Into The Heart of U2 Podcast

For the 20th Anniversary of "How to Dismantle An Atomic Bomb," U2 remastered the original record and released a bevy of remixes as well as the entire Verigo Live from Chicago show from 2005, but the big ticket item was something they called "How to Re-Assemble An Atomic Bomb" - a Shadow Album - of 10 songs that didn't make HTDAAB. The reaction to this Shadow Album has been resoundly positive - even the haters have been quiet about it. But is that because its been so long since U2 has released something that sounds so fresh and exciting? Or is it because these songs are so unadorned and, not so fussy...that it speaks to what's been missing and so frustrating about U2's output the last decade or so? From the critics to long time fans - and even Oasis' Noel Gallagher chimed in - they're all asking the same question: "Why the hell didn't these songs make it onto HTDAAB?" We take a deep dive into all that and even give our picks for the 12 songs that whould make a definitive HTDAAB.

In this all new expanded Boy episode released in tandem with our new U2 Origin Story episode, we pick up the story after U2 pulls off the big rouse at their now legendary gig at the National Stadium in Dublin that gets them signed to Island Records. We go over why they turn from Joy Division producer Martin Hannett and pivot to Steve Lillywhite to produce Boy. We cover Lillywhite's crucial contributions to the Boy sessions and go through all the tracks. We cover the controversy over the album artwork and themes of the record and the seminal moments of the band's first world tour. From the outside, everything appears copacetic, but inside, pressure from the Shalom Group starts to splinter the Lypton Village and the three Christians of U2 try and reconcile rock and roll and their faith.

You thought you knew U2's origin story? Well, did you know no one actually responded to Larry Mullen's post about wanting to start a band on the Mt Temple bulletin board? Or, did you know that the band once had a flutist and two female backing vocalists onstage? Or that they scored their first TV appearance by fooling the RTE booker into thinking they wrote the Ramones' "Glad to See You Go"? Or that the trace elements of Zoo TV's embrace of Dada and surrealism actually dates back to when Bono and Gavin Friday studied mime in 1979 and that theatricality became a big part of U2's stage show at the time? Or, that after every record label in the UK gave U2 a hard pass on all 4 demos they'd done from 1978-1980, they pulled off one of the great cons ever which finally got them signed to Island Records? We've got the stories behind the stories in this deep dive into the U2 Origin Story.

In our final episode (at least until a new U2 record surfaces), we cover everything from the beginning of the lockdown to the present: Bono's voiceover in the Sing 2 movie; U2's underwhelming single "Your Song Saved My Life"; Bono & Edge's surprise appearance in a Ukraine subway station turned bomb shelter; Bono's book and book tour. Songs of Surrender; the Disney+ documentary: A Sort of Homecoming with David Letterman; U2 changing managers. The Sphere residency, the latest on Larry's illness, all the U2 projects in the pipeline; all the up to the minute news about the new album and tour & the just released 20th Anniversary "How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb" Deluxe Edition including the Shadow Album "How to Re-Assemble An Atomic Bomb."

In our Part 2 on U2's 14th studio album, "Songs of Experience," we discuss the second half of the record which contains some of the band's finest and most unheralded songs of the latter part of their career; we go over the differences in the Innocence Tour and the Experience Tour; the band's resumption of the Joshua Tree Anniversary Tour which took them to the end of the decade; and speculate on what would have happened had Covid not hit.

After the backlash to the controversial release of Songs of Innocence and its bevy of producers, U2 refocuses for its 14th studio album, Songs of Experience, with a Fall 2016 release date. At least that was the plan. In our part 1, we dive into the making of the record, the delays caused by Bono's brush with mortality and the seismic shift in global politics which convinced U2 to change the lyrics to better reflect the nexus of the times. We also cover the band's decision to do the Joshua Tree Anniversary Tour further delaying the release the record.

In our Pt 2 on U2's 13th album, Songs of Innocence, we discuss the more compelling 2nd half of the record; Bono's bike accident; the lasting impact of “Apple-Gate” on U2's legacy & the innovative Barricage, the centerpiece of the i + e tour.

U2's 13th studio album, "Songs of Innocence," is an album released a full 5 1/2 years after the commercial and critical disappointment of "No Line on the Horizon" with a list of producers as long as a Beyonce album. To that long gestation period Bono said, "Rumor has it we haven't made a U2 album in the last five years. We have. We've made several. We just didn't release them because we were waiting for something that would be as good as the best we've ever done." But, once the album was released, it wasn't the music that everyone was talking about, but rather how it was released. Which is a shame because, while it may not be the experimental classic of Achtung Baby, it is wildly underrated containing some of the most personal songs of U2's career. The question is, will its virtues ever overshadow the controversy known as Apple-Gate.

In our Part 2 on No Line on the Horizon, we pick things up with the three more pop oriented songs the band wrote after leaving Fez, Morocco. Did the band panic and go chasing a hit? If so, they chose a very unrepresentative first single in Get On Your Boots. Things get a lot more interesting on the final third of the record with some truly fresh material that probably should have been the centerpiece of the record. We also go through the marketing and promotion campaign that saw the band exerting its considerable muscle. Then we cover and uncover all the stories behind the 360 Tour.

After two consecutive conventional and commercially successful records in "All That You Can't Leave Behind" and "How to Dismantle An Atomic Bomb," the time was right to explore something different and go someplace else to do it. So, U2 heads off to Fez, Morocco with Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois, not just as producers but as songwriting partners. The sessions in Fez result in the kind of experimental material they'd hoped for, but when the band returns home, distractions and second guessing start to alter the original vision for the record.

In this second part of our look at U2's 11th studio album, How to Dismantle An Atomic Bomb, we go through the second half of the record, get into the marketing partnership with Apple, the ticket fiasco for the Vertigo Tour and the tour itself. We'll also discuss some band business, which has caused the haters to gnash their teeth for the better part of the last two decades, and take a look at where the band was moving forward.

U2 had finished up the wildly successful Elevation Tour with their iconic performance at the Super Bowl and had resoundingly risen to Bono's throw down issued on the eve of the release of All That You Can't Leave Behind; they really had reclaimed the title of biggest band in the world. Bono said, "Wow, if we could bottle this, what mad elixir would it be?" So, the band decamps in a basement in Monte Carlo to start work on a pure rock and roll album. But it doesn't quite go as planned as they end up finishing an entire album with Sex Pistols & Roxy Music producer Chris Thomas that Adam and Larry veto. They then turn to Steve Lillywhite and come away with How to Dismantle An Atomic Bomb. Tune in for our Part 1 on the backstory, making of and discussion of the first half of this front loaded record.

In Part 2 of our look at the All That You Can't Leave Behind period, we discuss the second half of this front loaded record, and the Elevation Tour where U2 dispenses with all the artifices, arches and lemons, and go back to arenas. And front and center is Bono...THAT Bono with his heart back on his sleeve. After an already heavily emotional first two legs of the tour, 9/11 happens, and while most other bands cancel their tours, U2 rises to the occasion as the band for big moments. The words on ATYCLB prove prescient and provide comfort and a pathway forward. The success of the record and the wildly successful tour places U2 back on top of the world culminating in their iconic performance at the Super Bowl.

We kick off Season 2 with U2's 10th studio album, All That You Can't Leave Behind, a record that begins U2 Phase III after their Mach II reinvention with Achtung Baby. It's also, arguably, the genesis of the sound of all their output going forward. It's a record Rolling Stone called the band's third masterpiece and that went on to become a huge critical and commercial success reaching number 1 in 32 countries. And on the ensuing Elevation Tour, the band returns to arenas, dispensing with all the artifices and there, front and center, was Bono - that Bono - with his heart on his sleeve without any masks or smirking irony. Something that made a lot of old fans very excited and go, "Oh I remember that U2."

PopMart is remembered for its McDonald's arch, the giant lemon inside which U2 got trapped in grand Spinal Tap style, the disastrous first gig in Vegas and half empty stadiums in the U.S. U2 would go on to play some of its greatest gigs later in the tour, but its still remembered as U2's folly. But the backstory of why manager Paul McGuinness pushed the band so hard to book the tour so early which rushed the completion of Pop and left U2 woefully unrehearsed for the tour is steeped in tales of U2 facing bankruptcy and an internal struggle for power. Tune in for all the answers.

It's time to dive into U2's much beloved, and also much maligned 9th studio album, Pop. It's a polarizing work among fans and critics and God knows the band's spent the last 25 years trying to distance themselves from it. But when you consider what it was intended to be and what they delivered, it is a record that could have been so much more. But the question is why? Was it really because they let Paul McGuiness book the tour too soon and they ran out of time to properly finish it? Was it not having Eno and or Lanois on board?  Was it having too many producers? Or did they just not have the big songs as Bono has conceded? Tune in and find out.

In Pt 2 on Zooropa we continue our song by song examination and then get into the launch of the European leg of Zoo TV which sees the band rediscovering their love of Dada. The wildly successful Zoo TV marches on to its final leg in Australia by which time the band is running on fumes.

U2 came home after the Outside Broadcast Tour completing a wildly successful 1992 that saw the band reinvent themselves on record and as a live act. It was supposed to be a six month break before returning for the European leg the next summer. But Edge was still looking for a diversion from his marriage falling apart and convinces the band to make a 4 or 5 song EP. Bono, not ready to downshift back into domesticity, ups the ante and says if we're going to all that trouble we may as well make it a full album: A weird and wonderful left turn called Zooropa...and a kind of wayward experimentation U2 would never feel comfortable making again.    

In our third part on the Achtung Baby period we dive into Zoo TV from the conception of the tour to the financial constraints, to the moral conundrums surrounding corporate sponsorship at the time. We explore how disorienting it was for old fans to process the new U2 and the transitional challenges the band faced bringing the tour from arenas to stadiums on the Outside Broadcast Tour.

After the contentious early sessions in Berlin, everything finally crystalizes and U2 deliver its crowning creative achievement, the unprecedented deconstruction of everything that got them to the top of the charts in the 80s: "Achtung Baby." In Pt 2 of 3 comprehensive parts on the Achtung Baby and Zoo TV period, we go song by song of the 12 songs on the record and examine the Kindergarten disc from the Uber Deluxe Release, a fascinating rough mix done late in the recording process revealing some transformative production touches and lyrics that were still to come.

We're going in for a really deep dive on Achtung Baby. In the first of three parts, we pick things up with Bono's "gotta go away and dream it all up again" speech at the end of the Love Town Tour when things had started to get a little show-bizzy. We ask some pointed questions about what exactly happened between the end of the Lovetown Tour and when the band touched down in Berlin on October 3, 1990 to start recording. We go through the heavy drama of the time at Hansa Studios all the way through to the Dogtown Sessions in Dublin when the pall had finally lifted.

In this second part of our look at the Rattle and Hum era, we talk about the brutal criticism that came U2's way, in particular, toward Bono. The band had bad reviews before, but it was never this personal. We discuss how it got here and what led to where the band was headed moving forward. But first, they hit the road for what should have been a victory lap with the Lovetown Tour. Instead it only brought up more questions about just what the band was as the decade came to a close.

In this special bonus episode, we take a very deep dive into every aspect of U2 at the Sphere. From the deal James Dolan and MSG made to get U2, the ticket kerfuffle, the technological advancements the Sphere allowed, the sparse stage design, the setlist, the visual message of the show, and what this all means for U2 and, for that matter, the future of concert tours going forward. We've seen every tour, why not tune in to see where we think U2 landed this time?

In the first of our two parts on the Rattle and Hum album and the film, we dive into why this period is so poorly remembered. We question what the hell the band was thinking but, more importantly, where was Paul McGuinness when a little leadership was desperately needed when it was obvious his clients were getting over its ski? We also take a look at the what's become the prevailing narrative: that is, without the failure of Rattle and Hum, there's no reinvention that spawned, arguably, the band's creative peak in Achtung Baby and the Zoo TV Tour. Give a listen, we pull no punches.

The Joshua Tree's success was the culmination of everything U2 had dreamed for but when they got to the very toppermost of the poppermost, the band struggled with newfound fame. In this episode we talk about all this as things start to get out of hand and the idea is hatched to make a film.

U2 had stolen the show at Live Aid. Rolling Stone had named them the Band of the 80s. And the Unforgettable Fire, while something of a left turn did top the charts in the UK and was top 20 in the U.S. So, the anticipation for their next record was not only building but there was a growing feeling that it was going to be a monster. It was. But getting there was not easy. In this episode we talk about the tag team production of Eno and Lanois. About U2 hitting pause and playing Self-Aid and the Amnesty International Tour. And the push and pull between Bono wanting to go Americana and Edge's more Eurocentric tendencies. A dynamic that will work wonders on Joshua Tree but will lead into a dead end creatively by the end of the 80s.

In part two of our look at the Unforgettable Fire era, we talk about the band's change of approach on stage in contrast to the War Tour. It all leads up to Live Aid and the band's now iconic 12 minute performance of "Bad" highlighted by Bono leaping from the stage for a connecting moment. It made for great TV but the band thought Bono had blown it. He hadn't.

War was the band's first big breakthrough so obviously they go big with War II right? Nope. U2 decides to go to art school with Brian Eno. In this episode we dive into the band's time recording at Slane Castle and Daniel Lanois joining the production team, and the time crunch to finish the record before the tour was set to start.

It's impossible to talk about War without getting into the War Tour. In this part two episode on War, we talk about the US Festival, Red Rocks, MTV playing the Sunday Bloody Sunday video to death and turning U2 into big time rock stars and the commercial success of Under a Blood Red Sky. And Bill and Melody break down being at U2's first ever arena show in the States when Bono takes things too far.

U2 return home from the October Tour after the record falls decidedly short of expectations and face a make it or break it moment. They pool their money and rent a small cottage in Howth, Ireland. It's August 1982 and while Bono and Ali are off on their honeymoon, Edge, still full of apprehension about whether he should continue in U2 decides to stay in Dublin to work on songs. One afternoon, Edge pours all his anger and frustration into a simple but striking descending arpeggio chord pattern and a spark goes off - maybe a calling - and Edge thinks to himself, this new song should be about a subject the band has been avoiding - but could no more - the tinderbox known as - The Troubles. The song is Sunday Bloody Sunday. In this episode we cover the writing and recording of the band's first breakthrough with the War record and the reaction to it.

In this episode we talk about the birth of U2's difficult second album, October. The one they seem uncomfortable and even a bit embarrassed to talk about even today. We are going to examine the three things October is notorious for, the external and internal pressures that created such an unusual rock and roll album, Edge's crisis that almost ended the band, the critical reaction to October, how Island Records almost dropped the band during the tour, and where the band was moving forward. 

For this first episode, proper, Melody and Bill go through U2's early demos/singles, the Big Put On that got them signed to Island Records, the making of the debut album "Boy," the Boy tour and what the band's stature was moving forward. Be sure to go back and listen to the manifesto episode to get the details about what this podcast is all about. 

Give a listen to the manifesto to the all new Into The Heart of U2 Podcast - the most comprehensive deep dive into the history of U2, album by album and tour by tour, the fan experience, and the perception of U2 in cultural consciousness. Hosted by author and musician Bill See and Melody Muraca, founder of one of the first notable U2 fanzines, the Into The Heart of U2 Podcast takes a close and critical looking at the history and evolution of the band's music and look at it in context of the time in which it was written. How art and cultural history have shaped U2's music, and how U2's creative output and influence have in turn shaped the musical and cultural climate of the past 45 years or so. It also examines the bigger question about artists like U2 that struggle to sustain greatness: that is to say: Does a band's output that becomes a series of diminishing returns tarnish its legacy? It launches September 29th with Boy, October and War. All that and more, here, on the Into The Heart of U2 Podcast.