For many people it is U2's greatest album. Twenty years on, to mark it's re-release, Colm O'Hare talks to Daniel Lanois and reflects on the extraordinary background to a monumental album.
For U2, The Joshua Tree, their fifth studio album, released in the spring of 1987, came at precisely the right time. Though already hugely successful, particularly as a live act, there was a feeling abroad that they had not yet delivered the definitive, classic album. As Hot Press writer Bill Graham put it, U2 had been “surfing a wave” since their triumphant appearance at Live Aid: “Their Irish optimism, curiosity and adaptability gave them a special empathy with America… the chance for their breakthrough arrived just as their recording and songwriting skills reached maturity.”
The result of a new-found musical and personal exploration, these eleven songs made up U2’s strongest and most cohesive collection of songs to date. Epic in scope and unlimited in its ambition, the album and subsequent tour saw the quartet rise to the major league of international rock stardom. The Joshua Tree had it all: songs of love and loss such as ‘With Or Without You’ and ‘One Tree Hill’; politically inspired polemics like ‘Bullet The Blue Sky’ and ‘Mothers Of The Disappeared’; gospel songs of hope and faith like ‘I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For’.
The decision to return to The Unforgettable Fire production team of Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois on The Joshua Tree was easy. The pair had forged strong relationships with the band during the making of the previous album.
With the production team in place, the next question was where the LP would be made. The first three U2 albums had all been recorded at Windmill Lane, a high-spec facility located in a narrow street by the River Liffey in Dublin’s (then) dilapidated docklands. For The Unforgettable Fire they had taken the unusual decision to work at Slane Castle, the ancestral pile of Lord Henry Mountcharles, located thirty miles north of Dublin. Slane was a once-off, and there seemed to be little enthusiasm for returning to Windmill Lane; the band, and Bono in particular, had often stated their distaste for the ‘sterile’ environment of recording studios.
Instead, they elected to record in Danesmoate, a two-story-over-basement Georgian mansion in Rathfarnham on the southside of the city in the foothills of the Dublin Mountains. The house, a local landmark, was originally known as Glen Southwell after the family who once lived there. According to historical records, it was originally laid out with rustic follies, a viewing tower, and it even had a small stream flowing through the grounds. Curiously, the first recorded evidence of anyone living there is in 1787 – exactly two hundred years before The Joshua Tree was released – when it was occupied by a Capt. William Southwell. Danesmoate was familiar territory to at least one band member – the house was adjacent to St Columba’s College, Adam Clayton’s alma mater. So impressed was he with the house during the recording sessions that he later bought it for use as his own home and has since carried out extensive restoration work to the listed building.
For Lanois, Danesmoate offered the perfect location for getting down to some serious work. “It was a really nice set-up,” he recalls. “It has this large living room/drawing room, whatever you want to call it – a big rectangular room with a tall ceiling and wooden floors. It was loud, but it was really good loud, real dense, very musical. In my opinion it was the most rock and roll room of the lot. The castle [Slane] was a fun idea and everything but it was a massive place. Danesmoate sounded better than the castle. I think it was the best place of all the experiments we tried ‘cause we’ve always tried different sorts of locations [to record].”
What impressed Lanois most about the 200-year-old building was its unique sonic properties, particularly when it came to, what he describes as, “the low mid-range”.
“The low mid-range is where the music lives,” he explains. “In my opinion The Joshua Tree is a great rock and roll record, partly because of the beauty of the low mid-range of that room.”
Sessions began in earnest in early August 1986 with the usual U2 working method of a combination of sifting through tapes, re-visiting soundcheck jams, and trawling through Bono’s overflowing lyric book, as well as live jamming sessions. However, extracting new material from the band wasn’t always easy, as Eno later admitted on the Classic Albums TV special. “There were quite a few things in the bag, and that’s exactly where they were,” he recalled. “I remember everyone used to walk in with these enormous bags of cassette tapes, especially Edge, who somehow or other had managed to connect his to a black hole located somewhere around Dublin. Because once tapes were in that bag they never reappeared.”
Lanois arrived at Danesmoate about two weeks after the initial sessions had begun.
“As I remember it, Eno and I had decided to go in at different times,” he resumes. “Eno did a week or two and I went in and did a week or two. We did that on purpose. We said, ‘You go in and do some work with them and then I’ll go in and work with them and we’ll see what we’ve got’. It’s a nice thing I like to do with Brian, which is to do something impressive for the other man (laughs).”
Despite the serious business in hand, the atmosphere was anything but tense, and the start of The Joshua Tree sessions had something of a vaudeville touch.
“The band were already there, playing in the band-room when I arrived at the house,” Lanois remembers. “I saw that there was a tray of tea about to be brought into the room, so I took the tray and walked in with the tea, just to get straight the fact that I was still in the trenches as the tea boy (laughs). I remember too that there was a bit of curiosity in the air because at the time I had a number one hit in America with Peter Gabriel (with the song ‘Sledgehammer’). Edge looked over at me and said, ‘Danny, you’ve got the number one hit in North America right now. You’re going to be a rich man’. So humour is there right at the foundation of the sessions.”
A makeshift control room to house the tape machines, mixing desk and the usual array of outboard equipment was created by taking down the large doors to an adjacent room and replacing them with a glass screen. But in keeping with the relaxed, “non-studio” ethos of the sessions, rather than call it a control room, it became known simply as the ‘lyric room’.
“It meant we were able to jockey between the band room and what we called the ‘lyric room’,” Lanois explains. “At a certain point you’ve got to sit down and look at things like, ‘How are the lyrics looking?’ and stuff like, ‘That couplet’s great but you need another line here’ etc. Danesmoate was really good for that, you didn’t have to travel too far. As I recall, a lot of Edge’s guitar overdubs would happen in the lyric room too. For example the guitar, the infinite sustained guitar part on ‘With Or Without You’ was done in the lyric room.”
Progress was swift at Danesmoate, and two of the key songs on the album, ‘With Or Without You’ and ‘I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For’, were nailed relatively early on in the sessions. “That was a big help,” Lanois says. “Once you’ve got some strong songs under your belt you can relax a little bit and feel free to experiment.”
Also on board was Flood, who occupied the engineer’s chair during The Joshua Tree sessions. Initially recommended by Gavin Friday (he’d previously produced The Virgin Prunes), U2 had also been impressed by his work with Nick Cave.
Unusually, the songs were mixed as soon as they were recorded.
“It was house policy that we would do some really nice rough mixes along the way,” says Lanois. “The way I feel philosophically, is that mixes done along the way are just as much candidates as mixes in the end. Taking snapshots along the way will be your friend in the end, because sometimes you go too far with something and then you think, ‘Oh wait a minute, a couple of steps back, that was it!’.”
Not long after work began on The Joshua Tree, a distinguished visitor arrived at Danesmoate. Robbie Robertson, the former guitarist and chief songwriter with The Band had come to Dublin to work on his first solo album. Since leaving The Band, Robertson had devoted much of his time since to working in films, both as an actor in movies such as Carny, and on soundtracks to the likes of Martin Scorsese’s Colour Of Money. He was now keen to establish a solo career, with fellow Canadian Lanois in the producer’s chair.
Lanois: “I had started a record with Robbie but I had to leave because it was taking so long. I went to work in Europe, first with Peter Gabriel and then with U2. I felt bad for Robbie that his record wasn’t finished. So I said to him one day, ‘Why don’t you get out of Los Angeles, come out here and just visit for a couple of days?’”
Robertson arrived in Dublin in the middle of Hurricane Charlie, which resulted in the worst floods to hit the city in living memory. “There were cars floating down the streets,” he recalled in an interview with Hot Press, “…it was really frightening. Thank God these guys [U2] were up for some spontaneous combustion!”
Each member of U2, as well as Lanois, contributed to two tracks that would eventually appear on Robertson’s album, ‘Testimony’ and ‘Sweet Fire Of Love’. “It was all done in the band room,” as Lanois remembers. “We just put him in the corner and we all played together and it happened. I think we did well to get two songs in that short time – he was here for only about a week on the outside, with drinks at either end. You hope to maybe get one track and we got two. In my opinion, they’re the best sounding ones on Robbie’s record. The guys were so sweet and kind to him, they just opened the door and he was able to step into that world.”
As the sessions at Danesmoate progressed, Lanois began to note that each of the four members of U2 had made considerable advances in terms of their skills as musicians. This, he says, accounted for a more productive environment, with far less time wasted in trying to hone and shape the new material.
“On The Unforgettable Fire they were still kind of junior musicians,” he says. “Now they were better players and they had more knowledge. I was able to speak with Edge on a much more evolved level. You have to understand that when I came in to work with them on The Unforgettable Fire I was pretty much an educated musical mind. I don’t mean this to sound like I’m bragging, but hey, Danny Lanois went to school you know, while those guys had learned from the streets (laughs).
“The things I was talking to Edge about on The Unforgettable Fire, he knew what I was talking about on The Joshua Tree. We were able to fine-tune a record-making system. We could write out arrangements, do bar counts and say things like, ‘Now we’ll do the two-bar intro rather than the four-bar’ – that meant something to them at that point, whereas before it was mysterious. So they were able to fully comprehend anything that I would come up with in terms of lingo.”
As well as having better musical chops, Lanois says that he also detected a change in the personalities of each of the band members, who by now had hit their mid-twenties. “They were just starting to establish their lives,” he says. “It was a transitional time for everyone, a really great time of idealism and optimism. It was all about, ‘What could we do? What are Eno and Lanois going to contribute?’ They were a bunch of kids really and that’s what’s nice, thinking about it now. You can never repeat that as time moves on. There was a great balance; and the dedication was one hundred percent. The decorators had not yet moved in yet and you know, the cars were not as plentiful and the houses in France weren’t there. I’m not being critical of where things have gotten to now or anything – it’s just that when you talk about rock and roll, it’s largely about rolling up your sleeves and being there and wanting the best out of everybody and that’s what we had at the time.”
The sessions progressed through the autumn and winter of ’86, moving between Danesmoate and Melbeach, Edge’s newly-refurbished house by the sea in leafy Monkstown in South Dublin. The large house overlooking Dublin Bay, which was once owned by the Findlaters, a well-known Dublin merchant family, also became a key recording location for The Joshua Tree. “That’s where songs like ‘Mothers Of The Disappeared’ and what ended up as ‘Bullet The Blue Sky’ were born,” Lanois recalls. “That was less of a rock ‘n’ roll room but we made it work. I think there were a lot of headaches, isolating people and having to build baffles around the place. The more that I talk about it, probably the bulk of the record was done at Edge’s house. Even though the Danesmoate sessions were the backbone of the tonality of the record – we got a lot of the drums done in there.”
According to Lanois, most of the mixing of the album was also done at Melbeach.
“If I remember correctly, Eno was not around much for the mixing, and I think Flood had to leave early as well, so Pat McCarthy came in. We were mixing at Melbeach on an AMEK 2500 desk and Steve Lillywhite was mixing back at Windmill on the SSL desk. Yeah, now I remember it – we didn’t have automation at Melbeach so that’s why we needed three guys at the console – it was more like performance mixing.”
While the album was being recorded, both Eno and Lanois pushed the band in the direction of older songs, particularly American roots music, for guidance and sonic inspiration.
Lanois: “We would always be referencing classics. Eno and I were always bringing in American records to listen to, and they weren’t contemporary ones by any means. We would always go back to listening to really good ‘feel’ records, soul records and I think that’s still to this day a great reference point for anybody. We were also referencing Morrissey and Johnny Marr – and their band The Smiths, that was a big reference for us and My Bloody Valentine as I recall were another big influence. We were fans of that textural guitar work.”
After the most intense and most productive period of recording in the history of U2, The Joshua Tree was finally completed early in the New Year 1987. By all accounts the final few weeks were frantic.
“It’s always stuff like, ‘Hey Eno’s leaving in a week, we’ve got to use him up and put him on things that can make a difference’,” says Lanois. “It’s really down to scheduling at a certain point.”
Lanois now says he clearly remembers the feeling of exhaustion among the band and the production team when the album was finally put to bed. “If I remember right, the only person who was left standing at the end is The Edge,” he laughs. “Everyone else is sick, overwhelmed, being carried out on stretchers and people have quit. Edge is the only man left standing because he’s the librarian in the band; he can actually still be level-headed after something like that. So he goes off and sequences the album on his own and sends it off for mastering.”
The eleven songs that eventually made the cut for The Joshua Tree showcase a band at the height of their artistic powers. More than any other U2 album before or since, they capture a feeling and a mood perfectly in tune with the times – and yet completely at odds with the prevailing musical zeitgeist. As Bill Graham wrote in 1996: “It’s the first conclusive evidence that the best young live band of their era had graduated as masterful pop mimics in the studio. With The Joshua Tree, their recorded work finally catches up and even outstrips their live reputation.”
“We approached arranging and producing each song like it was unique,” Edge told Hot Press “We just hoped the album would have a sonic cohesiveness based on the idea that we were playing it. There was definitely a strong direction but equally we were prepared to sacrifice some continuity to get the rewards of following each song to a conclusion. I hate comparisons but like The Beatles at their height, in terms of unusual production techniques, we wanted to do what was right for the song.”
Where The Streets Have No Name
Structurally, the opening song on the album is complex, with tricky chord changes and unconventional time signatures. Not surprisingly, it was the one that caused the most grief in the arranging and recording process. “Oh yeah, I remember that one alright, that was the science project song,” Lanois laughs. “I remember having this massive schoolhouse blackboard, as we call them. I was holding a pointer, like a college professor, walking the band through the chord changes like a fucking nerd. It was ridiculous.”
The song is also the subject of one of the most enduring Joshua Tree myths: that Eno became so frustrated by the song’s tricky gestation, he tried to erase it. Flood confirmed this on Classic Albums: “Pat [McCarthy, tape operator] had gone out of the room while they were working on ‘Streets’ to make a cup of tea, came back with the tea and Brian had all the tape machine ready to go into record. Pat had to drop the tea, run up and grab Brian physically and hold him back from doing this. So he was completely freaked out at the junior member of the team attacking the senior member of the team and saying, ‘Maybe it’s not a good idea Brian to wipe the entire song.’”
For his part, Eno attempted to set the record straight. “That story has been told a lot of times, now I shall tell you the truth about it,” he said. “That song was recorded so there was a version of it on tape. That version had quite a lot of problems. What we kept doing was spending hours and days and weeks, actually probably half the time that the whole album took was spent on that song, trying to fix up this version on tape. It was a nightmare of screwdriver work. My feeling was that it would be much better to start again. I’m sure we would get there quicker if we started again. It’s more frightening to start again… my idea was to stage an accident to erase the tape so that we would have to start again. But I never did.”
Released in September 1987 ‘Where The Streets Have No Name’ was the third single to be taken from The Joshua Tree. It reached No 4 in the UK and No 13 in the US. The B-sides included the tracks ‘Silver And Gold’, ‘Sweetest Thing’ and (on the 12” single and CD single) ‘Race Against Time’.
I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For
Regarded as one of the most fully-realised songs the band have ever written and certainly among the most enduring of all of U2’s hit singles, ‘I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For’ is rooted in the gospel of the Staples Singers, the Swan Silvertones and The Mighty Clouds Of Joy.
The working title was actually the far more secular-sounding ‘Under The Weather’, due mainly to the fact that the drum rhythms were taken from a previously-abandoned song called ‘The Weather Girls’, which was rescued by Lanois.
“It was a very original beat from Larry,” he explains. “We always look for those beats that would qualify as a signature for the song. And that certainly was one of those. It had this tom-tom thing that he does and nobody ever understands. And we just didn’t want to let go of that beat, it was so unique. Edge wrote a chord sequence and he overdubbed the acoustic on top of the drums with a lot of power in the strumming. And we built on top of that trying a bunch of melodies. It just started sounding more like a soul song all the time.”
The background vocals on the song consist of Edge, Lanois and Eno, their voices multi-tracked several times over. “That was the singing team, as it was for many other records since then, like ‘Beautiful Day’ for example”, says Lanois. “We had a theory about it at the time which I think holds true today. And that is, you do your own background vocals, with the people in the room that are actually making the record. Even though if you compare us to the Pointer Sisters we might not hold up (laughs), we’re actually connected with the project. You’re not going to get that sound of, ‘Oh they brought in some soul singers’ if you know what I mean. Our hearts and souls are already there. If we sing it’ll sound more real.”
The single became U2’s second US No.1, also hitting number 6 on the UK singles chart. It came in third in the 1987 Rolling Stone Readers’ Picks for Best Single and was nominated for two Grammies as Best Single of the Year and Best Record of the Year.
Lanois has a theory about ‘I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For’ which he says puts it way ahead of its time. “Let’s put it this way,” he explains. “If we were doing that in 2006 we would be doing hip-hop. We didn’t know what hip-hop was then but it’s very much at that tempo. So the song might have been a premonitional moment about hip-hop.”
With or Without You
The first single to be taken from the album, Bill Graham described ‘With Or Without You’ both as a “masterful pop song” and U2’s “first real adult love song.”
But for a song that is now considered a classic of its type, its origins were initially unpromising, as Lanois testifies.
“It started out with this Yamaha beat box we had at the time,” he says. “It was really meant to be a guide and we got the nicest sound out of it that we could. And then Adam put on his bass, which was a kind of short-scale Ibanez bass that Eno always wanted but Adam wouldn’t give him (laughs). It’s an eight-note thing which happened to really connect with that rhythm, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding. And then without having a lot of other instruments occupying the mid-range, Edge had just gotten the Infinite sustain and he plugged it in and suddenly it went whoooooo. He was kind of testing the instrument. He was in the control room, and I said, ‘That sounded pretty cool,’ so we listened back and I said, ‘Jesus it’s better than I thought’. It was like, ‘Okay, let’s go’ and it was two takes right away.”
Lending the song that distinctive guitar texture, the now infamous Infinite guitar was built by a Canadian friend of Daniel Lanois. “It’s a normal six-string guitar but he turned the back pickup into a speaker,” he explains. “It’s a genius thing; you create a feed-back loop. Since then, of course, people have started mass-manufacturing them, but back then it was unexplored territory.”
And as Lanois rightly points out, like most songs in the U2 canon, it doesn’t have a chorus – not in the traditional sense. “It has tension and builds like one of those great Roy Orbison songs, where every section is unique and never repeats. I like that kind of sophistication to be operating, out of step with the usual verse-chorus-bridge-verse-chorus. I think the moral of the story here is, you’ve got beautiful bottom-end on that [song] and then very beautiful top end with the Infinite sustain, leaving the mid-range open for Bono. So it’s a little bit of genius in terms of clarity. It’s kind of hymnal.”
And so sonically unusual that the band’s manager Paul McGuinness didn’t think it was suitable single material and initially resisted releasing it. However, Gavin Friday managed to convince both him and the band that that it was a “certain No 1”. He was right. ‘With Or Without You’ became U2’s first ever US No 1 single, also reaching number 4 in the UK, their second highest position at that point (‘Pride In The Name of Love’ had reached No 3 in September ’84).
Bullet The Blue Sky
The hardest, heaviest song on The Joshua Tree and one of the angriest of all U2’s songs, ‘Bullet The Blue Sky’ put paid to any notion that U2 had gone soft. The lyrical idea came from Bono’s Amnesty-sponsored visit to the Central American countries El Salvador and Nicaragua, where he witnessed poverty and struggle. The title was a reference to the government fighter planes screaming overhead on a mission to quell an uprising somewhere in the hills.
According to Steve Lillywhite, who was brought in to mix a number of songs on the album, there was at one point two different versions of ‘Bullet’.
“Edge wanted to fly over from one version to another version,” he says. “Nowadays you have samplers… it’s easy to move things around. Back then it wasn’t so easy. We had to take it off one tape put it on the half-inch tape recorder and manually match the tempos. ‘Bullet The Blue Sky’ was never all played at the same time; it was a real mish-mash of two things.”
Lanois: “That came out of a jam, a long twenty-minute jam and then we found the sweet spot. I remember really being dedicated to that piece of music and spending a long time on edits and building an arrangement for a song that was never a song, that was only ever a jam. It was one of those songs that was born partially by surgery – the editing of the structure was a really big part of it.
“The Edge had these great dive-bombs [descending guitar sounds] on it and there was a great section where Larry was looking really good. As I recall, Flood [the engineer] went to Windmill Lane where they had access to a big warehouse next door and we built a PA in there and we put Larry’s drums through the PA and re-miked it. It was a really elaborate kind of rock and roll chamber. Flood was really dedicated to getting that to sound as good as any rock record.
“Once we had it laid out then Bono was able to come up with his lyrics. Obviously, he was fascinated with the expansion of the American empire and what all empires do is to protect their business interests. I think it was Nicaragua at the time: ‘Let’s keep the peasants in the hills and if there’s any uprising lets roll over them with a steam roller’. The horror of that really touched Bono.”
Running To Stand Still
Possibly prompted by the death earlier in the year of Thin Lizzy’s Phil Lynott through drug abuse, ‘Running To Stand Still’ was the third U2 song to deal directly with the subject of drugs and their destructive effect (‘Bad’ and ‘Wire’ from The Unforgettable Fire being the others). But it was also undoubtedly inspired by the rapid growth in drug abuse they’d encountered in their hometown. By the mid-1980s parts of Dublin had become ravaged by cheap heroin. Some of U2’s old friends had even fallen victim to the drug. The line, “I can see seven towers and only one way out,” was a direct reference to the 1960s tower-blocks of the Ballymun council estate, near to where Bono had grown up. The area was a notorious heroin blackspot at the time the song was written. Most of the towers have now been demolished in a massive government rejuvenation scheme.
Both sonically and lyrically, ‘Running To Stand Still’ is inspired by Lou Reed’s ‘Walk On The Wild Side’ and like ‘Bad’ it would, in time, prove to be an intensely powerful live song.
Lanois played what he called his “scrape guitar” on the track. “It’s one of those sounds you hide in the background and it offers a colour, it doesn’t draw attention to itself as a guitar,” he says. “It’s one of those songs where people were gathered around in a huddle. Bono had the words written; this was a nice opportunity to get something live. I remember that tender moment, me playing that scrape guitar, Larry on the tom-tom. There was just a wonderful communication happening in the room at that time. I think it’s what people feel on that record, there was really a presence of performance.”
Red Hill Mining Town
Written against the backdrop of the hugely divisive miners strike in Britain in the mid 1980s, the song is not considered to be one of the album’s finest, with Bill Graham describing it as “cluttered and literal, the least mysterious and open-ended.” Rather than try to capture the feelings of the protagonists on both sides of the dispute Bono tried to personalise the song, bringing it down to the level of a relationship between a miner and his wife. However his efforts at getting into the hearts and minds of those affected by the strike didn’t always go down well. “People beat me with a stick for that,” he later told Hot Press. “But what I’m interested in is seeing in the newspaper or the television that another thousand people have lost their jobs. Now what you don’t read about is that those people go home and they have families and they’re trying to bring up children.” Curiously, the song was once considered for a single release; a video was shot by acclaimed Irish film director Neil Jordan (The Crying Game, Breakfast On Pluto) but apparently the band weren’t happy with the results and the video and plans for a single release were shelved. The song also has the unique distinction of being the only track on The Joshua Tree never to have been performed live by U2.
In God’s Country
Seen by many to be a companion piece to ‘Where The Streets Have No Name’, the shortest song on the album (clocking in at just under three minutes – almost half the length of ‘…Streets…’) ‘In God’s Country’ brought the band back to more familiar territory. A sweeping, high-octane, headlong rush of sounds with Edge’s chugging guitar and plucking harmonics predominating, the song’s brevity undoubtedly played in its favour, lending it a sense of urgency. The title was a direct reference to America’s strong religious tradition – though Bono’s reference to “crooked crosses” might be to dodgy TV evangelists in the US.
“‘In God’s Country’ has a great high-speed feeling about it,” says Daniel Lanois. “I forget where we cut the basics for that one. It was probably at Danesmoate but I think it was finished vocally back at Edge's house.”
‘In God’s Country’ was released as a US-only single in December 1987, the last single to be taken from the album, reaching number 44. It did almost as well in the UK given that it was available as an import-only purchase, reaching number 48.
Trip Through Your Wires
The song which made its debut on the RTÉ show TV Gaga early in 1986 was clearly inspired by the then emerging raggle taggle/roots movement made popular by outfits such as The Waterboys and Hothouse Flowers, who themselves were steeped in mid-period Dylan. In its original incarnation, ‘Trip Through Your Wires’ had a loose, busky, almost throwaway feel. But the version that made the cut for The Joshua Tree was more studied and controlled. In his book Into The Heart, Niall Stokes describes it as, “a possible paean to the contradictory charms of America personified as a woman.”
“I really like that one, though it probably has less of a melody than the other songs on the album,” Lanois remembers. “I think most of that was done at Edge’s house.”
One Tree Hill
Inspired by the death of Greg Carroll, Bono’s personal assistant and roadie, ‘One Tree Hill’ is arguably the most poignant, emotionally-charged song U2 have ever recorded.
Sonically, ‘One Tree Hill’ is the least instrumentally adorned song on the album, resplendent in a feeling of space and openness. Encouraged by the supple mid-tempo rhythm from Larry and Adam, the key signature is Edge’s African-tinged, highlife guitar motif which runs through the song like a river.
Edge explained to John Waters how he stumbled across this sound: “We were jamming with Brian [Eno]. He was playing keyboards, I was playing guitar…we just got this groove going, and this part began to come through. It’s almost highlife, although it’s not African at all… the sound was for me at that time a very elaborate one. I would never have dreamt of using a sound like that before then, but it just felt right, and I went with it.”
Exit
Like ‘Bullet The Blue Sky’, ‘Exit’ is angry and discordant, a murder ballad of sorts, written by Bono after he had read Norman Mailer’s The Executioner's Song, an account of the life of convicted killer Gary Gilmore (brother of Rolling Stone writer Mikal Gilmore), who was executed in 1977.
“I don’t even know what the act is, in that song,” Bono told Hot Press. “Some see it as murder, others suicide – and I don’t mind. But the rhythm of the words is nearly as important in conveying the state of mind.”
With a bizarre and astonishing similarity to the Charles Manson ‘Helter Skelter’ saga of two decades earlier, a man named Robert Bardo claimed in a Los Angeles court in 1991 that ‘Exit’ had inspired him to murder a young actress, Rebecca Schaeffer. The twenty-one year old Schaeffer, who had appeared briefly in Woody Allen’s Radio Days, was shot by Bardo, a paranoid schizophrenic, in April 1989 after he arrived at her apartment with a gun. It later transpired that he had become obsessed with the actress and had been writing to her for several years. With even more sinister shades of John Lennon’s murder, she had apparently signed an autograph for him twenty minutes earlier. After he shot her he ran onto a freeway in an apparent suicide attempt, but was caught and arrested. His claim about the effect of ‘Exit’ on his state-of-mind was never pursued, as he pleaded insanity and received a life sentence. One result of Schaeffer’s murder was the classification of stalking as a felony in California.
Mothers of the Disappeared
The closing song on The Joshua Tree grew out of the band’s close association with Amnesty International and their participation in the Conspiracy Of Hope tour during the summer of 1986. Bono wrote it following his visit to Central America later that year. He was particularly moved by the plight of the hundreds of opponents of regimes in several countries throughout the '70s and '80s who had seemingly disappeared without trace. An organisation, Mothers Of The Disappeared, had emerged to highlight this injustice and Bono responded by honouring their cause with a song.
One of the more experimental songs on the album, Eno came up with a sampled drum-loop fashioned by utilising a piano as a percussive instrument. But the key sonic element of the recording is the drone-like texture running through it, evoking an abstract sense of evil and dread.
Though it didn’t make it onto the album, one of the best-known songs to have emerged from The Joshua Tree sessions was ‘Sweetest Thing’ – one of U2’s most pop-oriented songs. The original version appeared on the B-side to ‘Where The Streets Have No Name’ and much later became a hit single when it was rescued, re-mixed and embellished for The Best Of 1980-1990 compilation. It’s tempting to speculate that, had it been included on the arguably weaker side of the album in place of say, ‘Trip Through Your Wires’ or ‘Exit’, The Joshua Tree,/i> would have been an even stronger album than it was.
“The fact is we never finished it at that time,” reveals Lanois. “It always had the, 'oh-oh- oh, the sweet-est thing' part and that beat. But it was much later when Bono added the 'oh-la-la' section. There’s always that slightly uncomfortable part of the record-making [process] where something that holds so much promise is not finished and you just have to accept that and move onto something that is more finished. We always cut more than we need for every U2 record – God knows there’s days of jamming and recordings, lovely things actually that are not fully baked cakes, but they always spill into the next album. How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb had things that we never finished on All That You Can’t Leave Behind and there were left-overs from The Joshua Tree that made it onto Achtung Baby. We never set out to occupy a certain time-slot. In the end you want to put your best foot forward.”
The Joshua Tree,/i> was released in Britain and Ireland on March 9, 1987. In a clever marketing tactic, that hadn’t been overused at the time, it was made available in some record shops in Britain and Ireland at midnight. The fans responded in droves with hundreds queuing out in the cold to get their hands on the hugely anticipated new album.
The effect was almost instant – within two weeks of its release The Joshua Tree,/i> hit Number One in the US, Britain and twenty-one other countries worldwide. Within months of its release U2 made the cover of Time Magazine with the headline “U2 – ROCK’S HOTTEST TICKET”, confirming their new-found status in the premier league of rock acts. The reviews for The Joshua Tree were universally ecstatic and in U2’s case unprecedented.
In Hot Press, Bill Graham waxed even more lyrical than usual in his extended review: “The Joshua Tree rescues rock from its decay, bravely and unashamedly basing itself in the mainstream before very cleverly lifting off into several higher dimensions,” he wrote. “…with its skill, and the diversity of issues it touches, one thing is absolutely clear: U2 can no longer be patronised with faint and glib praise. They must be taken very seriously indeed after this revaluation of rock.”
Steve Lillywhite is under no illusions as to what made it popular with a mainstream audience. “I think what made The Joshua Tree the big seller that it was, was the fact that they had the radio songs, the hits, and it was all stuff that they could play live.”
Lanois’ reputation also soared into the stratosphere in the wake of his production triumph on Joshua Tree. By now considered one of the most important producers to have emerged in the 1980s, he went on to midwife hugely acclaimed albums for Bob Dylan, Emmylou Harris, The Neville Brothers and many others. He has maintained his connection with U2, working on their most recent albums All That You Can’t Leave Behind and How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb.
Asked how he feels about The Joshua Tree over twenty years later, he pauses to gather his thoughts before elaborating.
“Well, I’ve been hurt more on other records than I was on that record,” he says. “You know where you actually take a kicking, as I did when I made Bob Dylan’s Time Out Of Mind. I certainly felt that at every stage of The Joshua Tree there were no major personal disappointments. I like the sound of the early U2 records that we made. It’s the sound of commitment.
“Modern day record production – because people have access to so many sounds – has kind of fallen into the hands of stylists. ‘Let’s have that little beat and this little texture and you come up with them in, like, minutes – that should work with this, that’ll be nice here and let’s hang that over there’. And it makes a very nice first impression, like, ‘Jeez we didn’t have to do any work and we’ve got that big, symphonic U2 sound that they got in the 1980s’. But what you don’t get is that ramp-up of dedication to get to that place.
“It’d be like if you buy a barren piece of property and you push a button and end up with a full orchard. Consequently, you end up with instant gratification, but you may not have a connection with it, it might actually not belong to you, at all. You can employ a stylist for a photo-shoot but I don’t think you should employ one for the making of a record. Those U2 records, they have big ramp-ups, they’re filled with philosophies. And we got to those places because we believed in an idea and not because we liked someone else’s idea.”
U2 Fan event #WelcomeToTheNorthside returns for 2018 even bigger than previous years with a full week of events and a very special road trip in November.
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Great news for U2 fans: three of their classic albums are to be reissued as remastered vinyls pressed on 180gsm.
Read More From our 2018 Annual, the full cover story by Olaf Tyaransen.
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It's a very different tune to the one being sung by IDA Ireland...
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It goes on sale on Friday February 9.
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Sadly, it's happening with government approval...
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Live Nation and MCD today confirm shows in Dublin and Belfast on U2’s upcoming eXPERIENCE + iNNOCENCE Tour with tickets on sale from 2nd February. As part of their European tour the band will play at Belfast’s SSE Arena on 27th October 2018 and at home in Dublin at the 3Arena on 5th and 6th November 2018. See the full tour dates below.
Read More U2 played their latest single 'Get Out Of Your Own Way' live at last night's 60th Grammys.
Read More An original pop-art animation for U2's latest single 'Get Out Of Your Own Way'.
Read More No Belfast and Dublin dates yet, but they will be happening!
Read More U2's documentary about the making of their latest album has just been uploaded onto their official social media pages.
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U2 have always been hugely aware of the potential of live films to spread the gospel. As a result, they've made some of the finest ever concert movies. Square eyes: Pat Carty
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The former US President has compiled a list of his favourite music from 2017 and amongst his top picks is the Extraordinary Mix version of 'Ordinary Love' taken from the deluxe edition of U2's latest album, 'Songs of Experience'.
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Here's a clip from 'U2 At The BBC' in which The Edge and Adam Clayton go record shopping with Cat Deeley.
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In an exclusive performance at the iconic Abbey Road Studios in London, Adam, Bono, Edge and Larry performed 'Beautiful Day' with an orchestra and choir for 'U2 At The BBC' - a Christmas special programme for BBC One.
Read More U2 have released a cover of Marvin Gaye's ‘What’s Going On’, which you can now stream on Spotify.
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In a passionate letter, the four members of U2 are calling on Dublin City Council to rescind the honour "bestowed" on Aung San Suu Kyi because of her failure to condemn the ongoing brutal violence in her own country.
Read More The Dublin band's 14th studio album has gone straight to the top spot in the Billboard charts, achieving the best sales during a single week for any rock album Stateside during the past 12 months.
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Forty years covered in fifty plus minutes - From Fighting on stage in front of Talking Heads to Songs Of Experience
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Check out the official music video for 'Jacky’s Only Happy When She’s Up on the Stage'.
Read More Inspired by a brush with the grim reaper, the new U2 album is an extraordinary work of art.
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10 Hot Press writers share their favourite U2 moments as we get set for the release of Songs of Experience on December 1. On our tenth day, Louise Kane recalls her music induction on the Zoo TV Tour.
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With the long-awaited Songs of Experience set to be released imminently, U2 are the cover stars of Hot Press' 2018 Annual.
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An Irish-American singer-songwriter, who was so inspired by U2's album 'The Joshua Tree' that she decided to record her new EP in the very same desert, is planning to tour Ireland in December.
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10 Hot Press writers share their favourite U2 moments as we get set for the release of Songs of Experience on December 1. On our seventh day, Hot Press Commissioning Editor Roisin Dwyer shares memories of Rattle and Hum and her own brush with death.
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10 Hot Press writers share their favourite U2 moments as we get set for the release of Songs of Experience on December 1. On our eighth day, Liessa De Decker talks about early U2 memories, chance encounters, and the bitter glory of 'Sunday Bloody Sunday'.
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10 Hot Press writers share their favourite U2 moments as we get set for the release of Songs of Experience on December 1. On our fifth day, Olaf Tyaransen shares a story which reveals a side of Bono that the public rarely see.
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With one week to go before their 14th album, Songs of Experience, U2 grace the cover of the 2018 Hot Press Annual.
Read More With the long-awaited Songs of Experience set to be released imminently, U2 are the cover stars of Hot Press' 2018 Annual.
Read More 10 Hot Press writers share their favourite U2 moments as we get set for the release of Songs of Experience on December 1. On our third day, Hot Press' Head of Photography, Kathrin Baumbach, talks about her relationship with U2, and the band's relationship with her home city of Berlin.
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10 Hot Press writers share their favourite U2 moments as we get set for the release of Songs of Experience on December 1. On our second day, Hot Press stalwart Jackie Hayden takes us back to when U2 were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Read More A special limited edition version of U2's new song 'The Blackout' will be released in only four stores across the globe to mark the annual Black Friday, with Freebird on Dublin's Wicklow St announcing that they will be stocking it.
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10 Hot Press writers share their favourite U2 moments as we get set for the release of Songs of Experience on December 1. Up first: Pat Carty takes us back to a beautiful day in Slane, 2001.
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Coincidentally, the 23-year-old Carlow actress will be hosting the very same episode of NBC's 'Saturday Night Live' show that the Irish rock icons will also be appearing on, this coming 2 December.
Read More As fans countdown the days until the new eagerly awaited album is released in a couple of weeks, U2 officially shared their new video last night.
Read More U2 are putting on their "sexy boots" to follow in the footsteps of Adele, Michael Buble, Harry Styles and Sam Smith by having their TV special next month on the Beeb.
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'Get Out of Your Own Way' is the second single from the band's upcoming 14th album, Songs of Experience.
Read More 'Get Out of Your Own Way' is the second single to be taken from U2's upcoming album, Songs of Experience.
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The tracklist appears to have been revealed, ahead of the album's release date early this December.
Read More U2's frontman, who says he's so happy these days that he's actually "singing like a little girl", has told how the writing of the new eagerly awaited album's lyrics was inspired by a health scare and facing his own mortality.
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There's another significant U2 anniversary, with 'I Will Follow' released on this day in 1980. Niall Stokes has the story behind the classic...
Read More "U2 are full of bluster, almost keeling over with the weight of energy on board," Declan Lynch opined in his original 1980 review...
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Having released their new single two weeks ago, U2 have today shared the music video for 'You're The Best Thing About Me'.
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#WelcomeToTheNorthside bring #U241 to the Church Bar tonight. After a jam packed weekend for the Joshua Tree Pre and after events, which seen over 5,000 fans visit the Church Bar over the July weekend, The Church Bar will celebrate U241 tonight with U2 Tribute Zooropa who recently played to a sold out crowed at the Button Factory.
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In the wake of the civil unrest in the US state that resulted in U2 cancelling their gig there on Saturday night, Bono has taken to social media to ask, "Is this 1968 or 2017?"
Read More The band's legion of fans in St Louis' were left devastated after Saturday night's concert there was called off at the last minute. Local police said they weren't in a position to "provide the standard protection" required for the audience because of ongoing civil unrest in the city.
Read More Norwegian DJ Kygo has remixed U2's new single 'You're The Best Thing About Me'.
Read More 'You’re The Best Thing About Me', the first single from the band’s highly anticipated 14th studio album, Songs of Experience, is released today.
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The band have released the first song from their upcoming album, Songs of Experience.
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Some of the biggest names in Irelan'd music scene have come together to make a re-imagining of U2's legendary album in celebration of The Joshua Tree's 30th anniversary.
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U2 have always put more into the crucible of live performance than almost any other band on the planet, endeavouring to make every tour an artistic and creative statement in itself. In advance of the return of their Joshua Tree Tour to Dublin, we chart the circumstances of their tours, recall the iconic moments and the visual highlights and reprise what it is that makes them the world’s pre-eminent live act. By Olaf Tyaransen
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U2 have always put more into the crucible of live performance than almost any other band on the planet, endeavouring to make every tour an artistic and creative statement in itself. In advance of the return of their Joshua Tree Tour to Dublin, we chart the circumstances of their tours, recall the iconic moments and the visual highlights and reprise what it is that makes them the world’s pre-eminent live act. By Olaf Tyaransen
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U2 have always put more into the crucible of live performance than almost any other band on the planet, endeavouring to make every tour an artistic and creative statement in itself. In advance of the return of their Joshua Tree Tour to Dublin, we chart the circumstances of their tours, recall the iconic moments and the visual highlights and reprise what it is that makes them the world’s pre-eminent live act. By Olaf Tyaransen
Read More The Irish band performed their poignant song 'Mothers of the Disappeared' with the iconic American singer-songwriter the other night in Paris.
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It is 30 years since the release of The Joshua Tree catapulted U2 to the forefront of contemporary music. At their Croke Park homecoming, they reaffirmed that they are still up there, at the very top of the tree. By Roisin Dwyer
Read More The U2 frontman admits that it's a case of 'where the song has no end' when it comes to his attitude to one of the band's most seminal classic tracks on The Joshua Tree.
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U2's guitarist has confessed that he tried to record "the secrets of the universe" while under the influence of the small but powerful hallucinogenic drug!
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In town for Croke Park? Come see all 44 of U2's Hot Press covers!
Read More Ahead of U2's sold out Joshua Tree gig in Croke Park this weekend, RTÉ One are showing a documentary about the band's early days playing in Cork.
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As he says himself, Noel Gallagher has been on "one tour or another" during the past quarter of a century... but, for him, the current U2 Joshua Tree Tour is the best he's ever been on.
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It's a treasure trove for all fans of the band...
Read More Fancy a chance to win a signed and numbered photo of U2 taken by award-winning photographer Peter Rowan, who was the face of the U2 as a "boy"? Read on...
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U2 nabbed a Golden Globe nomination for 'Ordinary Love', the song they wrote for the Mandela: The Long Walk to Freedom - they talked to Patricia Danaher about their relationship with Mandela
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Over two nights, U2 crystallised the love affair that the band has enjoyed with Italy – and with the Italian capital, Rome.
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Olaf Tyaransen caught up with The Edge just as the band prepared to bring their iNNOCENCE & eXPERIENCE tour home for dates in Belfast and Dublin
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As U2 geared up for the release of No Line On The Horizon, they met HP to talk about the creation of their latest masterwork, meeting world leaders, the way they’re perceived in Ireland, the current state of the music business and their future plans.
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7 years ago, Olaf Tyaransen reported from U2's No Line On The Horizon tour in Barcelona, ahead of the band's Croke Park headliner.
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In a special commemorative issue, Hot Press looked back at 40 years of U2...
Read More Niall Stokes draws on his best-selling book Into The Heart: The Stories Behind The Songs Of U2 to offer a unique insight into the way in which some of the greatest songs in the history of popular music came into being.
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Stuart Clark spoke to Bono back in 2004, when the singer was on fighting form following the release of How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb.
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Hot Press' Olaf Tyaransen caught up with the band as they flew to Germany to promote Songs of Innocence
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From Hot Press' 2002 Annual, Bono spoke to Niall Stokes about all matters personal and political.
Read More We spoke to Adam Clayton ahead of U2's Elevation Tour concert in Slane back in 2001.
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Back in 2000, Olaf Tyaransen spoke to U2 following the release of 'Beautiful Day', with their 10th studio album, All That You Can't Leave Behind, imminent...
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Bono talked to Peter Murphy on stalkers, women, Lypton Village, love and the release of his film Million Dollar Hotel
Read More Interpol's Sam Fogarino kicks things off with his 360 Tour tale about David Lynch.
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20 years of U2, through the eyes of Adam Clayton.
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Having followed U2 on their tour of North America in 1997, Mike Edgar - a broadcaster for the BBC's Across The Line programme, reported from the band's homecoming Dubin gigs and from their newly-added Belfast date.
Read More The American tally sees Roger Waters come in at second place.
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As it has become the official fan favourite, The Church Bar in Dublin will be the place to be over the weekend of the U2 Joshua Tree gig at Croke Park.
Read More It’s a case of “sleep like a baby tonight”… but at a cost when it comes to booking a room in Dublin this coming weekend for the U2 gig.
Read More Nope, July 21 won't be the first time that U2 and the Gallagher brothers (Ok, just one of the Gallaghers) have played to a stadium crowd. Back in 1997, Hot Press Neil McCormick went on tour as two of the world's biggest bands played together in San Francisco.
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20 years ago, U2 came out with one of their most highly-anticipated albums, Pop. Niall Stokes met the band following its release for an in-depth interview.
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In October 1996, following the release of his best-selling book U2: The Untold Stories, Niall Stokes shared some exclusive extracts about the stories behind each U2 song.
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From October 1994, B.P. Fallon spoke with Joe Jackson about touring with U2 for their Zoo TV tour. His experiences were then documented in the book U2: Faraway So Close. Read on...
Read More Photos from an incredible show at the Olympic Stadium in Berlin.
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The performance takes place the night before the real thing take the stage at Croke Park.
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Bill Graham and Niall Stokes take us through the fans' vision of the fab four's dream album. We asked the fans to vote for U2's Greatest Hits and they did - in their thousands. The result is a selection of 20 tracks which would combine to produce a record to rank among the weightiest and most powerful anthologies in the history of rock.
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Zurich turns on to Zoo TV as U2 transmit the greatest show on earth. Report and interview by Bill Graham
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Niall Stokes caught up with U2 before the launch of their debut release U23.
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Upon the release of "Rattle And Hum" in 1988, Bono talked with Liam Mackey about how he confronts the criticisms which have been heaped on U2's sprawling opus, and discusses the price of fame, the dark side of touring, heroes and villains, and the armed struggle in Northern Ireland.
Read More Adam Clayton and The Edge were in top form as they discussed their back to rock 'n' roll basics Rattle And Hum album and film with Niall Stokes.
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Bono and The Edge perform at Canada's 150th year celebration
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Hot Press talked to U2 about their album The Joshua Tree and the relation between American politics and rock 'n' roll music.
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The Edge talked to Bill Graham about his first soundtrack album The Captive amidst the band's making of a new album.
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Bill Graham travelled to Donegal where Bono was filming with Clannad for their collaboration 'In a Lifetime'
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Team Hot Press were front and back of stage when U2 brought the Unforgettable Fire tour to Croke Park in June 1985.
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Bono and Adam talked to Liam Mackey before their Croke Park gig in 1985.
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On their 1984 European tour, U2 talked to Bill Graham about The Unforgettable Fire's realization in Slane Castle - what they called the most ambitious journey yet.
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U2's War tour came home with a massive date headlining the Phoenix Park festival. Bono chatted to Liam Mackey beforehand...
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Bono talked to Bill Graham as WAR hit number one in the UK...
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Adam pocketed a big fat Hot Press contributors’ cheque for documenting their February/March ’82 run round the US
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Elvis Costello and Altered Images had to settle for silver & bronze as the chaps won the overall Hot Press Readers’ Poll Best Act.
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After supervising their efforts in the UK, Hot Press' Bill Graham caught up with the band on the midwest leg of their first American tour...
Read More The man who introduced U2 to Paul McGuinness, Bill Graham joined U2 on their first run round the UK.
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Niall Stokes had a summit conference with the Dublin high-flyers whose debut U2Three EP had just been released.
Read More So-called terrorist "spotters" will mingle with the crowd at the sold-out concert in Croke Park next month to keep a look-out for potential suicide bombers.
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It was 30 years ago that Hot Press met with U2 following the release of their groundbreaking album Joshua Tree...
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U2 posed for pics with Huston cops after their recent gig in Texas and the humorous images have gone viral since being uploaded onto social media.
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It's certainly not a case of "With or Without You!" but more of a case of "without you or with out you" when it comes to the controversial US President attending The Joshua Tree anniversary tour, as far as Bono is concerned. "People who voted for Trump are welcome here but he’s not," Bono has warned.
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Primal Scream, The Doors, Sia, The Cure, Iggy Pop & David Holmes are also getting in on the act!
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The U2 bassist will be honoured at the MAP Fund benefit concert in NYC on June 26.
Read More Today , thirty years to the day since the release of this iconic album, Larry, Adam, Edge and Bono will be live on Twitter at 9.00pm answering questions posted by fans #AskU2#U2TheJoshuaTree2017
Read More Having championed U2 since their earliest days, and been instrumental in introducing them to Paul McGuinness, the late Bill Graham was the music writer who perhaps knew the band best. In a landmark review of the record that made U2 superstars, he analyses the American influences the band had taken onboard – and highlights the qualities that turned the album into a phenomenon.
Read More Today is the 30th anniversary of the release of The Joshua Tree. To occasion, we bring you the last of our key tracks that didn't make it onto the final cut of the album. Stay tuned for our Joshua Tree cover story during the day.
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The Joshua Tree is a hopeful symbol in a world of chaos. Valentina Magli reveals some extraordinary facts about the album that turned U2 into superstars.
Read More The penultimate day of our countdown to the 30th anniversary of The Joshua Tree, where we bring you some key tracks that didn't make it onto the final cut of the album.
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A graphic artist and a musician in his own right, Dublin born Steve Averill has designed every album cover for U2, from Boy to Songs of Innocence. Here, Steve recollects how the seminal cover of The Joshua Tree was created – and emphasises the fresh relevance of the album today.
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On March 9, it will be 30 years since the release of The Joshua Tree, a record that transformed U2 into the biggest rock band in the world. In this issue of Hot Press, we look back to the genesis of the album, how it was put together and and what made it work. And ask: has it stood the test of time?
Read More Day 2 of our countdown to the 30th anniversary of The Joshua Tree, where we bring you some key tracks that didn't make it onto the final cut of the album.
Read More There were a number of key tracks from The Joshua Tree sessions that didn’t make the final album cut. Today, we unveil the first in a series of seven.
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We've the Insiders' Story of how Bono, Edge, Larry & Adam scored one of the fastest-selling albums in rock history...
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Longtime U2 fans have launched a campaign to make a film dedicated to U2's most dedicated followers.
Read More Following the announcement that U2 will be embarking on an American and European tour to celebrate the 30th anniversary of their groundbreaking fifth album, The Joshua Tree has sailed in at No. 3 on this week's Irish Album Chart.
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U2 fans will get the chance to party away in the company of a great tribute band at a special two night event being organised at The Church Bar venue in Dublin on the weekend of the historic Croke Park gig to celebrate the seminal classic album 'The Joshua Tree' in July, it has just been announced.
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Sadly for fans who missed out on tickets for July 22's homecoming, Bono & Co. won't be doubling up at Croker...
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Having yesterday announced a North American and European tour to celebrate the 30th anniversary of their groundbreaking album The Joshua Tree, we can now reveal ticket prices for the July 22 concert at Croke Park and when they can be purchased.
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The Edge has revealed that controversial President-elect Donald Trump’s shock election victory was a contributing factor in U2’s decision to postpone their eagerly anticipated new album, ‘Songs of Experience.’
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They've been known to bash out a mean 'One' cover...
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"The Joshua Tree documents a cultural as well as musical watershed, bookended by the band’s momentous homecoming gigs at Croke Park in ’85 and ’87," he wrote in 2002.
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It took the combined force of Hot Press' Editor Niall Stokes and U2 journalist extraordinaire Bill Graham to thrash it out with the four members of U2 back in 1987 to uncover the method and the magic behind their seminal album THe Joshua Tree.
Read More "It clarifies how U2's vocation has become the revival and renewal of rock and the recovery of its most romantic values," said our man Bill Graham.
Read More The Joshua Tree Tour 2017 is on! The full details have now been announced, with a Croke Park date included...
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Speculation has been rife that a Croke Park date would be included in the rumoured U2 'Joshua Tree Anniversary' tour. PLUS full details of North American Joshua Tree Tour & European Joshua Tree Tour
Read More Speculation has been mounting about a special U2 tour that would celebrate the release of their global smash hit album The Joshua Tree, 30 years on. Well, the announcement will be made this morning...
Read More U2 usually play some of the biggest venues in the world, but they’re now going to give some of their lucky fans the chance to watch them perform in one of the most intimate settings possible for a very worthy cause.
Read More U2 have posted a very interesting Christmas teaser on their website, remarking on the 30th anniversary of The Joshua Tree and hinting about a new album – and all that goes with it
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In our celebration of the 40th Anniversary of U2’s first rehearsal in Larry Mullen’s kitchen, here on hotpress.com we are featuring a stream of articles, recollections and opinions about U2. As part of that extravaganza, for your delight and delectation, we've been highlighting obscure U2 tracks!
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In our celebration of the 40th Anniversary of U2’s first rehearsal in Larry Mullen’s kitchen, here on hotpress.com we are featuring a stream of articles, recollections and opinions about U2. As part of that extravaganza, for your delight and delectation, we've been highlighting obscure U2 tracks!
Read More In our celebration of the 40th Anniversary of U2’s first rehearsal in Larry Mullen’s kitchen, here on hotpress.com we are featuring a stream of articles, recollections and opinions about U2, over the 7 days of 'U2 Week’. As part of that extravaganza, for your delight and delectation, we are nominating an obscure U2 track every day! Your guide to the vaults: Valentina Magli
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It is just over 40 years, since Larry Mullen put the note on the noticeboard in Mount Temple Comprehensive, which led to the formation of U2. As various contributions to this special issue of Hot Press confirm, that gesture changed the world for millions of people all over the globe. But that they are still together is perhaps the band’s greatest achievement...
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In our celebration of the 40th Anniversary of U2’s first rehearsal in Larry Mullen’s kitchen, here on hotpress.com we are featuring a stream of articles, recollections and opinions about U2, over the 7 days of 'U2 Week’. As part of that extravaganza, for your delight and delectation, we are nominating an obscure U2 track every day!
Read More In our celebration of the 40th Anniversary of U2’s first rehearsal in Larry Mullen’s kitchen, here on hotpress.com we are featuring a stream of articles, recollections and opinions about U2, over the 7 days of 'U2 Week’. As part of that extravaganza, for your delight and delectation, we are nominating an obscure U2 track every day!
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McGonagles, in South Anne Street, Dublin, was one of the vital breeding grounds for young rock bands in Ireland towards the end of the 1970s. It was there that U2 did their ‘Jingle Balls’ gigs, which were a crucial formative moment for the band. But negotiating their way through those early days wasn’t always entirely straightforward…
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In our celebration of the 40th Anniversary of U2’s first rehearsal in Larry Mullen’s kitchen, here on hotpress.com we are featuring a stream of articles, recollections and opinions about U2, over the 7 days of 'U2 Week’. As part of that extravaganza, for your delight and delectation, we are nominating an obscure U2 track every day!
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To celebrate the 40th Anniversary of U2’s first rehearsal in Larry Mullen’s kitchen, we will be featuring a steady stream of articles, recollections and opinions about U2, over the next 7 days of 'U2 Week', here on hotpress.com.
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On September 25, 1976, a bunch of young Dublin teenagers, ranging in age from 13 to 16, gathered in a house in Artane to see if they could make a decent noise. Among those present on the day were Larry Mullen – who had made the call for like-minded souls by pinning a note pinned to the notice-board in Mount Temple Comprehensive – Paul Hewson, Adam Clayton and Dave Evans. Also there was Ivan McCormick, an aspiring guitar player, who wanted in on the action…
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In the new issue of Hot Press, Olaf Tyaransen chats with the award-winning filmmaker about the extraordinary events leading up to U2's triumphant gigs in Paris, now immortalised on iNNOCENCE + eXPERIENCE: Live In Paris
Read More The band's unforgettable Paris visit to be released next month
Read More I never met Mozart, I never met Duke Ellington or Charlie Parker I never met Elvis But I met Prince - Bono
Read More Bono, Adam, Larry and the Edge are sitting pretty at Number 3.
Read More The follow-up to Songs of Innocence will be called Songs of Experience
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U2 guitarist honours Irish musician, and explores what guitars mean to him - especially his Signature Stratocaster
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The album will be a companion piece to 2014's Songs of Innocence.
Read More Step this way for a bumper crop of tuneage...
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24 days after the Bataclan tragedy in Paris, U2 gave back to Eagles Of Death Metal the stage that was "stolen from them", as Bono put it, by inviting the five members to join his band in front of 20,000 people. Jean-Pierre Sabouret, who was in The Bataclan on November 13, writes...
Read More Veteran rock journalist Jean-Pierre Sabouret was at Le Bataclan the night of the horrific attack that left 89 dead. He checks in with Hot Press having been there to see the return of Eagles of Death Metal last night
Read More 'People Have The Power' was well and truly kicked out & jammed!
Read More We have to say they made beautiful music together!
Read More The 2FM man checked in with Hot Press following the first of U2's shows in the City of Light. The reaction to the band's much-anticipated return to the French capital, he says, was something special...
Read More There were extraordinary scenes tonight in Paris as Bono, Adam, Edge and Larry took to the stage in AccorHotels Arena
Read More As the iNNOCENCE and eXPERIENCE tour finally comes to Paris, it's sure to be an emotional night. We'll be updating throughout the evening as the City of Lights welcomes Dublin's finest to the first of 2 nights at the AccorHotels Arena. [photo by Eoin McLoughlin]
Read More One of them forgot the words to 'One', but it was still an amazing jam!
Read More Last week, from Monday 23rd November to Saturday 28th November we had the most incredible experience with U2 taking over Dublin in the most thrilling way. Each of the four shows were unique, each night was spectacular.
Read More It was a night full of emotion & great music
Read More 'Angel Of Harlem' becomes 'Angel Of Dublin'!
Read More Bono, Edge, Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen knew that when they took the iNNOCENCE + eXPERIENCE tour to Dublin, it would be an emotional time. But even their expectations were surpassed – and then some – on a spectacular final night...
Read More Noel Gallagher and Matt Damon were in the audience as the four-piece from the North side played a final triumphant Dublin show...
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They came from all over the world to see U2 in 3Arena: Here's just a taste of the fans who got to enjoy one of iNNOCENCE + eXPERIENCE TOUR's most incredible nights!
Read More Ahead of the next U2 gigs this weekend, read about Olaf Tyaransen's slightly awkward backstage encounter with Bono and the boys at Paris's exclusive Man Ray Club.
Read More They came from all over the world to see U2 in 3Arena: Here's just a taste of the fans who got to enjoy one of iNNOCENCE + eXPERIENCE TOUR's most incredible nights!
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In the run up to their Irish sojourn, The Edge spoke to Hot Press in an exclusive interview, in which the U2 guitarist gave an extraordinary insight into the band's meticulous approach to their Irish shows, talks openly about the state of the music industry, the bad luck that seemed to stalk the band at the start of the tour cycle and the benefits of that Apple deal - as well as the rise of Donald Trump and repealing the 8th amendment.
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Whoever was privy to U2's gig last night must have been in awe of the incredible show the band put on this time. The designer Willie Williams lifts the lid on conjuring up one of the most captivating shows of the band's career.
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It was a very special sort of homecoming...
Read More Following the tragic events in the French capital 10 days ago, the band were forced to cancel two shows on their iNNOCENCE + eXPERIENCE tour; now, they've announced the new dates for the gigs
Read More The announcement by U2 that €2million from their Irish concerts would be donated to the educational intuitive Music Generation has been followed with a €1million commitment from The Ireland Funds.
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While the countdown to their 3Arena shows is in full swing, we occasionally like to look back at where our fantastic four came from - and some never-seen-before shots in the current issue of Hot Press bring the memories flooding back
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At the SSE Arena in Belfast tonight, Bono, Adam, Larry and the Edge were in scintillating form, mixing classic U2 hits with tracks from the acclaimed Songs of Innocence. But the ultimate show-stopping moment was their performance of ‘Raise By Wolves’. And relax: there was no riot... Report: Edwin McFee
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Barney blew with all its might, but nothing could compare to the hurricane that stormed through Belfast’s SSE Arena tonight. For the first time in almost two decades, U2 were back in town.
Read More The U2 man has spoken of the "direct hit on music" following the mass shootings at the Eagles Of Death Metal gig
Read More The band say they're "devastated by the loss of life"
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As the iNNOCENCE + eXPERIENCE tour finally approaches Irish shores, it's time to once again celebrate U2 - not just the best of Irish, but the greatest rock band in the world.
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In our U2 Special Collectors’ Issue, long-time sound whizz for the quartet reveals some of the secrets of their state-of-the-art show, and explains the challenges of breaking down barriers to create something never seen before
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In today's Hot Press we speak to Edge before the Irish shows and he confirms that work on Songs Of Experience is gathering apace
Read More The new Hot Press (out now) is a Special Collectors’ Edition looking forward to the touchdown of U2’s Songs Of iNNOCENCE + eXPERIENCE tour in Belfast and Dublin.
Read More Former Lord Mayor of Belfast Jim Rodgers had wanted them to drop the song from the SSE Arena set
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Ahead of the band's glorious Irish homecoming, we're celebrating our Fab Four in the new issue of Hot Press, where Olaf Tyaransen talks to Edge and a galaxy of stars celebrate our very own rock gods
Read More In his now-traditional interview with Larry Gogan.
Read More There have been big changes in the show between the opening date of U2’s Innocence + Experience tour in Vancouver, and last night’s show in London.
Read More Their "Experience Bus" at a recent London show allowed you to immerse yourself in 'Song For Someone'.
Read More Fans were treated to double-handed versions of 'I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For' & 'All You Need Is Love'
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Bono's thrilled with recent live reviews, while The Edge promises that immortality will be invented in 27 years...
Read More The band are performing two songs this week on the Chris Evans reboot
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The band’s Swedish appearances may have been disrupted by a security alert, but they turned in four blistering performances in Stockholm, which underlined their status as the greatest rock ’n' roll band on the planet. PHOTO: J. Lundgren
Read More It was back to rock 'n' roll business last night in The Globen
Read More Fans had to be evacuated from the packed Globen arena last night
Read More Tickets appear on online reselling sites with an eye-watering mark-up
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No cash will be accepted for general admission tickets for U2’s upcoming shows in 3Arena, Dublin and the SSE Arena, Belfast...
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Olaf Tyaransen looks forward to the appearance of U2 at 3Arena in Dublin and SSE Arena in Belfast.
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Looking at the various schedules, we're reckoning on a November 22 kick-off in the 3Arena
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Adam, Bono, Edge and Larry have done New York! Rowan Stokes was there the night they were joined by Lady Gaga, in what was a triumphant run of shows, in the heart of the Big Apple...
Read More It really was a beautiful meeting of musical minds!
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Last night Lady Gaga teamed up with U2 for their Madison Square Gardens residency show to perform a duet of their song 'Ordinary Love'
Read More First shows of Madison Square Garden residency wows Big Apple
Read More "Just go if you have the cash," implores the Boston Herald
Read More The 'Song For Someone' promo seriously tugs at the heartstrings!
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Long-time tour manager was found dead hours before LA Forum performance
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The death of the former Led Zeppelin tour manager has rocked the music world. "He was a legend," said Bono...
Read More The U2 singer declared on Saturday: "On this very day we have true equality in Ireland."
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It was the beginning of a long year’s journey into night. Here, Olaf Tyaransen reflects on what U2 mean to him – and how the portents are increasingly positive for the iNNOCENCE + eXPERIENCE tour
Read More ...But the U2 guitarist has shown the world his nasty bruise.
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With the performance "tight" and the production "stunning", the world's biggest band get off to a terrific start in Vancouver.
Read More U2 kick off world tour in Rogers Arena, Vancouver
Read More We've some early shots and the setlist from the recent action in Rogers Arena.
Read More The band will also be using three stages, to ensure that all ticket-holders can participate fully in the iNNOCENCE + eXPERIENCE. From Olaf Tyaransen, in Vancouver…
Read More And on Same Sex Marriage Referendum, Bono says: “As far as I know, Jesus was never married."
Read More The U2 singer speaks out on the forthcoming same-sex marriage referendum.
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The band were in top form last night as they returned to US network TV
Read More Unsuspecting New York commuters stumbled up Bono, The Edge, Larry, Adam and Jimmy at the start of their work week.
Read More In a wide-ranging, engaging interview, the U2 frontman told Tony Fenton about his hopes for Dublin shows: "Let's do something we're not going to do anywhere else in the world."
Read More Bono speaks about his desire to play Dublin in a pre-recorded interview with the late Tony Fenton aired today, but nothing concrete has been put in place.
Read More You could be heading to Vancouver to catch the Dublin band kick off their tour in Vancouver.
Read More U2 are releasing a 2 x 12", 6,000 limited-edition Deluxe version of Age Of Innocence as their contribution to Record Store Day 2015 on April 18.
Read More What our team of critics made of the records in the running for Irish Album Of The Year 2014.
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New video features footage from Irish filmmaker Aoife McArdle's short film of the same name, depicting a love story set in Northern Ireland during The Troubles
Read More Minister Jan O'Sullivan announces four new ventures to receive funding
Read More Bill Clinton, Daniel Day Lewis, Neil Jordan and Gabriel Byrne are also involved with the Bono-inspired Sons+Fathers.
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Choice cut from Songs of Innocence grabs top spot in our end-of-year poll The release of Songs of Innocence may have caused a storm at the time, but now that the dust has settled, the quality of U2’s newest LP is clear for all to see.
Read More New dates added in North America and Europe...but Irish fans left waiting
Read More And those U2 Films Of Innocence vids just keep on coming!
Read More The videos from U2's Films Of Innocence have been hitting the 'net, and fab looking they are too!
Read More Guitarist compares the singer's injuries to those following a car crash, but says "he's doing OK"
Read More Special Dublin shows are also being planned for the end of next year...
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Bill Clinton, Barack Obama, Coldplay's Chris Martin and Kanye West were in the supporting cast in World AIDS Day celebration...
Read More Adam Clayton, The Edge and Larry Mullen Jr. will be joined by Bruce Springsteen and Coldplay’s Chris Martin at a special gig to celebrate World AIDS Day in Times Square in New York - live from 12.20 am Irish Time.
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“This year is a World AIDS Day like no other,” says Bono. But his injuries will prevent the singer from performing at U2’s planned celebration in New York, that will also star Chris Martin, as well as Kanye West and Carrie Underwood...
Read More Artists have been commissioned to create 11 films inspired by Songs Of Innocence.
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U2 frontman narrowly avoids fatal accident on private jet...
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When U2 released their latest album Songs of Innocence free on iTunes, it sparked a furious and often heated debate. But after 30 million downloads and close to 100 million listens, the attention is finally shifting to the music. On the way to a TV show in Germany, Hot Press caught up with Adam, Bono, Edge and Larry...
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Anti-corruption legislation, that forces oil companies to declare how much was paid for mining rights, required Irish government support to get through...
Read More Adam Clayton's former PA Carol Hawkins has seen her appeal against the severity of her prison sentence rejected by the Court of Criminal Appeal this morning.
Read More U2 are to join house band The Roots for a week of The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon appearances, kicking off on Monday November 17.
Read More Our trip down memory lane continues, we find our current cover stars revitalised at the turn of the century.
Read More The U2 singer says he is unfazed by the controversy over Songs of Innocence.
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When U2 released their latest album Songs of Innocence, it was the subject of heated controversy. While the arguments aren't over yet, the attention is gradually turning to the music...
Read More We go back in time to 1981 and find our current cover stars ready to storm America.
Read More Bono, Larry, Adam and The Edge open up from a private jet, and that's just the start...
Read More When Songs of Innocence – and its unorthodox release – became the biggest story in music, it served as reminder that U2 remain the biggest band on planet rock.
Read More “The idea that we trousered 100 million is ridiculous,” the guitarist tells Olaf Tyaransen
Read More High entries for Slipknot and Ben Howard, but they haven't outsold the Irish.
Read More If you weren’t glued to your telly screen last night, here’s U2 tearing it up on Later… With Jools Holland.
Read More The Irish band got top billing tonight, in a stellar cast that also included Sam Smith and Interpol.
Read More Following their comprehensive nailing of ‘The Miracle (Of Joey Ramone)’ and ‘Song For Someone’ last weekend on the Graham Norton Show, U2 join Interpol, Zola Jesus, Dave & Phil Alvin and Sam Smith tonight at 11.35am on Later… With Jools Holland.
Read More It's a colourfully saturated, retro, VHS-style offering from the Irish rock icons.
Read More The U2 frontman admits to "a drop of megalomania" in giving away Songs Of Innocence to every iTunes user.
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To celebrate the physical release today in Ireland of U2's Songs Of Innocence, we're giving away four copies of the extremely sexy looking 2 x 12" white vinyl limited-edition that we unwrapped this morning on hotpress.com...
Read More Apple have revealed that in addition to it automatically appearing in libraries, 26 million iTunes users have actively downloaded Songs Of Innocence with 81 million ‘experiencing’ the album through iTunes, iTunes Radio and Beats Music.
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Hot Press' Stuart Clark unwraps the stunning vinyl album of 'Songs of Innocence' by U2.
Read More U2 are being lined-up for the October 21 and 24 editions of Later… With Jools Holland.
Read More Collaboration with Lykke Li soundtracks teaser for Season 5
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Bono confirms the band will be scaling back for their live dates next year.
Read More Well known Dublin band are back with a crash, bang and wallop...
Read More The U2 frontman says that the blogosphere is enough to put you off democracy, in an exclusive interview with the renowned RTE presenter.
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"Joey would have been honoured," drummer Marky Ramone says of lead single 'The Miracle (Of Joey Ramone)'.
Read More The two Irish superstars have been throwing around ideas for some years now.
Read More iTunes users now have the option to delete Songs Of Innocence from their accounts.
Read More U2 manager Gus Oseary has spoken to American trade magazine Billboard about their $100 million deal with Apple.
Read More There’s been an avalanche of reaction to U2 taking us all unawares, with the release of their Songs Of Innocence album.
Read More Former U2 manager Paul McGuinness has spoken to Irish national radio station Newstalk about the surprise unleashing yesterday of Songs Of Innocence.
Read More There may have been rumours, but U2 still took the world by surprise with what is one of rock’s biggest ever coups...
Read More Rumours of music video shoots in Dublin that were really iPhone commercials have been dispelled.
Read More There is also speculation that the band will participate in the iTunes music festival in London.
Read More Times aren’t too hard for U2 with the Sunday Times Rich List suggesting that the chaps are collectively worth £428 million.
Read More U2 have officially denied reports that they’ve pushed back the release of their new album to 2015 and claims that surfaced in certain tabloids that they’re on the verge of splitting.
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Top of the Rock, the band were on hand to welcome Jimmy Fallon to The Tonight Show.
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U2’s ‘Invisible’ managed to notch up over three million downloads during the 24-hour period it was available for free, which the Bank of America matched by donating over $3 million to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.
Read More The U2 frontman on Ramones and Kraftwerk influences on their new album, working with Danger Mouse and how he fears his band are "on the verge of irrelevance".
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You have up until 5am on Tuesday to get yourself a free iTunes download copy of U2’s ‘Invisible’, which was teaser trailered during this morning’s Superbowl half-time ad break.
Read More We'll get our first taste of 'Invisible' during an ad break, after which free iTunes downloads of the single will raise money for charity.
Read More There was excitement – then much head scratching last night among the U2 community when Dave Fanning announced on his 2fm show “I’m going to give you something now, a brand new, first time play which is from U2. This song here, will it be on the album? Just a blast! Brand new, ‘Invisible.’”
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Last night turned out to be an extremely good one for U2 with the chaps picking up a Best Original Song Golden Globe with ‘Ordinary Love’.
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Here the Grammy-winning producer's take on 'Ordinary Love'.
Read More 'Original Love', penned for Mandela: Long Walk To Freedom, is up for Best Original Song.
Read More The four members of U2 have signed a statement which formalises the beginning of their new deal with Live Nation
Read More With the country understandably gripped by sick rugby-related parotdom, we thought we’d try and cheer you up with the world’s finest karaoke ensemble – Chic plus Bono
Read More The song is taken from the band’s recent sessions with Danger Mouse and will feature in the upcoming film Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom.
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Team Hot Press is proud to announce North Side Story, a limited-edition book we’ve produced for the good folk at U2.com...
Read More We are loving Jenny & Tyler’s gorgeous cover of U2’s ‘I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For’, which also features Sara Gloves.
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'Ordinary Love' has been penned for a new biopic on the inspiring South African statesman.
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Amnesty International has announced the early November release of a 2-CD, 6-DVD box-set celebrating 25-years of their Human Rights Now benefit gigs.
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The Irish stars join Amnesty International in calling for the two jailed members to be released...
Read More Bono and Co. will perform Aslan's 'This Is' for audiences worldwide on Friday June 21
Read More It’s in aid of the agit8 campaign, which is calling on western leaders to help end extreme poverty by 2030.
Read More Toronto Globe & Mail music journalist Brad Wheeler has been tweeting about the interview he’s just conducted with Daniel Lanois.
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You can also catch David Gray, Gabriella Cilmi and The Magic Numbers going acoustic for Africa.
Read More The Department of Education are to start helping fund the Music Generation project, which U2 and The Ireland Funds have bankrolled to the tune of €7 million since 2007.
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Carol Hawkins, the former personal assistant to Adam Clayton of U2, has been found guilty of stealing almost €3 million from him.
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A stripped down 'Original Of The Species' appears on thew new Every Mother Counts 2012 compilation.
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They’ll be recreating the infamous Achtung Baby cover design with sixteen winning entries…
Read More The sound of four men chopping down the joshua tree - over then discs!
Read More It's part of a 20th Anniversary Achtung Baby tribute compilation.
Read More From The Sky Down will be shown on BBC One this Sunday, October 9.
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Check out a sneak peak of From The Sky documentary which premiered at the Toronto Film Festival last week.
Read More According to a statement made to The Mirror Bono is in good health, despite recent press stories to the contrary.
Read More Contrary to reports in the Irish Independent this morning Bono says he did not suffer a heart scare while in the South of France.
Read More The investment vehicle involving Bono has seen the value of their Facebook stake increase dramatically.
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Plus your chance to finally see the world through Bono's eyes.
Read More A further big screen outing for Bono and the boys is in store.
Read More The alien-like works of art are set to live on!
Read More Broadway musical triumphs over adversity
Read More Meanwhile, there's the small matter of tonight's Glasto headliner!
Read More Louth, Mayo and Sligo set to receive up to €1.6 million in funding over three years from U2 and Ireland Funds supported venture
Read More The record was beaten last night in Brazil.
Read More The late, extremely great Bill Graham joined U2 on the American tour promoting Boy, their classic album, which turns 37 today...
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Over 98,000 people watched their gig last night in the FNB Stadium.
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U2 brought their high octane show to Brussels for two nights to make amends for skipping them the last time around
Read More According to Paul McGuinness, it's likely to land in early 2011.
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Bono and the boys rocked the foundations of the famous city and our man was there to catch the best bits
Read More The band went on to play a blinder in the Luzhniki stadium.
Read More Paul McGuinness talks to Hot Press after U2’s triumphant Turin show.
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Hot Press talks to Paul McGuinness minutes after their Turin show.
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The penultimate gig from the groundbreaking tour last year saw U2 making history on a number of fronts
Read More U2 have however been forced to cancel their Glastonbury headliner & postpone 16 US dates.
Read More Only one of them will be happening before June!
Read More U2360°At The Rose Bowl is due in June and features a host of extras.
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Through ten years of extraordinary turbulence, other contenders have squared up to U2 – but the Irish four-piece have seen them all off to retain their crown as the biggest, and millions would agree the best, band in the world.
Read More The band's trans-Atlantic exploits earned them $108 million in 2009.
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‘Stranded (Haiti Mon Amour)’ will be available soon for iTunes download.
Read More U2, Jay-Z & Rihanna are collaborating on a tie-in single.
Read More It Might Get Loud, the movie featuring Edge, Jimmy Page and Jack White, got its first Irish airing last night at the IFC in Dublin – to a hugely positive reaction.
Read More U2 have yet again claimed first place in Fanning’s Fab 50 on RTÉ 2fm, with the extraordinary 'One' – which first appeared on the Achtung Baby album, and has since gone on to become U2's most popular and enduring song.
Read More No Line On The Horizon and ‘I’ll Go Crazy If I Don’t Go Crazy Tonight’ are both up for awards!
Read More With the crowd having waited patiently through snow, rain and wind on a bitterly cold Berlin night, U2’s arrival on stage was greeted with joy and jubilation.
Read More U2 will headline the Pyramid Stage on Friday night (June 25) at Glastonbury 2010.
Read More U2 played an electrifying mini-set to an audience of 10,000 at Brandenburger Tor (Brandenburg Gate) this evening, to mark the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall.
Read More U2 will perform a free show at the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin to mark the 20th anniversary of the tearing down of the Berlin Wall in 1989.
Read More It's taking place in the early hours of Monday morning.
Read More They've also announced more European tour dates.
Read More The economy may be swirling down the plughole, but Ireland has a rich history of entrepreneurship. We need to build on this.
Read More US university to host a conference on 'U2:The Hype and The Feedback'
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In rock terms, that's what U2 are, having successfully defended their crown against all-comers since The Joshua Tree crashed to No.1 in the US in 1987.
Read More They came from the four corners to see U2 at Croke Park. Our reviewer caught the opening night of the 360º tour’s Irish leg.
Read More U2 pitch up to Croke Park for the final night of their Dublin jaunt with a little help from fellow locals The Script and Bell X1
Read More Bono and the lads are back in Croke Park for the second night of their 360 Tour visit to Dublin
Read More Bono and co play the first of three nights on the banks of the Royal Canal...
Read More Some of the many faces that travelled from all corners of the globe to see U2 play a triumphant hometown gig
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The party's taking place in New York in October.
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The current issue of Hot Press includes an exclusive interview with The Edge in which he talks about meeting Michael Jackson, the singer's death, criticism of U2 in Ireland, blogging and the controversy over U2’s carbon footprint. He also gives a unique insider’s view of how U2’s 360º Tour works.
Read More The opening night of a U2 tour can be fraught with peril. But in the Camp Nou in Barcelona tonight they exorcised the demons of previous tours and started on a winning note. Report: Olaf Tyaransen
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They have just been confirmed to play on Kenny's last show
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Already all over the Irish airwaves, U2's 'Magnificent' track will be the second single from their recent No.1 album.
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As predicted by Hot Press, U2 have confirmed a third date in Croke Park this July.
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As U2 gear up for the release of No Line On The Horizon, they meet HP to talk about the creation of their latest masterwork, meeting world leaders, the way they’re perceived in Ireland, the current state of the music business and their future plans.
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...so says School of Seven Bells frontman Benjamin Curtis, as he recounts how he was given a sneak listen to the No Line On The Horizon by his mates Edge and Bono.
Read More As their album reaches the No.1 spot in the UK and Ireland, U2 have announced details of their 360° Tour, which is being sponsored by Blackberry.
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Paul McGuinness has been talking to Hot Press about the imminent announcement of U2’s world tour, which is likely to include three Croke Park stop-offs in July.
Read More RTÉ 2FM's Larry Gogan will play his recent interview with U2 drummer Larry Mullen this Sunday.
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It's a taxing life being a rock star – as The Edge talks to Hot Press about the controversy over U2's tax situation.
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HMV's social networking site getcloser.com are asking U2 fans to vote online for what they think is the band's best song.
Read More Hot Press was granted unique access to U2, interviewing all four members as they rehearsed for their recent Brit Awards appearance. They talk about No Line On The Horizon, how they're viewed in Ireland, the current state of the music business and more...
Read More Fans will be able to get hold of No Line On The Horizon within minutes of its Irish release.
Read More The boys are playing a five-night residency on the Letterman show.
Read More The No Line On The Horizon title-track gets its world premiere on the rock station on Thursday.
Read More The video for U2’s new single, 'Get On Your Boots', will be premiered today on U2.com, with a television premiere on RTÉ’s Six One News.
Read More U2's new single 'Get On Your Boots' has shot straight to No.1 in the Irish airplay charts.
Read More U2 have confirmed the cover artwork & track-listing of their No Line On The Horizon album.
Read More The Garda Fraud Squad investigate online ticket scam
Read More There's plenty of exciting Irish releases to look forward to in the coming months, including new records from U2, The Answer, Laura Izibor and more...
Read More The new U2 album is to be called No Line On The Horizon, and is due for release next March.
Read More U2, The Clash and Elbow have joined War Child's Heroes project to raise money for children living in the world's most dangerous war zones.
Read More Hot Press is delighted to bring you this peek at U2 applying the finishing touches to their new album in London.
Read More The group took part in the effort to raise £500,000 on Monday at a fundraiser in London for Nordoff-Robbins Music Therapy and the BRIT School.
Read More U2 are to receive 1.56 million shares worth around $18.5 million in American concert promoters Live Nation Inc.
Read More U2’s tour manager Dennis Sheehan has been selected for this year's prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award by the Parnelli Awards Board of Directors.
Read More Following on from Bono's comments that 2009 will be their year, it's confirmed: there will definitely be no new U2 album this year.
Read More Bono has been talking up the new U2 album, which appears to have been pushed back to early 2009.
Read More Hot Press understands that there’s absolutely no concern in the U2 camp over four tracks from the band’s new album which leaked onto YouTube over the weekend.
Read More U2's Live At Red Rocks DVD and the Under A Blood Red Sky album will now get the re-release treatment on September 26.
Read More The U2 reissue onslaught continues with a digitally overhauled version of their 1983 live album, Under A Blood Red Sky, out here on September 20.
Read More Coldplay's Viva La Vida is likely to see the end of its current reign at the top of the Irish charts as U2 release re-mastered versions of their classic albums Boy, October and War.
Read More U2 fans are going to have to do some serious shelling out over the next few weeks if they want to keep their collections up to date.
Read More U2 manager Paul McGuinness has been dropping hints about the release of the new U2 album, which is provisionally planned for October.
Read More U2 have announced details of the bonus tracks gracing the Deluxe format version of their Boy, October and War album, which is out in July.
Read More U2 soundman Joe O’Herlihy has revealed that following a stint in Dublin’s Windmill Lane Studios, the band are set to do some warm weather recording overseas.
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U2 producer Daniel Lanois has been talking about the recording of the band's new album, which resumes this week in Dublin’s Windmill Lane studio.
Read More Well, some of the time! U2 3D has just hit the screens and it takes our appreciation of Bono and the boys into another dimension.
Read More U2 manager Paul McGuinness has expressed interest in the band playing in London's O2 Arena this autumn.
Read More 1,200 people packed into Park City, Utah’s Eccles Theater last night for the world premiere of 'U23D'.
Read More Get out your calendars and mark these dates, as we give you the run-down of the key albums due to hit shelves in 2008.
Read More 3D-equipped cinemas are to show the new U2 concert film 'U2 3D' beginning on February 22.
Read More U2 have set a date for the release of their 3D concert film 'U2 3D'.
Read More Paul McGuinness has revealed that there are more U2 remasters in the pipeline.
Read More U2's manager Paul McGuinness is to be interviewed on Dublin's Phantom 105.2 this Sunday as part of a special programme looking back at the band's Joshua Tree album.
Read More U2 have quashed rumours of a residency in London's O2 Arena next year.
Read More Previously unreleased U2 track 'Wave Of Sorrow,' which will be included in the new re-issue of The Joshua Tree, is now available online through iLike.com
Read More U2 have discussed the details of never-before heard tracks to be included on the forthcoming deluxe edition re-release of their 'Joshua Tree' album.
Read More U2's classic album 'The Joshua Tree' is set for a re-release to mark its 20th anniversary.
Read More Legendary producer and musician Daniel Lanois has revealed that big strides are being taken in the recording of U2's new album.
Read More U2 are set to feature prominently in Here Is What Is, a new fly-on-the-studio-wall documentary that’s been put together by their long-time confidante Daniel Lanois.
Read More According to well-placed sources the world’s highest-paid supermodel, Gisele Bundchen, has agreed to star in the video for the next U2 single – whenever and whatever that is.
Read More There are plans to release U2’s Mexico PopMart concert from 1997 on DVD later this year.
Read More When fans were asked to choose a theme song for Hilary Clinton's Presidential campaign, it seems U2 didn't quite cut it.
Read More In time for our birthday issue, The Edge talks exclusively to Peter Murphy about 30 years of Ireland's premier music mag, and reveals that they're working on a "project" rather than a new album.
Read More U2 are back in Dublin following a songwriting sojourn in the medieval Moroccan city of Fez.
Read More Fans and festival folk heading to see the world premiere of U2 3D at Cannes Film Fest got more than expected when the world's most famous Irishmen played an impromptu set on the red carpet.
Read More Iconic memorabilia belonging to Bono and The Edge helped to raise €1.8 million in an auction to benefit musicians left with nothing after Hurricane Katrina.
Read More U2 stars Bono and The Edge are in negotiations to write the score for a new musical on Spiderman.
Read More Turning 30 has made Hot Press feel a bit geriatric, but we’re mere kids compared to Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, which celebrates its 40th birthday this year.
Read More Fans can get a close-up look at The Edge’s 1975 Gibson Les Paul from April 3 to 6 when it goes on display in Dublin’s Clarence Hotel.
Read More The much-anticipated results of the HOTPRESS Readers’ Poll are announced in the new issue published Thursday, January 25.
Read More A speech by Bono at a 2005 White House conference on extreme poverty and AIDS in Africa is to be published in book form.
Read More The world's biggest band finished their tour with a little help from their friends.
Read More U2, Paul McCartney and Robbie Williams and other notables have called for a change to extend the length that copyright laws apply.
Read More Niall Stokes draws on his best-selling book Into The Heart: The Stories Behind The Songs Of U2 to offer a unique insight into the way in which some of the greatest songs in the history of popular music came into being.
Read More
U2 have won their legal battle against their former stylist, Lola Cashman.
Read More 'The Saints Are Coming', the new single by U2 and Green Day, has debuted at No.1 in Ireland.
Read More The next issue of Hot Press, out on Thursday November 16, finds Ireland’s most fortnightly magazine celebrating the release of U2 18 Singles.
Read More Demons for new technology that they are, U2 are planning to release a 3-D Vertigo concert film, which will premiere next year.
Read More With the publication of U2 By U2, the band have finally got to tell the story of their success from their own perspective. It’s got some great pictures too.
Read More U2 have announced that after 26 years they're to part with Island Records, though they're now moving to another subsidiary of Universal.
Read More A lucky 250 U2 fans got the chance to meet their idols at a book signing in Eason's on O'Connell Street yesterday (September 24). View our photo gallery direct from Dublin 1.
Read More U2 manager Paul McGuinness has broken the band's silence about the decision to move their financial operations to the Netherlands. The decision inspired considerable criticism in Ireland, notably from the Labour spokesman on Finance, Joan Burton TD. In an interview that will appear in the new edition of Hot Press, McGuinness defends the band's position in a strongly worded statement of the underlying logic.
Read More U2 are set to follow in the Rolling Stones’ steps by transferring the music publishing wing of their operation to the Netherlands.
Read More Bono has revealed that U2 are planning to start work on a new album.
Read More America’s ESPN cable sports network has enlisted U2’s help to promote its live World Cup coverage.
Read More They've accomplished more than many other bands but until now there was still one field not yet tackled by U2- the western theme song.
Read More Those left disappointed with the postponment of the band's last dates for the Vertigo tour will be glad to know that they're busy rescheduling the concerts.
Read More U2 have been forced to pull out of the last shows of their Veritgo world tour.
Read More Irish rockers U2 cleaned up at the Grammys in Los Angeles last night, winning gongs in all five of the categories for which they were nominated.
Read More The Meteor Awards took place in Dublin last night and U2 were the clear winners, winning in all three categories they were nominated in.
Read More Bono was on hand today as a new initiative to fight HIV and AIDS was announced at the World Economic Forum in Switzerland.
Read More The Brazilian contingent of U2's global following were left disgruntled after the allocation of tickets for their Sao Paolo show descended into chaos.
Read More The nominations for the 2006 Brit Awards have been announced, and it's no surprise that U2 are waving the Irish flag.
Read More The US's Billboard magazine have charted U2's as the highest grossing tour of 2005.
Read More U2 have been honoured with an accolade from campaign group Amnesty International.
Read More Monday night saw Bono paying tribute to Mo Mowlam at a remembrance event for the former Northern Ireland Secretary in London’s Drury Lane Theatre.
Read More Irish rock gods U2 have confirmed their first dates for next year's Vertigo 2006, now that Vertigo 2005 has nearly run its course.
Read More The Edge is spearheading an initiative to supply instruments to Gulf Coast musicians displaced by Hurricane Katrina.
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Bono has given his blessing to a Mary J. Blige cover of ‘One’.
Read More Hot Press is delighted to bring you this sneak preview of the Vertigo 2005 – U2 Live From Chicago cover artwork.
Read More U2 have hit out at former first lady Hilary Clinton after it was revealed that she is using their Washington concert as an opportunity to fundraise for the Democrat Party.
Read More As if they didn't have enough achievements under their belt already, U2 are to be the first muscial guests to 'take over' the prestigious Late Show With Conan O'Brien in the US.
Read More U2 have confirmed ‘All Because Of You’ as the fourth single to be lifted from their Vertigo album.
Read More In one of the starriest line-ups we've seen since Live 8, celebs and artists led by U2 are rallying together to raise money for the victims of Hurricane Katrina. A special telethon will be aired on all six US networks as well as Sky One tonight.
Read More U2 are to be honoured by the Portugeuse government this weekend when the Vertigo tour stops off in Lisbon.
Read More Glastonbury organiser Michael Eavis has described U2 as “blighters” after the band rejected an offer to play at the 2005 festival.
Read More Costs have been awarded against U2’s former stylist Lola Cashman in a hearing at the Dublin Circuit Civil Court today.
Read More In what is almost certainly an all-time record, U2 currently have no less than eleven albums in the Irish Top 75, as compiled by IRMA.
Read More U2 have won their court battle with former stylist Lola Cashman over tour memorbilia and clothing they claim she stole while employed by the band during their Joshua Tree world tour in 1987. The verdict was announced this morning (Tuesday July 5) to a packed Dublin Circuit Civil Court by Mr Justice Matthew Deery. Neither Ms Cashman nor members of U2 were present to hear the verdict.
Read More "Tonight it’s impossible to resist the tune’s Spielbergian scale.House lights full on, Mr Hewson looks like he’s being borne up by 80,000 voices."
Read More The stage times for the three Dublin shows have been announced
Read More Steve Lillywhite, who produced U2's first three albums – and has featured on the production team of almost all of their records – looks back over the band's career and recalls the highs... and the lows
Read More There could be no better illustration of how U2 have become global icons. Kick-starting the European leg of their Vertigo tour in Brussels’ King Baudouin Stadium on June 10, the old anti-sectarian favourite ‘Sunday Bloody Sunday’ electrified the crowd like no other. Here, however, it had been transformed from its original intent as a plea to end bloodshed in Northern Ireland into a hymn for religious harmony among the ‘sons of Abraham’ – Christians, Jews and Muslims.
Read More Tickets for U2's concerts in London and Manchester are now available online
Read More U2 have been talking about revisiting their album Pop, which Bono says is "not what it was intended to be"
Read More U2 have confirmed that they will not be playing a fourth date in Dublin
Read More Chicago fans took a double-take recently when U2 played 'Vertigo' twice during their set
Read More ‘City Of Blinding Lights’ is the next cab off the Vertigo rank
Read More U2 have added a third Dublin date to their Vertigo world tour
Read More Backcombed bouffants, mullets and white boy Afros. No, we’re not talking about The A – Z Of Really Bad Haircuts, but the new Anton Corbijn photo-book, U2 & I, which serves up a pictorial history of the band from February 1982 (New Orleans) to April 2004 (Portugal). Pictures supplied courtesy of Anton Corblin/ U2 & I published by Schirmmer/Mosel
Read More Dateline San Diego, March 28th: with seven songs from their world-beating Vertigo album in the set, on the opening night of their world tour, it quickly became clear that – the occasional glitch notwithstanding – U2 have re-imagined their live set with remarkable success. Tara McCarthy asks: how do they do it?
Read More With band currently involved in rehearsals in Canada, U2 manager Paul McGuinness (and an eavesdropping fan with super hearing) has revealed some details of what's in store...
Read More HarperCollins have unveiled a microsite to prime U2 fans for their new book, U2 By U2
Read More U2 was inducted into the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame in a memorable ceremony held in New York
Read More As U2 get ready to launch their Vertigo World Tour in San Diego, a whole gaggle – or should that be whoop? – of Irish artists have covered their songs on the Today FM supported Even Better Than The Real Thing.
Read More A Bono aid says that the singer has no intention of taking over from James Wolfensohn as the leader of the World Bank.
Read More Next month sees U2 inducted into the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame in New York
Read More U2 got their fair share of limelight at last night's Grammy Awards ceremony in Los Angeles
Read More Today FM listeners have voted U2's 'One' as the Best Irish Song From The Past 25 Years
Read More Anton Corbijn's long-awaited photography book U2&I is now available for fans to purchase
Read More U2.com has posted "An Open Letter From Larry Mullen" in which the drummer addresses both "long-time U2 fans" and "so-called U2 fans"...
Read More When presale tickets for the U2 tour went on sale, the demand far exceeded the supply – and the technology wasn’t up to it!
Read More hotpress.com looks at how U2's Vertigo tour has been selling so far, and confirms details of their two Irish dates, which go on sale Friday
Read More Tickets for U2's dates in the UK went on sale this morning and was, predictably, met with huge demand
Read More Having been forced to postpone the first batch of dates due to a family illness, U2 have confirmed that their 2005 Vertigo World Tour will kick off in San Diego on March 28.
Read More U2 have confirmed some details of their Vertigo world tour, including the much coveted support slot
Read More Uncertainty still surrounds U2's plans for their world tour, which had been due to kick off in March 2005.
Read More U2 manager Paul McGuinness has confirmed that details of their 2005 world tour have yet to be finalised.
Read More With How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb dominating the Christmas sales rush, U2 have firmly re-established their place at the top of the rock tree. Now comes further evidence of the expanding ambitions of Ireland's biggest ever showbiz export.
Read More There was much celebrating in the U2 camp this week as How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb sold its millionth copy in the UK.
Read More Not content with picking up two Grammy nominations for 'Vertigo', Bono will be a geust presenter in the forthcoming Christmas Today series on BBC Radio
Read More How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb has finished up a week of global sales with results that are nothing short of phenomenal
Read More U2 are about to unleash their new album How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb. The world’s media are descending on Dublin. And Bono is back at the punch-bag, getting into fighting shape before the shit storm really explodes. The gloves are off. He’s got work to do. And he’s going to do it. Words Stuart Clark, additional reporting by Niall Stokes.
Read More hotpress.com reveals the tracklisting of the complete U2 digital download which, since going on sale last week, has been exceeding predicted sales figures
Read More Look what's just come through OUR door - the special edition of U2's new album...
Read More hotpress.com brings you images of the packaging of U2's black Apple iPod and the wait is nearly over to get the new album. [Pics from ipodlounge.com]
Read More Last night began a momentous chapter for the world’s biggest band. For U2, it was the first live airing and radio/internet broadcast of material from their eleventh studio album, How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb. For those in attendance, it was an opportunity as rare as they come. The location: Dublin, Ireland. More specifically, at the album’s birthplace, in their Hanover Quay studios. Hot Press editor Niall Stokes was in attendance to feel the impact and capture the aftershock. [photos by John Dardis, courtesy of U2]
Read More With their album release only days away, U2 have been speaking to Hot Press about their upcoming world tour and the likely candidates for the prestigious support slot
Read More Exclusive! Our crime correspondent gets to the bottom of Bono’s briefcase.
Read More Atomic Bomb is positively Spector-esque in its ambition, although curiously enough, it’s not a showy record, the playing being mostly subservient to the songs.
Read More In what could prove to be one of the year's biggest marketing coups, Apple Computer Inc. have inked a deal with U2 which sees the band putting their name to a customised iPod. [pics courtesy of Apple]
Read More Glastonbury organisers have confirmed that U2 will not be headlining next year's festival
Read More Inside the Terenure lair of the resident grand wizard of live sound engineering on Planet Earth.
Read More Paul McGuinness has spoken out against websites selling tickets for unconfirmed U2 dates in the UK and Ireland
Read More With first single 'Vertigo' now spinning high on radio playlists, U2 have announced details of their Dublin tour dates
Read More Irish audiences will hear U2's first single ahead of its worldwide release
Read More U2 fans can finally revel in some official news: the title and release date of the new album
Read More As first revealed by hotpress.com "Vertigo" has been confirmed as the first single to be taken from the band's as yet untitled 11th studio album. Due to hit the racks on November 5th, 'Vertigo' is an epic U2 track laced with big guitars and soaring vocals.
Read More Top musicians Bono and Larry Mullen appear in film to celebrate Oscar Wildes 150th birthday.
Read More Anton Corbijn's collection of photographs has been given the U2 seal of approval
Read More ... And it's not called Vertigo! The man otherwise known as "Bono's doppelganger", Neil McCormick, talks sounds, songwriting and stadium-sized pressure in the most revealing U2 album preview yet.
Read More The new U2 photobook, U2 Show: The Art Of Touring, is being published by Riverhead on October 21.
Read More Bono was among the stars and prominent politicians paying tribute to Senator Ted Kennedy on Wednesday in Boston's Symphony Hall.
Read More French police have been alerted after a CD of new U2 songs went missing during a band photo shoot in Nice.
Read More Unless 2 Unlimited are thinking of reuniting, it would seem that Bono and co. are Glastonbury-bound next year...
Read More This year it's Silicon Valley, next year it's quite possibly Glastonbury and apparently we can expect a new single soon enough
Read More U2 took everyone – including their Portuguese record company – unawares this week when they arrived in Lisbon to do a photo-shoot with official band snapper Anton Corbijn
Read More While 2004 has not been an especially spectacular year to date, there is good reason to believe that rocks big guns are likely to deliver the kind of records that will revive spirits in the industry. Chris Donovan previews some of the albums that are likely to top the sales – and the critical – charts before 2004 is out...
Read More While 2004 has not been an especially spectacular year to date, there is good reason to believe that rocks big guns are likely to deliver the kind of records that will revive spirits in the industry. Chris Donovan previews some of the albums that are likely to top the sales – and the critical – charts before 2004 is out...
Read More Garrett "Jacknife" Lee is the latest person to assist U2 with the recording of their somewhat overdue new album
Read More Steve Lilywhite is “an additional producer not a replacement” on U2's new album
Read More The CDs and DVD from the Nelson Mandela AIDS awareness show will be heavily Irish in their content; Plus more news from the U2 camp with a photo retrospective tipped for publication
Read More Paul McGuinness has confirmed that it's full steam ahead, not back to the drawing board, for the next U2 record
Read More Former producer Steve Lillywhite is in the studio with U2 but cannot reveal the expected finish date for the album
Read More Bono’s plan to highlight the AIDs epidemic in Africa at this year’s Superbowl has sadly been scuppered.
Read More Russian cosmonauts, mexican desperadoes and cranky italian elephants – it’s all in a day’s work for solo too supremo Ned O’Hanlon, the man entrusted with documenting the multi-media extravaganza that is the U2 live experience.
Read More After 18 years with Principle, Managing Director Sheila Roche has decided to leave the U2 camp
Read More Colm O’Gorman explains how U2 helped the abuse victims’ organisation one in four to survive
Read More U2 have put out big money to secure the future of the Dublin-based sexual abuse support centre
Read More Reports that U2 are suing Nancy Sinatra are completely unfounded
Read More U2 will take on the world for the release of their upcoming album, but not before a stop-over in Nashville...
Read More Get excited people - we bring you the track-listing of the U2 Go Home: Live From Slane Castle DVD
Read More Fans can relive U2's 2001 Slane spectacular with the release of the DVD in November
Read More Extra, extra special: we're delighted to bring you a sneak peek at seminal new U2 graphic-design-retrospective collectors' book, Stealing Hearts At A Traveling Show: The Graphic Design Of U2
Read More U2 designers Four5One and label boss deny that leaked posters for the band's new album are official
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Edge reports that the new U2 album is coming along swimmingly - and that it will be accompanied by a tour in 2004
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U2 to be given a special tribute by a stellar cast of musicians at the 45th Annual Grammy Awards later this month
Read More U2 scoop Golden Globe for Best Song From A Motion Picture with 'The Hands That Built America'. Next stop: the Oscars
Read More At the end of an exciting, painful and earthshaking year, Bono reflects on the political and the personal – from drop the debt, September 11, Afghanistan and Genoa to the death of his father Bob, the birth of his son John and the enduring friendship which underpins U2’s music and career. Interview: Niall Stokes [this interview originally appeared in the spectacular Hot Press Annual 2002 - used in the pictures below - a very limited number of this unique collectors item will shortly be on sale - email [email protected] to reserve a copy]
Read More U2 frontman speaks about "the biggest pandemic since the bubonic plague" and urges middle America to use their nation's huge financial power and get involved. "Our age will be remembered," he says, "for three things: the war against terror, the Internet, and how we let an entire continent burst into flames and stood around with water in cans"
Read More With a new 'best of' bringing the band's story up to date U2's guitar man steps forward to riff on good times and bad, the private life of a public figure, discovering the secrets of the universe on mushrooms and why, after all these years, few things match the high of being a member of U2. Special hotpress.com members edition: "director's cut" featuring interview sections unavailable anywhere else.
Read More With a new ‘Best Of’ bringing the band’s story up to date, U2’s guitar man steps forward to riff on good times and bad, the private life of a public figure, discovering the secrets of the universe on mushrooms, and why, after all these years, few things match the high of being a member of U2
Read More At its best, Zooropa is sky-funk, music from a band who, permanently or temporarily, have renounced the old folkways for the new airways
Read More Bill Graham reviews a new book by Boston D.J. Carter Alan, which sheds considerable light on U2's American breakthrough
Read More U2 announce details of the construction of a penthouse studio to be built at Britain Quay
Read More U2 are still determined to be better than the best in his class, and to produce music that is genuinely transcendent
Read More Edge waxes lyrical on the power of a "raw band sound"
Read More With the launch of a commemorative series of Irish postage stamps celebrating four of the nation's most important rock legends, we revisit some of the seminal moments in the careers of Phil Lynott, Rory Gallagher, Van Morrison and - first - U2
Read More hotpress.com is offering YOU the chance to snare a copy of the now-out-of-print The U2 File signed by each member of the band
Read More The insomniacs at HMV Grafton St do another midnight-opener - on Sunday, November 3rd - for the release of U2's Best Of 1990-2000
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Edge talks about the new album, Bono scoops 'MusiCares' award and guests on Elvis tribute TV show
Read More Get a headful of this: a sneak preview of U2's Best Of 1990-2000 album artwork, featuring extra ram (guffaw)
Read More The planet's most famous lead singer continues his humanitarian campaign, contributes to fundraising book project and appears on Oprah. Oh, and a Frank Sinatra cover and landmark U2 memorabilia exhibition are also en route
Read More U2 Live: A Concert Documentary - possibly the definitive book on U2's history as a live band - to be given an update and re-release following the tragic death of its compiler
Read More Well, look what we've got here: exclusive peeks at both the U2 single's sleeve artwork and the piccie from the new Samantha Mumba 45 as well. Don't thank us, we're just doing our job
Read More Imminent new single 'Electrical Storm' can only mean one thing: the U2 Best Of 1990-2000 CD/DVD is here - and boy is it ever chocca with cool extras. Read on for details
Read More U2 to release new single 'Electrical Storm' in October - the leader track from this autumn's Greatest Hits 1990-2000
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Hot Press readers worldwide want to know about Bono for president, Larry for lead singer, that mysterious tattoo, the greatest book, and more. Bono and Larry smoulder on the coals of the hp mixed grill
Read More In answer to a fan's question in the Hot Press Mixed Grill (see current edition of HP), Bono dismisses rumours that he will run for the Irish presidency
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Workaholics to a man and clearly unable to grasp the concept of time off, U2 already have much of their next album (due out in '03) in the bag - and apparently it's poppier and "more immediate" than All That You Can't Leave Behind
Read More What's Bono doing on the cover of international news magazine Time? Talking politics ("the art of the possible"), that's what
Read More ...quoth Drew Carey, master of ceremonies, when the glitterati gathered in Los Angeles last week to pay tribute to the many humanitarian endeavours of Bono, lead singer of popular Irish beat combo U2
Read More U2 and Oasis: together at last... The ultimate double-header stadium tour confirmed (but with no UK or Irish dates, mind)
Read More Hotpress.com investigate the rumours of U2 & The Phoenix Park ... (they just don't go away you know)...
Read More Will U2's studio homebase be demolished to make way for the neighbourhood's redevelopment (or more specifically, for a "two-million-Euro leisure complex")? The public hearing began this week...
Read More Via a petition that has gained signatures from round the world, U2 fans rally to save band headquarters Hanover Studios from mandatory demolition by the Dublin Docklands Authority: "What if Memphis tore down Sun Studios?"
Read More U2 - without even releasing an album last year - have walked away with the 2001 Hot Press Readers' Poll. Here's the scoop...
Read More U2 release new US-only rarities and B-sides collection. Yank one if you can
Read More U2 in talks with DDDA about possible alternative locations for studio headquarters
Read More U2’s studio headquarters may face demolition by compulsory public order from the Docklands authority
Read More With eight nominations in the bag, U2 are set to steal the show at this year's Grammys... again
Read More Bono has talked exclusively to Hot Press about September 11th, Fatherhood, and the US's actions in Afghanistan.
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Although under constant review, the word from the U2 camp is that they are still planning to go ahead with the return visit of the Elevation tour to North America.
Read More The second Slane show was such a spirited and spiritual affair you couldn’t fail to be as uplifted (or should that be elevated?) by it
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STUART BAILIE recalls some of the social and political movements that have occupied U2's hearts and minds down through the years... not least, the Springfield Garbage Dump campaign
Read More It's plastic Adam dolls, Zooropa wallpaper and bootleg CDs a-go-go: STUART CLARK knows there's a little U2 cyber-nerd inside all of us
Read More On 25 August 2001 - twenty years after first appearing there in support to Thin Lizzy - U2 play Slane Castle. NIALL STOKES reflects on the extraordinary journey that has led up to this historic, and beautiful, day
Read More Opening our U2 special, DERMOD MOORE catches up with ADAM CLAYTON during the UK leg of the Elevation tour, and delves deep into the physics of music celebrity, politics and, er, penises
Read More They may sport one of the most original sounds in rock’n’roll – but along the way they’ve been influenced by some of the greats. STUART BAILIE identifies the ten (plus!) key influences on the music of U2
Read More With their biggest dates ever in Ireland looming, LIAM MACKEY dips into voluminous hotpress archives and selects a small sample of what the paper said about U2 over the years
Read More A Peter Frampton cover version, a flautist and female backing vocalists were all elements of FEEDBACK’s first ever live concert performance, yet this was th eoutfit that would eventually become U2. COLM O'HARE recalls the event
Read More You get a continual sense from the entire band that they have rediscovered their love affair with live music
Read More ‘Beautiful Day’ is second out of the bag and the band’s, or specifically Bono’s, energy is palpable.
Read More The heart is a bloom, but you knew that already. Bono's lead line on 'Beautiful Day' effectively sets the tone for this new scheme. Great things can be nurtured, he tells us. Scepticism is out and old-fashioned hope is the greatest buzz around. So it's entirely fitting that the stage for the band's Elevation Tour should be framed by a massive, pulsating heart.
Read More When we last left U2, at the conclusion of 1997’s Pop, they were marooned on a spaghetti Golgotha, shouting, “Wake up dead man!” at a god who had apparently reneged on his promise to live forever. Well pilgrims, here’s the resurrection shuffle.
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Are Bono and the boys just a really good rock band or have they succeeded where the priests and politicians have failed and unlocked the neuroses of our colonial past? Joe Jackson indulges in a spot of cultural sparring with John Waters and finds the author of Race of Angels: Ireland and the Genesis of U2 well able to maintain his guard.
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IN THE FIRST PART OF A WORLD EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW IN THE LAST ISSUE OF HOT PRESS, BONO UNVEILED THE NEW U2 ALBUM, SPOKE ABOUT ITS GENESIS IN CYBERPUNK LITERATURE AND THE BAND'S HUNGER TO PUSH ROCK'N'ROLL TO ITS LIMITS. HERE HE ELABORATES ON HOW U2 GO ABOUT WRITING THEIR SONGS AGAINST THE BACKGROUND OF GLOBAL CHAOS, HIS ARTISTIC REFERENCE POINTS OUTSIDE MUSIC, THE SUBVERSIVE POWER OF HUMOUR, AND HOW HE ADMIRES THOSE WHO 'PARTICULARLY AGGRESSIVELY' DON'T BELIEVE IN GOD. AND THEN THERE'S THE STORY ABOUT JOHNNY CASH AND THE EMU. CAN THIS MAN BE FOR SURREAL? INTERVIEW:JOE JACKSON.
Read More ...IS COMING TO TAKE YOU AWAY! WHEN JOE JACKSON WENT TO INTERVIEW BONO AT U2'S SECRET DUBLIN RECORDING BASE, HE HAD NO IDEA WHAT TO EXPECT. WHAT HE GOT WAS A CRAZY ROLLERCOASTER RIDE THROUGH THE EXTRAORDINARY WORK-IN-PROGRESS WHICH WILL BECOME U2'S FOLLOW-UP TO THE ACCLAIMED "ACHTUNG BABY!", WITH BONO AT THE WHEEL AND AN UNSEEN PRESENCE WORKING THE ACCELERATOR LIKE A DEMON. "RECORDS SHOULD BE MORE OF A TRIP," SAYS THE MAN IN THE WRAPAROUND SHADES. FASTEN YOUR SEAT BELTS THEN. THIS WILL BE NO ORDINARY RECORD. AND THIS IS NO ORDINARY INTERVIEW.
Read More There is no question about it. He may look as if he's been dipped in a bottle of red ink but it is Adam who stands there bollock naked before the camera and the world on the back sleeve of the latest, long playing opus from the band whose name begins with U and ends with 2. And is that Eve who hovers topless behind Bono on the front?
Read More When Adam Clayton was arrested in Dublin in August of 1989 and charged with possession of 19 grammes of cannabis with intent to supply, it placed U2's immediate future as a live band in jeopardy. Trial report: Liam Fay.
Read More Sprawling across four restless, angry and sometimes contradictory sides, "Rattle And Hum" is nothing less than U2's most ambitious album yet. Review by Bill Graham
Read More As "With Or Without You" hits No. 1 in the US singles charts, Liam Mackey joins U2 on their biggest - and most successful - American tour to date.
Read More "The Joshua Tree" clarifies how U2's vocation has become the revival and renewal of rock and the recovery of its most romantic values. It also highlights the group's new commitment to the song. Review by Bill Graham
Read More Amid rumours and press reports that his career could be at an end, Larry Mullen reveals the truth about the extent of an injury to his hand that is becoming a common problem for rock drummers. Interview: Niall Stokes
Read More
U2's decision to choose Brian Eno as producer for their new album was a bold move.
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This was more than a gig, but it wasn't a party. It was the mutual celebration of an audience and a group.
Read More "U2 make me think", it's been said. That criterion is used a lot these days, because as rock'n'roll gets older, its priorities and values change. It spreads itself out and becomes more adjustable, like a toy.
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