| |
U2 is unquestionably one of the most popular and versatile Rock band
in the world, the story began in 1976 when four students decided to start
a band. Singer+guitarist Bono, born Paul Hewson, guitarist+keyboardist
the Edge, real name David Evans, bassist Adam Clayton and drummer Larry
Mullen Jr. formed the band in the summer of 1978 in Dublin, IRELAND.
The following year they released, only for the Irish market, their debut
3-track EP "U2:3"; the first U.K. single, "Another Day",
came out in February of 1980 and after the foursome signed for Island
Records, recorded another non-album single entitled "11 O'Clock Tick
Tock".
"Boy", the band's debut full-length album, followed before the
year's end peaking at #52 on the U.K. National Albums chart, it included
the singles "A Day Without Me" and "I Will Follow",
the latter entered the top 20 of the U.S. Mainstream Rock chart, U2 mounted
an American tour in support of the album which hit #63 on the U.S. Top
200 LPs & Tapes list.
"Fire" and "Gloria" were released in advance of the
group's second album, "October"; the full-length disc, which
arrived in late 1981, climbed the U.K. Albums chart to the #11; despite
its #104 spot in U.S. Pop Albums chart was certified platinum for sales
of more than one million copies.
In the spring of 1983 U2 delivered their breakthrough LP, "War",
which topped the Official U.K. Albums chart and reached the #12 in the
States spawning their first transatlantic hit single, "New Year's
Day", followed by "Sunday Bloody Sunday", the two single
cuts crashed into The Mainstream Rock chart respectively at #2 and #7;
the third single, "Two Hearts Beat As One", hit #12 in the same
chart.
The quartet supported the release with the War Tour and before the year
was out released the most successful live-album in British history, the
set, "Under A Blood Red Sky", rose to #2 and remained on the
chart for a total of 192 weeks.
The fourth studio-effort, "The Unforgettable Fire", was issued
in October of 1984 and debuted at #1 on the British Albums chart highlighted
by "Pride (In The Name Of Love)" which peaked at #2 on Active
Rock chart in the States where the album climbed to #12 slot on The Billboard
Top 200 chart; it generated two further singles: the Mainstream Rock top
20 hit "Bad" and the title-track which stormed the European
charts.
In March 1987, U2, released their masterpice "The Joshua Tree",
it became an instant #1 in U.K. Albums chart and in a few weeks reached
the top in many European countries, Australia, Canada and U.S. where sold
over 10 million copies; this album yielded two #1 hit singles on The Billboard
Hot 100: "With Or Without You" and "I Still Haven't Found
What I'm Looking For", both the tracks climbed The Mainstream Rock
chart reaching respectively the #1 and #2 spots; the string of Active
Rock hit singles continued with the #14 "Bullet The Blue Sky",
the #11 "Where The Streets Have No Name" and the top 10 hit
"In God's Country"; the group toured around the globe performing
in over 100 live shows and finally, "The Joshua Tree" won them
two Grammy Awards for Album Of The Year and Best Rock Performance.
In October of 1988, the foursome released "Rattle And Hum",
an album that contains live-tracks and new material such as "Desire",
which rose to #1 on both The Billboard's Rock charts, "Angel Of Harlem",
which climbed to the top on The Mainstream Rock Tracks chart and reached
the #3 on Modern Rock chart; the third single, "When Love Comes To
Town", hit #2 on Active Rock list; this double-LP topped The Billboard
Top 200 and the U.K. charts; around this time the band released a cover
of "Jesus Christ" which became a top 10 hit on Modern Rock Tracks
chart; in spring 1989, U2, with the track "Desire", won a Grammy
for Best Rock Performance.
In late 1990, the group contributed to the "Red Hot + Blue"
AIDS Benefit Series, the cover-single of Cole Porter's "Night And
Day", the track reached the #2 on The Modern Rock chart, in the mean
time they started the recording sessions for their sixth studio-album;
"Achtung Baby" was finally released in November 1991, the set
contained much more electronic and dance-oriented songs, despite the radical
change from the original style to the next, the album reached the #1 spots
in America, Australia and British charts, spawning three #1s Mainstream
Rock single tracks: "Mysterious Ways", "Even Better Than
The Real Thing" and "One"; two more cuts, "Who's Gonna
Ride Your Wild Horses" and "The Fly", peaked at #2 in the
same chart, the latter of which also reached the top of The Modern Rock
list; a further single, "Until The End Of The World", didn't
quite make the top 5 of the Modern Rock chart; at the 35th Annual Grammy
Awards, U2 took home their fifth Grammy for Best Rock Album.
During 1992, the band kicked off their technically innovative tour called
Zoo TV and found time to write and record new material, the result was
1993's "Zooropa", the 10-track album reached the #1 in Europe,
North-America, Australia and was awarded with a Grammy for Best Alternative
Music Album, its singles, "Numb" and "Lemon", smashed
in the top 3 of The Modern Rock chart.
Two years later, the single "Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me",
recorded for the soundtrack of the movie "Batman Forever", peaked
at #1 on both The Billboard Magazine's Rock charts.
After an extended hiatus, U2 returned in 1997 with the first album in
four years, the new effort entitled "Pop" which developed through
techno-dance style, peaked at #1 in over 25 countries all over the world;
it generated two #1 Modern Rock hit singles: "Discotheque" and
"Staring At The Sun" plus "Last Night On Earth" which
reached the #11 in the same chart.
The next year the band released "The Best Of 1980-1990", the
set includes the previously unreleased song "Sweetest Thing",
surprisingly the track didn't storm the charts like its predecessors.
In October of 2000, U2 returned with its tenth album, "All That You
Can't Leave Behind", which went straight to #1 on The Billboard 200,
reaching the same position in many other countries; the first single off
"Beautiful Day" entered the top 5 of The Modern Rock chart and
a few months later was awarded with three Grammy: Best Rock Performance
By A Group, Song Of The Year and Record Of The Year; during 2001 the album
generated three new hit singles and the greatest Irish band of all time
walked away from 44th annual Grammy ceremony with four awards: "Elevation"
won for Best Rock Performance, "Stuck In A Moment You Can't Get Out
Of " won for Best Pop Performance, "Walk On" was awarded
as Record Of The Year and "All That You Can't Leave Behind"
was honored with Best Rock Album.
The group's second decade collection arrived in late 2002, the set included
"Electrical Storm", which peaked at #14 on Modern Rock chart.
The band returned to action in November 2004 releasing their worldwide
chart-topping smash album "How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb";
the CD was premiered by the single "Vertigo" which immediately
soared to the top slots on the British Pop Sales, on the Canadian Singles
charts and on the U.S. Modern Rock Tracks. It was followed by "Sometimes
You Can't Make It On Your Own", another U.K. #1 hit, "City Of
Blinding Lights" which peaked at #2 in Britain and "All Because
Of You", a further U.K. top 5 smash and Canadian #1 hit which also
crossed over into the Billboard's Mainstream Rock top 20 chart. With this
album U2 collected an armful of Grammy Awards: "Vertigo" won
for Best Rock Performance and Best Rock Song in early 2005; a year later,
"How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb" won for Best Rock Album and
Album Of The Year, the single "City Of Blinding Lights" won
for Best Rock Song, "Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own"
won for both Song Of The Year and Best Rock Performance by a Group.
Released in November 2006, "U218 Singles" is the first single-disc
collection to span the band's 26-year career, the 18-track set includes
two new songs, "Window In The Skies" and the cover of The Skids'
"The Saints Are Coming", recorded with Green
Day and rewritten to vaguely address the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
U2 biography is an exclusive of 100xr.com
|
ˆ
![requires Winamp 5.1 or higher [aacPlus]](../_images_/aacplus-listen.gif){kind=small}