Alright U2 is a talented band. I'll give them that. They don't actually suck balls. But I don't like them and I never have. I own over 1000 CDs, I'm talking actual CDs. I have roughly 250 gig of downloaded music that I may or may not have purchased. Let's say they were "found" online. (Screw you for judging me) My vinyl collection is at least 100 albums strong. So, with all of this music at my disposal guess how many U2 albums are found in my collection? None. Zero. Zip. Nada. Granted my vinyl collection is courtesy of my late Grandpa Stratford Loosle (may he rest in peace) so it is mostly show tunes, Neil Diamond and MoTab. What does that have to do with U2 sucking? Nothing. I just wanted to show how hip I was by stating that I have a vinyl collection. I suppose I shouldn't have detailed said collection if I wanted to remain hip, oh well.
Back to the subject at hand. Let's go back to 4th grade. My music taste in 4th grade was less hip than my Grandpa's old records. We got a new stereo for Christmas (that deserves its own post at some point) that included a revolutionary new thing called a "compact disc." Under the Christmas tree I received from my sister Kim a "compact disc" (I'm not sure why she was tipped off about the stereo system but I digress). The CD was the soundtrack to Top Gun. Soon after the following gems made their way into my collection - Billy Ocean - Love Zone and La Bamba.
Yes that Billy Ocean. As you can see from the picture above, Love Zone included such hits as "When the Goin Gets Tough (The Tough Get Going)" and "There'll Be Sad Songs (To Make You Cry)." Anyway, go ahead and laugh. But if you don't get a hop in your step when you hear "When the Goin Gets Tough" or if "Carribean Queen" doesn't but a smile on your face then you are no friend of mine.
I'm rambling now. Focus KG, focus. So we're still in 4th grade for those of you who are still reading. The Joshua Tree bursts on to the scene. Some girls in my grade and a few boys with older brothers (I'm looking at your Matthew Hilbig and Dalyn Montgomery) start talking about this U2 band. My only exposure to them is when I'm watching MTV hoping to see the Fat Boys rapping "Wipe Out" and "Where the Streets Have No Name" or "With or Without You" come on instead and I want to punch myself in the face. I still can't listen to "With or Without You" to this day. Sweet mercy I hate that song. Sure I used to dance with attractive ladies during that damn song at stomps and stake dances but I didn't have to like it. It took all of my concentration to focus on the gentle touch of said attractive gal to displace the anger raging inside of me because of that blasted song. From that point with every subsequent album I hated U2 more and more. Sure they had some good songs. Some I dare say are even great. However, when they get played roughly 10000 times on 10 different stations on any given week (you do the math I'm tired) I don't feel the need to purchase any of their albums to hear the songs.
So if U2 is not the greatest band of my generation, who is? I would say R.E.M. is better. I'll go out on a limb and say Nirvana or Pearl Jam were more influential for my generation. Perhaps I just have more of a soft spot for gay guys who wear eye makeup (I love you Michael Stipe!) rather than egotistical blowhards with a penchant for sunglasses (take a bow Mr. Bono if that is your real name.)
I promise I'm almost done here. I debated this very topic with one of my friends the other night. Although he agreed that R.E.M. is probably the better band, I realized that the main reason I don't like U2 is that I've never given them an actual chance. I brought up this subject with my friend because of the recent re-releases of U2's first albums Boy and War. I'm going to uh, "find" them online (back off Mr. FBI man, what's with all the questions?) and give them a proper spin. Perhaps I will find out that my taste is actually that which indeed sucks balls. I will return and report.
