Word: u2
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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Where in the United States will you get the chance this summer to see in one week the Anti-Nowhere League Chicago, U2 and Robert Palmer. New York perhaps But in Boston those are some of the assorted artists to show up in the last week of June. Beantown you'll quickly discover, is second only to the Big Apple and perhaps L.A in terms of the quality and variety of national acts that steam through as well as the liveliness of the local music scene...
...these noise makers has gradually given way to the spanking new Centrum in Worcester, which is more than just a simple ride on the T. Life does have its special punishments for our little vices Styx is on tap for the Centrum Very sad So is the suddenly famous U2. Happy...
Oakes, like the author, is a remarkably versatile fellow. In Marco Polo, If You Can, he quotes Yeats, works for the CIA and pilots a U2. But he is not a routine spy in the sky. Because a mole in the National Security Council has been passing policy secrets to the Soviets, Oakes is asked to fake a forced landing in the U.S.S.R. and allow a packet of forged documents to fall into enemy hands. The aim of this counterespionage is to neutralize a Soviet agent and drive a wedge into Chinese-Soviet relations. Can Blackie pull off this caper...
...America has responded well to the U2 formula. The group's first album, Boy, received much airplay, especially around Boston. Songs like "I will follow" become hits and "Gloria" off the new album is already turning up on the dial. The songs provide a welcome variety among the hits on BCN, but their weaknesses becomes apparent easily. The "formula" threatens to imprison U2 in a musical cul-de-sac. Though the melodies and intros alternate between tracks, the style remains immutable. After a while The Edge seems to repeat the same riffs, and Bono seems to sing nothing but "faaaalling...
...Gloria" has interweaving melody lines in the vein of a Gregorian chant, and "Scarlet" has an appealing marching rhythm. But U2 simply superimposes these effects on the music when they should give the changes precedence. The Dublin sound was fresh and new but rapidly stagnating. Though U2 gained a foothold in the American market by accenting their insular origin, they must develop something beyond their formula to hold onto their popularity. Otherwise they will suffer the fate of ephemeral bands like the Knack and glide right back into obscurity...