I’m scraping the bottom of the barrel here. I thought combining my least favorite U2 albums into one would help me enjoy it – kind of like a U.S. Olympic Basketball Team of U2 albums – but I have to admit that finding even 10 songs from Zooropa and Pop was difficult. In fact, there’s [...]
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The Revised ‘Zoopopa’
Growing Old with the Cure
I have seen most of my musical idols in concert
The Revised ‘Achtung Baby’
Rock critics usually place U2′s Achtung Baby among the greatest albums of all time. Rolling Stone ranked the album as the 62nd greatest ever, and it topped Spin‘s 2010 list of the 125 most influential albums in the last 25 years. And I hated it. Critics liked U2 going out on a limb, daring to shed [...]
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The Revised ‘Rattle and Hum’
So how do you top a multi-million selling, critically acclaimed album such as The Joshua Tree? You make a movie, of course. I should have seen it coming – U2 as movie stars, having the ego big enough to release a movie about themselves and their love of – gasp! – American music. Didn’t they [...]
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‘The Joshua Tree’ as a Double Album
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Artist:
One little known fact about U2′s groundbreaking album, The Joshua Tree, is that if Bono had had his way, it would have been a double album. The Edge told Hot Press magazine that there was enough material for a double album, but Bono wanted it to be more bluesy, while the Edge wanted to “pull it [...]
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The Revised ‘Joshua Tree’
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Artist:
At the risk of venturing into hyperbole, I could argue that The Joshua Tree changed my life. I was 18, at that dangerous intersection of life where teen angst meets free thinking and introspection. Everything had to have meaning to me. I was contemplating life beyond proms and algebra, thinking of life, death, God and the universe. [...]
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Davy Jones, 1945-2012
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Artist:
I’m getting tired of doing obits. This time, it’s Davy Jones, co-lead vocalist and tambourine player extraordinaire for the Monkees. Jones, who unlike his predecessors (Whitney, Amy Winehouse) lived a full life – enough to participate in several reunion tours and guest appearances on TV shows. The Monkees were a caricature, a knock-off of the [...]
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Whitney.
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Artist:
Like every other hormone-addled teen in the 1980s, I had a huge crush on Whitney Houston. She was cute, young and perky, and, at least at the beginning of her career, innocent. Sure, she had a nice voice – well, a great voice. But I think I was in love with her. This admission is [...]
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The Newly Revised ‘Unforgettable Fire’
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Artist:
I still remember the first time I heard U2. It was late 1984, and I was in the living room playing Nerf basketball and listening to the radio from my parents’ coffin-sized wood-paneled stereo. The DJ announced the new single from the group, “Pride (In the Name of Love),” from the upcoming album The Unforgettable [...]
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Playing God: Recreating U2 in Their Prime
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Artist:
I’ve had a love/hate relationship with U2 over the past 27 years. I first discovered them in 1985 when their album The Unforgettable Fire first hit America, and immediately latched onto the emotional, overtly political lyrics, the Edge’s distinct guitar sound, and Bono’s impassioned voice. I was hooked; they could do no wrong. I played [...]
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‘The Wing and the Wheel’ – Nanci Griffith
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Artist:
(A song I can play on an instrument) I have already reminisced about Nanci Griffith’s One Fair Summer Evening, of how it introduced me to the beauty of the acoustic guitar, and of how I impressed my guitar mentor, Bob Sims, with a spot-on rendition of “The Wing and the Wheel.” And at the risk [...]
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‘Downtown’, Petula Clark
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Artist:
In the midst of today’s syncopated, complicated hip-hop beats, the thumping overproduced dance grooves and technology-induced Auto-Tune, it’s easy to forget something as simple, wide-eyed and marvelous as Petula Clark’s “Downtown.” Released in late 1964, the Tony Hatch-penned tune was an international hit, topping the charts in the United States for several weeks. And you [...]
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A Song That Makes Me Laugh – ‘We Are the World’
Okay, so I’ll admit that “We are the World” probably did some good for this planet. It raised some $51 million toward famine relief in Africa. After its success, one could argue that with USA for Africa, music became a force for good, more than just a political statement. My God, music could change the [...]
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A New Year, A New Name
When I started My hmphs back in 2008, I envisioned it as a way to vent to really no one about the state of pop music today. I had had enough of the Kanyes and Fergies dominating the airwaves, and I wanted to try to step up on my little soapbox in cyberspace and say, [...]
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New Christmas Classics
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Artist:
I’m sure you’re all decking halls and wrapping presents and figuring out how to avoid awkward moments with extended family. I am as well, so I’m offering this retread of a Christmas post from last year. I’d like to wish everyone a happy holiday – thanks for reading, and brace yourself for a major change [...]
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Mike Viola: Tales of a Superkid
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Artist:
Superkid Do you remember Superkid? How could you forget Has he made it yet? – Mike Viola, “Superkid”, 2004 Mike Viola is waiting for me outside Center Stage Theater on West Peachtree Street, looking cold but patient. I’m one minute late, and I curse the downtown traffic. But what I think will be a quick [...]
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Concert Review: Mike Viola, Dec. 10, Atlanta
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Artist:
Mike Viola said hello to Atlanta and got a smattering of applause from those present at Vinyl in Midtown Saturday night. Most were there to see Rachael Yamagata, the headlining act, so this was a chance for Viola to introduce himself to some new fans. He launched into “Soundtrack of my Summer,” the standout track [...]
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An Interview with Jason Brewer of The Explorers Club
Jason Brewer is a man in love with pop music’s roots. You can sometimes find him at turntable.fm, spinning rare pop and R&B records for all who stop by. His Spotify playlists are filled with songs by Elvis Presley, the Rascals and the Moody Blues. And it’s apparent in his music. In 2008, his band, [...]
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An Angry Song – ‘Planet Telex’, Radiohead
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Artist:
It probably started innocently enough, as all arguments do. I don’t even remember what it was about. But by the end of the argument, I was fuming mad at my wife, but couldn’t run off or slam doors because I was driving. So instead, I turned on the CD player. Radiohead’s The Bends was in the [...]
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‘Absolutely Barking Stars,’ Maria McKee
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Artist:
(Favorite Song from Favorite Album) I am mystified by my obsession with Maria McKee’s Life Is Sweet. I tried several years ago to explain what it is about the album that touches me so, but I don’t think I did a good job. This album went almost unnoticed; McKee, best known as the lead singer [...]
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