THERE'S HOPE FOR THE GRAMMYS AS U2 WINS BIG

I actually make a conscious choice NOT to watch the Grammys each year simply because when it comes to music, the Grammys are about as meaningful and as engaging as the Teen Choice Awards. But last week I couldn’t resist catching a glimpse here and there of the award ceremony just to see if my favourite band, U2 would get the recognition they deserve. All the buzz was centered on Mariah Carey for her come back album and on Kanye West for his popular debut album. So I fully expected one of them to win the top honour, Album of the Year. Much to my surprise and my delight, they didn’t win – one of the rare moments in Grammy history when they got it right.

Of course there’s been some backlash from critics claiming that the voting panel always rewards veterans over newcomers. Whateverrrrr! U2 won the honour for two reasons: they have one of the best sounds in rock history and How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb is a phenomenal album. Besides, U2 should have won the award pretty much every time they came out with a new album. The last time they received the honour was in 1988 for The Joshua Tree, which was a no brainer considering it’s the best rock album of all time. But since then, they should have also won for Rattle and Hum (the best live album of all time), for Achtung Baby, for Zooropa, and for All That You Can’t Leave Behind.

And although U2’s critics are still very vocal about the group’s music being too commercial, about their sound being too tired, and about their image being too preachy, I maintain that U2 at their worst, is still better than most musical acts at their best – partly because they have sustained a sound that no other act has even come close to; a sound that, contrary to some, has not grown old. Not to mention that live, they are nothing less than an auditory phenomenon – as U2 remains one of the few artists whose live sound actually improves upon their already superb recorded sound. I’ve been to several of their concerts and all I can say is that seeing U2 live is like having a two-hour orgasm. It’s complete musical ecstacy – a spiritual high that it is very difficult to come down from.

But I think the main reason some people have a problem with the Irish quartet is that U2 is essentially the Spielberg of rock. In other words, U2 is able to strike the balance between high art and mass art, making intelligent music that also has mass, commercial appeal, just as Spielberg does with film. But balance is not only the key to life; it is also the key to art. And because U2 is able to strike that balance, pretentious rock connoisseurs will always have a problem with them, just like pretentious film connoisseurs will always have a problem with Spielberg.