"Midnight is where the day begins." - Bono
Music is apart of us - we can't see it but we can certainly feel it and when it connects with us, it touches us unlike anything else; No other musical entity can lay as much claim to making me "feel" as much as U2 does whenever I hear their music, even for a mere second. U2 have been my most favorite band in the entire world since I was just a small child. Some would even say that my relationship with the band's music was always a thing meant to be - something written in the stars, perhaps. They completed their initial rough set of their 1991 album "Achtung Baby" on the day that I was born and, in turn, my first montage featured a song from that very album sixteen years later. From their contribution to the soundtrack of my favorite film "Heat", to their version of the "Mission: Impossible" theme, to the first time that I heard the opening chord of "Beautiful Day" (a song that has since become my all-time favorite) when John Kerry finished his speech at the 2004 Democratic National Convention, to the night that Barack Obama accepted his fateful Presidential nomination at the same event in 2008 to the tune of U2's "City of Blinding Lights", I've been enamoured with every single last aspect of the band and their efforts, both new and old alike.
Through the evolution of their ambitious beginnings in 1980 with their first studio album entitled "Boy" to their mastery with 2009's "No Line On The Horizon," the band has shown no signs of waning in their long and ongoing magnificent careers: Something that I'm very grateful for. In fact, U2 is the only band to have a connection to every single one of the other nine bands featured behind them in my lineup of top ten favorites:
1. Coldplay, once an opening act for U2, have not only been nicknamed 'The Next U2' by the media but were also symbolically passed the generational torch-of-greatness from U2 at Glastonbury 2011 when U2 honored Coldplay by playing the latter's first hit single, "Yellow," in homage to them. The piano riff of Coldplay's signature song "Clocks" was also taken from the opening ringing guitar riff of U2's song "The Unforgettable Fire".
2. Nine Inch Nails mastermind Trent Reznor was in a U2 tribute band during his single year in college and he went on to remix the U2 hits "Vertigo" and "Zoo Station" throughout his career.
3. Staind's lead vocalist Aaron Lewis once worked with Bono on the 2001 remix of Marvin Gaye's classic song "What's Going On".
4. Green Day recorded a song with U2 entitled "The Saints Are Coming" in 2006. Drummer Tre Cool also used Larry Mullen's drumbeat from U2's "Bullet the Blue Sky" on Green Day's song "Give Me Novacaine" featured on 2004's instant classic album "American Idiot".
5. Foo Fighters are notorious for playing U2's song "Beautiful Day" during their soundchecks on every tour of their's for good luck.
6. The White Stripes' Jack White starred in the 2008 documentary 'It Might Get Loud' with U2's The Edge.
7. In 2006, Bono admitted that he wished he'd written "Lucky Man" by The Verve in an interview with Q Magazine.
8. KMFDM covered U2's "Mysterious Ways" on their 1998 album 'Agogo'. Bono also credited KMFDM as one of the major five influences on U2's industrial-laden 1991 album "Achtung Baby" in the documentary 'From the Sky Down'.
and finally....
9. Muse opened for U2 on a number of their concerts during the 'U2: 360°' tour and also played U2's signature hit "Where The Streets Have No Name" at their Glastonbury 2010 event.
For thirty-six years, U2 have graced stages all across the planet, blazed through the music charts in every major nation, and have influenced a horde of the most talented young musical artists on the scene. Long live the collective legacy of Paul Hewson, Dave Evans, Larry Mullen, Jr., and Adam Clayton - the four young Irish teens who began their humble journey as high-schoolers playing Queen and Beatles songs for their friends in a small 10x10 kitchen. It would be those same four teens who would go on to become the voice of their generation and the trail-blazing trendsetters for every generation that followed them. Thanks, guys.
The Breakthrough - "The Joshua Tree" (1987)
The Revamp - "Achtung Baby" (1991)
The Masterpiece - "Beautiful Day" (2000)
Long live U2.
Music is apart of us - we can't see it but we can certainly feel it and when it connects with us, it touches us unlike anything else; No other musical entity can lay as much claim to making me "feel" as much as U2 does whenever I hear their music, even for a mere second. U2 have been my most favorite band in the entire world since I was just a small child. Some would even say that my relationship with the band's music was always a thing meant to be - something written in the stars, perhaps. They completed their initial rough set of their 1991 album "Achtung Baby" on the day that I was born and, in turn, my first montage featured a song from that very album sixteen years later. From their contribution to the soundtrack of my favorite film "Heat", to their version of the "Mission: Impossible" theme, to the first time that I heard the opening chord of "Beautiful Day" (a song that has since become my all-time favorite) when John Kerry finished his speech at the 2004 Democratic National Convention, to the night that Barack Obama accepted his fateful Presidential nomination at the same event in 2008 to the tune of U2's "City of Blinding Lights", I've been enamoured with every single last aspect of the band and their efforts, both new and old alike.
Through the evolution of their ambitious beginnings in 1980 with their first studio album entitled "Boy" to their mastery with 2009's "No Line On The Horizon," the band has shown no signs of waning in their long and ongoing magnificent careers: Something that I'm very grateful for. In fact, U2 is the only band to have a connection to every single one of the other nine bands featured behind them in my lineup of top ten favorites:
1. Coldplay, once an opening act for U2, have not only been nicknamed 'The Next U2' by the media but were also symbolically passed the generational torch-of-greatness from U2 at Glastonbury 2011 when U2 honored Coldplay by playing the latter's first hit single, "Yellow," in homage to them. The piano riff of Coldplay's signature song "Clocks" was also taken from the opening ringing guitar riff of U2's song "The Unforgettable Fire".
2. Nine Inch Nails mastermind Trent Reznor was in a U2 tribute band during his single year in college and he went on to remix the U2 hits "Vertigo" and "Zoo Station" throughout his career.
3. Staind's lead vocalist Aaron Lewis once worked with Bono on the 2001 remix of Marvin Gaye's classic song "What's Going On".
4. Green Day recorded a song with U2 entitled "The Saints Are Coming" in 2006. Drummer Tre Cool also used Larry Mullen's drumbeat from U2's "Bullet the Blue Sky" on Green Day's song "Give Me Novacaine" featured on 2004's instant classic album "American Idiot".
5. Foo Fighters are notorious for playing U2's song "Beautiful Day" during their soundchecks on every tour of their's for good luck.
6. The White Stripes' Jack White starred in the 2008 documentary 'It Might Get Loud' with U2's The Edge.
7. In 2006, Bono admitted that he wished he'd written "Lucky Man" by The Verve in an interview with Q Magazine.
8. KMFDM covered U2's "Mysterious Ways" on their 1998 album 'Agogo'. Bono also credited KMFDM as one of the major five influences on U2's industrial-laden 1991 album "Achtung Baby" in the documentary 'From the Sky Down'.
and finally....
9. Muse opened for U2 on a number of their concerts during the 'U2: 360°' tour and also played U2's signature hit "Where The Streets Have No Name" at their Glastonbury 2010 event.
For thirty-six years, U2 have graced stages all across the planet, blazed through the music charts in every major nation, and have influenced a horde of the most talented young musical artists on the scene. Long live the collective legacy of Paul Hewson, Dave Evans, Larry Mullen, Jr., and Adam Clayton - the four young Irish teens who began their humble journey as high-schoolers playing Queen and Beatles songs for their friends in a small 10x10 kitchen. It would be those same four teens who would go on to become the voice of their generation and the trail-blazing trendsetters for every generation that followed them. Thanks, guys.
The Breakthrough - "The Joshua Tree" (1987)
The Revamp - "Achtung Baby" (1991)
The Masterpiece - "Beautiful Day" (2000)
Long live U2.
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