Good in what sense?

In today's bizarrely social justice-conscious society it may be an irredeemable faux pas to suggest U2 isn't great, but I currently only have ten followers of this blog, all of whom know me well, so I feel justified in saying whatever I want.

Members of the band have all admitted that in the early years they had little to no musical talent or ability. That changed before they released a major album, but that was the last thing to change. Sure, Bono has a great voice, and The Edge is a quality guitarist. Larry Mullen, Jr.'s drumming is decent on most songs, superb on a few; Adam Clayton's bass playing has improved over the years but isn't quite to par with his bandmates' abilities. Together they make a sonically-pleasing ensemble with enough thoughtful lyrics to keep the masses scratching their heads and intelligent listeners glad there is a popular alternative to Blink182.

The problem with U2 isn't that they can't play or sing. The problem is that they can't seem to muster the creative courage to play or sing more than one song. For a band flouting their spirituality as much as these Irishmen like to, they feature a deplorable lack of soul. If you've seen It Might Get Loud, you know the reason it sounds like The Edge is playing one note in every song is that he is playing one note in every song, to which Bono adds his redemption-drenched lyrics. Lyrics which, if found in a book of mediocre Christian poetry (where they belong), would be mocked and ridiculed by half the fans that accord the band so much praise and favor now.

Fortunately for them, U2 originated amid the detritus of late '70s post-punk. Had they been preaching their songs at the punk crowd they may have gained a few straight-edge followers before the skinheads and hooligans beat them up and took their lunch money. In the '80s everything was acceptable, and anyway no one was paying too much attention to what was being said, just to how it was articulated, and you can't argue that U2 isn't ear-friendly. By the '90s the band's original fan-base was getting older and more ready for something with some substance.

The first decade of the 21st century was what they needed to have their iconic status cemented in the public consciousness, however. For some reason it became hip to fight for social justice and a measure of egalitarianism (not too much, though, or there would be no one to help). Mostly this was a media-fueled reaction to the perceived callousness of conservatism and was primarily no more than white-bread philanthropy concentrated in isolated acts that could be identified later as services rendered. Fortunately for the do-gooders there were plenty of high-profile opportunities to lend aid, from 9/11 to Hurricane Katrina to the earthquakes and monsoons in Asia and Haiti.

This is the favorite theme of U2—universal evil countermanded by good people finding redemption in selfless acts. And they shout it even when they aren't singing it, making one wonder how much they are motivated by their own search for redemption and how much by their need to keep a solidified front so people believe them and keep buying albums and concert tickets. Sure, every artist has a favorite theme, but a great artist never stops looking for creative avenues to express it, whereas a lesser artist grows accustomed to a single form of expression and never deviates, especially if it happens to be lucrative.

U2 either won't deviate from their successful formula for that reason, or they can't because they aren't truly great artists. My cynicism leads me to suspect the first option, but the second seems more likely in this case. They learned to play music as a band, starting with no skills and gradually becoming more-than-competent performers, but necessarily handicapped by their inherent homogeneity. Their creativity is similarly hampered, having reached maturity as a group rather than as individuals.

Of any of the artists represented on The Most Overrated Artists of All Time, Part 1, U2 is probably the most overrated. Not only is their corpus musically uninteresting in many ways, they haven't truly influenced that many artists. When asked to cite inspirations, how many musicians add U2 to the list? Maybe it's Bono's talk of the Holy Spirit and simultaneous use of profanity that endears him to fans and lands his band on best-of lists. Maybe it's because they're all so hip and yet so tenderhearted that albums keep selling. Or maybe it's because a music industry with no soul hopes that having a band with one at its center will be a good enough substitute when it's time to meet the Maker.