years and four studio albums. Too me, though, this album and particularly this song feels like a great mix of everything that is and always has been U2 during their 30+ years as an album releasing band.

August 8th
Where The Streets Have No Name

Did you ever doubt it? Just listen to Where The Streets Have No Name and you'll doubt no more. You'll get goosebumps all over your body because the straight through genius in this song is remarkable! Just listen to the guitars. The rhythm. The melodies. The vocals. They are just fantastic! Many U2 fans besides me holds this song as the best on this album, from U2 in the 80's and maybe even in their entire career. Funny enough, it was the first U2 song I ever heard.
The video for the song was shot in down town Los Angeles and partly the video is almost documentary from when and where they filmed it. Due to too much people crowding the neighborhood where they shot the video, Police thought the whole thing was too unsafe and closed the filming down and because of this they didn't get enough material to cover the entire song well and therefore made the video with some of the on location footage from behind the scenes. The real video had the entire song at least and not like this where the last chorus and some are missing and more documentary material instead. I hold this song as the best U2 song I've heard, perhaps somewhat colored by the fact that it was my first U2 experience, but in my opinion this song is simply amazing! I get such feelings in my body that I can't describe it overtime I hear this song - and I can't come up with any other song that can do that.

August 7th
With Or Without You

The song with a big S. Number one in Ireland, Canada, USA and top ten in more or less the rest of the world. U2 was back after three years on the road after the success of 'The Unforgetable Fire' and when they released their fifth album, 'The Joshua Tree' they released one of the rock industry's biggest milestones ever. 'The Joshua Tree' was number one in more than 20 countries and has sold either gold, platinum or diamond more or less everywhere, much due to the success of the first single - With or Without You.The song begins with a bass intro that can make buildings shake and ends up in one of the most enjoyable guitar playing ever on a single. Between these two you can find a melancholic song in mid-tempo about a person torn between his chooses in life. Guitarist The Edge once said about the song that he used his guitar tones as if they were expensive and that he therefore didn't want to throw them around but create a spirit by using as few tones as possible as efficient as possible. You can hear in how he plays the guitar that if he wanted he could totally freak out and over do it making it some kind of pointless virtuosic music but by actually choosing what actually do what he wants to do best he has saved hundreds of U2 songs and this is probably the best example because the solo guitars at the end is really brilliant and the whole song is absolutely magnificent!

I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For

I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For was not as successful as big brother With Or Without You but it's still one of the most successful songs they did in the 80's picked from the same incredibly successful - and good - album. This was originally written as a gospel songs but made in U2-manners so it became a quite different gospel. In the video below you can see U2 play this song more like a gospel song as they join forces with a real gospel group in Harlem. Perhaps not as good as the song in its original form but still quite entertaining and no matter how you try it's hard to do a really good song bad. U2 have played with many other artists during the years and here they go together with a gospel church. I also find the short intro where The Edge tells us about how they ended up playing at the church because overtime I hear The Edge talk I think he sounds so honest and down to earth. It's like he's still a bit shy of speaking in front of the cameras despite his world-wide recognition and he's like any other person. Not like the clearly more media adapted Bono.

August 6th
The Unforgetatable Fire

The title track from the fourth U2 album wasn't as successful as Pride (In the Name of Love), the video you could see yesterday, but this was the first Irish number one single. This is also one of the singles with most unique sound released in the 80's while it at the same time in so many ways define this band. A U2 song you really shouldn't miss because if you're going to listen to U2 then this song has everything: The Edges guitars, Bonos high pitched vocals and the melodies that's just so perfect! Not too slow and not too fast, just U2. The most complete U2 song ever and in the eyes of many U2 fans also the best. I personally hold this song very high, though not as the best. However it is an unforgettable fire.

In God's Country

The fourth single from 'The Joshua Tree' and also the least popular of the five released. This is not as grand and epic as the previous three, if epic is the word to use for With or Without You, I Still haven't Found What I'm Looking For and Where The Streets Have No Name? It still has a shining U2 glow about both the song and the production but compared to the other songs on 'The Joshua Tree' In Gods Country might feel like somewhat of a transition track between songs but separating it from the rest you actually can hear what a great song this is. It has the guitars and melodies that defines U2, all though somewhat different since they are toned down and scaled down. The biggest problem I find with the song is actually that it's over too fast.

August 5th
Pride (In the name of Love)

Is it a song about homosexuality? Gay! Well, yeah? Absolutely! Pride (in The Name of Love) gave U2 their first number one single (in New Zeeland) and firmly peaked top ten all over the world. Like yesterdays Sunday Bloody Sunday it's one of the immortal U2 hits - a song with equal amount of genius musicianship as a message for all of us to take in and think about. Pride (in the Name of Love) is still a song you can be fairly sure to hear when seeing U2 live and I guess that's how it will remain as long as they play live. These days you might think it's all about homosexuality due to the Pride festival held all around the world where people of same sex or "different" sexuality get together but the song is mostly about peace, justice and anti-discrimination and not specifically about homosexuality, even though it's easy to think so. What I like most about the song is the sound of the guitars, which then returned on the next album somewhat modified in the song Where The Streets Have No Name. This is also the first single that really opened the eyes of people to what a great vocalist Bono actually is. A milestone of little comparability for the band and the song that really hammered the "U2 sound" in to peoples minds, something that people still after ten years of experimenting with their music still thought of when they heard the word U2. That simple, raw rock music in a big package that U2 are so great at creating and performing so it sounds good. It doesn't need to be difficult or advanced, it only needs to be U2… coming in the name of love.

August 4th
Sunday Bloody Sunday

It's a shame no music video was recorded for this, one of U2s most popular songs but a couple of years ago there was a film made about the incident that the songs is about and this movie might just be a result of this very popular song getting such attention as it got. The song is still frequently played in U2 live shows and loved not only because of how good the song is but also because of the message of peace that it deliver. This was the third and last single from 'War', the same album that gave us the song in yesterdays video. There's a big difference between this and New Year's Day that we heard yesterday, which was a song mostly concentrated around the bass and guitar lines with the keys in a white modest rock presentation. This song is concentrated around the drums which seems to play some sort of march. This is something they most likely also have done on purpose since the lyrics in the songs is about the incident when the Irish army IRA opened fire towards civilian protesters in Bogisde, Derry the 30th of January 1972 which is commonly known as Bloody Sunday because of the 13 people that died immediately, one that died because of the injuries later and other twelve that were shot and injured. In the lyrics, U2 says: "And the battle's just begun. There's many lost, but tell me who has won? The trenches dug within our heats. And mothers, children, brothers, sisters torn apart!". Here they are at Red Rocks in 1983 with the fantastic Sunday Bloody Sunday:

August 3rd
New Year's Day

The first U2 single to reach top ten outside their Irish home country was New Year's Day. This is also the first of the later to be U2 classics - the songs U2 fans all over the world wouldn't sell their soul to miss. New Year's Day was the eye opener in many countries for U2. It was the first U2 single to be listed in the Bilboard charts, the first U2 single to reach the top three and as I've already said - the first to reach the top ten outside Ireland (tenth in the UK, ninth in Norway and fourth in Holland). A fantastic song in so many ways, coming from the third U2 album, called 'War'. Many bands has covered the song, like Finnish To/Die/For, The royal philharmonics in the UK, the Italian DJ Gigi D'Agostino and Canadian Front Line Assembly. But to quote a worn-out cliché - The original is best! By miles! However, the video leaves some to wish for, but most U2 videos do. In the end of this month you'll see you have a handful of good videos at most! But it's the songs we love anyway, like those of this kind!

August 2nd
Gloria

We pick todays song from U2s second album, called 'October'. This is one of the worst selling albums with U2 with the least amount of songs reaching some kind of cult status that so many of the bands songs have done. However, the album is pretty different compared to the other albums that was released in the 80's and this can be heard in Gloria - that this is a band that tries something new and different. The voice of vocalist Bono is tried and used more on this album, which can be heard here and throughout their entire career after this, and there are more elements that tries to create something new and unique instead of the songs on 'Boy' that were more about just doing good music and not so much about creativity. I don't think Gloria is on many lists of favorite U2 songs but 'October' was an important album for the development and future of U2 and after this album they started to do really good music while creating something new and unique. This resulted in the immortal song you'll see tomorrow. Until then you'll have to settle with yesterday's I Will Follow and the video of the day: Gloria.

1:a augusti
I Will Follow

The first U2 single, coming from the first album 'Boy'. 20 years old and just like everyone else in the world completely unaware of just how far they would come one day they did their first video somewhat under ambitious with the guys just standing in front of a 'Boy' screen and playing together. But the song is still good enough to compensate for the shortcomings of the video. Take an extra close look at the lovely dancing Bono gives us now and then through the song.

August 2011 U2 month Hallowed

August 2011
U2 month Hallowed