Bono and Greg Kot Call It A Draw

By Scott Smith in Arts & Entertainment on May 23, 2005 1:18PM

Chicagoist maintains that both Lester Bangs and the New journalism movement of the 1970s spawned some of the most bloated and least interesting rock writing of the last twenty years; countless imitators took a vital form and sapped all the energy from it with writing that focused on the messenger and not the message. But in yesterday’s Chicago Tribune, music critic Greg Kot and U2 lead singer Bono showed that even when a writer IS part of the story, the revelations that come from such a confrontation between artist and critic and can be vital indeed.

Apparently miffed at the drubbing he’s been receiving in the Arts and Entertainment section lately, Bono called Kot last week and announced, “We need to talk.” The two sat down for an interview that reads like a referendum on art and commerce as well as the relationship between artists and their audience—two of the most contentious issues for people who care about such things. We do, so we were enthralled.

Citing a “poverty of ambition, in terms of what rock people will do to promote their work,” Bono claims that their iPod ad (filmed not for financial compensation but for exposure of their then-nascent single “Vertigo”), the Super Bowl appearance and their Grammy appearance are all necessary evils as rock is “fighting for relevance, next to hip-hop.” But it isn’t so much relevance that rock needs, but sales and influence. Looking at Billboard’s top five singles on the modern rock chart, one sees bands like Green Day and System of a Down whose most recent albums couldn’t be more relevant to America in 2005. The corresponding hip-hop chart features tracks from Mariah Carey, Ciara and the Ying Yang Twins—not exactly threats to Bono’s status as a self-styled statesman.

Despite their iPod “rock video,” Bono noted that U2 had recently turned down an offer of $23 million dollars from an undisclosed company that wanted to use “Where The Streets Have No Name”, despite the good uses he could have found for the money, as it would have tainted the song’s power when played live. And at other points in the interview, Bono laments that the desire to chase the dollar and play the major label game led to the breakup of the Clash, Echo and the Bunnymen and the “suicide” (actually an accidental heroin overdose) of former Hole bassist Kristen Pfaff.

Answering fans and critics (Kot included) who believe that U2 have become less adventurous in its old age, Bono proclaims that rock was more exciting when it was disciplined into a single.” According to Bono, U2 now creates under a banner that reads, “Is it a great song? Is it fresh?” and is leaving behind the experimentation of albums like Pop (why such an interesting-though inconsistent-album is consistently held up for ridicule while Zooropa gets a free ride is something Chicagoist will never understand).

Overall, the interview settles no arguments but does expand the debate.

Other choice quotes from the most verbose man in rock:

On the riff from Vertigo: "It doesn't become great the first time you hear it. It becomes great the thousandth time you hear it. And that's true of a lot of rock riffs."

On “rap-metal” artists: "Rap-metal nearly put the white race in jeopardy [as a creative force]. It's a travesty. Those [rap-metal] people should just take suicide pills and go away.” (That sound you hear is Fred Durst furiously typing away on his blog).

On rock writing: “As a writer who cares deeply about music, you're right to give rock bands a kicking when they deserve it. And we have deserved it at times. But you also need to explain to us how rock can progress. … The value of writing is enormous. The new school of rock writing in the UK has been Q magazine, in which they take the music seriously but not the people who make it."