Clapton Lashes Out @ U2, Coldplay

Bathgate66Bathgate66 Posts: 15,813
edited May 2006 in Other Music
Eric Clapton hits out at Coldplay and U2
Wednesday, May 17 2006, 14:48 BST - by Fiona Edwards


Eric Clapton disapproves of bands like U2 and Coldplay as they seem
to put their fame before their music.

The 61-year-old guitar legend told The Times: "Right now, the power
of music sits with Simon Cowell and Coldplay and U2, who are really
people who just attend awards shows.

"From just listening I can't tell the difference between Coldplay and
U2. The one in Coldplay even dances like Bono."

Clapton said that he's also worried that modern bands are forgetting
where rock and roll has come from.

He said: "I think what it shows is how incredibly detached all the
current stuff is from its roots. What worries me about what's going
on now is that people don't know where it's all come from, and I
don't suppose they're that interested."







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Comments

  • transplanttransplant Posts: 1,088
    has Clapton broken new ground in the past 30 years?
  • mrwalkerbmrwalkerb Posts: 1,015
    transplant wrote:
    has Clapton broken new ground in the past 30 years?

    Has coldplay ever been anything then a second rate Travis with an Unforgettable Fire fixation?
    "I'm not suicidal, except when I drink. That's why we don't all drink at the same time, there'd be no-one alive to drive home..."
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  • mrwalkerb wrote:
    Has coldplay ever been anything then a second rate Travis with an Unforgettable Fire fixation?

    Couldn't have put it better myself! I remember back in 2000 reading the review of Parachutes, heralding it as "like Travis, but not as memorable" ...isn't hindsight such a wonderful thing?
  • transplanttransplant Posts: 1,088
    mrwalkerb wrote:
    Has coldplay ever been anything then a second rate Travis with an Unforgettable Fire fixation?
    don't mistaken my post for one defending Coldplay.
  • MilestoneMilestone Posts: 1,140
    transplant wrote:
    has Clapton broken new ground in the past 30 years?


    He's not claiming to. He is stating that rock and roll's roots came from the blues and should be about the music.....not all the glitz and glammer.
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  • Transplant- Are you really questioning Eric Clapton? Eric Clapton is rock and roll to the purist form. And he's broken enough ground in his life, god damn fools.
  • shahrilshahril Posts: 288
    clapton is a legend.

    english rock is fine...









    as long as radiohead are around.. :D
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  • stonesgstringstonesgstring Posts: 4,613
    I can't believe he's even comparing Coldplay and U2 really :eek:
    I mean come on! Coldplay, in my opinion, are boring and I don't like them. However U2 are still a decent rock band.
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  • transplanttransplant Posts: 1,088
    Transplant- Are you really questioning Eric Clapton? Eric Clapton is rock and roll to the purist form. And he's broken enough ground in his life, god damn fools.
    I suppose I should have seen this one coming. I'll add Clapton to the list of artists not to question. Yeah, I am question Eric's reasoning comparing Bono to anybody related to American Idol you bet.

    So are you willing to admit he hasn't broken new ground in the past 30 years? And yes, I think Clapton is rock and roll in the purest form.
  • surferdudesurferdude Posts: 2,057
    I find any criticism from the man who gave the world Behind The Sun hard to swallow.

    If he doesn't think U2 has an idea of the roots of rock he should try listening to Joshua Tree or Rattle and Hum.

    Clapton used to be great. I love his Me and Mr Johnson album and dvd. But he hasn't written a single decent new song in about 20 years.
    “One good thing about music,
    when it hits you, you feel to pain.
    So brutalize me with music.”
    ~ Bob Marley
  • eekamouseeekamouse Posts: 267
    I get the Simon Cowel and Colplay cracks. But U2? WTF???
    Love is more important to me than faith.
  • RVM1245RVM1245 Posts: 32
    i got dragged to a coldplay here in DC a few months back...it was brutal...it was the most staged and boring show ever put on...i remember reading a review about their show in Texas a few days before i went and it was the identical show...the reviewer even stated that during the 'clocks' encore, the lead singer did a dead sprint to a speaker in the back of the arena and climbed it to finish the song...just before the it happened at our show i told my gf what he was gonna do, and it happened on cue...we both laughed and beat the traffic out of there...plus the whole time the guitarist and bassist just stood in the same spot like robots...90% of the people in the arena were sitting (which made it even more lame)

    wheres the spontaneity? if i wanted to see that kind of staged crap i'd go to a madonna or britney spears concert

    long live PJ!
  • KellerKeller Posts: 177
    I agree with Clapton. I am a big fan of U2 and a modest fan of Coldplay but neither are true rock n roll bands. Coldplay is more of a pop act. U2 could have been something great if bono wasn't on constant mission to save the world and pretend like hes a big shot.
    "Be what you want to be, see what you came to see"
  • SathogwaSathogwa Posts: 227
    Keller wrote:
    I agree with Clapton. I am a big fan of U2 and a modest fan of Coldplay but neither are true rock n roll bands. Coldplay is more of a pop act. U2 could have been something great if bono wasn't on constant mission to save the world and pretend like hes a big shot.

    I don't think Clapton has listened to U2, or he wouldn't be saying that. They have MUCH respect for rock n' roll's roots. They've recorded with B.B.. King, Willie Nelson, and they recorded some stuff at Sun Studios. And some of the recent stuff they've done is almost right out of the Memphis Soul music playbook. Anyway, while I think Bono is an real poseur, there is NOTHING wrong with trying to save the world and using the "power" of your celebrity to do so.

    And while Clapton has recorded some really limp-wristed, pop shit in the past 15-20 years, I do agree with him on this. I hate almost all of what is currently popular in rock music. A lot of it has no roots, no soul, no sexiness, or originality. That said, he could've picked a better example than U2.
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  • yosi1yosi1 Posts: 3,272
    Bathgate66 wrote:
    Eric Clapton hits out at Coldplay and U2
    Wednesday, May 17 2006, 14:48 BST - by Fiona Edwards


    Eric Clapton disapproves of bands like U2 and Coldplay as they seem
    to put their fame before their music.

    The 61-year-old guitar legend told The Times: "Right now, the power
    of music sits with Simon Cowell and Coldplay and U2, who are really
    people who just attend awards shows.

    "From just listening I can't tell the difference between Coldplay and
    U2. The one in Coldplay even dances like Bono."

    Damn, I've been saying the same thing for about 2 years now. They both fucking suck. Thanks Eric Clapton, for stepping up and saying this. Now maybe more people will realize.
    you couldn't swing if you were hangin' from a palm tree in a hurricane.
  • DCGARDENDCGARDEN Posts: 515
    I can't believe he's even comparing Coldplay and U2 really :eek:
    I mean come on! Coldplay, in my opinion, are boring and I don't like them. However U2 are still a decent rock band.


    Really. I mean Coldplay may want to sound like U2 , but it's not like U2 is approving of that or trying to sound like Coldplay.

    Must be a deeper story to this...........
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  • KellerKeller Posts: 177
    Sathogwa wrote:
    I hate almost all of what is currently popular in rock music. A lot of it has no roots, no soul, no sexiness, or originality. That said, he could've picked a better example than U2.

    I would agree with that statement.

    I think what Eric is talking about is complete package. There is not denying U2's muscial talent but bono has such an ego and is so concentrated on making everything he does mainstream. The man reviews videos of his live concerts and picks them apart so that he can have a perfect cookie cutter concert every time he takes the stage. That is not very rock n roll to me.

    U2 has turned into more of a pop act than a rock and roll act.
    "Be what you want to be, see what you came to see"
  • Clifwith1fClifwith1f Posts: 143
    mrwalkerb wrote:
    Has coldplay ever been anything then a second rate Travis with an Unforgettable Fire fixation?

    Nope

    They rip off U2 so bad...
  • rebornFixerrebornFixer Posts: 4,901
    Sathogwa wrote:
    I hate almost all of what is currently popular in rock music. A lot of it has no roots, no soul, no sexiness, or originality. That said, he could've picked a better example than U2.

    Agreed ... While I have more than my fair share of beefs with U2, there are better examples of flacid rock bands out there. U2 has contributed a lot to the whole legend that is rock music, love them or hate them.
    Coldplay, on the other hand ... That stuff is scarcely better than elevator music.

    Good point, maybe not the greatest example.
  • HYLAHYLA Posts: 137
    Keller wrote:
    U2 could have been something great if bono wasn't on constant mission to save the world and pretend like hes a big shot.
    I rather prefer Bono's mission to "save the world" more than I do that last POS U2 album.
  • enharmonicenharmonic Posts: 1,917
    Clapton's point seems to be that U2 and Coldplay are more concerned with their fame than they are withmaking valid music. I would have to agree with him on that point.

    As for Clapton breaking new ground, when you get your own signature strat and Martin acoustic, come talk to us about the ground you've broken. Even into his 60s Clapton is still playing cats half his age under the table. Sure, he hasn't been right since he got off the dope and his son fell out the wndow, but he's remarkably versatile and his body of work speaks for itself.

    Listen to his Unplugged performance. He defined that performance concept, and set the bar so high that MTv was hard pressed to find bands that could measure up.

    I also agree with him in regard to the majority of music today being like a lot of kids...don't know where they came from, let alone who.
  • SathogwaSathogwa Posts: 227
    Keller wrote:
    I would agree with that statement.

    I think what Eric is talking about is complete package. There is not denying U2's muscial talent but bono has such an ego and is so concentrated on making everything he does mainstream. The man reviews videos of his live concerts and picks them apart so that he can have a perfect cookie cutter concert every time he takes the stage. That is not very rock n roll to me.

    U2 has turned into more of a pop act than a rock and roll act.


    Good point, man.
    Sleep on horseback
    Far moon in a continuing dream
    Steam of roasting tea

    --Basho
  • transplanttransplant Posts: 1,088
    enharmonic wrote:
    As for Clapton breaking new ground, when you get your own signature strat and Martin acoustic, come talk to us about the ground you've broken. Even into his 60s Clapton is still playing cats half his age under the table. Sure, he hasn't been right since he got off the dope and his son fell out the wndow, but he's remarkably versatile and his body of work speaks for itself.
    If you think his body of work post 1976 speaks for itself Ok. I sure as fuck am not questioning his guitar playing, the ground he broke in the 60's or his place in music history.
  • Gary CarterGary Carter Posts: 14,067
    transplant wrote:
    has Clapton broken new ground in the past 30 years?
    clapton doesnt need too moron. he laid hes rock icon status 35 years ago.
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  • red mosred mos Posts: 4,953
    Transplant- Are you really questioning Eric Clapton? Eric Clapton is rock and roll to the purist form. And he's broken enough ground in his life, god damn fools.
    Amen. Blues music is the ground roots of rock and roll or in todays times a lot this era is refered to as "the classic rock" era. Clapton (I am not saying anyone of the board was dissing him either) definately has enough calateral in the music industry to know what he is talking about: The guy has put together some of the best riffs ever, and he is inducted in the rock and roll hall of fame 3 different times.
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  • reeferchiefreeferchief Posts: 3,569
    You know back in the day Eric Clapton was the man Jimi Hendrix was in awe of.

    Sir Eric hits the nail on the head, back in the day U2 were good but then fame hit bono and his head swelled up, and U2 aint been the same since, as for Coldplay well they're just a lame imitation.

    Manufactured: Something designed to replicate something succesfull, with the intent to make money.
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  • BinauralBinaural Posts: 1,046
    transplant wrote:
    has Clapton broken new ground in the past 30 years?

    I could rant but I won't, I'll keep it simple;
    Yes he has.





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  • elmerelmer Posts: 1,683
    mrwalkerb wrote:
    Has coldplay ever been anything then a second rate Travis with an Unforgettable Fire fixation?
    haha, Ive always thought this! They can try but they cannot match the Unforgettable Fire which is a classic. Agree with Claptons comments, U2 have become boring(havent even botherd to hear their last) and are a long way down the slope since the heady days of the aforementioned album through to Zooropa. Tho -All that you cant leave Behind- was one that I liked.
    ..........so may bands seem to replicate other existing music, those that are getting thru are just fucking boring studenty sounding groups. The killers and Radiohead are respectable tho
  • transplanttransplant Posts: 1,088
    Binaural wrote:
    I could rant but I won't, I'll keep it simple;
    Yes he has.
    PEACE
    well I wish you would rant. what I have gathered so far is that over the past 30 years he has had an incredible Unplugged performance and Behind the Sun. I am not doubting either of those (because I have neither) nor have I doubted his guitar playing. I have that double live CD 24 Nights and his Robert Johnson cover disc. Though nice listens nothing there in my mind to write home about. His lick and solo on Forever Man are incredible.

    What my simple question was, is that did he do anything groundbreaking over the past 30 years (not 35, not 40)? I may now check out all of Behind the Sun. I don't know a single Clapton freak so yeah, rant on.
  • PoncierPoncier Posts: 16,925
    Haven't Clapton songs been used to sell beer?
    U2 has not let it songs be used to schill products (the ipod was a cross promotion, different animal).
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