The Letter U and the Numeral 2

For the longest time, I’ve preferred Bono the spritual guy versus Bono’s band. With the occasional bright spot, U2’s singles have really failed to really grab me since The Joshua Tree, which I exchanged for a copy of The Smiths’ Louder Than Bombs,

a decision that I do not regret even to this day (more tracks, less suck).

I reiterate: U2 have

occasionally come out with singles that I liked, but not in that same

way that every track in their early albums such as Boy, October and War got me. It may have been my youth (I was a spiky-haired teenager when those albums came out, and I got them on vinyl), but their later work has often left me feeling rather like His Holiness in this photo:

“Forgive them, for they know not how much they suck.”

However, the new single, Vertigo,

impresses me. In fact, it impresses me to the point of my wanting to

say “All right, impostors: where are U2 and what have you done with

them?”

Nicely done, gentlemen. I’m interested to hear what the rest of the album sounds like.

Bonus link: The Negativland single, U2, featuring studio outtakes of Casey Kasem swearing during a recording session of American Top 40 over the tune of I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For.