U2 jedan je od najvećih rock bendova svih vremena. Djelujući još od početka
80-ih do dana današnjeg, stekli su status superzvijezda. Poznati su po svojoj
glazbi koja je uvijek mješavina raznih stilova, kao i po svojoj neprestanoj
borbi za mir u svijetu, kojoj se priklanjaju na različite načine; od inspirativnih
stihova u pjesmama, dobrotvornih koncerata, "obrazovnih" video
spotova do sastanaka s liderima svijeta. Nikada nijedan rock bend nije u
ovolikoj mjeri pokušavao ispraviti nepravde koje se događaju na svijetu
i vjerovao u rock revoluciju. Dakle, od osnutka benda krajem 70-ih pa sve
do 1987 godine grupa je nizala odlične albume i odrađivala sjajne turneje,
a prva prilika da dobiju status superzvijezda na svjetskom nivou dogodila
se 1987 godine kada su objavili album The Joshua Tree. Za razliku od mnogih
drugih bendova tog doba, U2 je zadržao onaj dašak slobode, znatiželje i
hrabrosti da uči i slijedi nešto novo, uvijek eksperimentirajući, što je
i sam smisao glazbe koja je kreacija po definiciji.
Cijela priča počela je 1979 godine kada su objavili svoj prvijenac U2:3,
koji se prodavao samo u Irskoj i tamo postigao velik uspjeh. 1980 imali
su odličan singl "Another Day", što im je priskrbilo potpisivanje
ugovora s Island Records i objavu albuma Boy, koji je odlično prošao kod
publike. Grupa je u to doba privukla veliku pažnju medija svojim izjavama
o vjeri, ponajviše o kršćanstvu, te deklarirajući se kao veliki vjernici.
1981 godine izlazi njihov treći album October koji postaje hit zahvaljujući
singlu "Gloria". Spotovi im se pojavljuju i na MTV-u tako da već
tada imaju grupu sljedbenika u Americi. 1983 godine album War postaje velik
hit i uz Europu osvaja i Ameriku. Cijeli album ima političku i moralnu poruku,
a na albumu se nalaze hit pjesme "Sunday Bloody Sunday" i "New
Year's Day". Slijedeće godine bend ponavlja uspjeh albumom The Unforgettable
Fire, a u besmrtnost odlazi pjesma posvećena Martin Luther Kingu Jr. "(Pride)
In the Name of Love".
Trenutak koji dijeli život na sve prije i sve poslije desio se 1987 godine
kada su objavili album The Joshua Tree, koji je automatski ušao u Engleskoj
i Americi na broj 1 top ljestvica, a postigao platinastu nakladu u 28 sati.
Neopisivo je nestrpljenje kojim je taj album dočekan, a s obzirom na pjesme "With or Without You" i "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking
For", nestrpljenje je bilo potpuno opravdano. Nakon albuma Rattle & Hum koji nije ponovio uspjeh prethodnika, bend se odlučio odmoriti.
Odmor je bio plodonosan jer je nakon njega uslijedio album Achtung Baby,
koji je hitovima "Mysterious Ways" i "One" ponovno vratio
grupu na vrh. Na albumu Zooropa iz 1993 godine odlučili su eksperimentirati
s technom i jakim ritmovima što je podijelilo publiku i kritiku i naposljetku
rezultiralo padom popularnosti, no samo nakratko, pjesmom za film "Batman
forever" "Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me" ponovno su
osvojili publiku.
Slijedeći album Pop oduzeo im je puno vremena jer su odlučili snimiti vrlo
ambiciozan album, što se isplatilo, jer je album dobio odlične kritike i
postigao velik komercijalni uspjeh, ponajviše zbog singla "Discotheque" koji je zaintrigirao mnoge.
Od 1998 godine u prodaji se nalazi njihov kompilacijski album Best of 1980-1990.
2000 godine objavili su odličan album All That
You Can't Leave Behind. U novembru 2002 je izdat The Best Of 1990-2000, a zasada posljednji album U2 je izdao 2004 pod nazivom How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb.
One
U2 ( Album : Achtung Baby )
Is it getting better?
Or do you feel the same?
Will it make it easier on you now?
You got someone to blame
You say
One love
One life
When it's one need
In the night
One love
We get to share it
Leaves you baby if you
Don't care for it
Did I disappoint you?
Or leave a bad taste in your mouth?
You act like you never had love
And you want me to go without
Well it's
Too late
Tonight
To drag the past out into the light
We're one, but we're not the same
We get to
Carry each other
Carry each other
One
Have you come here for forgiveness?
Have you come to raise the dead?
Have you come here to play Jesus?
To the lepers in your head
Did I ask too much?
More than a lot.
You gave me nothing,
Now it's all I got
We're one
But we're not the same
Well we
Hurt each other
Then we do it again
You say
Love is a temple
Love a higher law
Love is a temple
Love the higher law
You ask me to enter
But then you make me crawl
And I can't be holding on
To what you got
When all you got is hurt
One love
One blood
One life
You got to do what you should
One life
With each other
Sisters
Brothers
One life
But we're not the same
We get to
Carry each other
Carry each other
One
One
With or without you
U2 ( Album : u2 )
See the stone set in your eyes
See the thorn twist in your side
I wait for you
Sleight of hand and twist of fate
On a bed of nails she makes me wait
And I wait without you
With or without you
With or without you
Through the storm we reach the shore
You give it all but I want more
And I'm waiting for you
With or without you
With or without you
I can't live
With or without you
And you give yourself away
And you give yourself away
And you give
And you give
And you give yourself away
My hands are tied
My body bruised, she's got me with
Nothing to win and
Nothing left to lose
And you give yourself away
And you give yourself away
And you give
And you give
And you give yourself away
With or without you
With or without you
I can't live
With or without you
With or without you
With or without you
I can't live
With or without you
With or without you
Angel Of Harlem
U2 ( Album : Best Of U2-1980-90 )
It was a cold and wet december day
When we touched the ground at jfk
Snow was melting on the ground
On bls i heard the sound
Of an angel
New york, like a christmas tree
Tonight this city belongs to me
Angel
Soul love...this love won't let me go
So long...angel of harlem
Birdland on fifty-three
The street sounds like a symphony
We got john coltrane and a love supreme
Miles says she's got to be an angel
Lady day got diamond eyes
She sees the truth behind the lies
Angel
Soul love...this love won't let me go
So long...angel of harlem
Angel of harlem
She says it's heart...heart and soul...
Yeah yeah...(yeah)
Yeah yeah...(right now)
Blue light on the avenue
God knows they got to you
An empty glass, the lady sings
Eyes swollen like a bee sting
Blinded you lost your way
Through the side streets and the alleyway
Like a star exploding in the night
Falling to the city in broad daylight
An angel in devil's shoes
Salvation in the blues
You never looked like an angel
Yeah yeah...angel of harlem
Angel...angel of harlem...
[repeat and fade]