Foo Fighters Drummer Taylor Hawkins Dead at 50

[Rikk]

My hot takes:

ACHTUNG BABY! was U2’s last good record.

Just to be perfectly clear, I’m no fan of Coldplay. I blame the Brits for exporting them to the USA. We were doing just fine without them.

I actually like ZOOROPA even more than ACHTUNG BABY. Songs like LEMON, DADDY'S GONNA PAY FOR YOUR CRASHED CAR, DIRTY DAY and the song they did with Johnny Cash (THE WANDERER) are U2 at their peak, right before the long slide into mediocrity.

I don't mind 1997's POP...but it was spotty.

But their stuff in the 2000s was just shit...EXCEPT for one album. I really liked NO LINE ON THE HORIZON (2009). It really had that ACHTUNG BABY/ZOOROPA sound...and songs like GET ON YOUR BOOTS, MOMENT OF SURRENDER and UNKNOWN CALLER were sort of the last time they made music that was both creative and exciting.

Now, they're mostly a nostalgia band. And I do wish Bono would shut the fuck up sometimes.

But when people try and claim that U2 were always terrible and over-rated, I think they're forgetting a lot of great music the band DID create. (WAR from 1983 was a really solid 1980s rock album.)

[Mushroom]

Ok I’ll need to give Zooropa another spin. After 30 years, I might have a new opinion.

[Rikk]

Ok I’ll need to give Zooropa another spin. After 30 years, I might have a new opinion.

Yeah, give ZOOROPA another try, my friend.

I remember initially being underwhelmed by it (the first two tracks are pretty laid-back and relatively unexciting). But the album gets VERY interesting as it goes along.

Ironically (and this fits in well with the topic), that idiot Taylor Hawkins actually attacked U2's "dance period of the 1990s" in some rant maybe a decade ago...and it pissed me off. He talked about how "off the rails" U2 got making albums like ACHTUNG, ZOOROPA and POP...and how happy he was when they went back to "real rock" in the 2000s (he bitched about dance music, really). It was so...dull, idiot rocker guy. I knew then that I was glad I did not know Taylor personally, because I have a feeling that he would really irritate me if I spent too much time with him.

2000s U2 songs like CITY OF BLINDING LIGHTS and WALK ON frankly just bore the shit out of me. They're lowest-common-denominator kinda rock. At least the band was truly trying to invent new sounds, be really creative and NOT repeat themselves on albums like ACHTUNG BABY and even POP. Some of the material on POP didn't really work...but at least they were NOT just trying to remake THE JOSHUA TREE. By the 2000s, everything became another stadium anthem, phones in the air, Bono preaching about another world leader he'd just had tea with, preaching at people that they don't care enough about world hunger.

Have you ever watched U2's ZOO TV LIVE IN SYDNEY DVD? It was originally a Pay-Per-View I remember watching with my buddies in 1993. It was just a killer concert. Nobody had EVER put on a show like that before. It was so...different. And the fact that the band were making fun of their own image and NOT taking themselves seriously was refreshing. During that period, most kids in my High School liked U2 and weren't embarrassed about it.

By 2004, U2 took themselves SO seriously, it became BEYOND irritating. (But...anyone who says they were NEVER great is just looking at one aspect or era of their career.)

Definitely check out ZOOROPA again when you get a chance. Particularly check out THE WANDERER, DIRTY DAY, DADDY'S GONNA PAY FOR YOUR CRASHED CAR, LEMON, STAY (SO FARAWAY, SO CLOSE!)... I also like THE FIRST TIME quite a bit (it has a definite ACHTUNG vibe).

Quick trivia (sorry, this is already a REALLY long post...typical Rikk, I guess): The song NUMB (from ZOOROPA) is a total outtake from ACHTUNG BABY except for Edge's vocal. (There was a lot cut off of ACHTUNG.) Also, remember the Batman hit song they had in 1995, HOLD ME, THRILL ME, KISS ME, KILL ME? Some fans don't like this song...but I've always enjoyed it. And, even though it came out in 1995 as a "new song," it was just an outtake from ZOOROPA (they were going through writer's block, which became clear when POP was released two years later). The band just polished it and put on some more overdubs before releasing it in 1995.

[Kristy]

Ok I’ll need to give Zooropa another spin. After 30 years, I might have a new opinion.

You can't polish a turd. But best of luck.

[Mushroom]

We just passed the 2 year anniversary

[Kristy]

He'll still dead, right? And Ghrol is still making money off of it, right?

[twonabomber]

Taylor Hawkins, clean and sober for two years!

[Nitro Express]

He'll still dead, right? And Ghrol is still making money off of it, right?

The only difference between Dave Grohl and Sammy Hagar is Dave has more talent. Both will never go away until the reaper takes them.

[Mushroom]

Taylor Hawkins, clean and sober for two years!

At least you have something funny to say compared to the other hacks

[Mushroom]

The only difference between Dave Grohl and Sammy Hagar is Dave has more talent.

Absolutely true!