80s Songwriters With Staying Power: U2

There was certainly no shortage of monster hits in the 80s music scene. Acts like Duran Duran, The Cars, Def Leppard and others crafted signature sounds around huge hits that took them well beyond the status of One Hit Wonder.

There were a few writers and artists though, who splashed down in the midst of 80s music and continued on, creating incredible legacies not just in the decade of bandanas and acid-wash, but ongoingly.

U2 started out as a small-time Dublin band who, by there own admission, weren’t quite as good as they wanted to be. Coming out of the age of punk and new wave, this Irish quartet quickly honed their sound, began songwriting in earnest and put out their first release, ‘Boy’ on Island records. With early hits like ‘New Years Day’, ‘Sunday Bloody Sunday’ and ‘I Will Follow’, U2 quickly established a signature sound, but–more importantly–crafted songs that would go on to be considered classics over the decades.

As the 80s wore on, U2 began to further fine-tune their songwriting with incredible pieces like ‘Pride (In The Name of Love)’, ‘With Or Without You’ and ‘Where The Streets Have No Name’. Bono’s soaring vocals and The Edge’s chiming, echo-laden guitars served as the basis of a true U2 signature sound, and a sound that anchored them as a unique act, but could have just as easily been a weight around their neck as time went on.

As with many acts, U2 could have become a victim of the oncoming 90s, but something completely unexpected happened: they reinvented themselves (and not for the last time). With ‘Achtung Baby’, U2 mined industrial and more organic songwriting textures to build on their catalog well beyond the realms of 80s music.

In the decades that followed, it almost seemed like U2 could do no wrong. Their phenomenal ability to craft heart-grabbing, emotional music with off-kilter ‘hooks’ created more and more hits that seemed effortless and utterly unique. As Bono and company enter their fourth decade, their live shows not only draw in fans–new and old–but are built on decades of reinvention and solid songwriting that never sounds forced or commercial. Easily one of the most influential and unique acts to ever lay pen to paper (or cursor to computer screen, in this day and age), U2 is a songwriting machine that expanded well beyond its 80s music roots and carries on with phenomenal creative output even today.