U2 at the End of the World
The most intimate and appreciative biography of the mega rock band U2 to date—by the author to whom the band gave complete access. \ When U2 took the stage for their three-year Zoo TV world tour in 1991, Bill Flanagan was there—in the bus, on the plane, in the recording studio and well after hours with the biggest rock band in the world. A tour that began to support the hugely successful Achtung Baby...
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The most intimate and appreciative biography of the mega rock band U2 to date—by the author to whom the band gave complete access. When U2 took the stage for their three-year Zoo TV world tour in 1991, Bill Flanagan was there—in the bus, on the plane, in the recording studio and well after hours with the biggest rock band in the world. A tour that began to support the hugely successful Achtung Baby record and ended with a second, even more successful record, Zooropa, took U2 to the far reaches of the world, playing to over a hundred sold-out arenas in over forty cities.U2 At The End Of The World takes you on the world tour and drops you off at the cultural intersection where rock stars meet politicians; where writers, directors, and models all wind up backstage with U2. You're there when the band meets Bill Clinton in a Chicago hotel room; when Salman Rushdie comes out of hiding to join the band onstage at Wembley Arena in London; when Frank Sinatra and Bono record their famous duet, "I've Got You Under My Skin." And finally, when the band performs their last Zoo TV concert in Tokyo in 1993 and nearly collapses from physical and mental exhaustion, you are there with them waiting for the end of the world. Augmented with sleek photos by renowned photographer Anton Corbijn, U2 At The End Of The World is the most definitive book on the band to date. Library Journal Musician magazine editor Flanagan (Written in My Soul, Contemporary Bks, 1987. o.p.) first interviewed the Irish rock band U2 in the 1980s. For this biography he was invited to spend nearly four years with the band. The book follows U2 through several recording projects in the early 1990s, including their albums "Achtung Baby," and "Zooropa. The book opens in the autumn of 1990 and U2 is in Berlin as the Wall is coming down. In 1992 they take part in a Greenpeace action against a British nuclear facility believed to be polluting the Irish Sea. In 1994 the lavish "Zoo TV" tour concerts included live interviews from Sarajevo, then under siege. While the band's mix of politics with art attracted many fans, it often drew criticism from the media. Interspersed with these events we see U2 at work and at play, recording, performing, juggling families and romances, and hanging out in pubs. Although Flanagan finds it difficult to keep his opinions out of the book, usually he keeps them at least out of the way, and often enough he lets the members of U2 speak for themselves. A step above the usual pop-group biography this is recommended for larger public and university libraries and music collections.-Tim LaBorie, St. Joseph's Univ., Philadelphia
\ Library JournalSomewhere in a dilapidated bar or on a rotting porch, raw talent is busting its chops for nothing. That is, unless Jim Cantone hears the racket. The golden-eared, platinum-hearted talent scout has just left an independent record label to oversee A&R (Artists & Repertoire) at industry colossus WorldWide Records. While Cantone mentors Jerusalem--rock's next great white hope--and ponders "selling out" at 30, bitterness and jealousy motivate WW's vice president, J.B. Booth, to shame and ultimately force out WW's charismatic president and founder, "Wild" Bill DeGaul, a cross between real-life record moguls Clive Davis and Chris Blackwell. As senior vice president of the video channel VH-1, Flanagan (U2 at the End of the World) knows the music biz's convoluted, polluted intestinal tract well. Money (six figures and up), booze (bubbly), blood (a dead, chic singer), and other bodily fluids flow in exotic locations, but to little effect. Unfortunately, Cantone, the reader's moral navigator through WW upper-management's underbelly, is too conscientiously self-conscious to make this good-natured expos believable. Not recommended. [Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 2/1/00.]--Heather McCormack, "Library Journal" Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.\\\ \ \ \ \ Library JournalMusician magazine editor Flanagan (Written in My Soul, Contemporary Bks, 1987. o.p.) first interviewed the Irish rock band U2 in the 1980s. For this biography he was invited to spend nearly four years with the band. The book follows U2 through several recording projects in the early 1990s, including their albums "Achtung Baby," and "Zooropa. The book opens in the autumn of 1990 and U2 is in Berlin as the Wall is coming down. In 1992 they take part in a Greenpeace action against a British nuclear facility believed to be polluting the Irish Sea. In 1994 the lavish "Zoo TV" tour concerts included live interviews from Sarajevo, then under siege. While the band's mix of politics with art attracted many fans, it often drew criticism from the media. Interspersed with these events we see U2 at work and at play, recording, performing, juggling families and romances, and hanging out in pubs. Although Flanagan finds it difficult to keep his opinions out of the book, usually he keeps them at least out of the way, and often enough he lets the members of U2 speak for themselves. A step above the usual pop-group biography this is recommended for larger public and university libraries and music collections.-Tim LaBorie, St. Joseph's Univ., Philadelphia\ \
