U2’s Pop is not dead.
By Tim Craig
U2 released a trio of platters Friday (April 13). It would easy to extol the virtues of Wide Awake in America (1985), with its definitive live version of “Bad,” or All That You Can’t Leave Behind (2000), the band’s top-to-bottom complete work, that’s not the purpose of this Reissue Tuesday.
Nope. This is a reconsideration of the third U2 reissue from Friday: the maligned and forcibly forgotten Pop, the 1997 “dance” album that had the misfortune of being sandwiched between Achtung Baby and All that You Can’t Leave Behind, arguably two the band’s three masterworks (Joshua Tree is the third).
While this is the album has been called “a load of arse;” and the point where U2 “lost the plot,” it may not be that simple. I’ll readily admit that Pop is not my first U2 go-to, but is it really so bad? Taken with 21 years of context, Pop can be argued as an inevitable outgrowth of a seed planted early in the band’s discography and worthy of not just a listen, but an appreciation.
Is the “Discotheque” video cheesy? Yes, of course. You can’t dress like members of The Village People and not expect an eyeroll. However, the spirit behind “Discotheque” — indeed, all of Pop — can be traced back to 1984’s The Unforgettable Fire. Now, before you throw your computer in disgust, just consider the lineage.
If we were writing this biblically, it would go like this:
- “Elvis Presley and America” (The Unforgettable Fire) begat “Bullet the Blue Sky” (The Joshua Tree);
- “Bullet the Blue Sky” begat “God Part II” (Rattle and Hum);
- “God Part II” begat “The Fly” (Achtung Baby);
- “The Fly” begat “Numb” (Zooropa);
- “Numb” begat Pop.
Pop is what happens when a band tries to expand those one-off / improvisational / experimental jams into a whole album. Does it work? Not for a whole album, but Pop does carry six (6!) singles, and despite having a few tiresome bits (“Miami”? I’m looking your way), there is still plenty to enjoy. Any of the first seven tracks can be easily slipped into a mixtape (ask your parents), and the guitar/bass/drum work of “The Playboy Mansion” is simply great.
Is Pop a perfect record? Heck no. Even the band has mostly brushed it under the carpet. But, as it pops up as a snippet here, a sample there, a remix and a rearrangement; the band continues to explore it. And maybe we should too.
