The band Bono compared to Beethoven and Picasso: “Some of the richest veins of culture”
If you ever hear Bono talk about the brilliance of four dudes getting together to make some of the most important music of all time, you might think he’s talking about U2. The Irish singer has something of a reputation for being arrogant and self-important, but even his most prominent critics are aware that he knows when to tone it down and admit that other acts in the world have had just as much, if not more, cultural impact than his own group.
Sure, U2 released a handful of records in the 1980s and ‘90s that were monumentally successful and helped shape the direction that rock music took during the period, but following the release of 1991’s Achtung Baby, their diminishing returns and inflated sense of ego brought the group down a few notches in the pecking order of great bands. From being an outfit that was socially conscious and wrote vital-sounding songs of protest to becoming stadium rockers with little to say and enough spare cash to buy plane tickets for a hat, the decline of U2 in the later stages of their career has seen their importance to the history of rock fade away.
However, despite having descended into middle-of-the-road impotency, the group originated from a movement that was heavily inspired by the post-punk and gothic rock movements that were still active around the time they began to emerge, with acts such as Joy Division and The Clash having been significant influences on the sound that U2 created in their earlier years. Almost unavoidably, U2 also found themselves being hugely shaped by the music of the Beatles, just as countless other bands were still showcasing.
Despite having called it quits over ten years prior to U2’s breakthrough, the Fab Four still had an immense grip on musical trends, having arguably created the blueprint for what pop and rock music should sound like in the modern age. No band was ever truly safe from the influence of the Beatles, and while some resented the fact that they were subject to comparisons to them, it was something that Bono would embrace throughout his career.
Having called them “untouchable” in interviews and spoken at length about their greatness in documentaries, it isn’t any great secret that Bono thinks highly of the Beatles. Speaking to Interview Magazine in 2011, he claimed that they were not only among the most important touchstones in the relatively recent history of rock music but also stand alongside the most important figures in all art forms since the beginning of time.
In the interview, while talking about the impact that different creatives can have on their respective fields appeared to be changing, Bono said that he believed “we’re coming towards the end of what will be seen as the era of the rock band” and referenced how people appear less inclined to make art together as a collaborative medium in the modern age.
“You can’t write books or poetry as four people,” Bono continued. “But four people get together in the context of a rock band, and you have out of that some of the richest veins of culture—The Beatles, I’m convinced, are as important as Bach or Beethoven or Picasso.”
There’s little that can be said to deny that the Beatles have had as much impact as the aforementioned composers and artists, and the likelihood is that they’ll still be just as revered for centuries to come, but saying that the idea of being in a rock band was beginning to die out is ignorant of the wealth of bands that continue to emerge as a result of the Beatles’ everlasting influence.
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