25 Ways U2 Has Changed the World

Although I did not write this, I felt it was worthy of posting. I think that this writer's insight into how U2 has made their stage a pulpit for the Christian faith without bullying others. Oddly enough I am sure there are many fans out there that are not Christians but recite Bible verses as they sing the song that Bono has composed. The Word is getting out....gosh, I think Jesus would be proud of them (even though I am sure many strict Christians would disagree and look down on them). As you can tell, I am proud of my boys...

U2 might just be the most important band in the galaxy.

Compared with its contemporaries, the Irish quartet doesn't have as many No. 1 singles as Michael Jackson. It hasn't been chronicled in the tabloids quite as exhaustively as Madonna. Bono and friends, who return to the Bradley Center for a sold-out show Sunday, haven't even spawned countless sound-alikes.And yet, in the 25 years since the release of its atmospheric debut album Boy, U2 has made a larger and arguably more lasting impact than any of its peers, not just in pop music, but in pop culture, politics and beyond. The band's influence has often been more subtle than shouted -- more Edge than Bono, if you will -- but its place in history as a catalyst on many fronts is undeniable.

Don't believe us? Consider these 25 ways U2 has changed the world:

U2 has used its powers for good. A story in Sunday's The New York Times Magazine declared Bono "the most politically effective figure in the recent history of popular culture," but it's not just the feisty front man dedicating himself to activism. He just happens to have the highest profile -- and biggest mouth -- among the four band members. From the politically charged "Sunday Bloody Sunday" to the band's more recent support, onstage and off, for the Burmese democracy movement, U2 has never shied from calling attention to global trouble spots.

U2 made wraparound shades so cool even the pope wanted them. In his memoir Bono: In Conversation with Michka Assayas (2005, Riverhead)

U2's front man recalled a meeting with the late Pope John Paul II during which the pontiff seemed smitten with the Irishman's famous sunglasses.

"He kept looking at them in my hand, so I offered them to him...Not only did he put them on, he smiled the wickedest grin you could ever imagine," Bono recalled.

U2 reminded us that you don't have to shock people to get noticed. Arriving on the music scene at a time when some peers were carving words into their chests with razors, the band's music spoke louder than cheap stunts -- and has survived, while many a shock rocker disappeared into oblivion.

U2 made Christian rock hip. Until U2 came along, overtly Christian acts were dismissed as cheesy or just plain preachy by many mainstream rock fans. From the start, however, U2's three Christian members have been open about their faith without using the stage as a bully pulpit.

U2 made it OK to not hope you die before you get old. Rock spent years mired in the clichés of hedonistic excess, delusions of eternal youth and the occasional bout of nihilism before U2 conquered the world celebrating life even as it acknowledged its hard realities.

U2 brought American roots music to a new generation. For many music fans who grew up listening to mainstream radio and watching MTV in the '80s, music history started with Journey and ended with MC Hammer.

U2's exploration of the roots of rock 'n' roll, however, in songs such as "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For," and the band's embrace of elders such as Johnny Cash and B.B. King, helped introduce millions of young ears to the rich music of generations past.

U2 proved you can make it in the music industry without getting made by the music industry. Whether exploring experimental terrain as they did on 1997's Pop or stripping emotions bare in a minimalist lament such as "Running to Stand Still," U2 has always ignored the trends and stayed true to its own collective musical vision, wherever it led them. U2 made irony-free mullets hip, at least for a little while (see Bono, circa 1984's The Unforgettable Fire.).

U2 proved band monogamy is possible. Many musicians liken being in a band to being in a marriage -- only with a much higher divorce rate. For nearly 30 years, U2 has been singer Bono, guitarist Edge, drummer Larry Mullen Jr. and bassist Adam Clayton, no more, no less, no substitutions. There have been disagreements, but the quartet always found a way to work out its differences

U2 showed you're never too big to say you're sorry. A technical snafu deprived fan club members of a promised exclusive online presale for the first leg of the band's current world tour. Many bands would have ignored the glitch, but the usually microphone-shy Mullen elbowed Bono aside at the Grammys in February to apologize publicly for the error.

U2 put rock stars on equal footing with world leaders. Much like political ally and musical contemporary Bob Geldof, Bono doesn't merely spout a sound bite fed to him by a publicist. The singer can cite statistics and unspool the intricacies of multilateral aid. As a result, Bono's causes are taken more seriously than those of other celebrities. Consider widespread rumors last year that the diminutive Irishman might be named head of the World Bank, or media coverage of Bono's frank discussions with the likes of U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

Then there are headlines such as that of a June 9 story in the EU Reporter: "Irish rock star Bono told EU Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso that 'Europe must re-describe itself.' "

For the record, according to the article, "Barroso responded by quoting a U2 song...'Don't worry baby. It's gonna be alright.'

U2 set an example for other celebrities by keeping private lives private. Instead of selling their wedding photos to the tabloids, members are vigilant about protecting their kin -- including raising a legal furor over a newspaper in Ireland reporting on the illness of a family member earlier this year.

U2 affirmed that rock stars could be larger than life without overdoses, trashed hotel rooms and brawls with paparazzi.

U2 showed how to make a comeback. The band's more excessive stage shows and experimental music alienated a sizable chunk of its fan base in the late '90s. Instead of desperately wooing them back by regurgitating old music, U2 simply moved in a new direction, one that paired Edge's cool sonic experimentation with Bono at his warmest and most human on 2001's brilliant All That You Can't Leave Behind.

U2 forever dispelled the gross misconception that Irish music was a bunch of guys with fiddles lamenting some boy named Danny.

U2 gave other bands a template for teamwork. Although Edge and Bono do the bulk of writing for the band and could claim additional royalties, songs are credited to the band as a whole. Decisions on everything from Web site design to the evening's set list are made democratically by all four members.

U2 is proof that less is more. More backbone than mere background, drummer Mullen and bassist Clayton are one of rock's sturdiest rhythm sections. The pair's understatement is the perfect foil to Edge's out-there guitar and Bono's occasional bouts of unhinged grandstanding.

U2 is proof that excess has its time and place. Bono wouldn't be quite so, well, bono, without his throat-shredding wails of emotion, fondness for rambling ad libs and passion for the spotlight. Edge never met an effects pedal he didn't lik -- though the guitarist layers his sonic textures more judiciously than many of his noodle-happy peers. (Eddie Van Halen at the Bradley Center last November? Dude, we still haven't forgotten -- or forgiven.)

U2 made rock global. Other bands, notably the Clash, injected international awareness into their music, but few did it as expansively as U2. The band has addressed trade policies, human rights, terrorism and socioeconomic failings of governments big and small, all without the shrillness of some other politically minded bands

U2 gave concert-goers a reason to show up early. Throughout its career, the band has had a knack for choosing talented, sometimes controversial opening acts. The outspoken Kanye West is slated for shows in December, and the intense Dashboard Confessional opens Sunday's show at the Bradley Center.

U2 made it OK to thumb your nose at the pressure to follow fashion. We're sure that if we broke into Larry's closet, we'd find 10 white T-shirts, five pairs of worn jeans, one black leather motorcycle jacket and a bottle of hair gel. Bono's closet -- well, that's a different matter.

U2 elevated pop by refusing to dumb it down. It's easier -- and less risky -- to write catchy songs about partying than to craft emotional yet melodic anthems that put forth a political position that may alienate fans who disagree. U2 doesn't do easy.

U2 reminded us that do-gooders can -- and should -- laugh at themselves. As Bono joked in a 2001 Spin interview, "I've been insufferable before, and I will be again!"

U2 keeps surprising us. Whether it's a spin-off project featuring opera legend Luciano Pavarotti or breaking into a killer cover of ABBA's "Dancing Queen," U2 intrigues us by refusing to play by any other rules than its own

U2 still wants to change the world, and its ambition and optimism continue to inspire others. In an interview with the Chicago Sun-Times in May, Mullen said: "I don't want to be in a band that's treading water...If that's not possible, then we will stop."

Gemma Tarlach - Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel