Good afternoon. Sometimes when you innovate, you make mistakes. It is best to admit them quickly, and get on with improving your other innovations.
I am from Finland and know bad English, give true I wrote the following sentence: “Forwarding a sum; is only part of the written communication you have with a potential employer.”

Best regards , Aruna.

I am not sure what people would expect Bono to write. I am so sorry for being succesfull - perhaps? As for the philanthropy. If Bono gave his complete fortune away it would make zero difference to third world debt. I think there a few people suffering a bit of Bono envy. A little like penis envy. Also. Nobody likes a rock star that cares. We prefer them to be debauched suffers for their art. There is nothing easier than to snipe from the sidelines. All you loudmouths that have the inside track on Washington and always know better that the ref. Grow up. Smell the coffee.

anyone? help! want to go on a concert to london. is there any exact calendar for toru 2009?? where can i find it??? is it really on 4,july???

“Time- it won’t leave me as I am. But time- won’t take the boy out of this man.”

Say what you will- their last record was one of their best- in every way.

U2 and Bono are one in a million story. They were on a right place in a right time. Their music was original, management wise. For a little more than 10 years they mostly made sense. Last 15 or so years things are getting washed away. It is same like Rolling Stones and similar artists, where you can even remember album titles, not to talk about songs. Are they coming back? No. Is the best album to be written? No. We are getting old same as them, and they became corporate product, so future is consumption and make profit. U2 thanks for Achtung Baby, Joshua Tree and couple more, and enjoy your royalties while you can. Everything else at this point is irrelevant and oblivious. And for all followers of the band, maybe it is time that you create something of your own, instead acting like a members of some strange cult. Bono is a human so like us, so take it the way it is. Amen.

30+ years of being mates, crafting cutting Edge music, waking the world up to self-centered famine and greed, yeah I guess they’re just your run-of the-mill rock band. Thanks Bono, Edge, Larry, and Adam. I’m looking forward to the UpComing collection . . . and the one after that.

Consider some lyrics you inspired my 54 year old in me:

If I have what you need,
Why must it take until you bleed,
To share with you what I’ve got,
To change your world
Improve your lot.
Let it go
Just let it go
It all comes back around
Just let it go,
That’s where treasure’s found,
That’s where treasure’s found.
(c) John A. Wood Jr. 2008
A.K.A. johnniebwood
johnniebwood@sbc global.net

Ranked as the #22 band of all time a year or so ago in Rolling Stone U2 remains the most under rated band of all time. Bono thanks for sharing, staying grounded and keeping it real. We love you!

We need you, Bono! Keep making music that inspires and heals…..

So I’ll admit to being a long-time, hard-core U2 fan - but that’s not the reason for my post. The thing that amazes me about this band is that they’re still writing relevant, innovative stuff after 30 or so years together. I’ve always wondered how such an audacious band - in terms of their music, their politics, their shows, their business, etc… - could hold it together without imploding for so long. Bono’s post provides a clue: when it comes to their writing, they still seem to have a lot of humility and sense of incompletion.

BTW: as a guitarist, Bono’s comment about Edge not just copping blues lines is right on. Page and Hendrix are the greats, but someone has to do something different.

Bono enters the blogosphere, and give the longest uninteruppted speech I can remember from a bonafide rock star. The access is unbelievable.

All of you Bono haters need to get a life.

BONO is one of the few artists cool enough to give a shit and take the time to post a comment! I saw the Vertigo tour and he was inspiring beyond belief. To those negative losers who lambast him I say GET A F-ING CLUE! He is generous and really care about changing the world. What have you done lately??? Probably smoke a bong hit and play Madden!!!!

BTW,the album How To Dismantle,,,is pure genius for those of you who say their last albums were not buying.
Peace out!
Harrod

No code=Judith

I guess its not enough that Bono thanks the fans every night they give a concert. I have never paid over a hundred dollars to see U2, the most I paid was 70 at the last tour and this was for seats about 10 feets from Bono on the right side. Please wake the fuck up and make sure you rag on any artist that has charged over a hundred dollars for a ticket. You are just a a dirty douchebag, No Code. I defy you to write something half as good about any “artist” or album you may like.

AMEN Bono. There is insight in this piece that is moving. You can say what you want, but you cannot deny the talent and the artistry that is Bono and U2.

I cannot believe what I have read in these posts. People are thanking Bono for taking the time to comment on the first album! Have all of you forgotten how U2 became super wealthy? We, the “little people” gave up our cash to buy U2’s albums, concert tickets, merch, etc… Bono should be thanking all of US instead of writing some awful blog which attempts to be “artist” but fails in the attempt as most of U2’s albums have failed to be worth buying in recent years. Bono’s blog is that of an illiterate poser. Why doesn’t the singer put his money where his mouth is and give a few of his millions to the charities he supposedly feels so passionately about. He can spare the change. Bono is just a man who happens to sing and gets rich off of clever packaging of U2. Next time you are in a mega arena having paid over a hundred a per tic for seats so high up you need binoculars to see the stage action, think about how you have been scammed.

I WISH “Mercy” was on this album. What a great song.

I could comment the album, the sound, the IT, but SHIT - this is IT. Bono’s comment, it is IT. It made me… feel ike i want to… live IT.

“The cedars of Lebanon”, “No line on the horizon”, “Moment of surrender”, “For your love”, “One bird”, “If I could live my life again” y “Love is all we have left”.

“The cedars of Lebanon”
“No line on the horizon”
“Moment of surrender”
“For your love”
“One bird”
“If I could live my life again”
“Sexy Boots”
“If I Could Live My Life Again”
“Love Is All We Have Left”
“North Star”
“Lead Me In The Way I Should Go”
“You Can’t Give Away Your Heart”
“Mercy”

Well, I wouldn’t like to be in court and some of you to be my judge! You are very judgemental with Bono and his humanitarian work and the choice of the band to move U2’s asset to Netherlands to avoid tax!
I have been brought up with the idea it’s important to judge ourselves before judging the others. If you judge him on his humanitarian work, please be honest, what have you done yourself this last year to fight extreme poverty? What time, money energy have you invested? For the tax issue, won’t you be the first to do it if it was legal and possible in your situation? Are you 100 % sure that the money you give to your governement is properly used?

I don’t know Bono personally (even if I would like…) but we should avoid to judge him on what we see on the surface and what the media say about him. They write about facts, give their opinion and it may be far from the reality and not giving any insight about his real motivations to do what he does or the band does…

Bono gave his thoughts about the BOY album and this is so great! it wasn’t the platform here to criticize him about what has no link with the BOY review.

I am not idealizing him as no one is perfect, just I think he doesn’t deserve all the nasty comments.

Bopgun, never heard of Bono´s irony? So watch more ZOO-TV and ZOO-NET!

mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmbopgun, tick a toc ba do ba mmmmmmmmmmmbopgun, doobie da ba do ba mmmmbopgun…..etc etc. Wow. OJ jokes. Why don’t you hum the chorus to Crash Test Dummies while wearing a bee costume while watching Ally McBeal?

Rock on, Bono and U2. Live the dream. You didn’t get to the top of the rock world listening to bozos. And you sure aren’t a bunch of illiterate broken-down alcoholics and drug addicts looking to screw groupies and trash hotel rooms like a good portion of rockstars out there now. Help those who need help, find your God and praise him or her how you see fit, celebrate contradiction, look for the joy in the chaos, and lift it up high. And by the way, I don’t agree with nearly all of Bono’s methods as far as debt reduction/worl hunger/AIDS in Africa, and I still think he needs an ego reduction. Hell, he does too. The boy can’t help it. But damn if he don’t draw you in and make you wanna LISTEN to the next song, the next album, the next interview. That’s why there are SO many comments on this thread, positive and negative.

Actually Bono and OJ remind me of each other -
OJ - “I’ll search every fine golf course in America until I find the REAL killer !!”
Bono - “I’ll sail every fine yacht in Italy and sit on every white sand beach in Cannes until I solve world hunger !!!”

I accidentally discovered Bono´s comment through a German U2 homepage. First of all I have to admit that I´m a foreigner who normally speaks Austrian dialect, so you certainly wonder what I´m doing here with my simplistic English. Before saying anything about Bono I would like to talk about other comments I read here: It´s okay to criticize him, but it hurts to read certain words from Sinead o´Connor´s vocabulary. The contradiction between Bono´s bank accounts, towers or whatever and his humanitarian work is a subject that has already appeared for too many times. But travelling around the whole world to get help for Africa is certainly not for fun, it´s WORK!

But let´s better talk about Bono´s writing and, of course, the music: I like the comments about his bandmates and I´m particularly moved by the way he compares Edge´s guitar sound with painting. And it´s true when he says that U2´s music has “IT”: “IT” is the reason why this music still makes me feel cold shivers after 19 years of fandom. “IT” is the basis for all those dimensions music can have: U2 songs have both energy and atmosphere, sadness and beauty, agression and peace, despair and hope. Those different colours already showed up in “Boy”.

The thought of “a music to take you in and out of your body…” is also beautiful. Those songs truly “take me to that other place” as Bono sings in “Beautiful Day”.

Bono, THANK YOU for sharing so many thoughts with the public! I´m looking forward to your next record and concert!

Jiggs kinda hit it on the head with U2. Why do so many people who hate them own their records comment on them. U2 and Bono are like the Howard Stern of music. You either swear by them or despise them. But the people who despise them dont ignore them. They get the albums, pore over the lyrics, watch all of Bono’s and U2’s appearances on TV, and then castigate them for everything. It is a very interesting phenomenon. Maybe exclusive to U2, simply because of Bono’s extracurricular activities. The Edge doesn’t get ANY kind of flak for doing the Music Rising thing in New Orleans. Or maybe Judith just hasn’t had the time to examine that pretentious, bloated, self-centered folly either. Judith, we need your analysis ASAP!!!!

Did you stop consuming products and move your manatee ass out to the wilderness? Reagan can kiss my ass. You are a giant hypocrite. And I do mean GIANT.

….bono is working DIRECTLY WITH Bill Gates. Funny. But its OK. It’s a lot cooler to stand on the edges and be critical than actually DO something. I would expect nothing less from a rock star to promote his upcoming album. But I guess its cooler to look at your shoetops and act like you dont care, thats what the hip and cool respond to. Most of Ireland is like that anyway. It doesnt matter. Bono will keep on doing what hes doing and you can too. You win. Congratulations.

Lol. Well if he were just a vacant rock star who did blow and smashed up hotel rooms no one would expect him to help anyone. But he sets himself up as the worlds greatest philanthropist, which if you examine closer is a joke. Guess where he’s the least popular now ? Ireland. The tax dodging, the horrific Bono Tower, funny his own country can see right through him. Bill Gates, Bruce Springsteen, they actually use their personal wealth to fight poverty, the only thing that works against poverty is MONEY.
Ah, the red I-pod, lol. That was a COMPLETE failure and was an obscene idea, wild comsumerism as a way to help poverty, lol. Man.
It was good “business” huh ? I can see Bono’s message has gotten through to you, you’re another anything for a buck Reagan bred consumer.
You REALLY don’t see the irony of Bono chastising the world to pony up to help the poor and he moves his fortune to avoid paying a CENT of taxes ? INCREDIBLE.
Oh, and their music ? It’s been dead mediocore for 28 years. If you want a good Irish band go buy some Pogues records, or Van Morrison, some Tommy Makem.

Bono’s blog is actually a self congratulatory love letter to U2 and mostly himself, even full of his usual bombastic pseudo religious mystic prose. He even threw in an add for their upcoming tour and album.
I apologize on behalf of all of Ireland for Mr. Hewson. And feel free to keep him USA, all of Ireland would be chuffed…

Are you doing Bono’s taxes and checking his bank accounts? How much of Ireland’s taxes (percentage-wise)go to pay third world debt? And how do you know what kind of person do I think Bono is? It dont matter what kind of person he is, as long as I dig the music. And I do. But just to expound for you, through the Jubilee 2000 campaign, Bono helped convince the U.S. to erase 450 million dollars of heavy debt from Africa to the U.S. I dont give a damn if he doesnt pay another cent in taxes. Thats 450 million less that they have to pay. And he also helped come up with the idea of consumers being able to purchase products that contribute a percentage of their profits to the relief efforts. What else does he have to do? He’s a ROCK STAR. He doesn’t have to do any of this if he doesn’t want to. One of the smartest BUSINESS moves that U2 made was moving their tax shelters elsewhere. The other was being able to own their own music. Wake up and smell your latte.

Taxes especially in one of the poorest non-third world countries like Ireland go to helping the poor, er, that’s kinda an interest to Bono last time I checked. And Bono, and it seems to be totally unaware to people, has never given a PENNY of his own vast wealth to a cause, be it AIDS, or poverty in Africa. He mostly does what are essentially photo op’s with world leaders, berating them to open their pockets to help the poor. And it’s a common practice by big businesses to set up tax shelters in the Netherlands, and guess what ? Economists estimate these tax shelters cost Africa 150 BILLION dollars in lost aid EVERY year.
“Why would U2 want to pay more taxes than they have to” you ask ?
With their new tax shelter they pay ZERO taxes. Even before they moved their wealth out of Ireland, they paid a very small amount of taxes due to a Irish program giving tax relief to artists in hopes of promoting the arts in Ireland.
A plumber in Ireland pays more taxes than Bono now. Bono spends most of his time rubbing elbows with mega famous actors and supermodels on 150 foot yachts. He’s not the person you think he is, believe me.

….why would Bono and U2 want to pay more tax than they have to? How much of their personal time and money have they given for this cause? Any figures?

U2 and its lead singer Bono have been pushing the U.S. and EU countries to fork over more money for Third World nations to relieve debt and fight AIDS.
But when it comes to paying their fair share of taxes to help those efforts, U2 wants a free ride.
The Irish Examiner reports that U2 and Bono are furious that Ireland is doing away with its law exempting artists and authors from taxation.
Under the Irish government’s last budget, artists and authors can get up to 250,000 euros ($325,000) in income tax free, but after that they pay like everyone else.
But U2 rakes in tens of millions globally, and the new schedule doesn’t sit well with the millionaire singer and his band members.
The paper said now U2 pays “virtually no tax on royalties” in Holland.
And there’s more news that U2 may be more of a savvy business than a social cause. Forbes magazine – the “capitalist tool” – revealed this week that U2 front man Bono and others in a financial investment company called Elevation Partners have purchased a large minority stake in Forbes Media, which owns the magazine.
“This investment by Elevation Partners will now accelerate our pursuit of a number of very exciting opportunities for growth,” said Forbes Chief Executive Steve Forbes, who is also editor in chief of Forbes magazine.
But the Times noted the irony of Bono’s investment “in a magazine that celebrates wealth and consumption . . . ”
Roger McNamee, a co-founder of Bono’s Elevation Partners, responded: “The way you solve poverty is giving people the tools to overcome it.”
It’s a good point, but one never pushed by Bono.

The paper said the singer was unavailable for comment.

Bono scolds world leaders to help their poor populations and recounts his visit to Africa, seeing starving children die by the minute. Now he’s moved his wealth to Holland to avoid Irish taxes (which would have gone to help the poor, Ireland has one of the better safety nets for the poor) and is building a 230 million euro (that’s approx. 375 million USA dollars) highrise in Dublin whcih will house the super rich. Shame on you Paul Hewson.

Each U2 album is different and there are some that are better than others. But gladly, they are all unique. I can’t wait for the remastered “Unforgettable Fire” to come out–probably their most underrated album, yet none of their other albums sound like it. As far as “Boy”–a great debut album. If people didn’t start with it, they should go back to it.

Bono is just Bono anymore. He was always grandiose, but it just gets bigger each time he speaks or writes. Like Sting.

This goes to Stack o leads and most everyone else. I don’t understand why so many non U2 fans own so many of their records. I never understood this phenomenon. I am NOT a Madonna fan and you know what I don’t own any of her records and never will no matter how many times they remaster them…As far as naming five u2 songs, my grandmother could name five U2 songs at this point and she’s been dead for 8 years. I will give you this, most fans probably couldn’t name five songs of of October, but I’m sure you could because you probably bought it on Vinyl when it first came out, then on cassette when your record got scratched, then on CD when that came out and again on Vinyl and you probably hated it equally on each format right? Do yourself a favor when they reissue the unforgettable fire, don’t buy it because you will not like anymore than you did when you purchased it on Vinyl the first time, or cassette or cd. Oh I’m sure we will see you on the next tour as well because you just hate them so much you can’t keep away.

Stack,
What kind of house do you have? Two bedroom? Three? Let me know! And could you send along some pics so I can start picking out paint samples and fabric swatches? Thanks!

Amy I would bet you my house you couldn’t come up with five U2 song titles off the top of your head. In your blog you just go on about Bono and his Greatness, see? You don’t even mention the music. And you’re stunned He would lower himself to blog with us mortals, lol. You’re doing just what I described but you don’t see it.

who have the nerve to mention God in their songs and interviews. Bob Dylan, Van Morrison, Marvin Gaye, BB King, Prince, Johnny Cash, Billy Idol, Stevie Wonder, Elvis Presley etc etc etc ALL HEATHENS!!!!!

Re: Stack o Leeds

I’m pretty sure that fans at a U2 concert can name at least 5 songs. Hell, I’m pretty sure most carbon-based life forms can name at least five U2 songs at this point.

And yes, rock stardom (hell, all fandom for that matter) is about idolatry, worship, and a sense of belief. I really don’t think U2 fans are any different in that respect. And, while still being a fan of Bono/the band, I think most people realize that Bono is not God. Chillax. Give people some credit for having common sense.

I, for one, find it kinda hilariously touching that Bono posted this missive here. Like everyone who leaves a comment, he’s trying to connect. There are worse things to try and do in the world.

Next time, Bono: Punctuate!

…the crazy cracks begin to show in stack’s armor.

Fools worshipping a false idol, look at all the comments below me, they don’t even mention the music, it’s all almost religious fanaticism. “Saint”, “I can’t believe HE actually was in this room with US to leave a comment”.
And Bono as usual dropping words like sacrament, “God under your bed”. You see this is the whole attraction of this band and man, WORSHIP, it sure ain’t the music which is middling at best. It’s that horrific Worship the Rock Star, and man does Bono play that up. He’s been dropping Gods name for 28 years in songs, hell, his first band with the Edge was named Shalom. Again it’s really not about the music, it’s about adoration, Worship. Go to a U2 show and ask anyone to name 5 U2 songs I guarantee they couldn’t. It’s not really about the music, it’s being a Follower in the worst sense of the word. Be your own hero. Wake up !

stack o’leeds=old fool still thinking hes “cool” while his grandkids take his weed from his hidey hole

Bono is a saint, this people here making negative comments about him should grow-up a bit, get out of the garage and be responsible.Philippines loves BONO.!

Bono is STILL a turd.

Er, I bought them all on the same fatefull day ya rube. I know, the idea of having enough cash to but 3 WHOLE ALBUMS at one time is amazing to you. Maybe you can find enough enough change in your ratty sofa to go out and buy a used version of “Boy”, which still is all these 28 years later a dud of an album.

“Dammit Johnson !! Our sewer systems are dangerously out of date, half the country is on welfare, and we had another oil spill in the bay. Get me Bono !!!”
Johnson flashes cleiglight into the night sky, a giant Gucci crucifix.
“I don’t see him yet sir ! Wait, is it Tuesday ? Tuesdays he sips Cristal and plays all night Mah-jongg with P. Diddy, Charleze Theron, and Abe Vigoda !!”
“Damn that Bonooooooooooo !!!”
Smashes fists into mohagany desk.

Stack of leeds found them so self consciously obtuse and pretentious he bought all 3 of them.

Sinead O’Connor sings “You Made me the Thief of Your Heart” in 1993, written by Bono and Gavin Friday for In the Name of the Father

Sinead O’Connor and Bono sing TOGETHER “I’m Not Your Baby” written by Bono, 1995.

Way to stick to your guns, Sinead. Oh and by the way, Bono STUCK UP for her ass and defended her when she ripped the picture of the Pope, AFTER she called him a turd.

Amid much critical hype and bruhaha I purchased War, October and Boy in the early 80’s, yes on vinyl, sweet shiney black vinyl which I miss. I found the albums self counsciously obtuse, over produced, pretentious, with laughably over the top pseudo deep songwriting. Keeping a barely interested eye on the band since they seem to have stripped down the songwriting a bit, The Edge still plays his Bo Diddley Plays Bagpipes thing, but of course now unlike 1985 they’re huge arena rock gods. The general public had no interest in the band until The Joshua Tree, an alarmingly mediocore album. Thats when I started hearing U2 coming out of soccer mom mini-vans and on top-40 radio. Bono has embraced his hollow rock god persona with open arms, scolding countries to fight poverty as he sits on beaches in the south of France with beautiful Spanish actresses, or staying in $ 10,000 a night hotels in Paris rubbing elbows with the scary likes of Brangelina, a more scary 2-headed monster this side of Godzilla if i’ve ever seen one. . He seems to have set up a tax dodge in Scandanavia somewhere and is building a “U2″ tower in Dublin, mowing over beloved old Dublin buildings in the process. I read a U2 mega studio will cap the top of the building, but “regular people” can snap up a flat in said tower for around 2 million. Nice of him to rub elbows with the peons. Well, I guess the music is what this should all be about and the music ? Well, it’s still overproduced, pretentious and alarmingly mediocore.

“For us music was a sacrament …an even more demanding and sometimes more demeaning thing than music as ART, we wanted to make a music to take you in and out of your body, out of your comfort zone, out of your self, as well as your bedroom, a music that finds you looking under your bed for God to protect your innocence…”
Lol. Good lord, and U2 fans can’t fathom why people find Bono to be a clumsily “poetic” narcissist. Damn he’s oogy…..

U2 is probably top 5 bands ever, but Bono is such a joke when he speaks. Great band though.

Critically acclaimed and a lightning rod for controversy, Sinead O’Connor has been considered one of the world’s leading female singers since her debut in 1987. A 1986 soundtrack collaboration with guitarist the Edge of U2 - perhaps the only Irish stars to outshine her - had O’Connor labeled a U2 protege. As her career took off, she distanced herself in what would become typical O’Connor fashion, calling lead singer Bono “a turd” and their music “bombastic.” She sought simplicity in music and life, she said, a goal that for much of her life eluded her.

The RS archives dont have anything to do with her CHANGING HER MIND, moron.

No I think releasing a reggae album is when she jumped the shark. You dont even know those two songs she had a hand in. You are just trying to jump on a bandwagon full of elitist hipsters. Yeah, she had problems with Bono, but guess what? they worked them out. The easiest thing to do in this world is call someone names when you are full of anger. Sorry you are angry. Thats your dads fault, not Bono’s.

And the “turd” comment is a DIRECT quote from RS you mook. Check out the RS archives….

And teaming up with Bono is the exact moment she jumped the shark……….

I never bought U2’s Boy or October - My introduction started with War and then The Unforgettable Fire. Funny, while I loved those albums I never went back to check out the first 2. I own all U2 albums to this day from War on up (not including greatest hits - eps etc) and may have to pick these up now. (I had always heard over the year that the first two suck kinda like Pablo Honey by Radiohead…(start with The Bends)

So who is real, Bopgun?

Good points Fenderjet. Hey Irish Weasel, Sinead hated Bono so much 20 years ago that 15 years ago she teamed up with him on “I’m Not Your Baby” and sang the song he co-wrote “You Made me the Thief of Your heart” for the In the Name of the Father soundtrack. Yeah, she had him pegged alright. Check your facts.

No “hocyouthguy” I DO get it, that’s the problem……

Bono blogs as pretentiously as he songwrites…………..the sod.

It’s true, you either get it about U2 or they’ve passed you by no matter how big or loved they have become. It’s OK though as many in the Rock pantheon have similar inclusive properties. The Grateful Dead for one is completely on par with U2 for creating such a fan base but with music that for some is only an aquired taste.
It’s no use pointing out the blemishes of the music or members of this band in the very medium in which they were crowned “Band of the 80’s” and have still maintained their validity.
If your a fan of Rock-N-Roll, and obviously you are if your reading these pages,then U2 is to be placed among the greats, regardless if you liked only the Epstein years, the white album, or nothing of them at all.

Comparing “Pop” to “Let it Be” ??
Er, no.

Sinead O’Conner had this guy pegged 20 years ago -
RS - “What do you think of Bono ?”
SO’C - “I think Bono’s a turd”

Yeah, the Beatles sure pissed people off with Let it Be, blisterbeatle what a risk that was they were trying to follow the cheesy spirituality that was bridge over troubled water good job. “peace on earth” on all that you cant leave behind is something you should listen to before you run your mouth

Bono, your never at a loss for words! I truely enjoyed reading your comments and would like to share a few of my own. I, as you and the band grew up together although not in the same country, county or continent. I, as you and the band came from similiar backgrounds, although you don’t know me. Somehow you and the band transcended the country, county, continent continuem and united the youth of the 80’s with “IT”. I, as you and the band in 1980 were searching for something to call our own. In your case “IT” was the band and music. (In my case it was Patrick and I still have “IT” him today) . Anyhoo, what I wanna tell you is that “Boy” with it’s freckled faced pseudo sounding British singer , chimming guitarist, thumping drummer and glockenspieling atmospherics made me realize that it was okay for me to feel the way I was feeling way back when I was a Butter Bean faced blonde from the Southwest side of Erie ! If I want to relive my youth, feel a little bit of angst, question what’s beyond the Shadows and Tall trees I seek “IT” on this piece of vinyl. Give yourself a pat on the back brother Bono cos “Boy” your perfect at “IT “!,,, ah now ,,, I’ll stop stealing from ya.! Luv You guy’s!!! Becky

>>
These guys lost me after POP which was their last risk. Now they sound like coldplay espousing a kind of cheesy spirituality only fashionista crowds are comfortable with. If youre gonna get mellow do it like Robert Plant. Hope they gather the balls to piss some people off again.

I was lucky enough to work for WEA when U-2 did it’s first tour. They played a club in DC called the Bayou. I didn’t get it, lot of energy but a lot of bands back then had a lot of energy……We went back after the show to say hello. Nice guys, “we just want to be the biggest Rock N’Roll band in the world” said the singer as he shook our hands. Right I thought. Funny how things happen.

He is just an amazing and real human being, that Bono guy. Makes great music with his band mates, inspire people around the world, trying his best to make this world a better place to live or the les fortunate, and yet still has a big heart to chat directly to people, both who likes him and those who don’t. Walk On…

Boy is a fucking awesome album. I am not sure which I like better, Boy or Achtung Baby……Boy makes me jump around my lounge room for joy. ‘into the heart’ and ‘electric co’ are killer. ahh, the whole album is!
love the baked bean face reference, Bono, that’s tops

Who is The Jonas Brothers??? Never heard of.

Funny, not many people stirs so many feelings up like U2. Either you love or hate them, it seems like.

Lyrics written live on the microphone..
Songs like Twilight and Stories for Boys..
Edge’s genuine genius..
And the embarassing mistakes..

All these things together made Boy one of the greatest debut albums of all time.

Cheers Bono!

I’ve followed U2’s journey since the around ‘83. It is my considered opinion that if they come up with the same middle of the road music (everything since 2000) later this year, then they should retire. I used to love waiting for a new U2 album as the music always surprised and seemed forward looking to me. In recent years they have treated water and become a bore. How about taking some chances Bono? Forget about the charts, money and the US market — and take some artistic chances.

mcstansical, Bopgun, et al: you just don’t get it, and you never will.

mcstansical, Bopgun, et al: you don’t get it, and you never will.

Great lines from Bono, very moving and ironic at the same time, he has a way with words, that’s for sure. I love the idea of him coming here and responding to an album review. I’ve recently bought all three remastered early U2 albums and Boy is the one that stands out for me. I haven’t listened to it in years, listening again to it now is a really overwhelming experience. What an amazing debut!

I love Bono, he’s extraordinary and quite a personality, call him what you want. He’s very charismatic. And U2 is more than a band for me. It’s a place I go to when things aren’t so great. They give me hope and their music is lifting the spirit up. I can’t wait for the new album.

I could never quite figure out why this band wasn’t as compelling as they should be, I finally figured it out a couple of years ago by listening to Bono himself. In the mid 90’s I remember him saying in an interview the band had been listening to Johnny Cash and Roy Orbison on the tour bus, and that, “They had never heard their music before”.
Same goes for Bilie Holiday and BB King around the same time, again, “they were for the first time hearing their music”
I watched a film the other day about the history of Stax records, Bono was interviewed saying, yes, again, growng up in Ireland he had never heard Stax records.
It finally struck me, the problem with U2 is their tinny sound, that lack of the history of black music that all the great bands weaned themselves on. The Stones, Led Zep, all the way up to the White Stripes. U2 is WHITE. Nasal. Bono confirms this discussing the bands they admired in above blog, lightweight new wave bands. For the first few years of this band the most interesting thing people could find in them was whether the Edge or Stuart Adamson could make his guitar sound more like a fookin’ bagpipe. A bagpipe ! Now THAT’S white

The greatness of U2, beyond the music, is the humility of Bono to openly admit and commit to the belief that without his bandmates, he is nothing. (for the antithesis, see Creed). Although skewered for his “ego,” it is precisely the ability to keep his ego in check that has allowed U2 to live for now over 30 years.

Thanks for the soundtrack to my blessed life.

Here’s a review of Boy from the Village Voice circa 1980 by Robert Christgau that Bono has seemed to forgotten. And what a prescient review it is. Boy [Island, 1980]
Their youth, their serious air, and their guitar sound are setting a small world on fire, and I fear the worst. No matter where they’re starting off–not as big as Zep, maybe, but not exactly on the grunge circuit either–their echoey vocals already teeter on the edge (in-joke) of grandiosity, so how are they going to sound by the time they reach the Garden? What kind of Christian idealists lift their best riff from PIL (or from anywhere at all)? As bubble-headed as the teen-telos lyrics at best. As dumb as Uriah Heep at worst. Grade - C+

Don’t know how anyone can hate on a guy who makes fun of his silly fake-English accent and says he had a face like a baked bean.

Hilarious, insightful and perhaps a little drunken? Rock on, Bono. Can’t wait for the album and the tour.

They weren’t good at “the fashion piece” , pfff, typical Bono posing. I remember seeing carefuly posed pics of U2, faces blank, trying to send a serious air in Rolling Stone circa early 80’s. Bono’s authentic bomber jacket, sleeves too long in just the right way, his super mullet which obviously took hours and hours of preparation, oversized crosses dangling, already pushing a phoney Jesus pose. The public was bombarded with U2 images long before their music became known. Go look at old issues of Rolling Stone, at least once a week you’d find a photo of the 4 of them in an alley, same all so serious look on their mugs. It’s always been style over substance with this band, they learned early that to strike a ROCK GODS pose intimidates people, leads them easily into empty headed admiration. Just look at all the silly Bono is a God posts below me. The real Bono hangs out with the Beckhams and sips champagne on yachts with Penelope Cruz, builds towering eyesores in the middle of poor Dublin, a monument to himself. Pfff…….poser.

Bono is a botched Joe Strummer imitator. His band has become popular by thrusting a rock-god pose down our throats…..people eat up that stuff. You don’t practice what Joe preached Bono……..

The Jonas brothers will be great when they start recycling surrealist poetry and enjoying speedballs. Or maybe if they all shave their heads and write songs about Miami and discos. “Pop” rules!

Hello everyone. Thanks for all your great responses. I just want to say again how much The Edge has meant to us. In fact, without him, none of you would be born. Yes is he is our Father and Creator. All Praise to the Edge. Also, I want to say that we have had a good run. But I have seen the future of music, and that is…Jonas Brothers. They also have that fire that we once did…they have “IT”. Beatles, Primus, U2, and Jonas Brothers. Need I say more?

mcstansical grow up.

U2 chose some great punk and post punk bands to emulate. They do not deny it, in fact they don´t hide their admiration for Public Image and Siouxsie.

Hi Bono! Good to hear your reply and have your insight on an album we cherish. Yes U2 had audacity, passion, ambition and what you call ‘’IT'’(and this isn’t finished). The Edge was brilliant you are right.
Consider that you have succeeded: From Boy to HTDAB your music and lyrics have taken us out of our body, out of our comfort zone, out of our self! BOY was the beginning of such a great adventure.
Just a comment from an ‘’old'’ fan: we are looking forward to hearing the new album!
Take care.

Yeah, I miss my childhood too. Now shatt upp and quit your yapping and buy a pair of real sunglasses.

I stumbled upon U2 at Foxboro Stadium outside of Boston in ‘87 while in college… that night forever changed my idea of what music is how it moved me so. They are the standard for others to follow and they are still together and still like (love) eachother after all of these years. I can’t wait for the new album… BRING IT ON!

The most overrated, over-hyped band of all time. There are bands in my hometown that are better than these frauds.

Hey Jimmy, why let ANYONE talk about ANYTHING??? You’re right we SHOULD regulate speech, you RUSSKIE!!! MORE rock stars should do this about their albums! It would be awesome to read a blog from, lets say, Eddie Vedder about Pearl Jam’s debut.

Poopy Pants: Um, yeah, thats what this website is for. Go ahead and write your remembrances of the album. Oh wait, was that a lame attempt at hipster cynicism? Oh ok, got it!!!

Tom,

There are a lot of GREAT things about Bono which the public either has not taken the time to see or which the media has attempted to steer away from in order to create the “Rock Star” persona that Paul Hewson carries.

I have never been fooled by that persona of Bono’s and never too much taken in by his inc(red)ible charisma because I always knew that there was “a boy inside the man” that simply wanted to do what he loved (music) and be appreciated for that.

I am a U2 follower from the beginning. I was introduced (and possibly seduced) by “BOY” in 1980 and have never given up the journey that U2 has traveled.

Through every twist and trun and side road that they have gone down, I remained faithful to them -knowing that they would ultimately end up in exactly where they were meant to be & would “go there” with all of us.

THANK YOU, BONO, for sharing your thoughts with the public for the second time in a week (last week in the One.org blog). It is always a treat for us to hear directly from you because it shows that you have never lost your sense of connectedness with your audience in trying to tear down the barriers which can keep us apart.

May we always continue to strive, in all areas of our lives, to be “as one” with each other.

I especially liked this part of Bono’s post:

“i’m proud of this little Polaroid of a life I cant fully recall. As well as the ability to make embarrassing mistakes, the demands of a great debut might be fresh ideas, fresh paint and sometimes for its canvas, a fresh face.”

I agree completely, B-man. ~

Thanks, Rolling Stone, for letting us post our thoughts to this entry by Bono.

And BONO - as long as you carry that boy inside of you, you will never lose your boyhood.

Please always take good care of him.

ALWAYS FOREVER, ONE - debbie

The break between “An Cat Dubh”/”Into the Heart” is to this day some of the most amazing music I have ever heard. The piano intro to “October” is staggeringly beautiful. I can’t wait for the new album. Whats in store for the new tour? 3-5 nights a city with an arena tour, with a sprinking of secret club dates thrown in. How awesome would that be?

I’ve been a U2 fanatic since Bono almost ran into me with a white flag at the LA Sports Arena in April of 1983. I just tagged along with some high school friends and saw the most amazing rock band live! I was a sixteen year old boy! After that War concert, I went home and bought the Boy and October albums from the local record store. I had not really immersed myself with War, so I thought I’d start from the beginning. When I listened to Boy, I immediately thought: “Wow, how do these guys know they are boys?” Their “awareness” must be staggering, to realize who or where they are at any moment in their life, including boyhood. I was and will always be drawn to U2 because of this awareness they possess. Definitely a God given present, which results in everything they’ve done and accomplished, starting with a perfect debut album they called Boy.

We all have something to learn from Bono, Edge, Adam and Larry Jr!!

Bonos’ comment ‘to make music to take you in and out of your body’ brought into focus The Unforgettable Fire. The further those songs stretched, the deeper into our-self we all traveled. As music and sound journeyed over vista after vista, traveling over mountain and molehill, dirt and sand, maybe even time and space, it likewise, traversed deep within the inner recesses of our-self, settled in, introduced us to our-self, and opened. After it opened, the music kept going. Wow. Beyond self, and there it was…an inkling of freedom. U2 has always been about opportunity. U2 has always been a window in the sky. How far is it internally possible to reach? Hmmm. With all the reissues, don’t forget the unforgettable, the key to the castle, the unknowable, the unattainable. Maybe instead of reaching out to it, we should pull it back. Bono – you said you wanted to make music to take you in and out of your body. You did. Thank you!

there’s bono, then there’s everyone else.

Interesting to get to know Bono’s view on “Boy”! I really love the album and it was so great to listen to some of the songs like “Out of control” or “The Electric Co.” live in 2005!
Looking forward to listen to the new album and I can’t wait to see you on the road next year!!! (At least I hope so!) Bono & U2, thanks for accompanying me on my way of growing up!

An unconventional KABBALISTIC response to ‘BOY’ and why U2 possesses (what Bono calls) ‘IT’:

‘Into the vacuum Ein Sof (the infinite) emanated a ray of light, channeled through vessels…but as the emanation proceeded, some of the vessels could not withstand the power of the light and they shattered. Most of the light returned to its infinite source, but the rest fell as sparks, along with the shards of the vessels. Eventually, these sparks became trapped in material existence. The human task is to liberate, or raise these sparks, to restore them to divinity.

We constantly aspire to raise the holy sparks. As we become aware (of this), we revive and restore all the fragments that we gather from life…The scattered light stammers in the entirety, mouthing solitary syllable that combine into a dynamic song of creation. Sprinkling, then flowing, this light of life is suffused with holy energy.

We raise these scattered sparks and arrange them into worlds, constructed within us….’

I just hope Bono remembers that artistic ambition that supposedly fueled “Boy” for this next album, especially in the lyrics department (stop singing down to us so we can “understand you clearly”) but also in the music department, with more subtlety and loud and soft.

I bought “Boy” around the time of “Zooropa”. They’re both 2.5 to 3 star albums, but “Boy” is much more forgivable. I want something truly radical a la Achtung Baby, Bono.

No more saying “it’s like a dragon” or “it’s punk rock made on Venus” or “it’s our first guitar record”, and then hearing U2 do their best Coldplay impersonation on “City of Blinding Lights” or going from the admirable constant reinvention of the ’80s and ’90s and making the mainstream come to you on your terms to (in 2004) writing “Vertigo” which is supposed to sound like some boring rock radio classic, but doesn’t even satisfy that meager aim. I’d rather hear U2 have the guts to pull off “The Fly”, “Tryin’ to Throw Your Arms Around the World” and “Acrobat” than try to copy their back catalogue in dumbed down commercial appeal.

You can do it, and you can draw some lyrical inspiration from the most politically insightful show in history, Battlestar Galactica, which I know you’ll love and admire for speaking to the most relevant issues of our time and showing that “the other” is just as capable of kindness and cruelty as “we” are.

>as my band mates and I attempt to finish our most complete and radical album yet

Can’t wait boy, go, go, go!

The thing that has and will continue to keep me there as a fan is the fact that Bono can be talking to the gods and yet shaking the hands of the masses. As for the review itself– what a wonderful nod to the reality of how the album was conceived and the musical influences of the time.

I think this blog has been consecrated.

The comment by “tommy” above says it all, and very nicely. I fell for U2 in 81 or 2 and had the luck to grow up in LA where KROQ (then) and KCRW (ever since) have gifted listeners with great music…funny fact: the first time I saw U2 live they were the OPENING act for J. Geils Band at the LA Sports Arena. I remember Bono jumped into the crowd, and the Edge was amazing…and one left with no need to see the headliner…

he might have been pretentious back then but if he actually came to this then i guess that elements gone.

…isn’t it great that we can genuinely celebrate a truly ‘great’ album that people have actually heard of? Too often these lists of ‘best ever’ and ‘influential’ albums are populated by rock-critics who (by their very nature) ascribe holier than thou transcendentalism to any particular thing that influenced their young world. Fair enough.

But with few exceptions, its nice to see a celebrated - and popular - album get some notice that isn’t by The Beatles. Good job Bono, can’t wait to see where things are in another 30 years!

A friend of mine first introduced me to U2 in 1982. He said he bought the record because he liked the album cover. It was also the same time that I became a believer and there was always this torment of the rebellious music my parents were not fond of and the lack of music that fit my changing paradigm. I remember arguing with my parents “these guys are different”. While I did not always subscribe to my parents evangelically strict parameters, I certainly had a longing for music that I could grab hold of and make it my own. It was perfect timing. The music of the day was fairly morose and dead ending and as a believer, soulless. Listening to BOY, OCTOBER, WAR,and UNFORGETTABLE FIRE was transcedent beyond just a good rock album to me. Obviously, I’m much older now but reading the article allowed me to reflect on a very special time early in my youth. It was very special. By the way, my 13 year old boy’s favorite album (CD) is WAR.

I remember the album “Boy” too. Can I also write a story about that album on this website?

Call him what you want. Pretentious, egotistical, a megalomniac with a messianic complex, whatever you can think up because by the end of the day he’s a rockstar, a f*cking rockstar. I’d like to think that artists don’t have to crucify themselves to be considered true artists which is why I happen to like the guy. And to clear things up I don’t really think of him as a particularly self-centered and self-righteous person, I just know to put him up on a pedestal is to be dissappointed because he does lead somekind of a rockstar life although he’s not very good at it. And to get back to the topic, the album I think conveys something very important which is innocence and the embracing of innocence and not-knowing. This I find especially important because myself and my bandmates are writing songs that maybe deliver the same message but I asure you in a different kind of wrapping. When I hear BOY, I have a special appreciation for Edge’s work, which really showed amazing ability and prowess that was beyond his years. His sound really gives something to be envied especially for a simple rythym guitarist. Nevertheless I will end this almost excruciatingly long comment by saying this, although confusing at times there’s nothing like growing up which really comes across in this debut album from 1979.

I have to agree with Bono on this one; I’ve been listening to the remastered albums and the Edge is unbelievable!!! The rest of the band isn’t bad either - lol. Seriously, listening to these early albums now, you can sense the passion and the ambition, the heat and the heart, really, that separates their music from the rest. Thanks for the insight Bono!

Very estranger this, bono giving coment on the internet, a place where “we” mere fans walk, thats great.
oh, hes right about the edge, the greatest guitar player since, JP.

Such a great debut album,..Hail to the king of the ZOOs…

I stumbled onto this looking for news on the new album, and there were a bunch of Google hits on a petition to get Bono to “retire from public life.” Then I read this post and think: To what depths of cynical pretense does one have to stoop to dislike this guy? Unless you’re blinded by pseudo hipster rejection of all that is popular and positive, you can’t deny that Bono is one compelling mofo, and a hell of a wordsmith… “To live in the garret with a knife in your hand and a bleeding ear is more romantic than the fragility that leaves open the wound…” How many rock-n-rollers can lay down shit like that?

I used to like their music, but I could never stand HIM. Now I dislike their music too. Oh well, Bono loves himself enough … that’s for sure

Why does everyone let Bono talk so much. who cares. you cant judge rock music, its a feeling. its ok if someone doesnt like it

Bono is a hero. No one can touch him.

Great, great album. Favorite songs: twilight, out of control, stories for boys

G*d, he’s such a twit.

Call it what you want, Boy was a preview to what was to come from U2 over the next 30 years. Bono and company set the bar higher than few others will ever achieve!

Hail, hail Bono and U2.

Even accused of a big ego and pretentiousness, this guy is one of the best rock stars ever. Full of ego, yet at times self-effacing, funny, intelligent and passionate, he won’t let his band let their fans down….There is nothing cooler than a lead singer not just admitting but gloriously praising his awesome lead guitarist. Whether they mess up, fall on their faces, or rule the world, there is no point following popular music unless you have an eye on these guys. I am ready for whats next….. Here comes “No Line on the Horizon”.

Holy ****. Bono actually came here and replied to a article. Lol I didn’t think that a guy as big as him would do that. But he offers a lot of insight still. Boy was a great debut album for U2 and I enjoy listening to it myself. Rock on hard Bono and U2.