Forgive and Forget?

One of the major tenets of the Roman Catholic Church is the belief in absolution or forgiveness. With all the benefits of being a religious person, this one at times makes things rough. Turning the other cheek is not often the easiest thing to do. But, recent events are pushing me to forgive one of the greatest enemies I have had in the past few years...U2.

Brother Marc called me yesterday and mentioned that U2 had released a concert from 1987 on iTunes - 18 tracks for $11.99. (Tracks 1 and 11 listed below are not on the recording from iTunes.)

He also mentioned that they had re-released the first three albums with bonus live and studio tracks from that time period. While I was in college, every semester the local hippies would sell bootleg recordings from the big acts and I swallowed up all the U2 boots I could find. Most were from 1980 - 1983, and were loaded with tracks like "Boy/Girl", "Touch" and great versions of "Cry/Electric Co.". Coincidentally, all these new mastered tracks available on iTunes are the same tracks I cut my teeth on in college. Getting very interested now...

Before we go any further, a little history about me and the lads from Ireland. From 1988 - 1993, I lived and breathed U2. The Edge was my guitar hero and every time I played, I stood like him, strummed like him, and did the "Edge shake" to get that extra vibrato off the chord. I went through multiple delay pedals to get his sound. I fell asleep every night to side 2 of Joshua Tree, still probably the most perfect side of music every created. When Achtung Baby! released, my roommate, Brian Downey, and I listened in awe, with the only words said for 45 minutes being "Holy Shit..." (The only other album to get this reaction from us was Automatic for the People.)

Then, it started to slowly go down hill. I saw them on back to back nights in 1993 and they did the same set, down to the scripted interaction with the audience. It was downright cheesy, highlighted with Bono looking into a life size mirror saying, "New York, you're f'n beautiful!" I get that he's doing a character, but still, a far way from the streets of Ireland.

We had Mephisto.

We had Pop Mart.

Bono met the Pope. (Please note: I am STRONGLY Catholic; this offended me as a rock fan. The two have no business together.)

During all this time, the music itself was also sub-par:

So, I left. I hadn't listened to any U2 work in about 4 years until Jimmy recently started rocking to "I Will Follow" and the rest of the Boy album.

Here I am now, wondering to myself (and listening to the 1987 concert (thanks Brother Marc)), if I can forgive the sins listed above. Can I go back? Can I give them a second chance and live as 1995 on never existed? Should I expect every band to have the integrity of a Pearl Jam or Springsteen? For every horrible misstep listed above, there are the great and moving moments - Live Aid, closing concerts with "40", "Luminous Times", The Joshua Tree, yelling at audiences during the early 80's to pay attention, "Dirty Day".

As if planned, the end of this blog coincides with "40" coming out of the speakers of my computer. I always felt that Bono had a deal with the Big Guy upstairs - I guess this is his way of telling me to go back to where it started.

Jimmy, get ready for your next lesson...