***Official U2 Appreciation Thread***

Newch91 wrote:

washedinblack91 wrote:

it's nice to appreciate U2 on this stupid board for once!!! i remember when i first got in U2 i asked the board which albums i should start with and i got some sarcastic unhelpful comments which were annoying. it's ok if you don't like U2 but why should your hatred reflect MY opinion? :?

ANYWAYYYY

i'm gonna see them in philly and nj and i'm so psyched! i pretty much love all their albums except for unforgettable fire. i always thought if i can go back in time to any concert, even including pearl jam, i would go back to the Zoo TV tour. my favorite music dvd of all time is the Zoo TV tour from Sydney. they're my second favorite band and i would follow them anywhere if i had the money (...and if i had Liam Neeson as a father to rescue me if i got kidnapped by Albanians..) one of my tattoos is of the tree from One Tree Hill like the song. and i'm OBSESSED with Zooropa (my sig is a quote from the song which means so much to me)

overall i just need to say

I LOVE U2!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

norm wrote:

U2 is planning to re-issue both Achtung Baby and Zooropa later this year, according to the new issue of Rolling Stone magazine (with Katy Perry on the cover). Author Brian Hiatt writes that the two albums are "likely" to be released separately along with a deluxe box set that will include both albums and additional audio/video from the Zoo TV era. Says U2 manager Paul McGuinness:

"There will be multiple formats. If you pile a lot of extra material and packaging and design work into a super-duper box set, there are people who will pay quite a lot for it, so you can budget it at a very high level and pump up the value."

Last month in Winnipeg, U2 simultaneously rehearsed for its Glastonbury performance and shot an Achtung Baby documentary with direct Davis Guggenheim. The Rolling Stone article mentions the documentary, but doesn't specifically say that it will be part of the Achtung Baby/Zooropa package.

Rolling Stone also reports that U2 is working on an app "for the iPad and other tablets that could be involved with the releases."

The article says the re-issued albums will be released "this fall," but gives no specific date.

http://www.atu2.com/news/u2s-achtung-ba ... stone.html

Bono at Glastonbury
Tax campaigners are planning protests against Bono at Glastonbury tonight. Here Save the Children's chief executive Justin Forsyth thanks Bono for his contribution to fighting poverty.

Friday 24 June 2011

When U2 take the stage at Glastonbury this Friday some will be protesting against Bono and the band's decision to run a part of their business affairs from Holland.

The protesters are part of a rich tradition of campaigning at Glastonbury. The festival supported Jubilee 2000 and Make Poverty History along with international activists like Graca Machel, Desmond Tutu, Bono and Youssou n'Dour, and these campaigns achieved great things with the help of the tens of thousands of music fans. Glastonbury-goers should feel proud that their support has given 46 million more African kids the chance to go to school, amongst many other achievements.

Tax is a critical issue in the fight against poverty and it is vital individuals and companies pay tax. But whatever you think about U2's tax decisions, and they would argue that the nature of their business is global and they pay many different kinds of taxes all over the world, this issue shouldn't overshadow Bono's contribution to fighting poverty.

Bono's critics should not forget one very simple fact: the U2 frontman has been the lead player for over 20 years in getting the fight against poverty pushed to the top of the political agenda. In fact, I'll go further: the world would be a worse place without Bono and his campaigning.

Not that long that long ago the rich and powerful didn't even listen to our arguments. Cancel third world debt? Impossible. Universal access to HIV treatment. A pipe dream. Free education and health care for the poorest. You're joking.

Although there is still terrible poverty and injustice, the bigger picture is that in the last 20 years unbelievable progress has been made in saving mums and children's lives, getting children into school and improving their life chances. Debt has been cancelled, aid quality and quantity increased, though not enough, and some trade rules changed. And these policy changes have helped African citizens help themselves deliver life-saving and life-changing results. Bono has been instrumental in making these changes happen.

He has made fighting poverty his life mission, with a unique style of campaigning which brings together unlikely combinations of politicians, from left and right, harnessing the power of music, celebrities and academics.

Working with Tony Blair and Gordon Brown during Make Poverty History I saw Bono's persuasive powers in action. At key moments in the negotiations he pushed President Bush and other leaders to go further than they wanted. Just before the Gleneagles G8 in 2005 he came into No10, met with the key negotiators from each country, and after laying out the hard facts gave them a stirring talk, asking them how they will want to be seen by their grandchildren in years to come - as leaders who changed the world or who missed an historic opportunity.

He combines the charisma of a rock star with the technical ability of a policy wonk. The man who sings anthems to stadiums can also argue the intricacies of debt relief with an IMF economist. He has been a at the forefront of the campaign whose idealism and vision captured the hearts of millions

Bono's work is as relevant as ever. This week he was in Washington DC fighting to stop cuts to malaria and AIDS programmes, continuing to push for aid, even as some rich countries try to retreat from their moral obligations to the world's poorest. He has long championed the cause of Aung San Suu Kyi and she thanks him and U2 fans for this on his recent tour. He has recruited hundreds of thousands of people to fight for cheap vaccines that will save millions of children's lives from preventable illnesses like diarrhoea and pneumonia. He has also campaigned against corruption in the oil and gas sector that deprives Africans of development funds. He lives and breathes the cause of justice.

Standing up for aid and development takes guts, especially in these tough times. Bono is in the vanguard in that battle. Let's not forget that.