TBDBITL

I'm sitting at Panera, doing a little reading for class, listening to some music on my headphones. Achtung Baby enters into the rotation and "The Fly" comes up first on the random playlist. About 2 minutes, 27 seconds into the song, Edge lets loose on his guitar. But I noticed something else at that point. Larry gets a little sound boost on the mounted tambourine he's been whacking at all song long. I wonder, was that a mixing decision or did Larry just really want that sound to come through so he hit a little harder? Not that it matters, really, but I was curious. It sounds substantially like the scary noises the Martian war machines made in the 1950s movie War of the Worlds. And since the song is about the Devil.... All of that is to say that the guitar solo and percussion from 2:29 to 3:24 have put "The Fly" near the top of my favorite U2 songs ever. Maybe even near the top of all songs. I'm just continually struck, when I really listen closely, at how good their music is. It's not just the sound. There's something else there, chemistry or physics or biology or something. They're emotional enough to appeal to pretty much anyone with a heart but poignant enough to make you think too. It's just damn good art. Worship music, even. Anyhow, I'm looking forward to the new record, even though I'm not super-impressed with "Vertigo" and I hate the title of the album. In case you didn't already know, Apple has issued a special edition U2 iPod including 400 U2 songs. I'm having trouble figuring out how they got that many...I have all studio, live, and B-sides (well, maybe not all, but a lot) and I can only get 300 or so. I can't find the list of the 400 songs, so I'm not sure what I'm missing. The digital "box set" will be available for download starting November 23rd.