U2 are still very much in the business of making rock music, having delivered their Songs of Experience LP late last month. While it certainly isn't the most aggressive-sounding disc around, frontman Bono was quick to raise his concern about how music has "gotten very girly" due to a lack of "young male anger" in a new interview.
Speaking with Rolling Stone, the vocalist spoke of how his children have pointed him towards new music through their own tastes.
"Jordan is a music snob, an indie snob. Eve is hip-hop," Bono explained. "Elijah is in a band, and he has got very strong feelings about music, but he doesn't make any distinction between, let's say, the Who and the Killers. Or, you know, Nirvana and Royal Blood. It is not generational for him. It is the sound and what he is experiencing. He believes that a rock'n'roll revolution is around the corner."
When asked about the possibility of a "rock'n'roll revolution," the vocalist said, "I think music has gotten very girly. And there are some good things about that, but hip-hop is the only place for young male anger at the moment — and that's not good."
Further reflecting on his own experience with the genre, he recalled, "When I was 16, I had a lot of anger in me... You need to find a place for it and for guitars, whether it is with a drum machine — I don't care. The moment something becomes preserved, it is fucking over. You might as well put it in formaldehyde."
Bono concluded, "In the end, what is rock'n'roll? Rage is at the heart of it. Some great rock'n'roll tends to have that, which is why the Who were such a great band. Or Pearl Jam. Eddie has that rage… It will return."
You can read the entire interview here.
Speaking with Rolling Stone, the vocalist spoke of how his children have pointed him towards new music through their own tastes.
"Jordan is a music snob, an indie snob. Eve is hip-hop," Bono explained. "Elijah is in a band, and he has got very strong feelings about music, but he doesn't make any distinction between, let's say, the Who and the Killers. Or, you know, Nirvana and Royal Blood. It is not generational for him. It is the sound and what he is experiencing. He believes that a rock'n'roll revolution is around the corner."
When asked about the possibility of a "rock'n'roll revolution," the vocalist said, "I think music has gotten very girly. And there are some good things about that, but hip-hop is the only place for young male anger at the moment — and that's not good."
Further reflecting on his own experience with the genre, he recalled, "When I was 16, I had a lot of anger in me... You need to find a place for it and for guitars, whether it is with a drum machine — I don't care. The moment something becomes preserved, it is fucking over. You might as well put it in formaldehyde."
Bono concluded, "In the end, what is rock'n'roll? Rage is at the heart of it. Some great rock'n'roll tends to have that, which is why the Who were such a great band. Or Pearl Jam. Eddie has that rage… It will return."
You can read the entire interview here.
