Rudiecantfail’s Weblog

To finish up on my last post, I wanted to talk about U2’s War album in relation to their The Joshua Tree. I must admit that I have never understood how “getting into music” really works. I guess its often just a case of liking something or not liking it. Really, there is not much explanation needed past that. In over thinking things, however, I like to find out just why that is. It could be that just hearing a certain artist or album so often “forces” us to kind of acquire a taste for it. Beginning to like something can happen either willingly or unwillingly, and in fact, just hearing artists, albums, or styles often can help us gain an affinity for something without even realizing it. There are an endless amount of possibilities as to why we like certain music, and any one of them could have happened to any music fan. Am I over thinking things? Probably. So I should just probably move on and just assume that people either like something or do not, but there is always room to go between the two…

In the case of U2’s music, I have always like The Joshua Tree. Although the album has a completely original sound, it is has always seemed very accessible to me. The open, ambient, well-textured music was just something that drew me in. Like anyone who gets really into an band, I sought out more U2 albums to add to this disk, creating a kind of “collection” if you will. After doing a little research I decided to go with War. I had heard good things about the album, and especially after hearing songs like “Sunday Bloody Sunday” and “New Years Day” I figured that the album would be a good choice. After playing it, however, I didn’t like it. I knew that U2 were different in their earlier days, but not this different. There was no open ambiance, or layered texture, but rather a mix of post-punk and dance rock, with a hint of new wave. Basically, to not get too caught up in genres, it wasn’t The Joshua Tree. I liked “Sunday Bloody Sunday,” but that was really about it. A couple weeks later, I revisited the album. I had heard somewhere that some things take repeated listens to like, so a repeated listen is what I did. This time, I gave it time. It turns out that time is just what I needed. In forcing myself to listen through the entire album, I slowly began to kind of like the songs. Kind of liking the songs then turned into really liking them, which then became a kind of temporary obsession. In fact, War was all that I listened to for a few week period

I guess the whole feel of the album just kind of grew on me. The post-punk, dance beats really got me hooked. After repeated listens, I noticed that the album did have texture. Larry Mullen’s fast-paced drums on songs like “Two Hearts Beat as One,” Edges howling guitar solos –especially on “Drowning Man,” and Bonos politically-charged, loved-fuel, angst-ridden lyrics throughout. The song that I get attached to more and more on repeated listens is the song “40.” If no other song on this album does, this song predicts where U2 is heading in coming years. The slow tempo and light melody couldn’t close the album any better. The line “I will sing, sing a new song” gets me every time, just like it did the first time I listened to it, just like it will continue to every time after.

Sometimes, if nothing else, I guess that getting into something just takes time. I really can’t explain why or how exactly I get into what I do, but I guess its really just better that way. Sometimes I look back and go, why did I not like that before? Am I lame? Sometimes the answer is yes. There is no other explanation for it. Likewise, other times I look back and go, why did I like that. Another time and place apparently. Regardless, if I have learned anything from all this, its to give something a chance. War was something that I needed to give a chance to.