The Last Word On Music: 50 Years Of U2
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
The last word with Life Pharmacy. Over 100 local pharmacies nationwide that are always here to help Life Pharmacy live better together.
And so it's time for the last word of music with D Ready and John Cadell. And this Friday marks the fiftieth birthday of a band called You Two. Which has got John Cadell very excited, D.
Why is U2 considered one of Ireland’s biggest global acts?
Um what how would you I mean, where would you place now you two in sort of the pantheon of Irish axes, of global acts?
Uh, I think they're up there with the the very biggest and the best of them, to be fair. I think, you know And I know we're gonna get into it, but I think we are desperate in this country for, you know, not giving people their flowers while they're still with us. Um, and I think you too over the years have definitely fallen victim to that. I think, you know, they've they've had such a a long standing career. They've also like there's not a lot of bands that have been together that long with relatively little tension or falling out. Like that's quite an extraordinary thing. Um and then, you know, the the music that they have have produced over decades has been Consistently good. You know? And and the live shows haven't led up either.
John?
Well, like you two mean a hell of a lot to me. Um Why is that? Just I mean, I got I got into them When The Fly came out, 'cause friends of mine were saying this new U two single is just noise 'cause they they were expecting the jangly infinite guitar and and bono like basically the bleeding heart. And he came out with this swagger and these sunglasses and this wall of just noise.
A reinvention for the nineteen nineties. Like
Like they l they uh there was a time, I think ninety two, ninety three, where really the coolest bands in the world were Guns N' Roses, Nirvana and U Two.
Yeah.
How did U2’s early 1980s albums shape their legacy?
They really like you know, Nirvana laid waste to much of what came before them, but U two were were, you know Nobody saw Grunge coming, but you two are already going. We've done that. Remember the whole dream it all up again thing? In eighty nine at the the Point Depot gig saying we have to go away for a while and dream it all up again. They knew that that era of U two was just dead. And they've consistently But
was it maybe their best era?
Yeah. I think it probably was the eighties, I mean. Not newly invention. No, no, I think
that's it's the tracks from the eighties that people consistently go
back to as their best. No, um you can't really divide their best years into decades. There I think U two's best years were eighty seven. Up to and including ninety three. I mean what I mean is that they were
Yeah, because that's got october
in it.
Starting with the Joshua tree in eighty seven.
They could not have been cooler, they could not have been bigger, they could not have been more respected. Everybody was a U two fan around those years, eighty seven to ninety three. They were at their it was their imperial period.
And as you say, it was a global dominance. Absolutely. They were huge I remember as a child. It's such a random memory, but it's somehow stuck with me. I remember seeing um there was like a storyline in Beverly Hills nine oh two one oh about somebody being grounded and not being allowed to go to the UTU gig they tickets for.
But y asked me w wh what why they mean so much to me. It's the songs. It's
Well, you mentioned the flies, so let's just hear a little bit of that.
No secret that consciousness can sometimes be a pass It's no secret ambition, but it's the nails of success every nice is a Mm. Insurance.
So love like a fly from a war is no secret
There's so much going on in that song. Uh you asked us for our our two favourite U two songs, Matt. And you gave me ten. I know, but and I want to say what ten they are, if that's okay, because you can't ask me to come on and talk about U two and not maybe alert people who aren't huge fans o about some utterly brilliant songs.
But we've had one, so can you get one from Dee before we've got to do that? Oh yeah, I just want to read them
out. Yeah, I'm not gonna
Let's get D, you've given us two in particular.
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Chapters
6 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:00–0:23
2
Why is U2 considered one of Ireland’s biggest global acts?
0:23–1:54
3
How did U2’s early 1980s albums shape their legacy?
1:54–5:50
4
What made ‘The Fly’ a turning point for U2 in the 1990s?
5:50–9:25
5
Which period do fans and critics view as U2’s peak era?
9:25–13:06
6
What are some of the most‑loved U2 songs according to listeners?
13:06–16:03
Speakers
4 identifiedMore from The Last Word with Matt Cooper
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