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Tempo: A Rowman & Littlefield Music Series on Rock, Pop, and Culture
U2: Rock 'n' Roll to Change the World
U2’s significant career far exceeds that of most average successful rock bands, with a prolific output of thirteen well-received studio albums and a sometimes relentless touring schedule. The band is famous for uniquely drawing together music, art, faith, and activism, all within a lucrative career that has given each of these elements an unusual degree of social and cultural resonance. Broad-minded musically and intellectually, U2’soutput is thematically rich, addressing a slew of topics, from questions of faith to anxieties about commercialism to outright political statements.
With one of the largest fan bases in the history of rock music, U2 and their work require contextualization and exploration. In U2: Rock ’n’ Roll to Change the World, Timothy D. Neufeld takes up this challenge. Neufeld explores U2’s move from the youthful idealism of a band barely able to play instruments through its many phases of artistic expression and cultural engagement to its employment of faith and activism as a foundation for its success. This book outlines how U2 reshaped the very musical and even political culture that had originally shaped it, demonstrating through close readings of its musical work the dynamic interplay of artistic expression and social engagement.
With one of the largest fan bases in the history of rock music, U2 and their work require contextualization and exploration. In U2: Rock ’n’ Roll to Change the World, Timothy D. Neufeld takes up this challenge. Neufeld explores U2’s move from the youthful idealism of a band barely able to play instruments through its many phases of artistic expression and cultural engagement to its employment of faith and activism as a foundation for its success. This book outlines how U2 reshaped the very musical and even political culture that had originally shaped it, demonstrating through close readings of its musical work the dynamic interplay of artistic expression and social engagement.
238 pages, Hardcover
Published April 1, 2017
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
October 6, 2017
(review written for U2conference.com)
In the forty-plus years of U2, many people have written about the band (including the band members themselves). Through all of that prose a familiar biographical story has taken shape. No matter the storyteller, certain key moments are always highlighted: Larry’s notice pinned to the bulletin board at Mt. Temple Comprehensive School in 1976; three of the band members’ connection to, and eventual departure from, the Shalom community; changes in U2’s sound on The Unforgettable Fire; international superstardom by the time of The Joshua Tree; dreaming it all up again for Achtung Baby; political activism. There’s a comfort in hearing that story rehearsed every so often – especially as the band continues to inspire appreciative devotion from its fans with each new tour, album, or bit of news. For their fans, U2 is a kind of family and hearing all the old family stories makes for a good time.
Tim Neufeld’s U2: Rock ‘n’ Roll to Change the World is the most recent book to take us through the story. If you have followed U2 for a while, you probably know the story pretty well by now. Neufeld’s book really isn’t for you. It’s a solid introduction to the band but it offers only a little for the die-hards. After a helpful timeline, showing “Cultural Events” along the left side and “U2’s Career” on the right, Neufeld guides the reader through a quick tour of the band’s history. In telling the story, he draws on other well-known sources, especially U2 by U2 (2006) and Bono: In Conversation with Michka Assayas (2005), but also many other book chapters and interviews spanning U2’s career. Each chapter looks, in chronological order, at a phase of U2’s development.
I particularly enjoyed the first chapter, “Growing Up in Ireland,” in which Neufeld explains the historical background in Ireland that led to the decades-long Troubles, which so colored the lives of U2’s members. In just a few pages, he does a fine job of setting up the Dublin of U2’s youth, helping the reader understand the questions the band members struggled with as they became U2.
The final two chapters of the book look at broader themes that resonate throughout U2’s history. These two chapters read as individual essays, distinct from the narrative flow of the rest of the book. In chapter 7, “Faith and Art,” I appreciated how Neufeld showed faith to be not a static identity that a person either has or doesn’t have. Rather, faith is dynamic, a kind of companion that accompanies a person throughout his or her journey. This is evident in the overview of ways that U2’s faith has informed their activity. That those activities have changed over time demonstrates the difficulty in grasping what a living faith really is. Chapter 8, “Social Engagement,” also shows U2’s journey, in relation to political activism and dreams of a better world. The shock at the injustice in the world, evident in U2’s words and actions in the 1980s, has matured into a quieter, but still intense, way of realizing the ideals the band members have never left behind.
From the book’s title, I had assumed that more of the book would take the approach of these last chapters and examine the “world changing” ways of U2. Though the retelling of the band’s story is good, I was expecting a deeper level of analysis of the band and their interaction with the world through their skillful use of the authority their celebrity gives them. Neufeld suggests many avenues with great potential for future writing about U2, and I look forward to the ways other authors will dig still deeper. I wonder, for example, how a political scientist might investigate Bono’s leadership in global debt-reduction; or how a sociologist would analyze the context of the Zoo TV tour and its construction of community amidst contradictions and irony; or how an economist would reflect on the effect a U2 tour has on a city or nation? These are big topics that come up in any retelling of U2’s story, and I often wish that some of those points would be further teased out by specialist who might see things that we’re missing.
Neufeld’s writing style is accessible and free of jargon; the book doesn’t presume any previous knowledge of U2’s history. For me, however, the tone of the writing was at times too general — for example, saying that “As the calendar turned from one decade to another, the world was an anxious place” (70) is too quick and ambiguous a way to describe the global context which U2 attempted to engage. And, when Neufeld talks about an uncomfortable moment of the Zoo TV tour, when a satellite linkup brought war-traumatized Sarajevans to the concert’s video screens, it seems wrongly abrupt to write, “It was an intense and awkward incident, leaving Larry to believe that the band might be guilty of exploiting Sarajevans for the sake of entertainment. Many people outside the U2 franchise felt the same” (83), but then leave it there and move on to the next part of U2’s story. I was looking for more than simply the facts as they happened; I also wanted some commentary to help me process it all.
For newer U2 fans who want to learn more about the band’s story, it can be confusing to decide which book to read first. If you are interested in U2 and haven’t yet read U2 by U2, then that book should be at the top of your list. Relatively new fans would do well to read U2: Rock ‘n’ Roll to Change the World next. I hope some of those fans will then respond to Neufeld’s implicit invitation to keep filling in the spaces, to help us enjoy and understand U2 from a wide variety of perspectives.
In the forty-plus years of U2, many people have written about the band (including the band members themselves). Through all of that prose a familiar biographical story has taken shape. No matter the storyteller, certain key moments are always highlighted: Larry’s notice pinned to the bulletin board at Mt. Temple Comprehensive School in 1976; three of the band members’ connection to, and eventual departure from, the Shalom community; changes in U2’s sound on The Unforgettable Fire; international superstardom by the time of The Joshua Tree; dreaming it all up again for Achtung Baby; political activism. There’s a comfort in hearing that story rehearsed every so often – especially as the band continues to inspire appreciative devotion from its fans with each new tour, album, or bit of news. For their fans, U2 is a kind of family and hearing all the old family stories makes for a good time.
Tim Neufeld’s U2: Rock ‘n’ Roll to Change the World is the most recent book to take us through the story. If you have followed U2 for a while, you probably know the story pretty well by now. Neufeld’s book really isn’t for you. It’s a solid introduction to the band but it offers only a little for the die-hards. After a helpful timeline, showing “Cultural Events” along the left side and “U2’s Career” on the right, Neufeld guides the reader through a quick tour of the band’s history. In telling the story, he draws on other well-known sources, especially U2 by U2 (2006) and Bono: In Conversation with Michka Assayas (2005), but also many other book chapters and interviews spanning U2’s career. Each chapter looks, in chronological order, at a phase of U2’s development.
I particularly enjoyed the first chapter, “Growing Up in Ireland,” in which Neufeld explains the historical background in Ireland that led to the decades-long Troubles, which so colored the lives of U2’s members. In just a few pages, he does a fine job of setting up the Dublin of U2’s youth, helping the reader understand the questions the band members struggled with as they became U2.
The final two chapters of the book look at broader themes that resonate throughout U2’s history. These two chapters read as individual essays, distinct from the narrative flow of the rest of the book. In chapter 7, “Faith and Art,” I appreciated how Neufeld showed faith to be not a static identity that a person either has or doesn’t have. Rather, faith is dynamic, a kind of companion that accompanies a person throughout his or her journey. This is evident in the overview of ways that U2’s faith has informed their activity. That those activities have changed over time demonstrates the difficulty in grasping what a living faith really is. Chapter 8, “Social Engagement,” also shows U2’s journey, in relation to political activism and dreams of a better world. The shock at the injustice in the world, evident in U2’s words and actions in the 1980s, has matured into a quieter, but still intense, way of realizing the ideals the band members have never left behind.
From the book’s title, I had assumed that more of the book would take the approach of these last chapters and examine the “world changing” ways of U2. Though the retelling of the band’s story is good, I was expecting a deeper level of analysis of the band and their interaction with the world through their skillful use of the authority their celebrity gives them. Neufeld suggests many avenues with great potential for future writing about U2, and I look forward to the ways other authors will dig still deeper. I wonder, for example, how a political scientist might investigate Bono’s leadership in global debt-reduction; or how a sociologist would analyze the context of the Zoo TV tour and its construction of community amidst contradictions and irony; or how an economist would reflect on the effect a U2 tour has on a city or nation? These are big topics that come up in any retelling of U2’s story, and I often wish that some of those points would be further teased out by specialist who might see things that we’re missing.
Neufeld’s writing style is accessible and free of jargon; the book doesn’t presume any previous knowledge of U2’s history. For me, however, the tone of the writing was at times too general — for example, saying that “As the calendar turned from one decade to another, the world was an anxious place” (70) is too quick and ambiguous a way to describe the global context which U2 attempted to engage. And, when Neufeld talks about an uncomfortable moment of the Zoo TV tour, when a satellite linkup brought war-traumatized Sarajevans to the concert’s video screens, it seems wrongly abrupt to write, “It was an intense and awkward incident, leaving Larry to believe that the band might be guilty of exploiting Sarajevans for the sake of entertainment. Many people outside the U2 franchise felt the same” (83), but then leave it there and move on to the next part of U2’s story. I was looking for more than simply the facts as they happened; I also wanted some commentary to help me process it all.
For newer U2 fans who want to learn more about the band’s story, it can be confusing to decide which book to read first. If you are interested in U2 and haven’t yet read U2 by U2, then that book should be at the top of your list. Relatively new fans would do well to read U2: Rock ‘n’ Roll to Change the World next. I hope some of those fans will then respond to Neufeld’s implicit invitation to keep filling in the spaces, to help us enjoy and understand U2 from a wide variety of perspectives.
August 5, 2023
Reading this book expanded what I knew about U2 and made my existing knowledge cohesive. I appreciate the historical references of what was going on in the world throughout the band's career. I like the author's closing comments that U2 changed the world and the world changed U2.
April 9, 2019
The beginning of the book gives a timeline showing cultural events and U2’s career. The first chapter looks at Dublin at the time the members of U2 were coming of age. It was a culture of poverty, the Troubles, unemployment, crime, drug addiction, and poor housing.
The second chapter explains how the group came together and the music that they sought to create. They wanted to develop a musical style different from any other available at that time. It was this period that covers the albums Boy, October, and War.
The third chapter covers Under a Blood Red Sky, The Unforgettable Fire, The Joshua Tree, and Rattle and Hum. U2 paid attention to global issues, openly spoke about American politics. Even though the audiences were getting larger, there was still a feeling of connection in the concerts.
The fourth chapter reflects the 90’s and U2s desire to reinvent themselves again. This period covers Achtung Baby, Zooropa, and Pop.
Chapter five covers All That You Can’t Leave Behind and How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb. It also showed the rifts occurring between band members due to Bono’s commitment to the band when his extracurricular activities interrupted productivity and delayed album releases.
Chapter six—New Horizons—covers No Line on the Horizon and the 360 Tour. The problem-ridden Spider-Man: Turn Off The Dark is covered. Songs of Innocence is U2’s look back at their early years.
“Faith and Art” (chapter seven) is a discussion of how the faith of the band members influences their art. “Social Engagement” (chapter eight) looks at the ways U2 attempts to use their fame to make a difference in the world.
The second chapter explains how the group came together and the music that they sought to create. They wanted to develop a musical style different from any other available at that time. It was this period that covers the albums Boy, October, and War.
The third chapter covers Under a Blood Red Sky, The Unforgettable Fire, The Joshua Tree, and Rattle and Hum. U2 paid attention to global issues, openly spoke about American politics. Even though the audiences were getting larger, there was still a feeling of connection in the concerts.
The fourth chapter reflects the 90’s and U2s desire to reinvent themselves again. This period covers Achtung Baby, Zooropa, and Pop.
Chapter five covers All That You Can’t Leave Behind and How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb. It also showed the rifts occurring between band members due to Bono’s commitment to the band when his extracurricular activities interrupted productivity and delayed album releases.
Chapter six—New Horizons—covers No Line on the Horizon and the 360 Tour. The problem-ridden Spider-Man: Turn Off The Dark is covered. Songs of Innocence is U2’s look back at their early years.
“Faith and Art” (chapter seven) is a discussion of how the faith of the band members influences their art. “Social Engagement” (chapter eight) looks at the ways U2 attempts to use their fame to make a difference in the world.
June 3, 2019
I would give this 3.5 stars if they had that rating.
I read the entire thing on my Kindle.
I am of two minds on this book. If you didn't know anything about U2, this would be an excellent way to learn the basics about them. It does an excellent job of going thru their entire career and it is laid out in a pretty easy to follow and understand format. It's not too long, not too short, just about right.
But.... for someone like myself who knows a lot about the band already there isn't a lot to hang my hat on. If you don't know anything about them, why do you want to know a good deal? If you know a good deal, why do you want to read this book?
So altho he does a good job of doing what he set out to do, I'm not sure who this is going to appeal to.
I read the entire thing on my Kindle.
I am of two minds on this book. If you didn't know anything about U2, this would be an excellent way to learn the basics about them. It does an excellent job of going thru their entire career and it is laid out in a pretty easy to follow and understand format. It's not too long, not too short, just about right.
But.... for someone like myself who knows a lot about the band already there isn't a lot to hang my hat on. If you don't know anything about them, why do you want to know a good deal? If you know a good deal, why do you want to read this book?
So altho he does a good job of doing what he set out to do, I'm not sure who this is going to appeal to.
September 10, 2017
Really interesting - especially about their early lives, and the other Lypton Villagers. And I'll never listen to Show Me The Way the same again. I especially like how the author gives close-to equal time to all the members. Yeah, Bono dominates, because "Bono". But of all the books I've read about the group, this was the most equal.
July 14, 2021
Worth reading. The insight into the band helped me better understand some of the things I heard growing up. Where I don't agree completely with every belief that has guided their art, I found their approach to faith as refreshing. I've hear U2 but never heard the depths of their music.
January 6, 2018
I found the book interesting but would have appreciated a little more depth. Could have shaved off about 20% of the book by eliminating repeated material.
January 17, 2021
Overview of U2's cultural impact through about 2010 or so... somewhat repetitive. Clearly was a bunch of lectures then compiled into a book.
March 23, 2018
The book U2: Rock n' Roll to Change the World was a great read. It followed the band on their forty plus year career and look at how their music has affected culture and inspired change. By taking an in-depth look at the band members, the book was able to really capture what it was like for them as a whole to rise to fame. The book brought up themes of religion and activism, things that U2 strives to work into it's music. They highlight the injustices in the world and try to get people to stand up for what is right and help solve major world problems. One thing that was really powerful from the book was the author's ability to describe the band's live performances. His descriptions were able to make me feel as if I was in the audience, experiencing the show as I could hear the songs playing in my head. I would recommend this book to anyone who has an interest in the band or is looking for a great non-fiction read. It's a really great biography about a band that has been relevant for over forty years. You should pick it up because it's fun to read and talks about how a band and their music was able to affect real change in social and political systems around the world.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews