Single Review - U2 "Discotheque"

Last one for now... honest.

U2 "Discotheque"
Chart Position #1
Released February 1997

Of all the U2 singles, why this one, I hear you mumble? Well, why not?I love it and it pissed off a lot of their fanbase who refused to go with the band's new direction.

I really liked U2 in the Nineties. Don't get me wrong, I liked them in the 80s also but I began to tire of them around the "Rattle & Hum / we love America" era, and began widening my musical horizons a bit, but was pleasantly surprised to see that they too had widened their own when "Achtung Baby" was released, and I re-embraced the band. The ZOO TV era was U2 at the peak of their powers for me; playful, experimental, never dull and releasing some great music. When it was announced that their next album, "Pop" would be more dance orientated than their previous releases, it didn't bother or surprise me, bearing in mind their dalliance at that time with dance remixes and the "Zooropa" tracks such as "Lemon" & "Numb".

Unfortunately, 1997's "Pop" album was a bit of a disappointment all round, with the band seeming not to have the courage to go through with a total makeover; it sounded a bit "this will have to do" in places (due to them not having the record ready in time for the inital release date) and really only a couple of the tracks fitted into the "dancey" category, "Mofo", "Do You Feel Loved" and the first single, "Discotheque".

But what a opening single. Built around a rumbling Adam Clayton bassline, Larry Mullen Jnr's clattering percussion and the Edge's dirty guitar riff, this single is unlike anything that they released before or since. Bono wanders into "Fly" vocal territory throughout with lyrics faintly alluding to Ecstacy, whilst the track grooves along in a stop start manner - it's a really dense Flood production, with lots of busy layers going on, and one which they've never been able to pull off live. In retrospect, it also sounds like they've been listening a bit too much to "Begging You" by The Stone Roses... (but that's a good thing!)

The single version is the one to go for - the album version isn't quite right, being just not punchy enough, but the single mix (by Mark "Spike" Stent) is right on the nail. Of course, dressing up as the Village People in the video was something some fans have never been able to forgive. It seems as if the band have written this era off as a failure as well, continually trying to redo the tracks and making them worse (see the piss-poor new mixes on "The Best Of 1990 - 2000"). The following albums have seen them revert back to their old ways, almost going back to how they were pre-Rattle & Hum, which is a shame, as they could take more risks but seem to choose not to, having had their fingers burnt in the "Popmart" tour era.

But this was a number one single. Deservedly so in my opinion.