Growing up, I didn’t really question why this band would be played along side Nirvana, Bush, Soundgarden, Linkin Park, etc. because my radio station of choice was not just grunge, but also “adult alternative.” So it would play pop shit, too, sometimes.
But I still, to this day, often find U2 listed among grunge artists, or their songs get played on grunge playlists. The fuck? How is this shit grunge? It doesn’t fit in any way! It doesn’t have the sound, it doesn’t have the style, shit it doesn’t even have the same emotional resonance. It’s happy and hopeful.
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U2 is considered grunge for the same reason Black Sabbath is considered reggae.
Because whoever made the list is an idiot?
Most likely. But which list are you talking about?
I have never heard of U2 being considered Grunge. If anything they were Pop.
They first broke during the New Wave era, and were considered one of the quintessential New Wave superstars, along with The Cars, Talking Heads, Duran Duran, Flock of Seagulls, etc.
Eh. I’d give them Alternative Rock. The thing that would likely classify them as pop is that they were so famous for a part of their career.
They have never been considered grunge by anybody. They released the album Achtung Baby in 1991, which recieved much critical acclaim, but so did a lot of other non-grunge bands. Just because a band released popular music in the early 1990s, doesn’t mean they are grunge.
Achtung Baby was extremely polished and not grunge.
Joshua Tree and Boy were rougher but not grunge.
U2 has crossed between levels of rock (I’m only counting their good albums) but has never come close to grunge.
I’ve never heard of or seen that.
Yeah, I cannot recall ever hearing U2 referred to under a specific subgenre of rock, especially not grunge. Personally, if I had to choose, I think classifying them as generic rock is more accurate.
Is this post an attempt to disprove the title “no stupid questions”?
It isn’t.
The only thing U2 has in common with grunge is that both were popular in roughly the same time period (give or take 5 years or so).
U2 began in the mid 1970s and grunge was a thing in the 1990s.
Early U2 was a bit like punk though.
Some people thought that the band was somewhat Edge-y?
Bono you didn’t!
I’m Mullen over whether to take part in this punathon.
And I just don’t give Adam.
If I bowed out early, would that make me a Dik?
Whoever told you that I would consider “dumb”.
They are absolutely not and I find it sus you make this bizarre claim without providing a single example.
Link and shame them. I will fight every one of their authors in a 1v1 dual to the death
in Helldivers 2
I was listening to a satellite radio station that is supposed to be exclusively grunge. It’s usually fine, except when Tom Morello is guest DJing. It was just the normal programming tho, and suddenly Mysterious Ways starts playing. I was annoyed by this.
I’m sorry, what??? I’m just as perplexed as you are, where are you seeing this and can you drop a link?
No. They are firmly commercial rock / pop.
Did you misspell garbage?
They’re not. They’re basically the one band out of the Echo & The Bunnymen, Teardrop Explodes, Flock Of Seagulls mini-genre that really broke into the mainstream.
Genre identifiers are mostly nonsense anyway. U2 have been many things over the years. ‘Boy’ is a very different album from ‘Zootopia’.
I don’t think they are nonsense, but they better fit the work rather than the artist. Artists shift genres all the time.
