U2- the Greatest Band on the Planet

U2 was formed in 1977 when fourteen year old Larry Mullen Jr. posted a notice on his school notice board seeking musicians for a new band. They were called Feedback and The Hype before settling on the name, U2. On St. Patrick’s Day 1978, they won a battle of the bands using the prize money to record a demo which impressed Paul McGuinness enough to become their manager and they were subsequently signed to CBS Records. Island Records signed the band in early 1980, their UK debut, 11 O’Clock Tick Tock was well received by the critics but failed to chart. Their debut album, Boy, was released to critical acclaim and included their first hit single, I Will Follow. Their subsequent tour of Europe and America, these live shows revealed U2’s potential with Bono’s passion and the band’s musical prowess. October, their second album was released in 1981, it was a much more mellow and spiritual record than their debut reflecting the Christian beliefs of Bono, The Edge and Larry Mullen Jr. The album met with a lukewarm reception form the critics and it received limited radio airplay. However, their subsequent album, War was acclaimed by critics and was a commercial success, it entered the UK charts at number 1. They recorded the live album Under a Blood Red Sky on the War tour, it received extensive play on radio and MTV bringing the band to a wider audience. The Unforgettable Fire was released in 1984, produced by Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois; it displayed a more complex, polished and mature sound. The first single, Pride (In the Name of Love) was their biggest hit at that point and illustrated the passion, idealism and humanity of the band. That year they played Live Aid, Self Aid, became involved with Amnesty International and contributed to Little Steven’s anti-apartheid single Sun City. Their following LP The Joshua Tree confirmed U2 as one of the biggest bands on the planet reaching number 1 in twenty-two countries, remaining at the top spot in the US charts for nine weeks and putting them on the cover of TIME magazine. The documentary Rattle and Hum featured footage recorded from the subsequent tour, they also released an accompanying LP of the same name, from which the single Desire gave the band their first UK number 1. Achtung Baby, was released in November 1991, it marked a new beginning for the band, it possessed a more electronic and their subsequent ZooTV tour was a visual extravaganza. They recorded the Zooropa album on the tour, it was even a greater departure from their earlier recordings, incorporating techno, electronica and Johnny Cash, it was their most experimental record to date. In 1995 they released the record Original Soundtracks 1., Brian Eno contributed as a full partner, hence it was released under the moniker Passengers. It generally received poor reviews, however it did contain the hit single Miss Sarajevo. They released Pop in 1997, it debuted at number 1 in thirty-five countries and the band embarked on another epic world tour of pure spectacle called PopMart. They returned to a more traditional sound with their 2000 work All That You Can’t Leave Behind, it contained the massive hit singles, Beautiful Day, Walk On, Elevation and Stuck in a Moment You Can’t Get Out Of. The band’s most recent album, How To Dismantle an Atomic Bomb in 2004, it and it’s singles won Grammy Awards in all eight categories in which they were nominated.