I stumbled upon some of my most favorite U2 tracks back in the early aughts, when Napster ruled and music was free and easy and yours for the taking — and I took, because I was a college student and that justified being cheap and breaking the law. These were songs not on the studio albums or singles, and all of a sudden, I had a way to access them. These rarities are what we U2 fans use as a litmus test on other fans we meet. “Dreaming With Tears In My Eyes” and “Slide Away” are like our secret handshake. If you’ve heard these, you’ve proved you’re worth your salt. Read More
If Danny Lanois and Brian Eno are still trying to think up Halloween costume ideas, I suggest they go as Dr. Frank-N-Furter and Riff Raff.
I apologize to the original photographers, to Lanois and Eno, to The Rocky Horror Picture Show, to Photoshop, and to Halloween.
Q magazine announced this week that to mark Achtung Baby’s 20th anniversary (Nov. 19), the next issue will feature a cd of the entire album reworked by a range of notable artists. Here’s the AHK-toong BAY-bi Covered track listing:
- Zoo Station – Nine Inch Nails
- Even Better Than The Real Thing – U2 (Jacques Lu Cont Mix)
- One – Damien Rice
- Until The End Of The World – Patti Smith
- Who’s Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses – Garbage
- So Cruel – Depeche Mode
- Mysterious Ways – Snow Patrol
- Trying To Throw Your Arms Around The World – The Fray
- The Fly – Gavin Friday
- Ultraviolet (Light My Way) – The Killers
- Acrobat – Glasvegas
- Love Is Blindness – Jack White
October
And the trees are stripped bare
Of all they wear
What do I care?
October
And kingdoms rise
And kingdoms fall
But you go on
… and on.
Fans can’t resist pushing play on the second song on the second side of U2’s second album as Oct. 1 hits and seems to officially usher in a new season. I dutifully play 1981’s October, and its eponymous track, letting the sound of The Unforgettable Fire, an album that encompasses summer for me, fade out. If time must march on, the beauty of an oncoming fall eases the process. Read More
