“In which U2 rock on down. I don’t know if its cos I’ve been living on a raft in the middle of the Dead Sea, but I was under the misapprehension that U2 do not rock out, because on the 16th day God said: “Thou shalt not rock out unless thine hymn rises up in a massive anthemic swell of glorious flailing guitars”. This is a very trad rock number, with one of those heavy clap-along rhythms, a secular lust song with harmonica, but it stops well short of exciting. Maybe they should forsake all their worldly goods and go live in a garage.”

Myers awarded no single of the week. Also reviewed that week;

Siouxsie & The Banshees – The Killing Jar
Dinosaur Jr – Freak Scene
The Lilac Time – You’ve Got To Love
Alexander O’Neal – Fake
EPMD – Strictly Business
Talk Talk – I Believe In You
Erasure – A Little Respect
Duran Duran – I Don’t Want Your Love
The Wedding Present – Why Are You Being So Reasonable Now?
Whitney Houston – One Moment In Time

“Because throwing words at U2 is akin to tossing corn into an idiot wind, the prevailing view amongst the ‘critic’ community, who’ve been rendered impotent by the band’s massive success, seems to be that Bono Vox deserves execution by guillotine: the only problem being that nobody can find a bucket big enough to fit his head.

‘Desire’, recorded in Dublin earlier this year, and a taster for the group’s forthcoming double album ‘Rattle And Hum’, needs explanation. Well, it’s startling. A return to basic roots rock after the eerie, panoramic soundscapes of ‘The Unforgettable Fire’, and to a lesser extent, ‘The Joshua Tree’.

Gone is the cathedral of riding textural space illuminated by The Edge’s pristine stained glass guitar and Bono’s fervent purity Vox. And gone too is the openly spiritual facet to be surplanted by what appears to be a fevered sensuality. On ‘Desire’ everything is sweat shrunk, the band’s stadium etheriality has been compacted down to club level.

The musical construction of the song reflects this as it rolls on the overdeveloped bicep of Bo Diddley’s ‘Not Fade Away’ motif with Bono, all moans and groans, ripping the lyrics from his pelvis instead of the alter and The Edge blumting his strings with lacerated fingers.

Retro in extreme, ‘Desire’ is U2 simulating hedonism and sleaze. Maybe that they’ve just learned that sex isn’t a four-letter word.”

Barron awarded Single of the Week to Pet Shop Boys’ ‘Domino Dancing’. Also reviewed that week;

Strictly Business – EPMD
Stop This Crazy Thing – Coldcut featuring Junior Reid
Freak Scene – Dinosaur Jr
Why Are You Being So Reasonable Now? – The Wedding Present
The Killing Jar – Siouxsie & The Banshees
A Little Respect – Erasure
New Anger – Gary Numan

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DPD8C-4U9hw

Thinking over my initial quip I guess the nostalgia-prone charts of the ‘late 1980s aren’t (even in jest) a good model for what must have been going on. I do love the idea of Bach’s dancey music emerging out of the past tho’ (things like the double violin concerto sound like I feel love or maybe the SOS band to me! ‘I don’t care about those woodwinds, just be good….’).

“why Chopin had to happen” …

You can see in the videos from the Joshua tree singles the way that u2 were going.shirtless-guitar-playing and singer-on-knees shouting into a microphone for typical american street video for “where the streets have no name” and casino based video for “i still havent found……”. it does seem that TST was made with the intention of testing the water for RAH.They knew full well that they had America in their back pocket and were intent on milking it to the full.

I think 1988 was a turning point for u2 in Ireland aswell.Football-motormouth pundit Eamonn Dunphy wrote a book called “The Unforgettable Fire” but was plagued with inaccurate content with Bono supposedly very critical of the end product.dunphy then hit out at bono’s arrogance in the media.The resulting controversy was arguably the start of a backlash against Bono in Ireland and probably made Dunphy a satr in the process.

I only really visit Dublin in September every 2/3 years for the Hurling and Gaelic Football All ireland Finals so I wouldnt have a great knowledge of the city.I first remember going to a final in 1990 and it was very interesting looking back.No proper roads in place, motorways few and far between and even the road signs were fairly outdated.indeed it took us 4 hours to get to dublin that time whereas now it would take just over 2.

Upon getting to Dublin we used to hit O’Connell street which was like a mystique for someone from the country but when you got near Croke Park you could see a number of housing estates and tower blocks which would awaken you to the harsh reality of what life was like for a lot of people back then.Not that far off Nelson Mandela House standards if I recall.Even back then Dublin had an almost Black and White feel to it.The Commitments would be the best example of this.

Even the transformation of Croke Park from the 80s and 90s to what it is now is a sight to behold and may not have come about was it not for u2s influence on the city.throughout the 90s and beyond Dublin became the stag and hen night capital of europe.something which u2 may take credit for.they certainly helped glamourize the city.