Rattle and Hum

Rattle and Hum refers to both a motion picture about the band U2 and its companion album, documenting the band's 1987 tour of the United States and its exploration into American music.

Related Topics:
U2 - 1987 - United States - American music

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The movie is a rockumentary, released in theaters in 1988 and on video in 1989. It was produced by Michael Hamlyn and directed by Phil Joanou. It incorporates live footage with studio outtakes and band interviews. It is criticized for being overwrought and pretentious and for attempting to elevate the band into the rock pantheon by paying tribute to (and playing with) their musical heroes. Nevertheless, fans regard it as a solid concert film that finds the jovial band members somewhat overwhelmed by the sudden success The Joshua Tree brought them.

Related Topics:
Rockumentary - 1988 - 1989 - Michael Hamlyn - Phil Joanou - Pantheon - The Joshua Tree

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The album is a hodgepodge of live material and new studio recordings that further the band's experimentation with American music styles and recognize many of their musical influences. It was produced by Jimmy Iovine and also released in 1988 (see 1988 in music). Because of its chaotic presentation and its unfortunate placement between the much more groundbreaking The Joshua Tree and Achtung Baby, it is one of the more overlooked albums in their catalogue. At the time, the album and film were derided as self-indulgent by many critics who claimed U2 was trying to enshrine itself in the great pantheon of rock legends (influences ranging from B.B. King, Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Johnny Cash, Bob Dylan, The Rolling Stones, and The Beatles are all referenced in the project) as opposed to honoring its newly-found influences. Others found the project - with its focus on earnest roots music and its many political sequiters - to be too serious. Others, to the contrary, find the album to be a fine representation of a great band at the height of its artistic powers and popular influence. To date it has sold nearly ten million copies worldwide and earned the band its first number one single in the UK, "Desire".

Related Topics:
American music - Jimmy Iovine - 1988 - 1988 in music - The Joshua Tree - Achtung Baby - B.B. King - Elvis Presley - Jerry Lee Lewis - Johnny Cash - Bob Dylan - The Rolling Stones - Beatles - UK

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Due to the poor reception of Rattle and Hum, the band announced at one of their last tour dates in the eighties that they needed to go away for a while to "dream it all up again". Many fans feared the band was going to split up, which it nearly did. However, instead, the band took a drastic change in direction with 1991's Achtung Baby, an album that radically updated U2's image, replacing the rootsy earnestness of The Joshua Tree/Rattle and Hum era with a looser, more experimental sound punctuated with a detached sense of irony.

Related Topics:
1991 - Achtung Baby

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