Brian Eno, Adam Clayton, The Edge - Passengers: Original Soundtracks 1

U2 should be celebrated for doing what so few major rock bands have managed: They broke the chains of their own stardom. For a while it looked like they'd carry the "monsters of rock" banner into institutionalized and calcified dotage like the Who and Pink Floyd before them. But with 1991's Achtung Baby--and even more so on '93's Zooropa--U2 made clear they'd not become so alienated from artistic motivation that they believed more in their own importance than in their continued ability to create. Thus they stopped waving flags and learned to laugh at their fame. The change, in effect, released U2 from its own image and allowed the band more creative elbowroom than ever before. Only in this context could U2 now allow their producer Brian Eno to assume virtual membership in the band, adopt the pseudonym Passengers, and immerse themselves in the anonymity of film music.

With Original Soundtracks 1, a collection of 14 compositions for imagined movies (and one performance piece), U2 accentuate the visual sense. Eno, who's done this sort of thing for decades, plays a defining role. Tracks like "United Colours" and "One Minute Warning," with their electronic pulsations and organic atmospherics, clearly fall onto his ambient/techno terrain. Even tracks more recognizably the band's are enriched by collaboration: The hilarious "Elvis Ate America" is even more absurd with Howie B's scratching and vocal calls, and the touching "Miss Sarajevo" is made infinitely more profound by Luciano Pavarotti's tenor. Passengers is more likely an inspired tangent than an indication of U2's direction, but it adds to the band's impressive--and constantly progressive--body of work. --Roni Sarig

Amazon.com

Great music. 4.5 stars

I do not see this work as a U2 record, I see it as what it is: A collaboration between Brian Eno, U2, and 'extra passengers' (Pavarotti, Howie B, Holi). Lets all remember that Mr. Brian Eno was already rock and rollin' in Roxy Music when Bono and The Edge where pubert kids. So I do not agree with the reviewers that althought they love or dislike this work, they tend to see it as a U2 Album.

U2 has taken the influence of Eno since The Unforgettable Fire and melt it with their unique style. With Passengers, Eno is the creator of 'strategies, sequences, synthesizer, treatments, mixing...and vocals'. U2 are almost Eno's sidemen, it is Eno who is in charge here of the final result of the record. So when people compare this with other U2 records, they should compare it first with the numerous Eno's catalogue, starting in 1971 - Passengers could be very similar with Eno's 'Another Green World ' and 'My Life in the Bush of Ghosts'.
Songs like Ito Okashi, One Minute Warning, Plot 180 are pure Eno, Theme From the Swan comes straight from 'Music For Films'. The only real U2 songs Miss Sarajevo, a beatiful ballad that ends with a masterful Pavarotti solo, as stroke of geniuses; the other one Your Blue Room.

It is true that you can listen U2 in Bono's voice and The Edge's trippy guitar (an Eno influence since Unforgettable Fire) and their pulsating playing, but the concept here is all Eno, you can't blame U2 for some of the slow ambient and edgy music that's in here, completely alien to rock/pop format: U2 by themeselves would have never made an album like this.
Now I will have to admit that I love this album until the song One Minute Warning, until there 5 stars, after that it comes a little meandering but good anyway.

I'd recommend Passengers for rock fans who also like electronica and experimental music, pure and only rock fans might want to stay away. July 28, 2007

unforgettable fire part II

the title says it all
after listening to the samples my first impressions are this is the angle u2 coulda gone afyer tuf and it could be tuf part II.
alot of it reminds me of 'promenade' from tuf or the music to 'bad', or even the b-side bass trap in 1987 or 'hold on to love'. October 7, 2006

An open letter to U2

Hey, members of the group Passengers, particularly Bono, the Edge, Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen Jr.: I have an idea. Go back to your mansions and try to find where you hid your copy of "Original Soundtracks 1." Remember that album? If you don't, shame on you. Go on, go through your walk-in sunglasses closets and see if you can find it. Now, pop it in the CD player.

Now, as it plays, can you remember how unrestricted you felt at the time you made it? You guys had it all: a huge canvas and an unlimited amount of colors with which to paint. You had Brian Eno in the same room encouraging you to take advantage of these tools AND helping you write and perform all of the songs. The sound just seemed to flow without resistance, and you know what else? It's ten years old! Yet it sounds as fresh as it did the day it was released. And all the while, there was no one there to wag their finger at you and scold you for not sounding enough like U2. Ten years ago, you realized that idea was rubbish. Now...?

Bono, listen to the song "Slug." Do you hear how your lyrics were more abstract? You gave us a better picture of things without saying too much. And with all of this subtlety, you didn't feel the need to explain everything to death. "Elvis Ate America," what on earth is the point of that song? I don't know, and I prefer not to know. "Your Blue Room" is a tease: keep it that way. Give our imaginations a chance again, like you did with "Zooropa" and "Original Soundtracks 1."

Mr. Edge, pay attention to "United Colours." Now listen to "Miss Sarajevo" and "Your Blue Room." Very different style you were attacking, weren't you? Yet you sounded like no one else. What's even more fascinating was that you didn't even sound like the Edge from long ago. You realized that you didn't have to recreate the beginning riff of "Where The Streets Have No Name" or "With Or Without You" every time you picked up your guitar. Instead you were running down a path were even the young guys couldn't keep up with you. And it was exhilarating. But you have since traded your big, wide canvas and paint brushes for a coloring book and some crayons.

All of you guys, listen to "Miss Sarajevo." Notice how is pulsates, how it drives creativity into the listening mind without being outwardly adventurous. Listen to the sly chords and how they slink around one another to a most dreamy force, marking your band's artistic peak. Listen to "One Minute Warning." Hear how cool all of that noise is in the beginning? Hear how that vocoder is more scary and modern than it is cliché? Do you even remember how cool it was to record the ending of that song?

A special note to Larry Mullen Jr.: shut up. Yeah, you were bored with the Passengers album, but no one cares. You are an expendable member of the band and you really ought to go with the creative flow instead of settling for second best so that you can keep fans happy. I've heard what you did on "Original Soundtracks 1," and you were pretty good. But it's unfinished business. Time to make peace with your creative side.

Adam Clayton: all I can really tell you at this point is to talk some sense into your band mates. Help them realize that there is a difference between making "art" and making jingles for iPod commercials. You and your bad have come so far, you need to keep pushing further. We need to know what's on the other side of pop music and you guys were leading the way. Then you had to back off, because you're all wimps and you want to be 19 again.

So gentlemen, please, listen to what you were doing 10 years ago. No more of this "How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb" nonsense. "Original Soundtracks 1" may not be flawless, but it shows a creative spark that could've carried you guys far beyond superficial pop stardom. Stop settling for less.

(...) December 1, 2005

Amazing is what it is

I've owned this album for over 8 years and I continually come back to it as my favorite U2 album. I find the individual songs and the album as a complete experience grow on me with each listening. When I first listened to it I enjoyed a few songs but now I can appreciate the entire album.

I enjoy all of U2's other albums but this one really moves me more than any of the others. Its music is more cerebral and experimental than the rest. Want to hear Brian Eno singing, Bono playing the piano, Edge singing and playing the organ, and Adam Clayton narrating? Then you want this album. I can understand not issuing this album as a "U2" album. If they had released it just like an ordinary album then many U2 fans would have been angry/confused by what they heard.

I like to think of U2 as an artistic band, especially as a counter balance to their popular face. I'm sure Eno had a strong influence over this album but I'm also confident that U2's members contributed a great deal of material. This album combined with the DVD "Classic Albums - U2: The Joshua Tree" gives you a very different picture of U2 than might come across while listening to their pop corpus. More than any of their B-Sides, this album is major departure from what one would expect from U2.

All that said, many people that like U2 would probably dislike this album, however if you own all their other albums you should really add this one to your collection. July 30, 2005

great ARTISTS take an experimental DIVERSION . . .

Presumably feeling no pressure to make the next great monumental rock album at the time, U2 join Brian Eno and more fully digress into his atmospheric territory than ever before or since. This is a compelling collection of (faux?) movie soundtracks, many with strong undercurrents of electronica. Anyone paying attention is aware of the vast influence these artists have had, especially on a group like Radiohead who I imagine listened to this album intently.

Like a lot of film scores, the majority of this album makes for excellent background music, but there's also some great songs, particularly "Your Blue Room" featuring beautiful organ from The Edge and a sensuous vocal from Bono. Another majestic one is "Miss Sarejevo" featuring opera singer Luciano Pavarotti. You have to admit, Bono has (guts) singing on a song with that guy's incredible voice.

The only track I don't like is the repetitive "Elvis Ate America" with Bono sing/reciting less than flattering observations on the King. It also interrupts the flow of the album.

Pretty much everything else here is well worth while if you can appreciate the emphasis of atmosphere over songs. Also of note is the beautiful voice of Holi on the dreamy "Ito Okashi." Her voice, receiving a distorted treatment, also colors the rythmically playful "One Minute Warning."

I was motivated to throw in my 2 cents after reading Blender magazine's overview of U2's discography, the lamest set of reviews they've done yet. They gave this album 1 star, virtually indicating it was all synths and opera which really only applies to one track! They have this incredibly lame need to fit everyone's discography into each of 5 catagories ranging from "Blender Approved" to "For Fans Only" (each catagory apparently MUST be filled). Half of their comments have nothing to do with the actual music! They are so lame (but admittedly, kinda fun to read anyway).

I was torn between rating this album 4 or 5 stars but went with 5 because, while not on the level of a masterpiece like ACHTUNG BABY or THE JOSHUA TREE, it's excellent for what it's trying to do and for what it is. April 4, 2005

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