Good interview. I have really enjoyed the "aged" insight that the guys are giving more and more in these various interviews. I know it has been emphasized in a myriad of media outlet (perhaps even over-emphasized), but, 40 years in and still being together as originaly incarnated, U2 truly are walking on new ground with every step they take and are having to invent as they go.
That’s the big question going forward, for a band with all the baggage U2 has. There are many different versions of U2 — perhaps the real way you achieve universality — which means there are in turn many different versions of the band that they themselves, and their fans, might want to hear. “I’ve had people talk to me about what they think is or is not authentically U2. They’re often in violent disagreement with each other and I like that and I’ve had those conversations for 40 years,” Bono says.
There’s something else Bono says that sums it up, all the different angles that go into crafting a U2 album today, all the different perspectives of fans across generations and across the planet. “We’re the U2 you want us to be,” he says. “And, it has to be said, often the U2 you don’t want us to be.”
I like knowing that U2 are aware, in one fashion or another, of the ongoing fan debate of "What are U2?" and maybe even coming to terms with the fact that no one, not even the band themselves, know the answer.
Most of the time I'm completely happy with just knowing there IS a U2 and these interviews and the news surrounding this latest release have been a bit of a reminder of how that won't always be and how sad I will be when these four "lads from Dublin" take their last bow.