The band formed at Mount Temple Comprehensive School in 1976 when the members were teenagers with limited musical proficiency. Within four years, they signed with Island Records and released their debut album, Boy (1980). Subsequent work such as their first UK number-one album, War (1983), and the singles "Sunday Bloody Sunday" and "Pride (In the Name of Love)" helped establish U2's reputation as a politically and socially conscious group. By the mid-1980s, they had become renowned globally for their live act, highlighted by their performance at Live Aid in 1985. The group's fifth album, The Joshua Tree (1987), made them international superstars and was their greatest critical and commercial success. Topping music charts around the world, it produced their only number-one singles in the US, "With or Without You" and "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For".
Facing creative stagnation and a backlash following their documentary/double album, Rattle and Hum (1988), U2 reinvented themselves in the 1990s through a new musical direction and public image. Beginning with their acclaimed seventh album, Achtung Baby (1991), and the multimedia-intensive Zoo TV Tour, the band integrated influences from alternative rock, electronic dance music, and industrial music into their sound, and embraced a more ironic, flippant image. This experimentation continued through their ninth album, Pop (1997), and the PopMart Tour, which were mixed successes. U2 regained critical and commercial favour with the records All That You Can't Leave Behind (2000) and How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb (2004), which established a more conventional, mainstream sound for the group. Their U2 360° Tour of 2009–2011 is the highest-attended and highest-grossing concert tour in history. The group's thirteenth album, Songs of Innocence (2014), was released at no cost through the iTunes Store, but received criticism for its automatic placement in users' music libraries.
U2 has released 14 studio albums and is one of the world's best-selling music artists in history, having sold more than 170 million records worldwide. They have won 22 Grammy Awards, more than any other band, and in 2005, they were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in their first year of eligibility. Rolling Stone ranked U2 at number 22 on its list of the "100 Greatest Artists of All Time". Throughout their career, as a band and as individuals, they have campaigned for human rights and philanthropic causes, including Amnesty International, Jubilee 2000, the ONE/DATA campaigns, Product Red, War Child, and Music Rising.
Foundation: The band originally formed in 1976 when Larry Mullen posted a bulletin in his school asking for musicians to form a rock band. The band then consisted of the four current members plus three additional guitarists, including The Edge’s brother Dick Evans (later a member of Virgin Prunes), Ivan McCormick and Peter Martin. According to legend, Bono originally auditioned as a guitarist but couldn’t play. He auditioned as lead vocals, but really couldn’t sing. He was, however, incredibly enthusiastic about the band, extremely charismatic, a great writer, and was strangely able to reach the audience when the band played, something he is known for still today. Bono will reach out into the crowd and dance or mess with someone in the crowd at every concert. He was kept as a member. The extra guitarists would soon leave the band and the group would go through the names “Feedback ” and “The Hype” before finally settling on U2.
The 70s & 80s: 1978 was a jumping point year for the band, finally finding their sound / voice. U2 won a talent contest in 1978: £500 and funds to make a record. Paul McGuinness became the band’s manager and U2 released an EP called Three and the single Another Day, the following year. U2 went on to release their first album, Boy and then more critically acclaimed albums incl.: October, War, Under A Blood Red Sky, and The Unforgettable Fire (featuring the song PlayMLK dedicated to Martin Luther King Jr). Seen by many as a political band with more charisma than others, they were called “a different kind” of band. After a short break U2 returned with The Joshua Tree & the USA music inspired Rattle And Hum (also a movie of the same name, based on the tour).
The 90s: Promising ”to dream it all up again”, they added industrial and dance styles to their music. Trying to drop a goody two shoes image, they went to Berlin (Germany), supposedly to develop new self-expressions. From there they started to make fun of themselves and had a good time of it in albums like Achtung Baby (meaning ”watch out, baby”, artwork feat. make-up artist Nassim Khalifa) & Zooropa. Bono took on many stage personae such as “The Fly”, “Mirrorball Man” and “Mr. MacPhisto” for the gigantic ZOO TV Tour. Later they continued to make fun of Pop culture and all its extremes with the album Pop and consequent PopMart tour which was announced to be launched at a Kmart store and included a giant golden arch across the stage.
The 00s: At the end of the 90’s into 00’s U2 became less image and more reality. With the death of Bono’s good friend Michael Hutchence, the lead singer of INXS, Bono wrote more songs from the heart surrounding ideas like life and death, children, hope, and the real world past all the pop culture and TV. Some say they’ve returned to a more band-centric sound with albums like All That You Can’t Leave Behind which features a song, Kite, dedicated to Bono’s father who passed away shortly after the album’s conception and 2004’s How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb.
The 10s: U2 went on the U2 360° Tour in 2009 and 2010. This tour set records for the highest-grossing concert tour. The band worked with producer Danger Mouse for their thirteenth album Songs of Innocence, which was released on 9 September 2014 for free to all Apple iCloud users.
The Name: There are many theories as to the origin of the name U2. For example, U2 was an intelligence airplane that was in use by the United States during the Cold War. Other obvious candidates include “You too” and “You two”, etc. Nonetheless the official line on the name’s origins remains unknown. The band has been quoted as saying that they did think of the U2 spy plane, but remain hushed about other reasons… U2
Laughing In The Face Of Love/So Cruel
U2 Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
And there's no water
And you can't see the road ahead
You can only see her
Why is it love...
You're holding on to all you say, girl
Away, lonesome love
Woman...
She's free, a woman, say
She hides behind you open
Woman...
She looks at me...
Woman...
She hides alone within, alone inside
She makes a mirror in, all around
All around, now
I'm only walking in her love
Woman...woman...
Girl that leave you, maybe woman
To turn you on and leave you on too high
We walk in love
We fall in love
Woman...
Empty heart
To turn you on and leave you on too high
To high, anymore
Your dark and cluttered heart
And there's a quietness that comes to this house
Where nobody can sleep
The lyrics to U2’s song “Laughing In The Face Of Love/So Cruel” are riddled with abstract imagery that makes understanding the meaning of the song a difficult yet intriguing task. The lyrics of the song emphasize themes of love, heartbreak, and pondering the idea of love’s complexities and the pain that one can face when it fails. The opening lines in the song, “And the day is dry, And there's no water, And you can't see the road ahead, You can only see her” allude to feelings of hopelessness, when one is dehydrated, blinded and can only see one thing - love- and nothing else.
The next verse, “Why is it love...You're holding on to all you say, girl, Why don't you cry, don't turn away, Away, lonesome love.” implies that the person in love is holding on to something dear and refusing to let go. They are suffering through the pain of love yet refuse to let their emotions pour out. The lines “Woman...She's free, a woman, say, She hides behind you open, Woman...She looks at me...Woman...She hides alone within, alone inside, She makes a mirror in, all around, All around, now, I'm only walking in her love” suggests that the woman in question is enigmatic and hard to understand. She is free to do as she pleases and hides behind a façade that is not easy to penetrate.
The last verse wherein the lyrics "Empty heart, To turn you on and leave you on too high, To high, anymore, Your dark and cluttered heart, And there's a quietness that comes to this house, Where nobody can sleep", shows the pain that a broken heart has after investing everything in love that now the heart is empty and not the same as before. The loud and raucous noise of love is replaced by an eerie quietness, which echoes through the house, where nobody can sleep peacefully, referring to sleeplessness and a feeling of loneliness that love gives birth to.
Line by Line Meaning
And the day is dry
The day is bleak and uneventful.
And there's no water
There’s a sense of emptiness and lack of love in the air.
And you can't see the road ahead
The uncertainty of the future makes it hard to visualize the way forward.
You can only see her
Your focus is solely reserved for her, the love of your life.
Why is it love...
Trying to comprehend the dynamic of romantic love and its associated pain.
You're holding on to all you say, girl
You’re trying to keep a grip on your emotions, even if it means holding back in your conversations with your partner.
Why don't you cry, don't turn away
Instead of bottling up your negative emotions, express them, and don’t push the love of your life away.
Away, lonesome love
The feeling of being lonely despite being in love can be overwhelming at times.
Woman...
Addressing the subject directly, the woman in question and the complexity of her nature.
She's free, a woman, say
The woman is independent and wants to be acknowledged as such.
She hides behind you open
Her affection is concealed under the guise of openness towards you.
Woman...
Reiterating her importance and impact on the artist's life.
She looks at me...
The connection and intensity are palpable when she gazes into the singer's eyes.
Woman...
The central focus of the song and its driving force.
She hides alone within, alone inside
Despite her outward strength, she harbors vulnerability and loneliness inside.
She makes a mirror in, all around
Her presence and essence are reflected in everything around her, encompassing the world she exists in.
All around, now
Her influence is felt everywhere and cannot be escaped.
I'm only walking in her love
The singer feels as though he’s walking in her loving embrace and wants it to last forever.
Woman...woman...
The repetition of her name is indicative of the obsession and all-encompassing nature of the singer's feelings.
Girl that leave you, maybe woman
The woman in question is identified as someone who can both disregard your emotions and love you equally.
To turn you on and leave you on too high
She has the power to arouse strong feelings within you that could end up unfulfilled or detrimental.
We walk in love
Despite the pain and uncertainty that love brings, we continue walking in it, hand in hand.
We fall in love
Love is a complicated journey, and despite the challenges, we keep falling head over heels in it.
Woman...
Reaffirming the overarching theme of the song and the central figure at play.
Empty heart
The feeling of a desolate, heavy heart that comes with unrequited love.
To turn you on and leave you on too high
The woman in question has the power to both arouse and abandon all of your emotions.
To high, anymore
Feeling too much to the point of emotional exhaustion.
Your dark and cluttered heart
The artist has a heart weighed down by tumultuous feelings and is unable to decipher his own emotions.
And there's a quietness that comes to this house
The echo of lost love and unfulfilled emotions create a palpable silence in the walls of the artist's home.
Where nobody can sleep
The chaos of unfulfilled love is intrinsically linked to the inability to find peace and restful sleep.
Contributed by Matthew W. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
@gmr7494
U2 in its absolute creative prime. Achtung Baby was their greatest album ever.
@OberynTheRedViper
Uh, what? It's great, but it doesn't top Joshua Tree.
@kellethomas7808
Best Album Hands Down!!!!
@bernicerogers2383
Dave Evans aka The Edge really stands out in this band IMO.
@artlover4668
I don't think anyone can fully understand how radical and revolutionary this album was in 1991. When I first heard the opening riffs of "The Fly" on the radio, I was like thinking......is this "f"ing U2????? You can dislike Bono all you want, but admit, his Fly persona was pure genius
@ipiap
It feels much more radical and revolutionary now. But nobody is listening.
@Io-Io-Io
Bono is one of the greats. That's just a fact. To say otherwise is just the expression of envy and resentment
@ericn1450
I think the album is really good but revolutionary it is not. I mean the dance elements are straight Up Happy Mondays rips per the Pills, Thrills and Bellyaches album.
@tommyz9910
It was pure fun!
@iliasmess
Exactly. The opening riff from this is so satisfying and shows a group so much more mature than Rattle and Hum, willing to explore new paths but always influenced by the giants before them... Bowie, Zeppelin ( Edge's pants pay homage to Page's dragon suit here) are stronger influences than ever on this one. Colossal album, cannot be topped