The Smiley Smile Message Board

In the booklet of the new U2 album Bono says about his first time in California...

"I also wanted to see Brian Wilson's house, it was supposed to have a sand pit with a piano in it... And I loved The Beach Boys - they brought rythm for the body - melody for the mind - harmony for the spirit etc Brian sang like a girl too"



From Rolling Stone

The most joyous track on Songs of Innocence is "California (There Is No End to Love)," which unexpectedly nods to the Beach Boys in its intro.

Worth checking out. It's a nice song and the intro is an obvious tribute to The Beach Boys.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kf6hf3iZVSQ (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kf6hf3iZVSQ)

Updated with booklet info

Saw the title, thought it was the famous diet coke story.  :-D

Anyone else think Bono is one of the biggest twats on planet Earth?

BTW. The U2 album is free for itunes account holders. Just down loaded myself.

http://fortune.com/2014/09/09/is-u2-going-freemium-with-apple-a-sign-of-whats-to-come/

One of?? he is the biggest!!!!

I'm not the biggest U2 fan, but i don't understand the level of vitriol.

it's popular to hate Bono. I have no knowledge of anything he has done for deserving the vitriol.

some people just band on the hate wagon, what can you do? ::)

Bono pays tribute to everything. I suppose it's quite nice of him in his way, but it does mean his endorsements are debased currency.

I used to live in Bali and my girlfriend at the time was the honorary Irish consul in Bali. I left Bali to return to Oz just before the bombs went off in 2001. Annie stayed on and after the bomb spent a week at Denpasar hospital volunteering and to locate the 8 missing Irish nationals. It took her a while to find the last 2 who were injured and had locked themselves in their hotel room too scared to come out. Her time at Denpasar hospital was horrific and not good for the soul. About a month after the bombing she was riding her motorbike through Kuta and her phone rang, it was Bono, he had just heard what she had done and he took it upon himself to phone her and thank her for the job she did. He's a good bloke in my books!

Bono is seen as self-righteous and outspoken. Couple that with his popularity and massive income, and the fact he has been able to help more people and share his ideals with more people than most of us will ever get to....

And it seriously upsets a lot of people and causes them to spew hate in today's society for whatever reason.

He lacks the self-indulgent persona people want their celebrities to have.

Not really a fan of U2 at all, by the way. A couple songs are aiight but that's it for me.

It's funny how pretentious people have gotten in calling Bono/U2 pretentious.  Does he take himself too seriously at times? Sure. Is  he a good person and a genuine, generous man who bucks the celebrity culture stereotype. Absolutely.  It's long been "cool" to hate on him, all the while he just keeps making killer tunes with his awesome band, helping the less fortunate, and making a shitload more money than all the jealous haters.

I'm a U2 über fan and proud of it. In fact, besides BW and The Beatles, if even them,  no musicians have had the impact on my life.

This pretty much sums it up for me.  People don't like Bono because he is outspoken in his beliefs and very publicly supports his views and many charitable causes.  He is the main figure in one of, if not THE most popular rock band in the world, so people and news organizations listen and broadcast what he does and says.  There are plenty of people who don't care about the same issues, or at least not as much as, and it pisses them off that he's always in the news for supporting those issues.  I'm sure that there are other reasons people dislike him, but that seems to be the main focus, at least IMO.

I don't get it, myself.  The guy uses his massive celebrity to try to make the world a better place.  The nerve!!  It only seems more pushy with him because his rich and famous and news outlets report on him.  It's not like he goes out of his way to shame people that don't support the same things that he does. You'd better believe that if I had the world listening to what I had to say, I'd champion my beliefs and ideals without much regard to whether or not other people agreed.  If you truly care passionately about something, you're going to try to share it and convince others as well.

The whole "shut up and play" idea that people have towards musicians is silly to me.  Think about the music in the late 60's and early 70's.  There was a lot of politically charged music going on and a lot of it even made the charts!  A lot of that music is still regarded today as "classic" and among the most important music ever made.  It generally comes down to the fact that people don't want to hear about ideas that aren't in line with their own.  When people got all bent out of shape in regards to the Dixie Chicks making a political statement, many of the same people didn't care when Toby Keith made political statements that supported the opposite side.  It's usually not about celebs speaking out on issues, it's more about whether or not you agree with their position.  I know that that's a general statement and not the case for everyone, but I feel like it's a true in many cases.  

Sorry, I got a bit off track.  I love early U2 through the Achtung Baby album.  After that, they get spotty for a while.  I really enjoyed their last album No Line on the Horizon, though it wasn't received well by critics and some fans.  I downloaded the new one.  I don't think it's great, but it's not bad.  Certainly worth the price.  I'm sure that Apple paid them a huge amount for this release opportunity, so I'm not naive enough to think that U2 is taking a loss with this move, but in an era where a doofus like Gene Simmons says that rock is dead because he can't figure out how to change with the times in getting people to buy his music, I'm glad that U2 are out there giving their loyal fans something for free.  Bravo, U2.

I like Bono and U2.  In the 1980s and 90s I listened to them quite a bit. But it's funny that I never feel inclined to listen to my old U2 albums but I find myself playing even admittedly lesser bb albums like miu over and over. The bbs music just somehow goes much deeper emotionally.

How did that work out for you? Where did you end up? The stuff from Star Trek is really coming to pass. ;)

Bono should call Mike Love, he knows a lot about how to deal with the "Cool to hate" stuff.

Hey dont mess around with Bono! U2 is the greatest band after The Beach Boys, Acthung Baby is the Pet Sounds of the 90s for sonic and lyrical exploration.

And Pop was like Smile, a failed attempt to touch the sun...

What an awful, awful thing to offer your new album for free on iTunes!!!!!

I always considered Los Lobos' The Neighborhood as the 90's answer to Pet Sounds... It didn't sell as much as Achtung Baby though...

I see the analogy with Acthung Baby in the effort to transition from their 80s pop sound to something with more depth and sonic innovation. Like Brian did moving from Today (A side specially) to Pet Sounds.

I'm actually going to start a thread about this...

Breathtaking hypocrisy, corporate arse-licking and tax-dodging on an enormous scale all spring to mind...

Oh, and his band's music is sh*t.

Plus all the unbearable on stage posturing during the 1980s, his Tony Blair arse licking and his belief that because he's famous his social and political views need to be shared with everyone.

If I was worth several hundred million £s I'd probably throw out an album for free eventually too.

Reminds me of this letter from (very funny) adult humour comic Viz:

TOP TIP OF THE DAY:
RADIOHEAD. Make £150 million, then give away an album free saying you are against the business side of the music industry.

So, you hate a majority of musicians, then? :D

Yeah!

:lol

"…and I also wanted to bring him a Diet Coke."

 :lol

I've softened on Bono lately after reading some of his usual nonsense that seemed to hint at his ability to see it as nonsense himself.  In other words, he knows, just like we know, that he's a little full of it sometimes so I'm giving him a pass for all the above reasons you stated.  It's not like the guy's out hurting people he's just saying stupid sh*t from time to time, all the while doing what he can to help people the best way he sees fit.  Can't hate on that. 

Plus he's a singer.  And he's a good singer.

Bono pay tribute to Brian? Sure, but did it have to sound like Barbara-fucking Ann? ;)

YAWN....same old haters spiel....those things are bullshit if you're grounded in any sort of reality at all. Also, FWIW, 35 years into their career and they've made significantly less sh*t music than our beloved boys from Hawthorne. They've never made an MIU, SIP, or theme song to Problem Child.

Literally everything Bono has ever done makes me hate him.

I am informed.

I am aware.

He is one of the biggest twats who ever lived.

Never mind actual crimes, at least they never made bad music? What the f*** is this

When did it become uncool to despise Bono? He actually surpasses the Lovester in that field. No fair.

Mike Love wrote plenty of decent songs. He may be a twat, but he did write the lyrics to Good Vibrations.

Bono wrote, idk, two good songs in his lifetime? And he's just a massive bellend who will never stop his faux charity platitudes.

Bono by rights shouldn't exist. He's the cartoon caricature of a socially conscious rockstar.

If he was socially conscious in any way, shape or form, he would have never have been best mates with Tony Blair.

And that is your opinion, don't preach it on others.

Plus, he just has the worst taste in sunglasses.
(http://www.men-access.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/bono-emporio-armani-9285-sunglasses-detail.jpg)
What the f***, Bono?

I save my celeb-bashing vitriol for Chris Brown, that no-talent woman-beating jackass.   :)

Mass tax avoidance isn't a crime? It's certainly extremely immoral. And it certainly leaves a particularly nasty taste when it's coming from a holier-than-thou preacher like Bono.

 :thud

I love many types of music, from punk to pop to rap to country and everything in between, but I must not "get" U2. I've never liked a single one of their songs.

"California (There Is No End to Love)" - what's that supposed to mean? That Mike will never ever stop touring? :-D

I generally dont call people twats I've never met, unless they've physically harmed people or gone out their way to treat others like sh*t. I like some of U2s music, but wouldn't call myself a fan. And if i let someone's political views affect how i view their music, i never would've been a Beach Boys fan in the first place.

Sunday Bloody Sunday's brilliant, and I don't mind a few of their other songs. But overall I'm not a big fan.

In light of the Bono bashing here, I wonder what thoughts are on The Edge, Clayton and Mullen Jr?

I love U2, I own all of their albums. The Unforgettable Fire is one of my favorite records. They aren't one of the most popular bands in the world because they make shitty music!

That being said, I think it was a lousy move on their part to release this new album the way they did. It surprises me not that people hate this band so much - for this music to automatically show up in your itunes library - it's insanely pretentious to think that every person with an Apple device wants to (or should) listen to this album. Not mention the unveiling of an 'artistic statement' being done at an Apple presentation. The whole thing just leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

As an Apple fan, and a U2 fan, this last Tuesday was rather disappointing.

Hypehat....Jesus, man, you have some anger issues.

So, great enlightened and informed one, explain to me how U2 is criminal.

If it's the tax stuff, you're wrong. It wasn't evasion or anything remotely criminal. They moved their business operations in order to pay lower taxes. Criminal or smart business? 

You're an ignorant man.

Good Lord. Don't f***ing listen to it then. No one is forcing you to. In fact, Apple didn't force anyone to put the album on their devices as is being widely and falsely claimed. They purchased it for those devices and the users have the option to click to download it or not. There are millions of U2 fans that appreciate the gesture I'm sure, so why hate on them for simply inconveniencing users so much as making them NOT click to download or simply delete it? It's not that hard to not listen to it or download it while respecting that a lot of people really like free music from their favorite bands. 

It is very un-Apple to inconvenience users with this stuff. For a company whose unofficial motto is "It just works" it seems rather backwards for them to make people waste their time deleting an album (song titles and album art) they possibly don't want. Making it available for free from the iTunes store (like they did with U2's Invisible in February) makes far more sense.

Anyways, I've loved what I've heard so far, and I can't wait to actually give this a good solid listen.

I absolutely, totally agree with you, Wah Wah. Wouldn't say it better myself.

I've figured it out.
Wah Wah Wah Ooooo is Bono.

I think the apex of U2's career was the song they did with Johnny Cash and it's been a steady decline for them since. (Though I liked that song they did on Letterman a few months ago).

The album is free, so I'll give it a try.

I took my four year old to a U2 concert. I told him not to go too near the Edge.

Don't push me cause I'm...close...to...the...EDGE.... I'm trying not to ....lose.... my head uhh huh huh huh

Don't think Brian likes Bono telling the world Brian sang like a girl. It was an issue to Brian right?

Well, they kind of downloaded it automatically. While not directly to my music player, it is sitting in my own personal cloud account. Hell, I can't even put stuff there without a password, etc. There are always free tunes on iTunes, yet they never send those songs to my cloud account like they did with U2. That is my only issue.  We should decide whether we want the free music or not.

To me the question isn't should Bono f**k off, but how far off he should f**k...

It must be a sad, sad life to be so angry.

Perhaps you and HypeHat can wallow in your pathetic misery together?

In the early 90's, they went through this period where they were almost making fun of themselves and overdoing it, it was fucking AWESOME, get Zooropa and get "Pop".  Both great albums with lots of good music on them, nothing pretentious just really great sounding stuff. 

I really liked Achtung Baby and The Joshua Tree too, they were a little more serious of course but there's nothing wrong with that.  You've probably heard all of those, but the Zoo T.V. stuff was pretty good and different than what you might expect. 

Haha. Get a sense of humour, you boring stiff!

http://www.theguardian.com/music/shortcuts/2014/sep/10/ten-things-to-do-with-unwanted-u2-free-album-apple?CMP=fb_gu

I bet he high-fived himself when he wrote that.

I have not heard any of this new one yet, but they are okay.  I read it's free for everybody - will give a listen soon.  The last couple of albums had some great tracks.  The mid-to-late-'80's were boring (and way to serious).  But > Ron is right about the early-to-mid-'90's.  The Achtung Baby/Zoo TV/Pop period was a hoot!  Had many chances to see them, but only did once.  The POP MART tour 1996, in Oakland, CA.  Fantastic!  Bought the DVD too.  As an added bonus, Oasis was the co-headliner.

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/sep/13/has-rocknroll-sold-out-u2-apple-stunt

Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha....The guardian? Really? Hahahahahaha. What a joke of a link.

The first paragraph says it all when it blames the Apple/U2 deal for devaluing the music album. Apple may well have done that, but it wasn't last Tuesday, it was 10 years ago when they created iTunes.

Using the Guardian to strengthen your argument of distaste for anything is a weak-ass move.

So much anger. Sad little Disney Boy.

I know, right? I've never seen someone so angrily post a link before.

Thank you for your valuable contribution to the discussion.

You're right. What I should be doing is personally insulting other board members for disagreeing with me.
You have so much to teach me.

http://www.theguardian.com/music/2014/sep/11/u2-songs-of-innocence-review

.

Brian himself said in a documentary that sometimes he sings (or rather sang) like a man and sometimes like a girl (probably referring to "Surfer Girl").   

As for Bono, he describes the voice he uses on songs like "Lemon" as his "fat lady voice".

Maybe Brian's team sees it as an issue...